I wanted to see the monkey forest of Uluwatu Temple because of a beautiful shot of a monkey perched on top of a post, with the cliff and beautiful blue sea as its backdrop. So it was part of our itinerary on our second trip to Bali.
(image: Vin and Pri’s Credit Crunch Escape)
Our fab friend Jed, who also happens to contribute to an Indonesian travel magazine, also told us we must watch the Kecak Dance in Uluwatu. Perfect – it will be two monkeys with one stone!
We got there quite early at about 4pm because we wanted to take some pics and get good seats.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE:
- Take off your glasses, shades, dangling jewelry, or any food in your bag or pockets before you enter – the monkeys are known to aggressively steal them from you. You’ll either have to pay one of the locals to get it back for you or, even worse, you won’t ever see it again.
- There is an entrance fee to go into the Uluwatu Temple compound (Rp 3,000)
- If you are wearing something short, you will have to borrow a sarong for a fee. We didn’t need this because my husband’s shorts were covering his knees, and my skirt was quite long. They just gave us long pieces of cloth to tie around our waist (for free). When asked what it was for, they said it was a sign of respect. (Can anyone confirm this for me?)
- There’s also a fee for watching the Kecak Dance (Rp 70,000). Be sure to get one of the pamphlets with the summary of the story so you can refer to it while watching the show. It comes in many different languages.
[..] You should arrive early to get good seats (2 or 3rd from the bottom at the center). Click here to see pictures. There are also other Kecak dances all over the island, make sure to get the [..]