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Wednesday, May 1 - Bratislava Today, we arrived in Bratislava early. We would need to leave by noon, so there was only the included tour to choose from. We had an excellent guide, who gave us lots of information about the differences between her life during Communist times and her life now. We started at the Slovak National Theater and the Promenade Square. Our next major site was St. Martins Cathedral where nineteen Hungarian kings and queens have been crowned (more than anywhere else in Hungary). This is very representative of the fact that borders in this region have changed many times. The exterior of the church is quite beautiful, and there is a gold crown that sits atop the steeple. The interior has nicely carved wood altarpieces. Next we saw a bit of the remaining 15th century town wall. We saw several other picturesque locations before reaching the town square. A street that is a favorite for film directors Michaliska Street - St. Michael’s Gate - the last surviving tower of the city wall The Main Square - its fountain celebrates the 1563 coronation of Maximillian II, the first Habsburg emperor. Our guide led us to a few more locations near the square, but we were soon on our own to sample the local Bratislava bagel with some coffee.We chose one stuffed with poppyseeds and one stuffed with walnuts. Both were delicious, but I think I like the walnut version best. Fortified from our snack, I talked Mike into climbing up to the castle before heading back to the ship. It was quite a climb, but not very far and the view from above was great.The castle dates to the Middle Ages, and had been burned and rebuilt several times. The Bratislava Castle Gate I’m disappointed that our stay in Bratislava was so short. I know I’d like to return and really explore the city.

April 29, evening - Vienna For our last event in Vienna, we were able to book the Viking musical tour. It’s an exclusive arrangement that Viking has with Alma Deutscher, the child prodigy who wrote her first opera at age six. We had seen an interview of her on 60 Minutes some years back, so we were excited to have the opportunity to see her conduct, play the violin, and to hear several of her original works. The program was so well constructed! Besides the original works, we heard Strauss and Mozart works to round out the evening. I highly recommend this tour if the option is available.

The Mekong ship only held 80 passengers - so that was another plus. So much more intimate. I’m sure costs over all in Southeast Asia are simply less. That was a big benefit. It had a lot - a small pool and gym. I’m thrilled with what we have on this ship, just liked the other better.

April 28 - Vienna Today was embarkation day. The skies were blue once again. We had a leisurely breakfast, packed our last items into our bag and called for an Uber. Boarding was quick and we were in our room quickly. Lunch was being served on the Aquavit Deck. After lunch, we took some time to explore the ship. It was our first time on one of the European Long Ships. Earlier in the year, we had taken the Viking Saigon on the Mekong River. I actually like its design better since the staterooms on it are much larger. The basic French Balcony is 303 sq ft on the Viking Saigon (that’s the cabin style we chose). Here on the Viking Kadlin, a French Balcony is only 135 sq ft. Since we do value personal space, we opted for the Veranda Suite on this ship (still only 275 sq ft, but more room to move around). We certainly paid more, but we do appreciate the space. After we finished checking out the Kadlin, we decided to head over to the Ubahn to go one station to Prater Park. After our Third Man tour yesterday, we wanted to see the Ferris wheel that is featured in several scenes. The park is huge so we also accomplished completing our 10,000 steps for the day. We had a short rest prior to our safety drill and the Welcome Briefing. Then it was on to dinner. Dinner was good, but nothing terribly exciting. The best thing I tried was the Liver Dumpling Soup. After dinner, we headed to the Lounge to hear the resident pianist. We danced twice - one selection was a Waltz which we particularly like to dance. The day had caught up with us so we headed off for one last walk on the upper deck, then to bed. April 29 - Vienna This morning we slept in a bit and then had to rush to make our Panoramic Tour. We’ve done most of the big sites in the central city area, but decided it would still be fun to hear another tour guide’s take on Vienna. The bus drove us past the Prater (glad we went yesterday to see it up close), and many other beautiful buildings with fabulous architecture. The bus stopped to let us off at the Maria Theresa statue between the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Natural History Museum. Then we headed directly into the Hofburg Palace area. The first part of the Palace was built in the 13th century and the last of the building was completed in 1913, just before the First World War. By the end of the war, the Hapsburg Empire was gone and the building was at an end. It’s actually quite interesting to see how one new building phase was added to the next as each new Emperor wanted the latest and greatest style. Once we left the Hofburg Palace area, we walked the pedestrian friendly streets around the main thoroughfares, Karntner Strasse and Graben. Our guide pointed out many interesting shops and cafes along the way. In the middle of Graben, there is a Holy Trinity plague column. During the plague of 1679, Emperor Leopold I is said to have begged God to save the city. Leopold then built this column in thanksgiving. Ultimately, our tour ended at St. Stephen’s Cathedral. We were given an hour of free time. Mike and I decided to head back to one of the coffee houses the guide had pointed out, Demel’s. There they make a wonderful treat known as a kaiserschmarrn. It is a cake that is broken then covered with a delicious plum compote and lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar. It was a great late morning snack. After our coffee break, we still had time to take a quick look inside St. Stephen’s before our time to meet the guide again to head back to the Viking Kadlin.

