Day 32: Uluwatu & Stolen Phone (Monkey Business)
Friday, September 27th
Thank goodness we start our morning with laughter. My mom said if Christopher could make it through a night like that with me, he could handle anything. Despite feeling awful, I am just thankful I had someone to laugh about it all with.
Our driver wasn’t supposed to come until noon today, to take us on an adventure to Uluwatu. We rested all morning. I didn’t want to waste a day. Either way I was going to feel crummy, so I’d rather be sight seeing.
Our driver had showed us an itinerary for the day, but I guess he had some other things in mind. He took us a much longer route than planned, and our first stop was not a great one. We hopped right back into the car and headed to Uluwatu temple. Now here’s where the story gets interesting.
There are little cute monkeys everywhere. I see a little baby one. We are not getting close though, because we have heard stories.
We venture over to a beautiful cliff, and then we are walking down a paved path to get to our next lookout point and the temple. I thought Christopher was grabbing my hand, and I hear him yell BABE! I then look at him, because I still didn’t realize what had just happened. A monkey stole my phone right out of my hand!
I immediately sprinted (while feeling very unwell) to get help while Christopher kept an eye on the monkey. We didn’t want to spook him because he was behind a bar wire fence next to a cliff, so I didn’t want him to throw the phone. He took it out of the case and tried eating it. I was gone for so long trying to find someone, and Christopher obviously couldn’t get ahold of me. Finally I found someone who would come help. He chased the monkey into the forest. He told us to call my phone, and a few seconds later, he walked out holding my phone. We were in awe. We gave the worker some cash for helping us. He saved us loads of money and stress. While I was on the hunt for a worker, a couple gave Christopher a water bottle to try to trade the monkey.(They say you can trade food for whatever item they have.) I think the vibration of the phone is what scared them.
The monkey ended up taking videos on my phone. They are epic. I cannot believe I still have a phone! Christopher said the monkey was also trying to crack my phone on trees (to break it and eat). Thank goodness we got it back and somehow without a single scratch. We were using my phone to contact the driver via WhatsApp, so we would have been stranded! We were in shock, but dying laughing and so relieved.
We then ventured on to the temple, and I kept my phone in my purse the rest of the trip.
We hopped back into the car and then went to Padang Padang beach. It was so neat. You had to walk through rocks, down a narrow staircase to get to the beach. It was definitely cleaner and a great place to learn to surf. We explored around a little, then hiked back up, which was extremely difficult for me. This entire day has been a struggle for me. I have only been running off sips of water and a couple crackers, and Christopher hasn’t eaten much either. BUT, it was my choice to go out and explore today, so I powered through. We also really wanted to check out another area to see if we want to leave sooner or later.
Next stop was Ulu Cliffhouse. They invited us to come see the DJ Faithless, and all I had to do was post to my story. The doors opened at 6, so we got there a few minutes early. We weren’t planning on staying long, and truthfully we didn’t even care about the DJ, we just really wanted to see the views, which they were gorgeous. We snuck down the cliffs into an area that was closed off and Christopher got some amazing photos.
We called our driver and headed out. It took about 3 hours to drive 20 miles back. The traffic is CRAZY. Our driver got out and some turns and tried to instruct other cars. Somehow I fell asleep on Christophers lap. He said our driver got hit once by a scooter, and he bumped another car. There were times we were off roading and he got us lost. It was so sketchy. Christopher stayed awake the whole time to ensure we were safe and to help navigate. There was a big language barrier as well. I was a little concerned we were about to get kidnapped, but I knew Christopher would keep us safe. It was crazy, but here we are, safe and sound. Are you even come to Bali if you don’t get stuck in a crazy traffic jam?
We are ready for bed. Poor Christopher has only eaten crackers today, but we are too burnt out to do anything else. I don’t have it in me to go back out.
My highlight was probably getting my phone back. It was all so funny and unbelievable. Christopher said his highlight was talking to the monkey while I was gone and not being able to take his eyes off of it. He said it felt like an hour. I felt like I was away from him for an hour. I had to run so far and it took so long to find someone to help. Thank goodness Christopher was able to keep an eye on it as it ran into the forest.
