Finishing up Hà Nội

Sitting in a Ho Chi Minh City sidewalk café it occurs to me that I have a few Hà Nội loose ends to tie up. So here goes...

For the best (and very good) American-style breakfast I've yet found in-country, it's Chúc Linh at 73 Hàng Bac Street, just a few doors down from the Queen Hotel @ 65. 

The Queen Hotel itself is very nice and a good value. What makes it even better is the staff. The ladies at the reception desk are so great, that when they sat and shivered all day during a brief cold snap, I bought them a small radiant heater for under the desk. I think that's the first time I've done something like that for the staff as well as the first time a guest bought them something.

A few more photos of things seen on a moto:

On a bicycle:

And hand-carried:

Cần Thờ and the Mekong Delta

Friday, January 10; Day 40 in-country

We (friend and Cần Thơ native Mimi and I) boarded an early-morning bus from HCMC to Cần Thơ and the Mekong Delta. Mimi is an elementary school teacher in HCMC whose school recently closed. Her new job starts after Chinese New Year, so she has the month of January off. She was, therefore, available to show me her home town from a local's perspective, so I jumped at the opportunity.

One of two Westerners on the filled-to-capacity 45-seat motorcoach, I got to experience a large screen presentation of a Vietnamese variety show and a sitcom. The reminded me of "The Carol Burnett Show" and the campy "Three's Company" with the soundtracks scrambled and the volume turned way up. Fortunately, there was a speaker on/off button above my seat, so I was able to reduce the apparent volume. I'm very thankful it wasn't karaoke. 

We arrived in Cần Thơ after a four-hour ride (120,000 VND; ~US$6), and took a taxi to the Phú Uy Hotel. I checked in and rested for an hour while Mimi went home to pick up her scooter. Ninety minutes later she took me on an interesting tour of her city, followed by a very good Vietnamese seafood dinner of steamed clams, grilled fresh prawns, and oysters reminscient of Oysters Rockefeller without the bacon. We were serenaded from a distance by spurts of music interspersed with much talking. Since I was completely clueless as to the message conveyed and my back was to the performers, I listened to the tones and inflections of their voices. 

I noticed, as I had in previous similar situations, that there were a number of instances where, had the voices been speaking a Western language, I would have thought the performer (or at least his character) was either very angry or batshit crazy. Since it was in Vietnamese, I guessed that he was simply speaking dramaticly. It's hard to describe and I wish I could give you an audio clip, but I just now thought of that, so we're SOL. 

Since Mimi was right across the table and her English is quite good, I decided to ask her about it. My theory as presented to her: English is a language in which we convey meaning by words. We use tone and inflection to designate a question, emotion, emphasis, and even disbelief. For example, remember how your Mom's tone and inflection changed from the first time she called you for dinner to the third.... or the fourth. I'll bet the volume increased just a bit, too.

In Vietnamese, as I 'understand' it, uses tones to differentiate words that to the Western ear, sound the same. To do this, they use many different versions of what we might say are the same letter. For example: 

   a) "Bà" is used to address an older person. It is spoken with a downward inflection on the à.

   b) "Ba" is their word for the number three. It is spoken with a flat tone.

To the untrained (my) ear, the difference is virtually indistinguishable and the only help is context.

Therefore, I continued, when I heard the male performer speak in what sounded to me like an angry voice, he was just talking. Without anger. In fact, I was told that what he said was funny. They use volume to emphasize because tone is already in use.

Wow!

Of the many cultural differences I experience daily, volume and omnipresent cigarettes are the two that are the hardest for me to assimilate. It seems that many things here operate at a standard high (I'm guessing 90+ decibels) sound level: vehicle horns, TV, traffic, and even conversations. Music seems best enjoyed at 150+ dB. Much louder and it would peel paint... Re cigarettes, don't get me started! The world's only legal product that when used exactly as directed is guaranteed to kill you, is so much a part of the male culture that without any visible advertising by tobacco companies, my unscientific observation is that 85+% of Vietnamese men smoke. I am, consequently, constantly changing seats in restaurants and sometimes even ducking clouds of poison gas as I walk down the street. This percentage seems higher in Hà Nôi than Sâi Gòn.

The cigarette smoke is probably the only thing keeping me from listing my house for sale, selling or giving away most of my worldly possessions, and moving here. That and the legal restrictions on motorcycle engine displacement... 

