Where is Monkey Island Vietnam. What should you know when visiting this place? How to get to the northern islands of Nha Trang

Monkey Island gets its name from incredible amount these creatures that live on it. It is located 20 kilometers north of Nha Trang. According to various sources, the number of monkeys living on the island varies from a thousand to two thousand.

Once the island was a nursery, monkeys were bred to be sent to other countries, mainly to the USSR. Soviet-Vietnamese cooperation on known reasons stopped, the nursery closed. But the monkeys remained and gradually became the owners of this place. Most of them have already grown accustomed to tourists and treats from them. Monkeys of all ages take food directly from their hands quite calmly. For this, you can take a picture with them. At the same time, one must be prepared that primates can tear glasses off their faces or snatch something from their hands and run away.

The island is focused on tourists from the first steps from the pier. A carriage or electric car ride is offered. You can walk along well-groomed alleys to the beautifully decorated entrance to the habitat of the monkeys. The island has a well-equipped beach, restaurants, souvenir and clothing stores.

Everyone arriving on the island is warned that it is only possible to feed the monkeys on the territory of the former nursery. In addition to feeding and communicating with the inhabitants of the island, the main entertainment is shows with their participation. They are carried out several times a day, the cost is included in total price island ticket. Monkeys demonstrate acrobatic stunts and behave very artistically. In general, the performance is interesting and funny. There are also dog racing, but this is a less comical spectacle. And local trainers are not very delicate with their wards.

The island has all the conditions for recreation, if you wish, you can spend the whole day here. Just do not forget to look after personal things that may be of interest to the monkeys.

There are many islands near Nha Trang, and one of them has become a full-fledged place for monkeys to live. Primates got to it not by chance, partly thanks to the USSR. During the Vietnamese-Soviet friendship, a laboratory functioned here, using primates for experiments. Animals were brought here and bred, but after the war the laboratory was closed. Some decoys were taken out, and the rest were left to their own devices and actively multiplied. Enterprising Vietnamese decided to use them as bait for tourists. This is how the local "attraction" was formed - one of the most sought after by tourist people. So, the Vietnamese did not lose!

DescriptionMonkey Island

To get to Hon Lao - that's what Monkey Island sounds like in Vietnamese - you need to reach the North Port. Boats for several passengers run from it every hour to it and back. Monkey Island is a green well-kept area with a primate sanctuary, a small beach, but the main zone is the jungle. The Vietnamese recently ennobled this place: they laid out a park, built cafes, shops, a dive center, a karting track and even houses for living. For those who want to stay away from the city noise, you can stay on the island for a day or two. Don't wait any longer - it will get boring!

Inspection of a small land involves two types: excursion and independent. excursion tour on Hong Lao looks like this:

• Tourists are picked up from the hotel in the early morning by bus;
• the group is taken to the port, where the tourists transfer to the boat;
• those who arrive at Monkey Island will enjoy a fascinating show at the local circus, lunch, a walk, shopping in a souvenir shop and returning back to the continent.

The day in the Monkey Reserve will be held according to a fairly dense program, so many people prefer self tour so as not to depend on the time frame of the tour. So, you can sail on your own and walk around the reserve as much as you see fit.

Oh those monkeys!

Of course, the main characters of the island are cute and nimble monkeys. When it's too hot, they take refuge in the coolness of the jungle, from where they can only be lured out by an offer to eat. Others run up themselves as soon as the tourists are looking for something in the bag. Smart caudates already know: once they got into the bag, it means they will get a treat out of it. Be sure, if you start looking for something (even if not edible), these little inhabitants of the jungle will surely surround you. And those who are more impudent can jump on your shoulders.

It even happens that monkeys literally take away food from people: well, you gape, looking at something amazing, and did not bring the sandwich to your mouth - it is already in the paws of the monkey! A sandwich or a cookie is not yet a "tragedy". Quick decoys grab everything that is of interest to them: cameras, sunglasses, bags or packages left unattended for a minute. There were even cases when they "teared off" jewelry from women.

And some tourists, on the contrary, leave the island disappointed that they came across too few monkeys, and they could not fully enjoy the “communication” with them: feed, take pictures. In fact, it’s enough just to “force” the monkeys to run out of the forest: you can “ask” (not for free, of course) the keeper of the reserve to feed them - and now a dozen or two of them have come running. By the way, "feeding" of animals is allowed only in the park, so that they do not go beyond its limits.

According to the most conservative estimates of the employees of this natural "zoo", today more than one and a half thousand primates live on the island. They are perfectly adapted to the small land in the sea, and easily make contact with people. However, the excessive friendliness of the animal does not always end well: such a cute little ushi-pusi can quickly grab your things and run into the forest - try to find her later!

