Breakfast was served at a 7:30, but I was up way before that. I took a quick shower downstairs and packed my things. After breakfast we got go enjoy the scenery some more and then I was dropped off at Cat Ba island and others who had only 2 day tour were taken back to the coast. On an island I was joined with a couple from Netherlands. We exchanged our experiences of the boat as we were taken to the highest point on the island - 331m above sea level.
Getting to the summit was an experience. We had a small group - couple from Holland and me. First our guide only came half way up, saying that he is tired and there is only one way going up so it is not possible for us to get lost. So we continued on our own. At the end the track got quite rocky and you really needed some arm strength to pull yourself up the rocky stairs - it was pure rock climbing :) I enjoyed it, little adventure is not bad, couple from Netherlands was not too happy about it though. At the summit there was also one rusty tower with a viewing platform - view was great as usual.
After dropping things off at the hotel and having lunch, we gathered at the lobby at 2pm to go to the Monkey Island. First a bus to an opposite side of the island to take a boat. Our group had grown to 8 now - me, couple from Netherlands, couple from UK, brother and sister from UK and a guy from Japan. Very nice people. We arrived to the island just before 2:30, there was a nice beach with white sand and the island seemed to be deserted - it was just perfect. Another short kayaking trip and lots of swimming and chilling in this unbelievably warm water.
After some time the monkeys arrived - they just walked to the beach out of nowhere. By that time some other boats had dropped few more people off. The monkeys seemed innocent. There was four of them and one of the girls brought peanuts for the monkeys. She fed them a bit as we all gathered around to take pictures. Suddenly one of the monkeys jumped up to one of the guys. Ugh, scary. So we kept our distance a bit. They were eating and staring at us, walking around a bit and just sitting there. I have no idea what kind of monkeys they were. They were not very big, had light brown color, long tails and one of them got really red face. Next thing I know is that one of the monkeys is going after one of the guys, fast as lightning, so the guy runs to the water and all the other group member around him do the same as fast as they can. Comes out the guy hissed at the monkey and tried to scare it - so the monkey came after it. Luckily they don't swim I guess :) Travel guide advised people not to too close to them and warned that the monkeys are quite aggressive - I guess it is not the first time they attack the tourists.
We stayed at the island for about 2 hours, at first it was nice and quiet, only us at the beach. In the end it got quite crowded as boats just kept coming and dropping people off at the beach. I was so glad that we got there early enough to get our share of the beauty. We returned to Cat Ba island.
As we had almost 2 hours till dinner we decided to wonder to a beach and check it out. There are 3 different beaches and beach #2 is the nicest as far as the travel guide says. Indeed it was nice, with little huts and shades and a nice park right by the sand. Another swim and nice conversations, then back to the hotel for dinner.
After dinner we headed out with some people for drinks. Had wonderful time and intense discussions about Vietnamese history and world matters in general. UK couple has just started their up-to-1-year trip from Asia. I keep seeing more and more people who do that - incredible. Arrived back to the hotel past midnight. I was so relieved that I got an extra day here - no need to start packing :)
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