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In Indonesia

A Visit To Monkey Forest

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Hundreds of monkeys call Bali’s famous Monkey Forest home. This forest sanctuary is located in the island’s Instagram famous town: Ubud. A boom in tourism has led to some devastating realities to the wildlife in Bali. Overhunting and increased agricultural demand (particularly coconut and coffee industries) have led to extreme declines, and even extinctions, to the population of some species. This forest provides about 30 acres of protected jungle for the animals to live.

In this article:

  • What to expect at Monkey Forest?
  • How much does Monkey forest cost and when to go?
  • What do the monkeys eat?
  • What should I bring to Monkey Forest?
  • Are monkeys safe to be around?
  • Can you touch the baby monkeys?
  • How to get to monkey forest?
  • Where to stay in Ubud?
  • Other places to see monkeys?

What to expect at monkey forest

Over 600 Balinese long-tailed Macaque monkeys call this sanctuary home. As soon as you enter the park you can expect to see these primates climbing through trees, swinging from branches, splashing in the water and even sleeping right in the middle of the pathway. 

Monkeys are curious, playful and mischievous animals. With consistent human encounters this park brings, they may be wild but they certainly aren’t scared of humans. In fact, they will not hesitate to jump and crawl all over you.

Heading to Indonesia? Check out our top things to do in Bali.

Monkey forest is a family-friendly activity – with the proper precautions. It’s important to teach your kids how to respect wild animals properly. It’s also recommended to try to limit interactions to only younger monkeys. Older monkeys can grow to a relatively large size that will rival your child. There are a lot of families that visit this forest every day. 

Throughout the park, there are 3 temples that date back to the 14th century. Tourists are not granted access to these areas as they are kept as sacred places of worship for the locals. These stunningly built temples still allow for amazing Instagram photos on the outside.

The forest also houses many beautiful sculptures that the monkeys climb on. This combined with the lush jungle makes for some amazing photo opportunities.

How much does Monkey forest cost and When to go

The entrance to this sacred sanctuary is 80,000IDR (Indonesian Rupiah). For Canadians, that’s about $7. Kids are priced at a discounted rate of 60,000IDR (just over $5 CAD). Once in the park, you will be instantly met by monkeys running all around you. The park is open every day from 9 am to 6 pm with the ticket office closing at 5 pm. We recommend heading there in the early morning to beat the crowds and get more one-on-one interaction with the primates.

What do the monkeys eat?

The monkeys are fed daily by the park staff a diet of papaya, bananas and other fruits. Sometimes, the staff will allow you to help feed the monkeys bananas. We did this only to have the entire stash grabbed from our hands within seconds. Myles even got punched in the face by one when he tried to regulate only one banana each. Lesson learned, don’t limit monkeys!

What should I bring to monkey forest?

It is important to pack light for your trip, and by light I mean your phone, camera and wallet are ideally all you should bring with you. As these mischievous monkeys are known thieves, it is important to not bring anything you don’t want stolen with you. This includes wearing big pieces of jewelry, hair clips and even keys with long lanyards. 

Food and drinks are not to be brought into the park, even water bottles, as they are sure to be stolen. Due to the plastic crisis in the world, the park also asks that no plastic bags are brought into the forest.  These smart devils have perfected the art of stealing and will not hesitate to open backpacks and purses, or steal the whole thing all together. 

The monkeys have a fascination with hand sanitizer. During our pre-covid visit, they urged us not to bring it into the park as the monkeys steal it and get drunk off drinking it. We brought nothing but our cameras and cellphones with us and still had monkeys jumping all over us.

Are monkeys safe to be around?

After a dangerous encounter with monkeys on a trip to the popular Thai island of Koh Phi Phi, we were very nervous to visit. A lot of people are scared of monkeys, and for good reason. These are wild intelligent animals that are heavily exploited in our world and they know they need to protect themselves.  As we never visit zoos, we love to get as many natural animal encounters as we can so we thought this would be a must see experience. 

