Halong Bay

Little better this am, wakeup call at 6:30. Short tour because the ship leaves at 1pm for the next port.
Quick bus ride to the boat landing to get on our junk. Bob says it not a real junk, not sure when he became a junk expert. Anyway, ours was one of many.

 Local families with small children come alongside the boat and the children jump from their small boat to ours and hang off the side, stick their heads in the windows and try to sell bananas. We were warned and asked not to react to them because it is dangerous and the hope is that if the tourists ignore them they will stop putting the children in danger and send them to school where they belong. Do you know how hard it is to ignore someone who jumps on your boat and sticks their head in the window? You probably don't....it's hard.
Sailed in Halong Bay (Bay of the Descending Dragon) which became a cultural heritage site in 1994. Jo-Anne thinks we should make a plan to visit all the cultural heritage sites in the world. I like it. It was cool and so damp it was like rain when it wasn't raining. There was an inside to the boat but was very cold to go out and take pictures. It was beautiful though.

We sailed through a floating village where they actually have a school (floating) for the 16 children that live there. I think they said total 80 people,. They don't have to pay taxes.

We stopped at an island with a huge grotto, hang dau Go. Difference between a grotto and a cave? Cave has only one opening. Grotto has more than one and usually has water. Up a ton of stairs to get in, lots of stairs inside and a treacherous climb down stone stairs of all different sizes. Then a final leap to the boat (felt that far) and back to land.
Vietnam has a two child policy unless you live in the country, then three. They want boys as badly as the Chinese do, and like the Chinese many generations live together in one house, they build these tall thin (one room wide) homes where each generation has a floor.

Hanoi in a day

Wake up call at 6am, feels like China. Had breakfast delivered and then we were off for a 3 1/2 hour bus ride to Hanoi. Interesting countryside, like China but different. Lots of rice paddies but many more beautiful vegetable gardens with things like cabbage and other green stuff.
Our guide talked a lot about communist Vietnam and how great it is. The government gives them land and they can grow whatever they want. The Vietnamese flag is red with a yellow star in the center. the points of the star represent the "levels" of people, the worker, farmer, fisherman, intellectual and businessman.
First stop was the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and surrounding gardens.
Then we had lunch in a traditional Vietnamese restaurant.
There are 88 million people in Vietnam and 37 million motor scooters. We saw them all in Hanoi and they were trying to run over us. We went for a walk through the old quarter of Hanoi and a few of our group weren't sure we'd make it. Crossing the streets was a feat of daring and bravery. the motor scooters were coming from all directions. You've never seen so many.

3 1/2 hour ride back to the ship with a coffee break in the middle. Stopped at a marble carving factory where they also made silk clothing and the most incredible silk needle work pictures. There were a number of women sewing at machines and ironing the clothes they made as well as making the silk things.
Returned to the ship around 8:30, had something to eat and called it a day.

Azamara Quest January 19

Love this boat. There are only 450 passengers on board. Usually 600. Feels very private and intimate. Came onboard yesterday at 12:30, took about 10 minutes to get thru registration. Our cabins were ready at 1:30 so we were able to move right in and then have lunch. View from the balcony is gorgeous.

Sailaway from Hong Kong was incredible!

Had an early night last night and this morning woke up to a blanket of fog. There is nothing to see and apparently will stay that way until after we arrive in Hanoi tomorrow morning at 5am. The captain suggested we stay in bed, we won't miss anything, we can see it when we leave.

Today is a sea day so it's very relaxing. Attended a digital photography seminar and played "where in the world" trivia. As soon as the fog lifted a little we were able to get on the internet so I bought some time.

We'll be in Hanoi (Halong Bay) from tomorrow morning until  Saturday afternoon. We have a tour scheduled both days. Very excited to see Halong Bay, it should be beautiful. 

Returned to the cabin this afternoon to find Happy Birthday balloons hanging from the ceiling. Thank-you Jo and Sue!!

