MONKEYS!

TODAY I SAW MONKEYS.

My time in the monastery has been going well, but that is to be saved for another blog post.  At the end of my time, more than likely while I'm in the hotel room before I go to pick up Tim from the airport, I will tell you of my week in the monastery.  This post, however, is for something else.

Today after lunch, we went on a "field trip".  After 4 straight days inside the monastery, in two cars, with three bhikkhunis and the four of us foreigners, as well as Venerable Dhammananda's granddaughter, and a few drivers, and the lady who works in the kitchen, we went on an excursion to another temple in Ratchaburi, called Wat Nong Hoi.  And it was gorgeous.  After spending a week in Bangkok, and then having my very sick self secluded in a monastery, I had a rather poor image of what Thailand looked like, but today we made it out into rural Thailand, with rice paddies, and mountainous peaks in the distance, and a giant Buddha looming over the city.  And it was spectacular.  Gorgeous...beyond words, even. 

The temple we went to was very beautiful, though very much a tourist exploitation trap, as there was gift shop after gift shop selling gaudy, kitsch, cheap Buddhist things.  Giant golden Buddhas, and fake jade (and real jade for a much more expensive price) ...and that I consider to be a serious downside.  As a proper tourist, I of course checked to see if there was anything worth buying, but in the end, I decided there wasn't.

I have to admit, the entire day was just a tourist photo-op for me, although after we went to the temple, and to the giant Buddha across the way, we went to a place called the Water Cave, where we walked through a hole in the wall into a giant limestone cavern.  There was a staircase leading up what appeared to be a fault in the rock, and there was a clear stream running through it with massive catfish swimming in it.  We climbed the staircase to the top where a shrine to Buddha was placed, and we gave offerings of flowers, incense, and candles.  I took a bunch more photos.

Outside the water cave, there were monkeys.  MONKEYS.  Everywhere.  And I fed them bananas!  I think Ven. Dhammananda took us there because I saw one monkey at the temple and got really excited, but was sad because we couldn't stay to see the monkeys...and then she let us stay at the water cave long enough to feed them.  There were DOZENS, all shapes and sizes, and I even took a video (or three).

I apologize for the sideways-ness of the video towards the end.  I thought the iPhone would fix itself, and when I loaded the video to PowerDirector, I couldn't figure out how to rotate only HALF the video in the proper direction.  I managed, but then it was upsidedown.  So...this is what you get.  Welcome to Thailand, sideways.

 

I don't even have words for how excited I was.  Those of you who've seen me in bouts of extreme excitement can probably deduct for yourself how I behaved - my first helicopter ride, seeing frogs on the road during the biking trip, etc.  I was beside myself.  ...MONKEYS.  

It was a very fun day.

In other news, I visited the hospital yesterday with Dhammananda (who was kind enough to accompany me and translate for me) and I do indeed have bronchitis.  They gave me so much medicine!  I paid 740 baht for 5 days of anti-biotics, cough losenges, anti-histamines (for a runny nose), something else for nausea, something else for coughing...I only asked for anti-biotics.  I kinda wish I was asked before I was prescribed so many things, but such is life, and I have travel insurance.  So yes.  I have bronchitis and as of yesterday in the hospital, a mild fever (which is better than it was Sunday - I thought I was going to die on Sunday) ...and they are helping and I'm finally starting to feel better.  So, in summary,  Bangkok, you asshole: You gave me bronchitis.

I've got 5 more nights here, and then it's time to hit the beaches with Tim!