The jungle itself was absolutely beautiful: tall trees, long vines, shady, and just very exotic feeling. The monkeys, however, were terrifying. They were so aggressive, and unpredictable. After exploring the monkey temple, deep in the jungle, as well as marveling a really old stone bridge, we stopped to watch some monkeys diving into a small pond. This was actually really funny and cute...like little gremlins they would climb up a nearby branch and then head dive into the small pond. There were also lots of baby monkeys around. Some of the babies were teeny tiny, and they would "cling" to the bottom of their mother, father, or even a stranger-adult's belly to get around (adorable). As I was watching the monkeys diving, a mid-sized monkey actually climbed on me. While I was excited because I knew I didn't have any bananas, I didn't know why it was on me! It turns out that it wanted the yellow flower that was in my hair. Once it plucked the flower in my hair, it tried to eat it. When it realized that it couldn't eat the flower, it one by one pulled each of the petals off of it. Tons of other tourists were staring at me. I was really uncomfortable to be "that girl" that had the monkey on her. One person told me that I didn't "even want to know what it was doing..." I thought that it was peeing on me, but it turns out that it was just scratching its balls (phew!)
At the second, and final, monkey temple that we went to, there was an Australian dad playing with a baby monkey and entertaining his 3 year old daughter. When the monkey climbed off of him, I put my hand down so that it would climb on me. I gave my camera to Annie so that she could take some cute pictures. It played with me for a little, and then started tugging at my dress again. I slowly moved away, and the monkey got a little scared (I don't know why still) and it ran up to me and nipped my ankle! I was bit by a monkey! By a baby monkey!!! No blood was drawn- it just grazed the surface, but then there was a little bit of blood. I asked some of the staff if the monkeys had rabies and they said "No." Annie and I then went to a clinic in the monkey forest where a man cleaned out the cut and put a band-aid on it. When I asked him if I was going to get rabies or AIDS, he laughed and replied, "monkey here no disease...every year Australian and American doctors come and test monkey!" I felt a little bit better, but still nervous. Annie and I left the forest and then did some retail therapy. (I was not feeling particularly delighted). On the street, I ran into an American couple from Cincinatti who I'd seen playing with the monkeys earlier in the forest. I told them what happened, and they said that they wouldn't worry if the bite wasn't deep (and it wasn't). The wife told me that she was a little bit concerned because one of the monkeys had put its hand in her mouth.
Back at our homestay, I showed the nip and explained what happened to Wayan, the dad there. He was not concerned because it was not deep, and he said that the staff at the forest are well trained. I was very thankful that I had a rabies booster shot before coming to SE Asia, and I'm also relieved that by the end of the day I felt that I didn't need to get the second shot. I also emailed my Balinese friend from college who's parents were doctors here. They said that the monkeys in Bali are actually pretty clean, unlike American wild monkeys. Who knew!
Hilariously at the Monkey Forest, many parents had brought their children and babies. Wouldn't it be fun to see the monkeys?! Wrong. There was not a child in site who was not bawling.
If you go to the Sacred Monkey Forest in Bali, be warned!!!
The most beautiful tropical fruit plate I have ever eaten!
Like I said, flower in my hair. Everyday in Bali
Banana dough-y pancakes with the most delicious "syrup"
sauce, and hot tea. Every morning as well :)
Beautiful flowers in their home
Me and Annie!
Do you like my new dress?
Aiyu and me
Our suh-weet ride to the monkey forest
Annie. So cute
A sign pointing towards both Ubud and Denpasar :)
My first monkey experience. Like idiots, Annie and
I bought bananas at the entrance.
Monkey
The monkey was cut out of this picture haha
Baby monkey and Momma monkey!
The monkeys were soo aggressive. They stampeded
down the walkways. It was actually very scary.
A baby monkey riding on the back of a parent monkey
("Monkeying" around!)
Monkey eating
We tried to get lots of pictures with the monkeys
but we were always anxious around them because
they were so aggressive!
This monkey had found a perch on a tree and was eating
So many monkeys eating lots of fruits
This baby monkey was so teeny tiny
Do I look nervous? Because I was. These
monkeys were crazy!!!
This monkey had a water bottle. Cute, but it
reminded me of a little gremlin!
Me again
I like this one!
This girl had two monkeys climbing all over her
Monkey sitting in on a freaky statue
Monkeys pruning each other!
It's really crazy...these are our ancestors!
I was nervous when this picture was being taken
The forest itself was beautiful!!!
SO BEAUTIFUL!!!
My favorite bridge...so mystical!
This temple was gorgeous
Monkey see, monkey do
Some very scary statues outside one of the temples
A very cool vine
Beautiful carvings!!! (The temples were built in the 14th century)
Bali Jungle!
A very lovely, exotic bridge
Me on the bridge!
A monkey eating something.
This was pretty hilarious: Monkeys swimming and
jumping off of tree branches into the water like little gremlins!
This monkey saw the flower in my hair...
Then climbed on me to pick the flower...
Then tried to eat the flower (and was very disappointed)
I was nervous
But also excited!
There is a monkey sitting on my shoulder!
It tickled
A momma and baby monkey
This little girl was the only child I saw who was
genuinely not afraid or crying...yet
One of the monkey temples
This man looked hilarious. I'm so glad that I got a
picture of him, his walking stick (which actually would
have come in pretty handy to beat off aggressive monkeys)
and some monkeys. Everyone's just chilling!
Statues outside one of the temples. I like the snail!
A baby monkey playing with the flower petals
from a Hindu offering hehe
Monkey Temple
This picture is really scary...on both ends!
The Australian dad entertaining his daughter with a
monkey on his head.
But then it BIT ME!
This is a sad picture. Me, at the clinic.
Getting the cut cleaned out.
Then Annie and I went shopping:
Beautiful flowers in a vase on the sidewalk :)
LOOK at this one...
Simply stunning
A hot magenta python bag that I loved.
I ended up getting a different black one with chains!
A gorgeous backless dress with "back jewelry."
I had no idea how fabulous Bali shopping would be.
Before I come back next time, I need to save my money!
An ancient statue with a flower on it :)
Images like this is how I will always remember Bali.
The Palace in Ubud
A different gorgeous temple.
Me! I rode shotty. One of the best parts of the day
was just cruising around in this cool convertible with
our young Indonesian driver, and listening to
hilarious Western hits from the mid 2000's.
There he is! Lookin cool ;)
The beautiful drive home from Ubud --> Taman Village
Indonesian flag and a man on a scooter
On the drive to the village, we passed a cremation ceremony.
Everyone was wearing white, special sashes, and sashes on their heads.
Almost home at the village!
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