Our accommodation in Ubud was directly adjacent to the famous Ubud Monkey Forest. Since the monkeys there were free to roam at will, we had many interactions with the monkeys every day. We also paid a visit to the Monkey Forest itself one day.

Nearly every morning, a good number of monkeys would visit our hotel. The drank the pool water, knocked over plants, foraged for anything edible, climbed the trees, grabbed coconuts, pooped, and fought amongst themselves. While interesting, this did mean that we had to be careful about leaving anything within reach of the agile monkeys.

We also noticed that the staff at the hotel’s restaurant were very comfortable using slingshots to keep the monkeys at bay. Despite this, the brazen monkeys didn’t miss any opportunities for free food. We did witness one monkey jump on the table of a couple eating breakfast near us and sitting down to eat some fresh papaya. The staff quickly shood the monkey away and replaced the despoiled meal.

I was also the victim of a monkey ambush one afternoon. Returning to the hotel from a trip to the nearby minimart to purchase water, I was suddenly confronted with a monkey who leaped onto the path in front of me (presumably from a nearby tree). He then lunged for the two icecreams that I was carrying in one hand. Instinctively, I kneed the monkey in the chest (as I would react to a jumping dog) and the monkey then proceeded to bare his teeth at me and make angry hissing sounds. By this point, the hotel staff had noticed and rushed over to move the monkey on, which he grudgingly did.

Samuel found the monkeys quite fascinating, although they had to compete for his attention with other things like the fish, the pool, and the rocks.

Overall, while they were an interesting novelty, I think that we would be happy to see fewer monkeys the next time we visit Ubud.