Monkeys and Masks - Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

For those wondering, it's the city of Ubud on the island of Bali in the country of Indonesia, a country that incorporates over 13,000 islands! It's been a while since I have posted. After spending 8 nights in Ubud I feel more qualified to lay down a worthy entry. Bali is a peaceful land of religion, humility, culture, and scenery amongst other things. You feel an instant change in the air upon arrival; For those familiar it's that third world breeze, not always pleasant but more like the smell of birthday candles in that it conjures all sorts of sensory reflections of past experiences, good and bad.

To change things up a bit I slowed to the pace of life in Bali. I've never spent so much time in one location but Ubud and Bali deserved it. The people are what makes this place. Indonesia, the 4th most populous nation in the world, contains the largest Muslim population in the world with over 200 million dedicated followers (which is largely why there's a non-travel advisory by the US, IMO). Bali is the exception to the rule. Balinese people practice a very amicable local form of the Hindu religion, producing one of the most hospitable places on Earth. For example, Balinese people simply do not understand the word no. They will not deny you anything. Remember this, because if you are in Bali and ask for directions there will always be an answer regardless of whether it's accurate. Ask a Balinese person for directions to New York and he will confidently send you up the street, to the left, and three doors down. It's ridiculous.

Indonesia is the wood-carving capital of the world. For those who know me, I buy one symbolic mask each time I travel to a new country. Upon learning a little about the ever-so-interesting world of masks I learned that about half of the masks I had bought to represent countries in Latin America, Jamaica, etc. were actually made in Indonesia. This being said, I got somewhat excited when I got to Ubud. Long story short - I bought two 6' 6" giant masks carved in West Timor out of coconut tree trunk. They appear to be straight from Easter Island and are massive, tribal, and basically scary.

Monkeys are a key attraction in Ubud. The main road, Monkey Forest Rd, goes straight to... you guessed it, a generous plot in the middle of town with monkeys running around like dyslexic 1st graders at recess. I went, I saw, I scolded a monkey for stealing a little girl's Coke then sitting on her head to drink it, and by scolded I mean laughed. She had an Australian-good sense of humor about it.