Elephant Cave (minus the elephants)

Shopping-- thanks for the candid picture Danna!

After lunch, shopping, and sightseeing, in Ubud, we headed to our final destination for the day -- the Elephant Cave! I am really excited to share this post with you because it is not at all what I expected.

My entry ticket cost only 15.000 Rp which is about $1.50

For starters, some background... The Elephant Cave is also known as Goa Gajah. It gets its nickname from its entrance, which supposedly resembles that of an elephant! See??

Entrance to the Elephant Cave

Okay, yeah. I can't quite see the resemblance either.. looks more like a demon to me.. It was built in the 9th century. It is actually mentioned in an old Javanese poem from 1365 called Desawarnana which was dedicated to a former Javanese king.

Like my sarong?

Before we could even enter this holy site, we had to make sure we were covered appropriately as a sign of respect. Since it was hot, I like most tourists, was wearing a tank and shorts so I was immediately wrapped in the pinkish sarong above. I didn't quite know what was going on. One minute I was looking at a sign that goes on and on about inappropriate clothing...

Sign in Ubud

 ... and the next moment I had a man wrapping this garment around my body! As we walked down what felt like endless concrete steps, we were immediately greeted by what appeared to be old ponds. They were actually ancient baths, believed to ward off "evil spirits." They had all sorts of fish swimming in the pond. People stepped down and took many pictures. I was bored with it and went to look for the Elephant Cave instead.

Bathing place

Fish in the bath

It was after the bathing places that I saw the amazing ELEPHANT CAVE! Now, this whole time I was thinking I was either going to see elephants or that the cave would at least fit an elephant inside! Wrong. I felt like such an idiot. Oh well, that's what I get for not reading up beforehand.

The cave itself was amazing. It was obviously carved by hand and had this eerie feeling to it.. just walking around and seeing all the indentations large enough for an adult male to sit in and meditate was surreal.. these holes were actually used.. and the original pots that held the flames to light the cave were still there! There were also many statues inside that were decorated and surrounded by offerings. There were many carvings inside the stone of the cave as well.

Offering inside cave

Clay pot with wick for fire

one of the many ornate gods

crevice for meditation -- there were at least 8 or 9

After we were done touring the sanctuary and snapping photos, we followed a stone path through a rice paddy (these are EVERYWHERE in Indonesia) to some shops that were privately owned and selling various handmade crafts.

Path to shops

Rice paddy

Rice.. up close, lol

One of many shops!

I can't go into much detail because I did some Christmas shopping here and don't want to ruin the surprise, but I think I did a pretty good job.. and hey, I even got to bargain. :)

Another one of my favorite things about the sanctuary was this amazing tree. It was like something out of a fairy tale. Words cannot describe the beauty!

Me and Nicole and our fancy sarongs on the fairy tale tree!

Alas, it was time to go back to the hotel and rest up after a very successful trip in Ubud.

Here's an excerpt from Danna's blog (which you should check out to the right of this page "Teaching in Indonesia").

"After nearly fighting a monkey in the Monkey Forest, we walked around Ubud for a while, down some very beautiful streets, and then finished out day at the Elephant Cave nearby. This cave is apparently from the 11th century and looks like a giant demon head coming of out a hillside. You walk inside and there are a few alcoves with statues, include Ganesh, the Hindu god of education, as it is. The cave was worth it alone, but the surrounding area was also awesome. There were some absolutely beautiful paths that ran around hills and past boulders and waterfalls. I only got to explore part of it, but it really looked like something... I don't know... out of a National Geographic, on a postcard, but 20xs better. All in all, our day in Ubud was great."

Some of the scenery Danna was talking about

Moss covered rocks

Steep steps to waterfall area

Another ancient statue

Later this week, I'll finish up with some more stories about Bali. Here's what's to come!

• jogging in Bali with Eduardo
• fish that provide services in a spa
• Potato Head Restaurant
• dancing the night away with some Aussies!

Until next time..

xoxo amber

Goiters, Teapots, and Royalty -- OH MY!

After several hours of being entertained by monkeys spitting, biting, and stealing -- our driver took us to explore the rest of Ubud and to get some lunch.