Read about the 6 things to avoid in Bali to help you plan your vacation.

 

Before entering the park there will be a list of precautions that are important to read and remember during your visit. While it is difficult, you cannot make any loud or threatening motions or noises when this happens. To avoid any misconstrued attempts at aggression, it is important you do not make eye contact, run or touch the monkeys. 

While most people have positive experiences here, the wild animals’ demeanors can be unpredictable. Naturally monkeys sometimes fight one another over territory or mating. They can also misconstrue actions for threats that can lead to them biting or scratching humans. 

The monkeys do not have diseases. They are all monitored by the Primate Research Center of Udayana University to ensure they are in good health. This means you don’t have to worry about rabies or any other diseases commonly found in wild animals.

Can you touch the baby monkeys?

Baby monkeys stick with their mom for the first 10 months of their life. During this time, the mom is naturally quite protective of her young. She is teaching them how to get food, protect themselves and other useful survival skills. Staying away from the babies, unless of course they come to you, is the best course of action to avoid stressing mom.

How to get to Monkey Forest?

Monkey forest is located in the middle of the tourism hot spot: Ubud. If staying in the city, getting to the forest is really easy! There is ample parking on site so we recommend renting a scooter to get here. 

If you are coming from other major cities, hiring a local driver to take you to Ubud is a great option. These drivers are hired for the day which means that you can stop at a few tourist destinations as well.

Where to stay in Ubud?

Family Friendly: This beautiful home

Budget: Villa Mirah Ubud

Mid-Range: Avalon Ubud Villa Bucu View Resort

Luxury: The Kayon Resort Pita Maha Resort & Spa

Other places to see monkeys

If you are looking to see some monkeys in the wild but want to skip the lines, there is another smaller forest that can be found not too far from Ubud at the Sangeh Monkey Forest instead.

 

Have you ever visited Monkey Forest? Let us know your experience below in the comments.

In Thailand

Transportation Through Thailand

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thailand, travel, flight, beach, sand, sun, transportation, food, vegan, hotel, hostel

Oh Thailand, there is nowhere quite like it. If there is one thing you can count on it is that you will always leave with stories to tell. A common story you will hear is how people get from point A to point B. If you are like us, blind faith and budget friendly alternatives is what you tend to turn to. After three trips through this beautiful country, we know A LOT about how to travel through Thailand successfully.

The best way to get the most out of your vacation is to travel smart. How do we do this? Layovers! We get two trips for the price of one.

Travel Agents

thailand, travel, flight, beach, sand, sun, transportation, food, vegan, hotel, hostelSo you know how at home travel agents are these big corporate businesses in a mall with four walls, chairs and you leave with a bunch of documentation confirming all of your purchases. Ya, not in Thailand. Booking your travels in Thailand is a bit more casual with small cubicles of people telling you to leave your bag with them and the promise that a bus will come pick you up at a certain time to take you where you need to go.

On our most recent trip Myles and I booked from a travel agent in Bangkok that told us to be back at 5:00 pm for a bus that leaves at 6:00 pm. We were told the overnight bus will take us to a pier in the south of Thailand and arrive for 6:00 am and that the ferry will depart at 7:00 am to take us to Koh Tao for a 9:00 am arrival.

thailand, travel, flight, beach, sand, sun, transportation, food, vegan, hotel, hostel

While sleeping on the bus we woke up to someone screaming “Koh Tao, Koh Phanagan get out”. Obeying our orders we wiped the sleep from our eyes and stumbled down the stairs to see our bags lying on the ground. Before we could ask what time it was or where we were the bus pulled out of the driveway and left.

Looking at our watch we saw that it was only 2:00 am. With no idea where we were but with water in sight we agreed to accept that we just arrived early and all would work itself out. Making friends with the few other people that were in our same boat we were able to watch the most spectacular sun rise while playing in the ocean. In the end we got to Koh Tao, no harm no foul. Just a lot of blind faith.

