monkey

During our holiday in Bali, one thing we were quite excited to visit was Pura Luhur Ulu Watu. This is a very important temple in a gorgeous location, perched atop cliffs on the edge of the ocean. The temple itself was lovely, with a lot of intricate carvings. The view from the temple was even better as the clear blue waves crashed on the rocks below. Wonderful!

Sun shining over the ocean

Lovely view

fun carvings

good friends and good views

Ulu Watu Jelfie!

However, the real attraction is not the temple, but the monkeys that live along the coast near the temple. We had been forewarned- the monkeys are mean! They will steal anything.

As we walked along the path we saw monkeys guzzling juice, stealing flip flops off a tourist’s foot, drinking (and dumping out) stolen hand sanitizer, and viciously eating stolen sunglasses.

Guzzling juice

Eating sunglasses

Chugging hand sanitizer

Realizing (correctly) that hand sanitizer is probably not good for eating and instead dumps it out

We kept our hands on our valuables and stayed away from most of the monkeys. And, we admit it, laughed a little bit at the people silly enough not to heed the warnings and get things stolen! Ha!

After an enjoyable time observing the monkeys, we breathed a sigh of relief, and headed back down the path towards the temple, and our car ride home. Oops. Far too soon.

As we were walking back, we started to relax. Izaak put his sunglasses back on his head. Mistake. From out of nowhere (literally, he somehow came from below us, over the edge of the cliff), a monkey appeared and grabbed Izaak’s sunglasses before Eric (who was slightly behind and witnessed the whole theft) could even issue a call of alarm!

We then had the distinct pleasure of watching the monkey examine and then promptly gnaw on the sunglasses, bending the frame irreparably. Now, we have to admit, this was kind of funny, especially as Izaak informed us that the sunglasses were not expensive and relatively easily replaceable. We watched and giggled for awhile, and then left, leaving the sunglasses for lost.

Good bye sunglasses

Izaak posing with the thieving monkey

However, a few minutes later, one the guards (there seemed to be a plethora of guards along the path for exactly this reason), chased after us and handed Izaak his crumpled and tooth-marked glasses. We never did figure out how the guard got them from the monkey!

Izaak posing with his returned but broken sunglasses

So, while we lost a perfectly good pair of sunglasses, we gained an even better story!

We were quite excited to have the opportunity to meet up with one of our old college friends, Phill, in Bali for his birthday. He currently lives in Australia, so we don’t get too see him too often. Therefore, when we heard he was planning a weeklong birthday trip to Bali along with another friend from Sydney at the same time we would be just a few hours by plane away, we shifted our itinerary so we could meet up with them.

What a wonderful holiday it was! Holiday because we had to do neither the planning nor the organizing – Phill took care of it all!

We spent 3 days in Seminyak and the remaining 4 in the lovely town of Ubud. Phill planned Airbnb lodging for us the whole week. All that was left was seven days of fun!

College friends reunited!

While in Seminyak, Phill had his birthday dinner at a Mexican restaurant (of course!) and it was actually quite good. We enjoyed lots of good food and several good drinks… and then a slightly silly walk back to our apartment.

Enjoying Phill’s birthday dinner

Good food

More food

Birthday drink!

A little silly on the walk home

We also did a scenic walk along the beach in Seminyak, did a day trip to the Bukit Peninsula where we enjoyed the Bali version of Mt. Rushmore, several lovely beaches, and an exciting adventure at the Monkey Temple, Ulu Watu. We also experienced a gorgeous Bali sunset.

Walking the beach in Seminyak

Bali’s equivalent of Mt. Rushmore

Lovely beaches

Ulu Watu Monkey Temple

A lovely Bali sunset

Lovely beaches

In Ubud, we saw a traditional dance performance, did an amazing (if super hot) hike above a river valley, and played in a Monkey Forest. We drove through scenic rice terraces, tried Luwak coffee (made from coffee beans eaten and then expelled by civets), and cleansed ourselves in the lovely “spring temple” where cool spring water bubbles up from the earth and then is piped into different pools where you can purify yourself in the water. We visited Big Tree Farm where we learned about how chocolate is made and got to taste almost every step of the process. We went on a day-long search for lingas and found a nice waterfall. And finally, we accidentally participated in a local village temple’s birthday party and Eric got his very first massage!