Malta November 2009

Malta Trip ReportNovember 11-17, 2009

I have never been in Malta. Great opportunity came up – to inspect the island with a group of 9 travel agents. When I told people where I am going, many asked me: "where is Malta?” Even more people asked: "Why Malta?"

According to Word Atlas, Malta is (quote) This inland sea is bordered on the north by Europe, the east by Asia, and in the south by Africa. This 969,100 sq. mile body of water is approximately 2,300 miles in length, and has a maximum depth of 16,896 ft. Major subdivisions include the Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, Balearic Sea, Tyrrhenian Sea, Ionian Sea and Ligurian Sea
It is located between Sicily and Africa and Mediterranean Sea
I've been fascinated by this country with its history Order of Malta, archeological sites, mysticism.

From Order of Malta (quote)
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is both a Religious Order of the Catholic Church and an order of knighthood, reflecting the ancient concept first appearing in the eleventh century of monks dedicated to holy war. It is anachronistic to speak of monks of war but the concept must be viewed in the light of those ancient days when fighting for the Holy Land was not considered sinful but actually purifying and lofty in the eyes of the Lord. The Templars were the first order of European nobility executing these duties, carving a way to Jerusalem by brute force of will and steel. Many gave up family and goods and followed the cross to the land that knew the Lord Jesus, wanting to win back the sacred sites from the hands of the infidels. Not all who went, did honor to the Cross, for much barbarity was committed even by some hailing from the noblest families of Europe. But, after surmounting unbelievable hardship and terror, the conquerors did win the Holy Land, at least for a time. With victory, came the responsibility of guarding the roads and supporting the increase in the number of pilgrims, who now could visit the site of Christ’s earthly sojourn. In 1099, even before Jerusalem was taken, the Order of the Hospital was set up as a hospitium or Hospice Infirmary, administered by its founder Blessed Gerard.
We arrived LHR 7am and had 3.5 hrs between flights. We transferred from terminal 5 to 4 and it took about 30 min with walk, escalators, train and bus. Terminal is renovated and very modern but still very big. When we got to terminal 4 for Malta flight, they did not have gate until 40 min before boarding so you do not know where to stay closer. We shopped. I stopped at electronics store and found netbook I want to buy – ASUS EEE and I tested it since I will buy it from Amazon later on.

I also bought a UK electrical plug converter since I realized I only have European. Malta and UK have different plug. Had coffee and croissant and we boarded Air Malta flight on time. They served food but it was just airline food.. The plane to Malta was full. Our representative met us in airport when we got our luggage and we were on the way to hotel. Nice thing about Malta and there are no long distances. In about 15 minutes were arrived to our hotel Corinthia 5* hotel.

Later we met for cocktails, inspection of hotel and 4* Marina hotel next door. We had buffet dinner with agents of Destination Malta – the company which hosted us. We are a group of 9 agents from USA who were invited to familiarize with the country.
At 6pm we’ve met with representatives of Destination Malta and sales manager of Corinthia hotel. We took a walk around property. It is located together with many other hotels in St. Julians, which a preferred place to stay in my opinion. Hotels are on the water. There are some beaches but with rocks and not really good for swimming. The views are beautiful. Nearby Westin has casino on the water. There is a long promenade which along the sea will take you to next town. Also short walk brings you to the shopping center. Most hotels have nice pools.
We visited Marina 4* hotels adjacent to Corinthia and had buffet dinner at our hotel.
Next morning, November 13, we met with our guide Jackie and we left to explore Valetta – Malta’s capital city. We learned about Malta’s history.

