The Quinn Family Excellent Adventure: February 2019

Our flight to Hanoi was great. We got a reasonably priced taxi ride to our home for the next few days. Enroute I was blown away at the amount of construction investment. The roads were really well built and a huge number of really large hotels and apartment buildings existed on the outskirts of the city. Michelle had booked an AirBnB that turned out to be a 6 KM's from the main tourist area. It turned out to be a cool location as the majority of people in the area we say were locals. Our AirBnB host kept the key with some friendly security staff. It took a few moments to translate to them what was happening. The elevator has a mind of it's own but we were soon inside a really nice 6th floor apartment. I chose to skip the elevator both ways. The shaft was super tiny. You will see in a pic. We were all kinda hungry so we went out immediately. Lunar New Year meant the place was a ghost town. No restaurants open. 95% of local business's were shuttered. We found a few quicky marts and bought some groceries enough for a meal or two. The AirBnB kitchen was really bare so we stocked it with spices and a few sauces. We enjoyed cooking simple meals for a few days whilst I walked and discovered. I totally loved discovering the tiny alleyways. I've got a movie of that. Slowly over a few days the local restaurants opened up. During one of our walks we discovered the very nice Hoan Kiem Lake. Things were pretty active with Lunar New Year activities. We walked passed the Ly Thai To Garden. https://vualythaito.com/ Apparently this is the place to be for kids and electric toys.

Speaking of kids, OMG the Vietnamese people and especially the kids are so friendly here. We were approached many times with Hello, where are you from ... kinda conversation openers with only the intent to talk. Many times by myself little kids would walk up and just want to talk. It was especially noticeable in the remoter parts of the city where perhaps my skin was more unique. It was so cool.

We soon booked the "Full-Day Heart of Hanoi Highlights Tour" with GoAsiaDayTrip.https://www.expedia.ca/things-to-do/full-day-heart-of-hanoi-highlights-tour.a457790.activity-details

They would not pick us up from our isolated location but rather a great pickup spot called the Hanoi Opera House http://hanoioperahouse.org.vn/ Although 6KM's away, its a busy 45 minute morning drive. Oh well. It's fun to watch the traffic both ways. We were told 8:30 but later found out 8:00 AM. Bummer we had to taxi to the first spot.

We checked out these places
Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest Buddhist temple in Hanoi
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the resting place of Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh
One-Pillar Pagoda
Temple of Literature, a beautiful Confucian temple hosting Vietnam's first national University.
Lunch at a local restaurant in the Old Quarter
Bat Trang, a traditional pottery village
Hoan Kiem Lake. Centre for public life and recreation, and offers panoramic views from every shore.

The tour was great. Traffic and crowds were nuts. Bat Trang was yet another tourist trap. Beautiful showrooms full of creations made by gifted artists some who are there doing their craft. I'm calling these places Sweatshop Showrooms now. It's a really good business formula but it's getting old fast.

Our phones are really showing their age. With GPS's being wonky, less than desirable camera's and aged batteries it was time to consider a retirement to another task. I spent quite a bit of time researching replacements. Jacob from Indonesia suggested the Huawei P20 Pro. It's replacement the Mate P20 Pro is seriously pricey at $1100 here. Not. I wanted to find something that was still supported, made by a tier 1 company and still supported LineageOS. The major "big box" stores had great websites but nothing in stock. 20 KM's later (and less shoe tread), I was advised by a helpful woman in one of these stores to visit https://hoanghamobile.com/ It was worth the walk. Super tiny store packed with great staff and wicked prices. It was a locally known treasure chest. A very helpful English speaking person helped me dig out a new Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1. He was curious about me modifying the software. Fortunately flashing it worked great and I was soon back to get 2 more for the girls. Released in May 2018, these phones are very underrated and for less than $245 each it was a killer deal. KT approves of the camera too ;-)

It was time for our last tour
Full-Day Ha Long Bay Boat Excursion from Hanoi
https://www.expedia.com/things-to-do/full-day-ha-long-bay-boat-excursion-from-hanoi.a457780.activity-details
The plan this time
Drive out to Tuan Chau Marina Pier 3.5 hours
Seafood lunch before cruising out to see limestone karst's including the “Kissing Rocks”
Ba Hang Floating Village
Thien Cung cave, also known as the Heavenly Place Grotto
Bamboo boat/Kayak
3 hours back

6.5 hours of driving for 2.5 hours of fun is just on the edge for me. Fortunately I sat beside an equally talkative person. Before we knew it we had solved all the worlds problems were half way there. After a very efficient Sweatshop Showroom Washroom Food break place, we were back on the road. KT enjoys these long vehicle bound trips. With excellent cell reception she can catch up on emails and social media communication. The Tuan Chau Marina Pier was completely packed. Huge buses everywhere. After tickets we walked a huge pier past dozens of boats. Soon after boarding, we were chugging along and a really nice lunch came out. The limestone karsts passing by on either side of the boat are pretty impressive. Much more than the similar structures in Thailand. We parked at the Ba Hang Floating Village and beat much of the crowd up the steps to a pretty decent view. Back on the beach we had time to chill. The air and water was cooler today so only feet and legs were getting wet with many. Soon we were cruising to Thien Cung cave. Wicked cave structures. Huge, very well lit and protected. Lastly we had a choice to Kayak getting a wet bum or a Bamboo boat. KT and Michelle went for the wet bum. I wanted to as well but could not solo. My new friend wanted Bamboo so I switched so he was not alone. It was nice. A similar experience as in Phi Phi islands except nobody had to lie down ha ha. We were soon cruising back to our boat using a different route, nice. My van ride friend was huge in the shipping industry. He had plenty of stories related to the ships we passed. Very cool. Soon we were in our return home van trip. This time we took the highway. This thing was beautiful. It seemed like it was recently built. Fast, straight, smooth and very well lit. 3 hours later we were back in Hanoi and in a Taxi towards home. What a day. Kinda tired. Time for bed

Time for an inspection