The long-awaited post where I detail the marvels of Monkey Town aka Ao Nang.
Note: No one calls it monkey town, but it's a town with monkeys so...
After checking into my hotel and taking in the beachfront, I began the search for the so-called "monkey trail" that I had seen in passing on Google Maps. I knew it was somewhere nearby, but I just didn't remember the exact location where I had seen it. I finally found it, horribly named, I might add, under "Ao Nang Beach Trail" on some random inferior blog.
edit: upon reexamining Google Maps it is indeed listed as "Monkey Trail, Ao Nang". I'm just a bit visually challenged sometimes I guess
Monkeys can be found under the pin
Once I got to the beach, I parked my bike and headed off into the bush. Excited and practically tripping over the uneven planks on the trail, I raised my camera, ready to shoot the...empty trail? Oh, there we go. It's a...person climbing up the stairs?
Where were the monkeys?! Did I come on some clandestine monkey holiday?
Hoping they were just spooked, I sat for a bit, taking in the 90-degree weather and midday sun. It was uncomfortably hot, and I was dripping sweat all over my camera. Gross. I was eventually forced to turn around at the end of the trail, let down by the absence of primates. But then, As I rounded the bend back to the beach, I saw them. There were at least 20 monkeys hanging around this big tree, surrounded by fruit offerings.
They were doing typical monkey activities: grooming each other, sleeping, and chasing each other along the trail's bamboo railings. I followed them like red carpet paparazzi, snapping photos every 5 seconds to catch them in action. One of them came extremely close, perhaps enticed by the changing lens of the camera, but then darted off at full speed when he heard the shutter click. I saw a little baby clinging onto its mom, an older pair grooming each other, and one just swinging around the railing like a madman.
Monkey trilogy
I was getting some super close-up photos and out of nowhere camera lens monkey came crashing down. He rebounded off my head, nearly knocking the camera out of my hand, and did a weird semi-bipedal sprint away satisfied with his trolling.
After filling up my SD card with blurry monkey photos, I started walking back along the beach. I saw one more calling out to me. Perfectly framed for a portrait.
Regal monkey shot on Sony a6600 f/3.5, 20-70mm
I highly recommend the monkey trail in Ao Nang. It was the absolute highlight of the trip so far.
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