Sunday, December 12, 2010

Monkey Business at Khao Luang Cave


The monkeys are free to roam and don't have to worry about their next meal. Every day, people from the town bring them food. Tourists also love the monkeys, hundreds come daily to see the monkeys and many buy fruits from local vendors to feed the monkeys.


The Khao Luang (Royal Hill) Cave is located on Khao Luang Hill approximately 5km north from Khao Wang, near Hua Hin in Phetchaburi province. From the foothill, there are concrete steps leading to the cave entrance.


There are numerous old Buddha figures in Khao Luang.



This statue of a reclining Buddha is huge and is very impressive by its sheer size.


Khao Luang is a small-sized hill having a height of 92 metres at its peak. It is the largest cave in Phetchaburi province and is widely regarded as the most important because it enshrines an ornamental Buddha statue built by King Rama V and dedicated to King Rama III and IV. This hill had been a royal picnic site since the King Rama IV period when Hua Hin was established as one of the royal towns with the construction of a Thai royal summer place in the idyllic seaside town. King Rama V was very fond of this place so that he ordered the refurbishment of several old Buddha figures in the cave.


You can get a sense of the height and size of the cave when you use the human figure at the bottom right as a scale.


On the way up the stairs to the cave entrance, you will undoubtedly meet some of the 2,000 monkeys that live on the hill. In the Buddhist tradition, the Thais revere the monkey as a hero. According to ancient legends, the monkey Hanuman and his army saved a god's wife from the clutches of a demon. The Thais believe that Hanuman never dies and so is a symbol of prosperity and good luck.


About 2,000 monkeys of the long-tailed macaque species (Macaca fascicularis) live on Khao Luang Hill.


And ever since, the long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) of Thailand are free to roam and don't have to worry about their next meal. Every day, people from the town bring them food. Tourists also love the monkeys, hundreds come daily to see the monkeys and many buy fruits from local vendors to feed the monkeys.

“They come close and even climb onto our knees or our necks. You can take photos of the monkeys. The contact with the monkeys is really special and enjoyable. Some are gentle and others are more aggressive. Some seem afraid although they come close. It's really enjoyable,” a visitor from Malaysia commented.

The monkeys, however, can get mischievous and they get into everything and on anyone. "You can never get them to sit still, that's for sure,” his wife added.

Local shopkeepers have huge crocodile soft toys to scare away the monkeys but many tourists buy the toy crocodiles as souvenirs to take home. “When tourists come to visit these caves, you can see the smiles of their faces,” a very pleased local stallholder concluded.

Copyright 2003-2010 Azlan Adnan Legal Notice

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