Ape Hill in pictures

It's been a rather busy couple of weeks, mostly involving an adjustment to living arrangements. While I have no new pictures yet of recent weeks, I thought it be nice to backtrack to my month-ago visit to 國立中山大學 and 柴山 (hover for translations) to visit the delightful monkeys. They're still one of the most interesting sights I have ever seen. Who doesn't like monkeys? They're nature's clowns!

Here, a mother holds her precious baby. The rest of the monkeys really didn't look quite so passive and harmless.

The setting: the winding paths through the dense forests of Ape Hill. Until you actually see them, it's rather difficult to imagine playful monkeys running around by the hundreds.

There they are, around the bend. I wasn't exactly sure how to proceed. I bought a piece of bread specifically to lure the monkeys, in case they were timid enough to need some incentive to come for some closeup shots.

But they were not shy at all. The first few walked casually right up to me and took up the offer of free food. Then, many more started appearing from around the bend.

Soon, ten or twenty of them gathered around me restlessly. I was growing a bit nervous - I was completely surrounded and at their mercy. The locals would know that there's nothing to be afraid of, but imagine yourself surrounded by a hoard of nimble unsmiling tree-climbers with not another human in sight to side with you. Indeed, one of them was daring enough to walk up to me from behind in an attempt to wrest away my remaining food, but looked casually disappointed when I refused to let go.

Still, they were peaceful enough to accept that I was in control of the food supply.

Somewhere down the path, a loner sat on the sidewalk. After seeing the large group having just passed by, it was a bit surprising to find such a loner. Maybe monkeys are just like people - some are just... outcasts.

He never paid much attention to anyone walking by, nor vice versa. At some point down the path he found an entire pear lying in a discarded lunch bag, and contently sat to eat the whole thing.

About halfway up the mountain was a small garden, where children ran around with slingshots, grown-ups sat around a table to play cards, and the old-timers took napped around in hammocks.

And another clan of monkeys also took up temporary residence here, at slight vexation to the human occupants.

At another rest stop, a woman seems intrigued to be visited by one of the mountain's native inhabitants.