We made it 2/3 around the globe as we are now 16 hours ahead of California time. Bali is warm! I was a bit concerned to book the flight to Bali because the weather forecast is rain all day, everyday for the next three months. Yet here we are, and it hasn’t rained once. It is nearly 100% humidity though and temperatures are 80-90F in the day and night.

Our first day in Ubud we walked to a waterfall that was down the street from our hotel (and by down the street it was a ten mile walk round-trip). Every house looks like a temple! We marveled at them all and we couldn’t believe that each of these structures weren’t called out as points of interest on the map.

Every one we pass is so friendly and wants to know where we are from, where we are headed, and where we are sleeping. We tried to be polite and answer where we were from at first, but the continued questions felt a bit odd. Especially since these weren’t part of a conversation but were called out to us as we walked by. Even the repeat of “Where are you from?” from every single person who caught sight of us was strange.

The waterfall was a bit underwhelming, but we got a good stair workout in descending to the pool and climbing back out again.

We took a detour on the way back to go through town so that we could get cash from an ATM and buy snacks at a market. The airport ATMs were out of cash and we already had a tab running at our hotel from a late night dinner on arrival. I had to visit four ATMs to get two million rupees, equivalent to $120 USD. Ornate woodcarving is a big deal here and the shops had marvelous displays.

The sights are amazing, but walking is unpleasant. The roads are busy and the sidewalks are used for scooter parking, offerings to the gods, storing bricks and dirt, and burning garbage. Then there are the dogs. We met tons of stray dogs in Turkey and Nepal that were friendly and gave us no trouble. These dogs are aggressive. One nipped at Aaron, but thankfully did not break the skin. We were wary after that, and the dogs just got meaner and mangier. We had to pick up rocks to defend ourselves from snapping jaws and menacing snarls. It made us not want to walk in Ubud and we only took taxis the next two days.

Day two we went to the Sacred Monkey Forest. I was a bit nervous after the monkeys in Nepal, but these ones were quite tame and had the cutest family dynamics. We watched mama and baby monkey together, then a sibling would try to steal the baby before mama pulled that one in for a hug too. It was precious.

Some people let the monkeys crawl on them and one guy let a monkey gnaw on his fingers. Maybe he is up to date on his rabies vaccine. I kept a safe distance, but I wasn’t afraid of the monkeys rushing me this time. Next we visited an actual temple.

We have been eating four meals a day because the food is cheap and the portions are small. I liked Malaysian food better, but the fresh juices are delicious.

The hotel kitten joined us each morning for breakfast.