At sunset, we shot the famous Tran Quoc Pagoda in Hanoi, the oldest Buddhist temple in Vietnam, which dates back to the 6th century (bottom). This 1500 year old landmark is located on a peninsula on the east side of Hanoi West Lake, and the mirrored reflection was perfect..

While we were photographing the Long Bien Bridge (top) at sunrise in Hanoi, a group of local swimmers jumped in the river for exercise (top-right). They looked much like members of the polar bear club in San Francisco Bay, where people swim in cold water, though the water here was not so frigid. During commute hour, the roads are packed with motorbikes (lower-right).

We have seen many open air markets around the world, and are always looking for vendors or products that are unique. For the first time, at the Sapa Market, we saw dogs being sold as meat (upper left). That felt creepy to us, seeing pet dogs sold as food. Then, there were the baby ducks (lower-right), that were not the classic baby chickens that we usually see. As always, the markets were quite colorful.

We enjoyed seeing how cultured pearls are produced. At Halong Bay, there is a well done exhibit of the process. It entails a surgical procedure to implant an artificial bead into the tissue of a pearl oyster (center). The finished pearl jewelry seemed to be high quality and sold at reasonable prices (bottom-right). There were photos of celebrities on the walls who purchased their pearls, including Queen Elizabeth, Michelle Obama, and Sofia Loren. The large store is located at the entry port where we caught our Ha Long Bay cruise.

Enroute, we stopped at one of the many marble sculpture showrooms, where we could see the carvers in action. Above are just a few items we were not able to fit into our already overweight suitcases.

Enroute to Hoi An, we stopped at a restaurant for lunch, and this was clearly one of our favorites. All the sea creatures were so fresh that they were still swimming in the aquariums, and we got to select what to eat. The restaurant then prepared the meals. We always eat well on Mehmet’s tours.