Isle Of The Monkeys

23 August - Was a bit wrecked from the bus journey but couldn't sleep and i'd had enough of beaches for a while so I decided to head out to one of the islands. And not just any island, but the Monkey Island!!!
Eating breakfast had caused me to miss the tour so I got a motorbike taxi to take me out there - I could have borrowed a bike but it would have cost the same and I'm still not too keen about riding myself in 'Nam and then got the ferry out to the island. At first it seems like a deserted island with a bar and some deck chairs underneath umbrellas but all of a sudden a macaque monkey ran out to us closely followed by another and then dozens. The entire island is completely covered with thousands of them - there is one area that is fenced off with the 'King' and his harem of hundreds of wives. Quite a few of the females had babies clinging to them and they were absolutely adorable. We bought food to feed them and they would take it out of our hands - some would take it very politely and eat in front of you, others would grab it and run away, others would knock it out of your hand. Eventually one of the larger ones went for a grab at the bag in my hand and got the bottom, tearing it apart and spreading the food all over the ground and my feet were swearmed with them.
This was very entertaining but there's only so long that monkeys can amuse and I ended up having lunch with a Belgian-Vietnamese family with two young kids (only the father spoke any real English) and after this we went to see the performing animals ... The shows were as disturbing as the monkeys were delightful. There were two small bears who were dressed up and standing on their hind legs. They did some balancing and rolled a basketball around for a while and then rode on a bicycle and a moped. Kind of amusing in a sick kind of way but they were muzzled and strapped in and looked very unnatural - me and the Belgian guy thought they were fake at first but realised they were just in a very unnatural state. After this there was a dog show with the the dogs (also dressed in clothes and with wild openn probably drugged eyes) doing some bizarre schoolroom situation comedy followed by some acrobatics and then the monkeys (dressed up) doing acrobatics and then all of them riding bicycles as well. I think, to its credit, the crowd didn't seem to enjoy the acts very much either. They were amusing at points but it is really unnatural to see the animals dressed up and doing the acts and they didn't seem to be enjoying it at all. When I saw the elephhant show in Thailand they seemed okay - the Thai keepers of the elephants typically seem to love and respect the animals far more than their Vietnamese counterparts. I absolutely recommend anyone go to the island but then get away before it's ruined by the shows.