Monkeying Around in Ubud

Yesterday I had one of my most memorable and unique experiences...We had come to Ubud, an artsy community in the middle of Bali, in order to get a more rural vibe. We were done with the tourism and peddling in Kuta Beach and were ready for some new scenery. (Little known fact: as we headed out just outside of Ubud, we passed where they filmed Eat, Pray, Love).

We arrived and it was raining..That didn't stop us from wandering around in the rain and seeing what exactly this craftsman's town had to offer. I had read in our "Bible"--ie SE Asia on a Shoestring--that we should check out the Monkey Forest Sanctuary. As we walked up, there were hundreds of grey long tailed monkeys--in the trees, on the sidewalks, and even crawling on people trying to get to bananas! They were seemingly the most innocent, wise animals I'd ever been that close to.

I definitely wanted to take one home with me and live like Ross Geller a la Friends. Everything from babies clinging to their mamas for dear life to old fat poppa monkeys just sitting around like they not only own the forest, but all the temples inside too. At one point, a few tourists were getting a little too close to one of the little ones and the mom started baring her teeth..Pretty scary!

So we meandered through the forest, saw rivers running through it, monkeys everywhere and an old temple or two. We were having a blast, despite the pouring rain (no umbrella for Ross or me, mind you) and everything is going great, when all of a sudden we hear a little girl screaming bloody murder. We look up ahead and there are two monkeys climbing up this poor girl and as as she runs, they start scratching her..basically attacking her. We had no clue what to do. Her dad picked her up and put her on his shoulders, and they start climbing up his legs trying to get to her! The village people had to get umbrellas and brooms and physically remove the monkeys. It was ridiculously scary; this little 4 year old is going to hate monkeys forever, guaranteed. It was honestly like a scene from Outbreak.

After that little snafu, we were watching those grey monsters like a hawk and were wishing we had brought some mace, should things get crazy. The creatures that we once thought were precious turned out to be raging jungle beasts. 

I still would take a baby one home with me though if I could.