Upon arrival in Bali, we were greeted by a local family.

The Seabourn Sojourn was gracefully-welcomed to Padang Bay, Bali

In Bali, each town supplements the state police with its own townspeople acting as extra security. You can spot the local security guys by the red and black checkered sarongs. And, their weapon? A wooden sword!

The pier was nicely-decorated. The Balinese wrap buildings in fabric, as you see here, as a spiritial blessing. The majority of Balinese are Hindu.

This Balinese troup welcomed us wth local music.

Many (if not most) men in Bali wear a sarong, a scarf-belt and a head-wrap. The idea of the head wrap is to keep the brain wrapped tight, so that pure thougth stays in the head and does not escape.

All of us got outfitted in local Balinese style.

Our friends Paul and Sarah look, oh so fine in their Bali-wear!

Here is Mark and Ralph, looking like locals...well, sort of, anyway!

The whole ship was loaded onto busses, for a night out Balinese style!

Just a quick photo, on the go

Despite it being hotter than hell, the head-wraps felt kind of good.

We had 12 buses, and a police escort!

Here is a rice field

We were borught to a small town, where the entire town put together and evening of culture, music and food.

Let's get started, shall we?

Even the local children were a part of the evening

A gracious welcome by some of the local girls.

We each were greeted with a pineapple juice drink, in what else but a pineapple from nearby.

Here comes the incredible dinner...on parade!

About 20-30 girls came out, each carrying something

This is Balinese tradition

Can't you just picture yourself here?

Now, we move into the dining area

Incredible costumes

These guys provided the music all night.

A nice fan gift was placed at every setting

Very elegant, outdoor dining. We quickly forgot that it was hotter than hell, and enjoyed ourselves.

Looks like a wedding setup, eh?

There were many, many courses. More food than we ever imagined.

We were entertained throughout the evening.

A very nice dessert came out on parade!

Isn't it a pretty presentation?

Everyone serving us was warm and gracious.

I think I am simply too tall for this job!

Each of 5000 villages around Bali has three huge temples. This is just one of three in our small village.