This morning I packed up, checked out and went to the travel agent. I told him I wasn't very happy with the driver yesterday, because he wasn't really a guide and his English was poor and complained about all the admissions I had to pay for the sites, when I thought it should have been included, because on the other tours it is. He reimbursed me for my expensive and apologized. Then I booked a return flight to Lombok Island for Thursday and two nights in a hotel there. Plus I booked a scooter for the next four days. All of which cost me 1,554,000 Indonesian rupees, or $183! I left my big bag here with Alvin and just took a few things in my daypack.
Set out on the scooter, found the highway and promptly made a wrong turn, that set me back about a half hour. Nothing here is marked clearly and traffic is somewhat unnerving. There are vehicles coming at you from all directions almost all of the time. Got sorted out and continued in the right direction. Shortly thereafter I got pulled over by a policeman on a scooter. He told me I had made an illegal stop because I had stopped in front of a white line. Another cop showed up too and after checking my International driver's license, they told me I would get a fine of 200,000 rupees ($23). Then the second cop left. So, as the first one was about to write up the ticket and was asking my name, I told him that he should be nice to tourists, and forgive my one little mistake. I told him I was lost and trying to find my way to Ubud. He kept saying 200,000, I told him that was too much money for a silly mistake. So, he asked my how much I wanted to pay! At that point I thought it was a payoff, rather than a ticket. So, I told him it wasn't fair and he should be a nice guy and let me go... and he did! I talked my way out of the ticket!
Finally made it to Ubud about an hour later. The first thing I found was a large central market, that congested, dirty and full of small shops selling all manner of touristy things. Then I went looking for the Mandela Wisata Wenara Wana, or the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, and after some confusion I found it. I spent a couple of hours there watching the antics of a large number of macaques. They are considered sacred monkeys and have the run of the small forest. They have no fear of humans and will take food from your hands, and climb up you to get food that you might have in your pocket or backpack. One climbed up my leg twice trying to get my water bottle out of my pocket. I watched them grooming, nursing young, swimming and playing in a pool, one examining a dead toad, a couple of others rolling rocks on the concrete sidewalk as if they were trying to grind something, and running around chasing each other. It was a very entertaining visit.
After that I decided to get a room for the night. I had seen a sign for “Nick's Homestay” that intrigued me because it said you stayed inside an authentic Balinese complex. So, I checked it out and discovered it was a hostel in what used to be a Balinese temple. It's really cool and a room only cost me $27 with a hot breakfast included and free wi-fi.
After asking the guys here a few questions I decided to go buy a ticket for another cultural dance and to take another ride on the scooter out of town to the rural area and see some terraced rice paddies. The ride was really nice and the countryside was very lush and beautiful. It was interesting to see the people working in the fields and going about there business in the villages away from all the touristy stuff. I took several side roads, that were full of twists and turns and up and down hills. I found some of the paddies but not what I thought I should have found. But I had to turn around and go back because it was getting late and the sun was going to set soon and I had a theatre ticket. I got turned around going back and it took me awhile to find the main road again, but I did it by a different route. Unfortunately somewhere along the way I lost my new sunglasses, they fell of my shirt.
When I finally made it back to Ubud, I parked near the theatre, walked around a bit, found a restaurant and had dinner and then went to the theatre. The dance was interesting, very stylized, with pretty women and beautiful costumes, with lots of hand and face movements. Then I went back to Nick's for the night to blog and read.
those monkeys look down right scary
ReplyDeleteSomeone told me the driving in Bali is down right scary. She said it isn't
ReplyDeleteunusual to see a family of five on a motorcycle with bamboo and groceries!
I asked " worse than Rome? " she said yes. Yikes!!