This post is example of just one - Bali - the typical tourist destination, that happened to coincide with some work-related travel. As I'm not much of a beach person, I decided to head to the hills and go to Ubud.
Bali is a majority Hindu island, and the only remaining one in the entire archipelago - and the amount of devotion to their religion is impressive. For example, everything closed early, not so that people could get rest, but rather, that they had time to go home, change, and go to the temple. There were hundreds if not thousands of temples, each adorned with gold, and elaborate carvings, and most were actually entirely closed to tourists - a welcome relief vs. other touristic places that aim to monetize every last square meter of space.
People were very kind and friendly, even as they tried charging you 20-100X the price of items (we were advised to start bargaining at 20% of asked price). That said, it's clear that there is a lot of talent on the island - wood/stone carvings, batik clothing, painting, and music were all plentiful and of high quality. Entire villages were devoted to the perfection of one craft [e.g. the gamelan village - where all they made were gamelans, which can be considered as oddly-tuned brass xylophones]
On the topic of gamelans, I'd been interested in them since childhood and was delighted to see how they were made, and live performances featuring them. Pictures don't tell the story, and the attached YouTube clip can.
The land itself was quite beautiful with terraced rice fields, green from eye to eye, and an active volcano in the north of the island.
The food was quite good, especially the Balinese sambal matah - which is a lemongrass and shallot-based sauce that is extremely addictive.
Overall, a great trip, and will probably be back soon.
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