Monkey business

Monkey business - cute or an accident waiting to happen at Phnom Chisor?

What is it about monkeys, pagodas and 1,000 year old trees? Dotted around the Cambodian countryside you will find monkeys making their homes in the grounds of pagodas and claiming the nearest 1,000 year old venerated tree as their 'home patch.' There they were at Phnom Chisor, doing exactly that, and baring their teeth to anyone that got too close to their Buddha. Obviously a ready supply of bananas, left as offerings, keeps them well-fed and this particular monkey looked very pregnant to me, though I was assured it was water retention - I will see if on my next visit, the monkey population has increased or not. As they can move very quickly, I didn't get too close to them but one little boy did and was chased away back to his mother screaming at the top of his voice. A word of warning, these are wild monkeys who merely co-exist with humans for their own benefit, do not treat them as pets, or you might lose your hat, your camera or worse, need some injections for a scratch.

The monkey Buddha in front of their 1,000 year old tree
This large-bellied monkey took a liking to flowers