Monkey butlers for all!

Except they won't bring you things or do your bidding, they will run rampant around your city and nick things from you... Or at least that's the case in Lopburi. Being one of the oldest ancient towns in Central Thailand with some reasonably intact ruins, there are many reasons to visit Lopburi. But we came here for the same reason most do: to see the hundreds of Macaques that rule this city. And since it is considered seriously bad karma to harm a monkey, this sense of invincibility has gone straight to their monkey brains, so you'd best watch your back. Watch out especially for the cute, little ones; they'll sneak up on you while you're busy snapping photos of the photogenic ruins, untie your shoes, and while you're bending down to tie them, jump on your back, and then more will come, and it can quickly get out of control.

There's one specific site, Phra Prang Sam Yot, where the majority of the macacques concentrate, so that's where we spent most of our time. These monkeys are very entertaining! We happened to be there at the same time as a tour group, so we shuffled around with them, careful not to stray to far from the group, because that's when they'll get you. Power in numbers works both ways.

Then it was feeding time, nearby, just across the tracks, and all the monkeys lopped over, ignoring traffic, to get their serving of bananas and cartons of milk. And when a train rolled by, they almost didn't get out of the way!