Lop Buri Monkeys

There are monkeys in Lop Buri, Thailand. These are not zoo monkeys. These are long-tail macaques that live around a temple that was built in the 8th century. They climb all over it, sit all around it, and their young scramble and play everywhere. The monkeys are not contained at the temple. They cross the street and steal bags of food from people passing by. They swing along power lines and climb up to the rooftops of buildings surrounding the special "prasat" from ages past. There is also a special temple (more recently built) for worshiping the spirits of the monkeys (or something like that). A jungle gym of sorts has been set up for the monkeys, and people sell food for tourists to feed the monkeys.

Earlier this month we passed through Lop Buri on our way to some meetings. We didn't have time to stop on the way down, but as we were traveling back to Chiang Mai we decided to stop and have a look at the monkeys. It was worth it!