We all had dinner in the dining room, the food on the ship is really good. Jo and Sue ordered a cake for us so we got the happy birthday song.
After dinner Bob and I went to the show and the captains reception. The captain wasn't there because he was on the bridge blowing the foghorn no less than every 10 minutes for 30 seconds (or something like that). The captain probably doesn't actually blow the horn or push the button or whatever. Anyway he showed up later to say hi and tell us how difficult it can be to sail the boat through Halong Bay with all the limestone karsts (little mountains sticking up in the water) although we can't see anything but fog. He was supposed to tell us as we went through some strait that we couldn't take pictures but there was no point. He introduced the crew including someone in charge of accounting who he described as the woman who sends out the bills for the free wine. Did I mention we have free wine at lunch and dinner?

Hong Kong

Remember the challenge was to stay up until bedtime? We didn't even come close.
The airplane for the flight to Hong Kong was changed to a 747 (repositioning I guess) so we were all in business class. That made the flight go really fast. We arrived in Hong Kong and Benny met us at the airport. Ends up there are 14 of us going on the cruise. Checked in to the hotel but our rooms weren't ready so we went for a walk in the neighborhood. We were able to check in at 1:30 and decided to take a nap (bad decision) before dinner. We all slept from 2:30 until 7:00 this morning. Really refreshed though.
After breakfast at the hotel, we went on a tour with Benny that he arranged for us. It has been very cloudy here but this morning was apparently the most beautiful day all month (maybe he says that to all the tourists) and it was very clear with great visibility at the top of Victoria's Peak. That was our first stop, we took the tram up and drove down. Then to a temple near Repulse Bay, a really pretty beach. The temple had the money Buddha (rub him from his head to his pocket, take his money and put it in your pocket and make a wish); the good luck Buddha (rub his belly 3 times clockwise for good luck);

and the baby Buddha (rub the head of the baby boy or the baby girl to determine the sex of your next child (or grandchild)).
After the Temple there was a little shopping and some lunch at the Stanley Market, again on a beautiful beach. We had burgers and fries, the local speciality.
On to Aberdeen for a sampam ride among the local houseboats and fishing boats and yachts. Our sampam driver spoke only a few words of English that he cared to share. "Hey!!" was one. That was to get our attention. Then an explanation of what we were to look at, like, "Houseboat!!" or "Dried fish". This was accompanied by pointing when he had a free hand. Mostly his hands were steering the boat, answering the cell phone and smoking a cigarette. Then a further explanation such as "air conditioner!" or "washing machine!". Apparantly houseboat life in Aberdeen is good.

Near the end of the sampan ride the driver yells...."Hey!! Enjoy?" He then tossed a tip jar into the middle of the boat and slowed to a crawl. It was clear we weren't returning to the dock without leaving tips.

Quick stop at a jewelry store and back to the hotel.

Met for dinner with Jo, Sue and one of the couples from our group, Tony and I forget her name. Great restaurant a few doors from the hotel.

The four of us (Jo, Sue, me and Bob) walked to the waterfront to see the light show at Victoria harbor, Nicer than last time I saw it cause it's a clearer night tonight.

Check out tomorrow morning and transfer to the ship.

It's 7am in Taipei, and we just arrived. So....we left LA on Saturday night at 10:45 and now it's Monday. You figure it out.
The flight was long but EVA Air is quite nice. All the announcements were in Taiwanese, Chinese and English. It took a really long time to tell us anything. They fed us a couple times, nothing very exciting.
We have met 4 couples who are on our cruise. It's a safe bet to ask any non Asian if that's where they are going. There aren't that many.
Flight to Hong Kong leaves at 8am, it's a short one, under 2 hours. We'll be met at the airport for transfer to our hotel, the Park Hotel Hong Kong. Then the challenge is staying up until bedtime.

Day 2......in LA at the Residence Inn, waiting to leave for the airport for a 10:45pm flight.  Arrived LA at 9pm last night, flights were on time and uneventful, of course, we were in first class. Jo and Sue arrived a few hours before us and were asleep when we got to the hotel. Met up at breakfast and have just been hanging' around all day. More when we're on the other side of that pesky date line.