I should have known better. I should have known that beneath the cuddliness, is danger.
During our 2nd full day in Ayutthaya, we took a day trip out to Lopburi, a little town about an hour’s train ride north of Ayutthaya. Up until a couple of days before, I’ve never even heard of it. But a couple of people we’d just met told us to go there to see monkeys. Any mention of potential animal encounters, and I’m in!
After an hour’s worth of a hot, sweaty train ride through the green Thai countryside, we arrived in Lopburi. As soon as we stepped out of the train station, blinking into the light, a rickshaw driver approached us. “Monkeys? I take you to monkeys!” Clearly, Lopburi has embraced their call to fame. Sure, why not.
We hopped unto the rickety tricycle rickshaw, and he biked us down to the end of the road. I see Lopburi as a sleepy little town typical of the others in the area: crumbling ruins from the old kingdom dominate the skyline and markets & vendors dominate the food scene. But what dominate the streets? Wild monkeys.
monkeys on the streets everywhere!
I know I’m a Southeast newbie, but I’ve never been anywhere like this, where wild animals coexist alongside humans so casually. I mean, these monkeys were everywhere… camping out in the beds of parked trucks, sitting on the sidewalk next to dogs, hanging from telephone wires. Who rules the town and who is merely a tolerated resident?
And then at the end of the (very short) road, looming in front of us was Phra Prang Tom Yot …or aka. the famed Monkey Temple.
in my excitement to see the monkeys, I only took this one picture of the ruins itself
When we entered the old temple, I could not believe how many monkeys there were (I later learned they are macaques)! Hundreds upon hundreds of them, from scruffy old ones, to tiny babies. It’s obvious that they have claimed the ancient ruins as their home base.
I was happily snapping pictures when I heard a shout from behind me. I whipped around, and there was D, frantically spinning in circles as a monkey clung to the back of his shirt. “Help!” he yelled.
So of course, I started laughing and took a picture instead.
I was still laughing as D flung the monkey off. Before I knew what was happening, the monkey made a beeline for me and in one swift movement, pounced on me and grabbed me around the waist. And then, before I could react from the shock that I had a monkey on me, it had climbed all the way up to my head.
You guys, these monkeys have absolutely no fear of humans.
“Argh what do I do??” I yelled. And then I realized my face and neck were covered with some sort of wetness and mud. I felt its sticky, sopping fur pressed tight against my face. “And why is it WET?!”
My first thought was that the monkey had peed on me. Naturally.
“It came from that bath thing,” D said. “I think it’s just water.”
I reached up over my head to grab the monkey to pull it off, but it held on to dear life with its grubby little paws. Finally, a guard came with a stick. The monkey, seeing it, quickly jumped off. And I grumbled that just my luck that of all the perfectly dry monkeys here, I had to get the ONE wet one.
I turned my attention back to photographing the monkeys. The baby monkeys were sooo cute! They were just as interested in me as I was in them. I was wearing shorts with some drawstrings and that really got their attention. I had baby monkeys jumping all over me. And they were persistent little things. As soon as they were flung off, they’d jump right back on. D stood back, and meekly warned me not to get too close too.
But I was having the best time of my life. I haven’t laughed this heartily or felt such childlike glee in weeks!
So there I was, flinging monkeys off of me left and right. One monkey jumped on and grabbed me around my arm, dangling there. I shook my arm to get him off, like I had done to the 10 before him. He was slipping down, and then
THE LITTLE F*CKER BIT ME.
It all happened so fast. Maybe a couple of seconds at most. I stared in shock at the angry little teeth marks on my wrist. It didn’t really hurt terribly, and it didn’t look too bad either. At first, I thought it was just a superficial scratch, but then slowly, a bit of blood bubbled to the surface.
The fun was over. All of a sudden, these monkeys weren’t so cute anymore.
I made my way over to the ticket booth and showed them the teethmark. “I just got bit. Are the monkeys sick?” I asked.
“It’s OK. It’s OK,” the guy said. He got out an alcohol bottle and a cotton ball and cleaned the cut, and I was on my way.
We left the ruins and walked around town a little. We walked back to the train station and bought tickets for the next train back to Ayutthaya, which was in 2 hours. We had some time to kill so we sat down at a street stall for some food. By this time, it’s been an hour since the bite and I’ve started getting more and more unsettled.
As soon as we sat down, I made D look up it on his phone. We started to type into google “lopburi monkeys….” It didn’t help that one of the top search suggestions was “lopburi monkeys rabies.”
The fearful/pessimistic side of my brain kicked into overdrive at this point: I’m going to start foaming at the mouth! I’m going to die in one month! Does it hurt to die from rabies??
Some sites said the monkeys are infested with rabies and HIV. Omg! I’m going to have HIV ON TOP of rabies!!! But I slightly calmed down when I read that HIV can’t be transmitted through saliva. But rabies can if it broke skin.
