Okay that is a bit of click bait for sure, but not false. 🐵 Let me explain. Looking for something free to do, and that required a work out, I decided to climb Monkey Hill just outside of Old Town. I knew there was a chance of seeing some wildlife, I just didn’t expect it to be quite this aggressive. Here is the story of how I was robbed on Monkey Hill in Phuket.
Location
Phuket has quite a bumpy natural terrain. There are mountains up and down the island and many smaller hills. Near the Old Town, if you walk north, you will see on google maps a hill called Monkey Hill. Look for the tallest one around, and with the ugly towers at the top. You cannot miss it on the skyline.
Hiking
From my guesthouse in town, this hike would be just over an hour long and most of it uphill. I left my room just before 8am, thinking I might be okay at this cooler time of day. I say ‘cooler’ with a bit of sarcasm, as the temperatures are already 28 degrees Celsius at that time, and humid as heck.
All I had with me, visibly in my hands was my phone. All cash and keys were tucked away in a zippered pocket, lest I should see said monkeys and they were cheeky.
Main Gate
As you approach the base of the hill, there is a main gate with security personnel. Here are multiple signs, saying no food or drink, plastic bottles etc. past this point. There are strict rules for any encounter with monkeys, to keep visitors safe. No feeding, no taking anything away if they get something of yours, etc.
I passed through the gate and began a steady climb up hill, on a paved roadway. The only vehicles passing me where ones going to the top for the electrical towers or those with caretakers who are placing food for the monkeys. Several other tourists were also hiking but we were few and far between.
Monkeys
Right away, as soon as one is thru the gate, you begin to see the monkeys! There are just a few down here, and they stay off to the sides of the roadway. As you climb, you begin to see more and more, mostly sauntering down the hill at a slow pace, pausing for a scratch or to pick at something interesting on the ground.
My first good photographs were of a mother a baby that I saw within the first 15 minutes of climbing. Mom had stopped on the sidewalk and a few others came out of the jungle when I bent down to take a few snaps.
Upon walking further up, probably about half way, the monkeys get more numerous to the point where they look like large family groups.
Monkey Encounter #1
At one point I bent down to take a video of myself with a monkey walking down the road. Before I knew it, the cheeky thing climbed up on my back! I tried to stand, he slid down immediately and grabbed at my beaded bracelets on my left arm. Inspecting them, and realizing they were not delicious, he dropped my hand and let me go.
I should have learned a lesson from this but thick headed as I am, I did not. About three quarters the way to the top I was into a pack of monkeys. There had to have been a hundred in this group. I bent down once again to try and photograph a few.
The Robbery
One climbed up on my shoulder almost immediately, inspecting my hair….for bugs? I stood up and just as I did so another grabbed my hand and wanted to inspect the bracelets. Again, he realized they were not food, and began to lick the salty sweat from my hand and arm. It was super cute but at the same time I was so fearful that he was going to bite me.
In the next moment, I had another two monkeys at my hand. I’m assuming they thought the first guy was getting a treat and wanted some too. These two were quite aggressive and ripped the bracelets right off my hand whilst yelling. A fight ensued over who would get my treasured beads.
One fella absconded to my left with the coloured band and another ran up the sidewalk with the wooden beads. The coloured band was chewed into with gusto and the beads went flying. I managed to pick up a few as quickly as I could, but as soon as I began to gather them up, a mother with a baby attached, came charging at me and began hitting me!
Straight away, I stood up and backed off, as other monkeys aggressively ran towards me yelling. I was scared in that moment, and hot footed it away from that group as fast as I could. Tucking the few beads I managed to scavenge into a pocket, I continued up the hill.
The Top
With my heart thumping in my chest, I continued my climb. I expected to have a good lookout point at the top of Monkey Hill, however I was disappointed. Wandering through all of the electrical towers, looking for a view point, but alas, a great one was not found.
As I watched the caretakers burn the leaves from the roadway, I decided to cut my losses and head back. I had taken note of where I was robbed, and as I passed that area, I had a good look to see if I could locate my treasured wooden bracelet from Vietnam. I did not see it and was too nervous to remain near this pack of monkeys.
Carrying on down the hill, I was hot and tired and miffed. Finding a bright side, I though well at least I get to shop for new jewellery now. 😂
Definitely take the hike up Monkey Hill if you want to see these cool animals up close. Take heed of the signage and don’t do anything to provoke them. I would even go so far as to say, don’t carry anything with you. If you are wearing something precious, remove it before hand. The monkeys are cheeky, scary and cute as the dickins. Would I have changed anything about this day? No way! Its all part of the fun. 🐒