Pontac - You are absolutely correct - it is the Kadlin. Sometimes, i forget to proofread right away, and if you wait too long, you lose the ability to edit. Thanks, Canal Archive and Ural Guy. Saturday, April 27 - Vienna Today got off to a rough start because I had jet-lag insomnia last night. We had a tour scheduled for 10:00 am so it was up and out even though I would have loved to stay in bed (although that would not have helped with the jet-lag). Right after breakfast, we headed out to meet Gerhard Strassgschwandtner at the Maria Theresa statue located between the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Natural History Museum. See how beautiful the day is! Gerhard is the Director of The Third Man Museum in Vienna. If you’ve seen this classic 1948-1950 film noir, you’ll definitely want to book a tour with Gerhard. We booked his “Cold War in Vienna” tour. Gerhard provides excellent background on life in Vienna during WWII and the early days after the war, when the city was divided by four powers - the US, the British, the French and the Russians. As was true in Berlin, Vienna was completely surrounded by the Russian sector. The US was adamant that the Russians should not control Vienna alone. This Cold War period is the setting for The Third Man. Gerhard led us on a walking tour of the area around the Hofburg Palace buildings, showing us photos of Hitler and his *** compatriots at these same buildings. We also got to see these same buildings secured by the four powers who held joint occupation duties. Gerhard also showed us photos of the condition of many of the nearby buildings following the bombings later in the war (buildings and rubble that would form part of background for the movie, much of it shot in Vienna). I, particularly, loved that Gerhard pointed out sites where filming took place, such as Harry Lime’s apartment building and the entrance to the sewers that Orson Welles ran into near the end of the movie. Harry Lime’s apartment building The entrance to the sewer where Harry Lime “escaped” in the movie Following our walking tour, Gerhard took us to The Third Man Museum. It is filled with unbelievable memorabilia - Trevor Howard’s annotated scrip, hundreds of stills and movie posters. Multiple video interviews with cast and crew. A chance to watch some video clips shown using a 1936 movie projector. Actual cameras used on the set as well as a myriad of set artifacts. There was just so much more to see than time allowed, but it was great having Gerhard provide a personal tour, pointing out the significance of the rare pieces and describing how he was able to obtain these movie treasures. Care packages sent to the Viennese post-war A sewer mood piece A mock up of the sound studio ferris wheel car used for filming - visitors can try out the scene where Joseph Cotten meets with Orson Wells on the ferris wheel Mike’s fingers replicating a pivotal scene from the movie - in Black and White, like the movie! A clip from the cemetery scene - note the actual tombstone in back Yes, Gerhard has the tombstone! If you are interested in just visiting the museum, it is only open to the public on Saturdays from 2:00 - 6:00 pm, but if you book his tour, you have the whole museum to yourself (with Gerhard’s commentary). We had watched the Criterion Collection copy of the movie along with all of the commentaries prior to coming on this trip. I would highly advise doing this if you are a movie buff and might be considering this tour. We loved it. After our Third Man tour, we were going to have lunch at the Naschmarkt (near The Third Man museum), but my lack of sleep had really caught up with me, so I suggested we head back to the hotel. However, I did want to see where the Kadlin was moored, so we hopped on the Ubahn and located the address and the river boat. The day today was absolutely beautiful - blue skies and a high of 71F. Walking along the Danube Canal was delightful! After this detour, we made it back to the hotel. I had some mint tea and stretched out for a bit. We opted for another Executive Lounge light dinner tonight. I have to say that their evening cocktail dishes have been very tasty and different each evening. A glass of wine and I was ready to head to the room to write up my report of the day’s activities and call it an early evening. I hope I feel like full touring mode tomorrow when we board the Kadlin.

