We got up a drove the short distance into the middle of Ubud. The street was blocked at one point and the locals had gathered for a celebration. Women were dressed up in costume and there was a marching band, etc. It was a nice thing to stumble upon.
We then went to Threads of Life. It is run by an amazing couple. It is both a business and a foundation. The foundation works with villagers to reclaim the traditional methods of weaving and dying. It is a very scholarly pursuit. The business side then sells the weavings. The villagers receive much more money because textiles done with natural dyes and traditional designs fetch far more money. The head of the foundation spent hours with us taking through the history of Indonesian textiles showing us many examples. It was extremely educational. The designs are different from island to island, tribe to tribe. We purchased a very nice wall hanging.
The group then went to lunch. I skipped out and went for a 45 minute foot massage! After lunch we went to the conservatory / research center of the Threads of Life Foundation. More textiles / more explanations. We then went to a few more shops.
We returned to the hotel and had a drink. On to dinner. One of the things we were wondering about at dinner was that we are in the middle of a jungle, it is very damp and humid and there are very few mosquitoes or bugs. You eat and drink outside in Bali. The owner explained that she plants lemon grass and other plants that keep the bugs away naturally.
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