But the monkey wasn’t foaming at the mouth or anything. Maybe I’m okay! And it’s only a little bite.
Argh! That’s it. It was time for a professional opinion.
I dragged D back to the ruins and found a worker at the entrance. I showed him the bite again and asked “Where can I find a clinic?”
“There! Alcohol!” he pointed to the ticket booth.
“No, no! I already got alcohol. I want doctor!”
“Alcohol! Alcohol!” He kept on pointing. Clearly, we were not on the same page regarding the severity of this thing.
Finally, someone pointed me down a road where I can find a clinic. We found one with a clear English sign on the door: “rabies vaccine.” I entered and showed the nurse my bite mark. “It’s pretty small, so do I even need the vaccine?” I genuinely wanted her to say that the bite is too small to be concerned and put my mind at ease.
“It broke skin. It’s not high, but there’s some risk for rabies. So it’s better to get the shot than not.” She further explained that the rabies vaccine is a series of 5 shots, each one requiring to be taken on a specific day.
This was turning out to be practically more hassle than it was worth. But I did feel better after leaving the clinic. And on the plus side, on our walk back, we passed the ruins once again. The sun was starting to set, and it bathed the crumbling towers in a beautiful golden light.
For the next month, I dutifully got my shots on the specific days. From Lopburi to Sukhothai to Bangkok to Koh Chang, we got a pretty good introductory Hospitals of Thailand tour. I also experienced the full range of care – from a needle hastily jabbed into my arm in the middle of the waiting room to a private room in a brand new hospital that will make LA ones weep. Overall, I’ve been pretty impressed with how efficient Thai hospitals are. I have one more shot left, that I will have to seek out in Cambodia.
Did I overreact with the tiny bite? Maybe, but hey, I figure it’s better to take a few shots, than to wait for the foaming to start. :)
This post is linked up to SundayTraveler with Pack Me To and others, and Weekend Wanderlust with Justin Plus Lauren.
I totally loved all the monkeys in Lopburi, but then like you say, it all changes if one attacks you. Lucky you found somewhere so close to get a rabies shot…out of interest how much did it cost you? I got one in England before a long-term trip to South America and it set me back £160. I then found out that it didn’t even vaccinate me against rabies, it just bought me more time to get myself to a hospital if I got bitten! So many travellers I saw got their sunglasses stolen by the monkeys, who disappeared to the tops of the temples and proceeded to wear them! Sadly all the photos I got were wiped by the guy at the internet cafe (this was before the days of wifi), when he was supposed to be copying them to disc for me :(
Wow!! That was a LOT for a shot that doesn’t even immunize you against rabies! I’ve had the 4 of 5, and so far they’ve been around an average of 800 baht or $18US each. So that’s not too bad, and I think I can get them reimbursed with my travel insurance. These shots don’t immunize me for life though; they only prevent from getting rabies this one time.
I’m so sorry to hear your pictures got deleted!! That’s the saddest thing to happen because oftentimes, the pictures are our only souvenirs!
I love how you told this story! I’d probably freak out too if this happened to me… better to be safe than sorry and all that. Wild animals be wild :)
Yeah, I definitely agree it’s better to be safe than sorry! I just kept on thinking about how I wouldn’t be able to see all the awesome places we already have in the plans if I died! Lol!
This is a classic example of better be safe than sorry. It’s never a bad thing to be more careful with our health (and lives). If we can pay insurance premiums (or Medicare) for our entire lives, why not a couple of shots as safeguard, right?
Oh god, I don’t even want to think about what I need to do for health insurance later on, and if I’ll need to pay through the nose for it. Right now, I’m on traveler’s insurance only (and it should reimburse me for these shots!). But yep, I’m deifnitely not going to take a gamble with my life!
Ugh. Nope nope nope!
They are cute, but not THAT cute!
Hehe if you don’t get too close, then you should be okay. I’m still so glad I got to see them! No matter what, I still love anything to do with animals. :)
I probably would have gone for a rabies shot as well!! It’s not worth it to take the risk, especially since you are overseas. But what a cool adventure! It reminds of the monkey scenes from the Jungle Book lol.
A part of me felt so ridiculous for getting the shots when it only broke a little bit of skin, but yeah, it’s not a risk I was willing to take! I don’t regret going there AT ALL, because I still had so much fun!
I had to have my rabies jabs in order to handle bats here in the UK, so I know how they feel :P It’s much better to put your mind at rest over these things – it’s uncommon but it CAN happen. Just a pity I was quite ill after my shots :-(
Was seeing the monkey’s worth it though?!
Definitely! I don’t regret seeing the monkeys at all! And I’m lucky that the shots didn’t make me ill in any way.
Ack, I heard that bats are notorious for carrying rabies! Your works sounds so interesting, but you do have to be more careful!
