18th January 2010 - 11th February 2010 - Langkawi - Thai Islands

Islands, islands and more islands

I suppose I should write another blog seeing as another well defined leg of the trip is over.. But it’s really hot and I’m pretty tired from riding a bike all day and I don’t really feel like I’ve got a creative hat on so this may not be the most interesting read.. Feel free to skip to the pictures!

So after our culinary experience in Penang we jumped on a boat to the Malaysian Island of Langkawi and after a few hours of sea spray we were at our tax haven. Langkawi is nice… the beach is nice… and the beer is really cheap… which is nice… the food isn’t so nice… but all in all Langkawi is, well, nice… I’m glad we went there before the Thai Islands though as we probably would’ve been disappointed.

Langkawi - Drinking beer at sunset

Whilst in Langkawi we learned that you can only get 15 day visas on the Thai border instead of the 30 day visas previously offered. This meant we had to go back to Penang to get a 60 day visa from the consulate.. Massive pain in the ass… but at least it meant we got another good meal, and further more, it has meant we’ve had the freedom to spend more time in Thailand. So there was a silver lining.

From Penang we caught a speedy mini bus all the way up to Krabi on the west coast of Thailand on the other side of Phangnga Bay from Phuket. We both really liked Krabi as it had some great market food such as crispy chicken salad and crispy catfish salad, both very spicy but both really tasty. However we also liked the general vibe of Krabi combined with our excellent value guesthouse (Ban To Guesthouse), and as a result we stayed longer than anticipated.

From Krabi we first visited Rai Leh, which is located on the Phangnga Peninsula and is only accessible by boat. We took our first of many rides in a long tail boat to Rai Leh and and here we got our first “Thai Island experience”… crystal blue water… limestone cliffs… and lots of burning Europeans on the sand. (Speaking of Europeans, I wasn’t aware that the national language of Thailand is German… but apparently that’s what the majority of people here speak… there you go). Rai Leh is stunning, and although the first beach we went to was great, it wasn’t a patch on Phra Nang Beach a further 10 minutes walk away where the limestone cliffs and stalactites precariously loom over the water. Bizarrely, the beach is also home to a cave where locals worship a god by placing large penis statues at the shrine!

Phra Nang Beach

There is also a lagoon in Rai Leh, however to visit it, you have to climb up a very steep path using ropes and clinging on to rocks and then climb down three vertical drops of about 4m each also by rope and rock. This was rather unexpected as there was no mention of it in any guide book or at the start of the walk itself. Although unexpected, the rope climbing was really fun and a little bit scary which made the lagoon all the more rewarding and all in all our day in Rai Leh very memorable.

Scrambling up the rocks

Another day trip from Krabi involved some snorkelling and kayaking around Hong Island, once again located in the bay. We got a really good taste of what was to come on the trip, seeing some beautiful tropical fish, and a decent amount of colourful coral. Kayaking around the island itself was good fun and provided a very different view of the limestone island. Pictures won’t reflect our amazing these islands actually are.. Definitely worth the hype.

Hong Island

Kayaking around Hong Island

So we finally left Krabi and headed out to the famous Phi Phi Island… Pretty much paradise on earth. Not wanting to stay in the generic town centre we instead stayed out of town near Long Beach in a place called Viking Nature Resort. A very nice place with it’s own private beach. Soon we were drinking Bacardi on the porch of our upgraded suite taking it all in. Really all we did in Phi Phi was eat, drink and snorkel. I was lucky enough to be able to swim with Black Tipped Reef Sharks in the early hours of the morning right off Long Beach. Unfortunately Sheena couldn’t come because there was quite a strong current and it took pretty much all of my swimming strength to negotiate the pull of the water. Seeing sharks was awesome!

Our private beach on Koh Phi Phi

Enjoying the upgrade suite

After Phi Phi we went to Patong in Phuket… it was shit… the best thing was seeing Avatar at the movies… end of…

Far out.. I’ve written so much and I haven’t even gotten to the Surin Islands yet!

