indonesia

Getting over my fear of monkeys

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Ubud, Bali, Indonesia: things are getting scary

We are dropped off at the bus stop in Ubud and start walking towards our hostel, In Da Lodge. Turns out it’s like 2 kms away, mostly up a steep hill. When we finally find it, we drop our stuff and immediately head to the Monkey Forest. Back in India, I was kinda attacked by a monkey, and ever since then, I have had a fear of the little bastards.

Right as we step into the monkey forest with our bananas, the bigger monkeys start chasing us. I am panicking and basically giving all my food away immediately, walking around with my hands up to show the monkeys that I don’t have any food left. As if that would help. A few monkeys in the trees drop down to land on Pete’s backpack and try to claw their way into it – they can probably smell the peanuts he has in there. We quietly walk around, watch monkeys have sex, and lure the smaller monkeys in with our shiny bracelets. One of the monkeys is really into Pete’s arm jewelry, and tries to eat it.

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Getting motorboated by a monkey. Check.

The next day, we go on a tandem quad safari out in the rice fields. Pete’s driving and he’s not holding back, of course. Much of the trip, we’re rolling down muddy hills and getting stuck, and every time I am pushed back into the metal frame on the back of the quad, leaving me with a massive black bruise on my butt cheek. Afterwards, we go to a waterfall, which Pete drags me under just so I can say I swam under one. I am forever grateful.

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On a whim, we decide to get on the ferry to Gili Trawangan the next day, so goodbye to boring Ubud. While Pete is running around, trying to find an ATM in the rain, I am drinking some Aga white wine. Because who needs that kind of stress?

Just kinda sorta OK in Kuta

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Kuta, Bali, Indonesia: I have sand everywhere and I’m surnburnt. But I’m in friggin’ Bali!

Getting to Bali is a nightmare. We are travelling from Siem Reap to Kuala Lumpur, and then to Bali. When we finally arrive, after two delays, we can’t find our luggage, and when we finally do, it’s just mine, since Air Asia has lost Pete’s. That doesn’t put us in a particularly good mood, but that’s what it is. We get a prepaid taxi around 1:00 AM and on a Friday night, the traffic is kinda hectic. We finally arrive at Kayun Hostel Downtown though, and I have to pay the driver an additional amount of money – why I don’t know, but I don’t care at this point. Our check in takes even longer, since the receptionist forgets to heck the both of us in, so we just get to our room when we are called back to pay some more. Grumpy and tired, we both pass out.

The following day, Pete is really keen on going surfing or snorkelling. Problem is, that other than the fact that I am reluctant to, it’s super windy. We go to the beach and check it out: there’s garbage everywhere, and since the sun’s not out, there’s no point hanging out here. We have awesome lunch at The Balcony and then chill out at the hostel, watching movies until dinnertime. We go to a bar and I have a hookah with white wine instead of water and I get super smashed. Time to pull the tactical chunder.

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We then go for dinner/partying at Skygarden, which is super awkward at first. It’s just Pete and I, being kinda sober and doing our weird dances. Eventually, some of our hostel mates show up, and the party instantly brightens up. After the rest head to another bar, I go watch the end of Horrible Bosses 2 at the hostel and then get some sleep.

The day after, we go to The Balcony for breakfast and then head to the beach. The sun is out today, and locals are cleaning up trash on the beach, so everything’s looking much nicer today. While Pete encourages me to get surfing lessons, I am content just watching for now. It’s amusing to watch all these people be that shitty at it. Pete rents a board for himself and I decide to just tan a bit to even out my weird tanlines from the outfit I was wearing yesterday.

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About an hour later, we’re done beaching for the day (mostly because I’m turning incredibly red) and go back to the hostel and look into getting to Ubud tomorrow. Then we go get sushi at a Japanese restaurant, and we eat a lot. So much, we pass out for 3 hours afterwards. Then, we go out to buy some sounverirs; Pete buys an Indian headdress, and I just take pictures of dreamcatchers.

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Back at the hostel, we fool around with the Indian headdress and hang out with some of the guys, while watching an Indiana Jones movie.

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Stole this picture from Lauren, oops!

Afterwards, we go to Fat Chow and have some awesome food and then get back to the hostel to drink some beers. Then I end up at my computer doing practical stuff instead of going out. Which is why I’m writing this right now.

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