Leaving Vietnam

All my girls are gone...we have had such a lovely time a bit of a girls gang...not everyone knew each other to start with but everyone was so easy and relaxed we chatted and swapped stories all the time...almost felt like one of those wonderful women's movies full of interesting vignettes.
Everyone has a story, some so sad, some so lovely, to hear them and appreciate them in a friendly atmosphere, realise life still goes on and friends and family are a real treasure of it is a pleasure.

Glimpses of Halong Bay...magic

There is some new vote for the 7 wonders of the natural world and they are lobbying to be included have your say...http://www.new7wonders.com/

The Surprise Cave

Fish and prawns so fresh they were still swimming.

Life on the road often includes very early mornings for me as I try to keep up with office work in my spare moments...this was the view out of the office window as the sun rose- what a distraction!

 This very simple restaurant in Hanoi delivered us what I would rate as one of the best meals I have ever eaten...Khanh our travel partner in Vietnam is a bit of a foodie and always has somewhere new that serves up good food to the locals..so different to tourist food...this time was amazing

Cat fish cooked in a claypot, sitting on a chunk of galangal and a 2 inch square of pork, seasoned with fish sauce and that was about it cooked until all the jiuces were absorbed and everything was so tender...a chickendish that was heading towards sweet and sour set off with white peppper...it is not often white pepper gets highlighted like this usually for me it is a poor cousin to black pepper, here its delicacy was just right, velvety tofu with tomatoes and garlic, morning glory, a real green treasure of Vietnam served up with garlic and fish sauce...oooh food to swoon over- or burst because you had too much!