"Factories" in Bali

After my morning spent shopping for batiks, I'm interested in going to a batik factory.  I had asked to do this when I made arrangements for the driver, but it wasn't quite what I expected.  I know Hoffman and some of the other big US quilt fabric companies have their factories nearby, but from my google searches I couldn't identify their exact locations.  When I requested stopping at a batik factory, I thought we would go to one of those.  But "factory" in Bali turns out to be a place where a shop will provide a small demonstration, then bring you to their store.

Applying the wax before dying the fabric.

Our first experience with this is at the batik place.  There are a few women applying wax on the fabric.  It's a detailed process!  But they don't have any of the dye vats going, so you can't really see the entire technique.  They also don't have anyone there who actually describes the procedure to you.  There's just a panel to look at, and no one really answers my questions (sigh).  I already have a basic idea of how it works, but I did want to see my favorite type of fabric being made.

Panel that kind of demonstrates the batik dying process.

Visiting the "factories" isn't a total loss - we're told repeatedly while we're in Bali that they are the best places to buy a particular item.  Between Denpasar and Ubud there are different villages that specialize in different artworks, and their factories carry a larger variety of items than what they ship out to stores in Ubud or the world.  In the batik factory shop Steve looks at the Hawaiian style batik shirts, but decides not to get one (but does find one later in the week - but it did take awhile to find it).  I primarily buy batik fabric for quilting, so I don't purchase any clothes.

Steve's colorful cocktail

After my disappointing trip to the batik "factory," our driver, Nyoman, finds us a nice restaurant for lunch.  A cocktail made with some of the local liquor helps me to quickly recover (along with remembering all the pretty fabrics I purchased that morning).





There's a coffee and spice plantation nearby (Teba Sari), so we stop there next.  It's also set up for tourists, so we're not really out looking at coffee fields (or however the coffee plants are grown - we didn't get to see them en masse).  But they have a nice presentation set up so you can see various plants and herbs growing, like ginseng and lemongrass, along with what they look like after harvest.  Then they allow you to have a complimentary tasting of about 16 different coffees, teas and hot chocolate.  We're not big tea drinkers, so we ask to skip them.  They have a nice arrangement - you have a private table and an English speaking server explaining everything to you.  Much better than at the batik factory!

Cute and cuddly luwak

One of the highlights of our visit is spending $5 so we can try a cup of what we've been seeing on all the signs - Luwak coffee.  Luwak isn't a type of plant, but an animal.  They eat  the coffee beans, then poop them out, whole.  Next the beans have three layers removed so only the kernel is left, which never touches the digestive system of the animal.  In that case, why does eating it make the bean taste better??  But this is supposed to make some of the best coffee in the world.  (I have heard about this with a type of elephant, but not with luwaks.)  It cost about $100 for a pound of coffee, so we're curious to see if it really tastes that good. 

A basket of luwak poop

Our attendant, making our luwak coffee

It takes almost 10 minutes to brew the cup, so that has to help the taste!  It's served with a stick of cinnamon, but it doesn't influence the flavor.  It's good, but I don't feel the need to buy a bag of it.  The question that keeps lingering in my mind is who thought of taking the poop and making coffee from it?

Is that cinnamon or dried poop hanging out of the mug?

We're on a roll at this point so we stop at the woodworking factory next.  Here we're able to get a much more thorough description of the woods used and the carving technique (maybe the guide just speaks better English than at the batik place).  She comments that each person has his/her own style, and I can see that when I look at the merchandise later - the pieces are all unique.  I'm tempted to buy a block that almost looks like a quilt square, but it's too complex to be made out of the local woods like hibiscus (it has to be a hard wood like mahogany) so I don't get it.  Steve finds a figure made out of the local crocodile wood and we get that as a souvenir. 

We decide to visit one last factory - the silver (jewelry) one.  This is where I end up getting my souvenir!  Than after a full day of running around and shopping we're ready to return to our room and our pool so we can cool off!

Poop coffee breath!