Hoi An

We spent our last 2 days in Hoi An next to ancient town. It was a cute town along the river with little shops and beautiful flowers everywhere. 

On our last day we took a bike ride out into the country. It was one of my favorite tours. We learned a lot about local life and farming. 

We saw where people have fish farms. They each get a little square pond and the men usually live in little huts in season to guard the fish. 

Then we went to the local gardens. We met the cutest older man who showed us how he waters his gardens. 

He let Billy water the lettuce gardens.

At the end of our tour we stopped for drinks and I had the most delicious coconut iced coffee! Now I know why they are famous for their coffee. 

At the end of the day we swam and waited for our late night flight home. It was great trip. We had so many interesting tours and learned a little about local life in Vietnam. 

Da Nang

We flew to Da Nang for our last 3 nights in Vietnam. 

On Saturday we did a tour in DaNang and a cruise at night.

We visited the Lady Buddha statue and Pagoda. 

Then we hiked to some cool caves.

At night we went to the night market, took a cruise, and then watched the fire breathing dragon show. 

At the night market we could have tried fried scorpions or roasted crickets! We did not. 

La Han Bay Cruise

On Thursday we went on a one night luxury cruise in La Han Bay, part of the South China Sea. The ship was beautiful, the food was delicious and we rode through gorgeous limestone cliffs. There were many activities including kayaking, a cooking demonstration and squid fishing at night. 

The food was delicious. And presentation was fabulous!

In the morning, we went on another peaceful boat ride through the limestones and a cave. 

We have met so many nice people from all over the world on this trip. On the cruise, we spent a lot of time with a family from Australia and a nice young man from Saudi Arabia. It was a very nice experience. 

Tam Coc Ninh Binh

On Tuesday we arrived Ninh Binh for 2 nights. This was our favorite place yet! The town Tam Coc is so cute. Our homestay was so nice in the walking zone along the Tam Coc River with so many cute restaurants and bars. 

The scenery in Ninh Binh is gorgeous. 

We did two River boat rides along the Trang An River and Tam Coc River. The scenery along both was amazing. There were so many boats but it was still very peaceful. 

On both rivers we went through caves. So cool!

On the Tam Coc River they row with their feet. It was so neat! 

On Wednesday we went on a bike ride through a local village to an ancient Temple with our group tour. It was a beautiful ride. Our guide was fabulous and our group was so fun! 

At the temple, we had to cover our knees and shoulders again! Billy draped a sarong over his Venice Beach tank top. 

The Bai Ding Pagoda was a modern built Pagoda for tourists to visit with many statues, and gold Buddhas. 

After the bike and boat rides, we hiked Mua Caves. It was hot and steep but the views were amazing! 

This is the view of the Tam Coc River we boated on. 

We were drenched at the end of the hike.

Sa Pa

Yesterday we took a van with travelers from Greece and Canada up to Sa Pa in the north of Vietnam.

Our hotel was very nice with gorgeous views. 

In the afternoon we met a very nice local guide who walked with us through two local villages 

We saw a rice machine that processed rice for the village.While we were there a local brought a burlap bag of unprocessed rice and paid to have it milled. The machine removed the shafts and produced rice so fast. 

At the end of our walk we had a drink with our guide on a restaurant terrace with nice views. 

Today we took a cable car up to Fansispan, the highest peak in all of Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, China). From the cable car station, we walked up many stairs to a pagoda and Buddha statute. We could feel the altitude affects while we climbed to the peak at 10,200 feet. 

There are so many scooters here! People pile loads of stuff and drive. It’s incredible! 

At night we took a van back to Hanoi for a night. We walked and saw so many families with kids and babies on scooters in heavy traffic!