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Published: April 4th 2008
Biker Outside Our Guest House
The sole member of the Prachuap Khiri Khan chapter of the Hells Angels...We woke up in the small seaside fishing town of Prachuap Khiri Khan, went down stairs and ordered breakfast and a coffee (the place was supposed to have a good selection of fine coffees and ice cream according to the Lonelyus Planetus). First we got some toast and jam and a nice cup of strong coffee. Mmmm... Caffeine! Then a few minutes later, the main event arrived. It was a small plate (like you might have a sandwich on) with a frazzled fried egg, a wrinkled pink chipolata sized frankfurter and a piece of pig meat - neither bacon nor ham. It was actually quite tasty with a bit of sweet chilli sauce, but not the most satisfying breakfast on record. Would be perfect for a small toddler though.
We then ventured out in to the heat to explore the sleepy little town. We walked down to the waterfront where there was a long jetty with a few fishing boats moored. On the way everyone was friendly and smiley. We walked along the jetty, took some photos and then went to buy some water from the little cafe on it. The town was not obviously on the usual tourist trail
as we were yet to see another white or black face since we had arrived (unlike Bangkok which was overrun with farangs). But as a result, not many people spoke much English. Mon asked for 2 waters, when met with a confused look, she adjusted her technique and asked for dos aqua. Same response. In the end, the trusted point and click method won out and we were soon gulping down ice cold refreshing water.
We then walked along the beach front, there were some guys with what looked like rakes, raking in the water, we couldn't figure out what they were doing though. We took a couple of photos then found a place to sit in the shade and looked at some of the pics we had taken. While looking at one of the pics of the beach, we noticed lots of little shapes on the sand. We zoomed in and saw that there was a troop of monkeys on the beach! We knew there were monkeys here on nearby Monkey Mountain, but didn't know they ventured out so far. We also noticed that all over the town were brightly coloured plastic animals and figures. The roads were
Monkey Mountain!
From afar. The 6x optical zoom on Joes Canon Powershot G9 pays off. (thanks mum x) quiet, but the only users of them were mopeds, bicycles and 4wd pickups and occasionally a proper motorbike or a motorbike or moped with side car.
We stopped sweating a little bit then took a slow walk down to Monkey Mountain (Khao Chong Krajok) - a small mountain with a monastery on top occupied by about a million monkeys. As we got near we saw there were dozens of monkeys eating fruit that had been put out for them on the green at the base of the mountain. They were running around and playing and fighting generally being monkeys. They ignored us pretty much, they had food and we didn't look like we had anything worth stealing. We walked along and took lots of photos. An old woman pulled up on her bicycle and tried to sell us some bananas to feed to the monkeys, even though we were knee deep in them. We graciously declined. The monkeys started tugging at her trousers and climbing on her bike so she beat a hasty retreat. We headed over to the ubiquitous 7-11 and bought 2 big bottles of water to prepare us for the climb ahead. We then walked around
Monkey action
Look at him go! the mountain looking for the start of the steps. On the way, round a monkey threw a stone at Mon. Haha! Mon put bottle of water in her backpack. Joe had only a small bag so carried his in his hand... On the way round we passed a big male monkey. He suddenly took an interest in Joe and his water and started baring his fangs and making unfriendly sounding noises... He then started coming towards Joe aggressively... His eyes on the prize (Joe's water). In the end he got close and lunged towards Joe at which point Joe through the water on the ground and ran off like a big girl (to the amusement of a local guy sat nonchalantly on his moped). The monkey grabbed the water and started biting the bottle. He soon realised there was nothing tasty within and got bored dropping the bottle and wandering off. Joe stealthily snuck over and got it back.
