November 11-13 we met our local guide Lisa at 7:00 in the hotel lobby.  we were picked up in a Santa Fe and wist away to a local restaurant close to the train station.  Lisa said we were going for Pho and we requested not Pho 24 and thankfully Lisa agreed and took us to a local restaurant. she explained why this particular restaurant was good for foreigners despite the fact we were the only white ones there.  This particular place was a bit bigger than a whol...

well it's been an interesting trip, was not ready to go home until my ride to the airport convinced me otherwise. Megan and I arrived in Hanoi around 4:30am after another earth moving train ride,this time our cabin companions were two Vietnamese guys that did not speak English and snored most the night. I couldn't take it so I turned my iPad iTunes on and hid it under my pillow until the screen darkened, I prayed for quiet, after a while it was but then intermi...

November 10th - 11th well we can check Water Puppet off our bucket list.  the show was 45 mins long and cost $5.00.  Thinh got us prime seats, right behind people with big heads and in front of a French family with a handful of kids, you know where this is going.  Kerry, Hem and I spent most of the performance leaned forward to lessen the impact of the kids pushing, kicking and tapping on our seats, Tim lost patience and asked them to stop, the parents only h...

November 9th - 10th when we arrived in Halong Bay we quickly boarded a small boat that took us out to our Junk then headed out along with many other boats. Megan, Kerry and I shared the largest room located at the back of the main deck.  It had  3 single beds and the only private deck which we really did not have time to enjoy.  the washrooms were fairly small, to take a shower we had to stand just in front of the toilet which got wet.  smart thinking Kerry ...

November 7th -8th Our overnight train was uneventful.  Megan & I shared bunks with Fran and Tim.  the beds themselves were a bit dirty but a little lavender oil to keep the bugs at bay, clean sheet, pillow and silk sleeping bag liner and we are good.  Our train left around 5:30 and arrived in Honoi around 5:00 am.  we had takeout from the hotel, mine was penne and cheese, others had baguette sandwiches, I wanted to play it safe and go veggie.  As soon a...