In many ways, Cần Thơ looks like many other Vietnamese cities of its size. One huge positive difference is that the Mekong River runs through it and planners left a number of large, open, public access spaces via which residents and visitors have access to the scenic river. The Mekong is a WIDE river. It's been years since I've seen the Ohio or Mississippi Rivers, though I remember then as less wide than this... and it's definitely wider than the Columbia at Portland, Oregon.

We used one of the parks to get to the boat dock where we caught our tour boat to the famous floating village. Since Mimi had arranged for our exclusive use of the boat, we were able to enjoy the ride with plenty of elbow room and the luxury of ours being the only voices heard... 

a quiet ride, not counting the diesel engine mid-boat that was soon tuned out. A perfect early-morning boat ride--if I'd thought to offer the captain a big tip at the beginning, payable at the end for not smoking the whole f*cking way... :)

This is Mimi

These are a few of the boats she could have chosen

I think she picked the one best-suited to me and she hardly knew me...

The ride downriver made for some interesting sightseeing

About 30-minutes downstream from our starting point, we slowed and entered the floating village--dozens of boats involved in buying and selling, mostly on a wholesale scale. Each selling boat's occupants specialized in one, maybe two, items: cabbages; onions, potatoes, or another root vegetable; melons; squash; bananas and so on. Buyers' boats would pull along side, inspect the produce, agree on a price, and transfer the purchased items by hand, often one-by-one. Since I did not observe each item being weighed, my guess is that individually-transferred items (e.g. melons) were sold by the piece. Large sacks of root vegetables were weighed prior to transfer and sold by the kilo.

There were even food vendors

And a floating convenience store:

The photos would, of course, be brighter without the hazy winter overcast... and an overall floating market phot would be possible from a bigger boat. If pigs had wings, they could fly...

I was especially intrigued, as I often him in this country, by the ingenuity of the local peoples and their ability to adapt what they have to get to do what they need.

This is the throttle controll for our tour boat

This is the engine from one of the bigger boats we saw this day. The shaft at left drives the propeller...

as seen here (the Captain was lowering the propeller into the water as I took the shot)

Upon our return to dry land, I checked out of the hotel and we had an early lunch at a nice place where, again, I was the only Westerner. I forgot to write down the name, so I will email Mimi and post it here when I hear back from her. 

The final stop was to be at a fruit grove, but when Mimi told me they also have a small zoo there, with animals in cages, I told her that I preferred not to go. She expressed a bit of surprise until I told her that in my mind zoos are simply prisons for animals.  I explained that I think they are abominable because the animals have done nothing to merit their life sentence of complete deprivation of freedom.

This ray of sunshine took an earlier bus that was only about half full

and arrived back in Ho Chi Minh City in time for an early dinner.

Observations

I'm in the Mekong Delta and will soon post photos and impressions (I do a pretty good Evel Knievel).

For now, here are some observations from my almost six weeks in Việt Nam...

Some of the things I've seen transported via moto:

  1) A four foot tall, three foot wide tree that was only part of the cargo

  2) Two giant hogs (live and trussed up upside down)

  3) > 20 piglets

  4) A flock of geese

  5) Four adults

  6) Two adults & 3 children

  7) Boxes or stacked 2x height of driver & 3x width of bike

  8) A girl in a very short skirt and 3- to 5-inch heels

       (I've seen literally hundreds of them, mostly in Ho Chi Minh City)

  9) A complete sidewalk kitchen

10) A charcoal fire (like you would see in a brick oven)

11) 20-foot pipe balanced on one shoulder 

12) At least 100 kilos of root vegetables (could've taken 40 more)

13) Four surveyors AND their tripod and other gear

14) At least 80 brooms

15) A three-foot by five-foot sheet of glass 

Rules of the Road based on multiple observation of each (written with tongue firmly in cheek):

 1) Do NOT look for approaching traffic when making a right turn to enter a major road. They must compensate to avoid you.

 2) Might is right.

 3) A two-lane road with a narrow shoulder can usually handle three vehicles across plus two motos.

 4) If your large truck breaks down, it's okay to repair it right there on the road. Everyone will go around you... even on a curve.

 5) Repeatedly flashing your lights at oncoming traffic allows you to use their lane. They MUST move over for you.

 6) It is perfectly acceptable for two moto riders to stop and have a conversation in the moto lane, thereby forcing all other motos to maneuver into faster traffic to go around them.

 7) Construction projects off to the side of a road may use one lane of the road for gravel and dirt storage piles.

 8) It is better to ride the wrong way on a divided highway than to make a u-turn.

