Ubud

The Sacred Monkey Forest in Ubud was one of my favourite places we visited during our four-week stay in Bali. It is very accessible, within walking distance of most hotels in downtown Ubud, and easy to visit with a car, as we did.

There are over two hundred macaques residing in this forest, and it seems like we probably saw nearly all of them when we visited. Many of them were lounging near a small pond in the centre of the main intersection of paths, bathing and playing and teasing tourists.

Bananas are for sale at the entrance, so if you'd like to feed the macaques, supplies are readily available. But watch out! If you leave bananas unattended, the monkeys will come and steal them! We saw two disappointed human faces fall upon the realization that their ownings had been quickly stolen away... One woman nearly lost her camera, too!

My advice would be not to buy anything - the monkeys can tell who has the goods and who doesn't, and they can be fairly aggressive when you have something they want. A sign at the entrance warns vistors not to try to take anything from the monkeys, nor to put up a fight if they take things from you...

In addition to the monkeys, The Sacred Monkey Forest also boasts three of Bali's oldest temples, all of which are beautiful. The craftsmanship with which their wooden doors were carved and statues sculpted is really something. And the forest itself was stunningly beautiful - a small river runs through it, and the flora are incredible.

The Monkey Forest is extremely budget-friendly, costing 10,000 Indonesian Rupees (approximately 1 USD) for adults, and half that for children.

I really enjoyed watching the monkeys play, and seeing all of the temples - it felt quintessentially Balinese, and very unique. If I'm ever in Bali again, I'll happily go back!