Racer

What are the ethnic foods that you eat on a normal basis?

Vietnamese and Mexican!

32 years old
From Denver, United States
Currently in Denver, United States

Our Curious World

The world is a fascinating place! Working in 23 different countries, Experiential Learning International and our volunteers have seen some crazy stuff.

June 26, 2009

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Monkey Town!

Monkeys are a presence throughout Thailand. It is an amazing experience to go on a hill trek through Northern Thailand and spend the night under the stars listening to the sounds of these creatures chattering in the canopy. There is one city in Thailand, however, where the monkeys have descended from the hillside and taken over.

Lopburi, Thailand, an easy train ride from Bangkok, is completely overrun with crab-eating macaque monkeys. They operate primarily in two "gangs" led by two overgrown fat monkey patriarchs and hang out in the abandoned temples and ruins during the day, often staging raids on each others territories, or starting low-level gang wars.

As the sun sets over Lopburi, however, the monkey gangs descend on downtown. They steal from vendors and residents, and show absolutely no fear of human beings. Far from being the nuisance one would expect, the locals highly revere the diminuitive usurpers. Buddhist residents would not touch a hair on their wiry little bodies out of their profound respect for all living things. Hindu residents, likewise, would never harm the creatures as they are believed to be the children of the god Kali. Lastly, followers of any other religion put up with the annoyance in appreciation of the sheer tourist dollars Lopburi's most famous residents bring in. In fact, far from being annoyed by the macaques, the people feed them nightly and hold a massive festival every November with a massive feast. The culinary buffet is laid over the street and devoted entirely to, you guessed it, the monkey gangs.

All this makes for amazing photo opportunities as the macaques lounge around ruins, resting in Buddha's lap and leaping across stupas. One would be well advised to keep their distance however, the monkey's sticky fingers have been known to lighten many a tourist's pack.

Experiential Learning International
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June 30, 2009 (1) Vietnam
Jun-30-09
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