vietnam continued

So from Hanoi we went on a 2 day cruise along Halong Bay. We were on the Pinta Cruiser which was very nice. The food was incredible. We had 12 course meals with squid, prawns, chicken, pork, beef, fish, noodles, rice, and cooked vegetables, clams we tried it all. We didn't love it all be we tried. The scenery was incredible. There are 3000 islands covered with forest and you can hear the monkeys and such coming from the islands. There are caves all over as well. The dark picture is from inside the cave we walked through. It was pretty but also commercialized. But still you've gotta love mother nature. We also got to kayak around some of the islands and through a fishing village. It was neat to see and watch them just go about their daily tasks. We stopped at a school and it just had all these boats tied up to it and kids swarming around. We also swam in the sea, it was warm and the captain picked a clean spot for us. Anywhere near the fishing villages the water is so gross. The whole time we were kayaking Daren and I both were saying just don't fall in, the water was filthy. We also fished for squid at night. It was fun. You bob the hook in and out of the water while shining a light on it. When the squid tug you have to yank it up quick and the squid comes out squiring its junk at you. But that didn't stop us from trying it again and again.

This is arriving at our boat. We were ferried

to it. The guy with the backpack

was our guide. This pictures doesn't give justice to

the view of what you see as you look

out.

these ladies came up to our boat all the

time trying to sell us food. She is standing

in this little crawlspace in the boat. Since

no one was buying she pulls this little

boy out of there around 3 years old.

She just leaves him out for a few minutes

and no one buys so she tried to stuff him

back in. He was crying and screaming

it was sad. Daren commented maybe

I should offer to buy something if

the boy can stay out for the day. fishing village

the cave This is who was with us. You can have up to

17 people on the boat but our was a nice

small group. The first couple were from

Australia, then us, Another Aussie couple

and the last were from France. We had

a fun group. Funny thing Daren left his

"sunnies" in Hanoi after we returned

from the cruise and Ben and Christie (the

first couple on the left)

picked them up from our hotel

and brought them to us in Hoi An

when they arrived. It's a small traveling

world I tell you.

We only met three other Americans (aside from church) and all were there on business. For some reason Americans do not frequent Vietnam. It was mainly Australians I think.

vietnam

So this post has been so daunting that I haven't even dared try to post it. So I am no taking baby steps. I will not cover our whole trip tonight but I will try to cover at least one city. So we started our adventure May 15th. My mom agreed to come to Boise and stay with our kids while we were gone. It took a lot of planning (mostly by Daren) a few stressful moments, and a lot of good friends who helped drive my kids and babysit for my Mom. So we made our will official May 14th at 11:00 pm and we were ready to finally go. I'll just say long long flight, crazy time changes (they are 12 hours ahead of us), and a lot of granola bars and trail mix but we made it. The humidity is very high but honestly I didn't feel it was oppressive I enjoyed it. We had air conditioning in all our hotels so we had recovery time from the heat. We would go inside and I would have to put on my sweat shirt or step out side to warm up. So first city... Hanoi This place was bustling I thought. The streets were organized by what goods they sold. So you had hat street, kitchen tools, kids toys, etc. It was fun to walk around but sooo loud and a little smelly if I must admit. We took a cyclo tour (man pushing you on his bike) around and I felt we covered what we wanted to see that way. We walked down to a famous red bridge ( the sunbeam bridge). This lake had a walking path all the way around (which we walked) and it was fun to watch all the people. Our hotel was incredible and so helpful. They arranged the cyclo for us and the manager told us to wait here (inside) and went out where the cyclo drivers are just waiting for you to walk out so they can try to get you on their bike. He was out there giving this man the business. He told him exactly what route to take, how long it will take him, and how much we will pay him. It was awesome. We went to Hoa Lo prison a.k.a. Hanoi Hilton which is the prison where us POW's were incarcerated and some tortured. I never felt any animosity from the people but in this prison museum (and all the other war areas) the war is called the American War. The pictures posted on the walls are of smiling US inmates decorating a Christmas tree, playing chess, hanging out having a great time. Interesting how the story gets told on the other side. We also got our first 2 massages here and they were both fantastic. We went to a nice place of course and I think we paid 12 dollars for an hour. The last picture is the view from our hotel room. I loved watching what happened on those balconies.