Asia 2015: Saturday, March 7

We arrived back in Hanoi around 4:30 a.m. We were met by a guide and after briefly stopping at our last hotel so I could get our passports we continued to a hotel where we could shower and have breakfast. After showering the hotel staff said it was OK if we slept on the massage tables in the spa room as that is where we had our shower So for the next couple of hours we enjoyed the luxury of the hard as rock massage beds.

At 6:30 breakfast service started. We went up to the 7th floor and he breakfast. It was the usual croissants, breads, egg station, fried rice, dim sum, and noodle soup. The waitress asked me I'd I would like a pancake and mentioned they had bacon and egg pancake. So I thought what the heck. I got a small pancake with bacon inside and a fried egg on top of it. Interesting!

At 8:00 the minibus arrived. We have 2 Canadian couples from Calgary, two girls from Frisco, and a girl from London, England, it is about a 3.5 hr drive from Hanoi. It is another grey misty day. Too bad!

There were a lot of photo opportunities along the way, as we past people planting rice. We stopped at a huge souvenir/coffee place half way.

We got to Halong Bay and had a tea with a piece of lime in it. Very tasty

The tour guide has a Smirnoff Vodka bag...lol

Very good. Finally it was time to board the tender boat to take us to our ship. It is very nice. A mother and daughter sat beside us in the dining room. The daughter lives in Vancouver. Lunch was amazing..... Many choices....

We splurged and ordered a Chilean Cab Sav. After a couple of glasses I can feel it. People hd a choice to walk up a hill or go swimming.... We got a bottle of wine and sat on the upper deck enjoying the view visiting with a mom and daughter from Austrailia (the daughter lives in Vancouver now).

Bruce went to see the be cave while I stayed behind.... Too much wine and not enough sleep last night.

After they returned it was time for Happy Hour. Bruce bought another bottle of wine, ,I went for the 2 for 1 cocktails... And ordered a mojito....it needed more sugar water and lime.

Next it was time for spring roll making class. The chef put all the ingredients in a large bowl and wrapped one. Then we each made one and then they fried them. The lady in charge who is awesome....thought Bruce's was hilarious in that it was long and skinny. Mia new nickname, Springroll.

The Aussie mom had been having wine with us and then changed to tequila. She was pretty drunk by dinner time. She fell off her chair and so she decided she needed to go to bed.,,there was another couple from Borneo that were also a Lot of fun.

Preparing for dinner ....