8/24 -- Dolphins and Drive to Jimbaran

We were up at 5:30 am today to head out to see dolphins at 6 am. We saw quite a few, as well as the sunrise. There were dozens (hundreds?) of other boats all steaming around on the same quest and I felt fortunate to get the photos I did. After a while, I quit trying to take more pictures and just enjoyed the view.

We were on a boat like this.

Sunrise in stages in the next several photos.

An outrigger from behind.

Dolphins were around, but not that consistent in how and where
they appeared.

The other boats  looked like spiders walking on water.

Two more dolphins

Wow! I didn't believe I actually shot this!

Back at the hotel, we packed up to drive to the south side of Bali, near there airport we flew into. On the way, we made a couple of stops. The first was at a brick maker. He and his wife can make about 800 bricks a day, which take a couple days to dry before firing. They sell for 40 cents each, so that seems like a reasonable living. However, he is getting a lot of competition from factories that make cement blocks for less, so fewer people are buying from him.

Bricks starting to dry. They turn red during firing.

In the mixing pit.

He got out to talk to us, so his wife hopped in and started pulling
the fireplace ash into the mud mixture and stomped around in it
to mix it more.

The form he uses shapes 5 bricks at a time.

Back on the bus, Wailika told us about an ancient irrigation method still in use and we stopped at a scenic rice terrace location to see it in action.

The terraced patties were really attractive.

There is a concrete canal that runs all around the top of the hill,
using a gravity system to bring water to the top fields. There are
strategically placed gates that start the water entering the top level. 

Dragon fly on a board that crosses the canal.

This picture shows a series of low points in each level of
terrace that let the water flow to the next lower level. 

When we were on the way back to the bus, the
shop at the top of the hill had two  huge bats
at rest.

They had much more colorful fur than I expected.

Wailika bought a bottle of sweet juice and
caught the interest of the second bat.

Then it was on to  lunch and back on the road. When we were nearing Denpasar, we stopped in an area with dozens of people making offerings of many types using dried and sometimes colored palm fronds. The Balinese love offerings and find many opportunities to use them. They seem to be a critical part of everyday life. Where ever we walk, we have to be careful not to step on the small offerings left of the edge of the roads and sidewalks each day.

An example of an elaborate offering.

Wailika shows us the raw materials and you can see several
completed offerings in the background.

Finally we made it to our hotel, another beach resort. Built in the 80s, it has some aspects of faded splendor, but it is close to the beach, which is much nicer than the one in Lovina. That one had gray sand, This one is white and softer and a much  wider beach, plus it looks like you could walk a really  long way on it.

Looking south along the beach.

This is what our plane looked like landing at Denpasar --  kind
of like San Francisco where you make most of the approach
over water and get to land just in time.