Day 16

I was up early again as the R&R program was working, 5:30 AM this time. I enjoyed another hot tub to start my day.

At 7:30 AM we were offered a lagoon tour. We opted in this time. We could tour the lagoon via a “bamboo” rowboat, although these days they are fiberglass, or via kayak.

We chose the rowboat. Always some sort of drama, one of the kayaks flipped in the lagoon, spilling a young French couple. Again, no other Americans present. A couple of staff members mustered for a rowboat rescue.

Monkeys! Finally we got to see some wildlife. The island we were visiting and whose lagoon we were cruising was inhabited by monkeys. Crew members bring fruit, mostly bananas, and the monkeys, knowing the routine come to the trees along shore to collect their booty. It was a nice experience.

Then it was back to ship and we headed for the cruise terminal. Ever the observer, I was on the balcony observing operations as we docked. A water tender came alongside and began filling the ship’s freshwater tanks while the passengers were settling their bills and disembarking.

Then we disembarked, were whisked through the terminal and onto a luxury bus for the 4 hour trip back to Hanoi. At the rest stop near midway, I bought chocolate and moonpies. Lauren and I celebrated in silence, all smiles.

Back to Hanoi

We were the last ones on the bus (naturally) delivered to the Hanoi Exclusive Hotel. It was around 4 PM.

We had a big decision to make.

In the coming days, Lauren and I were going to the northmost province of Vietnam. It was high elevation and mountains near the border with China. Checking weather reports, we knew it was colder than the gear we had could handle. So we set off to one of the shopping streets to buy NorthFace jackets with Goretex.

NorthFace jackets are made in Vietnam. So there are shops where you can buy them. Whether they are “real” or not, they have the logo. We could care less about the logo or brand, we just wanted to be warm.

We found a shop near our Bun Cha street. Negotiations are expected. The fabulous Ms. Lien from the Hanoi Exclusive Hotel always advised that if we settled a transaction for no more than 85% of asking price, we did OK.

Buying 2, we were able to land on a price of 66% of asking.

We found a pharmacy to buy 4 Imodium tablets. We had exhausted the small supply I had brought and we did not want to go in the “out back” again without them. I paid 30,000 Vietnamese Dong.

We went back to the hotel to unpack from the cruise, pick up laundry that had been done while we were away, and pack again for the next adventure.

We walked to dinner around the corner at Cha Ca Thang Long. It is a locally well known restaurant that has a set menu, one item: fish with greens cooked on the table, with noodles, fish sauce, herbs, and peppers. We had 3 Saigon beers. 490,000 Vietnamese Dong. Excellent. Highly recommend.

Decision time. Lauren and I had a conference. I had no idea what kind of shape we would be in after 11 days on a motorcycle. Injured? In too much pain? We had a 3 day recovery cruise to think about it. The question was: do we do Ha Giang by car or by motorcycle? Knowing us, you can guess what we chose.

Rest before the next adventure

Back at the hotel, we were in bed by 8:00 PM. It meant listening to bad karaoke drifting up from the street, but sleep was the best choice for what is to come.

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