Jalan Monkey Forest, (or Monkey Forest Road) is
a long stretch of narrow road that borders the central 'urban' area of
Ubud, a bustling town in the center of
Bali, Indonesia.
On one end of the jalan is the Ubud
marketplace, an intricate multi-leveled makeshift maze of bustling exchange and
bartering. Both tourists and locals flood the marketplace from morning til night; the tourists to acquire any of the amazing crafts
Bali is famous for at ridiculously low prices, the locals to make their weekly purchases of household amenities,
cooking ingredients and fabric.
On the other end of the jalan is the great
Monkey Forest itself, an amazing expanse of cavernous woods draped with thick vines and overgrown mystical-looking knotted trees, intermittently accented with the carved stone scuptures of
deities and offering rocks that can be found throughout Bali. Monkey Forest is truly an awe inspiring place; a meditator's peaceful recluse, a
photographer's
wet dream, a
botanist's
field study, a
hiker's challenge, an explorer's
vast opportunity, and the
stomping grounds of thousands of monkeys.
In between, Jalan Monkey Forest stretches for the equivalent of about
10 blocks, spotted with inexpensive hotels, money changers, open-air restaurants and more shopping establishments you could imagine possible, each one about the size of a large
American front porch. Strewn all over the concrete up and down the jalan are pairs upon pairs of colorful
flip flops (it is customary and polite to remove one's shoes before entering the shops), and countless intricately crafted bamboo leaf shells with rice, flower petals and incense (the Balinese ritualistically create these 'offerings' each day and place them near
anything to bring
good luck).
Bright blue
bakso carts roll up and down the jalan. The bakso cart is a Balinese standard comparable to the
hot dog stand in
New York City, appearing everywhere and ready to feed the masses. The bakso served up by these vendors is a brothy soup with fish-meatballs and your choice of
noodles. There are also other vendors with their tiny grills set up alongside the road, selling bags of drink, beef sate' and portions of rice and vegetables wrapped up in brown paper. The Balinese don't eat with utensils, not even chopsticks. They use their right hand. On the curb up and down the jalan you can see locals sitting alone or in groups, picking inside their brown paper wrappings and drinking water or strawberry flavored drink out of a small hole in the corner of a plastic bag.
There are more wild dogs in Ubud then there are people. Its a specific breed of dog, called 'Bali dog' and they are
everywhere. People step warily around them on the sidewalks of the jalan, motorbikes swerve around them in the middle of the street, vans stop and honk. They fight, they bark, they have sex, they eat, they trample, they run all over the place. Other animals one might see alongside the jalan include small chickens, beautifully plumed
pheasants, geckos of varying size and the occasional monkey that has wandered from the forest.
There is a stream of water constantly running alongside Jalan Monkey Forest in a thin, low surrey. The running water serves as many things. It can be a
trash chute, a
bathroom, a
bath, a drink for
the animals. Its just a constant.
In addition to the four main Ubud streets that start perpendicular to Monkey Forest Road, there are seemingly countless small walkways that lead to a world of
goings-on behind the jalan. Some of them are access to vast ricefields, others are like alleyways where vendors peddle and makeshift storefronts are erected and then taken down each day. Others are pathways that lead to other, smaller roads wide enough only for pedestrians and motorbikes.
Hotel Oka Wati can only be reached by way of one of these tributary paths off of Jalan Monkey Forest, right across from where Jalan
Dewisita begins. If you ever find yourself in the area and need a place to stay, look for it.