Once we arrived to the actual tourist-y part of Ubud, the girls eagerly jumped out of the van and started heading to this BBQ place. As usual, I must have spaced out in the car because I clearly missed this conversation. As soon as they announced where they were going, images of slaughtered pigs, worms, cadavers, and other disturbing memories filled my brain. I have my wonderful cousin Zackary Livingston to thank for that one. I politely declined and found another spot to eat by myself.

While the others wandered off to find their "scrumptious" lunch, I wandered around for a few minutes, exploring the different cafes. On my mini-adventure, I passed a lady selling some beautiful scarves. I didn't pay much attention to the details of them as I was distracted by the fairly large goiter on her neck. We read about this back in Nursing School at UT (GO VOLS!) but I never thought I'd see the day when I'd actually get to see an actual one instead of just images in my textbook. For all my fellow science nerds out there, here's a Google image for you.

obtained from Google images

Taking an actual picture of her would have not only been completely rude, but obvious as well.

What is a goiter? If I recall correctly, goiters are caused by a swelling of the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is found in one's throat and mainly controls your metabolism. Sometimes weight issues are blamed on the thyroid gland (and often, it's just an excuse) and people seek medicine. Goiters form when there is not enough iodine in the body. In America, we now have iodized salt so this condition is not much of any issue anymore; however, in developing countries that do not add iodine to their salt, goiters are prevalent, mostly in women. No one else seemed phased by her goiter. I tried not to stare but it was so unexpected.. like a lot of things in Indonesia.

My lunch was delicious! I had a pot of English Breakfast Tea to myself and some sort of vegetarian dish that words cannot even begin to explain! The cafe was outdoors, so I got a nice breeze, sipped some tea and read the latest novel in my Nook Tennessee Waltz by T.M. Simmons. It's addicting. I highly recommend it. :)

Perfection.

After lunch, I treated myself to a Magnum Icecream Bar. These things are delicious. They are covered in rich, Belgian chocolate and are filled with all-natural vanilla bean ice-cream. I will miss this when I am not in Indonesia! It's one of the most popular ice-cream brands here and they have so many different flavors.

Only 3 of many, MANY flavors! I sound like such a fat kid, haha.

I met up with the girls shortly after and we were on our way to explore some temples! We did some sightseeing in Ubud, checking out various shops that sold handmade wooden carvings, silver, porcelain pendants, and other souvenirs. The silver jewelery was gorgeous but entirely way too expensive. I had to quickly exit the shops before I spent a ridiculous amount of money.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the royal family of Ubud still lives here! It was a bit surreal to just walk on their grounds without having any tight security or having to pay some sort of entry fee. I even saw the gate that led to the entrance of their home. What most surprised me was the way in which the royal family lives. They walked around the grounds as though they were everyday people. One gentleman even had a cell phone. They looked very similar to the other locals, except for fancier garments, and appeared to be very down-to-earth. Here are some photos from their grounds which was surrounded by beautiful gardens and ancient temples for worship.

Statue in courtyard - these garments are typical for worship

Only for "royal family" members - entrance to their home

One of the royal family members

Offering

All in all, the town of Ubud was fascinating. My next post will be about the amazing Elephant Cave. Make sure you check back in a few days.

xoxo amber

Macaques in Ubud

During one of our last days in Bali, we took a trip to Ubud! We hired a couple of drivers through a friend for the day.

Ubud is one of Bali's major art and cultural centers. The town was originally known for its medicinal herbs and plants and so that is where its name comes from. Ubud literally means "medicine" in Balinese.

One of my first impressions of Ubud was how calm it felt compared to back home in Jakarta. Funny, I'd never thought I'd hear myself calling Jakarta home, but I guess it technically is now, isn't it? Anyway, the lush, green scenery and the people brought about a sense of calmness to the area.

One of our first pit stops was to the Bali Zoo.

We passed on that one once we saw that it had a $24 entry fee for one adult. HELLO -- no thanks. I can see a zoo next time I go back home. I guess it would have been neat to see some animals unique to Indonesia but it honestly wasn't all that serious. That's what National Geographic is for, lol.

