Bali = Heaven!?!?

I love Bali. The people, the culture, the beaches, the jungles, the volcanoes, the music, the art, the dance, the food, the everything, I love it. The people are so incredibly friendly and full of smiles! I've only been here about a day and have much resisted the urge to go surfing! Instead I spent yesterday on the prowl for the greatest designers of jewelry and decor. It's been really really great!

The highlight so far- finding IKAT!!! Upon searching high and low for this very unique textile, finally, I found the ikat king!!! This textile is so beautiful. I have some at home, which become a bag or skirt (I previously wore it here as a traditional sarong for a ceremony). Ikat is a great exotic textile created by hand (and loom).
Here's a little blurb on how it's made from our friends at Wikipedia "Ikats created by dyeing the warp are the easiest to make. Before the warp strings are attached to the loom they are arranged into bundles. Each bundle is tied and dyed separately, so that a pattern will emerge when the loom is set up. This takes a good deal of skill. The tightly bound bundles are sometimes covered with wax or some other material that will keep the dyes from penetrating. The process is repeated several times for additional colors.

Some patterns have many strands in the cloth that are all dyed the same way which creates a blocky design. In some weaving traditions each strand of the cloth may be dyed differently from the ones next to it. To make these elaborate patterns the weaver will still bundle and dye several threads together, but when the loom is prepared, a single thread will be used from each bundle for each section of the pattern. Elaborate ikat patterns like this are often handed down from generation to generation in the same family.

After the threads are dyed the loom is set up. The pattern is visible to the weaver when the dyed threads are used as warp. Threads can be adjusted so that they line up correctly with each other.

Dying the weft makes it much more difficult to make ikats with precise patterns. The weft is one continuous strand that is woven back and forth, so any errors in how the string is tied and dyed are cumulative. Because of this, weft ikats are usually used when the precision of the pattern is not the main concern. Some patterns become transformed by the weaving process into irregular and erratic designs.

Double ikats are the most difficult to produce. In the finest examples from India and Indonesia, the warp and the weft are precisely tied and dyed so that the patterns interlock and reinforce each other when the fabric is woven."

Here are a few pictures of the great ikat I found(just a peek!) and some other snapshots of bali!

Ikat (just an example) Ikat in store will be more vibrant!

Portrait of Kuta, where Bali is alive 24/7. The art, the music, the dance, the Balinese, the surfers and backpackers, the craziness. This is a perfect snapshot of Bali.

Great surf & and great surfing culture in the south!! Many Aussies actually relocated here to go surfing! It's hard to find a room if you don't book in advance because "so many Aussies live here to surf". Travel Advice: Book a room in advance or you'll be sleeping on the beach!

Though parts are extremely developed here.. They are still old school with bottles of Petrol on the side of the road. Absolut Petrol. I found that entertaining!

and now.. off to Ubud, the city richest in Balinese culture! more to come- stay tuned!