Indonesia - Sacred Monkey Forest (Mandala Wisata Wanera Wana), Bali

Monkey Forest complete album

Not much to say.  Just crazy, cheeky monkeys.

Honestly I was never very interested in monkeys before.  I could take 'em or leave 'em.  But now that I've had the chance to interact with them & watch them behave outside of a caged environment I like them a lot more.  They were incredibly interesting creatures & it was really amazing to watch the human-like things they would do while entertaining themselves, especially the younger monkeys.

The area in which they lived was a holy & sacred site with temples most non-Balinese could not visit or enter, which was disappointing.  Even the monkeys were considered sacred here.  No wonder they were so naughty!  They treated humans like their own personal jungle gyms, stole my camera lens (which I eventually traded back with a banana), tried to get in my bag & pull off anything they could from my clothing - & we didn't even have food or treats to tempt them with to get their attention, unlike many visitors.

Indonesia - Elephant Cave (Goa Gajah), Bali

Elephant Cave (Goa Gajah) complete album

A cave, with a demon elephant relief outside.  Built around the 11th century was originally a dwelling for Hindu priests.  The fountains in the site are considered holy & its still used today by many Hindu.
...& like most places, was surrounded by rice paddies

Indonesia - Ubud, Bali

Ubud complete album

I cannot begin to say how very much I loved Ubud.  It was unbelievably gorgeous & stunning at every turn...  The shopping was pretty great too.  Lots of nifty boutiques & just as many delicious cafes in fantastic surroundings!  There were so many offerings of incense & rice & flowers everywhere you really had to watch where you were stepping at all times to be careful not to trod on them.  The scent on incense was always in the air.
Generally I feel it's a waste of time & money to visit places more than once when there are so many other places to see in the world, but I would be more than willing & delighted to make a return to Ubud one day!

I just loved the place to pieces, I don't even know where to begin.

The album & photos below are from the guesthouse/bunglaow wIstayed in there, the Ubud Palace (still in use), Lotus Pond Temple (where Balinese dancing performances were also staged at night) general in & around Ubud pics...

Indonesia - Ferry from Java -> Bali, Lovina & Kalibubuk

Singsing waterfalls & Air Panas Banjar hot springs complete photo album

Lovina/Kalibubuk photo album

Like all other transport in Indonesia, the ferry from Java to Bali, which should have only been 30 mins took over an hour, when the ferry randomly stopped outside of Bali's ferry terminal & just sat there.  Oh well.

Once we docked we caught more (slow) transport straight to the northern bit of the island, the Lovina beach area.  The northern part is s'possed to be much calmer & less tourist-filled than the southern part (as well as more beautiful, go fig) so we didn't even bother hitting southern Bali (places like Kuta).  We stayed in Lovina's main village called Kalibubuk.

While in Kalibubuk we hit up some nearby sights via motorbike like the Sinsing waterfalls & the Air Panas Banjar hot springs.  We each rented our wn motorbike for the day to get to therse things (about 80% minimum of Indonesia's population uses motorbikes to get around).  I was looking forward to the motorbike, especially as I had always desired a Vespa.  Well, no longer do I desire a Vespa.  I HAAAATED driving this thing!  I feel that generally I am not an easily scared or intimidated person - by anyone or anything.  FUCK those motorbikes, it was a terrible experience, & honestly Im bummed I hated it so much.  I found it difficult to control - I wrecked mine into the back of a parked truck - & just unpleasant & frightening in general.  I amost killed myself at least a couple times on it.  Especially one time when I was avoiding a lizard on the road (which may have already been dead but I couldn't be sure) & for some dumb reason I stuck my leg out & put my foot on the ground while the motorbike was zipping along and I was just in flipflops so there goes one flipflop lost, flying through the air...

Anyway, obviously I lived & made it first the Singsing waterfalls.  Not huge or anything but beautiful nonetheless.  The muddy waters (which I chose to stay out of, for fear of whatever may lurk beneath) are supposed to be healing.

Then off to the Air Panas Banjar hot spring.  The water was of volcanic origin, so smelled a tad on the sulfuric side was was very nice indeed still.  Absoltely gorgeous surroundings & the water was spewed into pools from stone naga heads.  Very nice.

