Ubud, Bali

The next day we had an amazing breakfast and then went to the Lake Leke restaurant again for a daytime offering making class. All those little offering baskets with flower and sometimes food in them that the monkeys love so much – we learned how to make. And let me just say, it wasn’t easy. They make them out of palm leaves and intricately cut them with a sharp knife. It took us almost 2 hours to make them (with help). We asked the old Balinese woman teaching us how long it takes her to make one. She said about 5 minutes. When we asked the Balinese girl at the front on our way out how many each woman makes a day and how long it takes, she said about 100 or more per woman and it takes 1-3 minutes each, unless it’s a very fancy one. She said they learn when they are about 6 years old. I read somewhere that Balinese women spend like 80% of their time preparing offerings, ceremonies and cleaning up after ceremonies/offerings. I can believe it!

A group of us then went to the market. Nicole, from Canada, was rather wary of the bargaining aspect of the market, so I stuck with her and bargained for her. Here is how the bargaining works in the Ubud market: you ask the price of something you want, they tell you something outrageous, you offer them 1/4 to 1/3 that price, they act offended and say “serious price, give me serious price” and you offer slightly more, and they offer a price somewhere in between that price and the original price, and you say “too high” and say “xx is all I have” and they say, “little more lady, little more. Good for me, good for you.” Finally, you walk away and then they call after you and say “okay, okay.” And you get it for the last price you offered them. Needless to say, it’s a process. By the end of our time in Bali, Linda and I were pros. We realized later the prices we were getting in the Ubud market weren’t quite as good as we thought (compared to some other places we went later), but in comparison to what we’d pay in the US for the same thing, they were amazing.

Anyway, I helped Nicole get a lot of nice dresses, and I got some nice things as well (like a silk robe/kimono). The hotel then picked us up and brought us back and Nicole and I had dinner at a nearby restaurant. I got chicken covered in a light coconut breading stuffed with mango and we split a banana split. My cost was 60,000 Rupiah (which is $4.80). Food is so cheap in Bali!

That night we did a spa night in our room with all the girls. We made borah scrubs (this is a type of body scrub that the Balinese people make and Kim tought us how to make it because she used to live in Bali). We then washed each other’s feet and lower legs with the scrub. It was a fun group activity.

Speaking of feet, the Balinese people are always washing their feet before anything important. Every time we got massages, they would wash our feet first in a little tub of hot water with flower petals in it. Although, their feet washing fetish is probably a good thing considering they walk around barefoot constantly. They all wear flip flops and just slip out of them before going into any building. Look around Bali and you will see shoes on all the front stoops. This extends to hotel workers, massage therapists – everyone. And children walk around barefoot all over the place.

That night I slept a bit better, but was still a snotty mess the next morning.