History and culture in brief

The island was in existence before 5000 bc. The settlers arrived to Malta either from Sicily of from North Africa. The earliest temples were built at that time. The temples survive today as the oldest free-standing structures in the world. The temples were continuing to build during the Bronze Age. Then Phoenicians arrived and used the island as a trading post. In 200 BC Romans captured the island and it became part of the Republic of Rome.
In ad 60 St. Paul was shipwrecked in the area now known as St. Paul’s Bay. He converted islanders to Christianity. During Hadrian’s reign Malta was declared a Roman Municipality. Then Arabs arrived and took over Roman fortifications including what was later become Fort St. Angelo and the city they renamed Mdina. Original language was called Malti and came from Phoenicians. Arabs incorporated many Semitic language words; therefore current Maltese language is a mix of both.
In 1090 or so the Normans invaded and Malta became part of kingdom of Sicily. It was later going back and forth between French and Germans until in 15C Malta became a part of Spanish Empire.
Meanwhile the army of the Order of St. John arrived from Jerusalem and Spanish King gave them the island. The knights were paying the tax to the king – One Maltese Falcon per knight per year! (Remember movie “Maltese Falcon”?) .
Valetta became the capital and knights were building forts. It became the finest fortified city in Europe. Then Napoleon invaded the island in 1798. After the end of war with French, it was offered that the Malta will be returned to the knights but obviously at that time knights were already under decline and Maltese people voted to come under protection of British. At the 1814 treaty of Paris, Malta became a British Crown Colony. It became an important harbor for trading and British Naval Base. During WWII the hospitals were built for wounded British soldiers. After WWI the economy failed and there were riots. The British granted Malta self-governance. Then British suspended the constitution in 1930. In 1932 the Constitution was restored, in 1933 the Constitution was withdrawn and Malta became again British colony. During WWII the island was bombed and destroyed by Germans. Many citizens were killed. After war, Malta was under British until 1974 when they became independent republic. They became members of European Union in end of 1990s.
The country is bi-lingual – English and Maltese.
The population is 98% Catholic. There are still issues with divorce and abortions – both are not allowed. There are no immigrants working in the country. Very homogenous population and seems to be prosperous. The country is low key and not well known outside of Europe but maybe the Maltese like to keep it this way. However it is a popular vacation spot for Europeans.
As for Kings of Malta, the Heritage is still alive. Their mission of healing and protect is now purely humanitarian, helping in refugee camps and hospitals in Africa and Asia and there is a clinic in Bethlehem.
The Order’s headquarters in Rome are located at Via Condotti. Like Vatican it is a sovereign state. It issues their own stamps, has its own diplomatic corps and has a sovereign head with the title Prince and Grand Master.
Sightseeing.
Friday, November 13
Morning was spent visiting Valetta. We went to Republic street and main street. We saw Grand Master Palace. We visited St. John’s Cathedral which has the rich history of heritage to the fact that for 200 years it was the church of the Order of the Knights of St. John.
The surprise was that the Oratory today is housing paintings of Caravaggio. The largest painting he produced is “The Beheading of St. John the Baptist” – the only painting one known to be signed. Caravaggio spent many years in Malta. The museum which is part of the cathedral also has unique Flemish tapestries.

We walked by fortification walls and admired forts and the views and marveled on all history what these walls have seen.

After cathedral visit we went for lunch in beautiful restaurant The Carriage in Valetta. It is located on top of office building and has incredible views. The food was delicious too and served with local Maltese wine. I especially liked white wine. We were told that Malta produces good wine but does not export it – small production. The food is Malta is a mix or Italian (mostly Sicilian) and Mediterranean - consuming many vegetables and fish.
After lunch we visited glass factory. The quality is close to Murano glass. I bought some souvenirs. Then we went to Mdina. It is called a silent city and it was incredible. The time we visited it was 4pm when the sun was setting down. Most structures were from yellow stone so views with color, narrow streets, noble houses, very quiet comparing with Valetta, was just unreal.

It is a one of the world’s finest examples of a medieval walled city that is still inhabited.
There was one 5* hotel in Mdina, Xara Palace which we’ve arranged for a visit and it was very unique just like all other members of this prestigious Relais and Chateaux collection. But this location in medieval city stands this hotel apart. It also has great views of the Valley.
After that we went back to hotel and had some time to prepare for dinner nearby in restaurant Barracuda in St. Julians where we sampled wonderful seafood with more wine. The menu included : Smoked swordfish Carpaccio, Pumpkin soup drizzled with truffle oil, Roast sea brim (something like our sea bass), roasted caponata and rucola cream, wine of course. Dessert was Cinnamon panacota with vanilla crème anglaise.

Saturday, November 14.

