Crazy Monkeys

Last weekend, I planned on having a relaxing time in Bangkok.  Some friends were coming into town and I was actually looking forward to the chance to hang out around the city and come back to my own apartment on a weekend night for a change.  Friday night everything went according to plan.  A bunch of us got together at a great place downtown and then they all came back here for the night.  Saturday, however, everything changed and I'm really glad it did.

My friends convinced me to join them at the "Monkey Festival" in the city of Lopburi.  I knew nothing about the festival but after some convincing arguments I figured, when else would I have the chance to attend a monkey festival?  So off we went to this city two hours north of Bangkok.

The only regret of the trip turned out to be our last minute decision making.  Apparently, this festival is the biggest event of the year in the small city so naturally all but the worst hotel were sold out.  And when I say worst, I mean it.  It was nasty.  I actually had to go out and buy insect killer when we first got there.  I guess I was bound to stay in a disgusting place or two during my time here.

But other than that it turned out to be one of the most fascinating experiences of my life.  The entire city is inhabited by wild monkeys.  They are EVERYWHERE.  They climb on all the buildings and street poles.  More often than not if you look up at the telephone wires while walking down the sidewalk you will see a monkey hanging up there.

It was really crazy.  There are so many monkeys that the shop owners all have b.b. guns.  Whenever a pack of monkeys blocks the entrance to their store or restaurant they go outside and shoot them to scare them off.

Apparently, these monkeys have been around for centuries.  The ruins of an ancient temple sit in the middle of the city and the town puts out food for the monkeys everyday at ten a.m. and four p.m.  I guess despite how annoying the monkeys are on the street, they bring a lot of tourism to the city so the residents want to keep them there.

So it was into this environment that we arrived Saturday night.  The first thing we saw regarding the monkeys was this sign:

Definitely foreboding but we were certainly intrigued.  Only a few minutes later we came upon the temple ruins where the monkeys congregate.  It was insane.  There were monkeys everywhere.  It was actually a little bit scary thinking that these packs of wild monkeys could just come right up to you.  We managed to get to our hotel (it barely deserves that title) safely and then actually met up with a lot of people from orientation.  I think there were about 25 people there who were part of the program. That was a nice surprise.  We had a great night comparing teaching stories and telling each other about the great places we've traveled to.

Sunday morning, the real fun started.  This was when the actual festival took place.  The festival is always during the last weekend of November and it is a way for the city's residents to give thanks to the monkeys for bringing tourists to the city.  It's basically monkey Thanksgiving.  We made our way back over to the temple ruins and found the place swarming with both monkeys and people.  We wound up surrounded by the very same monkeys that seemed so intimidating the night before.  It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen.  The town puts out trays and trays of food and the monkeys just take whatever they want.  I found it hilarious that they actually set up a few tables with chairs and covered them with food and drinks.  I watched one monkey desperately trying to open a Pepsi and when a guy tried to help him he slapped him across the head.  Eventually, the monkey got it opened and seeing a monkey drinking a Pepsi is almost as funny as seeing it slap a guy.  The monkeys were actually pretty friendly, as long as you weren't trying to steal their food.  Some of them would even jump on peoples' backs and try to open their backpacks.  One of them stole my friend Lee's sunglasses and actually put them on.  We all had a blast.  It was definitely something that could only possibly take place in Thailand.  It really was one of the top three experiences I've had over here.  The pictures below show some of the madness.


The table is set:

A monkey with some manners:

Monkeys with no manners:

Crazy monkeys:

Hungry monkeys:

He is definitely in charge of the crew:

Stephanie and her monkey friend:

The coolest monkey around:

This past weekend was the King's birthday so I'll have a post about that coming in the next few days.  In the weeks between now and Christmas I'll be heading to Kanchanaburi and Phuket.  There will be plenty of pictures and much to talk about from those trips.