Though it causes a huge laugh when I talk about it these days, that story made me more careful with wild animals, at least for the moment being, at least with monkeys.
Mt. Batur, which is one of the "must-climb" volcano points for a sunrise watch is full of the biggest monkeys of Bali (so I was told). As a part of a group, I have received my breakfast from our guide, which was a banana sandwich, and a cooked egg supposably prepared on volcano steam. I ate the sandwich, and I have put a boiled egg in a jacket pocket, considering if a dog will be happy with such a treat and then decided to kinda deal with it later,
As the sun rose you could see not only plenty of people around but also monkeys and dogs. So many creatures ready to finish your leftovers or appreciate an extra treat. As there were more humans around the volcano top, monkeys were pretty calm, counting that the food bites were coming from every corner.
As we were descending, after taking millions of pictures, getting a monkey to climb on my shoulders (unwillingly and of course with no picture there), I saw some monkeys staring at me weirdly. I walked by a big group, not paying much attention to that until the 'meeting' happened again.
Turned out, our guide and most of the group were still behind. The guide called me and another girl, as there was still something he wanted to show us. Intrigued by what we have missed upon, we walked back. A mama monkey with a baby holding on to her front ran rapidly towards me, in a few seconds she grabbed a bottom of my jacket and hang on it, pulling down with all her weight. I was standing shocked for a moment, kinda paralyzed, while what was going on did not make any sense to me. Until she started to scratch and bite my pocket, trying to rip it off, I got-ya, the egg, you want the egg! First thing on my mind, to try to help her get it out, but the best was to kinda stay away from the process and not to get my hands scratched. A few seconds later, she succeeded, my net-made-pocket was shredded. As the last pieces of egg were out, the mama-monkey returned to a safer distance.
The funny part, the 'getting rid' of the egg happened much earlier, than I expected, without my active participation, kinda reminding that sometimes you get what you wish for, much faster then you think and with very free execution details.
For humans, a boiled egg does not really smell before the shell is open, while for our bros and sisters it does, and from a much larger distance then you would expect. Some would say, this is so obvious, the first rule near monkeys - no food, and I did remember that and definitely did not try proove the saying wrong. Though I also heard that you should not look them in the eyes but I previously did, and most of my experiences were just confirming, that some tourists just 'ask for it' and elsewise those are very well-behaved animals.
Something to remember - wild nature stays wild, no matter how close humans get, and if you do not know the animal behavior, it is in your best interest to keep a safe distance.
As for me, I've learned my lesson, and Monkey Forest in Ubud was not on my list anymore and my interest towards our very very distant(as I have realized) relatives was on pause till the end of the trip, and I have kept my distance.
Img. Looking at Mt.Agung