Tip for tourists: do not tease aggressive primates. Unfortunately, cases when "pretty" monkeys bite tourists are not rare. Be careful!

Show and walks around the island

On the island, you can see the monkeys from the other side, when they "work". In the local circus, a performance is shown several times a day, where they participate, as well as elephants, bears and dogs. The show is funny enough, although some methods of "training" with a stick can leave an unpleasant feeling of exploiting animals for profit. When the performance ends, little "artists" collect "tips" from the guests of the show.

Having seen enough of the monkeys, you can pay attention to another part of the island - the beach. It is small, but very cozy, and the sea near the shore is shallow. You will surely want to relax here and swim, so do not forget to take your swimming clothes with you on the road, sunscreen and glasses.

For money, you can rent a sun lounger and even a gazebo with several sun loungers. On the beach there is a rental of water equipment. If you are interested in swimming in the depths of the sea, then you should go to northern part Hon Lao, and rent equipment for an underwater "excursion" at the dive station.

On the island with an area of ​​33 hectares, you can move on foot or on special rented mopeds. Do you want to ride in a somewhat exotic way? There is also such a service as a walk on a carriage drawn by horses.

Where is Monkey Island and how to get there

Perhaps this is comprehensive information about the island in the South China Sea, which is located in Nha Phu Bay to the north of Nha Trang, just 20 kilometers from it. So, to get to it, you can buy an excursion package that includes a road (bus and watercraft) and guide services. The desired place for those who are going on their own is the Northern Pier, which can be reached by regular bus, by taxi or on a favorite scooter in Vietnam. From the pier, ferries to Hon Lao leave every 30 minutes, starting at 09.30 and ending at 16.00. Travel time will only take 20 minutes.

Especially for Lilia-Travel.RU - Anna Lazareva

The northern islands of Nha Trang are pretty popular tour at local travel agencies. It usually costs about $25 and includes a visit to two islands in Nha Phu Bay ( Nha Phu Bay): Monkey Island and Orchid Island (also called Elephant Island). However, you can also get to the islands on your own by driving to the northern port and buying a boat ticket. We decided to do so.

Boat ticket prices:

• Ferry to orchid island: adult ticket 170,000 dong, children - 85,000 dongs.
• Boat on monkey island: adults 150,000 VND, children 75,000 VND.

Attention! Boats to the islands depart only in the morning, approximately at 8:30 and 9:30(perhaps there is also a boat at 10:30, but this is not accurate information, it is better to arrive early). If you arrive later, Great chance"fly" with the trip.

It was decided to go only to Orchid Island (Orchid Stream, Suối Hoa Lan), since we have to admit that we are a little afraid of monkeys. Monkeys are unpredictable people and often aggressive.

It will take about 40 minutes to sail to Orchid Island. On the way, you can see Vietnamese floating farms: here they grow shrimp and lobsters, and the workers themselves live on them all the time.

The Old Man and the Sea

Sailing to Orchid Island

We are greeted by a local

Orchid Island is beautiful place in Nyafu Bay. There is gorgeous beach without waves with a gentle entrance and warm water, an ostrich and deer farm, circus performances of trained bears and elephants, an orchid park, a butterfly park and a waterfall.

The boats are waiting for their return

Animal show schedule

Map of Orchid Island

This stern butterfly is the entrance to the Butterfly Park

Orchid park is quite small

But we did not reach the waterfalls, we were stopped by these signs:

Waterfalls 2 km dangerous road let's not go there

You can also play paintball on Orchid Island:

Ostriches roam calmly on the island, which you can feed from your hand with grains bought from zoo workers. However, ostriches are impudent birds, and realizing that you have food, they can start a pursuit to take it away:

We feed the ostrich

and then we flee from him!

Rules for riding an ostrich:

Deer are another matter! They are so cute and a pleasure to feed them. You can spend the whole day in the deer enclosure!

And when the food for the little ones is over, you can feed them with leaves))

Doesn't ripple in the eyes?

The elephant Lena is always standing near the circus tent - she is a local celebrity. You can feed her with cucumbers, and for this she will give you a little ride on her trunk.

Trained bears perform in the circus, they can even ride a motorcycle:

Bears ride on a swing

on a bike

and even on a motorbike!

Elephant Lena also performs in the circus:

After the performance, you can feed the trained bears and take pictures with them.

