It looks like an ordinary town, but actually it is not. The old town of Lopburi is ruled by monkeys, The streets, the stores, they are literally everywhere!
Finally, it is time to leave Bangkok. One of the travelers who was staying in the same hostel as I did handed me a paper of his previous destination, Lopbori. It is located 2 hours north of Bangkok. Lopburi is a smaller town with a very special temple. It is not the temple itself that attracts the tourists, but hundreds of monkeys! That is the reason why the city is also known as Monkey town!
There is almost every hour a train going to the north, passing by Lopburi. We decided to buy also already a ticket for the night train to Chiang Mai since we planned just to stay one day in Lopburi to see the monkeys. We didn't need to worry about accommodation, since the train to Chiang Mai has beds inside! You can also go from Chiang Mai to Lopburi with the nighttrain. But if you travel from Bangkok to Chiang Mai or the other way around, You will not regret it If you stop over in Lopburi!
During the trainride, we made a few stops by other stations to pick up and drop off passengers, but we didn't had any clue where we were. We tried to ask the locals but unfortunately, the locals around us didn't speak English. It made it very difficult to travel to the right destination. I decided to check Google maps so we did not miss our stop. And finally, we arrived!
The traveler who handed me the paper with his information, I expected a city with monkeys everywhere. He said the whole city got terrorized by monkeys and when I did not saw them after a 15 minutes walk, I got disappointed. Where are the monkeys! I was so excited to see them and expected this to be one of the highlights of my Thailand trip! But then, I saw something else that made me happy! Pad Thai!
Pad Thai is the favorite noodle dish of millions of people in the world! They sell it here on the street for $0,80 Such a low price for such a great meal! We walked to the lady who prepared the food and ordered. The lady spoke English very well. I asked where we could find the monkeys. The friendly lady told us we better could go to the temple. We payed our lunch and took it to the couch at the opposite of the road. The taste already made my day!
When we finished our lunch, we started walking. We asked a friendly local the directions to the temple and after 10 minutes of walking we arrived already. I was happy with that because it was way too hot outside! If you want it easier, just ask a tuktuk to bring you to the monkey temple when you arrive on the train station. But since we try to save our money a little bit, walking is better for us, even in this temperature. But when I saw the first monkey I knew where I was doing it for!
Monkeys waking just around the streets
The monkeys are just walking over the streets.. Can you imagine that? It is very interesting to see, something else than just dogs and cats. We walked further and soon, we could already see the tip of the temple! We crossed the road to reach the temple and saw plenty of monkeys! I never came close a monkey in my whole, I saw them a few times in the zoo but the traveler who told me about this place told me a monkey jumped on his shoulder! This place sounded so great for me and here I am!
Pram Sam Yod Temple, the house of the kings of the town
There are two caretakers in the garden around the temple. They sell sunflower seeds to tourists. Tourists love it to feed the monkeys and the caretakers are able to earn some money for their family. They sell the seeds for as low as $0,50. My friend bought some. Immediately, all the monkeys came to him! This smart little fellows knew he had food. It was cool and a little bit scary as well, they even jumped on his shoulders!
Since I carried my phone, water and sunscreen just in a plastic bag, the monkeys expected I had food. They came to me and before I knew there were 4 monkeys on top of me! They are so cute! I especially liked the small ones a lot but tried to stay a little bit away from the biggest ones, they did not look that sweet!
One of the caretakers feeding this little fellow some snacks
But the smaller ones are also not shy at all! While I was caring one little monkey on my shoulder and having a chat with one of the guys, an other monkey thought I had food and jumped up and hang in my hair! It did not hurt, but this little monkeys started to be a little bit brutal! The caretaker helped me to remove the monkey. That is what happened when you feed monkeys, they are getting a little bit spoiled I guess..
Take care, it are little terrorists!
This mom and and child keeps them self quiet in the corner
Since the monkeys thought I had food with me, they started to be very interested in my stuff and before I noticed, there was a monkey hanging in my plastic bag, And of course.. my bag ripped. My stuff fell down on the ground and automatically, I put my foot on my phone. If I was just a single second later, a big monkey would have stolen my phone. Now, the monkey was running away with my vest. Rather my vest than my phone!
I followed the monkey, but he was way faster than I am. The monkey run away into the direction of the temple. As he wanted to stay away of me, the smart monkey climbed up to the wall of the temple.. No way that I can reach this monkey! I almost accepted the Idea already that I lost it when the monkey dropped it off the wall! I ran to my vest which was laying on the dusty ground, and grabbed it up before an other monkey could run away with it.
And that was my vest, not yours!
But I got it back. This little monkey isn't as innocent as his face expression while trying to steel my sunblock..
But even while it are little thief, it is still great to be around this little animals! They are a little bit brutal because of the people who are feeding them. We can not blame the monkeys for their behavior. They are only hanging around the temple because the government is feeding them fruits and vegetables. They do this to promote their tourism and boost the economy of the poor town. If they wouldn't feed them, they would probably only live in the jungle. The monkeys are happy and healthy here, but at the end, they don't belong in the city.
We can not be mad on this sweet thiefs!
This little guy is thirsty I guess
I can understand that it is a little bit less fun for the locals which are living here. Imagine a trip to the local market. After you buy your fruits, the monkeys are trying to grab your bag. They are actually everywhere and you can not open the windows of your house without the risk a monkey breaks into your house and steels your stuff. We passed by a store and there was even a monkey inside! This little criminals are literally everywhere!
And they are in the store too..
If you are in Thailand, you shouldn't miss to visit this town, maybe the only town in the world ruled by monkeys! Don't forget to take your camera with you to capture this unique experience but take care! But be warned, the city counts a lot of little criminals!
Love
Sha