One thing I love to do when traveling to a new-to-me country is to visit the local markets. This gives me the local perspective that I love to learn about.

The first thing I noticed was the prevalence of offering baskets (aka canang sari) that are everywhere! Canang sari is one of the daily offerings made by Balinese Hindus offer the canang sari daily to honor and pray to the all-in-one-god, whom they call Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa. Canang sari are seen everywhere - on the ground, on steps, on the beach, in temples (pura), in small shrines, and in markets - and typically contain flowers, incense, small trinkets and food.

At the start of our temples tour, we stopped at a local market in Denpasar. Fascinating! We walked through the open air shops and took in all the colors and, ahem, smells. The markets were full of fish for sale, eggs, flowers for the offering baskets, soda bags, colorful scarves and more.

Do you know what a soda bag is? I didn't! The vendor will pour a drink from a bottle into a plastic bag and tie the top around a straw, and then keep the bottle for himself. Everything is used here for multiple purposes. For example, Absolut vodka bottles are used to store Petrol on the side of the road for motorbike drivers to buy and quickly refuel.

Jimbaran Fish Market in Denpasar was a great stop. This is a local joint, for sure. Our guide kept telling us that it wasn't fancy and we responded each and every time "great! that's what we want". And that is what we got. Fish of all shapes, colors and sizes were caught that morning and kept on ice in tiny stalls. We were the only Westerners anywhere nearby and am not sure how we would have fared if we had to buy something. Luckily, we had planned to visit the Ganesha Puduk Cafe on the beach for lunch. We selected white snapper and prawns from the fresh catch displayed out front and ate our handpicked delicious grilled seafood right on the beach, with our feet in the sand and a view of all the fishing boats.

And last but not least, street food is a major part of everyday life in Bali. There are food carts built on top of bicycles or motorbikes that traverse the local streets all day and night. The drivers/cooks pop into the local markets for ingredients and immediately get to work. In certain neighborhoods, the food carts gather like food trucks in America to sell their delights.