Friday, April 26 - We are off on another Viking River Cruise (our second). As we usually do, we arrived several days prior the the cruise embarkation. We left JFK on Wednesday, the 24th, flying via Amsterdam. We had a longer layover than I usually like, but the price was right for business class so 5 hr layover it was. The flight still got us to Vienna by mid afternoon. We had a relatively quick journey by rail to center city and a short walk to the Hilton Plaza hotel. We tend to stay at Hiltons when we travel since we are Diamond members and almost always get upgraded. Our arrival day was no exception. We enjoyed a light dinner and wine at the Executive Lounge and called it an evening. I took a melatonin to make sure that I got a good night’s sleep, read a couple of chapters in my book and turned out the lights. This morning, we slept in until 8:00 am, then got ready and had breakfast in the Executive Lounge. We had some trip business to take care of after breakfast, mainly to obtain some Euros and get a 72 hr transportation pass for Vienna. With those chores out of the way, it was time to take the tram from outside our hotel to the Kunsthistoriches Museum. We used the Rick Steves’ guide to tour. Our main focus was the 1st floor, starting with the Italian Renaissance paintings, then moving to the Northern Renaissance paintings. I used to teach about some of these paintings in my World History course, so I was enjoying it all - especially the Pieter Bruegel, the Elder paintings. Besides Bruegel, this museum has a wonderful painting by Vermeer, Ruebens, Titian, Canaletto, Caravaggio, (sorry, I didn’t take photos of these), Arcimboldo, Raphael, and Velazquez. A wonderful sculpture by Antonio Canova greets visitors at the first set of steps. Obviously, there are many more paintings than these, but these definitely stood out to me. When we finished with the paintings gallery, we decide to take a break in the museums beautiful cafe. The dome above the cafe! The cafe from above After the coffee break, we went through the Kunsthammer, the personal collection of objets d’art of the House of Hapsburg. Let me just say, there was a lot of gold and silver in this collection. One item was Benvenuto Cellini’s golden salt cellar - quite impressive! Then it was on to another gallery that held Egyptian, Greek and Roman treasures of the Hapsburgs. This Egyptian gallery is actually supported by ancient Egyptian columns! We just made a quick trip through the Egyptian, Greek and Roman gallery since it was close to closing time. This museum definitely requires more than one visit! Since we were still experiencing some symptoms of jet-lag, we decided to head back to the hotel, have another light dinner in the Executive Lounge and call it a night.

Tuesday, March 5 - Taipei Our last full day in Taipei. We decided to head out to see Taipei 101. It was easy to take the MRT. The upscale stores in the lower levels of the building were fun to explore, too. We decided to pay a bit extra to go to the highest floor, basically because we visited the highest floor you could visit at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Needless to say, the Burj Khalifa was a lot more impressive, but I’m still glad we visited Taipei 101. Loved some of the architecture of buildings surrounding Taipei 101. Then we headed off to have lunch. Our guide from the day before had suggested a Michelin recommended restaurant for beef noodles. We headed to the MRT for the short ride there. The restaurant was packed, but we were seated at a small table near the back of the room. The beef noodles were delicious. By the time we finished lunch, it was late afternoon and we needed to head back to the hotel to pack since our flight out was the following morning. We decided to just have cocktails and a light dinner in the Executive Lounge. Wednesday, March 6 - Leaving Taipei The location of the hotel once again proved its convenience for reaching the airport. The connection was relatively quick and the check-in was simple. We had plenty of time to use the China Air lounge. By the way, they had the best lounge of the whole trip. The food was definitely a cut above. I tried to limit myself because I knew we’d have food on the plane, too, but I couldn’t help but try some of the dishes. The Korean Air lounge in Inchon was ok, but nothing special. We did have nice service on the Korean Air flight to Inchon and the Delta One flight to Seattle. Just as on the way out, we stayed one night in Seattle to rest, then headed on to the East Coast the next morning. Overall, this had been a great trip. Our first river cruise had been quite successful, but I just hope we haven’t spoiled ourselves with that great room on the Viking Saigon. It was so spacious for a bottom classification room - 303 sq ft. We have a AA suite on our next river cruise in Europe and even though we paid quite a bit more for it, it is only 275 sq. ft. It will be interesting to experience the difference.

