The final journey part 3: monkeying around in Bali

Following our late night and 30 minute flight out of Lombok, we land in Bali, one paradise to the next.



Our first night we planned to stay in Ubud, which is centrally located on the island, known for its rich Balinese culture, also the spot where Elizabeth Gilbert famously finds the second love of her life in Eat, Pray, Love. It is fantastically easy to see why ex-Pats are attracted to its beauty and charm: our hotel, Ketut's Place, is a traditional Balinese temple compound that looks a little something like this-



After a much needed nap, we found yet another perfect meal of fresh Balinese spiced pork. Let me emphasize the fresh. Still convinced food tastes better in paradise. Or maybe this time its about my hangover and the pork grease. Shots from lunch and a few of the typical things you see wondering around Ubud. Essentially, the whole town's small roads, shops and restaurants have this authentic Balinese feel. And gorgeous temples just appear out of nowhere. It's pretty sweet.









We make our way to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary which I am convinced would not exist in many other places in the world. You walk in and are essentially forced to buy bananas the FEED the monkeys. Feeding the animals at zoos is foreign to an American raised gal but I clearly jumped at this opportunity. Pictures and video speak for themselves, the monkeys were awesome and feisty and I loved this. Saturday we were at a private aquarium, Sunday was spent feeding monkeys like a Discovery Channel episode.











Monday we decided to spend the final day of the trip in Kuta due to is proximity to the airport (of course, early flight out Tuesday AM) as well as the fact that Kuta is THE known party destination in Bali. I wanted to avoid it, but everyone told me to go, even many of my Indonesian friends. It's a guaranteed wild time. And my version of paradise involves hoards of European and Australian surfers.. that is Kuta in a nutshell.

We spent a few hours on the beach and because of the steady stream of tourists there, the locals are champions at selling you crap you don't need. Within about ten minutes of our arrival, I am MOBBED by women, paid for another beach massage, flowers painted on my toenails and an arrangement of various souvenirs. I’m bargaining but not as hard as I can. Even if you’re getting ripped off, it is still so cheap there. And I’m too relaxed to give a crap.

I do not have a ton of pictures of Kuta. In my mind it is some mix between Asia and Bourbon Street, except full of 18-22 year old vacationing Australians. I could’ve done maybe one more night of this, but honestly, it makes me feel a little old. We saw Kuta, and that is what matters.

Tuesday we manage to make our 7am flight back to Singapore, again where I write from. It is yet another small miracle that I have been able to shove everything I've acquired into my bags before I begin the actual FINAL journey this evening. Two flights, 20 more hours of air time and a 12 hour Tokyo stopover is all that stands between me and HOME!