Monkeys and Kecak Dance

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Located in the center of Ubud is the Monkey Forest. It is full of lush tropical plants, a few monkey temples and of course a ton of monkeys.

I had three monkey highlights in the monkey forest:
1. A baby that couldn’t have been more than a couple of weeks old. He was so incredibly cute, his ears were pink and he didn’t have much fur.
2. A group of “adolescents” playing in a pool, they were dunking each other, pushing their friends off of the branches and running around like teenagers
3. A little monkey that confirmed evolution in my mind. He was diligently trying to get water out of a fresh water from what looked like a sprinkler…was using his thumbs and all, like a little hairy person.

Monkeys are a very important part of the Balinese culture and take center stage in many of the traditional dances such as the Kecak. I went to the Kecak and it was a good experience to see it but I forgot my bug spray so I am paying dearly right now.

A little bit of info on Kecak for you…
Of all the dances seen on Bali today, the Kecak dance is perhaps the most dramatic. Taken from the Hindu epic Ramayana, the dance tells the story of Prince Rama and his rescue of Princess Sita, who has been kidnapped by the evil King of Lanka. Unlike other dances, there is no gamelan orchestra accompanying it. Instead, a troupe of over 150 bare-chested men serve as the chorus, making a synchronized "chak-achak-achak" clicking sounds while swaying their bodies and waving their hands.

After listening to the “chak-achak-achak” you will be chanting it for hours, good times.

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Photos

The Monkey Baby
So cute

Evolution Monkey
A little furry human want to be

Dinner Before Kacek Show
Friends that I met through yoga and at my hotel, Nicole, Mike, Karen and Tony.

Comments

[Nancy]

Glad to see you've met folks
Ok, the mom in me is a little relieved to see that you've met some great people (not stalker guys). Please keep up the blog so I can live virtually through your adventures. All the best