Monday, March 4 - Traveling about outside of Taipei Today, we had another ful day tour, but this time outside Taipei. We knew we didn’t have much time for Taiwan, but felt that if we visited a few places outside the city, we’d feel like we’d gotten to know Taiwan a bit better. Immediately after we left the city, we were in rural surroundings - twisting roads and tree covered mountains. Luck was with us because the weather on this day was beautiful. Sunshine and blue skies. Our first stop was in Pingxi, where the annual Lantern Festival is held during the Lunar New Year. We were at the tail end of this period, but Pingxi has sky lantern release all year long. We were given a red lantern and provided with black ink and brushes in order to write our wishes on all four sides. Our handwriting wasn’t very legible, but sending our lantern skyward was so much fun. We took a quick walk around Pingxi and over to a bridge to admire the river below us and the many lanterns on their skyward journey. Then it was off to our next stop at Shifen Waterfall. Again, we had a lovely walk across several picturesque bridges until we reached the first viewpoint. What a lovely spot. If you walk a bit further, you have the best viewing spot of all. Near the waterfall, there are shops that sell snacks and other foods. I bought some of their peanut candies that were so good! After Shifen Waterfall, we were off to Jiufen. It is another mountain village even higher in the mountains. It had been an old gold mining village, but now the old narrow alleyways between the buildings are filled with street foods, tea shops, and restaurants. We had a delightful lunch here - soup dumplings and pork rice. Jiufen Old Street Sampling Taiwan Mountain Tea Our lunch There are several hotels in Jiufen, too. One was used as the setting of a popular movie called “Spirited Away. I wish we’d had time to have tea in that hotel with its open balconies. When we got home from our trip, we watched the new Taipei episode of “Somebody Feed Phil” and the hotel was there! After having lunch and wandering through more of the shops, we headed to our last major site, Yehliu GeoPark. I didn’t know about this park until I started doing research for the Taiwan portion of our trip. It is on a 1700 meter promontory jutting out from the northern coast of Taiwan. Due to erosion and weathering for millions of years, fabulous geological formations have been created. There are mushroom rocks, candle rocks, ginger rocks, potholes, tofu rocks and sea caves. And, of course, people throughout the years have seen different shapes in the rocks and have given them names. It was such a fun place to tour. Cute Princess Rock (aka Girl with Ponytail Rock Mushroom rocks The back side of Queen’s Head Rock Ice Cream Rock Various named rocks Maling Bird Rock - I think it looks like an antelope Gorilla Rock It had been a great day, but it was time to head back to Taipei City. I’d highly recommend a visit to all these locations!

Sorry about the two photos at the end of the previous post. By the time I noticed them, I wasn’t allowed to edit. Sunday, March 3 - Taipei Yesterday had been a busy tour day, so today we planned to take it easy. We had spent so much time at the National Palace Museum yesterday that we didn’t have time to go to Longshan Temple so after breakfast, we headed out to rectify that. Longshan Temple was originally built by Chinese immigrants from the mainland in the 18th century, but it has been destroyed by fires and earthquakes several times. It was last rebuilt after WWII when part of the main temple was struck by American bombers when the Allies thought the Japanese were hiding armaments there. It was fun to visit the temple while it was still all decked out for Lunar New Year. Some of the entry decorations for Lunar New Year Many worshipers were presenting offerings Some of the offerings presented - love the Kentucky Fried Chicken After Longshan Temple, we hopped back on the MRT to go to Din Tai Fung. It is a famous soup dumpling restaurant that has had a Michelin star for some time. We visited the Din Tai Fung in Singapore in 2018 and the one in LA in 2022, but the original is here in Taipei. Of course, there was a wait (over an hour), so we got our number which we could keep track of online and went in search of a brewery. As is the case these days almost anywhere in the world, there was one just a couple of blocks away. We enjoyed our time there until it appeared that our number would soon be called. We hurried back to Din Tai Fung and, needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed our 2 orders of soup dumplings. Soup dumplings - when you bite into them, you find soup! Open kitchen at Din Tai Fung After we finished our meal, it was easy to walk back to the MRT station and ride back to the hotel. Since our lunch had been mid-afternoon, we decided to have a light dinner at the Executive Lounge.

