Monkey Forest

Our new friend Made always wanted know our plans. One mouthful into the nasi goreng breakfast and he was popping up with “What are your plans for today?”. Every morning. He was keen to arrange trips and tours for us and was a little disappointed when we said we just wanted to wander around Ubud and get a feel for the place. As the resort is in the middle of nowhere, we had to rely on Made to take us into Ubud whenever we wanted to go. He was very obliging, but it meant that we were very dependent on him. He was very protective of us and took care to give us advice on how to deal with shop keepers and taxi drivers and told us to call him if we got into trouble. What kind of place was Ubud? We were about to find out.

Ubud is tourist central. It seems to exist entirely for tourists. Every building is a shop, hotel or restaurant. Everyone who talks to you is selling you something or offering you taxi services. I can’t remember ever being anywhere quite so touristy. Agra perhaps?

Made dropped us off at the Monkey Forest and in we went. We had no peanuts or food on us which was just as well as the monkeys are vicious little buggers and would attack anyone for a sniff of fruit. They weren’t anything like their quiet cousins in Lombok. They are more likely to leave you alone if you have no food on you, but nevertheless one big monkey seemed interested in us. He spotted a bulge in the front of David’s shorts (his wallet – what did you think?), jumped up on his legs and started biting through the pocket. I wished I had been brave enough to get my camera out, but I’m afraid I froze – I didn’t want him on me! The monkey gave up after a minute or two and jumped down when he could sense no nuts or bananas (hahaha) but actually left teeth marks in David’s wallet!

We tried to avoid monkeys after that and explored the quiet part of the forest. It looks like an abandoned elf kingdom. Statues covered with moss, gates leading nowhere and damp caves and waterfalls nestled amongst the trees. There is also an impressive temple in the forest guarded by a troupe of “sacred” monkeys. The little ones are hairless and look like little scrawny old men.