I reached the top and had to stop and that's what's-a botherin' me
Remember I mentioned monkeys? Well I am NOT DONE WITH THEM YET. I put all my monkeys in a SEPARATE POST omg so they may be skipped over WITH GREATER EASE. This is that post. THIS IS MY MONKEY POST.
The thing is, the monkeys like to HANG AROUND in India. My favourite monkey is probably still my first monkey, which I saw sitting on top of a stall in a shabby little market somewhere in Connaught Place. It was sat so hunched and sullen and shabby and not at all aware and interested that it was a MONKEY sitting ON TOP OF SOMEONE'S STALL in a PLACE. Omg. My second favourite monkey is the one we saw wandering along the road at 6a.m. on our bus trip up to Manali. It was trotting along in a grumpy busy way, like "Another day at the grindstone! Up at the crack of dawn, off to do my many tasks, oh, what a hard life, this burden of constant toil is crushing me!" It seems unlikely that the monkey really laboured under a burden of constant toil, but what do I know? My third favourite monkey was the one that I thought at first was a dog. Etc.
I didn't get pictures of most of these monkeys, however. Most of my pictures of monkeys came from THE MONKEY PALACE. This is a complex of abandoned Hindu temples in the DESERTY HILLS outside Jaipur. It is like something out of the Jungle Book but MUCH AWESOMER. And the monkeys live there and splash in the reservoirs and eat all the bananas and nuts that people bring for them and do nasty things to each other with their LITTLE WIZENED FACES. The thing about monkeys is they really are like horrible little people. And they sort of move and act in a way that's enough of an echo of humans that it's disconcerting. And they sit in a horrible hunched-over way that makes me laugh and laugh, OH THEY ARE TERRIBLE, I LOVE THEM.
My pictures of monkeys are not National Geographic-esque magic. They don't quite rise to the semi-focused heights of some of my other efforts. But they are distinctly monkeyoid. And here's the betterer thing, I also have VIDEO! I finally found the benefit of my camera's video function with the monkeys. Because monkeys RUN AROUND and they have NASTY LITTLE FACES. David Attenborough it ain't. But it is REAL TIME PROOF OF THE MOVING NATURE OF THE MONKEYS. (You will have to excuse the continual background burbling in my extremely slappable voice. It turns out that I never stop talking, ever. This is another thing I have learned about myself. All my video clips have this continual wittering in the background, regardless of whether I was actually addressing anyone or actually had anything to say. I now understand why Noble Travelling Companion (a.k.a. HM#1) often wore a somewhat strained mien. I SUCK, yes.)
This is DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE OF A MONKEY STEALING MY PEANUTS:
You can't really tell what's going on though. I had one hand full so I put my bag of peanuts down on the wall to get the monkey another peanut. I thought the monkey would sit there quietly and wait for me to give it its peanut. I DID NOT APPRECIATE THE NATURE OF MONKEYS AT THIS TIME.
This is me FEEDING A MONKEY. YOU CAN SEE THE MONKEY'S FACE!
LOOK AT ITS LITTLE EYES! Look at the way it wipes its face! Aha! One of the monkeys would catch hold of my free hand to steady itself when reaching up to grab a peanut. It had SUCH SOFT LEATHERY LITTLE HANDS and it was SO CAREFUL AND PRECISE. AIEEEEE.
This is MY FAVOURITE THING EVER:
AHAHA. The big monkey is NOT THE LITTLE MONKEY'S MUMMY. I was unsure at the time, AS YOU CAN PROBABLY TELL, but hilariously, it turns out it was a kidnapping attempt. The expression on the little monkey's face makes me LAUGH AND LAUGH. THE LITTLE MONKEY IS QUITE WORRIED.
This monkey is all wet because it has been SWIMMING:
This monkey is eating grass. I find this amusing.
These monkeys are POSSIBLY BROTHERS:
These monkeys are SPINDLY AND UNNATURAL:
This picture makes me laugh because it looks like the big monkey is driving and the little monkey WISHES IT COULD TOO:
This is a monkey WITH A BABY:
These monkeys are possibly playing:
These are monkeys HANGING BY THE TEMPLE POOL:
When it got dusky they suddenly all started to make love. I'm not quite sure why.
These people drove all the way up the hill at sunset in their Maruti Suzuki with a boot full of bananas to give the monkeys. It's a Hanuman thing. They gave me lots of their bananas and encouraged me to feed the monkeys myself, because they thought I might like to. It's the kind of thing people do a lot of in India.
