Trying Freedom

I spent most of yesterday night creating a list of places that I could go to based off a few different YouTube guides and decided that I would kick start the day by ticking off what I assumed the most touristy places would be, coming in at the top of the list was the Monkey Forest.

Being completely honest I spent most of my time walking round probably looking like the cagiest person there, or animal for that matter. I followed the rules by the book at complete fear of being mauled to death which is wildly irrational considering how many other people visit every day.

One of those rules was not touching any of the monkeys which everyone else seemed to completely disregard, which did give me some some smug sense that it someone else was mauled I’d be in some sort of I told you so mentality, again, completely ridiculous but it is what it is.

This aside I’d highly recommend a visit, you can even get a selfie with a monkey it you feel brave enough and just roam around in their habitat which feels incredible.

The next on the list was the Tegallalang Rice Terraces, it was genuinely beautiful, try and avoid being swamped by one of the many restaurant staff that try and invite you in under the guise of seeing the view when you park up, if you’re on a scooter, and head to the main entrance which actually takes you onto the fields, there’s actually quite a few different spots once you’re in but one official place to purchase your ticket to start with for a small fee, I think around 35K IDR.

You can walk around and even see people still working in the fields as they have for generations, or you can embrace the tourist side and pay to use one of the many famous Bali swings or one of the many photo spots that the locals have setup to please all of Instagram, surprisingly, I didn’t go for this but again I’d highly recommend a trip, there’s something for everyone.

As I was leaving a local guide, who I now know as my crazy uncle Gede, came over to my scooter and after a quick chat gave me his number on a scrap of paper in case I wanted to get a tour booked in, I was interested for a change because he suggested that it would only be for a donation based on if you liked it or not instead of whatever fee you normally get quoted knowing nothing about the person, but you’ll find out more on that later.

Honorable mention to Labak Sari Restaurant for some delicious crispy duck in the evening too!