Bali Bible: Day Four

Day four of this Bali trip was probably my favourite day of exploration, because this was the day that we decided to rent a private driver (extremely cheap - around US$40 a day) and adventure around Ubud! Hery, our driver, was exceptional and also happened to be local to the area of Ubud - meaning he could take us to a curated list of locations all suited to our interests. King's Palace in the heart of Ubud centre was an obvious choice, as I absolutely love temples & historical buildings. I was blown away with the intricate detailing and amazing history behind the palace - the King actually still resides there with his Family! It is a very calm place, so bring along a good book if you'd like to spend some time! There are so many amazing Warungs, cafe's & restaurants all throughout Ubud that you'll be spoiled for choice. We opted for Soba Warung - a vegetarian noodle food stall that was extremely popular with the locals. Ubud's streets are lined with Hindu temples & quaint little buildings - perfect for wandering up and down with a gelato in hand (if you can eat it before it melts! haha). Our next stop was the Monkey Forest - a tourist favourite, and somewhere we just had to visit! As expected, Monkey Forest was quite busy, with lots of tourists, and shop-keeps alike flocking to the area. It is a paid attraction too (around $5AUD for an adult), as you will find with most of the more promoted places, but honestly so worth it. There are a few rules to remember: No food or plastic bottles in the park, no direct eye contact with, or smiling at the monkeys and no loud noise. These rules are simple to follow, and the experience of being surrounded by so many monkeys is truly once in a lifetime. We witnessed some amazingly cute infant monkeys, as well as strong fully grown males - it truly was exhilarating! If you are ever visiting Bali, I would absolutely recommend a visit to Monkey Forest, especially if you have never seen Monkey's in the wild before. I had to separate Ubud into two different posts as it was ah-may-zing! Tune in tomorrow for Ubud part 2. xx