& finally I had the craziest cocktail in Lovina.  It was simple - just some fresh fruit juices, wine & some sort of liquor...but the presentation is what pushed it over the top.  It was in a fresh hollowed out pineapple, the pineapple lid was cut off, then replaced (so the pineapple looked whole when you recieved it) & the lid had a serious buquet of lovely fresh flowers in it!  It was so pretty when they brought it over I thought it was a centerpiece to the table at first, hah.

Indonesia - Candi Prambanan

 Prambanan & Sewu complete photo album

Candi Prambanan was my favorite temple site.  Prambanan is a Hindu site & the largest/central temple is dedicated to Shiva.
Its absolutely stunning any way you look at it.  When its clear enough, you can see Mt Bromo (an active volcano) which I later visited, in the distance.

Prambanan (& the surrounding sites) have been twice demolished by earthquakes.  First, when it was discovered in the 1500's it was in ruins due to a massive earthquake, and then again the 2004 earthquake which savaged Indonesia & south Asia brought quite a bit of it down again.  It is still being fixed from the '04 earthquake.

A short (walking) distance from the Prambanan site are a few smaller Buddhist temple sites.  Most are still in ruins & have yet to be put back together, but candi Sewu had a nice portion refurbished.  As it was still in the works, the site was closed off - however, as we were walking around the perimeter a local who was working on refurbishing the site brought us in & gave us a personal tour.  He even took us into the main temple! 
He himself was Buddhist and when he brought us in & eventually got to the prayer area of the temple he did a Buddhist prayer wishing us the best in life.  People in & around the Yogyakarta area were just seriously some of the most genuinely amazing & freindly & generous people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting in my life.

Sewu

Indonesia - Yogyakarta, Java

Yogyakarta complete album

Yogyakarta was particularly interesting - very colorful, lots to see & filled with incredibly & very genuinely friendly people.  The time spent there was extremely enjoyable & hope its not too long before I get to return!
The photos are from all over town - the Kraton (palace), the Water Palace, Malioboro St (market), the hotel/gueshouse we stayed in, etc...
Yogya was also filled with lots of well-done, creative graffiti.

Indonesia - Candi Borobudur

Complete Borobudur album

Borobudur is a Buddhist temple (or candi) from the 9th century.  Absolutely impressive & beautiful, many people seem to think it is one of the 7 Wonder of the World, but is not & never has been.
The stupas on the top level all have buddhas in them (one has been left exposed over the years) & it is good luck to reach in & touch them.

It was pretty interesting that you're in this ridiculously amazing place, but as one of the very few Westerners there, I could barely walk a few steps without having local tourists requesting to have their photo taken with me.  It was utterly bizarre.

Indonesia - Jakarta, Java

Jakarta complete album

A very short time only was spent in Jakarta.  I didn't really come to Indonesia to slum around a big dirty city, there were better things to do.  Just had an evening there, after we flew in. (BTW we ended up having to bribe the guy who was giving up our entrance/visit visa, because he wouldn't give us one initially b/c I didn't have a print out confirmation of our flight back home, UGH!  First, but not last bribe of the trip...)
Jakarta was big, PACKED with people & pretty fucking dirty.  Very much a business city.

We did at least have an excellent supper there at least @ a nice open air bungalow-type restaurant across the street from our hotel.  At the time I thought it was the bee knees, but I was soon to find out most everything were to be in gorgeous open-air bungalow type places.

On the way to the restaurant I fell - nay, dove - into the most disgusting mud puddle EVER.  Thankfully I was just a few minutes from the hotel so was able to dash back easily so I could clean up & change.  I was covered in mud.

Absolutely beat  from out journey after dinner we just went to bed.  Had to be up early to catch a morning train to (the far more interesting & beautiful) Yogyakarta...

OH!  Also, I didn't realize this when I booked our flight, but there was a quick layover in Singapore.  Singapore airport (Changi) is my fave airport I've been in!  So nice!  So clean!  So yummy cocktails!  Being in the airport has made me want to visit Singapore...I mean, jeez, if just their airport is that great!