Taxis

A taxi is a common way to get around a big city in Thailand. Before you hop in be sure you are on the same page as the driver as to cost. A flat rate is normally a bad idea, insisting on the meter is almost guaranteed to get you a lower rate even in rush hour.

thailand, travel, flight, beach, sand, sun, transportation, food, vegan, hotel, hostel
Inside the taxi

When organizing for a taxi to pick you up at a later date it is typically for an agreed upon price. In our case it was in Phuket and we were trying to organize a taxi to take us to the airport at 5:00 am the next morning. Like two very responsible adults we were on a midnight hunt for what we knew would be our last iced coffee in Thailand.

We just happened to stumble on a man in the street that said he was a taxi driver. Good enough for us we put all our trust in this man, told him where we were staying and hoped like hell that come morning time he would be there.

Myles had all the doubts constantly telling me: “There is no way that guy is going to come tomorrow. We are for sure going to miss our flight.”. I would respond with a simple “Thailand has never let me down before”.

The next morning, after checking out of our hotel our taxi driver showed up. He happily greeted us with a smile in the most blinged out van I had ever seen.

We had no idea what we were in store for.

Let’s just say he was a wild driver. While watching fast and the furious he was weaving through traffic as fast as his van could go. Literally, he had a limiter that would beep if he went too fast. Not only did he get us there, but we got there in half the time. Let’s just say one of us was on the edge of her seat. Only in Thailand.

Tuk Tuk

The rules are simple here, there are only two. The first, rates should be agreed upon before starting your trip. The second, keep all hands and feet inside the vehicle and hold on for dear life!

Scooter

My personal favourite way of exploring the country. At around $8 CAD for 24 hours you can’t beat the price. Renting a scooter in Thailand gives you the ultimate freedom to go anywhere and everywhere. You will also fit in with the locals (everyone scooters in Thailand). While the driving in Thailand is admittedly crazy, once you get used to it you realize that it is incredibly organized form of complete chaos.

Keep in mind that according to Thai law you should have an international scooter license in order to drive one. With that being said, no one listens to that law. If you do get caught in a road block or get pulled over for whatever reason don’t worry. You will just be forced to pay the cops off.

thailand, travel, flight, beach, sand, sun, transportation, food, vegan, hotel, hostel
A typical Thai gas station

When scootering around Phuket we got caught in a road block. A mere $20 CAD payoff later and we were free to go. We were given a note that said we no longer had to pay if we fell into anymore trouble.

There is one catch: crashing the bike. If you crash your bike the fees they will charge you are astronomical. We traveled with a friend who crashed his bike and had to pay 16,000 THB ($640 CAD) for a few scratches and a broken mirror. Ouch. Be sure to take a video of the bike before you rent. This way you can protect yourself. You will have proof of the condition when you return the bike.

Thailand is one wild ride no matter which form of transportation you choose. With trust and some common sense you are bound to leave smiling and with a great story to tell.

Traveling to Bali? Believe it or not, the transportation through Bali is quite similar to Thailand! Read about it here.

Have you ever been to Thailand? If so I am sure you have stories, share them below!

In Vanlife

Slow Moving Vehicle

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So, it may have taken us a month and a half but we finally left British Columbia. I’ve always heard people say that we are living in the most beautiful place in the world but having travelled very little of British Columbia, let alone Canada I never quite realized how amazing it truly is. It’s sad really, I realized that I have travelled other countries and know them even more intimately than I know my own. For those who haven’t been to British Columbia – go! For those who live there, go outside and explore your backyard. It really is incredible, my highlights were the Kootenays specifically from Midway to Nelson and Vancouver island, specifically the beautiful drive from Nanaimo to Tofino.

Driving towards the Rockies my excitement only magnified. The beautiful waterfalls and all the tall mountains to explore – for an adventure lover, it’s paradise! For a van, it’s not!

