Farmers plow plots behind teams of water buffalo. Bicycle-riding barbers trim hair beside roadways. Proud men hold babies, and colourfully dressed women offer food gifts to the gods. Scenic, spiritual, gracious and cheap, Bali may be nirvana on earth. Here, the government assesses heavy fines for jaywalking, gum chewing or failing to flush toilets.
Drug smuggling carries a death sentence.
Back onboard, I chew an illicit stick of Juicy Fruit. As we move along at the ship's calming 15 knots, I feel as mellow as a taste tester in a Valium factory. Mombasa, a city on the coast of Kenya, provides our longest stopover. A friend and I make the short flight to Zanzibar, a nearby Tanzanian island. In old Arab Stone Town, we spend an afternoon wandering narrow passageways, strolling through shops and sauntering past Zanzibar's renowned carved doors.