Location: Sanur, Bali
Today is really Day 5 -- May 5. So, I guess that means that yesterday was actually Day 4 -- May 4. Who me confused and delirious?
Woke up at 5:30 AM -- way too early, but maybe sleeping half the afternoon had something to do with that :)
MJ and I had another great breakfast and then met Niki, the artist from CA, with her driver Bukit.
First stop was at a batik shop that had a demonstration of how the batiks are made -- the dying process fir regular batiks as well as the weaving of Ikat textiles. I am still in shock over the level of artistry! I have never seen more beautiful fabrics -- it was amazing. I bought a piece of fabric to cover a dresser that I have in my bedroom -- the one my tv sits on. It will be a very special reminder of this day/trip that I can look at every day.
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| Traditional Ikat textile on the loom. |
We then went to a place that makes silver jewelry. I have a new appreciation for Bali silver work. More incredible craftsmanship. Didn't buy anything there -- too expensive and I didn't see anything that really spoke to me.
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped briefly at a place that demos and sells wood carvings. Again, beautiful work, but no purchases.
Back to the hotel by 1:30 to freshen up a bit and then left at 3:00 to visit a temple that is perched on a cliff at the edge of the ocean. Very impressive place -- a bit over-run with other tourists and testy monkeys, but the monkeys did add an interesting dimension to the whole affair.
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| What a view! |
Tips for visiting this temple include:
* everyone had to tie a sash around their waist
* anyone with shorts on had to wear a sarong to cover their legs
* remove all sunglasses, earrings, etc - the monkeys will try to rip them off your body. They also seemed to favor the long, dangling end of a sash
* I guess it goes w/o saying that you shouldn't feed the monkeys
It was an interesting visit.
Day 5 continued
It's a little complicated to send messages here -- the first part went by mistake when I entered the WIFI zone.
Anyway, to continue with the day, continued to the southern tip of Bali, which is very different than where we are staying now or when we return and are in Ubud. Where we went tonight was very rustic, rural poor. They only got running water to the area 15 years ago, so it was a poor live off the land sort of existence. Now that the magic of water has arrived, so has tourism. Along the coast is solid resorts and restaurants -- inland is still shacks.
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| Dinner on the Beach near Uluwatu, on the SW tip of Bali |
We went for dinner at a place on the beach -- our table was out in the sand. The attraction to this area is that it is on the western side of the island, so the sunsets are supposed to be gorgeous. It was cloudy, so we didn't have that benefit, but it was fun. You pick out your live fish from a bin and then they grilled it. Live dance performances were going on on stages in front of the restaurants and off-key singers were strolling through the crowds singing old John Denver tunes, which was definitely not the hi-light.
Got back to the resort around 9:30. I was dead tired. Hope I don't dream about wicked monkeys tonight. :)
Stay tuned -- more tomorrow and may I will know what day it is.
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