 9) My horn is louder, better, longer than yours.

10) If I can balance it on my moto, it's okay to carry it.

11) The only limit to the number of people or things on your moto is your creativity.

12) Texting while riding a moto is encouraged.

13) Passing on a blind curve is approved, especially if you have either huge balls or no common sense (see also 4 above and earlier post "Sand Angels").

Two Hours vs. 19 Days

As we started our takeoff roll, I realized that today, January 7, for the first time in 37 days, I would travel at over 100 kph. I was on a VietJet flight (with a bank logo on both sides of the front of the fuselage) from Hà Nội to Ho Chi Minh City.  Two hours later, I beat my previous best time of 19 days between the two major cities in Việt Nam. I think it's time to slow down...

Upon my return from Sa Pa, I went to the Thai embassy to get a visa and couldn't because there is no same-day service and I was leaving the next morning. I can get it either at the Consolute in HCMC or queue up at the border. Will most likely opt for the former.

Took it easy on my last full day in Hà Nội, did a little shopping; wandered the streets a bit; picked up my Reisse maps that I'd lent to Hung and Chris at Flamingo Travel while I was in Sa Pa; indulged myself with my first ever street shave (also the first time someone else shaved my face);

ate too many snails and clams (at the street restauant at #1A Linh Dieh); and bought a second round of over-the-counter cold remedies. The day we returned from Ha Long Bay, it was sore throat, runny nose, and an overall lousy feeling. It seems to be clearing up, though not soon enough. Went to bed early and slept pretty well, so at least the OTC stuff did that for me.

Didn't do a head count, but if think I was the only person of European ancestry on the flight, and I had gobs of knee room:

I'm getting used to being the only Westerner... As I was again indulging in too many snails and clams, a number of Westerners looked in, but kept walking. Too bad, they missed some good eatin'! I'm very much enjoying my daily Vietnamese version of a Western breakfast, but feel I would miss an important part of the travel experience If I were eating only familiar foods... though I would probably have lost 20 lbs during the riding phase of the trip.

I am apparently pretty good at scaring small children. Today in the departure gate area I was sitting across from a young woman and her toddler. When the little girl looked at me, I smiled--and she burst into tears. As I looked away, she stopped crying. A minute later, when I looked up again, she started wailing and crying. Most females have to know me a bit longer before they cry at the sight of me, so I guess she's an early learner. The same thing happened on the plane with the same little girl, only this time from 12 rows away. I kept my head down for the rest of the flight.

Had a hot lunch, a 333 beer (served room temperature with a side cup of ice), and desert on the plane for 100,000 VND (US$5). The hot crab and shrimp with noodles came with two side sauces:

        Fish sauce                     NOT ketchup

Although I don't have a hotel pre-booked in HCMC, I know I'll be staying within a block to two of where I stayed before. It's a safe, comfortable, area and centrally located. I was going to stay only a day or two before heading to Thailand, Cambodia, and Lao, and go to the Mekong Delta area upon my return at the end of the trip. Now, instead, I will most likely head to the Mekong first, since the end of my trip is Tét (Chinese New Year). This is noteworthy because most Vietnamese go to their home village for Tét and the cities are all but deserted. Using my time wisely (don't say it), I may still get to all of the major destinations in my original plan--and maybe not. Either way, it's one helluva trip!

And 39 days since I last drove a car...

Trekking around (though not actually circling) Sa Pa

Still looking for my common sense and a bit concerned that it, like parts of my short-term memory may be... Oh, hell, where was I going with this?

Last night (Saturday, the 4th) I decided to update the software on the iPhone 3GS I bought to replace the one stolen in episode "On the road..." dated 12 December. In Sa Pa; on a strange, public-access computer; at 9 p.m.; and including unlocking the phone for which I'd received email authorization last week. Really? Will I ever learn?

It actually went quite well until the phone tried to reboot, then I got an error message saying the Apple servers were busy. At 0-dark-30 Cupertino time? Then the geeks need to get off the system, get some sleep, and let my phone have enough bandwidth to reboot. Sheesh! More than 12 hours later, I'm still getting the same error message, so I think it's the phone, not the geeks. I am now without a phone until I get back to my Hà Nội hotel room and switch the SIM card into my "US phone". Maybe a good thing...

Sa Pa day two trek was 12 km and it seemed like 12 miles. Wu, our guide, had already hiked into town from her village and our goal for the day. I'm betting she took the road, though, a mere 8 km. the trek was over some rough terrain and a few paved roads and paths. It's easy to see why the people if the villages off the bus/car roads don't get into town much.

