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! 

Hanoi Vietnam

We arrived in Vietnam late last night after flying 21 hours to get here. Today we did a private tour of Hanoi with a guide. 

We visited the Tran Quoc Pagoda and had to cover our shoulders and knees. We were lucky that Billy’s shorts were long enough to cover his knees! 

 

There was a beautiful Banyan tree at the pagoda. 

We also visited the Temple of Literature. 

We had delicious food. The soup with breakfast was my favorite.

At the end of our tour, we had a drink on the train street and waited for the train to come by. It was so close! 

There are so many scooters! It’s scary to cross the road. Our guide helped us literally walk through the scooters and just keep walking!