Langurs hangin' out

Here are some langur monkeys hanging out in old and shady places.

I'm not a real huge fan of monkeys.  They can be mean, steal your fruit, make a mess of your trash, chase you down the street with a laundry basket...you know, a general menace.  But langurs are usually pretty peaceful and they keep their distance.

These ones were just sitting around picking fleas.  They didn't mind being photographed at all, but I was too chicken to get any closer.

It's fairly common to spot monkeys, but it's still a novelty to me, especially when they are hanging out in old ruins.  I almost missed the ones in the trees--their natural habitat--because I didn't think to look there.  But it makes sense, doesn't it?  Monkeys in trees.
Nice, quiet ones.

Sight see-ers

Not all of those hanging out at the historical, World Heritage sights were human.
There was a wide range of other visitors.

A monkey brought her baby to see the Taj Mahal.

A dog was exploring along the wall of the Agra fort palace.

The monkeys also thought the fort was a good place to hang out,
and to see some of the other tourists.

The parrots liked the artistic carvings around the Qutab Minar.

And the pigeons were checking out the keystone-less arches.

At Fatehpur Sikri, there was a chipmunk who stopped for a snack.

Word is out that sightseeing is a good past time.

Restorers in Agra

These guys and their bamboo scaffold labor above the heads of thousands of tourists a day.

After they finish with their work for the day, the monkeys come to play on their scaffolding.

I always find restoration work fascinating.

All kinds of restoration: buildings, art, and the restoration of relationships, too.
Restoration keeps things beautiful.

Monkeys on the balcony

This afternoon I was startled when I saw a shadow on the curtain and a large shape moved into view.

It was a monkey. A big monkey, as big as a medium-sized dog.

Later his family showed up. Hanging in the tree. Walking on the rail. Sitting on the air-conditioning unit. There was even a little baby.

The neighbors didn't like them. They were throwing sticks and yelling at them. It probably didn't help his case when one monkey ran up a tree with a bag of trash which he then emptied out.

After the rain stopped and they'd eaten up all the fruit in the trash, they moved on.

Here's some brief monkey footage.