By: Julz.......artist, blogger, photographer, graphic designer October 16, 2017

adventure, Holidays, Photography, traveladventure, Bali, holidays, Lotus Gardens, Monkeys, Our Bali Adventure, Photography, Sacred Monkey Forest, Temples, travel, Ubud

Our Bali Adventure – Day 2

We rose early and went for Breakfast, a lavish buffet of fruits, vegetables, cereals, bread, and of course bacon and eggs. We then wandered the Resort grounds a little more before meeting up with a guide from Buffalo Tours who helped us map out our week in Ubud, as well as our various transfers and tours which had been booked. Very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable, explaining where certain spots were and should be done on certain days, and of course areas that were in the exclusion zone due to volcanic activity. We arranged for a few tours, plus a private driver for two days. We then walked into Ubud proper (we were on the outskirts, where it was lovely and quiet). There were so many people, even though everyone kept telling us it was quiet! There were lots to look at (even more penises), there was a lot of building and reconstruction work happening everywhere as well.

Padlock

There were lots of smaller temples but mostly closed to the public. We visited Pura Taman (water Lotus Temple) right in the heart of Ubud full of wonderful ponds and lotus and had an amazing Nasi Goreng for lunch at the Lotus Cafe.

We visited the Museum, well the outside anyway.

We went to the Ubud Emperor’s Palace, which was mostly under repair

We then went to the Sacred Monkey Forest….interesting fact; the monkeys are only considered sacred while in that forest, outside the forest they are fair game! There are 3 or 4 actual sacred monkey forests in Bali, Ubud is the most tourist-friendly, however, there are lots of monkeys and they are frequently trying to steal food, water and shiny things – sunglasses and jewelry. One monkey tried to steal a bottle of water from Moth, but it was wet with condensation and the monkey could not get a grip! Most tourists buy bananas and feed the monkeys and make them climb up for photos, some panic and get frightened, in turn scaring the monkeys who can bite and scratch. We just hung back and watched. I was loving the babies and Mums, as well as the juveniles playing in the water. They were just like children and would waterbomb the adults when the adults had enough they would slap the children to make them stop. Occasionally a cheeky monkey would push a dry monkey into the water, great fun to watch. There are some very pretty water temples and very old and sacred banyan and nutmeg trees. It was also extremely hot and humid in there, with very little breeze.

The type of monkeys that live in the area of The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary (Monkey Forest Ubud), known as the Balinese long-tailed monkey, in scientific called Macaca fascicularis. In English called a macaque. [read more].

Hot and by now very tired, we walked some of the markets and bought some batik (hand-printed) sarongs, we watched a photographer being bullied by what we assume was a bride and groom, the bride checking the back of the camera after each and every shot. Actually, we saw a few weddings (well we assume they were weddings) during our trip.

Then back to the hotel for a swim. Our resort, much like most of Ubud is full of steps and various tripping hazards. I knew it was on a hill but did not count on so many steps and all are uneven, some small then large, then small again, most are double height and making it awkward and painful to get around. But the pool was heavenly, cool and refreshing. We then went for a rest in our bungalow, followed by a shower before heading out for dinner, in our resort.

Food was a little average, but we spent a pleasant evening watching a tropical rainstorm wash everything clean & then playing with our cameras on the patio. Moth was on the hunt for frogs and lizards brought out by the rain, and I was doing long exposure shots of our pretty pond at night, everything glistening after the rain.