When Monkeys Attack

Alternate Title: Hey, I don't know where I'm going....Can you take me there?

Well, I'm in Bangkok now after a few days stopover in Krabi town. In Krabi, I climbed another mountain to reach the "Tiger Temple" (which houses NO tigers by the way! False advertising if I ever heard it!). It was 1236 steps (give or take) and there was tonnes of monkeys (playing in the water which was very cute), wheezing and many breaks to catch my breath along the way...the staircase was absolutely insane in parts, practically 90 degrees. The view from the top was stunning (Andaman Sea, tonnes of rockface mountains, etc...) and there was a giant Buddha statue, as well as a shrine to Ganesha, who is everywhere in Thailand (they love their elephants here). On the way down, I was chatting with a girl from Chicago (who thought she was hearing an English accent from me?) when a sly little monkey grabbed my camera that was hanging from my wrist and held on for dear life to get it from me. After a few screams (I swear the monkey and I were screaming the same way) I got him off the camera and had a red mark from the cord as a reminder of the bugger's force. I can laugh about the ridiculousness of the scene now (what's a monkey going to do with a camera??), but I was a bit shaky after that...damn dirty apes.

Today was another day on Pranang Beach which was great- It's fantastic how much enjoyment can be dervived from eating chicken on a stick while sitting on a beach with good company. The swimming was great, mmmm floating in salt water.....

I flew to Bangkok without a hotel booking, which was one way to go. Luckily I met this great girl from New Zealand (who had been on a few days of a bender by the looks of her) and she helped me find a place...although the cabbie didn't know how to get to this hostel, so that was a bit questionable. But like everything as of late, the universe has delivered and I've got a nice room for the night (and free internet! score!).

Tomorrow morning I'm getting on a bus to Pattaya to see my Uncle, which should be good shopping and beach time. Apparently it's the "Sex Tourist" capital of the world, so I'm prepared to be a bit sketched out by the comings and goings around me. Ahhh,maybe not...once you've seen 400 tranny hookers, you've seen em all....