It's hazy in Sa Pa like it was in Ha Long Bay...

Since it's winter, and they get only one growing season, 

it's pretty brown under the haze.

While trekking, keep an eye out for "buffalo chocolate" 

(ChapStick added for scale):

My trekking partners (can you see the baby's hand?):

Though I'm not a fan of "look, I was there" shots, I thought I'd add this one... and no, they're not high-water pants!

Do I really look that old in-person? Don't answer that! ;-)

This is one of the suspension bridges we crossed that swayed with each step...

Although we'd checked out of our rooms before leaving on the trek, the hotel has shower facilities for returning trekkers. A shower and an early dinner preceded the one-hour bus trip back to the train station.

In my four-berth train car there was a teenage Vietnamese boy whose family was in the next compartment, and an Argentinian/English couple from Australia. We adults got to talking and they mentioned that they were having difficulty getting good photos from the camera. After a couple questions, I suggest they read the camera manual. She responded that there was no manual; I said it was probably available on-line as most are these days. He said they would look for the manual.

They then asked to see my photos and wondered aloud why mine were so much better than theirs. He asked what kind of camera I had, and when I showed him that it is a very simple point-and-shoot, he was shocked. Then I got to explain my theory that is not the camera but the eye behind the camera that determines the quality of the photos. We segued from that into my "Basic Photography" instruction mode...

It was a nice conversation and they were thankful for the pointers. I now wished we had exchanged emails so that I could see if my lesson on Fill Flash helped them at all.

Fortunately I slept a bit better on this leg, so I needed a shorter nap when I got back to Hà Nội and the Queen Hotel at 5 a.m.

Sa Pa and Day 35

Somehow every day is interesting and virtually every day has a twist or something of note.  Some are minor (like eating more white rice in a given week than over the last 10 years), some are potentially life-altering (like missing instead of hitting a sideview mirror by 4-5 inches at a closing speed of 70+ kph). Today's happenings were minor and interesting...

Yesterday, upon our early morning arrival at the Sapa Summit Hotel, we were given the breakdown of our activities for the next two days... two "treks" to different local villages.  I spoke up (really? ;) and said that I had asked to visit one of the two local markets, both of which are known for their diversity of peoples and handicrafts. They told me that the Saturday market in Can Cau (Flower H'Mong, Zay, and Phu La tribes) is 110 km away.  I've been in-country long enough to know that this means a 2-3 hour drive over rough roads.  Having had enough of that for this year and next, I opted for the trek.  They told me that for an extra 180,000 VND (US$9), I could go to the Sunday market at Bac Hà on the Chinese border (Nung, Phu La, and Flower H'Mong tribes). Deal!

The morning "trek" was ~3km downhill to a Black H'Mong (named for their black traditional costume) village. As we walked, I kept thinking that the return is going to be all uphill... ut oh... Our guide is one of the tribe who lives in a different village. Her name is Wu and she is very personable with very good to excellent command of American English. 

Our Guide Wu (on the right) and Sho Sho, one of the artisans who accompanied us on the trek and from whom I bought a few pillow covers later in the day. I bought do much from the Black H'Mong that I should've also bought one of those baskets Sho Sho has to carry it all.

There are seven in our group, including a father/daughter from Sydney, a couple from Holland, and an Asian couple from I didn't ask where, and me. All are very nice.  As we walked, we were barraged with shop owners saying, "Buy something from me! Please look my shop..." Wu warned us that most of the shop owners get their wares from China--and it was pretty obvious she was right. Since we can buy cheap crap from China at home, we passed them by knowing that the village we were going to had plenty of hand-made items of higher quality. Buy local!

I was the first to fall for the charms of one of the artisans and purchased a Black H'Mong-style hat that I plan to wear under my motorcycle helmet instead of a do-rag.

The Artisan

The hat

Then we passed a family with colorful bedspread/comforter tops... and I was also the first of our group to fall under their spell. Like some people, it's brighter in-person:

Unfortunately, since I was holding up the rest of the group, I didn't take a photo of the second artisan.

As in the rest of northern Việt Nam, the Sa Pa area is overcast/hazy/foggy in the winter. In addition, most of the crops here are not grown in the winter, so the rich green terraces that are omnipresent in the other seasons are mostly brown now. 