There is also a garden of stone sculptures on the island:

The hunter aims at the Indian

The playground on Orchid Island impresses with its creativity, our native housing and communal services art is resting:

Harley from old tires

How to get to Orchid Island and Monkey Island in Nha Trang on your own

• If you do not want to go to the islands with a lot of tourists and adjust to someone else's schedule, the best option will rent a motorbike, take it to the port and buy tickets for the boat. Travel time is approximately 40 minutes. The ticket price and the schedule of boats to Orchid Island are indicated at the beginning of the article, the return ticket is included in the price.
• You can also get to the northern port of Nha Trang by bus number 3, the same long route which goes to . You need to follow the map on your phone and not miss the desired stop (the driver may not make a stop if there are no people who want to get out or go in).
• You can also get to the port by taxi according to the meter

Northern port, from where you can sail to the island of Orchids and Monkeys on the map:

Funny and mischievous, smart and prudent, sometimes cunning, sometimes good-natured. These adjectives can be safely attributed to monkeys, of which there are a huge number in Asia. Often these cute creatures form groups that a person simply cannot ignore.

I immediately recall the Monkey Forest in Bali, abundantly populated by these animals. Or Jigokudani, the snow monkey spa in Japan, is the one where macaques bask in geothermal waters.

China also has a similar place, proudly called Monkey Island.

Monkey Island on the map

• Geographic coordinates 18.401539, 109.973944
• The distance from the capital of China, Beijing, is approximately 2470 km.
• Distance to nearest International Airport Sanya Phoenix about 60 km

Let's say right away that Monkey Island is called a small peninsula that is part of Hainan Island, in the southern part of the country. Sometimes the whole of Hainan is called Monkey Island. Of course, it abounds with macaques, but their maximum number per unit area falls on a small piece of land in the southern part of the island. According to all the laws of geography, this is a peninsula, but this place is called an island in order to attract more visitors here.

Here is located environmental center Nanwan Houdao (full original name of Nanwan Houdao Island Ecological Scenic Spot). The territory of the park is covered with dense forests and mountains. More than 2000 monkeys live on an area of ​​1000 hectares. And they live in natural conditions for themselves. The scientists of the center observe them, their behavior, and the peculiarities of life. There are practically no changes in the landscape, with the exception of paths laid especially for tourists. It is forbidden to descend from them, so as not to harm the natural habitat of macaques. There is, however, a pleasant innovation for monkeys - a pool. Yes, the pool was built for animals. In it, they freely bathe and even swim. different styles. Watching macaques is a very interesting and exciting activity.

You can get to Monkey Island with excursion group or on your own. There are two ways to the park - by water on a boat or boat, and by air using a cable car.

At the entrance to the reserve you will be met by monkeys with colorful flags. True, there is a not entirely pleasant moment - these monkeys are tied, and I feel not quite free, unlike many of my brethren, briskly galloping nearby.

Freer macaques are not at all afraid of humans. On the contrary, they boldly approach tourists and beg for all sorts of goodies. But you can’t feed them with food brought with you. All provisions will be taken from you at the entrance, even if you took it for yourself. If you still want to feed the animals, then for a small fee you can buy special food for monkeys right in the park.

A typical tour includes an arrival at the park on cable car(by the way, its length is 2138 meters). But before that, you will definitely be taken to local villages, where they will strongly persuade you to buy some terribly healing potions and souvenirs that are extremely important in everyday life. The return journey from Monkey Island usually takes a boat through the village of "sea people". This is an interesting village, completely consisting of boats in which people live right on the water. You will definitely be taken to a small restaurant on the water. Its menu consists of a large number seafood. But the smell in this place is appropriate and quite specific.

Performances are held directly in the park for visitors. The main roles are of course monkeys. Usually these are two types of performances: theatrical and circus. They are held outdoors in different time. The park has a schedule of these events and their venues. Performance arenas are just a few benches around a small area with "actors".

There is an interesting point in these representations. Cashier birds fly around the impromptu "hall". No, this is not a species of birds, but their labor activity. As soon as you raise your hand with a bill, a bird flies up to it and takes the money.

And of course, on Monkey Island, for a modest fee, you can take traditional photos with macaques as a keepsake.

Some Features of Monkey Island

• as in any other case, we strongly recommend not to annoy the monkeys, do not anger them or provoke them
• you can't get off the footpaths
• try to hide all jewelry and shiny things (you probably understand why)
• there are no temples and other buildings here - this is the maximum habitat macaque habitats (with the exception of impromptu circus and theater arenas where performances are held)
• Monkey Island is open for visits from 8-00 to 16-30
• admission is paid, but children up to 1m 20 cm are free

Monkey Island photo

Mikhail Seryakov writes: Planet of the Apes - fantasy or reality? Who among us, while watching a futuristic film with such a name, could believe that a world inhabited only by monkeys exists?

