We Heart Monkeys

Picture 565
Originally uploaded by bigquestionmarks.

Cambodia was super for many reasons... ancient temples of Angkor, Khmer food was fantastic (does Toronto have a Khmer restaurant yet??), the vibe in downtown Siem Reap had a real French colonial/ sip red wine on balcony patios/ think about Vietnam war movies essence about it. But one thing we weren't expecting...

...MONKEYS!

Like Adrian said, our ticket to Angkor Wat was paid off before we got to the ruins. Riding past a gang of monkeys is endless entertainment. We watched them groom each other, jump up other tourists' legs, run around after each other... well, monkeys pretty much never sit still. I was waiting for the perfect artsy black-and-white monkey shot (had the black-and-white film all loaded up in Dad's old Olympus)..... three monkeys on a log, maybe scratching themselves or something. And all I could get was them humping.
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Now, not to confuse things, but the strapping young lad featured here was not part of those simian scholars I was telling you about... he's actually our hired guide, Steve.

Steve enlightened us all about the ancient Khmer empire his squeaky voice. He was a much better climber than us. Our day with Steve was well worth the money-- he had a great sense of humour and I really think he has a future in stand-up comedy. But Steve would rather be on wheels-- he's an avid cyclist with Tour de France aspirations... as long as the winnings come in bananas!