Bali Break - 3

Monkey Forest Road, Ubud

We moved up into central Ubud, to the "Jati 3 Bungalows".

The view from our front door:

The last place (Kamandhani Cottage) was hard to find down an inconspicuous dirt track, this one much more so. You can't actually bring 4-wheeled vehicles in here. There is a sign on Monkey Forest Road:

So then you turn into that little cement alley-way ...

... and you walk and walk ...

... about 100 m, and here is this amazing little place!

We're actually staying in a family room, meant for four, because it's even bigger and airier than the other rooms. and has lovely big windows on two sides looking out over the jungle/someone's banana plantation.

Our lovely big room, with two big double beds ...

And a lovely big balcony.

It doesn't have a restaurant - but then there is a street-ful of restaurants down the way.

There is a pleasant breakfast room/area ... but the breakfasts are very limited (a little man brings a tray with plates of rice and egg and a cup of tea/coffee from somewhere ) and rather regrettable.

As with the last place, the people are very religious, and the various deities are well looked after.

This Ganesh-creature (who Blogger has for some reason turned on his side) gets a full serving of everything, including a little banana-leaf plate of rice and a little drink.

 Others just have fresh flowers poked here and there every day, and of course they ll have the modesty drape. (Yeah, thanks Mr Google for lying my pic on its side ...)

There is even a shrine of some sort that gets attended to every day right outside our door.

And EVERYWHERE there are these little palm-leaf trays with a joss-stick and little offerings for ... whoever. We are constantly having to step over and around them.

Art Musem

We wandered through town to have a look at the Art Museum (one of several, I think).

There was a nice garden,  of course ...

... and a pretty pond.

We looked at painting s and carvings from by-gone eras, and more recent ones.

There was a certain similarity about them, regardless of when they were created.

Demons, death, pain ... not sure if they were meant to depict life, or death ... but none of it was happy or good.

They were all artistically clever, many of them incredibly complex.

Then there were some carvings too.

This lady has obviously done way too much yoga ...

Eating and Shopping

The main street here - Monkey Forest Road - is one-way, narrow, and crowded. The side-walks almost have enough room for two people.

With the breakfasts here being not worth staying for, and a couple of other meals a day to find, we have tried a few different restaurants. Mostly they are very pleasant places - cool, open, nice seating - eager staff - and the food is all fairly cheap, and beautifully presented on the plates. But ... not all of it has been nice to eat.

 

But we have found ourselves returning to this one several times. Like many of the restaurants, it seems to have accommodation attached as well - "Cinta: Grill. Inn" as it says. And most of them seem to have swimming pools as well.

There is also a market area, of course. I decided to try and buy one or two batik handbags ...

Of course there was all the usual cute but useless stuff.

There was the usual 'hard sell' everywhere we went. "How much do you want to pay for it?"- I find that annoying, and rarely feel like giving a genuine answer - why can't they just put a price on things?

And then after all the haggling is over and they have come as low as they seem willing, when I walk away because I have just decided I don't want it after all they get really upset because they say they will have 'bad luck' and they would rather practically give it to me rather than have me walk away.

Moving On ...
Tomorrow we are moving on to Candidasa Beach