I’d like to see some monkeys, not in the zoo, roaming free, I told my son during my visit to Thailand in 2013.
Lopburi is the place for you, he said.
At 150 km from Bangkok it’s an easy day trip. But if you want to stay longer there’s plenty of accommodation. And there’s thousands of monkeys. The Macaques have the run of the old town.
They’re revered and they’re cunning; more cunning than me. And they knew it!
I’d been in town an entire half an hour. It was hot. I was hungry. A street vendor was selling the sweetest, reddest, juiciest watermelon I had ever seen or tasted.
There were monkeys everywhere and I kept my eye on them while I took my first bite. But I don’t have eyes on the top of my head and, before I could swallow my first yummy morsel, a monkey leapt from the roof of a building on to my back. I’m relatively small, the monkey was relatively big. It was heavy, it was warm, and it smelled like dried dung. I got a bit of a fright, the monkey got my watermelon, and I was too flustered to get photos of the thief. Not that anyone would have taken my case. The monkeys really do have the run of the place.
Only tourists are silly enough to eat on the street in that part of town. Believe me, this silly tourist only did it once.
So during our tour of the ancient temple Prang Sam Yot I was glad that this old geyser was on the other side of the bars. He was huge. I suspect he was the patriarch.
No, he wasn’t in a cage. I took the photo from inside the temple. Our guide said the bars were to protect this ancient Buddha.
Outside the temple building the monkeys roamed free.
For more travel tales on the theme of freedom visit Where’s my backpack.
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Up close and personal in Bangkok
Categories: Off-shore Adventures, Thailand
Jill's Scene 
This post just lit me up. Thank you!
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🙂 Happy holidays, Brenda!
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Very cool
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Thanks
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I really like that photo you took from inside the temple – you can almost feel the softness of the hair (and it did look like a cage)- 🙂
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Thanks, Y. That old monkey was very close. Some of those big old monkeys can get very grumpy so I was glad to be on the other side of the bars. In actual fact we were the ones in the cage.
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well what cool experience J – and so cool how they roam like that – 🙂
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Amazing!!!!
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🙂
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I lived in Lopburi in 6 months, the monkeys are the rulers!
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They most certainly are, Liam! And what a fascinating place to live for six months!
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Well you got to see your monkey free and not in a cage then. Just a bit too free eh? Up close and personal indeed! Glad you were okay though.
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Hi Maria, When I told my son I wanted to see monkeys I hadn’t really intended on smelling them or having one on my back either. So yes, it was definitely up close and personal.
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Quite the cheeky character to take the watermelon from you like that. Really loved these photos Jill.
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Wasn’t he just, Sue. The look of triumph on his face while he scoffed it was priceless – a pity I don’t have a photo of that.
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lol !!! I have similar experiences with monkeys too,it is scary but if you survive without a scratch,one can laugh afterwards over it 😀
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It was all over so quickly I didn’t really have time to feel too scared. Afterwards I mostly just felt foolish. Fortunately, no scratches or bites.
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Sorry that you lost the watermelon. That sounds scary.
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I was sorry about that, too, Dan! And it’s a bit like the fish that got away – it’s still the best watermelon I’ve ever tasted.
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