An Oasis

Pictures forthcoming...
Our first few days in Vietnam were spent exploring the resort, swimming in the pool, combing the beach for beautiful shells, and relaxing in the gorgeous weather. Things didn't start off great as the first morning there, a movie crew of about thirty set up around the pool and the girls were told they couldn't swim. They filmed scene after scene all day and into the night. I finally made a bit of a scene myself when I discovered they were filming a sex scene in the bungalow right next to ours. The darn place was empty except for us and they put these wahoos right next to us. The girls said they could hear the woman making "sex noises". When asked to explain what sex noises sounded like, they started moaning and screaming. Lovely! One of the bartendars, Binh, told us the director was a big VIP. He then said he was more like a Very Impolite Person and not Important. I'm going to remember that one.
Soon things were quiet and we enjoyed being one of only a couple of guests at the resort. The staff waited on us like royalty. While Larry and I got a $10 massage and facial, the girls got their nails painted with intricate little drawing. Unfortunately, they only lasted a couple of days. One of the waitresses, Phuong, really took to the girls...surprise, surprise and told us she would take us to a place where you could feed wild monkeys during her free time. And, Binh said he'd take us to Vung Tau City as that's where he's from. Friday morning, six of us piled into the taxi to get some bananas for the monkeys. Phuong and I walked to the market, while Larry stayed with the girls. We all caused quite a stir. The folks at the market looked from Phuong to me, trying to figure out what the story was. The market reminded me of the fresh market I explored with the expat group, but this one was much bigger and much poorer...if possible. The people were friendly enough, but at the same time, they looked a bit dubious at me. She bought two big bags of mini bananas and another bag of some small fruit. Larry said folks were coming out of their shops to get a look at them. A small crowd surrounded them when we got to the taxi.
We drove along the coastline for a only a few minutes before turning down a dirt road. There were no distinguishing signs, so we never would have found the place on our own. A buddhist temple sits at the base of the mountain and it's under renovation. A monk, who chatted with Larry, told him he'd been there since the end of the "American" war. Over two thousand soldiers died on that mountain alone.
It didn't take us long to spot some monkeys. The younger monkeys had no fear of us at all. The taxi driver carried the bags of fruit up the hill, while we pointed and squealed with delight. There had to have been at least fifty monkeys scurrying around the smaller temple and hillside houses. If you didn't feed them fast enough they'd pummel you with leaves from the roof. One sat down next to Larry and waited for his chance to snatch a banana right out of the bag. The older ones held back and snarled if we got too close...bad memories I guess. There were a couple of moms with their babies clinging to their bellies, those too, stayed a safe distance away. Our ample supply of fruit was gone in record time and the monkeys headed up the mountain for a late morning nap. So amazing that these little guys had no fear of my little girls and vice versa.