The Surin Islands are the most northern Thai islands on the west coast of Thailand, right near the border with Burma. We read that these islands are the best in Thailand for snorkelling and so we forked out a wad of cash and headed out from our base in Khao Lak for a 3 day 2 night stay on the islands. We spent the 3 days free diving at various locations around the island which provided the most spectacular marine life and coral formations I have ever seen… Sheena said it was better than the Great Barrier Reef! The water depth rarely got deeper than 7m, which meant visibility was fantastic and it gave you the opportunity for some great free diving, getting amongst the corals and fish on the sea floor. The variety of marine life was outstanding with plenty of anemone fish (clown fish or Nemos), parrot fish, barracuda, and sharks etc, and although Sheena and I weren’t fortunate enough to see Green Turtles, plenty of people in our group did. Our accommodation was just a tent right on a deserted beach… and it was probably the most beautiful of all beaches we have come across. I now want to get my diving certificate so I can explore some more of what the northern Thai Islands have to offer.

Surin Islands

The view from our tent

Surin fun!

Our Island adventure ended with a visit to the East side of the Thai Peninsula, just to check it out. However to break up the trip and to give ourselves a bit of diversity from the sun and water, we decided to visit Khao Sok National Park. Our time there involved a bit of trekking though the dense evergreen forest and a bit of hiding in our bungalow whilst monkeys tried to open the door! We would liked to have stayed longer and done some more exploring of the park, but that will have to wait for another time.

Monkey Trouble in Khao Sok

Trekking in the National Park

Our trekking destination

So eventually we made it to the East side and in doing so we skipped Koh Samui and Koh Phangnang and went straight to Koh Tao as we weren’t really interested in a partying scene. Whether it was because the water was relatively rough (when the water is calm on the west it is rough on the east and vice versa), or whether we were comparing it to the Surin Islands, but we have to say we much preferred what was saw on the west side. That’s not to say that Koh Tao isn’t beautiful, it really is and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay, but it just didn’t compare.

So there you go… no particularly funny or amazing stories to say, and no profound and enlightening experiences to be had… after all, we pretty much just spent a month swimming around pristine blue water looking at the fishes and mermaids and what not…

Since writing this blog we have already been to Bangkok, Ayutthaya, and Sukhothai, however I will leave the “culture and shit” for another time as this has already gone on too long…

So until next time!

Take Care

Simon & Sheena

P.S. We also got engaged at Koh Phi Phi if you didn’t already know…

Koh Phi Phi

10th January 2010 - 17th January 2010 - Singapore & Malaysia

Mmmmmmalaysia

Well we’ve only been gone a week now, but it appears that I’ve already acquired myself my own hostel in Penang and am waiting for my first guest to arrive, so no better time to rekindle the blog for phase 2 of Simon and Sheenas gallivanting trip around the world!

You may be slightly confused by the first paragraph… don’t worry Mum I haven’t bought a guesthouse and I don’t plan to settle down here in Malaysia. I am only looking after the place here whilst K.D the hostel owner has to unfortunately attend his sisters funeral a few towns away.. The poor guy is so exhausted with stress and sadness that he has entrusted his business with his willing guests whilst he is with his family. Sheena and I have actually only just come back from our day out and have taken over whilst another English bloke goes and gets a well deserved feed at the local food court.

Speaking of food… you must excuse us if this “travel” blog rapidly converts into a food blog… especially whilst here in Penang (my newly crowned food capital of the world!). I could list everything we’ve eaten but I’ll be here all night. However I should firstly at least mention what we have done prior to our stay here in on the island.

Having arrived in Singapore we realised that there is really nothing to do.. So we went and found some food… (I did warn you)… On this tiny well organised paradise for the obsessive compulsive we scoffed down many a dish including the vastly overpriced and overrated Chilli Crab (it was nice just not worth the effort). Besides food we have also discovered another gem that Singapore has to offer and that’s New Asia Bar at the top of the Swissotel Hotel. This place was heaven for me… great music not played too loud… excellent cocktails… an amazing panoramic view of the city from 40+ storeys up… but best of all was the fact that the bar oozed a class not to be found in any venue in Sydney. Superb!

Chilli Crab... a messy ordeal

So on to Kuala Lumpur. Our very spacious and comfy bus took us into KL which greets you with the magnificent and elegant Petronas Towers. Those who know me, know that I like to rank things in terms of their bigness and bestness… and the Petronas Towers are in the top 5 tallest buildings in the world and are the tallest twin towers! However, it’s not these facts which make the structures impressive or the fact that I know the man who was the chief engineer in designing the buildings that makes me write about them. It’s just that not too often something built in this day and age will make an impression in years to come, yet these graceful structures will. So from our one night stay in KL I can really only talk about a couple of concrete buildings, but I guess KL doesn’t have too much to offer and we didn’t stay for long at all… Oh and you must go to Old China Café around the corner from Petaling St (the tourist market) for the best iced tea in Malaysia and a flavoursome Laksa or mouth watering Rendang. Superb!

