by Scott Coates

Trekking is one of the classic activities in Nepal, something I’ve been lucky enough to do six times since Smiling Albino launched adventures there in October 2006.

The last sighting of the Monkey in 2007

Our guests enjoy fully-serviced trekking during their trip, which means we have a crew that carries the bags, tents, cooking supplies, cooks three hot meals per day, sets camp and tears it down. What does the trekker have to do you ask? Relax, enjoy walk, eat big and tuck themselves into bed at night. What an experience!
With eight guests we typically have a crew of 26, walking up trails, along ridges and up and down some wild terrain. It makes for a cozy group and very intimate experience, allowing us to explore small mountain paths and setting camp along the way, where we wish.

It was during a custom adventure in October 2007, for a group of guests that travel with us every year, that I took a ‘friend’ along – The Golden Monkey.

Origins of the Monkey
One of my best friends Darren visited Thailand with his wife in August 2004 and while enjoying the beach at Ao Nang, Krabi, bought a small

Atop the shelf where he was found

wooden monkey, had it painted gold and we then gave it a part in a small movie we were making. It’s fair to say the Monkey nailed his part and returned with Darren to Canada making his residence in Calgary, AB for the next few years. Darren and his wife returned to Thailand in August 2007 and brought the Monkey along with them. I was heading on a series of trips over the coming months to a number of countries and suggested I borrow the Monkey, take him along and send Darren photos of his travels. He agreed and the Monkey and I hit the road.

To Nepal
With the Monkey strapped to my daypack we began our 6-day trek in the

Strapped-in and ready for action

mountains along the Nepal-Tibet border and everyone in the group had a hoot posing with the Monkey along the trail. Mid-way through the day we stopped for tea at a small house, the Monkey posed with locals and we pushed on. Upon arrival at camp I realized the Monkey was missing. I really wasn’t sure where he had been left but the last spot I saw him was at the tea shop – too far to go back with the sun setting (three hour walk). I went to sleep that night hoping someone in the group had taken him as a joke and he would return further down the trail. It wasn’t to be. I returned to Thailand without the Monkey and broke the news to Darren via email. Thankfully he was very understanding and I tried to put the Monkey out of my mind, hoping he had found a good home in the mountains.

Fast Forward
I returned to Nepal to kick-off the new Nepal Trek & Trail in March 2008, a journey that would take us on the same trail along the Nepal-Tibet border

The author and the Monkey - together again

that the Monkey went missing on. Part way through the first day walking when I saw the aforementioned tea shop I recalled the story of the Golden Monkey’s disappearance to our group as we approached. Everyone sat down and one of our guests looked in the house and said, “There’s a golden monkey on the shelf in there.”
I sprung to my feet and low and behold there he was! Perched on the top shelf in a dark room it was like he was waiting to be found. What had he been doing the last year-and-a-half, what had he seen and what wild odds to find him again!
Our guide Rajesh talked to the owners of the shop and they quickly recalled the day I forgot him and graciously returned him.

Strapped in my daypack we hit the trail with a jump in my step and headed to camp. Never in all my travels have I had something like this happen. The odds of recovering the Monkey in this remote location still blows me away and the tale is one of my favorites to tell. The Monkey now resides in my house in Bangkok perched high on a mantel and I vow to take better care not to lose him in the future.

This event reminded me how small the world really is and the wonderful

Enjoying a rest stop on a mountain pass

power of travel. You can lose someone, but they can always be found if there are good people to take care of them and provide shelter.

See where the Monkey is by looking on a map or use Google Earth and go to the following location:
Latitude: 27°47’38.38″N
Longitude: 85°54’50.57″E