7 Wonders of the World: Monkeys!

A guide to some of the most unusual places to see primates, from a hot spring frequented by Japanese "snow monkeys" to a zoo where people, not animals, are caged


Sure, you can see monkeys at your local zoo, or you can get up close and personal with some primates in more exotic locales. Come with The Atlantic and Atlas Obscura as we visit monkeys and their furry relatives outside of their cages. Featured in this edition of "Seven Wonders of the World":

• A hot springs spa for monkeys in the middle of Japan's Hell's Valley
  
• A holy Hindu shrine in an enormous, monkey-filled limestone cavern
  
• A Hindu temple of the dead home to hundreds of long-tailed macaques
  
• A sacred Buddhist home of some spiritual monkeys
  
• A wildlife park where monkeys run wild and the humans are caged
  
• A small primate research island, which is teeming with wild monkeys
•  An unusual sanctuary for abused and exotic animals in South Jersey

Top image: Leonhard Foeger/Reuters