Monkey Island

Today we took a boat out from Nha Trang to visit three of the nearby islands. The first stop was feeding ostriches and little non-native deer and horses- you could also elect to ride the ostriches which were saddled up and ready to go. When I first approached them with a leafy branch, it was as if I had entered the "Lord of the Rings" as five long-necked heads darted for the food less than 10 inches away from my fingers. And you want me to ride one of these things?!

The next stop was an island where you could visit waterfalls "just around the corner" and swim through them. Well, foolish Adam and I were joined by an Irish couple our age to go search for them. Driven on and on and on by a silly pamphlet picture the girl had, we trekked through the forest until our clothes were drenched in sweat and we agreed to accept that there was actually no waterfall. We made friends with the Irish couple under the circumstances, so we had twice the number of people to enjoy the rest of the quirky events on the tour.

Monkey Island was full of monkeys, hundreds of monkeys. Monkeys in the trees, monkeys at your feet, monkeys on your clothes. Angry monkeys, baby monkeys, monkeys doing flips though hoops. And in the middle of the island was a Go-Kart track. Bizarre.

The tour was fun because of the good company and the goofy guide. But just being on the clear water surrounded by mountains makes anything enjoyable.