One of My FAVORITE Days on the Trip!!

We went on a bike tour this morning and it was a perfect, cool, overcast day!  We took a bus out of town (thank goodness we didn't have to ride our bikes through the traffic of Hanoi!) and biked through a beautiful rice farming community.  The scenery was absolutely beautiful!  On the way back, we stopped at a factory where they paint on wood and lacquer it to make traditional Vietnamese paintings.  We watched the artists craft these pictures and they are very talented!  They also use duck eggs and break them into tiny pieces to make the art.  It was very beautiful, but not my decorating style at all!!  We got back to the hotel and then went back out to the Old Quarter to see if we could find a sterling silver charm on jewelry street, but no luck again.  We walked around there and decided that we'd get a foot massage with the rest of our Vietnamese Dong.  It was really relaxing!!  After, we went to an early dinner at that same restaurant we went to last night.  This time we got the BBQ where you cook it at your table.  (beef, pork and chicken)  It was really good.  It came with vegetables too.  We also ordered a salad and those same passion fruit frozen drinks.  SO GOOD!!  After we walked almost the whole way around the lake and back to our hotel.  We showered and packed up our bags.  We are leaving for Cambodia early in the morning-- bag pull is at 5:00am!  Ugh...  We have absolutely LOVED Vietnam!! The people are amazing-- so gentle and friendly and the food is so tasty!  It will be fun to see another culture!!