bali: ubud

we went on an excursion with matt and belize to bali, indonesia.

bali is unique in that it is the only island in indonesia that practices hinduism, and religion is interwoven into every part of their beautiful culture. 

every day, our driver {dewa} blessed our car with safety and luck by making an offering and prayer to the gods.

each home and village has its own temple, and little offerings made of rice, flowers, banana leaves, and whatever else are everywhere. 

the balinese people are lovely, and so happy.

we started in the cultural center of bali -- ubud

we spent a morning in the monkey forest, where cute-looking monkeys wait to attack anyone who so much as smells like bananas. they aren't that aggressive, but kind of.
hold a banana up and within seconds a monkey is clamoring up your shirt for a taste.



belize was fearless. i was so impressed.
at one point, she wasn't even holding food and a monkey just jumped on her. matt had to whip out his monopod to get that guy off her!
i designated myself as the baby holder. those monkeys made me nervous.







we asked dewa to take us to buy batik dresses for our little girls, and batik we got!
we watched the fabric being made by hand...

and then sage made some friends.

we spent an afternoon wandering through an artist's home, stone markets, and wood shops.
thanks to nate's negotiations, we hand-carried heavy stone elephant statues home with us.



we spent our mornings hanging out at the villa, then going on adventures.
this day we started at the goa gojah elephant temple...

everyone is required to wear a sarong/skirt at sacred temples. i think nate secretly loved it.