Bali, part 2
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| Uluwatu at sunset |
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| The views of the cliffs alone are worth the trip |
Be careful when visiting! Monkeys who live near the temple like to steal tourists' food and even their belongings; I've been told they will give up stolen property for bananas. But peanuts are their favorite, although the monkeys supposedly get very aggressive when it comes to nuts. While I was there a monkey took my bottle of Gatorade and drank it!
While exploring the Bukit peninsula I came across several luxurious hotel resort compounds complete with their own fences and security. It can be cheaper though for Australians, who represent a large proportion of foreign tourists, to travel to Bali and stay in a resort than it is to vacation back home in Australia! You see a large range of Aussies here, from vacationing middle age couples, to young backpackers, to surfers, to expats who never ended up leaving.
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| A resort on the Bukit Peninsula: check out more photos here! |
By the time I left the peninsula and drove through afternoon Denpasar traffic the sun was already going down. Thankfully I picked the correct road and made it to Ubud in darkness. The first guesthouse I checked out looked more like a temple; stone sculptures and fountains decorated the courtyard, the wooden guestroom doors were ornately carved, and next to the rooms were shrines with incense to honor ancestors. All that and a private room and shower for 15 bucks - I'll take it!
At night walking through central Ubud it was easy to see it was much different than Kuta. There certainly were tourists, but few bars and no clubs in sight. Cafes, art shops, temples, and guesthouses lined the narrow streets. I passed two temples which had cultural shows ongoing; locals were performing classic dances and playing Hindu music. Even some of the residents going about their normal business wore elaborate traditional dress, making for an authentic feel despite the tourism.
The next morning I took another walk around town, to the market and Ubud palace, still home to a local royal family. I also visited the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, a dense patch of forest with three temples and lots of "grey-haired and greedy long-tailed Balinese macaques who are nothing like the innocent looking doe-eyed monkeys on the brochures (Lonely Planet)." They are more numerous than the monkeys at Ulu Watu and go bananas (haha) for tourists with food; just don't antagonize them! Several monkeys were banging rocks on the sidewalk, and curious, I stood for a few minutes observing to see if I could figure out why. Apparently one didn't take kindly to me watching - or maybe I was too close - and he charged at me. I had to jump out of the way and get the hell out of there!
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| entrance to a palace in Ubud |
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| The Monkey Forest |
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| The name is a pretty good fit. |
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| Like at Uluwatu, be careful! |
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| The market in central Ubud |
It would have been nice to stay in Ubud longer, but I only had two more days left and hadn't yet experienced the nightlife scene. So that afternoon I drove back to Kuta, first stopping at an abandoned black sand beach east of Denpasar - it is surprising how you can still get away from other tourists considering how popular the island is.
That evening I checked into a different hostel. This one was just north of Kuta in Seminyak, closer to the beach but far away from the bars. Again it was hard to find, but had a better crowd, and I met a few people to go out with. After drinks at the hostel we took a cab south to Kuta and settled on a club called Sky Garden. The place had three stories of bars and dance floors and was crowded with mostly foreigners. Overall not a crazy night but better than the night in the first hostel!
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| rooftop scene at Sky Garden |
Two Indonesian friends who I had first met in Jakarta were on their way to Bali for vacation the following night, and they wanted to go to Sky Bar. One of the girls goes to Bali several times a year, and apparently this place was new, so she wanted to check it out. Her advice: "It doesn't matter where you go out the other nights, but just don't go to Sky Bar because we will go there on Friday." So of course I ended up in Sky Bar on Thursday night!
On the way back to our hostel I shared a cab with one of the English guys I went there with; we were firm negotiators on the price and were rejected by more than ten cabs but finally got a good deal. Then the guy proceeded to pick up two more tourists and drop them off first! I guess that's what we get for being cheap; well I'd just call it not wanting to get ripped off! Despite the detour we made it back fine.
On Friday I slept in and went to the beach with a few people from the hostel. We cut through this amazing hotel to get to the beach, and nobody seemed to mind. Then we took a dip in the pool at the nearby Potato Head Beach Club. This was, no doubt about it, an upscale resort; supposedly groups were required to spend at least $50 to use the facilities, but we walked right in, spent nothing, enjoyed the sunset from the pool / bar, and no one said a word. Living it up on a budget!
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| The ocean-side pool bar at Mr Potato Head |
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| Outside the W, a hotel we crossed through to get to the beach. |
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| The lobby was just a bit nicer than our hostel! |
My friends' flight was delayed two hours and they didn't get in till midnight, but they were ready to go out nonetheless. I met up with them at their hotel, much more conveniently located in central Kuta, and we went out to Sky Bar (I didn't mention that I had already been there the night before!).
Too lazy to go back to my hostel, I crashed at their hotel. I couldn't be completely lazy and sleep in because I had to make my way though crazy Kuta traffic back to the hostel to check out. Once I showered and packed my things it was back to the Indonesians' hotel, where I dropped off my luggage. One of the girls had a cousin living in Bali, and she drove us to a beach on the southern peninsula. The sand and water weren't nearly as nice as Kuta, but the view of the seaside cliffs made the trip worthwhile.
The drive took over 45 minutes, so I could only stay at the beach for half an hour before heading back to the hotel. Thankfully the girl's cousin dropped me off near the hotel - I did not want to get stuck with a 45 minute taxi ride! I picked up my luggage and got a ride in the hotel van to the airport, where I had to say goodbye to Indonesia. My SE Asia trip may have been ending, but I wasn't done traveling just yet...
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