Everyone deserves a little play time...

While we were in Asia, we decided we would take a weekend trip to Hanoi, Vietnam.
We flew an hour and a half and poof - we were in Vietnam.
Vietnam is a beautiful country. My only complaint would be that they have an over population of scooters in Vietnam.
There were several occasions when I thought my Mom would die... as road kill. Now that wouldn't be pretty, would it? It is truly amazing how many people can fit on one scooter...or in one city for that matter!
There are people EVERYWHERE.
After a couple of days exploring the city of Hanoi, we took a three hour bus trip to Halong Bay. We were with a tour group...which always makes things more interesting. The bus driver drove like a maniac and my Mom was a little freaked out...as was I. My sister seemed fine - probably because she has adapted to the way people drive over there... after 8 years of living in Bangkok.

We finally arrived and the whole tour group piled out of the bus. We were staying two nights on a "Junk" boat called "The Pinta Gold Cruise." Halong bay was beautiful! We took a smaller boat to get to our lovely ship. As soon as we got on the boat, Lyle and I went to check out our room. Much to our surprise, we found rose petals sprinkled on our twin beds. I thought it was a nice touch, however, I was a little worried that we signed up for a "romantic love cruise" by mistake.
Turns out, it was a normal cruise and just a standard way of welcoming guests.
On the second day, Lyle and I were talked into going on a leisurly kayaking trip. We both pretended to be kayaking pros... which slapped us in the face about 20 minutes into paddling.
We ended up getting stuck going against a really strong current in a BAT CAVE... not cool.
The tour guide had to switch kayaks with Lyle in order to get us both out safely.
Scary stuff!
No more kayaking in Vietnam for the two of us.
After two days of eating, eating, and more eating we were ready to roll off the ship.
My Mom loved the early morning wake up procedure:
6:45 a.m. -the engine starts
6:46 a.m.- A.C. was turned off
7:00 a.m.- be seated for breakfast

...her room was right next to the engine room so, between the noise and steamy quarters, she was forced to get up.
Of course, this was so funny at the time, for Lyle and I.
Mom referred to the mornings on The Pinta Gold as "the bataan death march."
Don't ask my Mom to rate the cruise...it wasn't really what she expected.