Hanoi Fri 29.11.19 - Sat 30.11.19

Breakfast was great and worth getting up for! Short flight to Vietnam. No issue with transfers this time but the traffic was heavy with scooters, lorries, cars and pedestrians all trying to get in front. Now everyone warned us about how scary the traffic is here..... but it didn't prepare us for quite how scary it really is and how many scooters/ motorbikes there are. To successfully cross the road, well, you just step out purposefully and walk - the traffic avoids you (somehow). We walked through the Old Quarter, lots of french colonial buildings and around Hoam Kiem Lake... lots of ladies exercising, dancing and singing. Dinner at Quan Que recommended by Sharon.... we dined on the 5th floor balcony....bit windy but pleasant enough outside and food was great. Slow start today (Sat) walked through more of the Old Quarter and visited Dinh Kim Ngan a beautiful temple in the silver smithing district which had an exhibition of interesting photographs. Eventually arrived at Hoa Lo Prison aka the Hanoi Hilton a little later than expected - a map malfunction. Very emotional, the building was used as a prison by the French colonists or occupying force for the Vietnamese independence / freedom fighters, and later on during the Vietnam wartime housed USA pilots - hence it nickname Hanoi Hilton. Found an excellent Buddhist restaurant for lunch. Walking back we passed L'Opera stunning facade. Decided on a massage (f -foot & J - back). Met with our tour leader Charles and the others on this leg of our trip: Katya, Brent & Kat, Anne & Joseph And Chuck... small group compared to other trips we have been on. Also had our first group meal - at Hanoi Food Culture. We all had a stroll through the night market....without buying anything!!!!! The buildings all seem to have the same design - they are small to the street and go a long way back. This was due to taxes being based on the street presence. If you had a house onto the street you could have a shop and earn money. The streets had names that indicated the types of shops available. So all the hardware stores are together along with the goldsmiths etc

Ha Long Bay Sun 1.12.19 - Mon 2.12.19

Left at 8.20am for Ha Long Bay (Where The Dragon Descends To The Sea)- 4hr bus ride with towns interspersed with farmland. A "tender" -small boat took us out to our Junk Boat (about 20 mtrs away) there were about 20 of us in total. You might recognise in the pics - as the Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies was filmed here. We cruised in the bay through the limestone karats and islets for about 2hrs until we arrived at Sung Sot Surprise Caves....they were enormous caverns....absolutely stunning. It's very cloudy and overcast today and there are hundreds of boats which meant it felt crowded. We then sailed to Ti Top Island where most of our group climbed to the top of the island. Back on the boat we had dinner and then it was time for karaoke... Fee didn't disappoint (I supplied earplugs before I started!) Performing at least 10 hits from the 70-80s duetting with Kat. Up early for a 7am breakfast then set off on a tender to visit a pearl farm. Halong bay was much more relaxed, almost serene this morning with far fewer boats around. The area is stunning when the sun is out. "Summer roll" cooking demo back on board then we had to make our own for brunch before heading back to the mainland to pick up our coach back to Hanoi. Dinner with Charles, Katja, Brent and Kat at Green Farm. Turned out to be same company as Quan Que. Another good meal.

Hanoi Mon 2.12.19 - Tue 3.12.19

Early start for a tour of Ho Chi Mins Mausoleum, House No 5 Electricians where he lived, the Presidential Cars, the stilt house also where he lived and the Presidential Palace. Then after lunch we visited the Temple Of Literature. On the way back we popped into Dong Xuan Market....mad busy. Stopped at a bar for a drink with a chicken! See the pics. Managed to get back to the hotel just in time to visit the "historical" building next door - Hanoi ancient house. It was owned at some point by a wealthy trader and was a shop, a courtyard, a dinning room for the family, another courtyard and the kitchen and bathroom area. The courtyards brought much needed light into these otherwise long dark homes. The upper floors had a similar layout with a room a balcony onto the courtyard a room another balcony onto the courtyard and a final room. This would house three generations of the same family. Not a typical family home as this was a "rich merchants" home. That evening we went to the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre - not for those with short attention spans! I really struggled (f).