FONTastique: Bali, Part III (Uluwatu, Ubud, Monkeys, Temples and Volcanos)

Once we had our new camera, we decided to explore the island. Our first stop was a clifftop temple called Pura Luhur, overlooking the crashing waves in Uluwatu on the west side of Bali's Bukit peninsula. Despite a few clouds, it was beautiful scene, a mix of abundant greenery, ancient statues, crashing waves and monkeys leaping from one precarious ledge to another and permanently scarring Liz by reaching for her bag, hissing and bearing their teeth. One was so aggressive that I had to punt it like a soccer ball. (ok PETA, I didn't really punt it but I did have to nudge it away from us with my foot).

Unfortunately, the end of our Uluwatu visit was marked by a torrential downpour. Luckily we had a taxi driver waiting for us to take us back to Sanur, but we were soaked by the time we got to the car and the trip was long so I stripped down to my skivvies in the back of the cab...and got a few interesting looks from the cars next to us (Liz got some photos but I'll spare you by not publishing them here).

The next day, we got up early to go to on a roadtrip to the middle and northern parts of the island. First we stopped at a traditional Batik factory, where in the midst of her textile bliss I tried to explain to Liz the economics of a taxi driver's commissions and the resulting goods premium. Nevertheless, we walked out with arms full of scarves, sarongs and bedspreads.

Afterwards, we made our way up to Ubud. We began by touring the market, which was a colorful but exhausting mix of repelling aggressive vendors, negotiating for wares and figuring out that much of the cheaper market Batik actually came from India (we were looking for a less popular size, and when they pulled out the bags they had made in India markings all over them).

After a delicious sushi lunch at Minami (highly recommended), we made our way to the monkey forest, a temple complex / park overrun by friendlier monkeys that were more interested in eating the copious amount of bananas offered by tourists than attacking Liz. Inside were lots of interesting statues, streams, and fountains, and the thick humidity and verdant jungle smell made me think I was in a Rudyard Kipling story (I kept looking for Baloo the Bear - my cartoon soul-mate - and King Louie but I couldn't find them).

Afterwards, we headed up to some of the beautiful rice terraces near Ubud. Unfortunately, my snap-happiness had burned through the battery of our new camera about halfway through our jaunt through the Ubud monkey forest, so from that point on I had to use the iPhone (apologies for the poorer picture quality of such an amazing place).

A little further up the hill was an organic farm that produced Kopi Luwak, the fabled low-production coffee made from beans digested (and passed through) by Asian Palm Civets that only live in the Indonesian archipelago. Although the idea was a little tough to stomach at first, the coffee smelled so good that we were soon gulping it down (along with locally-grown cocoa and tea beverages). I definitely understand why it is so renowned, but I'm still not sure that I would be willing to regularly spend $6600 per kilo ($3000 per pound) to buy it. That said, we made sure to get a small portion to take home with us.

Our coffee-tasting hut at the organic farm

The hill we were working our way up was actually the main destination, Mount Agung, an active stratovolcano. On the slopes of this volcano is Pura Besakih, Bali's holiest Hindu temple dating from around the 14th century. A mix of rainclouds and ash permeated the air, but we were still impressed by the grandeur and placement of the temple. However, the pagoda-like, multi-tiered towers made of wood and straw roofs seem a bit risky in the presence of an active volcano...