Wednesday morning we were picked up at our hotel at 8am for the transfer to Ninh Binh, on the coast. From Ninh Binh we were scheduled to take an overnight cruise on Ha Long Bay.

At the dock in Ninh Binh we had to wait a while but eventually we bordered a tender boat which took us on a thirty minute ride to our cruise ship.

We had a wonderful big room with a balcony. The food was delicious and the islands all around us were like nothing I have ever seen, absolutely stunningly beautiful.

This morning after brunch we boarded the tender and repeated our journey back to Hanoi where we are tonight. We have another wonderful room in a different hotel, in Hanoi, the Tonkin Boutique Luxury Hotel. We had welcome drinks at the rooftop bar as the sun set. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant and then went to Blake’s House of Jazz for a show.

Our hotel is in Hanoi’s historic old quarter, across from Hoan Kiem Lake. This morning after breakfast we walked around Hoan Kiem Lake. At the opposite end of the lake from our hotel we crossed the Huc Bridge and visited the Ngoc Son Temple.

After visiting the temple we continued on around the lake and stopped to have coffee and juice.

Tonight we had a great dinner at a restaurant called Link Bistro, not far from our hotel.

This morning after breakfast we checked out of Saha Casa Boutique Hotel. That’s where we stayed for our five nights in Da Nang. It was a very nice hotel and the staff was fantastic..

We took a Grab to the airport. (Grab is the Vietnamese equivalent of Uber.) Then we flew Viet Jet to Hanoi. In Hanoi we took another Grab car to our hotel in the center.

After resting a bit we went out for a walk along the lakeshore across from the hotel. It was very hot and humid so we didn’t go very far.

This evening we went to a Jazz concert not too far from the hotel.. It was a good day.

We woke up to beautiful blue sky this morning. It was the first cloudless sky we have had since New Zealand. Today was museum day. We started at the Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture. The Champa Culture was in Southern Vietnam from the 2nd through the 19th centuries.

Then we went to the Da Nang museum. It was all about the history of Da Nang over the centuries.

Finally we went to the Da Nang Fine Arts Museum

For dinner we went to a Michelin listed restaurant, Bép Cuôn. We had to wait about 35 minutes for a table. We had a very tasty meal.

We had another day in Da Nang without rain. We even had some sun! This morning we went for a long walk along the waterfront. At out turnaround point we stopped for iced Vietnamese coffee.

It was very hot and humid again today. We were each dripping wet from sweat when we got back to the hotel.

This afternoon two of the very friendly and helpful young people who work at the front desk asked us if they could interview us for a school project. We had a very fun conversation.

For dinner we went to a restaurant called Nha Hàng Madame Lán and had a fantastic meal.

Their equivalent of Uber here is called Grab. It makes getting around so quick and easy.