Private Shore Excursion: Ubud Art Villages and Sacred Monkey Forest

Where to start.......Our guide Wayan was 11/2 hrs late! He didnt have a good enough grasp of English and certainly didnt have a good enough grasp of Bali history. He was too keen to take us to shopping outlets rather than places wed asked for. He hadnt planned any refreshment stops. He has great potential, but needs support and training to make that happen.

Wayan was a young, enthusiastic guide and driver who was eager to show us around. We enjoyed stopping at the batik, woodcarving, and artists' workshops but the silver shop was a bit of a bust because they had no power. The Batuan temple was interesting and Wayan was particularly knowledgeable here. He then took us to a great restaurant for lunch. The highlight of the day was the Monkey Forest. It met all expectations.

One of the worst tour ever. First there was the 3 day horror of trying to get a confirmation of our requested pick up time. I asked the question through Viator and sent several follow up emails when I got no response. I was told to call the local number, but I was in the middle of the ocean. We reached port and I had local call the number provided for the tour operator. They either got no answer or spoke to someone who had no record of our tour. It was a nightmare to sort out and has made me seriously question the Viator services. We did finally get a confirmation, 14 hours before the scheduled start time. That is not service in any country or language. The guide/driver was on time and did speak English, but did not understand the questions we asked, nor offer any commentary on the areas we were driving through. We hired a GUIDE, we got a driver. Absolutely, thoroughly disappointing.

Our driver Putu was on time and waiting for us at the Port of Benoa. He greeted us with a big smile. Once in our comfortable Toyota and on our way. Putu asked us what we were excited to see. He suggested two temples - but we had visited them the day before so he suggested other points of interest and we left ourselves and the day into his hands. Our first destination was the Sacred Monkey Forest. Putu dropped us off and he said he would meet us inside after parking the car. We paid the 100,000 Indonesian Rupiah 8 US. There were monkeys everywhere. The little babies hanging onto their mothers were so cute. The forest was just that. A beautiful, dense tropical forest with bridges, a river. Our next stop was the rice terraces. Another beautiful scenic place with lush greenery. Our next stop was a coffee factory. We were given a tour and a guide explained the entire process of Lauwa coffee. Putu had arraigned for us to have a taste test of 9 different coffees and teas that were free of charge. I ordered a cup of the Lauwa coffee and we also had some banana fritters 8 US. We purchased some teas before leaving for our last stop a Bali house. Putu showed us the different rooms, inner courtyard, family temple area. Once again, Putu our Bali Ambassador that is what we called him received an A. With the help of Putu we had a wonderful time and saw exactly what we wanted to see. He was friendly, helpful and informative of Bali and what it had to offer a tourist. We made it back to the port in time to have a massage in the terminal area. We HIGHLY recommend this tour and wish that we could give it 10 stars. By the way we found this tour listed as NEW to Viator. Mike and Robin