Next stop was a fabulously lush and winding rice terrace, carved into the hillside. It's amazing how green Bali is! I remember asking Wayan our guide if they ever suffered drought. For a moment he couldn't fathom what I was talking about. Apparently the only times the streams run dry is when "the government is repairing the dams". Lucky them.
As we were leaving, we were accosted by a good natured but extremely aggressive old woman selling batik quilts. When haggling in Bali (and in Accra), I've learned to divide the seller's starting price by three and start from there. She shrieked and swore I was intent on bankrupting her. I loved the way she said "bankrupt", with a flamboyant roll of the "r" and a tear in the corner of her eye. She was very good and I was so taken by her performance I took out one more banknote than I'd planned to. She immediately plucked it out of my hand and tucked it into her blouse, clucking furiously about "good luck" and "wholesale price". I didn't have the energy to ask for it back.
As we were leaving, we were accosted by a good natured but extremely aggressive old woman selling batik quilts. When haggling in Bali (and in Accra), I've learned to divide the seller's starting price by three and start from there. She shrieked and swore I was intent on bankrupting her. I loved the way she said "bankrupt", with a flamboyant roll of the "r" and a tear in the corner of her eye. She was very good and I was so taken by her performance I took out one more banknote than I'd planned to. She immediately plucked it out of my hand and tucked it into her blouse, clucking furiously about "good luck" and "wholesale price". I didn't have the energy to ask for it back.