Luckily Gurt held up strong, only started throwing a bit of a tantrum waiting for all the traffic in lake Louise (stop and go traffic for 3 km up a mountain). Lake Louise, in my very introverted opinion, is a gorgeously blue lake surrounded by beautiful scenery but not worthy of the hour and a half wait to park your car and the hundreds of other tourists who were there and cramming to take their selfies. In my opinion, the Rockies offer so much more absolutely breathtaking places than just this one sought after spot.

Our descent from the Rockies quickly brought us to Calgary, a place we quickly drove through but Myles and I tend to shy away from big cities so without much of a detour we continued to the badlands. Leaving Calgary, instantly all the lush green forests and tall mountains were a faded memory as we without warning were into the farmlands. Not the 10 acre farms I’m used to on the west coast, I’m talking 300 acres of wheat.

Myles, with his attention span, got bored in about 5 seconds flat. Me on the other hand, I felt like I could fly. How beautiful, all the slight rolling hills and the beautiful different shades of green. Yes, you feel like you are barely moving when you’re actually near flooring your vehicle (we even hit speeds of 100km/hr, a record for our girl!). Any feelings of claustrophobia I’ve ever had were gone! All I could think of was taking my shoes off and running through the fields! All of a sudden, I could see nothing, the sky continued but it literally looked like the end of the world, with no more land in site. As you approach you see this sunken city, we have hit drumheller.

This absolutely gorgeous prehistoric town build into the most beautiful layered rock is sure to bring the child out in you. We b-lined it straight to the Royal Tyrell Museum to let our nerd side shine as we read all about these ancient creatures. I expected drumheller to look like a Dino town with big plastic “life sized” Dino figurines and only really went because Myles was excited. But again Myles was right, the whole town exceeded my expectations. I found myself running up the sides of mountains (more like hills) looking at the different layers. The hoodoos were absolutely amazing for what they are, these natural little wonders made from the sand and rock.

The formations were gorgeous but the sight was very touristy with metal staircases everywhere and hundreds of tourists everywhere. While it may not be so photogenic, as it is almost impossible to not get people in your photo, it’s a beautiful sight when you look past all the modern touristy details.

As we do every morning, we woke up the next day, made our coffee and unfolded our map. We both decided that we had an urge to drive east. So, we folded our map, filled up our gas and hit the road, let’s see where this takes us…

In The Hippie Diaries

The first explorers 

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Myles and I consider ourselves pretty worldly, for our age at least. We have both explored different corners of the world, but we both agree that Vancouver island is unlike anywhere either of us has ever been. Perhaps it’s the expensive ferry ride to get here or the incredible charm of Victoria that makes people not want to explore further, but we have found ourselves in the clearest of waters and the most incredible of beaches without a single other soul in sight – and we are traveling in August, what should be peak season.

On our drive from Nanaimo to Tofino I tactfully convinced Myles to pull over at a rest stop along the way so we could nap. What I didn’t expect was Myles to come running back to me before my head could even hit the pillow and tell me to follow him. What he found literally steps away from the rest stop was a little lagoon filled with the clearest water either of us had ever seen. Fully equipped with a rope swing and lots of rocks for cliff jumping, the only thing that was missing was the hundreds of other people that would have been sitting there as well. Maybe we just come from a big city but I couldn’t help but feel like Vancouver Island was this absolutely gorgeous unexplored tropical island with lush rainforest and some of the most beautiful sights that was yet to be discovered by anyone else. If you don’t believe me, take a look at some of the places we’ve found, all without another soul in sight: 

Spoke Potholes, Sooke, BC

Holland park trail, Duncan, BC

CY Hampson park, Saanich, BC

Taylor river, Port Alberni, BC

East Sooke, BC
The funny thing about it is, we have been told by most of the locals that the northern part of the island is much more remote than the southern and central parts that we have already explored, as wild as that seems. Who knows what’s yet to be explored, one thing we do know is always have a camera close by!