I Have So Much To Say, But Still No Pictures!

First of all just let me say that I am trying really hard to put some pictures up. I just don't think the computers over here like me very much. After trying for an hour I get too frustrated and just give up. It's too bad because I had a ton of pictures I really wanted to put up. However, you will all be happy to know that my feet are almost back to normal. Ubud is a bit cooler than Kuta, so the first morning that I woke up the swelling had gone down. Yay! Also, my tattoo is healing beautifully.

That's about the best thing I can say about Ubud. It's actually quite boring here. I have seen almost everything there is to see and I still have 2 days here. I'm probably going to be spending them sitting beside my pool because I miss the beach so much. Oh ya, my hotel here has a pool! This hotel is much nicer than my last one, and it's only $5 more a night ($15 in total). They even gave me a towel and toilet paper, so I didn't have to buy any or use my sarong after a shower. However, they still didn't have soap, so I went for a walk on my first night to buy some soap. Now, enter Julia and Chandler. They were riding by as I walking, so I hopped on the bike with them and we rode up to Monkey Forest. Chandler found a cave there that he wanted to show us. It was closed by the time we got there, so we decided to try again the next day. So, we went out to eat instead. The restaurant was beautiful and right on the rice paddies. It was amazing...and full of Geckos. They were crawling everywhere, and it looked like one of them was eating the head of another one...turns out they were just mating. Then we went to another restaurant and had some banana splits. There was a strawberry sauce on it that was amazing!!! Then off to bed.

Breakfast was interesting. My hotel is right across the street from one of the entrances to Monkey Forest. Also, my hotel is a rooftop one, so the monkeys were coming across along the power lines and coming into the breakfast area. It was funny. The view is incredible though. Across the street are a few shops and then directly behind them are rice paddies. As I said my hotel is nice, but they are doing some renovating and I'm sure it is going to look amazing. They work so fast here. When I was in Kuta they were building a new business complex and when I got there you couldn't even tell what it was. By the time I left there was already a store starting to move in. At my hotel here, I can't believe how fast it is coming along. However, I have seen them do some framing here and it seems quite sketchy. Eric would have a heart attack if he knew the requirements and saw the materials.

Anyways, after breakfast I went to Monkey Forest to do a walk through before meeting up with Julia and Chandler. It was very nice. There were 3 temples in there and so many statues. One of the statues was a mother monkey with child and she had her eyes closed and her hand up to her head. I could just imaging her shaking her head out of frustration. I would've loved to have a picture like that for Mother's Day. I think it is very fitting for mothers (mom this is the part where you say "oh no, children are ALWAYS a joy!"). The temples go all the way back to the 15th century. I did see a monkey fight between 4 monkeys (they are macaques...not sure of spelling) and it was quite scary just because they have huge fangs. When it happened I was walking by them, so I ended up right in the middle of it. I was on edge as it was because Julia had been bitten the night before by a monkey that had come up to her and held her hand. It was fun to watch them around all the people though. The moms are so protective. The younger ones are allowed to just run around, but the moms keep the babies very close. In fact, if they get out of reaching distance the moms grab them by their tails and pull them back. I got a video of one particular baby who was trying to get away and the mom was repeatedly pulling him back in. It reminded me of one of those baby harnesses...running when there's slack, and then all of a sudden being whipped back. Funny! It was cute when people got too close because the moms would grab the babies and hold them to their hearts, and then they would turn their backs to all the people or even run away.

