Balinese Adventures - Monkeys, Elephants, and Palm Readers....Oh My!

What an amazing time we had in Bali!!  We stayed in Ubud (which is toward the central eastern part of the island) for eight nights.  Rather than staying in a hotel or hostel, we opted to go the homestay route.  Before our trip, I had never heard of a homestay. It's a great way to meet local people, learn a bit more about the culture, and make the visit a bit more memorable.  We stayed at the Rumah Roda Homestay in Ubud (another recommendation from Lonely Planet). In Balinese culture, families have large dwellings that can accommodate multiple members of an extended family.  The homestay we stayed at has a new guest house for visitors that includes about eight or ten rooms.  Some rooms have small kitchenettes, and others are just basic rooms with a bed, bathroom and wardrobe.  There was no air conditioning, but thank goodness for the ceiling fan!  Most of the windows had shutters, but no screens.  All the beds were draped with mosquito nets (thank goodness...they kept not only the mosquitoes out, but the geckos away at night, too!).  We had a lovely time meeting members of the Balinese family that we stayed with, which made our trip to Bali even more memorable!

In front of our room at our Rumah Roda Homestay in Ubud, Bali.  The wood carvings all over Bali were beautiful!

Many entrances to each family home are guarded by lion statues; they're supposed to help ward off any evil spirits that may want to enter the compound.

There are many temples in Bali, all with beautiful stone carvings like the one above.  Right in the heart of Ubud!

Pots of beautifully displayed flowers floating in water can also be found in many places.  We saw them most in the entrances to homes and businesses. 

A visit to the Monkey Forest in Ubud.  Picture this: Marc, Catherine, Guillaume and I have just bought our tickets to walk through the forest to see the monkeys. Just before we begin, Catherine informs us to be extra cautious around the monkeys; some have been discoverd to have rabies in recent time.  As we enter, Catherine opens her backpack to put something away, but unknowingly attracts the attention of one or two monkeys.  One of the monkeys latches on to Catherine's backpack and, in attempts to get it off, she begins to swing it around.  Luckily, the monkey releases the bag and is chased away by another monkey who, we find out soon enough, is also interested in her camera and bottle of water she has in her hand.  The monkey jumps up to grab it, but is unsuccessful; instead, it grabs on to her skirt, and in my mind, is going to crawl up and bite her at any moment.  Fortunately, Guillaume and Marc chase it away, and all is well...for them.  I have, at this point, decided I would rather wait for them at a coffee shop than walk through the Monkey Forest.  They say that animals can sense fear....well, I would have been drenched in it, which probably would have attracted a similar incident happening to me, but ending with a trip to the hospital from a rabid monkey bite, ultimately forcing us to cancel our trip.  (I later realized that my imagination can run wild when I'm the slightest bit scared.)  Better to be safe than sorry, right?!  ;) A few days later, I overcame my fears and went back to visit the monkeys.  It was a good visit.  :)

How could these monkeys be so scary, you ask?!  Believe me, they're not as innocent as they look.  :)

The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary is actually a pretty cool place to visit.  The Holy Monkey Temples were built during the mid-14th century.  Monkeys are very important in Balinese culture, and can be seen throughout the island in their sculptures, famous dances, masks, and other parts of life.  The monkeys that live in Monkey Forest are Balinese macaques; aside from humans, these monkeys are the most widespread and successful of all primates (according to the handout we read when we bought our tickets). 

A field that Guillaume, Catherine and Marc walked through on a hike one morning. 

We had one beach day while in Bali which was complete with snorkeling!  The hour long swim was great up until the very end....when the jellyfish moved in!  Luckily, the jellyfish that stung us were pretty small, but unfortunately left many sting marks all over our bodies.  The stings, which resembled clumps of 5-10 mosquito bites each, disappeared by the end of the day. 

Sanur Beach!

We found Balinese food to be a bit tastier than the Javanese fare.  After a few days of an upset stomach for Guillaume, and an increasingly upset stomach for me, we tended to stick with ordering the same food: Mei Goreng (fried noodles and veggies for me), plain rice and another vegetable concoction for Guillaume, and fresh fruit drinks to wash it down.  Not bad!  We actually lucked out - there was a small restaurant at our homestay that served good, but very cheap, food.  As you can guess, we dined there quite often.  Mei Gorgeng = $1.50 USD; fresh banana smoothie = $1.25 USD.

