Short flight from Hue to Hanoi this morning. We spent the early afternoon wondering among the shops in the old part of Hanoi. Vietnam has developed quite well since the Vietnam War, particularly since the early 1990s when it began adopting the Deng Tsao Ping (China) economic motto of "It doesn't matter whether the cat is black or white, as long as it catches rats" and encouraged the private sector. It still has a long way to go. There is a lot of road and bridge...

Off to an early start on Nov.8 as a minibus picked us up from our hotel in Hanoi to drive us to Halong Bay. Five hours later, on less than great roads, we arrived. A small boat met us and transported us to our "Junk", which is small cruise boat (about 16 cabins). Quite comfortable with a great deal of wood throughout. Halong Bay is a unique and quite beautiful landscape. It is over 1600 sq. kms. and consists of nearly 2000 islands. It is a recognized world ...

This was a full day in Hanoi. For those on the tour who are leaving tomorrow, it was too short. We will be back in Hanoi twice more so we can do some additional touring.Our first visit was to the Ho Chi Minh Memorial. This is a mausoleum of the same nature as Lenin's in Moscow and Mao Tse Tung's in Beijing. His mummified remains are quite lifelike. We also visited the grounds of the Presidential Palace and the spartan home where HCM lived most of his life while i...