Ubud - shopping and Mansion House and monkeys, oh my!!

We spent the last couple of days in a small hippy town in the mountains, hoping that it would be a reprieve from the blistering heat in Sanur. But not so! It was just as hot... which made trying on clothes that much more of a sticky venture!! We spent nearly the whole first day shopping anyways. The entire town is full of little galleries and shops filled with hand-made everything: clothes, jewelery, carved anything, leatherwork (shoes, bags, jewelery...), carvings, paintings (even Tibetan thangkas!!), and of course, the usual market crap. It was nice for a change to go into a store and see price tags - no bartering required!!

After a long day of shopping, we bought some Mansion House vodka (a "delicious" local brand of alcohol that tastes more like rubbing alcohol!) and started drinking at our hotel. We decided that in case the kecak show that we had bought tickets for was really crappy, we would take a bottle of premixed Mansion House and mango juice with us. But the show was actually pretty good - not that it stoped us from drinking our "mango juice". At the end of the show, two guys come out with a big bad of coconut husks which they proceed to light on fire (for the fire walker dude who came out moments later). As they are dowsing the husks with a clear liquid, my mum points and proclaims quite loudly "Mansion House!!!" We giggle to ourselves and keep drinking :)

The second day was more shopping interspersed with stops for nice coffee - the Nescafe 3-in-1 ("coffee," sugar and creamer, all in one convenient portable one-serving package!) that we had for breakfast had not satisfied our caffeine cravings. In the afternoon, Sun Chee and I also spent a couple of hours in a nice air-conditioned jewelery studio for a course in jewelery making. We each made a ring - both of which are quite impressive for our first attempts! We also went to another dance in the evening - this time, legong and barong dance. I had seen it last time I was here, but the setting this time was a lot more impressive - in front of a palace in the centre of Ubud.

Our final day in Ubud, I said that we weren't allowed to shop anymore, but then by total fluke found an expensive (by Bali standards!) but beautiful top! Next stop: the "sacred" Monkey Forest Sanctuary. We had heard stories of mischievious monkeys in other parts of Bali who steal glasses, but were not prepared for what was in store for me. The forest was pretty cool, lots of huge old trees with dangling branches and tons of moss-covered carvings. On our way across a bridge, Sun Chee stopped to take a picture of a monkey sitting on the railing. But with a lot of attitude, the monkey turned around when she pointed the camera at her. Sun Chee waited and finally got the shot, and as we were passing the monkey, she jumped onto my bag. The monkeys here seem to expect to be fed by the visitors, they were trying to get into people's bags and would even reach into their pockets looking for food. But I was startled by the monkey jumping on me - who I'm sure just wanted some food - so I raised my hand to push it off. It snarled at me so I tried to push it off and it bit my arm!!! When we went to the front desk to ask if the monkeys were healthy, the man took me into the office to clean my war wound with alcohol and iodine. Since he had his little first aid kit there, we assumed it must be a frequent occurence there! Sacred monkeys, my ass!! We called the expat clinic when we got home, and I have all my shots so there's nothing to be worried about. The lady did tell us that they've had quite a few calls about monkey bites though!

I sure don't think monkeys are that cute anymore!