Amed

Our first stop this morning was at Tenganan Village, one of Bali's oldest villages. Citizens are not allowed to marry outside of the village; if one does, he or she is no longer allowed to live in the village. All citizens are created equal, both men and women, and there are no social classes. The village takes care of it's citizens, providing food and shelter, so there are incentives to marry and stay.

On our way to our next destination, our car had to come to a complete stop as there was a processional for a temple ritual for another village. Each village has their own temple and unique rituals - the citizens for this particular village were in the middle of walking 5 miles or so. Uphill. In the middle of the day. Wearing fancy clothing (with the requisite flip flops, of course). Some were carrying things on their heads, others were playing instruments. And the entire village just shut down...not sure if that could ever happen back home. We're guessing no.

Once we were finally able to pass the processional, after a good half hour or so, we went to Tirta Gangga, the Water Temple - easily our favorite. The grounds were so beautiful, with ponds and lush greenery.

Originally a bathing and resting spot for the king in the 1950's, there is still a pool where people can swim.

In the afternoon, we headed over to Amed, a small fishing village with some coral reefs right off the shore. We all rented some snorkeling gear and dove in - there was some great coral but mixed in with the colorful fish and rocks was so much trash. :/ The infrastructure is, well, non-existent so people either burn their trash or just throw it on the side of the road. When it rains, the trash ends up in the ocean - we were told they clean it up about once a month, but it's pointless during the rainy season.

We headed over to our little hotel, had some dinner, and called it a night.