Guards in most places wore a man-skirt kind of thing. The Sacred Monkey Forest was no exception. I only saw them posted at the entrances and maybe once or twice wandering in the woods. Think ticket taker.
Right after entering the area there was a stand where you could buy bananas to give the monkeys. Our guide advised us against this. Although the monkeys here are probably the tamest we encountered in the trip, they are still wild animals. It isn’t safe to tempt them.
The first stop was a fountain that doubled as a monkey watering hole. This was close to the entrance. Monkeys can be found there quite often. We watched the troupes change out before continuing into the woods.
the woods are pretty substantial. Check out the size of the women in the picture of the tree. It is an old growth forest with very large trees and vines everywhere. As we wandered down the steps and paths, the monkeys skittered through the vines.
The Sacred Monkey Forest was full of a lot more than just monkeys. The forest itself is a place of worship. As such, it is full of statuary and includes a temple and a masonry pond.
We were closing in on one of the holidays – above and beyond Indonesian Independence day. This was something akin to what Christmas is for us. As a result there were people in the Sacred Monkey Forest who had come to worship at the pond.
There was quite a crowd going along the suspended paths leading down to the spring. Although you could take a dip in the water and get a blessing later in the day, we didn’t hang around for it.
Then it was all back uphill as we wound our way to a temple. It was, of course, closed with gates locked to keep the riffraff out. Still I recognized statues of the Hindu gods along the outside wall and the ever-present altars inside.
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