Bali - Day 1

We had an amazing trip to Bali - it was the perfect vacation get-away-from-it-all destination. We knew we wanted to do a lot of sight-seeing (there is only so much pool-side lounging we can do before getting twitchy), so we opted to hire a driver for the week. Best decision ever. Our driver Made (Mah-day) made our trip seamless and very productive.

Our first full day we had some time to kill before checking into our villa (more on that later), so we did a smattering of touristy things for the day. First stop was the batik workshop, where we watched as women applied wax by hand. I have some small experience with batik, and these ladies were amazing.

Next stop was what Made called the "Bali Traditional House." Really, it's just some family's house that is still in the traditional style. They let tourists walk through, and you leave a donation for the family. Many Balinese still lead a traditional lifestyle, in that they live in family compounds (generally three generations), are very connected to community and center their activities on the local temple. Made, for example, said that he, his wife and daughter all live with his parents, his brothers, and their children in one compound. His house isn't exactly like the Bali Traditional House, though - he said their house is "modern modern."

The Bali Traditional House had separate houses for each family to sleep and work,

its own temple area,

lots of chickens

and even a pig!

Last stop of the day before heading to the villa was Turtle Island. This was our cheesy tourist choice of the day. Turtle Island (not really an island) is billed as a sea turtle sanctuary, and may well operate that way, but what we saw was tourist extravaganza with all sorts of animals and lots of souvenirs. I totally LOVED it. I can't help it - how cool are sea turtles??? Here's me with one of my new-found friends.