We went for a full day tour of Gozo. We were driven to the ferry and took ferry to the island. It is smaller island and completely different from Malta. It has hilltop villages, beaches, fortresses (legacy of cruel invasions). It is a land of farmers and fishermen.
We visited its largest city Victoria (locally called Rabat). We strolled very pleasant Central Square and surrounding street. We visited Gozo handicraft center where we bought beautiful lace and wool handicrafts. Again, views were terrific.

The highlight of the island visit was an archeological site. With Ggantija temple, considered the oldest surviving, free structure in the world. Some of its element remind of Stonehenge and we were told there is a thought that people who inhabited temple later on went to North...
After temple. We went to see a natural attraction with a rock arch called the Azure Window. A Natural tunnel connects the small body of water with an open sea. We took a boat ride. The water was clear so you can see 20 meters below. It is called by local Blue grotto, interesting formations.

It is a popular site for diving. Diving in Malta is available year round. In fact in November, it was warm and people were swimming on the beach.

We left Gozo by ferry, had some rest before we went for meeting with sales people at Westin hotel. It is beautiful resort. Then we went to nearby Hilton to see it and the dinner was arranged for us there. Usually I do not like buffets but that seafood feast at Hilton was incredible variety. I had to try many seafood dishes and they were delicious. The desserts were masterpieces (by taste and appearance).

Sunday, November 15
We went for a half day trip to Marsaxlokk (pronounced Marsashlock) – Malta’s typical fishing village and Blue Grotto. The village is located about 7 km southeast of Valetta. It was the landing site for the Ottoman and Napoleonic invasions of Malta. Today a harbor boasts a large and colorful fleet of Maltese fishing boat. We also saw a market alongside the quay with interesting local produce and some souvenirs. I took pictures of interesting seafood creatures.

We had a lunch on the main square of Marsaxlokk restaurant. It was a typical Maltese specialties, cheese, bread, great soup, vegetables served family style. It was terrific.

After lunch we went to Malta’s island Blue grotto. We took a boat ride and admired clear waters and blue color of the water and pink cliff formations.

Afterwards we went to hotel and rested. In the evening we went for a farewell dinner in a private dining room of another Corinthia hotel – Corinthia Palace. The formal dinner was beautifully presented: Parmesan risotto with wild mushroom ragout, Grilled red snapper, Vegetables, potatoes, Almond tart with baked apple.

Monday November 16

We left early for 5:45am transfer to airport (3o min ride) and departed for London/New York.
Farewell Malta, but I will return sometimes. It is definitely on my list for more relaxing vacation (not business fam trip!).

Summary.
Hotel. Corinthia hotel in St. Julians was fine. It is classified as 5* but it is, however more like a 4*. Common areas are better than rooms. Out of 5* hotels we inspected I liked both Westin and Hilton. Location is the same for all. I also loved hotel The Xara Palace.
This small island country – 400,000 inhabitants is a surprise. Not well known, it boasts history, archeological sites, sea views, beaches, natural attractions, great food, and friendly English speaking people. They have very low crime. Most people from USA visit it on one day cruise stop but I strongly suggest you come and stay there for a while. A week will get you relaxed vacation. Divers can dive year round besides blue grottoes, there are also shipwrecks.
Malta is easy combined with UK ($200 cost, 3.5 hr flight from London), 1 hr from Rome and 1hr by water – catamaran to Sicily. Trip to Sicily can be also done in one day if desired.
It is also relatively inexpensive comparing with other Mediterranean destinations. Overall, lovely and relaxed vacation can be enjoyed when visiting Malta.

Disclaimer: Please do not copy this itinerary. It is intense trip for travel professionals to get familiarized with the country. We can design trip personally per each client's interest, budget and energy level. We have a great team of colleagues - incoming travel agency in Malta to plan your trip. We also have good prices for hotels.
Please contact us for more information, itinerary planning or reservations.

Costa Rica July 2009

Costa Rica Trip Report, July 2009


I’ve been in Costa Rica long ago on a cruise but did not too many activities. This time I traveled with my friend Michael and his 15 year old daughter Alexis. Since I specialize in customized itineraries, it was fun to plan it including activities. Michael been there 5 times and loves Costa Rica. We thought it would be great destination for teenagers. This was first Alexis trip out of the country so we hoped to get her started interested in travel and adventure just like us.

