Serenade Hotel Hanoi

... company - Mailinh - and after cautiously watching the meter, determined that they are also legit. They have posted rates and a dispatcher, which seems to make them a real operation.

Over at Lenin Park, we opted for some (mostly sketchy, but completely delicious) street food for lunch. My favorite thing to order at Vietnamese restaurants in the US is Grilled Pork with noodles in broth. Here it's called Bun Cha, and as far as I've ...

... at the dinning bar. Many more activities in the evening like watching movies, playing games with fellow passengers or enjoying night-fishing and chatting with friendly crews; or relax at open bar and music, enjoy happy hour with "buy one, get one free". Overnight on Bhaya deluxe junk.
Today Lunch and Dinner included.


Day 2: Halong Bay (B, L, D)
This ...

... me asking people about the bus to Vinh and told me that the coach I was about to get on is to Vientiane, not Vietnam. 'I am going to Vinh too' he said, 'it is late'. I thanked him for his help and we both sat at a station cafe for a quick breakfast. The coach showed up soon after and we climbed aboard. We set off for a fairly bumpy ride across to Vietnam. The coach was half empty and occupied by mostly local Lao and Vietnamese. It was a nice journey and ...

... because my leg hurt so badly. I thanked everyone that helped me and passed on the info to the rental lady who she said she'd meet me at the police station in the morning. I limped to Jin's bike and he rode me home. I've been icing it and hoping that it feels better in the morning. The whole incident stressed me out so much I skipped dinner and have been pretty much resting in bed, reenacting the scanario in my head replete naturally with, “what ifs ...

... both farming and weaving, Phu Vinh villagers have enjoyed a plentiful life.
The main instruments for bamboo and rattan weaving are knives, pincers, scissors and awls. The knives are varied: big knives for felling and cutting bamboo and rattan trees, small knives for splitting bamboo slices and pointed knives for whittling and polishing slices.
A real touch to the rural life of Vietnamese. They are warm-heated and have a smilingface.

... I had to stand at least twice the distance from the chart as we do in the US. I had to tell them which way the C was facing - try this at home and see how tough it is plus they were very tiny on the chart. Basically it was a case of cover the right eye and guess then cover the left eye and guess.
The rain slowed traffic down to a crawl on the way back to my hotel which afforded me a view of all the shops and street life.

... the deafening sounds of the jungle in our ears. Next thing we knew it was 5:30am and one of the guides was zipping into our treehouse to wake us up for a gibbon watch. Some of our group hadn't slept well so decided to stay behind. To be honest I had had trouble getting to sleep - I kept having visions of falling off the treehouse, or jumping when my harness wasn't attached! Still, we were only here once so off we went. The jump out of the treehouse wasn't as scary as it could ...

Hello again!

And so the relentless march North continues through Hoi An, Hue and on to Hanoi. Only places that begin with an H can be considered. The first stop was tailoring-central Hoi An. Everybody who comes here has to buy a suit. It's the law. It’s like going to Alton Tower’s and not riding the Big Dipper. Big Dipper? How old am I, Seventy-Five? Anyway, you get the idea. The suits are good quality and cheap as chips so you’d be a fool not to purchase one ...

... and sugar and pineapple with Vietnamese tea. Bill stuck to the tea and Halida Beer. Ling recommended some places to eat for us. For Vietnamese food she recommends the street stalls and Quan An Ngon on Phan Boi Chau Street. For Western food she recommends Green Mango on Hang Quat Street (a bit pricier) and Chica Restaurant on Hang Be Street. She also recommends Fusion Bar at 25 Truc Bach for belly dancing on Saturday and Cuba Lounge on Le Duan Street near Hai ...

... much about this temple other than it is very old....lol! We arrived at Nam Binh just in time for lunch. After we got our rooms (had to walk up 3 storeys!), settled our things in our rooms, we took a 3 hour boat ride through TAM COC**, This is another world heritage site and it was a really very beautiful place! The boat ride was very peaceful and pleasant. Our boat lady was a robust and friendly woman who was my age! She didn't ...