After a while, we stopped at a very picturesque waterfall after crossing a very sturdy bridge that swayed as you walk across it.  My first thought was that the bridge was unstable because my first few steps were like those you'd take to keep your balance on a small boat in choppy waters. Then I saw locals walking across and knew it was just how the bridge is constructed.

After the waterfall, we started the return portion of the trek.  Unfortunately, my earlier thought was spot-on... it was all uphill. STEEP hills! We all resisted the temptation to take one of the many mototaxis offering rides to the top and we all made it... smiling!

The people we met were all very nice, though a few of the tribeswomen were a bit too persistent when none of our group made a purchase from them. When we did, the other women would flock around and cry, "Buy from me, too!" It feels bad to say no, especially when I have the cash. That said, I pumped almost US$100 into the very local economy today, so I did my part; and got a few very nice hand-made items in the process.

Yes, two is a couple.  I also purchased a pillow case (couch, not bed) and a couple smaller items.  Therefore, a few.

I cancelled my participation in tomorrow's market tour when I learned late this afternoon that it is 120km from here and three hours the other side of the train station.  That means almost seven hours in a bus just to get there and back to the train. No flippin' way!

When I asked the woman who told me that the Saturday market is 110 km away why she failed to mention that the Sunday market is even farther, she said she was sorry.  Remembering that most native Asian cultures are uncomfortable with confrontation, I kept my inner-asshole in check and quietly suggested that this is information best divulged up-front--especially when someone passed on a shorter trip because it was too long. She seemed to agree, so maybe I saved the next person a bit of "aggro". Maybe not.

She did refund my $9.

Did I mention that it's COLD here? Especially when NONE of the buildings I've been in over the past 35 days have heat...

Time to crawl under the comforter and say g'night.

The Overnight Train to Sa Pa and 5C

What a night!

It started well enough with my second meal of snails since arriving in-country

They were great!

Before I forget, if you take the overnight train to Sa Pa, sleep in your clothes.

5:40 a.m. Total darkness outside except for a few weak lights in the near distance. The train stops for the 17th time.  This time, tho compartment door slams open, the conductor yells something (in Vietnamse, of course), and all lights on the train go out 9 minutes later. I find myself scrambling in dark to collect my few things and be the last one off the train. On the return trip, my headlamp will be at the top of my bag... or maybe I'll "sleep" with it on my head.

Tickets punched in Hà Nội are now collected at the exit gate. The shuttle sign I was told to look for is across the street. The guide's "Was sign easy to find?" may have been sarcasm for me being the last to arrive--5 seconds after two others. 

Although I'll be gone for 60 hours, I decided it was better to pay US$40 to the hotel and keep my room than to check out, store most of my luggage, and re-check in. As tired as I'll be after the all-night trip back, it'll be nice to crawl into bed without bureaucracy.

The 9-hour train ride only felt like 12. I've gotten used to the standard Vietnamese bed over the last month, so the train berth was no surprise. We have pillow-top mattresses in the 'States. Here they have plywood-top mattresses with a 2mm (<0.1 inch) thick pad on top so you don't get splinters. Or so it seems, though I doubt they're marketed as "Plywood-top".

They forgot to tell me it's an hour's ride from the train station to Sa Pa and the hotel, and the first 35 minutes is on some of the worst road I've seen yet; and that's sayin' something. At least the minibus seat has back support. At 5C, it's COLD!

More tomorrow if I survive the trek in my Keen sandals sans socks...

Cambodian Visa

Talk about GREAT customer service!

In and out in 20 minutes...

With a visa...

During their lunch break...

When the visa desk is "Closed"!

Even after reading on their web site that the visa desk is closed from 11:30 until 2 p.m., something possessed me to arrive at the Cambodian Embassy via moto taxi at 11:51. As the Vietnamese policeman outside the gates was pointing out the hours on the sign posted on the embassy gates, a woman came out and asked, "Visa?"

I said yes. She waved me inside, sat me down at a huge table, and gave me the application form. As I was filling it out, I realized that I had left the requisite two passport-size photographs in my hotel room. When I told her this, she asked for my passport and said, "No problem no problem." She then made two black & white photocopies of my passport photo, cut out one, and glued it to the application.

I fully expected to come back late in the afternoon for same-day service, but she grabbed one of the embassy officials on his way to lunch and told me to sit and wait. She gave him my passport, the application, and the pictures, and he disappeared into the embassy building. Five minutes later, he was back. He escorted me into his office where he filled out the paperwork, attached the visa to my passport, handed it back to me, and collected the fee: US$30 in greenbacks.

