Ubud

Upon leaving Lembongan we went to Ubud which is somewhat the cultural center of Bali. This is a good picture of what most hotel rooms look like in bali. They have double door entryways and windows. It might be hard to tell from the picture as well, but you have to step up and duck to get through the door. Interesting.

Soon after checking in we went down to the monkey forest. It is exactly what it sounds like, a forest full of monkeys. All the people feed the monkeys so they are mostly fat and lazy although they get into a frenzy if they suspect you have food. There were also temples and other sites within the forest. There was a ceremony going on while we were there so parts were off limits and there were people in traditional costume everywhere.

Next to some pretty sweet lizards.
Locals entering the ceremony area.
Part of the temple in the forest.
More parts of the temple. Everything was decorated, presumably for the ceremony. Ubud is much more touristy and upscale than lembongan so there were groups of foreigners everywhere.
Monkey got fed.
Monkey on lookout for banana.
We then went to the market where we picked up a few gifts and souvenirs. There are no great deals here but if you really put on your haggling hat and walk away a few times you can squeeze them down. Here is me telling this shyster that his price is outrageous. (it was)
After that we stopped by the Ubud palace for a few pictures.
That evening we had a very nice dinner at a local indonesian restaurant and met Andrea and her friend Pat for a few drinks. The next morning we bargained down a morning spa treatment and returned to the market to try to squeeze a couple sellers a bit more. Massages and such are so cheap in bali you can't not do them. Even the upscale places are so cheap it even enticed me. I was on a roll by this time on the negotiation. Hot off decent deals at the market and a 40% markdown at the spa, I started negotiating our transportation back to kuta (airport area). I was insistent I wasn't paying more than 15 bucks for the hour+ trip and I got my price... However the vehicle had no AC (cool day thankfully) and the driver had no idea where he was going. Real nice guy though. For 20 I could have had AC, but 5 bucks is 50,000 rupiah which is enough for a good day's work.

That evening we walked Kuta beach and then got dinner in the area with the strip of bars and clubs. Crazy. This is where you go to have a good time in Bali (especially if you are aussie), but its packed. Think OOB. Everyone was ignoring these traditional musicians but they were very good and i recognized their style from west java. They were happy to get a pic taken.
The next morning we flew out for singapore.