monkeying around

If you consider the stonework in this area, you'd think frogs would be the big deal. But Ubud surrounds a sacred monkey forest sanctuary, filled with naughty macaques. Macaques that WILL jump up and grab your orange bag while baring their teeth. Ask me how I know.

But to go backwards a little bit, last night we ate dinner in Ubud at a place called Fair Warung Bale, which is part of the fair future foundation. Apparently the man who owns the restaurant runs it to give young people with few opportunities a chance to learn the business, and profits go to securing equipment and supplies for a health clinic that occupies the lower floor. We'd read on Trip Advisor that the food was great, and since we've had good luck here, trusting the reviews, we set out for an early dinner. It was kind of a humid, warm evening, so we got a low table in a corner, jutting out over the street. And the food was really wonderful -- especially the salad Marc got with grilled tuna and feta and fresh tomatoes, dressed in olive oil and vinegar. The tuna was seasoned very well and grilled perfectly, and the whole thing was just so delicious. Makes my mouth water just remembering it. His red curry with chicken wasn't as good as the salad, or as good as my Thai chicken basil (really good), but that salad was so great the rest didn't matter.

not a great photo -- the place was dark -- but YUMMMMMM.

For breakfast this morning we ordered an Indonesian breakfast, black rice pudding. (I forgot to take a picture until I'd had a few bites...) It wasn't all that sweet, and it had fresh banana slices and a bit of milk on top. I really enjoyed it, but Marc wasn't as crazy about it. But it was accompanied by wonderful fruit, bread, and a pitcher of black Balinese coffee, and we had it on our little terrace. Life can be mighty sweet.

beautiful fruit under the yogurt and muesli (L) and Indonesian black rice pudding w bananas (R)

After breakfast we packed our bags (we had to move to a different room here at Alam Jiwa) and took out walking to see the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. I have to say, it was one of my more unusual Mother's Day experiences, spending it in the monkey forest. In Ubud. In Bali.

that's a headstone for a deceased monkey, and two other monkeys grooming nearby

adorable little baby monkeys

monkey chase! 

circle of life, man. baby grooming and waiting graves.

monkey mother's day too!

this is the entrance to the sanctuary

and these guys were trying to steal some food. i think the one on the right was the lookout.

I've had days like that. Splat, flat down on the floor.

When we made it through the forest (after a couple of instances of being chased -- Marc was chased once, and a monkey jumped up on my orange bag once, with bared teeth), we wandered into Ubud to spend some time and try to finish up the shopping. I found some cloth, finally, and we stopped for another of those delicious lemonana drinks: crushed ice, lots of mint and lemon juice and coconut cream and simple syrup, blended to a frothy fresh sweet wonder. I'm going to try to make it when I get home, the combo is just so great. We wandered back through town, back through the monkey forest (another surprise attack on the orange bag which -- not for nothing, you crazy monkeys -- had NO food in it). By the time we reached our hotel we were hot and sweaty, so we changed into our bathing suits to swim and resume the getting-Lori-a-tan-for-once-in-her-life regimen. 

When our new room was ready, we were astounded to see it's a giant house. In an enclosed garden. With a huge bathroom. Seriously, it's crazy big and luxurious. I'm going to take a video of it later, it's unbelievable.

Early in the morning we'll take small bags and the breakfast our hotel provides off to our next adventure. We'll be driven to the coast, put on a speed boat of some kind, dropped off on Lombok, directed to another boat, dropped off on Gili Trawangan, and then driven in a horse-drawn cart to our next hotel where we'll stay a couple of days. Snorkel. Swim. Eat. Our same beautiful routine.

dinner, dancing, and shopping

Last night we ate dinner at Laka-Leke (the name means 'hideaway' partly because it's tucked in the Monkey Forest). One of the main reasons you have dinner there is the evening dance performance at 8pm. The restaurant is owned by the same people who own our beautiful hotel, Alam Jiwa. We had 7pm reservations so we could eat dinner before the dance started -- Marc had an Ubud specialty, crispy duck, and I had nasi campur, which was a plate-smorgasbord of Balinese specialties. Both were really good.

crispy duck with some very spicy condiments

nasi campur -- chicken, green beans, tempe, tofu, chicken satay

The meal was great, and then there was the dancing. The movements are so incredibly stylized, and I kept trying to make my fingers bend backwards and then move quickly, like the women were able to do. The costumes were gorgeous and the music was live, and the story was an ancient one from the Mahabharata, probably. There are several styles of dance; the one we watched was Sendratari Ramayana Classical dance.


