Candidasa itself is a small fishing village, located entirely along a single road snaking along the coastline. It is a fishing village, home to a number of small guest houses, and a jumping-off point for exploring the surrounding inland villages. Candidasa boasts an impressive number of hotels, restaurants, and tour services. The photo to the left, looking south on the outskirts of town, shows the beautiful palm trees that line the coast. Taken a bit further north, the other shows the distinctive outrigger sailing craft the Balinese use for fishing.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

One of our longer walks took us toward the interior of the island, a 5 kilometer (3 mile) trek up the hills to the village of Tenganan, the home of two cottage industries: tight, hand-woven baskets and the age-old "double ikat" weaving. The pictures taken here are scenes along the way to Tenganan; unfortunately, it was rainy the day we actually walked there, so we have no pictures of Tenganan. The photo to the left was one of the first fields we encountered that was not devoted to rice; you can see that the mountains in eastern Bali extend nearly to the coast. The photo to the right was taken of a road directly leading into one of the many little desas that dot the narrow road to Tenganan.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tenganan specializes in a very unique type of basketry. Tightly woven, the baskets are firm and rich in texture and detail. After they are woven the baskets are then smoked to give them their distinctive color. We risked a monsoon downpour to hike the five kilometers up the mountain to barter for a variety of baskets. Actually, we purchased some in Candidasa, and sought the more unusual baskets at their source, in Tenganan. The photo at left shows a sampling of the baskets we had upon our return to the Water Garden bungalow. We left them outside, as they still reeked of smoke. (Tracy's sister Alex will tell you that takes years to go away, but our fingers are crossed...) The photo at the right shows one of the shops nearer Candidasa wherein Tracy had the fun of bargaining for the purchase of still a few more baskets.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Of course hiking and shopping (at least in the little villages) is primarily a daytime activity. What about the evenings? Candidasa is (fortunately?) not out to rival Kuta for nightlife, but has enough going on. For instance, one night we splurged and went to the Serai, an upscale hotel for a fabulous, if somewhat expensive (at least by Bali standards) meal, while the other two nights we ate at TJ's, the more-than-adequate restaurant at The Water Garden (the photo to the left shows us at TJ's). The last night we strolled down the road until we found some live music at a nearby bar: Five musicians reading the lyrics to American songs off a well-worn mimeographed lyrics book. It was a priceless performance, as the band showed great inventiveness with regard to the lyrics. And they did EVERYTHING--, well, from Dire Straits to Billy Ray Cyrus, anyway! The highlight (not only for me, but for the whole bar, judging by the applause) was when Tracy joined them onstage, leading the band through a rendition of "Angel from Montgomery." I captured a clip for the American Music Awards (Best performance by an American singer with an Indonesian band) and you can see it for yourself below.
 

We departed from Candidasa and headed to Nusa Dua, our last stop in Bali. The weather finally caught up with us, and we were not able to photograph the pretty bungalow on the beach where we stayed at Putri Bali. However, enroute, we stopped at Jimbaran Bay, a popular seafood haunt close to Nusa Dua. We dined on grilled lobster and crab, and watched the sights. Although there weren't many tourists there, the local fisherman were out in full force, both those using nets from the shore and those in the outriggers. The photo at the left shows the view of Jimbaran Bay, while theo the photo to the right shows a shore fisherman snagging his catch.