The R & R That Wasn’t, Part 2 – Monkey Island

This was our day trip from Sanya and very nice it was too. We weren’t able to find any tourist brochures but this was our entry ticket. There should be enough info there.

There are tour buses from various hotels and other locations but we decided to drive. We weren’t exactly sure what to put in the Sat Nav but we got there in the end. If you find the G223 National road, (head north from Sanya, south from the G98 highway) then look for the S23 which will take you towards the coast and Xincun Harbour. You buy your ticket then climb on the chairlift and you’re away. There can be quite a queue but it seemed very efficient when we there and there was no appreciable delay. Up, up and away you go, over the floating villages in the harbour. It is possible to take a tour of those too but we didn’t have the time.

Before long you are there. Everything seems well signposted and we had no problem finding our way around. We started off by buying food and feeding our hairy cousins, of which there no shortage at all.

Some of them are very shy and hide in the trees,

Be careful though, some of them can also be a bit vicious. Mind you, the way some of the tourists treat them it’s hardly surprising. Maybe, just maybe, there’s a planet of the apes in the making there. .

A bit further round we came upon the swimming pool. Unfortunately, there was no admission for humans! If you have the patience here you can catch photos of the monkeys either leaping from one tree to another or even dining into the pool!

A little further around again you have the obligatory, (for me anyway), have your photo taken with a monkey. There was no pressure to buy photos and we all used our own cameras.

I could have stayed there for much longer but it wasn’t to be. If I had tried perhaps they would have put me in with the other bad boy!

Continuing on our stroll we did see the ‘stages’ for the various ‘acts’ that the monkeys would put on. Our timing was wrong but all of us were a bit perturbed by seeing the monkeys in chains. That could be another reason why they are a little vicious at times. This one was extremely worried we were going to nick his snacks!

All too soon our visit was at an end and we were back on the chairlift to the ‘mainland’. I emphasised that because ‘Monkey Island’ is not actually an island as you’ll see if you check on the map. There may well be another way on and off but we were happy with this one.

Summary? I would recommend it. We had a great day and could probably have stayed longer. You can see more photos here - https://photos.app.goo.gl/ScDqC9PErTZx79Ke9