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Thai Vietnam
  • Bryan Smithson
  • Patti Smithson
  • Jana Smithson
  • Bryan Smithson
  • Patti Smithson
  • Jana Smithson

Thai Vietnam

8 flights and many new places Read more
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  • Thai Vietnam
    At the spiritual center pagoda thingy
    2So many BuddhasEven more BuddhasMore pagodas...and BuddhasView from the big Pagoda1Bry trying to be Buddha1Cemetery in a rice paddy-common scene1At the garden and bird sanctuary-Mermaid cave221

    So long Trang An

    February 15, 2025 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Here’s the great thing about sharing a travel diary with fellow travelers. If you wait long enough, someone else (namely Patti) will write it first and the work is done. And Patti summed it up pretty well. This is a gorgeous place, and while it was well set up for tourists, it hasn’t been too terribly crowded, even with scads of Chinese tour buses (we’ve managed to stay ahead of them most of the time). We haven’t seen sun in quite awhile, and at times, it’s been quite dark and dreary. That said, we’ve had almost no rain during the day, so we’ve counted ourselves lucky, especially considering our main mode of transportation has been by bicycle. So here are my pics from the past two days.Read more

  • Thai Vietnam
    Huge floating village in LAN Ha bay. There were hundreds of houses
    Our lovely stateroom. There were only about 7 in the boat.Kayaking in the bayBryan tried his hand at squid fishing. He didn't catch any, but neither did anyone else.1Fish manicure. I don't like it.More of the floating village

    Cruise time-Lan Ha Bay

    February 16, 2025 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    We couldn’t get enough of the karsts, so we continued our trip on a cruise in Lan Ha Bay, LAN Ha is part of Ha Long Bay, but away from the routes the boats usually take through the bay. We were told it is much less crowded and equally as beautiful. The weather continues to be dark and dreary, but no rain, which is good. Yesterday’s cruising was good-we were fed well, and got to kayak through the karsts.

    Sadly in the middle of the night, my stomach decided it wasn’t happy, and I spent a chunk of the night as well as this morning emptying its contents. Ugh. This hasn’t happened in a long time. I’m praying it’s something I ate and not norovirus.i managed to make the bus ride to Hanoi without embarrassing myself or my fellow travelers, and I think I’m feeling better. Sigh.

    My photos are quite gray, as that was the color of everything yesterday. Some blue sky would have been nice, but it sure could have been worse.

    I don’t think I’ve mentioned karaoke yet, and I can’t believe I haven’t! It is such a huge part of the culture here. Everywhere we’ve gone, even when we were out in the middle of nowhere, someone would have set up karaoke somewhere. Last night was no exception. The last activity for the night was karaoke, and the young people on our boat obliged for several hours long into the night. I was in bed, but I heard it just fine. Apparently being able to sing or even carry a tune is not a requirement. It was so so bad! But I guess they had fun.

    As Patti mentioned, one of the fun parts of travel is meeting people from all over the world, and learning about their culture. That we have done in spades. Now we are in Hanoi for the last few days of our little adventure. I’m praying for better health tomorrow, and more importantly, that I haven’t transmitted anything to my fellow travelers.🤞    Read more

  • Thai Vietnam
    Entrance to the Temple of Literature
    Temple to some mandarin or possibly ConfuciusKind of an art pavilion at the TempleThe John McCain monumentGray view of Hanoi- not a pretty cityThis is supposedly a two lane road. Need another lane? Make one!Train streetHere comes the trainHow to cross an intersection

    Getting ready to leave now.

    February 19, 2025 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    We are now waiting for our ride to the airport and will soon be heading to North America. I’m still feeling pretty crappy this morning but plan to take a Benadryl on the plane and sleep it off.

    Yesterday I felt better and ventured out into the streets of Hanoi with Patti and Bryan. We toured the Temple of Literature which is an old (parts of it ancient) temple of learning, then walked to the lake where John McCain’s plane went down. There is a small monument there-it’s more kind of celebrating that they shot down his and several other planes in that spot. Spent the afternoon napping, and observing traffic out the window. It’s sooo crazy. But I will say this-I have only seen a true traffic jam once, and that wasn’t even in a big city. Somehow it works when everyone is doing the same thing, I suppose. (Btw-no stop signs at intersections. Occasionally a stoplight). In the evening, we went to train street. It’s a narrow street with a train track down the center. There are coffee shops etc lining the street, and you wait for the train to come through, passing feet away from you. This would not fly in North America.

    This has been quite an adventure. We’ve seen so much-some wonderful, some not so much. Overall-a great trip barring this last illness thing going on. I’m really ready to be home.    Read more

    Trip end
    February 20, 2025
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