Chapter 16: Safe in Bali, heading to NZ

Bali Postcard
Bali has been great - we are in UBUD in the mountains, great scenery etc. Just a quick message to say we are safe after yesterdays earthquake, just heard on the radio.
We decided to take a pass on the beaches of Bali and head for a different Bali experience. And we would heartily recommend it! Ubud is a quite place in the center of the mountains, the artistic center of the island. Here, the villages that surround this little town, each has a speciality - wood carving, bone carving, batik, painting .. the list is endless. We saw all the stuff that ends up in the Northern Hemisphere stores - furniture, christmas ornaments, bamboo table mats - being made. If only we were returning straight back from here!!!!!
But as exciting as the arts and crafts are the local people, the culture, the respect, the religion. We were there for Easter weekend which coincided with a number of Bali Hindu celebrations. As you will see from the photos, the streets were filled with beautiful women in beautiful sarongs carrying these amazing offerings on their heads!
And we were lucky enoough to see a paddy field being harvested, took walking tours through the fields in the village where we stayed to see the temples .. There is still so much to tell!