Danang & Hoi An

So, we are supposed to be on deck at 05:30 to catch the sunrise and then do a little Tai Chi lesson. Sounds good to me. But as I am waking up I seem to recognize another sound, rain. Crap. At 05:15 I decide to take a look. The stairs going up to the deck from our staterooms are all wet. NOT a good sign. Then at the top of the stairs I find that I can't even get up to the deck because there is a tarp or something covering the exit. There is no one else around so it's back to the room. A few minutes later I hear someone outside my door and peek out. I ask Maggee if there is a plan B, hoping it might be go back to sleep. She heads off to check and a few minutes later tells me that the rain is really just a heavy mist and we are all assembling on deck. Ok, but obviously the Tai Chi lesson on deck is not going to happen, otherwise it would be Tai Chieeeeeeeeee!

On deck Joey gives us some instruction in what to do in a situation like this and directs our attention to an area of sea stacks where there are no boats. He describes how he would look for the play of light on the rocks, assuming the sun does peak trough the clouds a bit. Ok, I'm game. So I try some different exposures. I notice a small fishing boat sneaking along the edge of the rocks and hope to have enough light to make that part of my picture.

At breakfast Thanh tells us that several of the 2000 plus islands in the bay have caves in them. And we are going to visit one of them this morning. The tender takes us to the island where we climb from the beach up to the cave entrance. This is so different than in the States. There is virtually no control over the folks entering the caves. We can pretty much wander about and touch stuff inside unencumbered.

It's great for getting pictures but I fear for the site itself. Already there is evidence of the destructive effects of oils from human hands on the rocks inside. Again I am amazed at the ability of the D850 to take such fantastic photos in such low light. The cave itself is not overly large and opens out to the other side of the island.

After exiting the cave, I run into Allen, who has been exploring the beach on the other side of the island. Following his suggestion to check it out I find some really interesting photo ops.

Back on the Calypso we sail back to the dock, transfer by bus to the Hanoi Airport for our flight to Danang.   It's about a 4 hour drive so we stop along the way to photograph a farm field, with rows and rows of veggies growing. We find an old bike out in the field, which makes a good subject too. I experiment a bit photographing the bike, and then the owner comes over. I'm sure he was wondering what all the fuss was about. He attaches his hoe to the back of his bike and it makes an interesting picture.

Continuing on the bus we then stop at a kind of souvenir shop, which apparently markets items made by handicap folks. They also have small restaurant with "fast food" and a store with all sorts of other items. I find it interesting that they have Pringles.

Back on the bus and finally we arrive at Hanoi Airport. As it turns out our flight is delayed. Having a case of the hungries, some of us find a Burger King in the terminal. I get a double whopper. OMG! It is sooooo good! I swear it is at least 25% bigger than the ones at home.

The one hour flight to Danang is uneventful. The airport terminal is modern. No sign of the old Base Ops I used to walk into. Then another bus ride to the hotel in Hoi An.  It seems surreal that there are resorts and casinos, where once there was only a runway and beaches.

The hotel is really nice. The room is beyond spacious. Some of the folks go to the hotel restaurant, but I just go up, shower, and hit the hay. It's only about 10 but we have to be down in the lobby at 5 AM tomorrow.