In general, Bali the beach vacation was kind of a bust. The beaches are okay but not spectacular. But Bali the learning experience was wonderful. Bali is the only island in Indonesia where the population is majority Hindu. As you wander around, you will see small offerings everywhere. Offerings like these are made every single day by hand! An offering was left at our doorstep each day with a stick of incense, which was quite lovely to wake up to. We also had some delicious fried duck (bebek goreng) at Naughty Nuri's (addresses make no sense in Bali so it's best just to ask someone where to go); they're famous for their ribs but their duck is amazing!
We also had a wonderful time visiting Tenganan village with
JED tours. JED tours is a great company; they give 70% of the tour price directly to the village visited. We went on a small 2 hour trek through some rice terraces before arriving at Tenganan; our guide was extremely knowledgeable about all of the plants that we passed on our trek (we learned plants for treating malaria, cancer, and asthma!). Tenganan is a village that has been able to retain its customs from hundreds of years ago; one of their coolest ceremonies are the mekare kare where the men fight using thorned pandan leaves. They are also known for their double ikat weaving (a process that cannot be taught to outsiders), which is used to make their geringsing garments for special ceremonies. We had an awesome lunch prepared by the villagers and were able to visit a man who showed us how he weaves cotton into thread. The old way is shown in the photo above; it involves winding the thread onto a stick weighted down by I-ching coins. He even allowed me to try it and it is hard!
