Monkey have a special status in Hindu religin, and a number of temples in Bali boast a resident monkey population, respected by devotees and duly fed and photographed by tourists. The Monkey Forest (Bukit Sari) in the village of Sangeh is probably the most visited of these on Bali, its inhabitants the sef-appointed guardians of the slightly eerie Pura Bukit Sari. According to local legend, the forest itself was created when Rama's general, the monkey king Hanuman, attempted to kill off Rama's enemy, Ravana, by squashing him between two halves of the sacred Mount Meru. In the process, part of the mountains fell to earth at Sangeh, with hordes of Hanuman's simian retainers still clinging to the trees, creating Bukit Sari and its monkey dynasty. The temple was built here some time during the seventeenth century, in a forest of sacred nutmeg trees, which tower to heights of forty metres.

The forest borders the main road, and as soon as you pull up at the roadside car park you can see just how untamed Sangeh's monkeys are - every small warung in the vicinity is wreathed in wire netting, and the creatures race fearlessly up and down the road and over any parked vehicles. As you pass into the forest area (donation requested), huge signs warn you to beware of the monkeys, and the attendants hand out sticks in case you are attacked. This can make you feel pretty uneasy, but it's unlikely you'll have any trouble if you keep cameras and jewellery out of sight and remember to take all foodstuff out of your bags and pockets.

Pura Bukit Sari, located in the heart of this fairy-tale forest, is best appreciated in late afternoon after the tour buses have left. During peak hours, the place can seem disappointing, but seen in waning light with only the monkeys for company, the forest and the temple take on an attractive ghostly aspect, pound of the weathered and moss-encrusted grey-stone temple is out of bounds to everyone except the monkeys, but beyond the walls you can see a huge garuda statue, stonecarved reliefs and tiered thatched meru. There are no paths through the forest, but a track runs clockwise around most of its perimeter, along the edge of an expancse of cultivated land that drops down to a river a few hundred metres to the west.