However, he is. Sounds incredible, but true. This is in Liberia. The country that the original canal made famous with Ebola. A whole monkey island.

Monkey Island is located just 50 kilometers from the capital of Monrovia near the village with the American name Marshall CITY. It takes a little over an hour to drive here from the capital. First, a little about what's on the way.

A typical picture for Liberia. A group of children 8-9 years old. Some are in clothes, others are naked. Unreal. For Russia, it's just wild, especially in winter)) And here it is all the time.

In Africa, in any country, even in the most godforsaken village, there is always a sports bar. Boys, teenagers and men gather here and watch the game of European clubs. Every kid knows Cristiano and Messi.

But what is a business center in Liberian. This is a place where you can charge your phone, change money, rewrite music or rent an audio system.

A typical house in the Liberian village of Marshall.

From here, on a wooden canoe, we will sail to another world. For the most real island monkeys. But first, let's look back 40 years and find out where it came from.

In 1974, specialists from the New York Blood Research Center opened a laboratory for the study of viruses in Liberia. We needed models. We settled on chimpanzees because they are closest to humans - our DNA matches 99%.

The island was previously uninhabited. More precisely, not an island, but islands, there are several of them on a winding river. The arrow on the map indicates their location.

We swim through a lagoon the size of a couple of football fields, and the tip of the island appears. Old rusty signs warn of danger.

Scientists in laboratories infected primates with viral hepatitis and river blindness virus (or onchocerciasis), and were looking for a vaccine for these two diseases. It was the very beginning, and no one then thought about any "monkey island".

We swim almost close to the shore. Our cap, like a Comanche Indian, begins to make strange sounds, and literally in three or four minutes the first primates appear from the bushes.

On the face of it, they may seem friendly, but they are far from it. Chimpanzees are very, very aggressive species of monkeys. We had several bundles of African giant cucumbers on board, which we happily shared with the primates.

In 2005, due to the strong pressure of "animal lovers" and other sectarian fanatics, scientists were forced to interrupt their research. The monkeys, who had lived in isolation for a long time and were no longer able to exist without a person, were landed on six uninhabited islands and left there forever.

Chimpanzees can't swim, so they can't leave the Planet of the Apes.

All that remains for the internally displaced persons is to wait with hope for tourists on boats who will bring them cucumbers or bananas.

When the project was closed, its director promised to continue to support those infected with severe viruses and tamed animals. But this did not happen. Chimpanzees were thrown onto the island unadapted to life in the wild.

There are no palm trees on Monkey Island. Chimpanzees in outbursts of aggression broke all the tall trees.

Liberia was not chosen by chance as a country for experiments. Often locals they keep small chimpanzees at home, and when the primate reaches the age of five, and it becomes problematic to live with them in the same house, they are sold. Scientists just needed adult tame animals.

From time to time, volunteers from various organizations such as the “commonwealth of painters of Honduras” or “free pioneers of Lapland” appear on the island, who come and feed the primates. For chimpanzees, this is a great success.

The free country, and this is how the name Liberia is translated, was the epicenter of Ebola 2 years ago, but today everything is calm here and there are absolutely no problems with visiting. A visa for Russians, if there is an invitation, is issued upon arrival.

Liberian chimpanzees are heroes. They survived the experiments, survived two civil wars.

I photographed monkeys from a boat. We were separated by a few meters, and at some point it seemed to me that they could easily jump up to us and turn over the unstable canoe.

Relax, Misha. No worries. They are really afraid of water, - Cap Jimmy reassured me. Chimpanzees can only walk along the water's edge and can't swim at all.

Who is hiding in the bushes here.

Now the "brutal experiments on animals" in Liberia have been stopped. But documents with the results of scientific research testify to their success. Over the years, scientists have managed to make a great contribution to the development of vaccines against hepatitis B and C, diseases that affect millions of people on our planet. But animal lovers came running and shouted: "Sentry. Stop the disgrace. Innocent monkeys are suffering."

A very good plot for a shit show on television: choose some position and bawl with foam at the mouth for the whole country.

The islands are surrounded by mangroves.

On the way back we were overtaken by a speedboat full of fishermen. They were returning to the village from morning fishing.

The fish here is not small, and everyone catches it - from small to large.

The Liberian flag is very similar to the American one.

The planet of the apes, of course, is still in the realm of fantasy, but the island of the apes really exists!!!