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After we left the fancy hotel we went on a little private tour. As we checked out, they said wait 5 minutes so we can check your room. For what? They treated us poorly because we were back packers. We think. Well we took their electric golf cart ride to the private tour and yes, we did take the cute robes!

The first cave

We walked to the Entrance and it was closed. Started to walk back and a woman popped out of the field and ran to open the office to take our 60 cents. She turned on the lights and then escorted us to the caves. Nothing too exciting to me and very hot.

Cave two

Another long walk to the entrance. If they caves hid people during the war, how did they get into them? This cave was more interesting.

Third cave. Most interesting. It was a hospital for the Northern Vietnamese. Again, how did they get the injured to the top. The entrances were bolted shut to keep it intruders and probably light.

Accomplished a Bucket/Lust list item today! Somewhere I read that one should endeavor to mindfully walk around Hoan Kiem lake. It is in the center of Hanoi. Julie and I talked about it and we talked about being Mind-full vs Mindless. We decided that we would each go in the opposite direction around the lake. One of us would be Mind-full and the other Mindless and at the midpoint we would high-five and switch. There happens to be a Marathon today! Being mind-full to me meant observing with all 5 senses, and Mindless meant trying to keep any thoughts out of my head. It was interesting.

Now we are at a cute coffee shop called The Note Coffee. There are sticky notes everywhere and you get a message on your coffee and leave messages

Last night was a fancy hotel for us! Luxurious but hard to find food. We had drinks on the the Sky Bar which now we realize is the term for roof top. Had a Monkey Island Drink to go with my Monkey bite. I am annoying the hell out of Julie with referring to my Monkey Bite in every sentence just like I annoyed the hell out of Natalie when I was hit by a car this year. Not injured, it was in a parking lot. I still think she should have sent me flowers or wine.

Have we mentioned Karaoke. OMG. They love it here. There was a big group of Vietnamese at Monkey resort. In the evening at low tide, many men were collecting mussels and clams and oysters and wheels and cockles etc. At dinner one man brought us some of the seafood that had been boiled an a broth. He gave us a needle like thing or a thorn from a branch to pick out the meat. Some good, some impossible to eat. Very nice of him. So the signing began. It’s was horrible! Like a cat in heat! It went on well into the night.

Hike was fun and challenging. Lunch after at a very local place, cats, dogs and goats walking around. And fish ponds for a “fish massage” which is the fish biting off your calluses. It tickles.

The boat cruise in Ha long Bay was beautiful in the evening we had a dinner with everyone. Some things good, some just ok. We were the oldest in the group. Most of the group were in their 30’s. Some lucky ones were traveling for months. We really liked a Canadian couple. They were on a six month trip. They were frustrated with their government policies on sick and endangered species. I think they were our equivalent to Forest Rangers.

After dinner we tried to fish for squid. One of the guides played Ukulele. Early to bed for early sunrise.

More kayaking through caves Breakfast and lunch and just watching the amazing views. We packed up for the next part of the adventure. A boat was to pick us up before the rest of the group departed but they passed us by. Oh well, trust and patience is part of travel. Eventually we were put on a small boat and headed to Monkey Island. We had been told that the Island was a popular spot for many years but now closed to visitors. Later we found out that if you stayed at the resort, you could be on the Island. And I use the term loosely when speaking of the resort. And btw, yesterday the resort closed. We were there on it’s last day. Either a big company was taking it over or it was going to be going back to natures we heard both stories.

As we arrived at the “resort” no one greeted us, no welcome drink and no one at reception. Finally someone brought us up the stairs to the open air restaurant overlooking a beautiful sandy bay. I think we showed our passports. Then he took us to our bungalow. Second story, rickety steps, beaut view of the bay. Back to the restaurant and had a drink. Then decided to check out the pool on the cliff. It was empty and smelly. So we hiked up to the gazebo on the top. Crazy dangerous climb and a precarious gazebo in disrepair, great views though.

Julie had her share of troubles yesterday. She just doesn’t read the signs.

We took a speed boat to a small cove and biked into a village and then hiked up a steep mountain for the view. It was a 2 k hike up mostly at 45 degrees up through rocks! Took an hour up and even longer down. Julie got electrocuted but she is fine!

More photos to come.

Let’s just start with, no I wasn’t feeding or otherwise antagonizing the monkey. I was reading a book, enjoying some quiet time. I looked up and two monkeys and a dog were approaching. I was on the pier. I stood up tucked my sunglasses in my shirt and took a picture and a second one. Then it jumped on me and bit my arm. I screamed very loudly because I was cornered and I didn’t know what to expect. I grabbed a bi bamboo pole and I was ready for battle! They scampered away. Finally some one for. The Monkey Island Resort came to my rescue. I was walking back to the room and they wanted me to come with them. I did at first but I could just imagine them using an old rag and dirty water to clean it. They followed me to our bungalow and I got my first aid kit out. By then someone brought a first aid kit. The wound in about and inch and a half long in the shape of a smiley face, must have been the bottom teeth because the upper fangs would hurt sooo much more. The guys had some betadyne so they put that on it. I took a bandaid and got the edges as close together as possible, like my Mom does for her wounds. I applied some high strength antibiotic cream, another bandage and wrapped it. I have some current antibiotics so I took one of those and some Motrin and some very old pain pills! Julie had been on the other side of the bay and heard a scream but thought it was a monkey. I texted her that ai had been bit and to be careful. Then I heard her call me from outside the door. She was surrounded my monkeys. There are 70-80 monkeys on the island. I told h we what happened and we took pictures. I texted my kids and then some monkeys were outside. They seemed friendly but then not so much. They were trying to get in! We called the tour company because we had no way of getting in touch with the staff. They came knocking in minutes. We just wanted to be escorted to the dining area. So we quickly packed and had breakfast and they kept the monkeys away. Our next boat picked us up a little early for some biking and hiking.

More tomorrow but sounds like I will need to get some prophylactic rabies shots. It’s not the 30 painful ones in the stomach anymore.

Woke up early to see the sunrise.