Villa Lounging and Dancing with the Monkeys

What originally got me into the idea of Bali was the private villa. I was cruising around on TripAdvisor, indulging some fantasies, and I happened upon a review of a private villa in Bali with a private pool. It sounded amazing, but I was pretty sure it would be out of our budget. But......just for kicks, I decided to check the price and boy am I glad I did!

Welcome to our private villa in Bali....

Inside our little compound we had a private pool,

an outdoor living area (and an indoor, air conditioned bedroom). Our villa came with butler service, so we pretty much never had to leave.

We did have company though! This little guy took up residence in our living room ceiling. We named him Blinky.

There is only so much lounging a person can do, however. After lounging all day, we decided to take in Uluwatu, a temple on the cliffs on the southern tip of Bali, and watch the sunset.

It is a magnificent setting, with the waves pounding on the cliffs below. Uluwatu is also home to a large population of macaque monkeys. They are quite tame and may even steal any loose objects you are carrying (i.e. glasses) if given the chance.

What they really want is food. Luckily we didn't have anything stolen, but we hear it is a pretty easy exchange - glasses for fruit. Even though we weren't bartering, we bought some fruit anyway and shared with the cheeky little devils.

Check out that swell! Our guide book says that this area has some of the best surfing in Bali, and I believe them.

The culmination of the evening was a traditional Balinese dance put on at the temple. I have to admit, I was a little "eh" about seeing a dance performance. I figured it would be really contrived for tourists and cheesy. They definitely cater to the tourists - there were at least 800 people in a grandstand-like seating area around the stage - but they manage to put on a dramatic, authentic-seeming performance. I was really impressed.

A main character in this dance was the white monkey - fitting since the dance takes place at Uluwatu with so many little simians.

It started raining part-way into the performance, and they just kept on dancing. We, of course, got soaked, but it was worth it.