Songthaew. Songthaew. Van. Metro. Van. Motorcycle. Pickup truck. Songthaew. Songthaew. Van. Metro. Van. Home.

As Friday morning passed, a craving for an adventure arose within me. So I texted some friends in Central Thailand, found a few that were traveling to Lopburi, got home from work, packed a bag, rose early Saturday morning, and endured my way through about every method of transportation over a two-day trip.

A Big City Escape

Never heard of Lopburi? Yeah I hadn’t either before Friday morning. Wasn’t exactly on my Thailand bucket list but the idea of traveling with old friends to a city with some cool sights easily convinced me. On a more informational note, Lopburi is a small city about 150 km northeast of Bangkok in Thailand’s central region. Today, the city is best known for its monkeys (crab-eating macaques) that essentially rule the center of the city. Nearly every hotel, shop, office, and house in central Lopburi maintain a large amount of caging to protect from monkeys entering through doors and balconies, breaking windows, messing up satellite dishes, and much more. The monkeys swing and climb their way across wires, structures, cars, and even people to take what they please without any visible fear. The scene is bananas. Sorry for the bad joke.

Khao Jeen Lae

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Six hours after departing Chonburi and several logistical errors later, I finally located my hotel and seconds later I ran into my friends–Roxii, Calvin, and Keith–which I hadn’t seen since my Koh Somet trip nearly a month prior. Smiles, hugs, and handshakes were quickly followed by a rush down to a truck that would drive us to a scenic sunflower field the city grows each November. While I’m no stranger to sunflowers–especially during bird hunting season in South Texas–this particular sunflower field had just a bit of different magic to it. The towering mountains, perfect sun angle, smiling friends, and Buddhist temples off in the distance will forever be an image stored in my head.

Phra Prang Sam Yod

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Following the sunflowers our driver dropped us off at the city’s famous monkey temple. As we approached it, there were hundreds if not thousands of monkeys within sight. My initial instincts heightened my awareness because of my experience with the aggressive monkeys in Bang Saen. However, these monkeys were not just a different breed, they were also a bit friendlier although still aggressive in their pursuit of food. We explored around the temple and then Keith bought some sunflower seeds for us to feed the monkeys. He and Calvin successfully encouraged monkeys to jump on their shoulders for food. However, I was not as ambitious and only stuck my hand out for them to take some seeds. Then it happened. In a moment of pure greed, a monkey reached toward my hand and bit two of my fingers in attempt to get me to relinquish everything I held. Unfortunately, I didn’t see it coming because I was posing for a picture so my immediate reaction was to jump up and throw all my seeds at the monkey, which luckily sent him into flight mode instead of fight. I was fortunate, however, that the bite didn’t pierce my skin so I was saved from a costly trip into a hospital for a rabies shot.

Boran Ban Sipak Market

With a bit of adrenaline flowing through my body, I left the temple and we all decided to head down toward a market that was supposedly very cool. Once we managed to find it, we strolled into what has been the cleanest market I’ve seen to date in Thailand: white sidewalk lined with various, vendors, stores, and restaurants along with stringed lights and colorful flags draping overhead. Despite its appearance, however, the prices were still low like you’d expect at a typical Thai market. So we enjoyed some snacks and dinner before heading back to the hotel to wash up and prepare for a night out.

The Bank

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We started with few drinks in our hotel before heading to The Bank. A hotspot for Lopburi’s younger crowd and a club that foreigners rarely frequent, The Bank provides a bumping atmosphere with both popular music and a bit of semi-professional karaoke–or at least that’s the scene we encountered on Saturday night. We met friendly Thai people and took maybe a hundred photos and selfies. On the way to the bathroom, we must have been passed dozens of drinks to take sips. I’d heard that in more rural Thai cities where foreigners are less frequent, they tend to be treated like celebrities. However, I hadn’t ever seen it and much less experienced it since all of my time had been spent in touristy places or bigger cities. It was definitely very cool but I can understand how that novelty could wear off quite quickly and become annoying if not intrusive.

Keith, Calvin, Me, Roxii

Saturday’s late festivities led to Sunday’s slow start. After checking out, we went back to the same market to re-energize with some food and coffee. Because I knew I had a long day of travel ahead of me, I left just after lunch but not before we planned a trip for the next weekend for some fun in Bangkok!

The Wrap Up

If you liked this post then drop a comment below or share it with a friend! Also, I’d love to know: What’s the most spontaneous trip you’ve ever taken?

Thanks for reading and as always, I encourage you to #gotravel!