The monkeys ungratefully responded by peeling bits off their car. This, I think, is pretty much the way of monkeys.
The thing is, the monkeys like to HANG AROUND in India. My favourite monkey is probably still my first monkey, which I saw sitting on top of a stall in a shabby little market somewhere in Connaught Place. It was sat so hunched and sullen and shabby and not at all aware and interested that it was a MONKEY sitting ON TOP OF SOMEONE'S STALL in a PLACE. Omg. My second favourite monkey is the one we saw wandering along the road at 6a.m. on our bus trip up to Manali. It was trotting along in a grumpy busy way, like "Another day at the grindstone! Up at the crack of dawn, off to do my many tasks, oh, what a hard life, this burden of constant toil is crushing me!" It seems unlikely that the monkey really laboured under a burden of constant toil, but what do I know? My third favourite monkey was the one that I thought at first was a dog. Etc.
I didn't get pictures of most of these monkeys, however. Most of my pictures of monkeys came from THE MONKEY PALACE. This is a complex of abandoned Hindu temples in the DESERTY HILLS outside Jaipur. It is like something out of the Jungle Book but MUCH AWESOMER. And the monkeys live there and splash in the reservoirs and eat all the bananas and nuts that people bring for them and do nasty things to each other with their LITTLE WIZENED FACES. The thing about monkeys is they really are like horrible little people. And they sort of move and act in a way that's enough of an echo of humans that it's disconcerting. And they sit in a horrible hunched-over way that makes me laugh and laugh, OH THEY ARE TERRIBLE, I LOVE THEM.
My pictures of monkeys are not National Geographic-esque magic. They don't quite rise to the semi-focused heights of some of my other efforts. But they are distinctly monkeyoid. And here's the betterer thing, I also have VIDEO! I finally found the benefit of my camera's video function with the monkeys. Because monkeys RUN AROUND and they have NASTY LITTLE FACES. David Attenborough it ain't. But it is REAL TIME PROOF OF THE MOVING NATURE OF THE MONKEYS. (You will have to excuse the continual background burbling in my extremely slappable voice. It turns out that I never stop talking, ever. This is another thing I have learned about myself. All my video clips have this continual wittering in the background, regardless of whether I was actually addressing anyone or actually had anything to say. I now understand why Noble Travelling Companion (a.k.a. HM#1) often wore a somewhat strained mien. I SUCK, yes.)
This is DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE OF A MONKEY STEALING MY PEANUTS:
You can't really tell what's going on though. I had one hand full so I put my bag of peanuts down on the wall to get the monkey another peanut. I thought the monkey would sit there quietly and wait for me to give it its peanut. I DID NOT APPRECIATE THE NATURE OF MONKEYS AT THIS TIME.
This is me FEEDING A MONKEY. YOU CAN SEE THE MONKEY'S FACE!
LOOK AT ITS LITTLE EYES! Look at the way it wipes its face! Aha! One of the monkeys would catch hold of my free hand to steady itself when reaching up to grab a peanut. It had SUCH SOFT LEATHERY LITTLE HANDS and it was SO CAREFUL AND PRECISE. AIEEEEE.
This is MY FAVOURITE THING EVER:
AHAHA. The big monkey is NOT THE LITTLE MONKEY'S MUMMY. I was unsure at the time, AS YOU CAN PROBABLY TELL, but hilariously, it turns out it was a kidnapping attempt. The expression on the little monkey's face makes me LAUGH AND LAUGH. THE LITTLE MONKEY IS QUITE WORRIED.
This monkey is all wet because it has been SWIMMING:
This monkey is eating grass. I find this amusing.
These monkeys are POSSIBLY BROTHERS:
These monkeys are SPINDLY AND UNNATURAL:
This picture makes me laugh because it looks like the big monkey is driving and the little monkey WISHES IT COULD TOO:
This is a monkey WITH A BABY:
These monkeys are possibly playing:
These are monkeys HANGING BY THE TEMPLE POOL:
When it got dusky they suddenly all started to make love. I'm not quite sure why.
These people drove all the way up the hill at sunset in their Maruti Suzuki with a boot full of bananas to give the monkeys. It's a Hanuman thing. They gave me lots of their bananas and encouraged me to feed the monkeys myself, because they thought I might like to. It's the kind of thing people do a lot of in India.
The monkeys ungratefully responded by peeling bits off their car. This, I think, is pretty much the way of monkeys.