A CHOPSTICK HILL FULL OF MONKEYS IN HUA HIN, THAILAND
The funny monkeys of Hua Hin
Today’s post is for all monkey lovers and those who just enjoy watching these funny guys.
We like monkeys. At home back in Germany we only see monkeys in the zoo. And that’s kind of nice but they live in captivity. Luckily there are places where they can live freely like here in beautiful Thailand.
During our trip to the south of Thailand we had a two night break in Hua Hin at the Gulf of Thailand. It’s located 200 kilometers south of Bangkok and with its long white beach it’s one of Thailand’s busy tourist destinations.
As usual, it sounded very attractive in the Lonely Planet guide but when we walked along the streets on our first night there, we somehow didn’t like it too much. You know, sometimes you have places, no matter how crowded they are, which you like from the first moment on. Here it was the opposite.
One of our favourite shots
The southern end of Hua Hin’s beach ends with a 272 meters high hill that bears a funny name: Chopstick hill.
Actually it’s already another town called Khao Takiab. But the land along the coast is covered by so many buildings that, when driving south on the highway, one doesn’t realize where Hua Hin ends and Khao Takiab begins.
The chopstick hill is also called Monkey Mountain. It is home to many macaques that possibly do not even know that they have chosen a spot with one of the best views of the coast :-).
When approaching the chopstick hill you are welcomed by a 20 meter high standing Buddha statue. It’s really high and with the blue sky above it’s a great scene for a picture.
The tall standing Buddha
But before climbing the hill you should go to the beach right next to the hill, first. There is the place where the monkeys swim. It is hilarious to see them taking a bath in the shallow water. Like children they jump off the rocks into the water and are excited about it. We stood there for 15 minutes or longer to watch these funny guys.
A young macaque enjoying the refreshing water
After a while the sun got very hot and we found shade close to the giant Buddha statue. It was not only us who enjoyed the shade. A lot of monkeys preferred this spot as well.
You get very close to the monkeys
Young monkeys played with each other or with strange things they found somewhere. Like this guy who tried to get the last drops out of the can.
Yummy, yummy…
Some mums spoilt their children with a “cleaning treatment”. Although some of the kids seemed to be a little annoyed by all the attention :-).
A monkey mum cleaning the kiddy
A steep stairway brings you to the top of the hill where a small Thai-Chinese temple is located. From there you have a fantastic view of the coast of Hua Hin and the endless beaches.
View of Hua Hin’s endless beaches
Golf ball BoB at the Thai-Chinese temple
On the way up you encounter more and more monkeys that sit in the trees or run around and play with each other. On the top was a light breeze and it was nice to take in the view and to watch the monkeys. Please be aware that these guys are very clever and super curious. They love to take your stuff like sunglasses and cameras. So, always be careful and put all little things in a bag. If you not only want to watch the monkeys, you can feed them. At the lower end of the stairway a women sells yummy bananas for a few baht.
The chopstick hill was our personal highlight of Hua Hin. It was so easy to get there and super funny to see the monkeys. Especially the cool ones that jumped off the rocks into the water were great! If you don’t really like monkeys and are a bit afraid of them you might not come here. However, if you would like to see the high standing statue you can see it from the beach. It’s not necessary to get on the hill.
Have you been to Hua Hin? What was your highlight? Did you enjoy the busy chopstick hill? Let me know your story and leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you.
Thanks for reading and safe travels,
Liane
