After spending nearly a week in Cambodia, I made it to the 2nd leg of my journey in Bali. My first morning I ventured out I immediately noticed the horrible traffic and the overly anxious retail shop owners trying to pull me in to buy their products and services. Luckily for me I had a busy day already planned so I was unable to stroll each of their major streets from me leading up to the beach.
For my Monkey Forest and Bali Safari & Marine tours scheduled that day, I had hired a tour guide named “Chen”. I believe hiring a tour guide/driver is the way to go when it comes to exploring Bali and is the most efficient but if you are cost sensitive you should compare it versus going through a tour agency in town.
To give a brief detail of Monkey Forest, it is what the name say located in the town of Ubud. Ubud is known for organic foods, yoga, and a healthy lifestyle. The Monkey Forest contains dozens of monkeys and acts like a park sanctuary for them. I recommend a visit due to the fact you get to see then up close and personal.
To end my day we made a stop to the Bali Safari & Marine park. My guide Chen had already made reservations for me to take part in the Night Safari. The tour includes a welcome drink,buffer bbq dinner, and of course you ride on the back of a pickup truck for the highly anticipated safari portion. I did it and it lived up to the hype as you get to come face to face with lions, etc.
Once completing these tours that evening, my day was done and back to the hotel for rest.