The Petronas Towers

They don't look like it, but these are iced teas

and iced coffees from Old China Cafe in KL

Finally we get to where I am sitting now in Penang. Once again our even more spacious and even more comfy bus took us to our destination. We found this lovely hostel run by a couple who are more than willing to bend over backwards for you, and in doing so, the guests are willing to help them out in times such as these. Talking to other guests here, it appears that their opinions of Penang are fairly negative. This is mainly due to the excessive construction of multi storey hotels that litter the coastline. Mum, I expect that the island has changed a lot since your visit years ago. This is not to say that Penang is not a great place, one just has to visit for the right reasons. If you want a beautiful tropical beach and lush rainforest; don’t come to Penang. Come to Penang if you want to see an amazingly integrated society that resides in a historical colonial town (George Town) which is fantastically preserved. It’s not so much the sights which make this town interesting, but more so the character of George Town itself and the interaction between the Muslim Malays, the Buddhist Chinese, and the Hindu Indians.

The Local Fauna

Colonial George Town

So of course with the array of cultures present on the island, the food here is outstanding. I would firstly like to acknowledge Nimita for pointing us in the direction of the food blog, those guys know what they’re talking about and our tummys thank them and you. So we’ve devoured fish curries, oysters, fried radish cakes, iced coffees, tamarind prawns, and of course bacon candy, plus so much more. Superb!

Crunchy Tamarind Prawns

Sheena doing what she does best... eating..

in this case specifically the refreshing Chendul

The Fried Radish Cake Man

So now we’re off to Langkawi to take relax on the beach, drink cheap beer (which Sheena now likes) and generally take stock of things and think about how lucky we are to be on this trip.

It’s at this point I’d like to pay my respects to Nick Delaney who at only 15 tragically passed away in the Blue Mountains earlier this week. I remember when Nick was born and remember seeing him grow up... and although I haven’t seen him for many years now, you could tell as a 6 year old that he was a good kid. Nicks older brother Chris who was with him at the time was my best friend in primary school and the early years of high school so I am very glad he his safe and well after such an ordeal, however I feel so sad for him and his family… no one should have to lose a family member so young. RIP Nick Delaney.

Sorry to end on such a sad note, however that’s just life I guess. Keep safe all.. We will :)

Simon & Sheena.

2nd December 2009 - 20th December 2009 Delhi & Pune

The end of India

I know this is a bit belated and most of you have probably heard enough about India having seen us on our quick stay back in Sydney… but this blog is for us as much as it is for anybody else so you can either keep reading or skip this section all together!

After our teary farewell from our family in the village we caught a train back to Delhi where we arrived at the ungodly hour of 4:30AM. We caught a cab straight to Sheena’s great aunts place where we stayed for the week.

Sheena’s family is large… very large.. Which inevitably results in many family lunches and teas etc etc. I complain occasionally as sometimes it can be tiring, but in all honesty, Sheena’s older family members have so many interesting stories to tell from the days of Indias independence movement concerning meetings with Nehru and Ghandi and also the traumas of partion including evacuation from what is now Pakistan. I believe there is a book in their stories that should be written, as it would be a shame for the history to be lost over time.

Besides family meetings, we also got to experience the typical attractions of Delhi, Old Fort, Qutab, the Jama Masjid etc etc. All very interesting and amazing sights to be seen of course. It was disappointing to be confronted with aggressive staff working in the Jama Masjid who clearly didn’t want visitors coming to the Mosque. I had to bite my tongue from saying something (good move), other tourists just turned and walked out. It’s sad, because it’s really counterproductive for some of these men to act in such a way. Being poorly treated by someone dressed in traditional Muslim attire who also has the long beard, only perpetuates the negative stereotype that many people have in the west of Muslims and creates greater division between societies. In reality the man is very foolish because he’s only creating enemies of people who are there to embrace their culture and gain a greater understanding of a different way of life and it’s hard for people to not be affected by these experiences.