We only had 8 days so we selected highlights. 3 nights in Manuel Antonio, 1 night in Arenal Volcano , 2 nights in Monteverde and 2 nights on the beach in Guanacaste.

Day 1. July 10. We departed Tampa on AA 6:30am, connected in Miami for San Jose . In San Jose we booked local airline Sansa for 30 min flight to Quepos (Manuel Antonio). Unfortunately AA flight from Miami to San Jose got delayed and we missed our flight to Quepos. The AA reps in Miami were very sympathetic and she even gave us better seats closer to exit so we will exit first. However with immigration, and luggage pickup by the time we ran to Sansa counter, they already closed the flight. They offered to book us for next morning however we did not want to stay overnight in San Jose so we hired a taxi for $150 to get us to Manuel Antonio. The driver drove through mountain roads, and it was raining. It took almost 4 hours because there was a construction near Quepos at the bridge. We also made a brief stop for a bathroom. We finally arrived to Quepos and checked in into our hotel Costa Verde. This is midrange hotel. Since we were somewhat on budget for 3 people, I found it quite reasonable. We had 2 bedroom bungalow with 2 porches, it was actually a house. It was in the wilderness, secluded area. I chose that hotel because it was on the top of the hill above National park, promised wonderful views of the park’s coastline, and the most important, on the property there was abundance of wildlife. Actually the logo of hotel is “still more monkeys then the people”. There were nice pools with great view.
We had dinner at hotel’s restaurant “La Cantina” with local fish and steak. It was ok and we tried local specialty – rice and beans. We were exhausted so went early to bed.

Day 2, July 11. In the morning we went to hotel’s restaurant for breakfast. It was a beautiful view of the park. Breakfast was a la carte with OK service, nothing special. This day we booked a naturalist guide so they came to pick us up and drove to the park. After breakfast we went to the our bungalow to get prepared for the walk and we saw abundance of monkeys! Red haired monkeys and capuccins. They ran on our roof and created racket. We took pictures of them, then the guide arrived and we went to the park. There was a line to buy tickets to the park, but the guide went somewhere and got us tickets quickly. We went on a walk for 3 hours and we saw sloth, snakes , caiman crocodiles and some interesting insects.

We finished walk on the beach, the guide drove us to the town, we had lunch there, shopped a little bit and they drove us back to the hotel. We had time to rest and in the afternoon we had another tour on ATV adventure with 4Trax. They picked us up and other people at their hotels and drove us to their facility where we went through orientation and started our tour. I never did ATV rides so I was somewhat nervous. I did not want to ride alone so I had a choice to sit in the back either Michael or Alexis. I chose Alexis (15 year old) and it was good choice since Michael fell in a minute on a turn. He quickly got back and we continued. The group was broken down in 2 subgroups and we had 4 atvs in each group. Turned out second group had an accident. Motorcycle was riding past them on a high speed and crushed into ATV. Motorcyclist was injured and ATV rider just had some scratches. Nevertheless, the group decided not to continue so our guide came back and explained situation and we continued.

The guide was very good and showed signs when to slow down and when to change the speed. Alexis turned out to be very good driver and followed directions so I relaxed. The scenery was beautiful, people whom we passed, were friendly waving to us. Some villagers on horseback followed us for some time. We went through forests, villages, beach, mud, you name it. Sunset was terrific. We got covered all with mud. At the end we stopped at the waterfall and had a dip in the water and washed up The tour ended in someone’s house (maybe owner of the company) where we had a very nice dinner prepared at home. It was very good. We got back to hotel late. It was very nice day and I survived. J Michael and Alexis enjoyed it very much.

Day 3, July 12. This day we booked Whitewater Rafting with Kanuto unique tours on Naranjo river. Michael thought it was 5 category rafting and I was concerned since I’ve never did it before. The people on ATV who had 11 year old with them yesterday told us we are crazy to go first time on level 5. It was only first time for me and others had it before. On the way Kanuto (the owner) explained to us that this will be level 3. He said I will be fine. We had 2 rafts and 12 people and 2 guides plus Kanuto on kayak. The guide explained the rules. I got the seat in the back which was good for me. The guide held me a bit at the rapids but nevertheless I managed fine. Alexis fell off the raft once but the guide got her out quickly .Everybody cheered when she got back. Before rafting it was a nice walk on the farm with explanation of herbs, coffee and other plants. Rafting started with a rough ride and rapids. Kanuto was on kayak between our two rafts and was taking pictures. At the end the river was quiet. In the middle, we stopped and had snack – fruit, water and cookies. At the end they drove us in town and we had nice lunch (included in the price). Then we paid were driven back to hotels. I survived second activity..

