Bali is known for it's batik fabric, which are colorful repeating prints that have a tye-dye feel to them. I was excited to take a batik making class and learn how the fabric was made. It turned out to be more like silk painting where we made a picture rather than a print, but was fun anyway.
We started with our fabric stretched on a frame, and drew our design in pencil.
Then using special tools, we drew the outline in hot wax on the fabric. Where the wax was, the fabric dye wouldn't be able to get to, and the fabric would stay white.
Once our outlines were done, we filled in the areas with fabric paint using a brush. It was kind of like using water colors. The dyes would spread and combine when they were wet, but show distinct edges if they dried.
The guys used a hairdryer to fully dry the paint before the next step
This is what mine looked like after painting, it's a blue crowned mot-mot, one of my favorite birds from South America.
This is what Shay's looked like after painting was finished. (it's a nudibranch, a sea slug)
The next step was to fully cover some of the painted parts in wax. It was going to be dipped in a really dark blue as the final step, so anything we wanted to keep the painted color instead of the dark blue, we had to wax over. There were two kinds of wax, one that would stay solid, and one that we would crinkle up so crackles of the dark blue would show through onto the color.
Not realizing exactly how the process worked, I had lots of little leaves to cover in wax which took forever. |
And finally it was all dipped in the dark blue. Once the extra dye was rinsed out, the fabric was dipped in boiling water to melt the wax out of the fabric.
Then the full colors were visible. It wasn't exactly what I expected, but we had a fun time making a batik work of art for an afternoon.
Later in the day we got a massage (which was somewhat unremarkable) and had dinner.
On our final day, Shay and I decided to get up early and go do the Campuhan Ridge Walk, which is a well known loop outside of town that takes you through rice paddies and little villages. We set off through a light mist up the street and out of town.
Since so many tourists go on the walk, it was well signed and easy to find.
We headed along the cobblestone path up the hill, which would open up onto the ridge.
It did, and it was a lovely view. Tall grasses and rice fields on either side.
And there was a fun view down into the canyon off the side. We were outside of one of a not small town, but there were no buildings visible through the trees.
Further on we found a rice paddy with rice closer to harvest time. Where mostly they had been a bright green and full of what looked like grass leaves, these ones had a more yellow hue due to the rice grains growing. I may or may not have stolen a rice strand to take home.
We stopped at a little cafe in the little town halfway through, and it had a wonderful view out the back over one of the fields.
There was also a lily pond
rice paddy selfie! |
Very cool shapes and colors, which are not something you find in the States |
As far as I can tell, this is telling you it's okay to be a squid... |
And I finally figured out what the racks of yellow and blue bottles along the side of the road were. Gasoline. People would sell gas outside of their houses, the yellow and blue were just two different gas types. I don't know where they get so many Absolut bottles from, but that was the most common container for the gas.
We saw a couple cute pumps too. You'd hand crank the gas up into the upper chamber which measured it, and then gravity would take it through the hose to your vehicle. I guess when everyone has scooters to get around, and there's a distinct lack of big gas stations out in the rural areas, you have to get gas somehow.
For our last night in Ubud, and in Bali, we decided to have a nice dinner to celebrate. We chose a mid-range restaurant since we were getting close to running out of money. We planned to spend it all that evening, and then pull out just a little more from the ATM to get us back to the airport the next day.
Our table was on the top floor terrace, overlooking the street below. Shay got a mango smoothie, and I had the most wonderful ginger lemonade. Plus they looked classy.
After dinner Keith walked back to the hotel, and Shay and I went off into the thick of the nightlife area to find a drink for our last night. Counting up our cash, we discovered we couldn't afford a cocktail. All the 2x1 drink specials were about 15 IDR more than we had in our pockets. We thought it was pretty funny.
Beers were cheaper, so we found a low-key place with a live band playing and ordered a couple (after asking the tax rate and making sure we'd actually have enough...) The guys playing on stage looked exactly like teenagers that had just come from practice in their garage, but they were great musicians and we enjoyed ourselves.
The product of the last dollars to our name |
Bali was a fun experience and a new experience. We got to experience a radically different culture from our past trips, and logged some more great diving!
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