Eat, Pray, Love, Laugh - Bali, Day 2

The next morning, we woke refreshed and ready to go.  After a great breakfast in which Aliana thoroughly enjoyed her second of many breakfast banana smoothies, 

our guide, Dewa, who my mom found through recommendations of friends, picked us up in his car (with a/c!), for tour.  We saw the beautiful rice terraces-

The Tallalangal Rice Terraces

Aliana gets ready for the hike.

and then Dewa took us on a hike through some rice paddies to his own village of Keliki (where the scene where Julia Roberts is biking through the rice paddies took place) and showed us around and even to his own house.  

rice a few months away from being ready for harvest

Some of the happy villagers of Keliki

They were collecting insects to eat using glue on the ends of long sticks.

Bees for their village

the 'vacuum cleaner' ducks that eat the insects off the rice paddies

the boys who take care of the ducks

Dewa showed us some of the work the boys in his village were doing to practice patience and focus.

the beautiful artwork of one of the boys.

Aliana was more interested in the birds

Dewa told us all about the Balinese culture and how everything relates to balance and how at all times one must be connected with God, with others and with nature.  He also told us that when they were shooting Eat, Pray, Love in Ubud and had to close down the main road for the filming and everything that people didn’t really know who Julia Roberts was (and still don’t).  He said they mainly listen to the radio in their village and that only on Saturday nights they’ll watch tv- he said their favorite show is Mr. Bean, because “he makes our teeth dry”.  (from smiling so much).  

Aliana makes new friends

Dewa's wife and two boys.

Dewa explaining some things about his village

Everyone smiles so much here- Dewa said that’s how they say hello and goodbye- with smiles- there are no real words for hello and goodbye in their language. 

We then had a fabulous Indonesian lunch and then it was a stop at a supermarket and a pharmacy- (Aliana woke up with a swollen bite on her ankle today- we think it’s a spider bite) and then home.  Aliana did great today- she slept in the car between stops and spent the late afternoon in the pool with Mike while the afternoon rainshower poured over them.  I laid down in one of the covered beds by the pool and listened to the rain.  

the walk back to our room