Central Bali: Differing Craftsmen From One Town to the Next

We actually started our tour with another cultural dance performance, this one called "The Barong and Kris" Dance. Not as exciting as the Kecak Dance, but fun to watch nonetheless.
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We decided to take a tour of the Balinese countryside.  With our trusty guide Nyoman, we ventured out from the trusty confines of our guesthouse to see the real Bali.

Our tour consisted of crafts.  The Balinese are well known for their crafts.  The interesting thing is that each town seems to have claimed it's own specialty, and in that town you'll find dozens and dozens of artisans all producing the same thing.  For instance, the first town we passed through was known for it's silversmiths.  Nyoman took us to a typical silversmithing factory so we could see the jewerly being made.  It looked like the kind of work that would make you go crosseyed.  There were so many small pieces that have to be fused together.  After touring the factory we were invited to check out the store where their finished products were all on sale.  We weren't interested in any jewelry, but it was fun to look nonetheless.

We think we walked away with a good purchase, but as we were walking away we couldn't help but think, "Did we really want to buy one of these???"

The silvershop, very hot and sweaty inside
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The next stop on our crafting tour was a town known for it's wood carvings.  We found this to be very interesting too, and this time we did walk away with a purchase: a nicely carved Buddha head that will look great on a shelf in our apartment / house, wherever that happens to be.  This was also our first introduction to bargaining, that is, trying to get a lower price that is fair for both the buyer and the seller.  We think we walked away with a good purchase, but as we were walking away we couldn't help but think, "Did we really want to buy one of these???"

One of the silversmiths hard at work
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There were other stps too, including stone carvings and paintings.  You hate to say it, but after awhile it all starts to look the same.  It's all very nice, don't get me wrong, and there's no way that we could produce anything that beautiful.  But everyone wants you to buy from their shop.  We learned to say, "Tidak, terimah kasih" ("no, thank you") which usually stopped the sellers from continuing to ask us if "we like".

Michael and Heather