Ubud Market

Don and I split up one day While we were in the village of Ubud. You may recognize the name from the book Eat, Pray, Love. I went to the spa and he went to a cooking class. After the class we went to the market early one morning to make sure we got all of the spices to make the Indonesian dishes at home. I do love satay, which is a yummy peanut sauce and that was one of the recipes Don learned to make. Here's an overview of the market.

Beautiful Batiks

We headed to the Hoffman Batik factory today. We had unlimited acces to see how these amazingly beautiful fabrics are made. It's a process of dyeing and waxing and overdyeing, sometimes as many as 4-5 times. Hoffman is definitely the premiere batik manufacturer. All of the dyeing and stamping and sorting is all done by hand. There was also a table of workers folding and packing the fabric into assorted bundles. I am still scratching my head about how they achieve consistency in the designs of their fabrics from bolt to bolt.

I did find this YouTube video of the process, but I'll share my photos.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPHwuI_GHHo

Quality Control

Piecing the lengths together

Packaging fat quarters
The chops that are used to stamp the fabric.

Slabs of wax that are melted for the resist.

STamping the fabric with a chop that has been dipped in the melted wax.

Rinsing the excess dye out of the fabric.

Overdyeing and setting the colors in the field.

 

Finished fabric ready to ship

And some roadside photos

 

 

 

 

There was a religious ceremony, as there are on many days.

The women bring their offerings to the temple to be blessed by the priest.

 

Can you name the fruits on my breakfast plate?

 

Mainly Monkey Business

We visited the Monkey Sanctuary in Ubud. There are Macau monkeys wandering freely everywhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ubud also has lots of little shops. Some look like little boutiques. This was outside one of the shops in the morning I saw her starting this amazing arrangement in this Thing that looked like a birdbath.

In the afternoon I saw the finished product.

 

Bali

Today was a transition day from the beach at Denaspar to the mountains in Ubud. Driving a tour bus on the small winding streets with motorcycles everywhere is quite a challenge. There's a spotter on the bus who guides the driver through the narrow streets in between trucks and the sides of the road. Often he jumps off the bus and directs traffic.

It is exciting to sit in the front of the bus to watch this dance. It is a bit disconcerting because they drive on the other side of the street.

Orange and pink roosters.

Ikat weavings

 

A seaside temple

A civet cat who helps to make expensive coffee beans. I can't say more, but if you're curious, Google it.

Offerings. Yes, a cigarette and candy bars!

At day's end.

 

Bali Day #2

Today was not a day about batiks. It was a day about Balinese culture. Believe it or not, it was just as fabulous as the day I spent immersed in Batiks. The spirituality and tributes to their gods are pervasive. We were treated to scenes of village rituals and Balinese Temples and we ate lunch with one of the most breathtaking views I have ever scene. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.