Ubud is a small artist village about an hour inland from Kuta. Painters, sculptors, dancers and jewelry makers all seem to reside in this small village and huge paintings decorate every wall of every shop, restaurant and bungalow. Simply everyone here is an artist of some sort and most are pretty talented.
Every night of the week you can see some form of Balinese dance. When I got to town I checked out the Legong dance at the Ubud Palace. Before the show I hung out
“backstage”(an open concrete area lit by an old chandelier) while the men caked layers of makeup onto their faces creating the scary monkey-men they become in the performance.
The 16th century palace was decorated with fresh flowers, burning candles, a red carpet and floodlights. The musicians come out first and play the hypnotic gamelan and drums. If you have never heard Balinese music it’s very interesting- sort of hard to follow considering there doesn’t seem to be an actual rhythm- and yet the dancers come out on cue and can follow the clanking and drumming just fine.
The women dancers move like little wind-up dolls with their eyes bulging out- darting back and forth- and half a grin plastered to their faces. Their hand movements are a main part of the dance and their fingers look almost double-jointed fluttering along to the music. Backs arched, butts out in tightly wrapped golden sarongs wearing flashy headdresses and colorful flowers.
The story of the monkey dance was extremely hard to follow or understand even after reading the explanation in the brochure but it had something to do with two brothers who turn into monkeys and then there is a deer for some reason and then there is a fight and more monkeys… umm at least that’s what I think was going on. Either way it was a beautiful and unforgettable performance.
On the outskirts of town is the Monkey Sanctuary, a reservation of wild jungle and even more wild monkeys. I am usually a big fan of monkeys but to be honest the monkeys here 
kind of freaked me out. They are super aggressive- grabbing at your bags, your clothes, anything they can get their hands on and have absolutely no fear of humans. The sanctuary was really beautiful though. It had a real mystical feel to it. Small rays of sunshine pierce through the tall trees dripping with vines. A layer of thin, slick green moss carpeted the temples, statues and stairways and the monkeys were everywhere. But like I said they were a bit intimidating and I was sort of wishing I had gotten that rabies vaccine…
There was this pack of monkeys that would raid my bungalow every morning. They would hang on the windows, climb on the roof and jump around the patio furniture. One morning I was enjoying a delicious breakfast of tea and banana pancakes and the biggest of the herd came straight up to me growling low and baring his teeth- I attempted to scare him off by waving my arms and stamping my feet but he was not even remotely deterred- so instead I scurried inside trying to salvage what I could of my breakfast.
Anyway, Bali’s main form of transportation is motorbikes. They are quick, cheap on gas and are the best way to navigate the small winding roads. After seeing 12 year-old boys cruise around with three of their friends hanging off the back and people carrying
anything from logs to huge barrels on these tiny bikes I thought how hard could it be? Renting one of these bikes ended up being a wonderful idea. I was able to see and do so much more and at my own pace. If you leave Ubud’s busy town center you are greeted by rice paddies for as far as you can see. Men and women in wide hats toting small machetes and huge baskets litter the lush farmland harvesting the country’s staple food. The process is extremely demanding and the hot sun is scorching but they work hard and steady and are only distracted by me and my curious camera.
