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Typical tour stuff, gather up, well first they had to find us at the restaurant. We are used to that. We had our names called over the loud speaker at O’Hare years ago when we were busy catching up with a cocktail on the way to South Africa! So they had us have our second drink as a take away. Small bus to the dock, gather, wait, get in small boat, wait gather, get on bigger boat, sit down, get information….. finally to our “state room”

Unpacked a little still unsure if we are two nights on the boat or one night here and one night at a bungalow. We thought the first day was hiking and biking but now it’s swimming and kayaking today. Aapparently the weather is better today than it will be tomorrow.

Swimming after a little cruising. Fun to jump off the top deck. The water is perfect for swimming, very salty. After swimming time to Kayak. Sit ons that were not comfortable at all brought a beer and cameras. Went through three caves, one with bats. They provided headlamps. Seemed a little Disney, waiting for a cliff or a pirate to come out. The lagoons were serene, except for the trash. We saw some monkeys too.

The minibus picked us up almost on time. The drive was almost two hours. It was clear that there were other tourists on the bus but also some locals who were dropped off and picked up at random spots. Money was exchanged too. Who knows. We reached a ferry and we’re parked next to a truck load of fat pigs, but they were so cute. Lots of windy roads on Cat Ba Island. The taxi dropped us at the agency, we paid and then went off for money and food.

The city of Cat Ba is small, lots of seafood restaurants and tour companies. One ATM in town. Chose the Big Man Restaurant and has a passion fruit mojito. We ordered Pho and pork Skewers and king mushrooms deep fried. The cute server came up after we got the mojito and admitted that there was no alcohol in it! We didn’t even notice! The skewers came with translucent paper. It was rice paper to wrap around the pork with lettuce and dip in the sauce.

We both woke up early so lots of time for coffee and conversation. We even decided to put some war paint on. We booked a cruise and a bus will be here to get us at 7:45 am. Today we will hike and bike and stay at a bungalow.

We packed up after the tailor left. And our taxi guy arrived on time. Again we booked tickets for flight but so don’t seem to be getting all of my emails. Do Ai wanted to be at the airport a little early. On the ride to the airport we drove by Marble Mountain. There was one of the tall like seven story pagodas and a shrine on the mountain. Our driver asked if we wanted to see it. He thought we had time. We drove to the entrance which was a staircase carved into the marble. We wanted to go to the top, there was even a elevator on the outside of the mountain, but we would have to leave our backpacks in the car. It was a hard decision but safer was better than sorry.

Back on the road again to the airport. We arrived in plenty of time, got our tickets and boarding passes with just a bit of confusion. They have to look us up in their system so it’s extra work. It seems like they just want to pass us off on someone else. We just smile and be quiet and stand there. It worked.

Had a beer and fried springs rolls. Did some more planning for a Halong Bay cruise. Why is it so difficult? Some of the info on the Internet is old or companies have gone out of business or this is low season. We had to send an inquiry to get info then most didn’t answer. Then the flight was delayed and delayed and delayed again. By the time we got to the gate people were angry. The flight attendants gave us water. They were kind. We were delayed 2.5 hours but when the people were getting so mad it seemed that the flight was cancelled! We could have gone to Marble Mountain. We even considered taking a taxi there and back by what if they decided to leave and we would have been screwed. The secret to travel these days is to be flexible, drink beer and have a good book to read.

Flight was an easy 1.5 hours. Negotiations with taxi people. One guy was trying to grab my backpack off of me to put in a car. He got dagger eyes! We knew it would be about 45 min drive but this guy couldn’t find our place. We couldn’t get internet so it was difficult. We finally suggested that he call the hotel I think he called them about 4 times to get direction. He graciously took the 500.000 dong we agreed upon, but was visibly pissed. Hotel was good enough. A little dirty we realized in the morning. We walked down the street to a BBQ place, wine and seafood. Back to hotel, with our own entertainment.

Time for bed. We are both exhausted again!

Coffee and planning. Flying to Halong Bay today, hopefully no rain. Our tailor showed up on time and we love our dresses!

We walked around. We liked the place next door. So quaint with fountains and ponds

Wonderful breakfast with our first Pho. Julie had beef, I had seafood. Mine was a delicious lemongrass base with two pieces of fish and two shrimp. We added all the condiments, like dried shrimp, green onions, salted peanuts, pickled eggplant, seaweed. We tried a few other things, some good, some not.

Back to the post office and taxi to the airport. Destination Da Nang. Booked a hotel for one night in Hoi An. We originally planned on three days but glad we didn’t because of the weather. We arrived at the airport. My email is not sending mail so we didn’t have tickets or boarding passes. Got in lin anyway, fighting the pushy people. At the front they wanted the boarding passes. We just smiled and waited, they found our tickets and we checked our backpacks and made our way to the gate, stopping off for a Tiger beer.

Uneventful flight and taxi from the hotel to the beachfront loft. It looked great on the website but now it was ugly and gray. We had the welcome drink of pineapple juice and got into the room. Looked like rain for the next week so we booked a flight out the next day to Holong Bay. Plans change quickly!

We called for a taxi and went to the ancient section. It was dark and wet and flooded in areas, but we pressed on and looked at the dress shops. So many tailors. Yup we got measured for dresses to be delivered the next morning. Walked around a bit and found the restaurant that the tailor, named Pink, sent us to. We needed to have some “white roses” which were wantons and some spring rolls. All was great but then it began to rain. A lot. By the time we left the streets were flooded.

