In Reply to: Funniest shopping encounter? posted by QTpie on Friday, 10. August 2007 at 09:41 Bali Time:
We hired a van & driver hubby, myself, my mum, dad & 16 yr old brother. We did all the usual things when one 1st goes to Bali...the FULL program, Barong dances, Wood carvers, Celuk for silver, Ubud artists & Batik then Kintamani for lunch & Goa gajah, monkey Forrest on the way back. It all started outside the dancing our first stop. Waiting in the van while my poor Mum had to use what she still describes as the worse hole in the ground toilet ever my little brother started talking to the wood sellers out one of the windows. We'd been warned by my aunt ( our travel agent) that the lightweight wood was not not to come back to OZ but he didn't realise once you start asking prices they really think you are going to but it. Dad looked at this Buddha felt the light weight & said no to the guy. As poor mum came back from the ladies surrounded by about 20 sellers all grabbing at her to buy we laughed our heads off at the sight of her. We made a quick getaway so that they didn't all try to get in the van with us. But guess what a little way up the road there was tooting and waving from a motorbike next to us . It was the wood seller & he had a bigger Buddha to show us. Anyway this saga of the wood seller on his motorbike continued all the way to Kintamani somehow ( & we still don't know how he managed it must have had wood carving friends all over the island relaying more Buddhas to him) each time we saw him the Buddha was bigger. When we came out from lunch the Buddha he had was about 3 feet tall. To this day we laugh about the ever growing Buddhas & always remember don't ask for the price if you don't want to buy it.