Ubud Monkey Forest: How to Visit Without Losing Your Sunglasses

The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary is a patch of old forest at the bottom of Monkey Forest Road, owned and run by the village of Padangtegal, with three Hindu temples inside it and something over a thousand long-tailed macaques who have never known a day without tourists.

It is genuinely worth an hour. The forest is tall and cool, the paths are paved and shaded, the temple of the dead at the far end is atmospheric, and watching a troop of macaques go about its politics at close range is better than any zoo.

It is also where more visitors lose a pair of sunglasses, a water bottle or a phone than anywhere else in Bali, and every one of those losses was avoidable.

Do not bring food in. Not in your bag, not in your pocket. The monkeys know what a rustling packet sounds like and they will go into a bag to get it.

Do not carry anything loose: sunglasses on your head, a hat, a water bottle in a side pocket, a phone held out for a photo at arm's length. Put things away and zip the bag.

Do not touch, feed or stare down a monkey. A macaque that stares at you with its mouth slightly open is threatening you; look away and walk on. Do not run, scream or grab at one that has taken something; the staff have bananas and will trade for it.

Most of all, do not put a child on your shoulders with a monkey nearby. The monkey sees a platform.

Opening time is the best hour. The troops are active and feeding, the light through the canopy is good, and the paths are empty. Mid-morning to mid-afternoon is busy and the monkeys are lethargic in the heat; late afternoon picks up again.

Allow about an hour to walk the loop and see the three temples. Longer if you like watching primates, which most people find they do once they are in front of them.

The forest is a temple complex before it is a monkey attraction. Pura Dalem Agung Padangtegal, the temple of the dead, is the main one and the most striking, with Rangda figures guarding it. There is a bathing temple by the stream and a cremation temple.

They are working temples and locals come to pray. Sarongs are available if you want to enter the inner courtyards, though most visitors see them from the paths. Dress with the shoulders and knees covered as a courtesy, as you would at any temple on the island.