Monkey islands

Today is my last full day in Vietnam--I really can't believe how fast the month as gone...sad face!  If you are tracking us on a map, Luke and I made it back full circle to Ho Chi Minh late last night. Today will be filled with working out logistical details (flights and hostel bookings, etc) for my short stop in Singapore before, finally, entering the Philippines on the 4th.  

But I need to catch you all up on the Ha Long Bay adventures...a beautiful ending spot in this beautiful land!

View from Surprise Cave     

We looked at an overwhelming number of options for Ha Long Bay cruises before deciding on the Fantesea (get it, SEA) 3 days, 2 night option.  Since we booked last minute, we were able to negotiate a deal to stay our 2nd night in a bungalow...ooooh, fancy!  The bus from Hanoi was long and bumpy.  We arrived to the port at lunch time, hopped on our boat with 8 other people, and said goodbye to mainland Vietnam.  The weather was perfect as you can see from the photos!  We stopped at Surprise Island first to walk through a cave.  After that, we cruised to a quiet bay for some sunset kayaking with monkeys hopping around in the island trees above us.  The evening on the boat was nice; I did a little reading, had a few cocktails, tried my hand at some squid fishing, and socialized with the others on the boat.

Breakfast was early (7 am!) the next morning and by 8:30, we were all hiking up 400 some steps to another island lookout point.  Five of us (Luke and I plus 3 others) said goodbye to the 2 days, 1 night crew when we docked at Catba Island (the biggest island in Ha Long Bay) and joined up with another pack for our day 2 options.  With the new group, we stopped at Catba National Park for an trek through the jungle, ending in an amazing view across the mountains.  I was completely drenched in sweat by the end, but we all were, so it was okay!  A local park guide nicknamed Monkey Man lead us along the path, and he was absolutely crazy!  He'd be at the back of the pack fanning people one minute, then at the front of the pack in a tree throwing down fruit at us the next.  He also liked slapping the butts of the males in the group...and for some reason, especially liked Luke...haha.

View after 400+ steps

Catba National Park mountain peak

From Catba Island, those who wanted to headed to Monkey Island for some beach time.  Little did we know when we booked our tickets, but Monkey Island was where our bungalow was located!  Everyone else was staying in a hotel on Catba Island.  We felt pretty elitist as we took a private boat ride to our private beach (away from the public swimming beach everyone else was dropped off at) for the rest of the day.

The beach/bungalow resort turned out to be amazing!  There were less than 10 other people there, so it was really, really quiet and the food was fantastic compared to what we had been eating on the boat. The only downside was the strict AC control (only from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.) as everything was powered by a generator.

Monkey Island private beach

Sunset swim

View of our beach from a lookout pagoda
              

The next morning we were picked up and taken back to Ha Long Bay for the ride back to Hanoi.  We stayed at the same hotel each "layover" night in Hanoi, so it almost felt like returning home seeing the familiar, smiling faces at the door when we got back into town.  

With that being said, every stop throughout this whole trip we've encountered the friendliest people at our hotels, hostels, and restaurants.  Vietnam is beautiful in every way!

Leaving is sad, but I'm ready to get settled in the Philippines.  

More updates soon!

xoxo,

Kelly