My apologies in advance but this will be a post packed with photos (as will my other Bali posts). Day 1 followed a restful sleep broken at dawn. My wife primped and started her day by making offerings to the Hindu goods. Seriously, she went to the spa and was shown how to make the local offering of Canang sari. You find these everywhere in Bali: cars, sidewalks, cafes, stores. A wonderful thing to see everywhere you go.


Making Canang sari


Canang sari

I met up with here afterwards for some breakfast at our resort restaurant overlooking a rice patty. As you can tell, the staff take great pride in the food they make. Service was just as spectacular as the food. Each meal featured multiple courses.

Muesli (Her)


Yogurt (Me)


Strawberry Pancakes (Me)


Omelet (Her)


Bread and Spread (Us)

Our next goal was to catch the 12:00pm resort shuttle into downtown Ubud . Seeing that we had a little time to kill, we took the Spa up on their offer of a free 15 minute massage. My wife chose head and neck while I went with feet and legs. We then headed to the lobby to turn our key into the front desk and await our (pre-reserved) ride into town.

My original plan was to rent a motorbike. Typical charge is $4-$7 a day plus petro. The resort had one on offer but after experiencing the ride into town I decide against it. We were about 7k out of town but the roads were tight, narrow, and confusing. Four wheels would be under us at all times for the duration of our stay.

Arriving into the center of Ubud, the drop off point was the Ubud Palace, official residence of the royal family when in town. It served as the hub for the whole town and is where most resort/hotel shuttles drop off and pick up (All shuttles I saw were small vans, Toyota Lenova for our resort).



Ubud Palace

Thankfully for my wife, there was a Starbucks within 50' of the drop zone. What was really cool was that said establishment's courtyard lead out to a really cool Hindu Temple.


'Bucks


Saraswati Temple


The Temple Gardens


Saraswati Long Shot

We made our way back outside and headed directly towards ground zero for shopping mayhem: Monkey Forest Road. Ubud reminded me of a larger Mykonos Town, with it's labyrinth of alleys. It would be easy to get lost in it's side streets and shopping stalls if you didn't have the general flow down. There were all sorts of commercial entities, ranging from stalls hocking tchotchkes, or overflowing with sarongs and tee shirts, to statue stores and high end jewelry joints. There were a ton of tour and excursions stands and money changers, often a hybrid of both. Mixed in were restaurants and legit spas for leg or full body work. For 100,000 rupiah you could get a 1 hour full body massage (I'll save you the Google. It's $7).

So down and in and out of Monkey Forest Road we went, my wife touching every sarong as we went. We stopped at a wonderful place to eat about halfway down (pretty sure we were less than $12, all in, for lunch). This is for you, foodies:


Cafe Wayan


People Who Can Read Menu


Picture Menu


Hers


His

Post-lunch, we continued down the road. Shopping, browsing, people gazing (mostly me while she shopped and browsed). PSA for those planning a trip to Ubud: Strollers, wheelchairs, crutches, etc are a bad idea. The sidewalks are dubious and narrow.

Surrounded by the maze of shops, restaurants, spas, and excursioneers was the beautiful oasis of an occupied football pitch.



Footy

Reaching the bottom of the Monkey Forest Road, you are optioned with continuing to the left or, well, the Monkey Forest. A small admission of around $3 per is required.


Us


Guidelines


Entrance Sign


Warning


Monkey Forest Map


Sitting


Hand Jive


Speak No Evil


Drinking Monkey


Monkey In Profile


Young Monkey


Monkey King


Old Man

Monkey Forest Bridge


We were pretty wiped at this point and headed to the parking lot where we were able to take a free shuttle back up Monkey Forest Road to our shuttle pick up point (we had reserved a 6:30pm pick up). It was a nice relaxing trip in an open air bus that saved us from having to walk up hill. It was a full day and was surprised with the hustle and bustle of Ubud. I had pictured a sleepy village a few wind chime shops. I was quite wrong.

Next Chapter: A little Yoga, A Little Water, and A Little Swinging