Turnbull Family Pacific Tour 2015

Today was day two of our cruise within Ha Long Bay. I started the day with Tai Chi on the deck. I can't say I did it any justice, but I followed the instructor's moves as best I could. It was good to start the day with a little light exercise. In the morning we took a day boat through the bay past some of the two thousand islands that cover the area. Our destination was Cat Ba Island for some biking and touring. On the island we took a newly built road five kilometres inland to a nearby village - the old lower road was still under water. There was a lot of rain and flooding in the area about two months ago that has yet to subside completely. The last time it happened was about 90 years ago, and it has really hurt the villages on the island, who are only now getting their houses and rice paddies back. We took three bikes out, with Elizabeth on the back of our guide's motorcycle on the way out and John on the way back. Riding on a motorcycle was again a highlight for the kid...

Start by cooking a crepe, slice a banana on top, fold it, spread it with Nutella and drizzle condensed milk on top. Cut into bite sized pieces and serve. They call them banana pancakes. We've had them in Thailand and now in Laos at stands on the side of the road. What could be better for a late night dessert. We went zip-lining yesterday morning. I started off in a foul mood after a long ride over muddy, bumpy  roads in the back of a truck. But once I saw people zip-lining through the trees over a 100 feet above us I perked up. The climb up the hills over jagged rocks was maybe not as safe as it could have been, but the zip-lining itself was well done with good equipment, trained staff, and well built zip-lines and platforms. What a thrill to cross from one tree to the next through the jungle! We rode along about ten zip lines, and then came the finale. We needed to drop down on a line about 100 feet from the last tree platform to the ground below, what was called the spider dro...