Holly and I are staying at this amazing hotel. Up in the mountains, on a lake, designed by Geoffrey Bawa to be a part of the mountain. I'm siting on the balcony having tea but there is another line of pillars about 6 feet out from the hard part of the building that has vines growing all over it to give the hotel a green cover and hide it away. between the balcony and the pillars/vines is a criss cross of beams and on that and the vines the monkeys are ambling around.
The first day in this paradise I do see a few monkeys at breakfast but they were very well behaved. Then we went to Sigiriya, an ancient fortress where we climbed and climbed to see breathtaking panoramas and 900 year old cave paintings and then headed to Polannaruwa where I got to see my huge Buddha out of the mountain carvings. Then home, no crazy monkeys, just cute ones as scenery.
The next morning I decided to have tea on my balcony. And many monkeys came by to scope the joint. But for the most part left me alone. Well except for one particularly curious one that I chased away by saying "Bad monkey, BAD monkey". Then I went for a massage. When I got out, I saw a Holly storming up to me demanding "Just what state was the room in when you left it?
..."umm, what do you mean?"..."Well was your computer missing a key? And did you leave the music on?"...."Huh, negative on both counts."...."Well then we got a problem."
Holly went on to tell me that the room looked as if it had been ransacked but that the balcony door was locked and nothing of value appeared to have been taken. However, my cigarettes were mostly missing and the remaining strewn all over the place, my tea cup had been smashed, her toiletries bag had been opened and her medications stolen, and yes, my music had been turned on. Which actually was quite a feat....iTunes was up and downloading but the monkey would have needed to go into the music and press play....I guess the monkeys were just desperate for some OK Go. Apparently Holly's first thought was that I had done all of this. Her second had been that a monkey was still in the room so she had gone around searching, to which I ask "What would you have done if you had in fact found a monkey under the bed?"
Okay, fine. A bit inconvenient but no major harm done. We laughed. Holly especially just kept imagining the fun the troupe of monkeys must have had. So I finish reading my "Seven Years in Tibet" and start reading my "An Open Heart" by the Dalai Lama. And let me just say, Buddhism is hard. I mean, you are supposed to think through why you get mad and take the time to disable the thought. Well, I really do love the tenets of Buddhism but man is it a lot of work. But I start thinking I'll give it a try.
So the following day we head out to Anuradhapura, a city of ruins with some fabulous stupas. And then to Dambulla Cave Temple. So at this second stop we walk up a LOT of stairs. And along the way some sweet old ladies ask if I want to buy some flowers. And I think, well maybe I can't stop myself from being an angry lady but I can buy some flowers to put by the Buddhas. So I get my handful of lotus flowers and keep trudging up the stairs. And I feel virtuous. So much so that when all the little kids and some adults continue barraging me with the Hello Hellos I say hello back and smile and they go off giggling. Event the teenage boys being rowdy and well, teenage boys, are not getting me down. Cause I'm going up, to give flowers to Buddha. And then I feel a tug at my hand and look down and there is a monkey running away with my flowers.
Growing up, my dad always left the car and the house unlocked. And when I asked him about it he just said that if someone really wants to come take the stuff they probably need it more than him. Did the monkeys really need my computer key, my Wasa bread, my cigarettes, my flowers, Holly's insect spray and medicine more than me? I suppose some mysteries will always be unanswered.
