Taking the train in Thailand is always great. Sure it is a little bumpy and sometimes you pay for non-existent air-conditioning, but overall you get a chance to sit back, relax, and see some of the scenery on your way.

Today I took the train to Lopburi, a small town that was at one time a major military and political center. There are interesting ruins of old temple complexes and city walls which still show the size and shape of the previous city. 

While looking around some of the ruins I ran into three Thai university students who were themselves visiting Lopburi. Despite being in their mid-twenties, these women had not really left Bangkok all and had, like myself never been to Lopburi. We decided to walk around and take in the sites together. This turned into an excellent afternoon and evening as these intelligent, beautiful, and funny women both served as impromptu tour guides, and also supplied endless conversation topics in both Thai and English.

Oh did I mention this town is run by monkeys. That is right, because one of the ancient temples is dedicated to the monkey god, or at least monkey helper, the locals encouraged monkeys to hang out in the past. Now, however, the monkeys have become somewhat of a pest problem that people feel they can’t really get rid of. One of the women I was travelling with had her bag snatched by the monkeys because it had food in it. I guess this happens in Lopburi all the time. At one of the temples, they even gave us sticks to beat the monkeys if they got to aggressive with us.

For my part I like the monkeys. I know you are not supposed to play with them, but I reached out to one. Things went downhill pretty quickly.