Sacred Monkey Forest, Ubud

The Sacred Monkey Forest of Padangtegal is owned by the village of Padangtegal. Village members serve on the Sacred Monkey Forest's governing council (The Padangtegal Wenara Wana Foundation). The Padangtegal Wenara Wana Foundation has historically strived to develop and implement management objectives that will both maintain the sacred integrity of the monkey forest and promote the monkey forest as a sacred site that is open to visitors from around the world.

In 1986, only 800 people per month (on average) were visiting the Sacred Monkey Forest of Padangtegal. Today, it is not uncommon for the monkey forest to host 15,000 visitors per month. Although the Foundation welcomes the fact that a growing number of tourists are choosing to visit the Sacred Monkey Forest of Padangtegal, it also recognises that tourism can have negative impacts on the monkey forest's natural and cultural resources. As a result, some of the primary objectives of the Foundation include: 

• Educating people about the importance of conserving the Sacred Monkey Forest's natural and cultural resources.
• Maintaining a team of highly trained staff members that are responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the Sacred Monkey Forest.
• Monitoring and whenever necessary restoring the integrity of the Sacred Monkey Forest's natural and cultural resources. 

Here a some of the monkeys we met in the Sacred Forest:

The monkey's weren't ferocious, if you leave them alone they'll ignore you

Mandala Wisata Wenara Wana
(Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary)
Jalan Monkey Forest, Padangtegal, Ubud
Bali, Indonesia (80571)

Komaneka Resorts - Ubud Bali

Komaneka at Monkey Forest is located on Jalan Mokey Forest in the heart of Ubud. The traditional market and art market are within 15 minutes walking distance. There are a lot of souvenir shops, boutique fashion shops, restaurant and bars along the street.

This was our accommodation for the next three nights.

We weren't quick enough to booked a suite, but the deluxe room we did get was amazing. I loved the extra effort they took in making guests feel welcome. 

We found the staff very friendly, efficient, and gracious. Once you walk through the lobby of the hotel you are in a peaceful garden setting. The breakfast menu contained both traditional and western options.

We were presented with a "welcome drink" (and a cold towel)

 

The Pool

Our friendly driver in Bali, Indonesia

When searching for a driver to take us sightseeing, we happened to come across blog called Travel Betty.

His name is Gusdek, he picked us up from our hotel and took us to see temples and a volcano (more on this later).

Apologies for the quality of this photo.

He was a friendly and knowledgeable person, and a wonderful driver, please see below for his contact details.

Our drivers' details:

Ida Bagus Sumardika (aka. Gusdek)

Office: Kasturi Car & Motor Bike Rental & Tour Service

Pura Bagus Taruna St. No. 516X (near the Kusnadi Hotel)

Legian, Kuta, Bali

Hand Phone: 081 33876 1498

Email: gusdek_2005 [at] yahoo [dot] com

Flying Garuda Indonesia: SIN -> DPS -> SIN

We recently needed some time out, and wanted to get off the "Little Red Dot". We were thinking of heading to either Thailand, Cambodia or Indonesia. We had a look at a couple of brochures taken from a travel roadshow, and settled on Bali for a few days of rest and relaxation.

It was our first time flying Garuda Indonesia ..... the service was a little average.

 

I must say that I have had better airline food on other airlines (flying economy). The beef was a little dry and it was served with (dry) sweet potato. What I did like about Garuda was the drink and napkin they brought around prior to take off.

 

 

It was not such a comofrtable flight. The airline used was a 737, so that's three seats on either side of the plane. It was only about a two-hour flight, so it was not long before we landed in Denpasar.

Look at all those motorbikes!

 

Four days later, we headed back to Bali Airport (Ngurah Rai) for our flight back to Singapore.

 

The service on our flight back to Singapore was poor, there didn't seem to be enough service staff for the number of passengers. Qudos to the air hostess who managed to serve dinner and drinks all by herself. As you can see from the picture below, she did forget the bread roll.

Check out the flight path, we did a loop-de-loop somewhere along the way!