Driving across numerous small towns and villages and passing small roadside vendors selling fruits, vegetables and many other goods unknown to me, it wasn’t until we arrived at a family friends' village that I found some peace from Cambodia’s capital. When I asked for the name of the village, I was always answered with in Khmer and for that reason I had trouble remembering it. Fortunately, what I did know was that we were around 20 kilometres away from Kampong Cham, Cambodia’s third largest city.
My parents and I were very well received; it had been over five years since my old man visited. The person who was the most excited to see us was a man named Kong Heng Ly, who I was to always address as ‘uncle’ out of respect and as tradition dictated. My dad and uncle had a long history spanning back to childhood and during the communist regime, and I would always hear them bantering in Khmer. After having a simple breakfast the following morning, one of Kong’s sons offered to drive us up to a local temple which was situated on a hill overlooking many houses and rice fields. He told us it was a nice place to be in the early hours of the day to catch fresh air and that I might be interested in seeing some ‘temple monkeys’. I was sold.
While in the car, Kong’s son told us that long-tailed macaques are widespread in Cambodia and I later realised this for a fact throughout my trip. It took what felt like twenty minutes to arrive at the top of the hill from the house, where I saw several dwellings for the monks and an ancient looking structure which was obviously the temple. Kong’s son pointed to a tree where a group of monkeys were running rampant… well, not so much. They were just doing what monkeys do.
(I wasn't sure why people donated currency. For good luck maybe?)
But amongst the noise, I could hear a cry echoing from inside a nearby water tank. It was a different cry than the ones I heard from the other monkeys. Peering over the opening, I saw a lone little creature, perched, back facing and just looking like it has never seen the light of day:
I personally found them to be quite funny, adorable little creatures, however BE WARNED! When I searched the web to find out what species they were, I discovered that they may be carriers of the Herpes B Virus which is dormant in the monkey but is fatal to humans. I have not done extensive research so don’t quote me on this. My advice is just to take extra precautions.
Hope you enjoyed the video and stay safe! especially when you're away from home.