WOW!

About 20 minutes after arriving, I was back on the moto headed for my hotel. While I would advise following the posted hours, it's amazing what can happen when things line up just right!

Thank you, Campuchia!

Side note: Got my first-ever non-US haircut last night. It was ~US$7 and looks pretty good. Will post a photo when I get one :)

CHÚC MỪNG NĂM MỚI

HAPPY NEW YEAR from Ha Long Bay!

Day 32 in Viêt Nam — by far the longest I've been in any country other than the U.S. — and I still find it fascinating.

Yes, I do still plan to go to Lao, Campuchia (what the Vietnamese call Cambodia), and Thailand. Myanmar is most likely off the table though, because the visa takes four working days and I will need my passport more frequently now. There is an e-visa option, so I will look into that.

Last night (New Year's Eve) was an early night because the bus to Ha Long Bay and a two-day, one night cruise picked us up before 8. There were stops at multiple hotels and, as always happens, one passenger held the rest of us up for over 20 minutes because he wasn't ready. What tweaked me more than waiting was his lack of apology or acknowledgement once he finally got on the bus, to the other 12 of us who got to wait. Can you guess his age group and nationality?

The tour bus guide is nice enough and his English is quite good. For the first 45 minutes, while most passengers tried to sleep, he went on and on about all kinds of things — first in Vietnamese, then in English. The only thing I heard (because I stopped listening after three minutes) was that the "entertainment" tonight is karaoke. Great! I may swim to shore instead.

It's probably a good thing he didn't ask if we had any questions... mine would have been, "Are you going to talk the whole flippin' trip?" Fortunately, he did give us some quiet time.

The last day of 2013 was also the last day I owned two motorcycles... at least for now. For the last week of the trip I was on the fence as to whether I would keep the YBR or sell it and travel more conventionally for the remainder of the trip. There were a few considerations:
1) My lower back took a beating on the rough roads.
2) Time. Riding takes a LOT longer than flying, especially on these roads.
3) The "Adventure Factor" is, we hope, virtually non-existent on trains and airplanes.

Boring and comfort won out over adventure. Especially comfort. Mr. Hung, the owner of Flamingo Travel, and I took only a few minutes to reach an agreement on the price for which he could buy it back. Net net, owning it cost me about $500--$100 less than if I had rented it... and somehow, it felt better to own it. I left the 12V outlet, the box on the back, and a bunch of tools I'd bought just for the trip. I kept the pricier tools like the tire levers.

Yesterday morning I met two guys from Europe at the Flamingo Travel Hà Nội garage. They bought 100cc Honda Wins from an outfit called Backpackers for the ride to HCMC. They paid $250 each (the bike is $700 new) From what I saw and what they told me, they overpaid by about $400. The bikes were FUBAR. So far, they'd spent over a day and I didn't ask how many $ getting them prepared for the ride to Ho Chi Minh City. When I met them, they were watching Hung's mechanics swarm over the bikes, one of which was down to the frame. They were also assisting in the hope that they might learn something they might need to know during their trip.

After hearing their story, I offered them my copy of The Motorcycle Maintenance Manual and suggested that they spend US$5 for the one-year insurance policy they'd better have if they got stopped by the police. I also gave them one of my SE Asia cards so that they can use this blog for reference re route, hotels, et cetera. I wish them safe travels.

I also saw Annika and Philine when they stopped by the garage. It was great to see them and I even got hugs! I'd been in sporadic email contact with Annika, so I knew that they'd just spent three days on Cat Ba, a beautiful island just west of Ha Long Bay. She'd also told me a week or so ago that cold and fatigue had gotten to them on the central coast, so they and the bikes had hopped a train from Da Lat to Hà Nội.

Ha Long Bay is spectacular! Unfortunately, we started the cruise with sun high and behind the formations, so the photos were less than ideal

It got better toward sunset and from a different angle

The guy in the boat on the right way rowing using his legs! Sorry I don't have a video...

I'm hoping that we have a better angle in the morning on the way back to the mainland. 

The Vietnamese karaoke was less painful than I'd expected, possibly because I had never heard any of the songs before and understood three of the words?

All of the other Westerners got off the bus at the first stop to go to Cat Ba Island, so I am the only non-Vietnamese in our party of 12, making it even more interesting and challenging. The others were nice and followed the apparent custom of giggling and talking among themselves every time I attempted to speak even a word or two of their language. I did learn a couple new phrases that I choose not to define here. Ask me later and I might tell you.