Beautiful Bali

It took three visits before I could finally say I love Bali.  The first trip, too many vendors being overly agressive scared me off.  The second was a 5 hour cruise tour with wheel chairs, canes, walkers, uneven surfaces, stairs, heat and a few lastminute 'just have to get offf the bus' to buy the t-shirt which leaves 35 fellow travelers waiting.  The third trip was the charm. My views, were obviously skewed.

On our last day here, we hired a private driver with another couple and rolled the dice.  Take us to where you would take your future mother in law if you wanted her to agree to allowing her only daughter to marry you.  Ahhh, We saw Bali.  Our 8 hour tour seemed like 4. We drove the backroads and discovered the real Bali..   I felt enlightened!

During our time here we were entertained by Balinese dancers and their percussion instruments known as gamelan.  We were told stories involving belief systems, education, marriage, and the Hindu religion.  We had drinks overlooking the volcano.  My drink was served in a real coconut whch became a photo op for all at our table.  Vendors were everywhere pushing their wares as always.  I did purchase some kites, some batik and a shadow puppet made from leather from a local shop.We saw terraces and forests and flowers and rice.  We said NO to hundreds of pint size vendors with big beautiful eyes.  We visited temples, palaces, resorts and a one room home complete with pigs, chickens and dinner cooking away on the stove.  We visited Ubud , an ancient village, old dirty markets, and store fronts..... We managed NOT to buy a watch. We saw spices and flowers, offerings of all kinds pretty doors and everything you can imagine carried on a head or while riding a motorcycle.  We counted 5 people on a tiny motorcycle as they overtook our van as we peeled and ate rambutan.  We saw a lot of garbage, trash covering every inch of the forest floors and dirty living conditions.  We saw super poverty, high end luxury, a flush toilet and plant your feet here and squat.  I loved the many varied doors in Bali, the art and the artists, the flowers and the fruit, and the friendly people.  Still not open to the things they eat and would be VERY cautious what I ate and where....everything takes time.  baby step, baby step...  It is not as clean as I wish it would be.  I do not understand why people don't take care of the world in which they live. I would love for standards of living be more managable for all.  From the carved faces of many of the elders, times have not always been kind or easy.  But in their eyes, in their smiles, and in their hello, I have more often then not seen some very kind, , hard working and friendly people.  Who wants to go next year?