Bali Fun, Part 2

Our fabulous driver, Made (pronounced Mah-day). He "made" our trip sooooooo much better!











What a place to have a pool, aye?












got a hair cut at a fabulous (and low priced) salon -- found it online before we went to Bali and booked an appt. early. People travel from Australia for this guy's cuts!!
























at our hotel ...











































a local dance/drama group! Quite good, actually!













The story is of a battle between good and evil.






































Rice ... up close!














Volcanoes ... of which there are many!
























Cocoa beans!
















The famous (or maybe infamous!!!) Kopi Luwak coffee beans ... yes, the ones that are "processed" through the bodies of the Luwak cats and "harvested" from their poop. Jim bought some. I never was a coffee drinker and now ... for sure that won't be changing!!!!!!!!

And Now, Bali Fun, Part 1

The terraced rice fields are astounding! Every square inch of ground is utilized!










And this dear old guy has charm oozing from his pores! He kept coming up with more poses ... Jim bought his hat for $2 -- a very high price for this region! (The guy has more, by the way.)





























Workers in the heat of the sun ...




































Look closely, those are rice terraces near the top of those hills!






































My favorite part of the trip, I believe! Going off the beaten track, walking on the outskirts of the village dumping site so that we could get to the area where a group of families have, for generations, harvested sea salt.

Such poverty.

All of the rise is sales from the sea salt boom hasn't brought a bit of increase in profits to these dear folks who slave away in the heat day after day ... year after year.

The process --
--bring leather buckets full of salt water to the raked sand fields
--scoop up the wet sand and carry it in baskets to the pit
--let the salt water drain through the sand into open bamboo shoots that run into wooden bowls
--sift the salt water one more time, into another bowl
--pour the now-very-dense salt water into shallow wooden dishes that are out in the sun
--allow the water to evaporate for the rest of the day
--bag up the salt











The leader of the group ... so gracious with time and generous with his salt, giving us two huge bags of it! He was so touched by the money we gave him as a thank you that he kept wanting to hug us (with his sweaty skin and all!) and almost cried.
Then, I almost cried.
Such a tough life. I brainstormed with him a bit (with our driver helping with the translations!) as to ways he could increase his income. Option 1: get his two (living, out of 3) children educated well enough that they could get a proper business license and begin exporting the salt, directly! Option 2: have Made (our driver) and other drivers begin to bring vans of tourists (just small groups, not big buses!) to view the work -- I assured them that everyone would be willing to pay!!!









































Where's Jimbe?