The sky was black and filled with stars, and I sat there in a chair, a few yards away from this beautiful Balinese dance being performed for us, next to Marc, and felt such awe. Watching Balinese dancers, in Ubud, in the Monkey Forest, under a Balinese night sky. Simply amazing, in every way. At no point in my life would I ever have thought something like this was waiting for me, could happen for me.

This morning after breakfast on our terrace -- again, banana crepes with lemon and honey and cinnamon -- we ventured back into Ubud to do some shopping. We started at the big market, which is mostly touristy junk except for the produce market buried deep inside:

flower sellers, of course, for the offerings

and veg too, of course

offering packets underway

and more veg

exquisite little flower petals, fragile and beautiful pink

Our main purpose in the big market -- since it catered to tourists -- was to buy a pair of nail clippers. When that was accomplished, we set out into Ubud to do some shopping for souvenirs. I was looking for earrings for Katie and for me, and we were scouting for something special for Marc, which we found at a Tibetan Buddhist shop: a beautiful thangka of Tara. I wish I could post a photo, but the one we bought is tightly wound up in a packing tube. It's bordered by beautiful silk, and hand painted in the center, with gold leaf. Really beautiful. While we were waiting for our car, we sat with the owner of the shop who told us a story of a local man (we think) who suddenly sat down in the middle of the street, hunched over and not speaking. He went to get a friend of his, a visiting Swiss neurologist (we think), who came and poured cold water on the man who suddenly -- like magic -- came to. It was a lot of fun talking to the shop owner, who also had a lovely conversation with Marc about meditation.

A member of the local royal family has died and there will be a huge funeral on the 14th, which we'll sadly miss. Parts of the funeral are private, but then the body (we think) will be carried through town for burial in the cemetery, which is just outside of town (we think). We happened onto a giant tower being constructed, which is part of the procession:

local men constructing the tower -- note the head wrap

this giant tower will be carried through Ubud by 100 men

Too bad we'll miss it, it would be great to see; the shop owner told us that everyone in town will be out. We'll be on a little island nearby, snorkeling or swimming or shopping or eating or relaxing.

Marc is helping me try to get a tan, which I never can seem to do, so we have a systematic lying-by-the-pool daily routine. That's done for the day, so we'll go get something to drink and plan where we'll go for dinner. We keep saying how amazing and special this place is, and how much we want to come back. I keep fantasizing about living here, having a little shop, living in the rhythm of this very special place.

Hi, Bali. Hi.

We left our hotel very early to catch the 7:10 flight to Bali; like our other flights throughout SE Asia, it looked like it was surely going to be late, didn't seem like there was even a plane to board, but then all at once everyone was lined up and boarding and the plane took off exactly on time. It's so funny the way it works, a quick dash. While we were waiting at the airport, Marc went to get me some coffee and came back with a quick-improvised to-go cup. He said the person at the coffee shop didn't have such a thing, and when he explained it the guy smiled and put together something that would work: a plastic cup wrapped in a paper napkin, then slid inside another plastic cup. It worked, and it was so typical of the Javanese people we met: an easygoing willingness to help.