We were lucky enough to be in Bali for their most important religious holiday, Galungan.  Comparable to Christmas, Galungan celebrations last for 10 days, and happen every 210 days; during this time, the gods and ancestors come back to earth, and when they leave, they take with them their family members who have deceased in the past year. Picture above: similar to Christmas trees at Christmas time, a tall bamboo pole decorated with woven young coconut leaves, fruit, cakes and flowers, are placed on the right side of every house entrance to welcome the living and the dead. New outfits are bought to celebrate this special day, which is sometimes the only new outfit that is purchased until the next year's celebrations. 

One of the many festivities that took place during our visit to Ubud, all for Galungan.  Above: a procession from one village temple to another, about 5 km apart.  The women and men carry offerings to the gods. 

Religious statues, carvings and decorations can be found everywhere in Bali! 

We rented a car for two days, heading to the beach one day, and exploring other parts of Bali the next day.  Driving in Bali is a bit crazy, but Marc did a wonderful job!!! 

Rice paddy fields everywhere!

This snail was huge!  Pictures don`t do it justice.  :)

Thinking it'd be kind of fun to have my palm read by a medicine man (it just seems like something you should do while in Bali), I made a visit to the tourist centre to get some information.  The man behind the desk showed me on a map of Ubud where I could find Ketut Liyer, the local medicine man.  I asked if he was the same one from Elizabeth Gilbert's 'Eat, Pray, Love' book & movie, and the guy smiled and said yes (as if rolling his eyes and thinking, 'Oh, you're another tourist who's on a pilgramage to see Ketut...hoping he'll tell you something inspiring').  I actually had no idea that Ketut lived in Ubud...it was a total surprise!  Picture above: Catherine and Guillaume waiting for our sessions.

Ketut, who claims he is 99 years old, is a bit senile, forgettful, and gets distracted quite easily.  Nonetheless, he's just as friendy and charming as I imagined him while reading the book and watching the movie (although it's an actor that plays Ketut in the movie).  He basically said the same thing to Guillaume, Catherine and I: that we'll live to 100 years, be very successful, that we have good health, and we'll each only have one marriage. He said specifically to me that I will have one or two children, and am sometimes impatient (he sure hit the dot on the last one!).  He told Guillaume that he should shave (to look like Ketut), and not to be naughty because sometimes it makes his wife mad! (haha!)  When we left, he even said 'See you later, alligator'!  :) 

Every day, a member of each family puts one little basket of offerings out to the gods and little creatures of the household, which usually consists of a bit of rice, flowers, crackers, and other food.  They say that if even the little creatures of the house are happy, everyone is happy! Picture above: a plethora of offering baskets!

A trip to Bali isn`t complete without an elephant safari! 

After our 30 minute elephant ride, we were able to feed the elephants, take a walk around the sanctuary, see a 10 minute show put on by a few of the elephants and elephant keepers, and enjoy a nice buffet lunch.

These endangered Sumatran Elephants are rescued from the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, train with their specially matched keeper for two years, then make the journey to the park in Taro, Bali, Indonesia.  They're the rarest breed of elephant in the world.  The park has won international awards, and greets thousands of visitors each year, many of whom are famous (like David Beckham, David Copperfield, Julia Roberts, Calvin Klein, and more!).

Shrines like this can be seen at the entrance to most family compounds in Bali.  Picture above: shrine decorated for Galungan. 

On our last day in Bali (February 1st), we were lucky enough to share a traditional Balinese meal with our homestay family and a few other guests.  This meal is prepared a few days in advance, and served on Galungan to the many family members who come back home to visit their elders on that special day. With the exception of fermented rice (which made me gag), the food was delicious!   

As you can see, we had an absolutely wonderful trip to Bali!  It was so special to share this part of our trip with Catherine and Marc.  So many wonderful memories!!!  

Looking forward to some more comments!  :)

Stay tuned for our next blog highlighting our time back in Malaysia.  Guillaume and I will soon depart for two weeks in Vietnam, and then we're off to hike in Nepal!  The time sure is flying by...and we're having a blast!