Bali was scorching hot—and so are their accessories! Bali has really interesting pieces, but you have to be a good at haggling because the vendors in the Kuta area can really be sneaky in terms of prices. They charge almost 500% higher than that of the real price if they know you are a bule or foreigner. For example, at first they were charging me 105,000 rupiah for a necklace but through a tiring haggling ordeal which culminated in me walking away, they brought it down to its real price.
Sad thing though that I only took home a few pieces and there is only one stock of each design.
One store owner I met was really nice. She thought I was Indonesian so she began talking to me in Bahasa and I feigned attention and interest. When finally she realized I was faking it (you get better bargains if you are a local), she started laughing her heart out. She can speak a bit of English and she gave me her calling card, saying that if I wanted more pieces, she can send me through freight and they can even do designs that I want. Oh well, we’ll see if this first batch of Bali accessories sell like hotcakes, I might take on her offer!
These pieces, made of beads, wood and mother-of-pearl, have really intense colors and are uniquely designed.
