Yesterday ended up being a pretty laid back day...Mark and J2 went into the city (G2) to get some computer supplies, and J1 and I hung out around the apt., with her not feeling very well (and me trying hard not to catch it!).
This morning we all felt well enough to go back into town to go to the "monkey park", a place that J/J had not ever been to, but had heard about for a while now. It was a beautiful day, much warmer than it's been since we got here, and the sky was clear and blue. The bus ride to the city was uneventful, and not too crowded (unusual).
After a few transfers (or maybe it was just one...) and a short walk, we made it to the park. There were crowds of people everywhere. I'll always be surprised how busy this city is, no matter what time of the day, or what day, you think it's always rush hour! Crazy!
It was obvious that there were landscaping points we were missing, since it was the middle of winter and not spring or summer....no lilies in the ponds, or flowers in the trees. However, the park was busy, with others taking advantage of the warm, sunny day. We were not too sure where we were supposed to go, but someone told J/J to go to the top to see the most monkeys...so we thought we were starting in the right direction to do that, but ended up going through a LONG tunnel towards the lake (not where you want to be...in a tunnel...on the first sunny day you've seen in a while!)
Once we got to the end of the tunnel, the lake was before us, but not the enterance to the gondola, which we had hoped to take to the top of the mountain. We ended up taking hundreds of stairs to the top, a physically difficult thing to do, but done none the less. Oh, I should say that it was only hard on Mark and I....the kids did great. I should also mention that I lost track of how many people snuck photos of us "lao wai", and how many kids said "hello" or asked us a question in English (trying out theirs, and checking to see if we were English speaking...). It's funny, but odd sometimes to be such a celebrity...haha....
At the top of the mountain ther was a Buddhist temple, and several other areas that you could offer incense to their gods, should you choose to. J1 and I camped out on the rock wall outside this area, and Mark and J2 went on up higher to the area they thought that the monkeys would be most likely to hang out. They were not disappointed....but neither were we! :) You'll have to check out the photos, and later video, of the experience.
J2 almost lost his camera to one.
Then the long walk down all the stairs on the other side of the mountain, a walk by the gondola (which had no one riding on it...so we didn't take that chance...) and back to the bus stop, where we took the bus ride over to the area we were in a few days ago (near the Walmart store/park that was by the coffee house, and also the Sheraton Hotel where we had planned to have dinner). It's a 5 star hotel, and fairly new to the Sheraton line, and creme de la creme....and the restaurant was on the 38th floor! We got some great sunset views, excellent dinner, and a relaxing atmosphere for our worn out bodies.
We opted for the taxi on the way home, and were so glad as we drove by the buses loaded with people, and the bus stops full of waiting folks to shove on to the buses that stopped.
J1's feeling crummy, but is in good spirits, and we're relaxing now with J2 working on his computer and me trying to get this all updated....and photos uploaded too.
Saturday (tomorrow) we may venture to an old walled city (if we all feel up to it), and if not we'll hang around HX and hit the markets again. :)
More later!!
marina
This morning we all felt well enough to go back into town to go to the "monkey park", a place that J/J had not ever been to, but had heard about for a while now. It was a beautiful day, much warmer than it's been since we got here, and the sky was clear and blue. The bus ride to the city was uneventful, and not too crowded (unusual).
After a few transfers (or maybe it was just one...) and a short walk, we made it to the park. There were crowds of people everywhere. I'll always be surprised how busy this city is, no matter what time of the day, or what day, you think it's always rush hour! Crazy!
It was obvious that there were landscaping points we were missing, since it was the middle of winter and not spring or summer....no lilies in the ponds, or flowers in the trees. However, the park was busy, with others taking advantage of the warm, sunny day. We were not too sure where we were supposed to go, but someone told J/J to go to the top to see the most monkeys...so we thought we were starting in the right direction to do that, but ended up going through a LONG tunnel towards the lake (not where you want to be...in a tunnel...on the first sunny day you've seen in a while!)
Once we got to the end of the tunnel, the lake was before us, but not the enterance to the gondola, which we had hoped to take to the top of the mountain. We ended up taking hundreds of stairs to the top, a physically difficult thing to do, but done none the less. Oh, I should say that it was only hard on Mark and I....the kids did great. I should also mention that I lost track of how many people snuck photos of us "lao wai", and how many kids said "hello" or asked us a question in English (trying out theirs, and checking to see if we were English speaking...). It's funny, but odd sometimes to be such a celebrity...haha....
At the top of the mountain ther was a Buddhist temple, and several other areas that you could offer incense to their gods, should you choose to. J1 and I camped out on the rock wall outside this area, and Mark and J2 went on up higher to the area they thought that the monkeys would be most likely to hang out. They were not disappointed....but neither were we! :) You'll have to check out the photos, and later video, of the experience.
J2 almost lost his camera to one.
Then the long walk down all the stairs on the other side of the mountain, a walk by the gondola (which had no one riding on it...so we didn't take that chance...) and back to the bus stop, where we took the bus ride over to the area we were in a few days ago (near the Walmart store/park that was by the coffee house, and also the Sheraton Hotel where we had planned to have dinner). It's a 5 star hotel, and fairly new to the Sheraton line, and creme de la creme....and the restaurant was on the 38th floor! We got some great sunset views, excellent dinner, and a relaxing atmosphere for our worn out bodies.
We opted for the taxi on the way home, and were so glad as we drove by the buses loaded with people, and the bus stops full of waiting folks to shove on to the buses that stopped.
J1's feeling crummy, but is in good spirits, and we're relaxing now with J2 working on his computer and me trying to get this all updated....and photos uploaded too.
Saturday (tomorrow) we may venture to an old walled city (if we all feel up to it), and if not we'll hang around HX and hit the markets again. :)
More later!!
marina
