December 27: Back to Hanoi

December 27

Great sleep on the little boat! Had breakfast about 8 and then toured around Halong Bay until about 10:30. The trip back to Hanoi meant 4 hours on the same route we had just taken the day before; by the end of that time I think we were all feeling stiff and cranky even though we made two stops along the way, one to see some garden plots being tended by a very hard-working woman and the second time at a factory that produced pottery in the old traditional way.

 Woman tending her garden beds

In the pottery factory

Once back in Hanoi a few of us went for lunch overlooking the lake at the edge of the old quarter, walked around the lake, and shopped a bit. By then it was time for another meal, once again in the old quarter. My goodness it is alive with people at night. Not that it's not in the daytime. This trip is one eating opportunity after another! Thank goodness Asian food is relatively healthy.

Oh, yes, I neglected to mention that entering Vietnam meant again adjusting to another currency, this time the Dong. There are about 20,000 (yes, that's right) to one US dollar. So even an inexpensive meal would be 100,000 Dong ($5.00)! As one person in the group suggested, why not just knock off the last three 0s!

View from our lunch spot of

 lake in Hanoi near our hotel