Tag 162 - Monkey Mountain instead of Tiger Kingdom

Helloooooooo dear ones

Today we had actually planned to go to the 'Tiger Kingdom Phuket'. It is a kind of zoo where you can get very close to these beautiful big cats, take pictures with them, and even stroke them. However, after doing some research yesterday, we decided against it. What could we have told you today? 'Hey guys, today we cuddled with sedated big cats.' No, this was not ethically justifiable for us at all. It would have been great pictures and impressive to see such animals up close. However, it would have definitely destroyed the idea of the wild, strong, energetic hunter in the wilderness.

So we moved on to Plan B: Monkey Mountain :)
Unlike the one in Germany and the one in France, there are no fences here that separate their territory. The animals actually live completely freely here!

We drove about 35 minutes to get to this mountain, but we took a bit longer due to a breakdown :)

10 minutes before reaching our destination, we realized that the back tire of our scooter was completely flat. Luckily, there was a scooter workshop nearby. We tried pumping it up, but the air kept escaping. So we needed a new inner tube. The mechanic had one ready and got to work immediately. You won't believe how much the whole thing cost!!!! CHF 6.00!!! We gave him an additional CHF 1.50 tip and he was overjoyed! The Thai man thanked us multiple times and his joy was written all over his face.

Now we definitively headed to Monkey Mountain. We bought a bag of bananas and peanuts, and as soon as we parked the scooter, we already saw the first monkeys! They came up to us curiously, climbed on us, jumped on us, and really wanted the peanuts. They were less interested in the bananas, but they ate those too :)
Roman and I slightly overwhelmed the still wild animals and both got scratched. Nothing serious at all, but those little creatures can definitely defend themselves and understand sarcasm :)

There were even many female monkeys carrying a newborn with them, and yet they allowed us to get very close to them. In addition, there were many stray dogs. In many reports from people who have been there, it is about how poor these dogs are and how they are completely starved. My perception was slightly different... Yes, they were slim, but all animals in warmer regions have less weight than those with us. Completely logical to explain with the climate. Besides, dogs are originally wild animals, it is not unnatural or cruel if they don't have an owner. On top of that, a female dog came towards us with seven really cute and healthy-looking puppies. So there was no sign of pitiful scenes :).

When all the food was eaten, we went to a very nice restaurant right on the beach. It was a bit secluded from mass tourism and mainly locals dined there. We really liked that!

Afterwards, we drove back to our villa, played in the pool, and roughly planned the next day. Since we have to/are allowed to leave the villa tomorrow, we had to see what we want to do next. We'll tell you one thing: It will be the island of Koh Phi Phi and the accommodation will be much simpler than the previous one :)

But you will find out about that tomorrow.

As the conclusion of our stay in Phuket, we will go to Patong to the Bangla Road tonight. This is probably the most famous street for nightlife in this area, and if you're here, you should see it at least once.

However, you will only find out more about this tomorrow, as it will be very late afterwards ;)

I hope you don't mind if the pictures of today's day will also follow tomorrow, because now we have to get ready and leave slowly ;)

So dear ones, see you tomorrow!