Monkeys!

I've traveled to a few more places since I last wrote. I went to Lop Buri, the city of monkeys. The people let them run wild at a temple and in the city. Monkeys climb around the telephone wires, sit in the middle of the road, and sometimes growl at people who walk by. Once a year at the temple there is a monkey feast. The people dump tons of food and let the monkeys devour it. We missed that spectacle but I witnessed enough.

The monkeys also grabbed food and anything else people were carrying. They snatched a woman's hat and shrieked at her when she tried to get it back. My friend Cyndi smacked a would-be hat snatcher and impressively grabbed it back from his mangy hands. My Uncle Steve warned me that if I wasn't careful the monkeys would steal my camera. Well they didn't get it. I was only pounced on by a baby monkey. Others weren't so lucky. We took a video of four monkeys that jumped my friend Lindsay. It was really funny! She was not harmed. She shook for a while, and they jumped off. One monkey sat on a boy's head and was just chillin' up there. But one woman freaked out when a monkey climbed up her back and started biting her hair. Her husband wanted to take a picture of it, but she was screaming. When they got it off her, she wouldn't go near them again. I can't blame her. It was a humorous and strange experience.

I also saw a vineyard, an ostrich farm, and a huge sunflower field in the same area.

Last weekend I went to the Similan Islands and with Thai teachers from the school. More on that later.