Red Fort

Old Delhi

Prayer Time at the Jama Masjid

Of course we couldn’t talk about Delhi without talking a little bit about food (this is a blog from Simon and Sheena after all). In talking about food in Delhi, I’m just going to say one thing. Kareems Restaurant… Kebabs… Burra Chicken… Mutton Biryani… Mutton Curry… AWESOME!!!… heart transplant… say no more except everyone should eat here once before they die.. Vegetarians excluded.

Kebabs & Biryani at Kareems

So after Delhi we flew down to Pune to stay with Dadima (she’s grandmother on her fathers side) for a about 2 weeks. There’s really nothing to do in Pune so there’s not too much to say. For those who know Dadima, she is exactly the same, which is of course a good thing. At 87 she still loves to have her long chats and still loves filling us up with food, however now Sheena and I know enough Hindi to be able to tell Ayesha (Dadimas in house help) that we don’t want any more to eat!

Just a quick edit.. I can't believe I didn't mention our trip to Bombay.. or should I say our trip to Britannia Restaurant... merely writing this down so that anyone who reads this knows that when in Bombay eat Berry Chicken Palau from this amazing Iranian restaurant... but be quick.. the crazy friendly old dude who owns it who is about 1000 years old plans to shut it down when he departs...

The Obligatory Couch Photo

With Dadima

So after over 3.5 months we finished our Indian visit in a traditional manner… at a wine tasting festival… It was a very memorable stay and although I know we’ll be back in India in the near future, I think we will remember this trip more fondly than most. After all it’s not often you gain an entirely new family.

26th October - 30th November: Farewell to Chatola

Farewell

Goodbyes suck… There’s no two ways about it, they just suck…

Tomorrow we will be leaving Chatola, the tiny picturesque village which has been our home for almost two and a half months and heading back to Delhi. More importantly, we will be leaving our newly inherited family whom we will miss very much.

We’re definitely happy to be moving on and getting a change in scenery, food, and of course there’s the glistening amber and fizzy bubbles of a crisp, cold Kingfisher that awaits me at the closest licensed establishment from the train station. We are however, not looking forward to the inevitable tears from the four children that will flow on the day we depart. To make things easier, we have promised to return and to bring our family along… so Mum you better get used to eating lentils!

We’ve said previously about how scenic this place is, but you can’t comprehend it until you see it for yourself. This is a place everyone should visit.

Anita & Cuzbu

Our work at Aarohi has finished for now and we’ve been farewelled by the staff. We both think we have done some good work that will hopefully contribute effectively to the organisation. It’s hard to tell whether or not Dr Sushil (the organisation head) believes we’ve done good work, mainly because he hasn’t had the opportunity as yet to sufficiently review our projects, but even if he had I don’t think we’d know for sure!Sushil is a very hard man to read.

Our "Office"

Many years ago Dr Sushil tragically lost his wife Oona and their young child in extraordinary circumstances. The family of three ate some poisoned mushrooms, all fell very ill and Sushil was the only one to survive. Oona and Sushil were the cofounders of the Aarohi organisation after having met at another existing NGO in the region. Since Oona’s passing, Sushil has taken the responsibility of growing the organisation to the success story that it is today (it has over 50 staff).

To endure so much suffering and to continue on with his wife’s legacy, helping so many, makes for a man that commands enormous amounts of respect and admiration. It is however no surprise that Sushil is hard to read, there is no doubt that there is still sadness in his eyes and emotions are held close to his chest. It’s nice to see that Sushil has since remarried to a woman local to the region and they have two young children together. Unfortunately, although Aarohi have created their own school, which is miles a head of the other local public schools, the quality of education still has a long way to go. Sushil knows this and as a result, his wife and family live in Pune over 1000km away so as his children can have access to good schooling, leaving little time to be together throughout the year. Sushil’s commitment to the organisation and the people of the region is unfathomable and inspiring. Sheena and I hope to stay in touch with Sushil and contribute more to Aarohi in the years to come.