The island where I grew up, where my family still lives, has a lot of monkeys, and partially because of being fed by tourists, they can be pretty aggressive if they think you have any food on you–and yes, they will attack and bite. I’ve seen them chasing people, getting into their cars, causing all sorts of mischief! Lots of monkeys hang out in the apartment at my parents apartment building, we all carry sticks when we go for walks in the mornings or evenings–the monkeys usually stay further away if you bang on stuff with a stick! haha–the pictures you got were great, but i would NOT want monkeys to be too close to me! And better safe than sorry with the rabies shot–I’m glad we have medicine like that nowadays.
No way! That’s crazy!! It was fun to visit them for a little bit, but I definitely don’t want to live in the same town with them!! I can imagine it getting really annoying! Where did you grow up?!
Wow! You’re more of a sport than I would ever be :P … If I had a monkey jumping on to me like in that picture, I’ll probably be screaming in fear and rotating around in circles trying to get it off! Haha!
And oh my god, you got bit! Hope you’re okay though!
The bite was really no big deal (lucky it wasn’t any bigger!), but more of a hassle to get the shots. I’m surprised actually that the monkey that climbed all over me didn’t bite me because I was really struggling with it to get it off!
Eeep! Yep, better safe than sorry I say! Very glad to hear you got the shots :D
Yeah! I figure it’s better to just get them than to nervously wait a month and see if anything happens!
The monkeys look so cute, but I’m always a little wary of getting close to them – I think I’d have a heart attack if they started climbing on me!
Laura
PS The temple also looked amazing!
For some reason, I didn’t expect them to just jump on people like that. I don’t regret seeing them at all, but whenever I see those monkeys now, I’m definitely more wary and stay away!
Oh gosh! Yes, better safe than sorry. I’d probably do exactly the same thing. I visited a monkey park in Hong Kong (post coming soon!) and I was terrified of getting too close despite how cute they were. My overactive imagination was running rampant. That said, I didn’t get as many cute photos as you did. The baby ones are adorable!
I honestly didn’t even think that getting attacked could be a possibility! I guess I was just too excited to play with monkeys :D. I can’t wait to see your post on the monkey park!
Ah! How scary! I love looking at animals, but I get a little weary when wild animals are close to me. They are super cute though, but getting bitten doesn’t sound like fun. What an experience anyway, and you were able to get some great photos. Thanks for sharing.
I’m the opposite. I need to be more careful about getting close to wild animals! I usually get so excited that I don’t think about potentially getting hurt if they look harmless enough. The bite itself wasn’t bad.. but getting the shots have been a hassle!
Thanks so much for stopping by, Katie! :)
I have heard about this monkey city Lopbrui, but have never been there. Oh boy, I am not going to there now after reading your story! So sad to hear that you got bit, and had to have all those rabies shots. That sucks. We had a similar experience in the Monkey Forest in Ubud, Bali. Cheeky little bastards those monkeys. I don`t like them at all anymore after our experience.
I stay away when I see those things now too. I don’t think visiting Lopburi would be too if you stay back. But aside from the fact that there are monkeys, there is really no other reason to visit!
i get bitten by one of it too, but it doesn’t bleed, and i am okay.
You’re lucky it didn’t break skin! Those monkeys are so vicious. :)
Interesting article, even if it’s a bit old by now. In my opinion you didn’t overreact at all. Rabies is extremely horrible, and since the monkey broke your skin it’s better safe than sorry. I have seen people , even children who became victims of rabies because they didn’t get a vaccination and instead just rubbed disinfectant on it. It is horrible. It’s the kind of thing you never forget, it keeps you awake at night.
Leon, I cannot even imagine the horrors you’ve seen :(. This makes me feel so lucky that I am privileged enough to be able to receive the rabies vaccine right away. :/ I have spun my experience into a fun story, but I know that there are so many less fortunate who can’t afford this.
How was it getting the last shot in Cambodia? The almost exact same thing happened to me about 3 weeks ago and I’ve gotten all my shots on the right days but I have no choice but to get the last one in Cambodia in one week. I’m a little nervous since all my Thailand hospital experiences have been so good and I’ve heard Cambodia is very different. I’ll be in siem reap. Thanks!
Oh no I’m so sorry it happened to you too! Okay so I was in Siem Reap to get the last shot too. And there’s only one international hospital there (I didn’t really trust the local clinics for some reason). It’s called the Royal Angkor International Hospital. And it was EXPENSIVE! In Thailand, each shot was between $10-$30. But it was $100 in Siem Reap! The hospital was great and everything went super fast and smoothly, just that it was so expensive. But you can’t put a price tag on your life, right? :)
Yeah it definitely put a damper on my travels!! Happy to be almost finished with it though. The prices have been really good here in Thailand and I heard it would be more expensive in Cambodia. I have travel insurance thankfully so price isn’t too much of a big deal since I’ll be reimbursed later, but I was just worried about it taking a long time, the people not knowing what I needed etc, but that’s awesome that you had a good experience! Definitely takes a weight off my shoulders. Thanks for the reply!