Monkey Madness and Bali by Bike

 " We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end the the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." - Jawaharial Nehru

Jakarta was my original destination for the long weekend. However, my travel buddy had recently been to Jakarta and wasn't in the mood to repeat the same destination, instead we agreed on Bali. So I found myself on a Friday night touching down on the famous island looking forward to a much anticipated good time. What greeted me? Chaos, complete and utter chaos. First, we had to get in line to make our visa payment (25USD), after that it was a good long 45 minute wait to get through customs. When we finally managed to get our bags we had to merge into a blob of tourists fighting their way to the bag check stations - there were only two stations for hundreds of people which made the wait quite intense and stressful. Finally, we made our mad dash for the door! The beaches, rice terraces, and delicious food of Bali awaited us! The mood fell as rapidly as it rose. There was only one official taxi station for the entire airport which meant a fourth queue of around 30 minutes. Taxi drivers lolled nearby offering us tantalizing deals so that we wouldn't have to wait., but we knew better. Going through the official taxi station was safer and also much cheaper. While regular taxi drivers were offering to drive us to Ubud (around and hour and a half away) for 50USD, the official taxi station did it for half that price which made the wait well worth it. Unfortunately, the drive to Ubud was rather uneventful; it was late and the road was sparsely lit making it difficult to see much of the scenery outside the taxi windows. The road seemed to grow increasingly narrow as we distanced ourselves from the bustle of busy Denpasar; I caught glimpses of rice fields bathed in moonlight, ominous palm tree forests rising in the distance, and the occasional leering statue from temples by the roadside. Close to midnight we pulled into sleepy and quiet Ubud. The air was a fresh mixture of cow dung and grass and I took a big breath as I descended from the taxi. I could feel natural surroundings embracing me on all sides. I couldn't wait to see what Bali had to offer the next day!

The following morning, the first order of business was the procurement of a motorbike. This part was easy, at the cheap price of around 7USD per day (yes, I said PER DAY) the bike was a bargain. Now, if you are ever in Bali and decide to rent a motorbike to see the island, there is one very important thing to remember; be sure to bring a REALLY good bad driver. What is a good bad driver you may be wondering? The opposite of a good good driver, of course! I am a good good driver which means that I follow the rules, signal when I pass, don't drive at oncoming traffic, and generally try to behave very courteously towards other drivers. A good good driver is essentially useless in Bali and may quite possibly just end up getting you killed. A good bad driver, on the other hand, has no regard for anyone else on the road, never signals, drives at oncoming traffic and only swerves at the very last minute, and generally drives like a maniac. With a good bad driver you will have many close brushes with death, but you will come out the other side quite alive and without a scratch. Good bad drivers can be found in Thailand, India, Mexico, and of course Indonesia. :) I brought my very own Indian good bad driver which meant that I was set for an exciting day of motorbiking.

Our first stop was the famous Monkey Forest. This is a natural park/ forest where you can hang out with wild monkeys and even feed them! But be careful because these little guys are mastermind thieves; a lesson I learned quite quickly when, after purchasing 2USD worth of bananas and paying my entrance ticket (also 2USD) I was holding the bananas in my right hand as I read aloud the brochure the ticket guy had given me. Suddenly I felt something latch onto my arm and startled I let go of the entire bunch of bananas and turned and watched in awe as a monkey dashed off into the forest hauling his bananas with him. Wily monkey! I purchased another bunch of bananas and stored them in my backpack only holding one in my hand at a time. At first I was rather scared to hold the banana out and allow the monkeys to take it from my hand. I wasted two or three just throwing them half hazard in the direction of innocent monkeys out for their morning stroll and minding their own business. Breakfast was falling from the sky for them! Finally, I gathered my courage and picking out a tiny and harmless monkey I decided I would entice him to climb up to my arm to get a banana from my hand. I held the banana in my right hand high above my head and waited. In the blink of an eye a big dude of a monkey spotted the banana and made a beeline straight for me. I held my ground. He clambered straight up and perched happily on my shoulder, leaned his furry monkey paws casually on my hat as if he were hanging out at a local bar, and happily partook of the banana. Mission completed! Once the bananas were all gone and I had had my fill of frolicking monkeys, we headed out.




Our next stop (maneuvering the whole while through the terrifying Ubud traffic) was the Goa Gajah temple in Ubud. Bali is 90% Hindu so this temple featured (of course) a Hindu temple but also a Buddhist temple. It was necessary to purchase a sarong in order to look more modest prior to entering the temple grounds.

 We decided that we wanted to see an even more impressive temple so we opted for a  trek to Besakih, the highest temple in Bali. This is where the trip started to get really interesting. Being ignorant tourists, we had to stop frequently and ask for directions from local Balinese. Balinese are famous for being friendly which is something that proved true throughout the trip as we constantly had people asking us (even pulling up beside us on their own motorbikes to inquire) where we were trying to go. I think this mainly had to do with the fact that they would ride up behind our motorbike and see my scrawny, pasty white arms and legs flailing out in every direction and they would assume I was in dire need of some sort of assistance. Only once did someone give us wrong directions. Everyone we spoke to always knew which way we should go, the real problem became their strange inability to judge distance. The first person we asked told us Besakih was 40 km away - this seemed far but still doable-, but 10 minutes later when we stopped to double check, we were told it was 15km away. Hmmmm strange. Either we were traveling at lightning fast speed or something was going terribly awry. After riding for around and hour, we asked a police officer how far it was. "3km." Was his confident answer. Thirty minutes later I began to realize that this was turning out to be the longest 3km ever. However, it was somehow difficult to be bothered by this, mostly because the scenery was so beautiful that we were both occupied with just drinking it in. We saw rice terraces stacking up in green so vibrant it made our eyes ache, and we were awed by the stupendous presence of Danau Batur - one of the dormant volcanoes of Bali which features and enormous and exquisite crater lake by its side. The open fields gave way to forests as we rode up into the mountains. The air became chilly and nipped at our rosy cheeks.
And finally we saw Besakih rising up before us. The entire journey had taken us nearly two hours! It was beautiful temple made of ancient stone. There were statues surrounding the steps leading up to the temple and they were all wrapped in one of three colors: red, black, or white. According to one young gentleman who was helping us as a guide, these represented three elements: wind, rain, and fire. The temple was beautiful and definitely worth the drive.

 Heading back to Ubud the sun was starting to grow lower in the distance which made for a gorgeous view. Oranges and reds streaked the sky over endless fields of rice. The day ended with an hour long massage at a place in Ubud called The Magic Finger. It was deliciously relaxing and only 15USD for and hour! My first day in Bali seemed to me to be a resounding success! :)