Bali – Nusa Dua, Banoa Harbor, Jimbaran Beach

Our last full day in Bali, so we headed to the “tourist” areas. Nusa Dua and Benoa Harbor was the first stop. Nusa Dua was nauseating- a gated, enclosed tourist community of Hyatt’s, Sheraton’s and Club Med’s that protect the tourists from the locals.

It was a short trip through Nusa Dua and we headed off to Ulu Watu, another water temple. We were warned about the monkeys. but were caught totally unaware when a large (very large) monkey jumped on my head and grabbed my earring. It happened so quickly- and we watched the monkey chew on the earring and head into the temple area not accessible to tourists. The locals “volunteered” to retrieve the earring and headed into the temple area. A few minutes later, they came back with the earring in hand - and a request for a donation. “Most tourist’s give $10 or $20”…. We’d been down this road before and, since the locals probably trained the monkeys to grab tourist’s earrings, cameras and glasses, John wisely gave them 2000 rupees (about 25 cents)…. and made his point.

We wandered through Jimbaran Beach and found a group of warungs on the beach…. grilling fresh snapper over coconut husks. It was the best meal we’d had in Indonesia. Wonderfully fresh snapper grilled with chili sauce, served with additional sambal for that added spice.

Finally, we had to drive through Kuta, the original surfer town. Jammed with traffic and aging surfers, it was a place to avoid. Back to Ubud and our final night…. Can’t believe we’d be heading to Singapore tomorrow.