Hello from Hanoi!

Hello Florida!

I wanted to take the chance to post some

more photos while we had complete access to free internet and the blog. As most of you know by now, we began our day (yesterday) by taking a privately chartered boat into the Ha Long Bay. The view the entire way was amazing! Huge rocks jetting out of the water covered with greenery of some sort. There were tons of boats just like ours all giving tours of the bay. We were so blessed with great weather the entire time as well. And while its probably a little selfish, I had to post the photo of me actually driving the boat. The captain even let me turn a few times. Never imagined driving a boat through Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.

After the boat tour, we boarded the bus and began our 3 1/2 hour bus ride to Hanoi. Along the way we stopped to visit a local farmers village. One farmer demonstrated how they transport the rice from the fields to the storage areas. Several of the group members attempted to carry one that was actually only half full. The photo of Greg shows you pretty much how they carry everything, unless they have a scooter and then they carry everything on it. Further into the village we were able to enter one farmers home and several of the childern came out to see who we were. One girl (12 years old) could speak some english, so we were able to visit with them a little bit. The smallest girl in the picture and the boy next to her loved giving high fives!

When we arrived to Hanoi, we came straight to our hotel which took some time due to the crazy traffic. Thai (our tour guide) told us that there are 3.5 million "motorbikes" in Hanoi and I completely believe him. On the scooters, we have seen up to four people on them, pottery, plants, a mattress between two people, a man and his wife holding a baby while talking on the cell phone on the back, and many other amazing stunts all while driving amongst the other 3.5 million scooters. These people are very talented and make the two Gator linebackers on a scooter seem like no big deal.

For dinner, we had lots of fish, but it was amazing. I can't remember the name of the restaurant at the moment, but we were able to meet the owner who is in the group photo with us. She was very young, but would come by all three tables to check to make sure everything was okay and show us how to eat each dish.

Today we visited the Farmers Union and were able to have some great discussions about Vietnam agriculture. The group had lots of questions for the leaders. Some realized just how difficult it can be to communicate when you don't speak the same language. The Vietnamese group actually had several questions for us and I think they were ready to come visit Florida today! Once they found out Adam was a part of the Farm Bureau, they wanted to pick a date immediately. After the farmers union, we walked through the Ho Chi Minh Mosoleum. Unfortunately, they are closed on Fridays and Mondays so we weren't able to see everything. Afterwards, we went to a very cool (temperature) restaurant which also had great food and the coldest Coca Cola I have had in weeks!

Now the group is on their own until 5:30am when we head to the airport to leave for Hong Kong. It is hard to believe that we are almost done and will be home in 3 days. I hope you are all doing well and enjoy the photos!