Hindu Temples and Monkeys!

Selamat Pagi! (Good Morning)

This message comes to you from an internet cafe on Poppies Lane 1 in Kuta, Bali. I am sipping a steaming Americano coffee while listening to the sounds of Kuta wake up. Swarms of mopeds zip by while street vendors open their gates and begin to make their sales pitches to the passers by. (sorry the quotations button will not work for me) Good Morning, take a look... special price... you want massage... transport(question mark)... tour(question mark). Haha, I love this keyboard. Even Anders has a question mark sitting next to me; I don t. Or an apostrophe for that matter.
Anyway, while the frantic pace of Kuta is a lot of fun for a while, the five of us were just itching to see a bit more of Bali and thats exactly what weve done for the past few days. On friday we hopped into a van with our driver Dewa (day-wa) and hit the road out of the Denpasar metropolis. We all marveled at the sheer number of scooters used for transportation in Bali and we held our breath each time Dewa would swing out into the passing lane, dodging scooters and tooting his horn to alert oncoming traffic of his pass. Eventually we learned to relax and trust the Balinese road rules which are a bit more... fluid... than American traffic! Our first stop was Tanah Lot, the Hindu Temple on the Sea. At low tide devotees cross the rocks to the island and offer prayers to God. We arrived just as a procession of Pilgrims flowed down the stairs, across the exposed land bridge and onto the Temple rock. Beautiful! We were not dressed properly to join, so we were instead blessed with holy water and received the signs of glory: rice stuck on the forehead and a flower behind the ear.
Our next stop was the Monkey Forest, and yes it is about as crazy as it sounds! As we pulled into the parking lot we noticed Monkeys peppering the environs... poised to grab any scrap we would dispose of. As we made it into the main park area bordering the forest, our guide told us we should by some peanuts to feed to the monkeys and as we rounded the corner, MONKEYS were definitely in attendance! There were hundreds of them all over the place, in trees, on picnic tables, in trees, playing on fences, grooming themselves, or watching over their young. With peanut in hand Anders began the careful process of approaching the masses, attempting to choose a suitable Monkey for his donation... the Monkeys would not wait. With a shrill screech (we are still not sure if it was the monkey or Anders) a Monkey sprung from nowhere onto Anders back, demanding a tribute to allow the passage of us visitors in the realm of the monkey. Anders reacted with a cool calm possessed by few: jumping in a circle and screaming bloody murder. The monkey grabbed. Anders screamed. The Monkey screamed. In the midst of the commotion Benjy reassures, Stay cool, its alright... its alright. Anders retorts, A freaking monkey just attacked me! Are you kidding me! Our guide simply laughed and let us no not to conceal the food, but to present it with an open palm. We all got along marvelously after the rough start, and seeing that many monkeys was truly amazing.

Moving on from the Majestic Monkey Forest, we made it further north into the much cooler, hill country with lush green peaks shrouded in clouds and winding roads overlooking vistas of rice terraces along the hillsides. We visited the Temple on the Lake, Bodugol and took pictures with throngs of visiting school children. Next we saw the Temple of the Royal Family and explored the peaceful gardens bordered by two rivers. Yesterday we hopped into another van and hitched a ride to Denpasar for the 30th annual Bali Arts Festival. The festival was kicked off by a parade showcasing dancing and music from all over Bali in a procession around a large park with a towering Monument to the struggle of the Balinese People during their colonization by the Dutch. The Indonesian President was in attendance. The dancing and music was AMAZING and we heard an instrument that we all agree may be the most beautiful sound we ve ever heard. It consists of varying sizes of very large bamboo suspended like vibes from a frame, played with huge mallets. We have never heard a sound like that before.

Today we plan to hit the waves a bit this morning and then head out to the Denpasar Art Center for Drama, Music, and stories of the Hindu Epics.

Thank you for following our travels on our blog. We miss you all and look forward to updating again very soon!