Old Chinese proverb

When dragon fly fly low it rain when he fly high it  sunny when he fly in middle he thinks- sun or rain ?

Happy Buddha is still happy but has been bitten four times and cannot imagine how poor Jessica felt he said he has been awake in agony all night. Agony sounds a lot like snoring then ha ha

We are at the hai van pass as featured on top gear  it’s really steep, narrow with sharp hair pin bends and the clouds are lower than the top of the mountains. There is very little traffic control so a little bit scary but beautiful. At the top we saw a bunker used by the Americans in the war width lots of bullet marks. Dave went inside the bunker and was surprised that anyone could stay in there at all especially not for long periods of time like they had to. All the Vietnamese people are friendly and always smiling. Things are very cheap but touristy. There are trains taking passengers from the north to the south of Vietnam they are small and the tracks run at the end of small front gardens and across roads but do not have barriers or No warnings. They go from one stop to the next only  and then back again so if you want to go on a long journey it takes a very long time because you have to get on and off at every station to change trains So a long journey could take for ever.

We have now arrived at hue(pronounced hway) and are staying in a villa type very Vietnamese hotel which is used to train young people to work in hotels and restaurants. They are third year students and overseen all the time so the service is perfect.. Our suite is huge and there were lovely orchids and fresh fruit in the room and before bed they came and turned down the covers and placed chicks And little hand made biscuits each side of the bed. Ahhhhhh!

This afternoon we went to have a look around and had a boat ride in a dragon boat across the perfume river to a local market. Dave’s tummy keeps being patted by smiling Vietnamese who call him happy Buddha   The market was really hectic And we were the only white people there a lady hounded us to look at her stall where she sells silk pajamas and I thought it would be nice to get some for the girls. She took us into a labyrinth of tiny alley ways between stalls PC,ex to the rafters with goods. If the boat lady was no with us we would never have found our way out. All the people were trying to take us to their stalls and calling out to us. I was a tiny bit scared as you can imagine but we made it out in the end but sadly without the pj’s. Perhaps I will try a shop next time. Looking back it was fun though  after that I went to a spa ( small shop with one bed and a box of nail polish!) and had hands and feet done and foot leg and arm massage. Very nice

The chef came to discuss dinner choices with us personally describing all the ingredients and flavours and after questioning us on our tastes created the most wonderful meal, we had a prawn and mango etc etc stater and a chicken roulade stuffed with? With a sauce and bachoy etc delicious and one of the best meals ever. Oh and the bar manager was teaching the staff about cocktails and asked if we would mind sampling for free – what a question – I am no 4 and not had desert yet. Lovelyeee surprise desserts are on the way I a told!!! I may never leave ha ha

Hi everyone

We are still having a fab time. Last night we went to. Traditional Vietnamese restaurant and had the most delicious food ever. We sat on a little balcony in the candlelight it was so beautiful. Everyone here thinks Dave’s wonderful because of his shape and they all call him laughing Buddha ha ha. At 7 am we were driven to halong bay and stopped off at a craft centre that teaches and employs disabled young people to paint and embroider etc for tourists to buy and for export. There were lovely things there and it wS nice to see the young people feeling good about themselves because normally they would just die in an orphanage but here they have lovely homes and friends and a job. We arrive at halong bay at about 11 and boarded a lovely old boat callEd a junk. It was very nicely decorated with lanterns floweres and lovely teak wood everywhere  when we got to our cabin ( only 10 on the ship) our bed was covered in red rose petals and a gorgeous red rose and gypsophila bouquet and chocolate ( I could get used to this!!) we then had afab 6  purse lunch and set sail for the floating fishing village where little boats filled with all sorts of food and goods float around selling things to people who

I’ve in little boat houses. They have a temple and a floating school which is sponsored by an Australian town. It is so smal, only one classroom that children have to take it in turns to be taught. We then went back to the boAt in our little row boat for a demonstration of food carving. I can now make flowers and a swan from apples carrots and peppers. The dinner was a lovely as the lunch and after happy hour we watched the top gear programme they filmed in Vietnam. It seemed so different watching it again after we had been to so many of the places.today we did ti chi ( exersices) on the deck at 7 am then went to a huge cave. We had to climb up 400 steps and down 500 ( dave couldn’t go because of his achy knees and hangover from happy hours!) the cave had stalagmites and stalagtites and was really awesome. Then we had breakfast before leaving the boat at 10.30 for our trip to Haiphong   We went to a little village and saw a cat and dog meat shop! A beautiful lake where all the frogs sang and there were lots of water lilies, it was very pretty but I prefer to live in walderslade. From there we went to the airport which took 2 hours only to find that our flight was cancelled and we had to drive another 3 hours to the next airport which we are arriving at now so I keep my fingers crossed that we can get a flight. I will let you know!  We have met some lovely people and had lots of laughs. Some people come from Orpington and some from Arlington!!! Some Australia too.

Hi
Our day started at 6.30!  We had had lovely tropical breakfast and now I want a chef ! Our your took us to hoh chi min mausoleum where his remains are in a glass coffin from 1975. They have to go to Russia for chemical maintenance every year !!! Then your of city  which is amazing. I have lots of photos to send you. There is a huge turtle lake you would like Viki with the biggest turtles on the world!! Ha ha. Now out to have look around and dinner and drinks we saw a man during a scooter with a sofa on the back one with nine people on it and a photo of one with a live cow tied on the back I hope you like the photos – it’s very different here. Xxxx take care cxx