Hello Vietnam!

 


Waiting for driver at Hanoi Airport



Our home for the next six nights

While we waited for our room to be ready, we both had a fantastic foot massage - great thing to do after a long-haul flight.  So far I've visited a massage spa three times and there'll be more!

On Thursday we attended a cooking class nearby,  Apron Up. It was very good and I rate it highly. 

First thing up was buying the ingredients at the neighbourhood market stalls - noodles are made fresh daily.  


All set up for us. We were pleased when she said first to we were asked to wash hands with soap & water before touching any food. 


Peter put together the Egg Coffee - it didn't sound very nice but we thought it was yummy - tasted a little like tiramisu so would make a lovely dessert. 

Our cooking group - Nicki from Balmain & Robyn, an Australian Dr working in Hong Kong. and two girls from Paris. 


The final product: Pho bo - Hanoi beef noodle soup; Bun cha - grilled pork balls with noodle & dipping sauce; Nem ran - fried spring rolls; Nom du du - Green Papaya salad; and Ca phe trung - Egg coffee. The good news is we've got a recipe for these and more!! 


We had previously decided not to go to Halong Bay, possibly not the right decision in retrospect, but there you are. We did, however, go on an all day (turned out to be 14 hrs) tour to Ninh Binh provence. As luck would have it, we had light rain nearly all day but were determined we were going to make the most of the day.

Luong River


 The boat ride on the Be River at Tam Coc was beautiful and relaxing. The rain stopped for us and it was just Peter and I and the young man rowing the boat with his feet (as they all did - must be easier I guess). 


 Into the caves




Then onto the Mua Caves with 500 steps. 

At the first 'summit'



I went solo to the second 'summit' 



View of first 'summit' & steps from 2nd 'summit'.


It truely was a beautiful place. 


Peter & The Dragon of Mua Caves

Due to the traffic on  the motorway, we got back to the hotel at 9.30 instead of 7.30 so we had dinner at Barcelona time - excellent meal at Aalishan Indian Restaurant. 

After seven weeks away from family and friends, we're both feeling pretty homesick. I've decided to go straight to Armidale when we arrive in Sydney. Peter has a concert on Wednesday night to see The War on Drugs at the Opera House. He'll return on Thursday.  




























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