We asked for the restaurant to call a taxi. It was difficult and we were told to go up to the corner and to the right. We wondered if we were at the right spot and what we would do if no one came. But our knight arrived and drove us back to our hotel. We had bought a bottle of wine. It was balmy and rainy and then about 8 Australian golfers showed up and we had fun discussing the world. Off to bed, exhausted again

We enjoyed our new hotel, third one booked for the night. We had so much more to do that we had to make a list

The plan was First stop, War Remnant Museum, the Glow Sky Bar, the Night Market and district 4 for the food stalls and lastly the pool. And in the morning, a coffee place and back to the post office to mail postcards. Well it sort of worked out like that.

I have to add the pictures at the end because we are in a taxi now.

The War Remnant Museum was pretty disturbing.

Defiant by Alvin Townley is the book I am reading about the POWs that survived the Hanoi Hilton. So the book and the Museum differed greatly in opinion. As an American and hearing from a POW firsthand of his expert at the infamous prison, it was hard to read what the museum was projecting. I am sure there is truth and secrets on both sides. Most disturbing were the photos of deformities caused by the chemical warfare.

So on to the sky Bar. We sort of knew the location but the internet was vague about its opening times, it’s name and the actual location. We stopped into a hotel and asked. A nice lady pointed it out to us. Just past the night market so we walked through that first. It was busy and overwhelming. We bought foldable backpacks. One one I have been using for 22 years is falling apart. I haven’t parted with it yet, but the new one is good. My old one was from a travel/surf friend from Coronado, Cheryl Woodhouse. She is traveling right now, I think in France on a barge.

We found the Sky Bar, now called the Glow Bar. It was 5:45 and didn’t open until 6 said the skinny, high heeled girl. Well the views did not disappoint. It was a great view, 360 degrees and a lightening show added to the ambiance. No need to stay for the light show and or disco so we decided to hit an Irish Pub that was nearby. Maybe we could watch the Green Bay Packers play. No such luck. Walked back and forth and then gave up. We realized the best way to get a taxi was to go into a hotel and ask them to get one.

We have the taxi driver the address and it seemed that he gave up and dropped us off a some random restaurant. Again no English but we learned a few words. We ordered a beer, some fish and oysters. It was ok. Loved the salt infused with lemon and chili. They called us a taxi and home for a quick swim. Cool pool with a warm side and a cool side. We passed out. What a long first day.

After a few beers in the sampler, they got warm so fast, we decided that the Jade Pagoda was close enough to walk to. We were wrong, but again an interesting walk. We crossed streets like natives, saw where they sold everything for home construction like all the bathroom fixtures, then all the light fixtures. We are all those stores next to each other. Just like so many other countries

Our GPS barely worked but we kept on the route. It was fun stopping by where all the fish were sold, the pet kind, not the sushi ones.

We kept in to the Jade Pagoda. But couldn’t find it. We almost gave up until I asked a random man where it was, by showing it to him on a map. He pointed behind him and sure enough, in the middle of the block there was the Jade Pagoda.

It was very interesting, so many people praying, but with so many statures, how do you know who or what to pray to.

We both have the same attention span for museums and churches because after awhile, they all blend together!

Time to hail a cab again. We tried to ask the driver if he could wait and take us to our new hotel. He just said No. we realized he just didn’t understand. We packed our things, agreed that the room was a great place to drop our bags, freshen up but not a place to stay over night. The neighborhood was a little sketchy.

New hotel, wow, bell boys who took our backpacks! And afternoon tea! Our room was ready in a few min.

So yesterday we left the hotel early with the plan to walk to the ancient Giac Lam Pagoda. It is believed to be built in 1744. I read that many of the Vietnamese Buddhist temples have aspects of Taoism and Confucianism, not that I understand much more than the fundamentals of religions.

The big white statue was the Quran The Am Bo Tat. Goddess of mercy

Our walk was estimated to be a mile and a half. I don’t believe we got lost but it seemed a lot longer than than, but we both agreed that the walk was the best part of the day. We walked by many people getting ready for the day. It was about 7am on Sunday. We walked down busy streets full of motor scooters, zipping everywhere. It was organized chaos. We both heard that the way to cross a street was to heard straight across, looking straight ahead and keep the same pace. As soon as we trusted this method, we were like locals! It worked. The cars slowed, the scooters went around us like a school of fish.

We enjoyed walking by and into a few produce markets. The vegetable and fruit looks so fresh and vibrant.

We finally arrived at the pagoda. We looked around a bit, lots of statues and what looked like graves, nothing in English. We heard some chanting from the main building and noticed some people in the back of the main structure. So we looked for a way to see closer, and then a man motioned us inside. We started to remove our shoes as is custom, but he again motioned that we didn’t have to. We walked around looking at all the alters, and statues. So many Buddha’s. The man again motioned us to come closer so we did. It was enchanting to listen to the prayers. Many tables were set with bowls and silverware.

We walked out and then looked for a taxi. Nothing so we walked a bit and decided to get a bite to eat. Very few menus have English so we just pointed at pictures on the wall.

It started to rain. Again we waited for a taxi. It took awhile so by the time we hailed one we forgot where we were going! I told him Emerald Pagoda, showed the taxi driver where, then realized it was the Jade Pagoda, he still didn’t get it so we said, Norte Dame Cathedral, which he understood and it was on our list! It seemed like he took us the long way!! We have learned to be flexible and we are trying to understand that why would they understand us. We don’t speak their language so we should we expect them to understand ours!

We got the the Cathedral and it was completely under construction, just like the original. No pictures! No entry, but across the street was the famous post office. Looked like a shrine to the Green Bay Packers, beautiful building in green and yellow.

Next on our list was the craft beer scene. Not sure if we found it, but we found a beer place for a few samples.

We are loving all of the plants everywhere. It is so lush, and humid.