Ubud - Day 1

Went to Ubud today – I was super lazy and simply caught a cab, which cost me about $15 (it's about 40 km). That and I've decided to treat myself to a night at a real hotel for USD 40, with a clean bed and hot shower. Tomorrow I'll find something cheaper, but I needed a break from slum living. The last place was really sketchy…

Checked out the Monkey Forest today. It's a patch of forest with a temple in the middle, full of statues and monkeys. You can buy a bag of little bananas at the entrance to feed the monkeys. One fellow thought he could hold on to the bag and share the bananas out as he pleased, but he learned better, with a big monkey climbing up his pants and a smaller one on his back. Guess he didn't read the sign at the entrance explaining not to hide/keep food from them… I had one fellow try to jump on me, but I was quicker and he missed…

Here a couple pictures, sorry captioning them individually is not working they changed something on this website...

Also I finally have internet on my phone again. I had to go into Denpasar to the big, air conditioned Telkomsel customer service building. But YAY, 500 MB for $10 at a normal speed, and unlimited thereafter at a slower speed (basically an unlimited policy with a "fair use" clause"). Why is it that the little kiosks selling the SIM cards and recharge packs don't know enough to set this sort of thing up? These guys are literally sitting there bored almost the entire day, you would think they would learn their product!

Also cashed my traveler's cheques today. That was a waste of effort, pain in the neck to get them and a pain in the neck to cash them. It seems they are basically outdated, what with ATM machines everywhere. Next time I'll just bring some US currency for the few times it's helpful.