Ha Long back to Hanoi

Up early again this morning for the 6:30am buffet breakfast- darn, we missed Tai Chi again! 😜. After filling our faces, we boarded the tender at 7:15 to go to the Bright Cave, landed at a little bay and transferred to a row boat navigated by a lovely little (strong) Vietnamese lady. She rowed us into the caves to a beautiful secluded bay on the other side, where she took photos of us (we were the same group as at dinner last night - the Magnificent Seven! 😉). We rowed back to the tender and drove back to our cruise boat. We had some downtime to pack our bags and check out, and then went to the dining room where one of our tour guides, Sunny, gave us a cooking demonstration. We learned how to make authentic fresh spring rolls, first Sunny showed us, then we got to make them ourselves! (During this time, our boat had been chugging along through the bay and back to our original pick up spot). Next was a buffet lunch - once again delicious - and then we got back on the tender to take us back to the bus for our return journey to Hanoi. This little cruise was absolutely awesome, and I would recommend it to anyone visiting the area.

We were all pretty tired on the bus ride back - it was a little quieter group than at dinner last night! We arrived back in Hanoi around 2:30, said goodbye to our new friends with hugs and promises to stay in touch, and returned to our hotel. Dave and I had a nap in the afternoon, but both agreed it was worth being tired for all the memories made on this cruise!

After our nap, we freshened up and walked a few blocks to the Pasteur Street Brewing Company for dinner. This place was opened by a couple of American guys a few years ago and also has locations in Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City. They have quite a few beers available on tap, as well as wine and cider, and pub food. Dave had a sampling of 6 beers - I had the wine of course, and we both had a bite to eat. Our waiter was a delightful young Vietnamese man named Quon who spoke excellent English (which he told us he learned on YouTube!). He just finished an engineering degree here in Hanoi and told us he was looking forward to the next chapter of his life. We have met so many lovely people so far on this trip and count ourselves very lucky! Off for some shut eye as we have another busy day tomorrow - a tour to the Bai Dinh pagoda and a River cruise to more caves!Read more