Lob Buri is a small city located in the north of Bangkok. To be fully honest, this is not really a must see in Thailand and you will have much more interesting places to visit (the wonderful beach and islands of the south or the amazing treks and ruins of the north). However, if you are on your way to Chiang Mai (the second largest city of Thailand), you may think to make a few hours stop there (the train does stop!). Why? Because this city will surprise most of the tourists... Lopburi is the home of hundred of monkeys! And it can be really crazy sometimes: the nickname of city if the "planet of the apes".
We were coming back from Chang-Mai by train to Bangkok when we decided to stop at the early morning at LopBuri. It was still the night at that time, and the train we took was very slow (the whole transportation system in Thailand is inefficient: try to choose comfortable train or bus when travelling!). When we arrived, we took the time to watch the sun rising on the small river: it was quite beautiful! And as LopBuri was waking, we suddently saw hundreds of monkeys coming out the small temples in the city where they spent the night. Alone or in small groups, they start jumping and running everywhere: on the roofs, roads, streets, building, cables!
The monkeys are well accepted in the city, and also celebrated and feed by Thai families... however, they are still wild, and they don't really fear the humans. Most of windows and houses in Lopburi are protected by meshs in order to avoid any unexpected guest! It is really funny to see that these monkeys feel as home in the city and that the old ruins are their territory where it can be dangerous to go by night (and forbidden anyway).
If you want to visit this small city, you can refer to this website. However, you should consider LopBuri as a stop on the way to Chang-Mai or Sukhothai, rather than a final destination! The city must be considered as an insolite place in Thailand but keep in mind that you will also have the opportunity to meet few monkeys in other places. In my case, I had a good time to walk among them and I think I would come back there if I was traveling nearby.
No comments:
Post a Comment