No Monkey Business

Monkey Forest Road is where all tourists visiting Ubud are directed to. If you are one of the many tourists who zip through Ubud on a day tour, chances are you would have set foot on this shop-lined road. In most cases, that's all you would have seen of Ubud. Most do not even get to visit the Monkey Forest for which the road is named. Now, if you are like HM and hate avaricious food-grabbing monkeys, you're probably thinking that this is no big deal. In fact, if you actually do like these critters, you'd probably prefer Alas Kedaton (more monkeys, I think).


one of the eponymous residents


puh-lease?

I took a morning to walk through this little nook of a forest, while HM was off somewhere for yoga (or was it a spa treatment?) At 10000 Rp (SGD $2), it wasn't cheap by Ubud standards, but the place had its charm, a certain feyness. Moss-covered, it didn't take a lot to imagine Balinese imps and pixies flitting through the leaves. Certainly it was a spiritual place. Within the grounds, there were temples and even a cemetary, but all was quiet the morning I visited. (Two nights later, there was a big ceremony and hordes of people in traditional costume streamed in all night. I would have loved to join in but I wasn't sure if non-Balinese were welcomed.)


god or gremlin?


towering vegetation


pre-mossed architecture


giants from the past?


nature's own highlights


mysterious denizen