Our bus tickets to Ubud were IDR 60,000 (about US 4.50) and the total travel time was just under two hours. The drop off location was central enough for us to walk to our hostel after stopping at a smoothie shop to cool off and GPS our location. We stayed at Purnama House, which we booked on Kayak and turned out to be a great pick. It was on the same street as the Ubud Market and walking distance to the Monkey Forest. I cannot say enough good things about the family who runs the hostel. They are truly good hearted people who aren’t just looking to rip you off to make an extra buck.
We checked in and made plans to go to the Sacred Monkey Forest. We had walked by it to get to our hostel and several monkeys had posted themselves outside the entrance looking as adorable as possible. The entrance fee was only IDR 40,000, barely USD 3. Upon entering, we quickly learned that the monkeys were jerks, and they angrily stole our water bottle for amusement. Although it was well worth seeing Sam hop away from a thirsty, hissing monkey, as he reluctantly gave into the fierce little one’s demands. He twisted off the top and proceeded to waste our .50cent water all over the ground.
Monkeys from a few days old to several years old, interacted with each other everywhere. Bananas were available for purchase and monkeys would crawl all over you to retrieve their favorite snack. The grounds themselves were lush and relatively clean compared to the rest of Indonesia. Vines, waterfalls, and a seemingly endless canopy of trees covered the area. We stayed for about two hours walking around and taking pictures before going to get some dinner. We got some cheap massages before heading back to our hotel and relaxing for the rest of the evening in preparations for the following day. Ubud had a lot of great meal options and was even cheaper than Kuta Beach.
vanessa perino 