Friday, November 10, 2006
Bali - Monkey BusinessAfter our flight landed, we proceeded to check out our luggage. Everything went surprisingly smooth (even better than MAS flights) and we were out of the airport in no time! Our Bali tour guide (His name is Suma, not Sumo) was waiting for us at the airport entrance. We were greeted the traditional Balinese style a.k.a. a lady putting a string of flowers around our necks.
The first thing you noticed about Bali is the heat and humidity. According to Suma, the temperature could reach up to 31 degrees and 90% in terms of humidity. We were led to a bus, which will be our main transport for the entire four days tour.
Our first stop was to dine at a nearby halal restaurant (it seems they are very rare as 90% of Bali's population are Hindu) as many people were hungry. There, we were introduced to a fancy dish called the "Flying Fish".
After our "free lunch" (boss's treat), we proceeded to Uluwatu, which is located on the southern top of Bali Island. At Uluwatu, we visited the first Balinese Temple of our trip. A reminder to you, wear at least knee length attire when you visit a temple (lucky me for wearing jeans). Otherwise, you will be required to wear a sarong, which is pretty funny for a guy :P
The view at Uluwatu is really breath-taking! You can get a fantastic view of the blue Indian Ocean from the edge of the cliff, where the temple is located.
However, there's one catch! There were plenty of monkeys (Suma referred to them as his brothers) at Uluwatu, especially within the temple's compound. You can see their presence everywhere, even on the signboards!
We were told by Suma to hide our glasses and caps before we enter as monkeys will snatch them away easily! And guess what? True enough, one of Little Skywalker's handkerchief (which was in the side pocket of our backpack) was snatched away when J wasn't looking! Luckily it wasn't something valuable...
Apart from that, we also saw another tourist's glasses being "stolen" by a monkey. The amazing thing is that the monkeys were able to carry out their "crime" swiftly and smoothly without causing any injuries to their victims (unlike our local snatch thieves). We suspect the monkeys are being trained professionally to perform such stunts because we could see the locals offered to help retrieve the "stolen items" for a fee.
After the visit, J and I make sure we will not participate in anymore temple tours (in order to avoid monkeys). On our way back, we witness an accident involving an overturned small lorry. I guess this must be happening quite frequently as the roads are very narrow and steep at Uluwatu.
We proceeded back to Kuta town to check into our hotel, the Harris Kuta...
Jotted down by Egghead :: at around 11/10/2006 10:20:00 AM :: and invited 10 Blah(s):
10 Blah(s) by:
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Selba,
Tracy,
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ZMM,
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