After spending the night wandering America's Bali, we were in a hurry to see "Real" Bali. Amazingly, it was less expensive to hire a car than to take the bus. It was a pretty drive. Every town had a temple and everyone was preparing for the "Ogoh-Ogoh," a.k.a. monster, parade. There were intricately woven bamboo arches everywhere. 
We didn't have much time before the parade so we headed to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary. It was a little too planet of the apes for me. I've been around monkeys before; I've been close enough to feed them too. That experience was nothing compared to this. The monkeys were everywhere! And they did not hesitate to rush you. They were cute until they turned and ran at you while baring their teeth. The sanctuary itself was really beautiful too. It was full of incredible tall trees that looked like they were all roots and moss-covered statues of dragons, lizards, monkeys, etc.
The O-goh-goh parade was amazing. Monsters like we had seen the night before, had been mounted on bamboo frames and carried on the backs of sarong-laden boys. The O-goh-gohs were so tall they had designated a person to lift up the wires of the telephone poles as they passed under them. Who knew that paper mache could be so violent and scary! I'm glad that we had the opportunity to witness a truly authentic Balinese ceremony rather than all the other ceremonies that have been warped to capitalize on tourist dollars.
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