Bali: Ubud! Rice fields and Monkey Forest No. 6

After my last surfing lesson in Bali, I ordered an Uber taxi to go to Ubud. Uber is an app where you can order private taxis, the price is fixed, you can estimate the price beforehand, and payment is made with a credit card. It is definitely cheaper than regular taxis and since all have a fixed price, there is no need to negotiate.

My Uber driver was super cool, he told me a lot about the culture in Bali and asked me about the refugee situation in Germany. He said that Balinese people don't mourn when something bad happens, when a family member or friend dies. They don't ask why? Why did my friend have an accident or why my family? If someone, for example, has a traffic accident and dies, then that's just how it is, then the gods wanted to take that person away and maybe we'll see each other again in another life, or maybe not. I don't know if it really works without mourning and I honestly can't imagine it. However, he said that life is easier that way when you don't think so much about bad news and constantly ask why, which he is certainly right about, but implementing it is probably a big challenge for most people. Here, babies are asked about their origin, which country they come from or which family, when they are born. When I jokingly said that I can also tell him where babies come from without being psychic, he laughed a lot :D His father is a fortune teller and many people have him predict the future, but I didn't meet him.

1.5 hours and a few interesting conversations later, I arrived in Ubud. Ubud is super ugly and I'm glad I only spent 2 nights or 1 full day there. But I didn't explore the city, maybe there are nice areas there too. 1 day was totally enough for the rice fields and the Monkey Forest. When I took a taxi to the rice fields, my taxi driver once again tried to rip me off, but this time I only had as much money in my wallet as I wanted to pay at most... we agreed on 19,000 Indonesian Rupiah before the ride and I told him several times that I would only pay 19,000, that's one nine zero zero zero, and not more, he always agreed with me and at the end of the ride he demanded 90,000. Since I officially didn't have any more money with me, he came off worse this time and started crying at the touch of a button... I always thought that only little girls start crying at the touch of a button, but apparently Indonesian taxi drivers do that too to get what they want. But not this time with me! Since my Ubud driver told me how much I should pay at the very most, and I had already paid too much anyway, I didn't care... after all, I knew that I wasn't ripping him off, that I had paid too much again, and I got out without letting myself feel guilty about it :D

When I arrived at the rice fields, I was totally impressed. I wandered through the fields alone for hours without a guide and it never got boring. In between, I met locals, many different lizards, and other creatures that I couldn't assign to a specific category. I think a guide would have been unnecessary and it is much more interesting to explore everything on your own.

After the rice fields, I took a scooter to the Monkey Forest. The Monkey Forest is actually quite nice and I could watch the monkeys for hours as they groom each other (totally cliché :D), eat, sleep, or jump from tree to tree. However, the other tourists were really annoying, first they tease the monkeys and then get upset and kick when the boss monkey approaches them and shows his huge teeth. I would have been a little happy if he had bitten one of the stupid tourists :D The Monkey Forest is really beautiful, but not a must-visit on a trip, only if you are already in Ubud. However, a trip to the rice fields is definitely worth it.

The next morning, I went to Padang Bai early in the morning to go to the Gili Islands by ferry :)