monkey thief

since yesterday morning i've been to Lop Buri, Phitsanulok and Sukhothai. it's been a cool tour of some of the smaller ancient cities and i'm liking the few days of solo travel. tomorrow i'll go into the Sukhothai historical park (another UNESCO world heritage site) before leaving for Tak Province & Mae Sot. Mae Sot is right on the Myanmar/Burmese border and I'm looking forward to spending a day or two there. i'm still undecided about whether to cross the burmese border for a day... lots of controversy about visiting that country, and for good reason, but i wouldn't mind talking to a few locals and gaining some insight into their way of life and view on their own circumstance. promise to be careful.

while i was in Lop Buri, i visited the famous Wat San Phra Kan with a Dutch girl i met. i nicely warned her to take off her sunglasses and put her cell phone in her bag, since i'd heard stories that the monkeys ("liing") that clamor all over the Wat like to steal stuff from you. so although Astrid's goodies were all safe, one bastard monkey climbed up on my shoulder, which i thought was real cute for a second, and then yanked my earring out of my ear before i even knew what was happening. so i hope the little guy enjoys his new toy, because i really liked those earrings so he better, too.
btw, the last rule listed on the back of my train ticket says: "no animals or strange smelling foods/fruits in the air-conditioned cars." got that?