So… Having visited just about every attraction in Ubud area and beyond, we had at least two more major attractions that had yet to be ticked off the list – The temple on the cliff in Uluwatu and the one that perched on a tiny island (or bay or whatever you call it) in Tanah Lot.
My travel partner Ulai aka Borneo Trekker seemed to be more excited about being on the edge of a cliff then on an island so off to Uluwatu we were headed to.
The distance between Ulu Watu and Kuta appeared to be much longer that it looks on google map. But of course, riding a bike in Bali is always enjoyable with so many things to see along the way. When our sense of direction showed the slightest sign of betraying us, we would stop to ask for directions from the friendly locals.
After what appeared to be unending roller-coaster ride across hills and countryside (Oh jeez, I like the cold breezing air), we finally arrived at the entrance gate to Ulu Watu.
After being helped out in putting the purple sarong on by one of the janitors, I waggled my way over towards the famous cliff of Ulu Watu but of course Ulai was too overexcited to keep up with my slow pace.
Before I knew she was already running way ahead of me that – for a moment I prayed she was NOT gonna go straight to the edge and jump right off into whatever it was waiting for her down there.
And I actually had a strong reason to believe that she MIGHT do just that when just minutes before she had been crying shamelessly in front of a restaurant where we had missed the last crumbs of babi guling of the day. 
“We’re are going back to Malaysia tomorrow and we haven’t tasted babi guling YET! Wuarghhhhhh! ”, she had wailed as if tasting babi guling was a matter of life and death. LOL.
The cliff at the Ulu watu was exactly how I had imagined it to be – only longer in length and probably bushier from an apparent lack of bush-clearing.
I only wished we were there a little bit later in the afternoon when the sun has already abated a little. It was mercilessly hot the sun felt so much closer to the earth and even the winds felt like they were being blown straight from a burning stove or something. It wasn’t the best time of the day to be there really.
Still, hot or not hot, the view of the cliff that faces down to the Bali Strait Ocean is something to be visually celebrated. It’s always good to be high on a cliff from where you can see the wide spread of expansive blue ocean.
If made me wanting to fly… 🙂
And it’s always good to watch the strong waves make their way to the shore and hit the wall of rock. The sound that comes with it is just so …. lulling? Yeah, lulling. 
It reminded me of some horror movie that I used to watch when I was a kid in which one of the characters would teeter over to the the edge and plunged right into the raging waters at the bottom of the cliff. Her soul would then come back to haunt everybody. LOL. 
Oh well, despite being there for the view, the highlight of the whole visit to Uluwatu happened to be something totally and unexpectedly different.
Jeez, I might have had many encounters with the naughtiest monkeys imaginable to human beings before but the ones that they have in Ulu watu had been the worst of all kind! They would sneak slowly behind you and jump at the very first opportunity to grab whatever there was to grab away from you before dashing away.
The most amusing part is that they know for sure that whatever it is that they steal from the visitors would be of no use to them in the end so they wouldn’t really disappear from sight. IN fact, they’d stay where they can be seen so that the visitor would be tempted to get their things back.
And yes, you can always get them back. The janitors KNOW exactly how to do it. They’d throw something to the monkey – anything from a fruit or even an empty cigarette box, and the monkey would immediately go scrambling for it and in doing so, letting go of the thing that they had stolen.
The janitor would then go get the stolen thing back and give it back to you but NOT before you give him some amount of money! Can you believe it?? Anyone who sees it would know immediately that it is a schemed business. I couldn’t help but thinking that the monkeys must have been TRAINED to perform those snatch-thieves.
One janitor had asked for IDR 20,000 (RM7/USD2.30) from one of the victims so just imagine how much they would get if the monkeys steal at least 50 objects per day. It is not a monkey business after all. IT IS a business. A profit-gaining business.
Seriously, they can be so determined in snatching your possessions away you really don’t feel safe walking around when the monkeys are all around you – waiting for the right time to go into action. Just look at this picture which was taken a flash moment before the two monkeys jumped right onto my head from behind and snatched my sunglasses away.
Luckily a group of ladies who were there to witness the whole incident had saved me with their shrieking scream to which I impulsively reacted by beaming forward and the glasses were thrown onto the ground. Thanks God I was fast enough to get to them before those stupid monkeys could land their smelly rotten hands onto them again.
I’d never wanted to kill an animal as much as I had right at that moment. GRRRRR.
The monkeys really make Uluwatu a place full of dramas. Every now and then I’d hear people scream whenever the monkeys launch their actions. I even heard one of the ladies demands angrily to her partner – presumably her husband – to leave the place immediately. “I hate this place………….!”, she screamed almost at the top her lungs.
Ulai wasn’t spared either. One of the monkeys had been trying to steal her brand-new sandals. When she couldn’t get any of them, she grabbed one tip of her sarong and pulled it hard enough to tear it off. 
I’ve never seen Ulai being so angry like that EVER before. She seemed so ready to swallow the whole furry beast alive. LOL.
Apparently, we spent longer at Ulu watu than we had intended to. The idea of slurping over a cold and fresh coconut after the basking in the sun for too long was too much of an appeal not to say YES to.
Again, we underestimated the distance and the traffic. Traffics in Bali especially within and around Kuta area can get so heavy during peak hours. The roads are quite too narrow for their capacities quite a lot of times would I find myself stuck and unable to push my way through. Bali really needs an extensive widening of road. I am just saying.
The plan was to ride past Kuta and continued on to Tanah Lot to catch the famous view of the temple during the sunset. Being thoroughly slowed down by the heavy traffics, we caught up with the sunset when we had just made it back to Kuta. It wasn’t long before nightfall. 
We still had at least some 46Km to go before we could reach Tanah Lot. Thinking that we still had the next morning to ride over to Tanah Lot if we really wanted to, we decided to hit into the beach at night.
The idea of skin-dipping was instantly killed away the moment we walked on to the beach. Hell, the wind was icy cold and even the sand was biting at my feet when I tried to walk barefooted. Again – tomorrow. 
We returned to the hotel room to get a little bit of rest before hitting into the streets – this time to check out the much hyped-up nightlife and entertainment in Kuta.
Of course will story about it more in my next entry.. 🙂
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