As mentioned earlier, Aarohi have created their own school and has classes from 1^st to 8^th. The teachers at Aarohi are instructed to create lesson plans and have specific objectives for every class they undertake, this is not the case in most public schools. Although constrained to the textbooks and examinations issued by the government, the school creates their own brand of teaching and uses extra material. The difference is phenomenal in confidence and ability especially in regards to speaking English between the Aarohi children and the other local children, including the children in our family who attend public schools. Hema the 9 year old in the family can barely read Hindi, Ravi the 7 year old can’t at all, and don’t even ask about English and maths. Anita the oldest at 13 is far more advanced and said she could read Hindi at their age which is a reflection on the teachers currently at the school at which Hema and Ravi attend as Anita went to the same school when she was younger.

It’s no surprise that pretty much all the children fail English when one reads their textbooks. The English in the textbooks are written in print as you would expect, however they try and teach the children to write in cursive. This has just resulted in Ravi not being able recognise any letters as written in print because he’s learned to write them in running writing and they look completely different! It’s such a shame, because these children are smart, however the futures are being dictated by a faulty system.

Classroom in the Aarohi School

Classroom in a Public School
(this is all the students attending on this day)

Sheena and I do our best to continually try and instil confidence in the four children by encouraging them and telling their parents how clever they actually are. We especially encourage Anita a lot because she is starting senior school next year and doesn’t want to go because she is scared and is failing a lot of subjects. Anita has an amazing ability when it comes to picking up the English we speak; her good ear also transcends to her excellent music ability, she is much more intelligent than she realises. The problem is, the only gauge the parents have of their children’s ability is the report card issued by the schools, which merely tell them that they’re failing. Sundar and Asha have only had very limited schooling themselves, and although they are both very progressive and naturally wise, they still don’t have the ability to judge their children’s performance for themselves.

In a society where tough love is prominent and encouragement is not so common, the children don’t have much belief in themselves. Having said this, I think our encouragement has washed off on Asha, as she now is starting to frequently say positive things about her children as opposed to affectionately calling them pargals (fools) like she did when we first arrived. I say affectionately because mamma and papa have nothing but love for their children even if it’s not always apparent. Both parents are wise beyond their education, and Sundar especially has a good mind for entrepreneurship and engineering, so we have confidence that he will lead their family into more prosperous times with the help of their guest house and under the guidance of Sushil.

Wow.. I’ve written a lot, without actually have said anything that we’ve done.. but that’s ok.. I think these experiences are far more interesting than our little side trips and happy snaps. If you’ve gotten this far into the blog than you probably think the same thing too! If you must know, since our last blog, we’ve been to Kausani for more views of the mountains, attended a local wedding (which to me was half celebration and half somewhat funeral like…) and took Anita to the town of Almora. For Anita the Almora trip meant two hours of vomiting in the bus on the way there, two hours of feeling seedy wondering the shops, and two more hours of vomiting on the way back, not to mention the fact that she was completely overwhelmed by the mass of people, cars and bad smells she had never encountered before in her life! She won’t be going back again soon…

So now it’s off to Delhi for a week and then Pune to visit Dadima, which will be nice. We will not forget our time here, nor will we forget our family.

Speak again soon!

Simon & Sheena

Scrabble: dunno

Squabble: who cares?

P.S The family cow had a baby calf recently, and in order to keep our legacy alive, we decided to name it after Sheena’s sister Nimita, however seeing as it’s a boy cow, Anita decided to change the name slightly, so the family are now the proud owners of Nimit the baby cow!

Say Hello To Baby Nimit

Try and not say "Awww"

Hema - The strongest 9 year old girl
in the world!

4th October – 25th October: Aarohi

Village Life

We have now been living in our village for five weeks which is exactly half way through the stay! Time is flying and we cannot believe we have been here this long. Not too much is happening, no new sights to be seen, no new food to be eaten (except for the locally brewed whiskey which tastes surprisingly okay and some other local produce), no new people to meet. In a way this sounds boring, but it is really nice to be settled somewhere and feel like we have a home. Simon was really happy when the family bought a dog... the dog lasted 2 days then ran away. Noone but Simon seemed to care.

Each day is interesting in it’s own way. Simon has actually learnt some hindi, and although he says he doesn’t know much his communication isn’t too bad considering. That said, most of the communication does involve the children and us exchanging insults and calling each other names (in fun way). My name is ‘unda’, which means egg and Simon’s name is now lokhi (which is kind of like a zucchini). Though, the oldest girl does call us idiot a lot. We call her pagal. So does her mother.

We recently celebrated Diwali (Indias Christmas essentially) which was fun and involved blowing up fireworks and drinking whisky! A good combination.

