Ubud (pronounced ooobood) is apparently the cultural heart of Bali, which is why I chose to come here first instead of heading straight to the beach resorts. I wanted to try and find out a little bit about Bali and the Balinese people before I relaxed and emptied my mind completely. I'm not sure how authentic this place is any more, but it is certainly a feast for the senses. I was woken by the most incredible dawn chorus of birds, reptiles, insects, mammals and god knows what else all competing to make the most absurd sound. It was incredible - and all day the sights, sounds and smells of Ubud have kept me very occupied. The Balinese people are very religious (or so it seems to an outsider like me). They have temples and shrines everywhere and make offerings in every possible place. Every house, shrine, temple, shop, cafe, motorbike, car etc is covered with delicate, beautiful and colourful offerings - most of which also have incense burning (I did see some with cigarettes also). This makes walking through the streets of Ubud an wonderful sensory experience.
Early this morning I headed for the Sacred Monkey Forest on the advice of my driver last night who warned me to go early before the monkeys got "mean". I think he meant meaner - as they certainly are not as cute as the photos would have you believe - they frisk anyone who comes to close, making off with their possessions (sunglasses are a favourite) and I even saw one woman get bitten. So it was with some intrepidation that I made my way into the forest, after telling the nice woman on the gate that no, I did not want to purchase any monkey bait (a big bunch of over-ripe bananas). But I soon forgot my worries inside this beautiful place and lost myself in the temples, sculptures and monkeys.
I also found some interesting monkey sculptures:
More to follow.....
they scared me as well!
ReplyDelete