Ubud

While the obvious draw for many of the visitors who come to Bali is the wide beaches and perfect surf on the South end of the island, Bali is also known for its colorful ancient culture. This afternoon I took a bus to Ubud, a town in Bali made famous by its intricate temples, tasteful art galleries, and first-class cultural shows.

Just about anyone I’ve met who has been to Bali has talked enthusiastically about the ‘Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary’, a natural reserve near Ubud that is home to hundreds of mischievous monkeys. I started my visit to Ubud with a visit to the Monkey Forest – and bought a cluster of bananas on the way in to feed to the tiny animals. As I walked through the narrow stone paths of the sanctuary it was impossible not to see monkeys. Monkey swung above me in the trees overhead, monkeys ran in all directions on the trail in front of me, monkeys climbed up my body attempting to steal the bananas from me, and monkeys lounged and slept on the sides of the path.

After handing out a few bananas I spent a half-hour or so wandering through a small Hindu temple in the forest. Hindu temples seem to vary in style in the different parts of the world they’re found in (and they even vary in the different parts of India), but they’re particularly different in Bali. This temple was made entirely of brick and stone and had none of the colorful deities decorating it that are so common of Hindu temples in India. Instead intricate Indonesian carvings of various creatures decorated a tall tower in the center of the temple and brightly colored murals lined with gold leaf decorated the doors inside the temple. The place had a peaceful yet almost eerie feel to it – something about an ancient Hindu temple in the middle of a Monkey Forest will do that.

Before leaving the forest I had to finish handing out my bananas, so I found a giant group of monkeys and handed them out one by one. Some monkeys were energetic and ferocious, and stole the bananas that I gave to the more mellow monkeys. A few monkeys were fat and arrogant with huge tufts of facial hair – obviously the dominant males of the group. I sat down with one fat monkey while another tourist took my picture. I handed a banana to the monkey, but held onto it until I could hear the shutter of the camera. The fat monkey quickly became impatient and irritated and bore his teeth at me, threatening to bite my hand if I didn’t release the banana. Finally I just let go of the thing, figuring it was better to let the animal have his banana than to risk getting some kind of infection from a monkey bite in the middle of Indonesia.

I spent some time wandering through the streets of Ubud, peeking into the different galleries and stopping in another Hindu temple along the way, then later tonight I went to the Royal Palace in Ubud for an outdoor play called ‘The Great Mahabrata Epic’. Specifically the show was a ‘Legong and Barong Dance’ and I suspect the entire epic would last much longer than the 90-minute presentation. According to a handout given to me at the entrance, the Legong Dance starts with the first character – a ‘Condong’ court lady, who is followed by two ‘Legongs’, who represent Prince Lasema and Princess Rangkesari. The three dancers were fantastically dressed in brightly colored Balinese costumes and moved quickly and erratically with the live Balinese music. Another dance featured two fat giants, Sunda and Upasunda – also immaculately dressed and clearly superior to their three clumsy followers, who appeared to be dressed as pirates.

My favorite part of the whole performance was easily the ‘Barong’, a ‘powerful and benevolent, magical creature danced by two people in one costume and often accompanied by a monkey’. The Barong appeared in the doorway to the stage in all its furry glory, decorated with shimmering gold cloth, tiny mirrors, a gigantic tail, and a wiley-eyed Indonesian mask. As the music became more intense the Barong marched around the stage with the rhythm, then laid on the ground like a giant sheepdog as a small man dressed as a monkey appeared. The monkey teased the Barong with a banana for the entire act until the climactic conclusion of it all – the Barong standing up and kicking the monkey in the back.