Happy Diwali!

In terms of work, Simon has done a visit of the surrounding villages and is now creating building manual based on these designs. I am still analyzing nutritional data and now thinking about writing some recipes! The work is slow but we feel like we are now getting somewhere and may hopefully be able to achieve something useful.

The food is still nice, but I have to admit starting to get a little tiring. I really look forward to our packet maggi noodles and packet pastas when we have them. Who would’ve thought my standards would drop so much.

Finally a big congratulations to the two good friends who just got engaged (you know who you are….if you are reading this). It’s great to get such good news even if it does feel a bit weird sitting here in the middle of nowhere!


That’s all for now.
Someone get me a cheeseburger.


Scrabble Sheena: Lots
Simon: A few less


Squabble
Sheena: Lots
Simon: Not far behind

The view on the way to work




Cuzbo being cute again

Anita and a local friend stacking the hay for the winter months

Whisky and cards

21st September – 3rd October: Aarohi

Aarohi Aid Work

Our train from Delhi arrived at Kathgodam where we were driven for over 2 hours to our village called Chatola (search Nainital and Almora in google maps, draw a line between the two and we’re in the middle). We were then met by our hosts for the next 2.5 months; Sundar Ram and his son Ravi 7. After a steep 20 minute walk, we were at our new home and what a home! We were blown away by the house they have built for us. It is a 2 storey house. All brick, with proper stone floors, a kitchen and a bathroom with a western toilet! So much for concerns of a mud hut, with dirt floors, no electricity and a squat toilet.

Our Mansion on the right

We met the rest of the family, Asha (Sunders wife) and his 3 other children, all girls, Anita 13, Hema 10, and Cuzbo 5.

The kids seemed quietly excited, until we brought out the bag of presents from Australia (chocolates, pencils, stuffed toys etc. from Paddy’s markets). At this point the excitement bursted and the kids were became excited bubbly and very affectionate. By affectionate we mean exhausting! As tiring as they are, I’m sure from the photographs, you’ll agree they’re adorable J

From left to right: 2 neighbours, Ravi, Hema, Sunder, Anita, Asha, Cuzbo

Cuzbo and Hema enjoying their gifts

Since settling in we have really been getting to know the family and getting used to being ridiculously overfed by Asha. All the food is veg and consists of 1 vegetable dish (usually radish) plus rice and or rotis. We think by the end of this we will turn into a muli (radish)! Although repetitive the food is still tasty and very spicy.

The older girls love to impress Sheena, and Ravi is very attached to me. The youngest Cuzbo doesn’t say much most of the time, but squeaks a lot and is attached to both of us… she is so unbelievably cute, we’re thinking of taking her back to Australia!

Cuzbo looking cute

The family held a puja (blessing ceremony) for the new house and the extended family attended as well as the holy man. Sheena had to wear a sari and all the family were very excited to see her in traditional clothing.

The girls before the Puja, Sheena looking good..... and big!

The family at the first ceremony

Standing on the roof for the 2nd ceremony

Ravi with his uncle after lunch

Everyday we walk almost an hour each way up and down through the jungle and forest to get to the Aarohi headquarters. It’s quite tiring but also extremely beautiful and should get us fighting fit by the end of our stay here. On clear days we can see the peaks of the Himalayas in the distance towering over the valleys. Superb.

The first time we walked home we were shown the way by two local boys who were very friendly. Just before getting home, they decided to strip down naked and go for a swim in a tiny water hole. Something that kids certainly wouldn’t do back home hehe.

Local boys in the water hole

The first time we attempted to walk home from Aaorhi we of course got lost. It was a little unnerving seeing as it got dark (luckily I had packed a torch) not to mention the snake we encountered along the way.

We’ve both been given our assignments, I’ll be looking at devising a manual for locals to build houses out of brick and concrete correctly, recently they have moved away from traditional building methods and they are not constructing their houses safely. Sheena is looking at nutrition of local children as well communication methods to inform the villagers of health related issues. So we’re both quite busy.

Anywhoo… so far so good… not too much to complain about except for the fact I would murder someone for a hamburger and a cold beer and I can’t believe I’m going to miss Muse tour Australia!

Hope everyone is well...

Ravi, now thanks to us affectionately known as Bandar (monkey)

Other locals who stopped us in our tracks thanks to our monkeyphobia