March 2, continued: During the late morning and early afternoon, our tour continued at the National Palace Museum. This museum holds a huge collection of art and artifacts, most of these treasures were taken from the Forbidden City by Chiang Kai-shek as he left mainland China. We spent about 3 hours here, but honestly, could have spent several days! Some of my favorite items: Neolithic cong (a type of ritual object often placed with the dead) 3400-2250 BCE Meat-shaped carved stone that looks like pork, made of jasper Ceremonial bronze bell 1046-771 BCE Ming vase with “Hundred Deer” motif Chinese landscape painting (just one portion of a long painted scroll) 1441 CE Part of an art piece made of ivory balls of nested concentric layers with human figures in open work relief - Late 19th century Tang ceramic figurine 618-907 CE The real disappointment with our museum visit was not being able to see the Jadeite Cabbage that is on every “must see” list for the museum. Oh well, another reason to come back. After leaving the museum, it was off to see the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial. There were cherry blossom trees blooming outside the memorial, but the drizzle was still with us. At first glance, the Memorial faintly reminds one of the Lincoln Memorial in DC, with the large seated statue of Chiang with quotes from some of his famous speeches all around. Our guide said that Madame Chiang took control of the memorial design and really wanted to bolster Chiang Kai-shek’s image which had been tarnished by groups unhappy with his authoritarian side. There was a special area of the museum (all in Mandarin) that talked about the authoritarian abuses of Chiang Kai-shek. This is not really set up for the foreign tourists and was insisted on by the democratic leaning governments of the last decade who wanted to present a more balanced view of Chiang. Our guide gave us his translation of the photos and artifacts in this exhibit, which really added to our understanding of Chiang Kai-shek and politics in Taiwan. Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Plaza of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial, flanked by the National Concert Hall and the National Theater (with orange roofs), looking toward the main gate Our first plan of action was to go upstairs to see the Changing of the Guard. It is quite the impressive display of rifle twirling skills and precision marching. Unfortunately, my camera ran out of power so didn’t really get the photos to show that off. After the changing of the guard, we visited the museum on the ground floor of the memorial. A replica of Chiang Kai-Shek’s office The only signboard in the regular part of the museum to show Chiang’s authoritarian side. By the time we finished at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial, it was time to head back to the hotel to warm up, dry off, and have dinner.

Friday, March 1 - Travel day from Hanoi to Taipei: Today was the day to leave the Pan Pacific Hotel in Hanoi and travel to the airport. After breakfast in the Executive lounge, we called for a Grab Car and headed to the airport which was about 30 minutes away - our cost was about $13. We were flying business class on China Air (Taiwanese national airlines) so our check in was very quick and the service onboard was excellent. We had a great lunch which we could choose in advance and very comfortable seats. After arriving in Taipei, we collected our bags and took the MRT a few stations and then transferred to the High Speed Rail for one stop. We could have taken the MRT the whole way if we had a downtown hotel, but we had chosen a Hilton in New Taipei City. It still only took about 30 minutes and dropped us off just a block from our hotel. The Hilton had upgraded us to a small suite (from a regular king) so we were pleased. The rest of the evening, we relaxed at the Executive Lounge. Saturday, March 2 - Taipei: Today, I had arranged for a Taipei City tour through Viator. Our young guide had lived in the US during his college years, so understanding him was not a problem. He quickly assessed some of our interests, noting that we were interested in going to the National Museum and adjusted our schedule accordingly. It was a off and on again rainy day, so it was probably a good thing that we were interested in the National Museum. Our guide drove us through the downtown area of Taipei, providing lots of information about the city and the country. Our first stop was at the Grand Hotel Taipei. There had been a hotel in this location from the early 20th century, but in 1952, Madame Chiang Kai-shek wanted a grander hotel to stand in this location so that was the beginning of this new “grand” design. There are many historical photos inside illustrating the important people and events that have occurred here. The Grand Hotel Taipei Main lobby Exquisite ceilings in the lobby One of several beautiful fountains inside the hotel Looking toward the main entrance gate to the hotel from inside the hotel grounds Our next stop was at Lin A Tai Historical House and Museum. In 1754, Lin Chin-Ming came to Taiwan from mainland China. It is now one of the oldest houses and grounds existing in Taipei. In 1978, it was in an area that was to be redeveloped and due to its historical value, a plan was created to move it to its present location. By 2000, it was opened to the public. The present site and architecture are in accordance to the principles of Feng Shui and Taoism. It is filled with historically appropriate artifacts. We enjoyed wandering the property and hearing its history and about the elements of Feng Shui as we toured with our guide. The entrance to Lin An Tai Historical House and Museum The main house One of the beautiful roofline views Lattice work that allowed light from outside into what would otherwise be dark rooms There were many different latticework designs, creating symbols with auspicious implications. The cloud wall, built to create a floating cloud effect that harmonizes with the hill behind The Pavilion, providing a relaxing waterscape by Moon Pond The Arch Bridge near the Pavilion