So the ladies left the Bali Zoo as the guys stood back and admired orangutans, bats, and elephants. Eduardo told us that he even rode one. He cracks me up. I called him Prince Ali once he told me how excited he was to ride an elephant. He said he felt that his entire childhood had been incomplete because he had never ridden an elephant before! Here's a picture from his Facebook. Can't you just see the excitement in his face?

Prince Ali and his elephant

I must admit, elephants are my absolute favorite animals so I am sad I didn't get to see one but that's okay. I have plans to visit the Safari here in Indonesia soon :)

Where was I? Oh, yes. So the ladies passed on the Bali Zoo, hopped back into our van and requested we go to The Sacred Monkey Forest!

At first I didn't understand why monkeys were considered so "sacred" to the Balinese people until we arrived and the staff provided us an informative brochure after paying our $2.00 entry fee. Score!

Welcome sign

Monkeys are worshiped here. See the offering?

According to traditional Balinese Hindu philosophy, peace and liberty are only attainable when there is harmony between humans and the Tri Hita Karana Doctrine. The following statements are an excerpt from the information brochure explaining the three parts of the Doctrine:

(excerpt)

1. The Gods blessed life and created nature and all of its contents.

2. Nature offers sustenance to support the needs and activities of human beings.

3. Human beings have an obligation to establish traditional village structure, to build temples in which worship, to hold various ceremonies, to make daily offering, to preserve nature and to solve problems together.

The last statement basically explains why we saw so many incense offerings (to both gods and animals), temples, nature, a sunset Hindu dance, and wild animals. The people here live a very simple life despite all the tourism and traffic that has weaseled its way in over the past decade or so. As you recall, there were offerings atop the volcano and in the taxis!

Despite all the distractions, the Balinese people still make time for nature and their gods. Many animals are free to roam as they please. We also saw so many hand crafted items made from wood, porcelain, and silver. We were free to visit any temples or other historical sites such as the Elephant Cave (more details in the next post) as long as we wore the garments they provided out of respect for their gods. I'd love to go back. They even had a graveyard for the monkeys.

One of two monkey graveyards (Eduardo's picture from Facebook)

We were instructed to treat the monkeys with respect since the forest was "their home" and we were a visitor in it. I was so nervous. Prior to Bali, a friend of ours had informed us that the monkeys were aggressive! Before we even entered the forest, there was a lady selling bananas. I passed though because I knew that would make me an instant target for the monkeys. Maybe next time! Haha.

It was quite shocking to see these little guys just roaming the sidewalks, swinging from branch to branch, or carrying their young. Many were just sitting on ledges, cracking open coconuts or eating sweet potatoes provided by the staff. Visitors were free to feed the monkeys the bananas you could purchase from the gate and if you weren't careful, the monkeys would also go for a water bottle or guide book if it was hanging out of your side pocket!

Lunch time!

Container for sweet potatoes

Aw, he was so hungry!

The monkeys in this forest were called Balinese macaques aka long-tail macaques or the macaca fasicularis for all my fellow science nerds out there. ;) They are the most widespread primates apart from humans! There were about 605 of these guys in the forest alone -- 77 males, 194 females, and 334 young. They live in clusters and use different areas of the forest during different times of the day, otherwise conflicts may arise. The adult males have beards and the adult females have mustaches. Both the males and females are very mothering towards their young but some can be very permissive.

One monkey actually stole a man's guide book and took off with it down into the forest. He went after him! I couldn't believe it. He did get it back.

Our dear friend Danna actually had her water bottle stolen and she went for the monkey and grabbed it! We screamed, "DANNA!" She admitted she wasn't thinking and that grabbing the monkey probably could have harmed her more than it would have him but at the time, she just wanted her bottle back! Thankfully, with the help of one of the staff members, the monkey was distracted and she put it back in her backpack... side pocket! We laughed and suggested she zip it up inside.

It was so intriguing to see how the monkeys reacted to those who tried to hang out with them. What do I mean? Well, the monkeys of course were free to roam as they pleased and visitors could sit on ledges and monkeys would usually be interested. However, they didn't take a liking to everyone who tried to befriend them. One particular lady should have just given up. I cannot even begin to count how many times her hair was pulled, how often her things were stolen, and how many times she was bit or spit on!

