Crazy Monekys!

The last days on the island we very relaxed and totally full of nothing but lazy hours on the beach, in the hammock, or whereever I pleased...Not much to tell, just imagine sand, beer, and laziness...

Well, I am now in Lop Buri, a city that is about 3 hours north of Bangkok.
And what is this city known for? It's Macaque monkeys...
There are everywhere. They have taken over. Despite building being put up and the city growing, they still manage to be everywhere. It's like beignn in the Jumangi movie...
We went to see some of the sites from the 13 century and the historical sites we too covered in monkeys. Seeing as how we got in somewhat late, we couldn't go in. We resolved to walking along the perimeter taking pictures of the monkeys that had just been fed. I had purchased a 1.5L water bottle to satiate my thirst and Andrew had put it in his bag in order to be able to take pictures. There was about an inch or so showing through the top zippers. I had just knelt down to take a better picture of a monkey with a plantain when I felt a monkey jump straight onto my back. I jumped up and did a bit of a screaming laugh type thing and then the monkey preceeded to jump on Andrew, trying to get the water bottle. She succeeded. She managed to pull the entire thing out (and it was still relatively full) and it went rolling down the hill we were on. Andrew then had to race her to the bottle. He kept shouting "No!" at her and she kept barring her teeth and opening her mouth wide. I could not stop laughing!
We had a stroll through the night market when I mimed by wants to a food stall and got pad thai with fresh shrimp and calamari. Yum! Then, some other snacks and finished it off with an Archa Beer-still liking Singha and Chang better though. Went to a bar for my dessert of a White Russian and then went to crash in the bamboo bungalow.
Well, about an hour later, and every 45 minutes or so after that, the monkeys thought it'd be cool to argue and have stomping parties on the roof...so much for sleeping. Then, at about 4AM a cat starting howling...it continued...
In the AM, we went to see the place we couldn't get into last night. I swear, these are some of the most ballsy monkeys I have ever come across...I was standing with my back against the fence taking a picture when one of the young ones came over and tried to pull the anklet off my ankle! What the?! And if you are holding a plastic bag, you can forget it. They'll see it far off and then stalk you and run at you until you drop it or shout loudly and put it away.
The Sunday market was insane: palates of fish, plantains, eels, and turtles, pharmacy type stalls, clothes and an abundance of underwear and bras. The food stalls are everywhere and offer a delicious variety from meats to veggies to fresh cut fruit. I only wish I had more stomachs!
The train system here is like nothing I've experienced in Europe. While the rules are strict and you must abide by them as there are people there to enforce said rules, here, you can stand in the middle of the tracks and jump on all pell-mell, even as the train is still pulling into the station. There aren't assigned seats for shorter distance trains so, the idea is that you need to get on in order to secure a seat. Otherwise, you're standing for the whole trip (the second leg of the trip we had to do that-stand for and hour and a half). It's one crazy cluster of a mess.
From here, we are headed to Chiang Mai in the very North of Thailand. I can't wait to ride an elephant!
The internet place I'm at right now doesn't have functioning USB drives, but as soon as I can, I will upload more photos! The ones of the monkeys, even though they are cheeky, ballsy, rambunctious little bastards, are still quite cute!
So, ciao for now. I'll write again soon!