The flight from Java to Bali takes just about an hour, and the scenery is stunning. Western Bali is so mountainous and forested, and the clouds collect around the mountaintops. We saw puffs of smoke coming out of one -- clearly a volcano. As we started making our descent, we saw no land underneath us, and we were so close to the water for a second I thought we were making a water landing of some kind, and then all at once there was the runway. LaGuardia is like that too, but this was so dramatic.

isn't that gorgeous? western Bali

The drive from Denpasar (the capital of Bali) to Ubud takes about 45 minutes, though it took us much longer because of heavy traffic. The airport is under renovation; they are building a giant new terminal to handle all the tourists, I guess, and there were major new roads being constructed in Denpasar. Tourism in Bali is thriving. In fact, that's the reason we weren't too keen to come here. But what a mistake we would've made, to miss Bali. There certainly are places that are thick with tourists, and undoubtedly some of the big places on the southern coast are party central. But Bali is so special, there's just a different feeling in the air even at the airport. It's lush, it's kind of mysterious, it's living inside art. Stone carvings, wood carvings, ikat and batik, every surface embellished and decorated, even the decorations are decorated.

Our hotel, Alam Jiwa, is far and away the most amazing place we have ever stayed. Ever. Out of everywhere we have visited in the world, out of the wonderfully sweet places we've stayed, this beats them all. And our room is only $85/night, and it includes a giant breakfast, afternoon tea, and free taxi service anywhere we wish to go, any time we wish to go. The welcome drink was a delicious smoothie of fresh tropical fruit, easily the best we've ever had. And now, our room. We walk through a wonderful gate, down some stairs, past drooping flowers, over fish ponds, to our giant double doors. Inside, an enormous room, a giant bathroom and a beautiful veranda hanging over a rushing stream, and facing a rice field.

that's the gate we walk through to come down to our little place

These little arrangements of fresh flowers are everywhere -- three in our room

afternoon tea: ginger tea and chocolate cake

beautiful flowers EVERYWHERE

and beautiful vegetation

water is an important part of the landscape

bougainvillea everywhere

the pool

When we arrived, we had a reservation for two nights only. We'd decided to come here and then figure out the rest of our 9-day Bali stay, but after seeing the place we just wanted to stay here the whole time. The hotel owner has a few other properties, all just like this one, including one on a nearby island where the snorkeling is supposed to be good. So we went to the reception desk to see if we could extend our reservation here and book on the little nearby island. WELL.

The man we spoke to was older, in traditional dress with a head wrap and kamben (erroneously called a sarong), and when we explained what he wanted he pulled out a giant and complicated booking log and figured it all out for us. We'll be going to Gili Trawangen in a few days, then returning to Ubud. When we come back, we'll be staying at a different of their properties, and he got this little twinkle in his eye when we asked if it was just as good as this place. He said the people are not nice there, and we took a second to realize he was teasing -- the other place is the original property, and the rooms are smaller. But he said we can just sleep there, just leave our bodies there and keep our spirits and souls here. Come here to swim, to eat, to spend the day, and just sleep there. He was adorable, laughing easily but so smart and quick. When we were leaving for dinner, he was sitting on the steps playing a harmonica. He told Marc that people at a nearby property heard him playing Oh Susannah and ran over to him and gave him $100 to buy a new and better harmonica, because his was from China.

For dinner we got a reservation at the Melting Wok Warung -- apparently a difficult thing to score, especially after 6pm. The driver dropped us off at the steps of the restaurant, which belongs to a Lao man from Vientiane and his French wife. The food was incredible. I had a Thai chicken salad and Marc had prawns, basil and noodles, and our dishes were spicy and complex and some of the best food either of us has ever had. We got desserts too -- creme caramel with coconut sauce for me, and coconut cream crepe with brown sugar for Marc. Amazing. Then they called the hotel for us, and the car picked us up.

Marc's dinner

my dinner

Breakfast on our veranda this morning . . . how many more ways can I say amazing? Two men delivered breakfast to our room, carrying two giant trays of food. Banana crepes (mine with lemon and honey, Marc's with coconut and brown sugar), fresh fruit, dark Balinese coffee, croissants, the sound of the river below and a breeze drifting through the flowers and trees all around us. We have landed in paradise and never want to leave.

banana crepe with lemons and honey and cinnamon

banana crepe with coconut and cinnamon

Today we're exploring Ubud, though the sky is dark and heavy with big black clouds. We are so glad we accidentally came to Bali. And the best part, for me, is that I get it. I understand Bali.