How Long to Hanoi - 5

 Another great day with an 8:45 speedboat ride to an island where we collected our bicycles for the ride inland to a small fishing village.  Inland because cyclones in this area wipe out everything along the coast.  No electric assist and only one gear made some of the hills a little challenging, but a golf buggy was available for those too posh to pedal.  The ride was a great way to work off another sumptuous breakfast and help build an appetite for lunch, which was only a few hours away.  A few traditional homes had been protected for the tourists to view and listen to a short briefing on the island and their people.  This all made for a great morning excursion.  The only problem was that Julie took a tumble up one of the shorter hills on the way back, but fortunately, there was no serious damage.

The speedboat ride back to our ship was another chance to marvel at the limestone islands, some with holes running right through them at sea level.  Julie and I decided that after lunch, rather than participate in any other activities, we would chill on our balcony and enjoy the view, which I do not believe would ever fail to amaze.  One place we did pass was a beach with what I thought was a beach bar.  Turns out it was a temple built to celebrate the life of Miss Men.  She led a group of 8 ladies who dedicated themselves to helping the fishermen and their families recover when major cyclones hit.  The irony is that they were all killed when caught in an exposed position during a particularly bad storm.  She was held in such affection by the fishing community that they built a temple in her honour.

Now, as a treat from Scenic (a treat I have paid for in the price of the trip, no doubt), first a massage, which Julie and I enjoyed together.  The little lady had exceptionally strong fingers, but I did get a little nervous when she started working them up my thighs.  Only because Julie was in the same room.  When finished, we were in a state of total relaxation, which did not bode well for the wine tasting, which was generous to say the least.  I am sure it was only due to our relaxed state that we were unable to refuse the third and fourth rounds of refills.  They also provided nibbles, which just before our final 5-course banquet was obscene, but I ploughed on through the delicacies manfully.  I only wish when eating and drinking so much, I had reviewed the programme, which had a 7:30 am trip to a local floating fishing village.

Why is it that with jet lag, you only seem to slip into a deep sleep just before the alarm goes off?  Our last morning was no exception; perhaps the wine did not help.  We took a short boat ride into an adjacent bay, where fishing boats and floating homes were moored in the bay's curve, close to the steep cliffs.  

The homes were all mounted onto industrial-style blue chemical barrels, which provided their buoyancy, but they seemed a little precarious to be the basis of safety for you and your family.  Most homes had blue barrels supporting square frames that were used to house fish that had been caught in the nets, but were not yet big enough to sell.  The bay had been chosen for its shelter from bad weather, but they still had to head to higher ground when the cyclones hit. This is when I realised, everywhere we go, even here, each dwelling displays the national flag, yellow star on a red background.  Designed by Ho Chi Minh, the yellow represents the colour of the Vietnamese, and the five points on the star represent the five groups that are critical to the country.  Farmers, fishermen, traders, intellectuals and soldiers, with the red background representing the blood of its people shed in the struggle for independence.  Now a communist state and every house with a flag, I suspected it was a legal requirement, but no.  Our guide explained the people loved the flag and were proud to fly it.  For my non-UK readers, there are numerous descriptions of those who fly the flag of their country or the UK, but non of those descriptions are positive.  Hmm!  Perhaps another topic to explore over a glass of wine.

The village's surprise was the boats used to catch squid.  The lines for managing the booms that dragged the nets through the water looked very complex, but their fishing was done at night using a mass of LED spotlights to illuminate the water and attract the squid.  It is these boats we could see in the distance at night that looked like floodlight football stadium on the horizon.  

After our fishing village tour, we returned to our boat for breakfast, packed and departed back to Hanoi for one night before we fly South.  You will have to wait for my next blog to find out what our return stay has in store, but it sure sounds exciting.