Ha Long Bay 2

This morning Patti was also a believer that some dreams really do come true. Patti, as most of you know, is unable to eat any food with even a hint of flavor. Her collection of food allergies has made her the self-anointed Queen of Bland, but not on this cruise. The chef prepared a version of every dish for her accommodation and after all 18 courses yesterday she woke up this morning without a headache.

Yesterday I mentioned the cave dwellers that originally settled here in war time. These folks found refuge not only from war but from nature as they called these climate controlled environments home. They survived as fishermen In 1985 UNESCO claimed Ha Long Bay as a World Heritage Site and with that came eviction of the cave dwelling fishermen. They were resettled in floating villages. Many spend their whole lives there simply fishing to survive. Some are able to earn and save a little towards a few amenities like a generator and a DVD player.

We were rowed around by women in traditional bamboo boats some who seemed to get a kick out of the tourists.

Tara could not get enough of the food. We were in between breakfast and lunch on the second day and she inquired incessantly about the time. Very similar to the age old road trip question - "Are we there yet?"

I imagine crewing a vessel like this is a job like anything else but these guys did seem to have a good time. When we hopped out for our kayaking and beach time is was futbol (soccer) time for them. I was wandering around today and found the staff berth. I took a picture thinking it might be a joke. Later I could not resist, I peaked and sure enough, there were little Hobbit beds in there.

As we waited for a bit in the lobby area for our bus to come, I watched more and more of the familiar faces that we had bumped into in our few days here get on their bus (minivan) and go. I was left wondering if Patti had not given a good enough tip and we were paying for it now. Apparently, when I was out snooping around Hobbiton, the tip amount topic came up with the other English speaking passengers, she assured me that we tipped the best.

And then it came, the Mother of All Minivans, this thing was pimped out. All Corinthian leather, bar, fancy led lights, fully reclining seats...it was a minivan limo! The provided free wifi was faster than any of our hotels thus far.

On our way back to Hanoi we took in a water puppet show. This was an interesting peek into Vietnamese culture and an art form that dates back 1000 years. Think of marionettes, but without the strings and instead being controlled from under the puppet and below the surface of the water. The movement was interesting and fun, and the colors were striking. These are the Water Fairies. When I was setting up this shot my camera was going nuts with its facial recognition display.

We were back in Hanoi for one final night at the Camel City Hotel. We all know each other by name there now. We had our third and best room, in fact they were progressively better each stay and we increased floor number each time 2nd, 3rd, 4th.  I also tripped the breaker in my room for the third time.  I learned after the first time where the panel was for each floor so I could reset it myself.

Hanoi is a hopping city. I suppose it is like any other big city but it's level of activity manifesting in apparent chaos makes it interesting to just stand and observe and soak it in. We had another great meal.

Tomorrow we are bound for Hue and into central Vietnam.

Goodbye cool weather and fancy cruises.

All images in the 2014 Ha Long Bay album linked at right.