Kuil Gunung Kawi is an eleventh centurary grouping of funeral shrines carved into the sheer cliff face of the Pakerisan river valley.
Constantly listed as a must see, I was a little underwhelmed, maybe because I had seen so many other impressive tombs and cemetery throughout our travels.
On the second day in Ubud we caught up with my brother, Simon and his friend Josh who drove down from Sanur on the coast of Bali. We decided to visit the Monkey Forest first even though we were not quite show if it was something we should take Farah into.
It turned out that the Monkey Forest was quite okay, with the monkey’s staying their ground unless you presented them with food. There were local Balinese men with sticks scattered around the Monkey Forest who did try to maintain the peace, though a lot of the time they were feeding the monkey’s instead.
Our first day in Ubud we decided to take it easy and explore Ubud city, after all, we weren’t entirely sure how little Farah would hold up.
I purchased the Deuter Kid Carrier on an impulse and it was really very useful navigating the uneven and dangerous paths.
Located at the North of Ubud is a collection of temples some which have been incorporated into the grounds of the modern Ubud Palace and Ubud Museum.
The unsigned palace is a small section of the palace courtyard open to the public, exploring the grounds gave us a taste of Balinese architecture, multi tiered roofs with mythical creatures all wearing a traditional Sarong, which normally covers the temple visitor’s bare legs.
From the courtyard of Ubud Palace we continue to wander around the area, we stumbled into some unknown temples there were across the road which may have been the local village’s private temple, a sight we realised was quite common throughout Ubud.
We headed back to the main road and passed Pura Desa temple, which even though we couldn’t enter was very impressive from afar, with its meticulously kept gardens.
Next door to Pura Desa is the entrance to Pura Saraswati, an unusuality is the Starbucks coffee at the entrance, which though it isn’t great to see at a temple, does a good job of blending in.
Pura Saraswait’s entrance is a central walkway past ponds of lotus flowers and made for some nice photos. Inside the upper temple’s level was many mini temples and shrines, some with mythical creates adorning them.
Ubud Museum’s entrance is another converted temple, Puri Lukisan, once past the entrance there is meticulous gardens with ponds and water features. We spent a while exploring the grounds and the small scattered buildings on the garden’s outskirts that housed artwork.
At the end we took a break with a complimentary cold drink.
Our second day in Battambang we decided to hire a scooter to explore some of the outer around Battambang regions.
thydzikgooglemap(http://sonyaandtravis.com/maps/around-battambang-three-temples-train-cambodia.xml)
After arriving at Phnom Sampeau hill we first visited the killing caves, the killing caves was a natural cave with skylight opening that was used by the Khmer Rouge to toss victims through the skylight to their death. Inside the cave are glass cased memorials of skulls and bones.
We continued up the Phnom Sampeau hill and reached Wat Phnom Sapeau. The surrounds of Wat Phnom Sapeau is home to a bunch of macaques monkeys, which at the time were being fed by monks, this presented some good photo opportunities.
From Wat Phnom Sapeau we headed to Wat Banan which was an ancient temple situated on a hill near the Sangker River. Wat Banan has a five tower design similar to Angkor Wat, as well some well preserved stone carvings.
One of the more enjoyable experiences was the bamboo train. The bamboo train is a rudimentary train consisting of no more than two axels, a metal base lined with bamboo and an small engine. All components could be lifted with two persons, though the axels which they were lifting individually were extremely heavy. As it is a single track, the protocol for two trains going in opposite directions, meeting is for the least passengers and cargo to disembark and disassemble to allow the other train to parse.
A ruined eleventh century temple with some well preserved stone carvings. Nearby is a newly built temple and sitting Buddha statue.
