Evening excursion to Phillip Island to observe the Little Penguins (aka Fairy Penguins) as they return to their burrows at sunset.

Pictures from the drive down: wallabies, an echidna, bandicoots, Cape Barren geese, swamp hens, and the coastline. Ending with the night sky after the “parade.”

First stop, St Patrick’s Cathedral.

A drive through the sports area.

Second stop, the Shrine of Remembrance (war memorial).

Views from the balcony of the Shrine.

We drove a section of the Grand Prix course on our way to the final stop, Victoria Market.

Last day with Larry and Martyn: breakfast, laundry, lunch and packing up to join the tour. After checking in to my hotel, I did a little sightseeing in my new neighborhood.

It was another blustery day – and we went for coffee and cake with some friends of Larry and Martyn in the morning. We had sandwiches for lunch and I ventured out for a short walk around the neighborhood and did a bit of shopping to replace some items left at home.

We had dinner – homemade pizza – with another couple of friends nearby. They live in a restored 1860s home with an amazing addition on the back that houses a modern kitchen, dining room and sitting area beside a lap pool. Plus a five-car, underground garage.

The flight to Melbourne was long but relatively uneventful. The weather here the first few days was unseasonably cold and wet, so we only left the house for provisions. I did walk a couple of blocks in the neighborhood – mostly small, older cottages, with a smattering of remodels and new construction.

It finally cleared up this afternoon and I walked to, and through, the Melbourne Zoo which is celebrating a 160th anniversary.

The Lovers is a film based on the story of a young French woman who had an affair with an older Vietnamese man (Mr Huynh Thuy Le) in the 1920s. We visited his home.

Then we visited the Kien An Cung Chinese temple – built in honor of the Huyhn Thuy Le family.

Our morning excursion was to Sa Dec, the home of the Cao Dai religion. Our first stop was the temple.

Our final stop was a local where each of our three groups was given 50,000 Dong (US $2.00) and five riddles to answer to determine which fruits and vegetables we were supposed to purchase. (We placed second – none of us had heard of fish mint or wing beans.)

Our morning excursion was by Sampan to Tien Loi where we visited a local man making fish traps and a local woman making flower pots. We then walked through the area before boarding small rowboats for the trip back to the Sampans.

Our afternoon excursion was to Vinh Long where we watched (and helped) them make puffed rice and rice paper. We also watched them make and wrap coconut candy. Afterwards, we had tea and sampled some of the local candies.

We checked out of the Reverie Hotel this morning.

Then we took an excursion to the tunnels of Củ Chi which were used by the guerrillas fighting for independence.

Several of us took an afternoon Vespa tour which included a stop for lunch.

We stopped by a Taoist Temple.

Then we visited the Ten-Thousand Buddha Pagoda. (In Vietnam a Pagoda (chùa) has (a) Buddha; while a Temple (đền) does not.) This four-story bb houses a “cemetery” where people who can’t afford other options, bring the ashes of their loved ones. Memorials range from urns, to paper “headstones.”

After dinner I walked some of the streets around the hotel. They blocked off the street in front of the hotel for pedestrian traffic.

Our morning excursion started with a tour of the Central Post Office, constructed 1881-1886. The Saigon Notre Dame Basilica (1863-1880) is nearby, but undergoing restoration.

Our second stop was Reunification Convention Hall, also known as Independence Palace. It was built on the site of the Governors Palace, which was completed in 1873 and torn down in 1962 after being bombed in an attempt to assassinate president Ngô Đình Diệm.

Our final stop was the War Remnants Museum.

We started the day with an excursion to Sung Sot Cave, the largest known cave in Ha Long.

Then we rode our buses back to Hanoi for the flight to Ho Chi Minh city.

Pearl farm/rest stop on the way to Ha Long Bay.

The most recent version of King Kong was filmed here.

Welcome and safety meeting on the boat.

Our first excursion was to a pearl farm for shopping or kayaking.

The second excursion was to Titop Island with a hike to the top for a panoramic view and a swim on the beach.

Another market on our way to lunch.

Temple of Literature, built in 1070 and dedicated to Confucius, sages, and scholars.

We were on our own for dinner tonight and we ate at a local restaurant .

Today’s tour started with a trip to visit Ho Chi Minh’s tomb.

Strangler Fig is the generic name for an unrelated group of trees and vines that germinate in crevices of trees. As they grow toward the sun, their roots grow down surrounding the host tree. They get nourishment from the host tree that may eventually die.

One Pillar Pagoda, completed in 1049. Emperor Lý Thái Tông dreamt that the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara handed him a baby son while seated on a lotus flower, he married and had a son. He built the temple in gratitude. It became a temple of fertility. It was rebuilt in 1955 after being dynamited.

Ho Chi Minh Museum

We had a free morning, so I took a tour of the city by Jeep. We drove through several areas of town.

And walked through the second-hand parts (car/motorcycle) market and some food markets.

We stopped for coffee on railroad street.

We walked through some residential areas. The water tanks are installed when they add indoor toilets. They call them “water bombs” because if you fill them too full they fall off and “explode.” Later, we were invited in to see an apartment – the kitchens and bathrooms are “private,” but not in the units.

We had lunch in a local restaurant.

We ended the tour at the coffee shop that claims to be the home of the “ egg coffee, invented in 1946. Basically a cappuccino made with an egg yolk instead of milk.

After lunch we visited the Hanoi Hilton and the Red Bridge Temple.

We finished the day at the Water Puppet show.

Bye-bye Bangkok

Bangkok was very different from Delhi. The roads were quieter – no horns. The traffic was less chaotic – not as many vehicles (although lanes are suggestions here, too). It seems a larger percentage of the people are “middle class.”

Early in the visit, Michael told me that vendors rub their merchandise with the money from the first sale for good luck. One night I bought some yoga pants from a street vendor and got to experience that first-hand.

These are just some pictures I like that might have been left out:

Hello Hanoi

Our hotel is on Westlake. I walked to Fat Pig – a barbecue restaurant for lunch. So far, Hanoi is more like India, not Thailand.

Today I took a day-tour. Our first stop was Bang Pa In Royal Palace, the king’s summer palace.

Our second stop was in Ayutthaya at the Wat Yai Chai Mongkol temple and monastery.

Then we drove to “old Ayutthaya” and visited Wat Mahathat, know for the Buddha head in the tree.

We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant on the river.

Then, we visited Wat Phra Si Sanphet and Wihan Phra Monghkon Bophit.

We finished our tour at Wat Chaiwatthanaram.

Michael came by after breakfast and we took the sky train to the Chatuchak Saturday market. Groceries, shoes, clothes, household items for sale in private stalls.