From Ubud, Bali to Senggigi, Lombok

After a week in Kuta we headed North, away from the beach and into the mountains of Ubud. Ubud is a tiny little town that rests right in the jungle and rice paddies of Bali. The town is as cute as can be with little shops,  restaraunts, and bars snaking through the streets and a monkey temple in the middle of it all. Now this is one experience that  Brett left out of our Kuta trip, the excursion to Uluwatu to see the monkey temple. Since there was one in Ubud as well I figured I could give an insight on what exactly a "monkey temple" is like. Well, it's pretty basic, a temple with a shit load of monkeys running around everywhere. As the tourist you are guests walking into their terrority so you must abide by THEIR rules or else! No worries it isn't that scary but these monkeys are pretty aggressive, wanting to take whatever you have dangling, hanging, or holding for their own.Up until this point we have been very lucky throughout our travels not to encounter any thieves until we arrived at the monkey temple. In Uluwatu, the monkey's are the most aggressive so you are suggested to leave sunglasses, earrings, backpacks, and anything else that would be easy for a monkey to grab. We bought bananas and the minute we stepped into the arena we were surrounded, and let me say it is very intimidating to have a monkey coming running at you with a determined look in his eyes, he was going to get those damn bananas out of your hands no matter what. It was hard to last long with a stack of bananas without being forced to surrender all of your "treats" to the monkey who wouldn't freaking leave you alone! Both temples I had my water bottle snatched out of my hand and quickly consumed. We did witness a monkey jump all over this one woman who wore a hat, glasses, and a back pack into the park. She was freaking out (we couldn't help but laugh) and when the monkey was unsuccessful at stealing her hat or glasses he proceeding to try to take her shoe off while she was standing on it! Geeze, you've got to give them credit, they stop at nothing! Brett had one monkey on his head eating all his bananas, sorry I couldn't get a picture in time but I think you can imagine :) The monkey's behaviors are funny to watch and see their interaction with one another, fighting over babies, bananas, and a lot of other nasty "monkey business."

We left our furry friends knowing we had gotten our monkey fix with thankfully no bites or scratches.  We had rented a motorbike and cruised around the hillside, getting incredible pictures. One thing I can say is that Trip Advisor has pretty much been a savior on our trip, listing great things to do that the "touristy" Lonely Planet doesn't even speak of. So we got a recommendation to go the Suri Organik restaurant for dinner. You can drive only so far and then you have to take the rest of the way by foot. Which was no problem because we were walking through beautiful rice paddies on a small stone pathway with the sun setting around us. The colors were so beautiful and very different from the sunsets we had been seeing for the last week on the beach. We arrived at our destination just before nightfall and had a great meal of all organic foods where the vegetables were freshly picked from the local garden. Now it was pretty much pitch black when we left and we had a walk ahead of us with no flash light. Well not to worry, fire flies will guide your way back! This was our first for fire flies and it was pretty much the icing on the cake and a euphoric feeling and very unforgettable. Although I was once again sucked dry by the "blood suckers" and itching compulsively the whole night.

The next day we headed to Lombok to stay in Senggigi. My wonderful mother had gotten us a deal at the Sheraton hotel so we knew we were in store for a couple days of luxury. Lombok is a beautiful island and our hotel was located right on the beach with a beautiful pool, sunset bar, and exercise room (thank god)! Surf was pretty much non existent by our hotel so we decided to rent a car (Uko 3) and drive down to Kuta beach (yes there is a Kuta in Lombok). Well, I need to say that the maps in Indonesia are absolutely the worst and pretty much worthless. We were lost for about 2 hours on a drive that only should take 1 1/2 hours it took us 3 1/2 hours. Kuta beach was beautiful but there was no surf near where we were. Just a lot of huts and back packer hotels. We spent a little time and headed back, finally making it back in the right amount of time. The biggest priority of our trip in Senggigi was to complete a dare that our good buddy Taylor Carnes had given us. It was for me to climb up a palm tree as far as I could go, chug a beer, while Brett played the guitar below and this had to be photographed. Oddly enough palm trees have been difficult to come by (there are pretty much none on the Gili's) and they are pretty impossible to climb, so we scoped out the beach, found a palm tree that I could climb a good way up and still keep balance while drinking a beer. We snagged a guy from the beach and had him take a bunch of photos. Thanks Taylor for the creative and awesome dare, it was fun and a challenge!!

 

Kuta Beach

                                                                 Senggigi Beach

                                                                        Dare #6
Brett and I are now in the Gili Islands on an island called Trawangan. It is Thanksgiving today and unfortauntely won't be spending it eating delicious turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce but rather some grilled fish and rice! We are very thankful for our family and friends. This trip of a lifetime could have not have been possible without the help, support, and love of our friends and families so we are forever thankful and very appreciative. We wish everyone a happy and yummy Thanksgiving and we look forward to seeing you all soon.

Much Love,

Brooke