Thursday, February 29 - Hanoi on our own: Another leisurely morning, with our first real activity being a Food Tour at 11:30 arranged through Viator. We had a great guide who took us to several really delicious spots. It was so much fun to dine on the sidewalks at the low tables, sitting on plastic stools, just like the locals. Photos describe our journey through the streets of Old Quarter Hanoi dining best. Dried beef salad Fixings for Fresh Spring Rolls Learning to roll our own Fresh Spring Rolls So interesting to see Grab Scooter drivers picking up take out orders A young woman or eparing our Dry Pho Dry Pho Condiments to spice up our Dry Pho Who knew Dry Pho would be so delicious? Draft Beer stop on Hanoi Food Tour The owner pouring “fresh” draft beer for us Bahn Mi Bun Cha The ceiling of the coffee shop we visited Hanoi Coconut Coffee Hanoi Egg Coffee I highly recommend taking a food tour while you are in Hanoi. Our tour group was limited to 6 so it was lots of fun getting to know some other people. After the food tour, we walked over to the iconic Lake of the Restored Sword where Den Ngoc Son temple is located. It is on an island in the lake connected by a red bridge. There is a legend regarding the founding of Vietnam that involves a sacred turtle in the lake and a sword that the leader who fought an invading group received that allowed him to win the battle. The sword was eventually returned to the lake. Besides the beautiful island location and temple, there is a small building on the grounds that houses the preserved remains (after they died naturally) of two of the rare turtles found in the lake Entrance to Den Ngoc Son temple Artwork depicting the legend of the sacred turtle and the restored sword One of two preserved rare turtles found in the lake After our visit to the temple, we walked through the Old Quarter, looking for propaganda posters for our sons - and we were successful. As we were wandering, we came to Railroad Street - a location many tourists like to visit when the train comes through (although this is discouraged by the government since it is dangerous). We walked by the Vietnam Military History Museum (closing soon) located near the Watch Tower of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long (an 11th century UNESCO site), but realized we were too late to visit since it, too, was closing in about 15 minutes. At that point, we called a Grab car and headed back to the hotel. Both of those locations are definite “must sees” on our next trip to Hanoi. The watch tower of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long Just a corner of the citadel that I could glimpse Once back at the hotel it was time to pack, have cocktails and dinner.

Wednesday, February 28 - Hanoi on our own: We said goodbye to the few remaining Viking tour members who were having breakfast in the 1st floor breakfast room of the Pan Pacific. They would be leaving at various times today, but we had arranged two more days on our own in Hanoi before flying to Taipei, Taiwan for 5 days. As Rick Steves often says, sometimes you just need a vacation from your vacation. Viking had really kept us busy for the previous 2 1/2 weeks and we needed a break. We had no real plans for today except to sleep late, eat when we felt like it, and take a walk. We were also celebrating the 10 year anniversary of survival from a life-threatening event for my husband. Ten years to the day prior, Mike suffered an aortic dissection aneurysm while on a business trip. He was in the right place at the right time because he was able to be transferred to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL where surgeons saved his life. They considered it pretty much a miracle. So I decided that we would stay at the Pan Pacific, but we changed rooms to enjoy a suite (with Executive Lounge benefits). The room was lovely with a great view from both rooms. The day was misty and cool, but the view from the sitting room of the suite looked right down on the causeway between the hotel and the Old Quarters of Hanoi. One of several flower arrangements in our suite Since we had a late breakfast, we didn’t want lunch. Instead, we had tea in the Executive Lounge (quite the spread) and even ended up there for a light dinner at their cocktail hour. Our only touring for the day, was a brisk walk along the causeway from the hotel toward the Old Quarters. Here we viewed the Memorial to John McCain.. It is right in front of the area in the lake where his plane went down during the Vietnam War. Today, the Vietnamese are very appreciative of all that John McCain did with other Senators to open trade with Vietnam during the 1990s, a time when the Vietnamese people were really suffering once support from the old Soviet Union was gone. John McCain Memorial Another view along the causeway We also visited the Tran Quoc Pagoda, a pagoda built in the 6th century. There was a temple, as well as a sacred tree that had grown from a seedling from the original Bodhi tree that had been presented to Vietnam by the President of India in 1959. After dinner, we returned to our room to be surprised that the hotel had left a celebratory cake and card for us. This was just one example of the wonderful service that we had while staying at the Pan Pacific.

