Bali, Baby! Part Three!

So, on our last full day in Bali, we had arranged for a driver to take us to a few places we wanted to see, and to do some shopping.  Definitely the way to go.  He came recommended to us from Kevin, the loud shirt wearing Boeing guy.  He was a really, nice guy, and a devout Hindu.  He was full of knowledge, and knew some great places to take us.  We found out later he gets kick backs, but hey, that's what makes the world go round.  We started off at a Balinese dance performance, and it was really fun.  We arrived a little late, but we got the gist of the story, and loved taking lots of pictures.  Larry took some great ones!  After that, we went to a silver company, and watched jewlery being made, the tour guides take you right into the factory, and like everything else on the Bali trip, it was an eye opener.  Working conditions weren't great, but the skill and attention to detail were very interesting.  Larry and I turned out to be a big interest for them!  I guess not too many ahem "big boned" people come through.  They were polite though, just curious.  After the tour, you are conveniently dumped into the showroom, and Larry bought me some very cool bling!  

Next on our list was the wood carving markets.  We had a specific piece in mind, we wanted to bring home a carved wooden screen ( room separator) for the living room.  We never did find one, but we did buy a beautiful carved wooden elephant that will always remind us of our elephant safari on Christmas day.  Our guide took us to a painting place, and I think that's where we got wise to what he was doing, taking us to places he would get a commission from, if we bought anything.  We realized we had to be more specific, and we told him what we wanted to do for the rest of the day.  He called us " dear friends", and used the greeting before, during and after answering our questions.  It took some getting used to, but after a while, it was normal, and I think I started doing it too!  ha!

Next up was the Sacred Monkey Temple.  If you ever get to bali, you gotta see it!  it's a sanctuary for monkey, and a sacred holy place.  Truly amazing.  Larry had to wear a sarong to go into the temple, and my legs had to be covered as well.  The monkey were the coolest!  They come right up to you, and one even untied my shoe!  People are in the sanctuary, selling bananas and food for them, so they are very tame.  I had the best time watching them, and their funny expressions. I have an imitation of a female looking for a date, lemme know if you want to see it!

Bali has so many temples, and the people are very religious, spiritual, and a little superstitious,  Our driver had a strong belief of karma, and with a new baby on the way was very clear about only putting the good stuff out there. It was truly fascinating, and they believe gods are every where, in many forms.  They wear black and white checked fabric to symbolize the ying and yang, good and evil. Rice is very important to them, and it is regarded very highly.  Our driver had rice pressed into the middle of his forehead, as part of his daily prayer ritual.  They make daily offerings to the gods, in the form of little boxes made from palm leaves, with flowers, rice, incense and sweets in them. I thought they were really beautiful.  They were everywhere!  

You could walk down the street, and see them on sidewalks, in the streets, at traffic lights, it was amazing.  And with the crazy driving, every little bit helps, I guess.

After the Monkey Temple, we went to Ubud, for lunch, again, it was a place our driver knew someone, but it was fine, we had an awesome lunch, with a spectacular view of a rice paddy.  It was cool and breezy, the food was great, and our driver joined us, and kept up the tour, filling us in on more fun facts about Bali.

After lunch, we went through Ubud, which is an artist community, and had fun looking at all the stuff for sale on the streets.  We drove through, on our way to the tiered rice paddies.  It was simply breath taking!  Larry got some really good shots.  You have to see it to believe it, but they have made rice paddies, in the side of hills.  So cool!  Our driver warned us before we got out of the car that we would be surrounded by people trying to sell things, and he wasn't wrong.  The minute our feet touched the ground, they were everywhere.  It was very hard for me, especially the little kids begging you to buy things.  Ugh. If I had had money in my pocket, it would have vanished very quickly.  They were very persistent though, and followed us the whole time.  Speaking of money, the currency is the Rupi, and the exchange rate is US $1=9133rp.  So, we would go and get money from an atm, and thinking we had a lot, say 20,000.rp, when really is was just a small amount.  It was pretty funny...even funnier when I tried to do the exchange in my head.

Next up was more shopping, which at this point Larry was done.  Being a good sport though, he walked around while I picked up a few things.  We then headed back to Kuta, in hopes of seeing a sunset.  We had pretty good weather that day, and were hopeful we'd see what Kuta is so famous for.  We were stuck in traffic though, so by the time we got t the beach it was exactly sunset time, and the clouds rolled in.  We enjoyed the beach though, and both stuck our big toes in the Indian ocean.  After that, we went back to the hotel, cleaned up, and went for dinner.  Kuta, as I said before, was very touristy, and seemed a little unsafe at night.  So we ventured a few blocks from the hotel, within our comfort level.  We had a great night, and larry was in a goofy mood (see pics).  We headed back to the hotel, after dinner, and a recognizance mission to find cheap purses.  We packed up, and got ready to leave in the morning.  Overall, despite the not so great weather, we had a really fun trip, and a Christmas to remember.  I hope to go back someday, it truly was a magical place, and I hope to be able to explore it more someday.

miss you all!  write or call if you want!

xoxoxo!