After that I met up with Julia and Chandler. He had already taken Julia to the cave, so just I went with him. So, we rode our motorbikes (I rented one that morning) up this path to the top of Monkey Forest. Then we parked them and went through this gate to an area that was off path (did I mention that you aren't supposed to go off path). It was crazy because it happened so fast, but all of a sudden there were swarms of monkeys baring there fangs and running at us. We ran away but they were grabbing at our feet. Luckily a local man came running with his slingshot and chased them away. As he was doing this another came from another direction and charged at us. Chandler jumped behind and grabbed onto me...actually he pinched me. I laughed so hard! He did too later. I grabbed a couple sticks and gave one to Chandler and we decided to keep going so the man took out a mirror and made a path. I wish I had a video of this because it was quite incredible. There were trees all around where we were except for in one are where there was a natural clearing lined by trees on both sides. When he brought out the mirror and flashed the light at them they all moved out of this clearing and it was laid out before us like a grand path. I seriously felt like I was in Rome or something and the mobs were parting the way for us. Anyways, over a couple bridges and down a another natural path that was lined with some sort of flower, and we came to this little cave. It is only wide enough for one person to go in at a time. So, Chandler gave me his headlamp and I went in. It was quite creepy to be honest with you. At the end though there was a little pool and some holes in the rock of the cave where the light came in and shone on the pool. Again, very nice. On the way back we came across a lone monkey sitting by himself and he was very calm until we flashed our sticks at him (silly of us I know) and he got defensive. The fangs came out again and we ran. However, this time we were going uphill and I was only wearing my sandals and kept sliding back down the hill. Again, the local man came and saved us. I gave him some money. He looked so confused, but of course took it.

Then J and C left. They were going back to Kuta and then flying out the next day (today) to Bangkok.

I spent the rest of the day on my scooter driving to the sites. I had to get a scooter because the ones I wanted to see are about 20k out of town. I saw Gunung Kawi which is a cliffside with beautiful carvings of shrines in it. Then off to Tirta Empul (if what I have picked up is correct then this translates into Water Temple). My translation would make sense since it is a spring and a temple that is considered very holy. I have to say now that I didn't get any pictures of these two sites. I left camera on in my bag (on display) and when I got there it was dead. I would just go back and get more pictures if I hadn't got so lost on the way back. Getting lost was okay because I was able to see a lot of the countryside and some more rice paddies and temples, but after 90 minutes I was starting to get a little worried. I ended up just driving in circles around the area where I thought Ubud should be until I saw a sign or a road that I recognized. It worked, but I don't want to chance it again. Also, I already returned the scooter.

That evening I went to the Kecak (pronounced k Chuck) dance that I didn't see at Ulu Watu. They have a pretty good one here. I did get pictures of that but they aren't very good...they move around too much. The dance was beautiful but my favorite part was the music...there wasn't any! There is a chorus of 100 men that make different sounds, and when it all comes together there is a rhythm. When I was there I met Anna from Germany and Melanie from Ottawa. Then I was off to bed.

I got up very early as usual. The problem with getting up early here is that nothing is open. It was the same in Kuta, but I would just go sit on the beach. There isn't a beach here so it's very boring. So, I decided to go for a run this morning. As I was putting on my sock I stumbled backwards and my foot landed on something squishy. I turned around saw a dead bat. I stepped on a bat...a dead bat!!! I was a little relieved though because at first it looked like a giant spider. They cleaned it up while I was running, but I was still a little freaked out when I got back. The staff here are young boys...except for the young girl and the old lady who are doing the construction on the hotel...and they are very nice. They came in and checked around to see if they were any more. Back to the run though...awful idea! I am so out of shape, so dehydrated, and it's so bloody hot here that I got really sick. My stomach was super, painfully cramped and I was about ready to throw up at any second. Bonus though is that I saw another man running and he had a tattoo like I had never seen before. It was a full back piece, but the color and design made it look like it he was wearing a wife beater. The cut of it made it look like that too.

Now for the rest of the day I am going to see a couple sites within walking distance. My burn has turned into a tan now...a pretty dark one...so I am okay walking in the sun. I am going to see Goa Gajah (elephant cave) that was once a Buddhist hermitage. It has bathing pools and fountains. Then some more cliff carvings at Yeh Pulu (this one is 25m long). The last one is Pura Pehataran Sasih. This is an old state temple that has a very large bronze drum in it called the Moon of Pejeng. Tomorrow I will probably spend by the pool and being lazy. On the 13th (it is the 11th here...I am 14 hours ahead in Bali) I was supposed to head up to Lovina, but I switched my ticket this morning to take me back to Kuta. I really miss it there (really weird seeing as how I couldn't wait to get away from there)! I miss the food and the people and the beach and the noise. It is way too quiet and boring elsewhere.

Talk to you again in a few days.

Love love