You want monkeys? I'll give you some monkeys.

Just northwest of Ubud is a place where dreams come true: the Sanggeh Monkey Forest.

For just $1 U.S., you can go in to this magical place where Macque monkeys roam free. We brought our own fruit and were accompanied into the forest by guides whose sole purpose was to make sure none of us got bit.

I have to admit, it was terrifying at first. You walk in the gate, the guides make animal sounds and suddenly dozens of monkeys come out of the forest and start running at you. Instincts told me to run the other way but I held my ground and waited for someone else to go first and hold one.

(The above picture would have been perfect had one monkey been covering its eyes. Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil.)

Once I saw my friends hold out their hands with fruit and watched a monkey crawl up them to take it- I was ready for my turn. I slowly approached a smaller monkey and help my arm out straight. The guide saw the terror in my eyes and this little guy grabbed on to my pants and started climbing. The guide reminded me not to close my palm or make any sudden movements. He then held my wrist as a reminder.

The little guy made it out to my arm, grabbed the fruit and then planted himself on my shoulder to eat it. You can see the pure glee in my eyes as this took place.

Making me even happier was the baby monkeys. How freaking cute! I made sure to give them fruit also, but I threw it to them as I didn't want to inconvenience their mommas and make them climb.
Not all monkeys were as awesome. This big guy sitting on my friend Leslie's shoulder was the king monkey. He was very aggressive and crawled up Leslie, ripped her sunglasses off her head and threw them. The guides told her to be very, very still was he was sitting on her.

Eventually, the king monkey also accosted me for fruit and I could barely remain standing as he was so heavy.
The rules of the park were as follows: you can't pet the monkeys, run after them, hold them, pick them up or move while they are on you.

You have to let the monkeys choose to come to you, then stand there like a statue as they take the fruit you offer.

It took my friend Mike some convincing to let this happen. I love this picture because the monkey is going from my arm and jumping to his. You can see him eyeing this thing up. He was petrified. The guide made sure to hold his hand open.

This little guy tried to take my hair clip out. I put the kibosh on that one.

This picture almost brings a tear of laughter to my eyes. Lyle is sitting there watching us all feed the monkeys and has no clue that there is one sitting right next to him- in the exact same position!!
Ian had a certain monkey magnetism. Even without fruit in his hands, they would crawl up and sit on his shoulder. Maybe it had something to do with the hair?

The Sanggeh Monkey Forest was beyond what I had hopped for. They only thing that would make it better would be if I could take one of them home with me...