In Reply to: What are things to avoid? posted by Max Anderson on Tuesday, 31. August 1999 at 21:23 Bali Time:
Everything people say about the monkeys is true. One of them at the Ubud preserve saw a shiny lighter through the mesh of a pocket in my husband's bag and reached in and pulled it out before we knew what the little bugger was about. My husband, not wanting the monkey to hurt himself or torch the whole forest, snatched it right back from the monkey. The monkey was furious! Apparently they are not used to being crossed by the tourists; he snarled at my husband and was on the verge of giving him a good bite when I took the cap off my water bottle and tossed to the ground near the monkey to distract him. Not being the smartest little guy, the monkey allowed himself to be distracted.
Go see the monkeys by all means, but know that the guidebooks aren't exaggerating about their bad tempers and their thieving ways.