Bali - Island tour

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Scott still did not feel well the so I set for the tour on my own. For safety I did have Scott come meet the driver, so he knew I had someone waiting for me. The driver was great and I would recommend him, his contact info is: Ary’s Tour Service phone: [phone] or email: [e-mail].
Part of every drivers plan is to take you by the tourist traps to have you buy something, as they get a commission. My driver gave me the option and I said to go ahead as they might be interesting. We first went to the Silver workshops, in which I did buy a pair of simple earrings. I negotiated hard and was all the way in the car before they agreed to my price, they still made a profit and my driver got a cut. The next stop was a batiking factory. It was pretty neat to see as I am familiar with the art since a close family friend, Vera, is accomplished in it. She would have loved the stop. In driving through the towns there was religious decorations every where. The most common was this bamboo weaved poles hanging flowers. Also all temples were decorated and the statues had yellow sarongs on. It was the festival of Gulangun, which celebrates the creation of our world. In really general terms the time the dead come back to earth and the living welcome them with much hospitality, which means that they feast heavily and dress in their finest. This is the most important Balinese festival. After 10 days Kuningan is celebrated marking the end of holiday session. Another interesting note is that some Balinese Hindus eat beef. The last stop was in Ubud, considered the artist area of Bali. We stopped at an art gallery in which most stuff was mass produced or not my taste. They did have the Buddha pictures Scott likes at a cheap price but I was put off by the fact they are sold everywhere.
After all the shops we headed to the rice terraces, where women were threshing the rice in the field. I was more impressed by pictures that I had seen than by the fields themselves. Next we headed up to the volcano. On the way to the volcano we were stopped by a police checkpoint. They were looking for a bribe and got one. Ary explained that is the way it is done in Bali, as in the police are corrupt and bribes are a way of life. We ate lunch at this little restaurant that overlooks the volcano and lake. The last time it erupted was 1964.
After lunch we headed to the Uluwatu Temple. It sits on a cliff on a peninsula facing the Bali Straight. As we entered I was required to wear a sash, which they supplied for a fee. I also bought peanuts to feed to the wild monkeys. They are aggressive little buggers....but the couple of babies were adorable. Ary beat them away from with a stick a few times. The temple was basic but the view was phenomenal.
That night I was unlucky enough to get what Scott had, food (or water) poisoning. It wasn't bad until the morning when I was going to have to fly to Yogyjakarta in a few hours.

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