Mon then developed monkey phobia after these incidents and refused to go up the mountain without a big monkey stick she fashioned from a fallen branch. We found the base of the stairs and started the climb. At the first
Joe and Mon
Can you tell Mon is terrified in this one? And also purple. rest point we sat down to rest in the shade and have a drink. A monkey swung down from the roof and Mon legged it swinging her monkey stick wildly. The sun was hot and we struggled to the next rest stop. There was a monkey already there this time but he was laying down and seemed quite chilled, so we sat down with him and had a drink but made no eye contact as this seemed to wind them up. Mon had started her transition from human colour to ribena-berry colour. We rested and had some water then were ready to continue. We gingerly snuck past the monkey guardian and continued up. We could see the final stretch of stairs and the temple at the top. Mon was horrified to see the steps scattered with monkeys and refused to continue. Joe accepted the monkey stick from her and went on ahead. As he got closer, he saw they were all females with babies and younger monkeys and there were no aggressive males. He wove his way through them and got to the top then convinced Mon there was no danger and she came up to with some coaxing. We
A view from the top
A monkey with the countryside in the background. had reached the top!
There were monkeys EVERYWHERE! But we were the only people up there we could see. We sat down and the monkeys eyed us warily. Joe noticed a dubious looking one above him who seemed to be manoeuvring itself above Joes head. Joe suddenly remembered something someone had told him in Nicaragua about monkeys chucking shit at people and got up just in time to avoid a stream of piss! We then explored the monastery and took in the breathtaking views of the countryside around and the 3 big bays that made up the coastline. There were monkeys sitting and lying around everywhere some grooming each other and generally ignoring us. We then sat down on some stairs and slowly the monkeys got used to us and came closer until we were surrounded by them. We saw some squabbles going on and a bit of monkey love too. We also saw a monk, who came and sat in the courtyard for a bit, was joined by a colleague then they both went inside. We noticed that none of the buildings had many tiles on the roofs then saw why when a monkey started pulling the remaining
Monkeys chilling
They look quite at home there! tiles off and throwing them around.
As we sat there we saw another foreign couple come up, swinging their hiking sticks wildly and banging them on the floor at the first sign of a monkey coming anywhere near them. We sat there for a bit longer then decided to start heading down as there was a big storm brewing and the sun was starting to set. On the way down we saw the other couple again. They had stopped just near the bottom where a monkey blocked their path. The guy had a tan like the old woman out of Something About Mary (leatherette for those who haven't seen it). He said hello in a very posh English accent and started explaining how Karen (his obedient wife) was scared of the monkeys. “She was bitten by a dog in Cambodia, you know! Had to go to hospital! Nasty business!” He also explained they had been here 5 weeks and only just ventured up the mountain. As he spoke a monkey came within 10 feet of Karen at which point he yelled “KAREN! Get away from that monkey!” We nodded and smiled politely then walked straight past the monkey and
down the stairs leaving him making his excuses “You can't be too careful, you know...”
We walked along the front in the dusk and stopped at an outdoor restaurant for some seafood. Mon ordered sweet and sour seafood and Joe ordered sea bass cooked with Soy Sauce both with rice and a big bottle of cold beer. Môn’s seafood stuff arrived and we drank our beer picking at it while we waited for our rice and fish... Everyone else seemed to be getting their orders before us and had tables full of food while being lavished with attention by the waiting staff while we sat there with our lonely looking one dish going cold... Eventually the waiter made his way over to us with a loaded tray, placed 2 plates of rice on the table then a whole BIG sea bass swimming in sauce and covered in garnishes. All was forgiven! The fish was unbelievably good and literally melted in your mouth - delicious! Definitely some of the tastiest fish ever tasted and almost certainly had been still swimming around that morning. Mon looked on jealously as she pushed her sweet and sour fish around on her plate. Obviously
Ahhh!
Look at the little baby monkey! Joe shared his fish with her :-) With a bit of chilli sauce it was lovely. We had another beer, finished, paid and walked back to our guest house stopping for ice cream on the way. We asked the owner about buses south the next morning and he told us that there were buses from just outside at 6am, 7am and 8am. There were some later buses from another spot, but he didn't know the details. We headed up to bed planning to leave on the 8am bus.
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Amelie
non-member comment
Wow! It looks great! Amazing pics! Dont blame you for not being keen on them monkeys though.. they're proper scary!! Love following you here on your travels! keep up the good work with pics and everything :) Im studying 24/7 at the mom. haveing to big exams next week.. GREAT :(( Take care you too and have fun!!! Ams xxx