We arrived in Vietnam a little lighter...Jen's bag never made it from Nepal. We got checked into our hotel which was right in the heart of Old Hanoi. We spent our first full day wandering around the lake which was pretty interesting since everyone was getting their wedding photos done. We had our first taste of Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) which was great. That night we met up with our tour group which consisted of 13 plus the tour leader and went out for a group meal.
The next day we headed out in the morning to go to Ha Long Bay. This was a beautiful place with the hundreds of iconic limestone islands. The "junk boat" we took out was really nice...like a floating hotel. We stopped at an island with some caves before putting down anchor for the night. The food on the boat was absolutely amazing with tons of fresh seafood. Unfortunately the weather was cool and windy so nobody went swimming. The following morning we headed to Ti Top island and hiked to the top for a fantastic view of the bay. We had an early lunch before heading back to the dock and then returned to Hanoi.
When we got back to the hotel, Jen's bag had arrived...she was quite relieved. We bought some "weasel" coffee and you probably wondering what the heck that is. Apparently a certain type of Vietnamese weasel eats the coffee beans, digests the outer portion, and then craps out the bean which is then roasted and made into the most expensive coffee in the world. You'll have to come over and try some once we get home. We then went and sat on a street corner (literally) and drank 10 cent draught beer. We had some supper and then went and watched the famous Hanoi water puppet show...it was a bit cheesy but still worth a see. We had another free day in Hanoi and went to see the body of Ho Chi Minh at the mausoleum which was an interesting if not bizarre experience. The body has been extremely well preserved and it looks like he is just sleeping. We walked to the West Lake and then went for dinner at a restaurant that teaches cooking to disadvantaged youths which was a little pricey (relatively speaking) but the food was really good. Finally we went to the museum at Ha Lo Prison (Aka Hanoi Hilton) where the French kept political prisoners during the revolution and later, during the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese held US pilots that were shot down.
That night we hopped on our first of many trains in SE Asia. It was an overnight sleeper train which wasn't too bad and we managed to get a pretty good sleep. We arrived in Hue early in the morning to a pretty heavy rain. We went for breakfast and decided to do an afternoon cooking class as most of the sightseeing in Hue is outdoor which isn't ideal in the rain. First we got to go to a local market to buy some fresh ingredients, which was pretty fascinating, although it put off some people from eating meat. We learned to cook beef noodle soup, Vietnamese pancakes, and fresh and fried spring rolls. It was a lot of fun and a perfect way to spend a rainy day.
The next day we took a private coach to Hoi An which was about a 5 hour drive. Along the way we stopped at Marble Mountain which had some caves and pagodas to explore. We got to Hoi An in the early afternoon and headed to Yaly's. Hoi An is famous for it's tailor shops (more than 450 of them) and Yaly's is one of the more popular high end shops. You get in there and decide what you want made, pick out the fabric, get measured up an photographed and then come back the next day for a fitting and then pick up your stuff. I ended up getting a few shirts made and Jen got a jacket and some pants. It was pretty amazing how they can pump out good quality custom fit clothes in such a short time frame. That afternoon we sat at a little bar and drank some beer before supper and then went out afterwards and had some more (too many in fact). Jen was sensible and went back to the hotel early. The next morning we got up early and walked through the market on our way back to Yaly's for a fitting and then rented a bike for the afternoon. We rode out to the beach but didn't spend much time there since it was raining. We biked to a couple of the islands in the river and did some exploring there. Picked up our clothes (which turned out great) that evening, went out for supper and off to bed early.
This morning we tried again, unsuccessfully, to get our UAE visas but had more problems with PayPal, so we will have to try again tonight or tomorrow. What a pain in the butt this has been but we need to get this soon before we run out of time. We got a shuttle to Danang and departed on a 12 hour train journey to Nha Trang...should be fun!