Tuesday, February 27 - Final Day of the Ha Long Bay extension: This morning, we headed back to the mainland, boarded our bus for a short ride, then stopped at Mikimoto Pearls. After a brief introduction to the pearl farming in this area, tour members were escorted into the showroom to view the pearl jewelry, etc. and, hopefully, make some purchases. Mike and I headed immediately to the coffee bar. I had visited the home offices of Mikimoto in Tokyo some years back so we were quite content to have a second coffee after our nice buffet breakfast at the VinPearl. After about 45 minutes for shopping (and coffee drinking), it was back to the bus to return to Hanoi and one last night on Viking at the Pan Pacific. Along the way, we had a good view of the port of Haiphong, one of the main targets for bombing during the Vietnam War. The Port of Haiphong Once we were back in the city, we had time to check into the hotel and get freshened up before it was time to go to the water puppet theater. This was not part of the Viking program, but our Mekong guide, Kong, had arranged for the tickets for us. Two other Viking couples also went to the 5:30 show. We had great tickets in the third row. We took a Grab car down to the Theater. We used Grab multiple times in Hanoi and the bill was usually about $2.50 (directly charged to my credit card that was on the Grab app). No need to worry about taxi meters. We loved the water puppet show. One of the other Viking couples saw us coming into the theater and encouraged us to go out to pick up the audio guide in English. Wow, what a great idea! Before each new act, there is an explanation of the action in Vietnamese in the theater. The audio device provides the same intro for each act in English. It made the different folk story acts so much more understandable and enjoyable. The stage Some of the musicians After the water puppet show, we walked to a nearby restaurant where we had reservations - Madame Hien. This is one of the restaurants that had been featured on an earlier Parts Unknown by Anthony Bourdain. It was a fun restaurant, the food was delicious and our server was excellent (as he described each dish in detail). It was a super way to end the evening. We each chose a different tasting menu so that we could share as many menu items as possible. It was quite the feast! The menu Mike chose The menu I chose Buddha hand that was grated on one of my dishes Our favorite dessert After dinner, we used the Grab app to call a Grab car and we were quickly back to the hotel.

Monday, February 26 - Ha Long Bay extension begins: After breakfast at the Pan Pacific hotel, it was time to board our bus and head to Ha Long Bay. We only had to take an overnight bag and could store out main luggage at the Pan Pacific since we would be returning there after our Ha Long Bay hotel stay. After a relatively short bus ride, our first stop was to board our Ha Long Bay boat to cruise through this scenic area. The boat was filled with tables where we would enjoy our lunch. We could also go out on the open air aft area of the boat and the open air topside filled with seating for those who wanted to have unobstructed views. To be honest, it was a bit chilly, and while I ventured out several times, I did spend most of my viewing time indoors. We did have nice windows from which to view at the dining tables though. The mainly seafood lunch was included, but you had to pay extra for wine or beer. We bought a bottle of Vietnamese red wine which we found totally acceptable for 480 dong. Others at our table bought Chilean red wine for about twice that amount. Dining tables Aft viewing area A floating market that came alongside It was misty with occasional breaks in the clouds - one thing to consider, Jan, Feb, March will have relatively cooler temps in the steamy south Vietnam (still in the low 90s), but also cooler temps in the North (50s-60s). Go for the warmer summer months in the north and you’ll have to suffer the unbearable temps in the south. The kissing rocks - an iconic Ha Long Bay site Near the end of the boat ride, we went into a cave that actually turned out being one of the highlights of our boat trip. It was called Dong Thien Cung and was located 20 meters above sea level. The stalactites and stalagmites inside the cave were fascinating. Climbing up to the cave entrance Entering the cave After visiting the cave, we headed back to board our boat to go back to the harbor to board our bus to take us to our hotel - the Vinpearl Hotel located on its own island. OK, the hotel was weirdly a Hotel California meets Fantasy Island. It looked spectacular inside and out, but was almost empty except for our Viking group. Spooky! Services were nice, but it still felt strange. We had to check in on the mainland, then take a boat to the island where the hotel was. Our room was very nice, our evening meal (on our own) was nice, but the emptiness was still kind of spooky. I think all of us felt better when we boarded the boat the next morning to head back to the “real” world. The entrance to the VinPearl The lobby bar View from our room balcony Main lobby Pools in back of the hotel