Oh my Buddha!

When we were in Egypt, every thing from the guide was concluded with the expression Jesus, the Christ.

In Vietnam, they have their own expression. Oh my Buddha. They use it all the time. I think it is an expression of joy and amazement. I am at least going with that until corrected.

Today we travel by coach, known as a bus in America, to see and stay for a night in Ha Long Bay.

Of course we had breakfast at the hotel. I know you’re asking so yes, I had both American and Vietnamese items. I am going to have to figure out how I can get the Princess to make spring rolls and sticky rice for me for breakfast in Scottsdale. Maybe when we stop for pearls I can buy her one and she will oblige me.

So we stop at the pearl factory.

Implementation. Interesting choice of words.

Here are a few pics of that process.

The map of the region. We are that red dot at the top.
The man above is implanting. A small piece of shell to create the pearl. Oh My Buddha!
The Princess was asked to pick an oyster and they opened it. Inside was a small grade A pearl. She was not given it as a souvenir. Oh my Buddha.
A few pics of the selling area.

So I shopped until I dropped looking for the perfect gift for the Princess for that food bribe.

And here it is. The South Seas pearls. Gold in color. Very rare. Very expensive. How expensive you ask? $30,000 for this necklace! Oh My Buddha!

Back on the bus, without the necklace, and on to our ship for our two day sail and view of the bay.

The Princess and Influencer waiting for their keys.
Our ship.
Boarding. That is Mikey praying they have beer.

A group of ladies do a welcome dance for us.

Our ladies wanted to join in but were restrained.
Boats on the bay. We were told there are over 700 boats. Oh my Buddha.
The Princess taking a look.
Some of our crew leaving to walk 24 flights of stairs to a lookout on a neighbouring island
See that pagoda at the top? That is where Krystal, Goat and Dirk hiked too.
While the others were hiking Tank kept watch for pirates and whales.

Then we went on the afternoon excursion. It was a boat ride with a traditional Vietnamese boat.

Here is the transfer boat taking us to the boat launch.

Our view.
The local roving 7 11 coming by with snacks.
That is Mikey next to her. He had just woken up from his afternoon brain rest.

When we got there we saw for the first time the boats we would be on.

The first group of our crew went out. Here is Goat waving to us.

That is the Goat and Mikey. Mikey has just woken up from his brain rest.

We loaded up and went for our ride.

Keep your heads down!
Cliffs all over.
Our boat.

Our oarsman took us to land because we saw the far east Vietnamese cousins of the influencers former spider monkey.

Good looking chap.

Here was our oarsman.

Here was our oarsman. We felt safe with him.

Then Dirk took over.

We no longer felt safe!

Then we saw a face on a wall.

See the eyes and nose?

Omaha thought it was Canadian and took its picture from another boat.

That is Omaha taking the picture.

When we went back to the boat we prepared for the wine tasting.

Ladies waiting for the free wine.
Preparing the vino.
Our view.
The mobile 7 11. Snacks anyone?
Sunset in the bay. Beautiful. Picture by Mikey. Edits by AI.
Dirk and his bride.

When the ladies from the trip saw Dirk on the boat, pulling the oar, looking manly, and then sitting with this lady, they started to come up to him. We could hear from their lips to our ears, Oh my Buddha! Here are some of their reactions.

Then to top it off, Dirk agreed to sing to those ladies who could not get a selfie with him. Oh my Buddha!

For Dirks fans the full version of the song can be found on You Tube. His album is coming out this summer. Title will be Dirk, a night of romance and culinary delights. A few of his recipes will be included as a bonus. Cost to be about 2 million dong.

The above picture is of boats anchored for the night. We too are ready so let me sign off with a good night to all.

Comments

One response to “Oh my Buddha!”

  1. Alison Avatar

    Those videos are so funny! Pleasure doing business with you, Cap. You’re a fast study and a formidable challenger. Safe journeys go you and the Princess. See you back in Arizona.

    Like

Leave a comment