But then at other times, there would be a random gentleman from the crowd who was like the Monkey Whisperer! These monkeys were fascinated with him. They just sat in his lap or upon his shoulders.. it's almost like they could sense his inner calmness or something. I posed with the monkeys but I didn't try to hang out with them, lol. I'm not that brave yet!

Can you tell I'm nervous?! Haha

Here's some footage of a little boy teasing a monkey with food. At first, I thought the kid was going to get attacked!!

Here are some more pictures from the forest.

Some of the sacred nature at the forest

One of the gods the Balinese worship.

Mother and her young

Very spiritual people

The Pura Dalem Agung Temple is located in the southewestern portion of the main forest area. This temple is the most prominent temple in the Monkey Forest. Many of the Holy Monkey Temples were built during the mid-14th century during the Pejeng Dynasty or early Gelgel Dynasty! (*note, this information was obtained from the provided brochure from the staff)

Here is some more footage of some monkeys cleaning each other.

After we were done looking at the monkeys, we went to check out the small art gallery located at the end of the forest. I have a new love for painting, especially after I discovered I'm not so bad at it.. and I was so amazed and glued to all the wonderful paintings, drawings, and sculptures! They were all so unique; unlike anything I have ever seen before. I took so many pictures but it would take too much time to upload them so here are a few of my favorites!

You can see the love for nature and meditation these people have as it is expressed in their rich paintings. If only I had enough money, I probably would have purchased one.. and probably will before I move back to the States. :) I've got to make it my prerogative to visit another art gallery soon. I am absolutely in love. These are for you Amanda!

Pencil

Wire

These masks are quite popular around Indonesia in various art forms

One of my favorites

Sculpture

So realistic

My next post will be about the temples and sightseeing we did after we left the forest!

Until next time!

xoxo amber

Monkey update coming soon!

Currently working on a fun entry about my adventure in the Sacred Monkey Forest. Here's a sneak peek!

Be on the look out soon!

xoxo amber

Traditional Balinese dinner and dancing!

After our treacherous 5 or 6 hour hike up and down Mt Batur, we came home and rested before our traditional Balinese dinner that was taking place that night. I honestly had no idea what to expect but the hotel staff had convinced us that it was a "must see event." After a solid 5 or 6 hour nap, I awoke around dinner time and joined the others in getting dressed!

The dinner took place by the pool. The hotel staff already had tables set with our RSVP name ready to go. All 11 of us found a seat near our friends and the server arrived to take our drink order. My latest addiction in Indonesia is the pineapple drink. It's simply pure pineapple blended with a large chunk of pineapple and a fun straw to top it off. It was delicious! And so natural. I highly recommend it. Since we paid a 200 000 idr fee (of about 20 US dollars), we had a buffet of traditional Balinese food. However, since living in Indonesia, we are accustomed to smaller portions so getting seconds or even thirds didn't really sound appetizing. If anything, I picked up some extra fruit but that is about it.

Traditional Balinese dinner

Danna and Ben enjoying dinner

Joe and I at dinner

While we were eating poolside, the Balinese music began! They had a small band in the corner with some Balinese men playing the congo drums and other various instruments. It was so relaxing.

Eduardo and I with the musicians

All of a sudden, these women in ornate costumes with extravagant hair and makeup sauntered out front and began dancing. It was so beautiful. Each move was carefully planned out. I could tell they practiced for hours on end.

One of several beautiful costumes the dancers wore that night

The ladies and the Balinese dancers

After sometime, the dancers would randomly select people from the audience to join their dancing. The very first person chosen was an older gentleman. His wife did not know how to react but it was obvious he was having a wonderful time! Three of the other Americans actually joined in on the dancing as well as various Australians that were also staying at the hotel. They were quite entertaining!

After the meal ended, we all basically went to bed. I know, I know.. such grandmas -- but, you TRY hiking a 1700 m volcano at 4 in the morning!

Be on the look out for another entry describing my wild monkey forest adventure in Bali soon!

Until next time..

xoxo amber