Halong Bay

What a beautiful spot! We just got back from Halong Bay in northern Vietnam and it was a highlight of our trip to say the least. We had a three day boat cruise and two days on an island just hanging out at the beach and being very much in love. tee hee.
We are heading to Laos now and will go hiking for a few days. Also I found a Lao bookstore for kids books published in Lao and will bring some to remote villages. I am excited to give back in a very useful way. Oh, and we are wearing pants! It is cold enough for pants and a fleece. I am very happy about it. Seasons actually exist if you go far enough north.
Hope you are all well.

Burger or Life saver

We are in Vietnam still and completely tired of eating out after so many months. In Thiland it was great to eat anything at anytime, but here in Vietnam it is harder. There is less of our favorite street food and most things have meat in them. Also the food is less exciting to us.
We had a long tour day and I was tired, hungry and tired of being a consumer all the time. So a grumpy Erika grumpily orders a veggie burger, like an American. What came was a ball about 2 inches tall, on a bun with tomatoes,letuce,and cucumber. The ball was mostly made of potatoes and carrots. But the woman offered me mayo, and they actually had ketchup, and all be told, it was one of the best mash-potato burgers ever! It satisfied my cravings and left me very full and very happy. My outlook was turned 180 after that and I went from being very grumpy to being very happy.
Yea!

Vietnam

We headed to south Vietnam on November 1st to meet up with my Dad and stepmom in Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon. It was great to have time with my family. We just walked around the city, talked and ate. It was relaxing and fun. One of the best parts was the cheese that Dad and Kay bought.We were in a fancy western food store and they had a cheese counter to rival, well, QFC. We have not had cheese since Singapore, and when Dad saw my mouth watering he bought me some. It's really nice to have parents around sometimes.
Now we are in Hoi An and the river is almost up to the floor in our hotel. The town is not flooded, but some streets are cut off unless you want to wade to dinner. The specialty here is tailored clothes. They all look so nice and I really want a custom winter coat for when I get back to Germany, but I also don't want to carry it around for another month. Oh well, maybe in Bangkok.
Tomorrow we head to Hue and then onto Hanoi and Halong Bay. I think it is a rule in Vietnam to start all tourist destinations with an H.