In the afternoon, we booked horseback riding for Alexis. She is an experienced rider and has her horse at home. He dream was to gallop on the beach at sunset. We were picked up at our hotel and drove to somewhere south of Quepos to the beach. The owner of the stables, Diego Solis met us at hotel on the beach. His farm is nearby however he told us, lately his land became a part of National park and riding on park’s beach is prohibited, therefore he made arrangements at nearby hotel. While Alexis went with Diego for a ride, we had a drink at the hotel’s bar and then went to the beach to take photos of her riding. They provided a dinner for us on the beach and it was perfect evening. The driver drove us back to our hotel…

Day 4. July 13. We checked out from our hotel after breakfast and took taxi to Quepos airport for our connecting flight on Nature air to San Jose and connecting to La Fortuna/Arenal. The plane only had 22 people but it was only half full. It was small Cessna I believe. Pilot flew it low so we were able to see countryside and take pictures. There was a family with 11 year old who took ATV ride with us on the plane so we had someone to talk to.
A note: if you fly little planes in Costa Rica, they have a limit of 30 lbs for suitcase and 11 lbs for carry on. I believe Sansa had 25 lbs weight limit but we missed Sansa flight.
It sure beats long drive. Two flights to San Jose and LA Fortuna took 45 mins but drive would take 5 hrs. We arrive to La Fortuna and their service personnel called Alamo for us where we reserved the car. The Alamo rep came to pick us up and drove us to their office in town where we picked up our 4 WD Toyota SUV which we will keep for next 5 days. Our hotel in Arenal was Los Lagos. We only had one night in Arenal. We knew it was a gamble since volcano is seen only in good weather. But I wanted also hot springs so we came here. In general, there are hotels on 2 sides of volcano: lava side and other side. The best to see volcano is Arenal Observatory lodge. However in April when we booked it, we were told by locals that lava is not seen lately even from Observatory lodge. So we thought it does not matter what side to stay and I was looking for hotel with hot springs. Tabacon and Hot Springs hotels were too expensive and Los Lagos had hot springs and was well priced. In addition of hot springs (for me), there was lagoon with birds, a butterfly garden, frog pond and caiman area with four caimans! There was also small zipline. So the resort was an attraction by itself. Other than that, hotel is very basic. Staff was not overly friendly. They had free wi-fi however in the lobby which was a plus for me. In Costa Verde they charged $6 for hour of internet.
We went for lunch at hotel and chatted with a friendly waitress Katia who gave us a lots’ of info on the surroundings and even brought us a map. Interesting that reception was supposed to do this job but they as I said before, were not friendly. Our accommodation was quite nice though for the money. We were at a bungalow with two rooms – only one neighbor. Our room was large with two double beds and each double bed also had extra trundle bed underneath. Therefore room can sleep 6 people.
The rain started so we took nap and in an hour went for hot springs. Temperature there was 90 degrees and there was swim up bar. There even was a slide for kids to the pool. The mineral pool spring was large. We met people at the bar who were next door at our bungalow. They were family from Belgium with parents and three children, 5, 15 and 17. Alexis made friends with kids quickly, we talked to parents and liked them . We were happy to find out that tomorrow they are going to the next destination – same place where we are going!
After springs we went for dinner at resort with the same friendly waiter Katia . It was nothing special or gourmet so I do not recall exactly what we ate. We went to sleep after another great day.

Days 5-6, July 14-15. In the morning we had breakfast at Los Lagos, checked once more on caimans, frogs, ants farm and butterfly. Then we checked out and drove to our next destination – Monteverde. The road was mountainous, winding, narrow but beautiful. In one spot we stopped and took pictures. It took 3 hrs to get to Monteverde. We had lunch in St. Helena in a Tree House Restaurant which is indeed built around tree, it was cool. Lunch was good too and they had free wi-fi so I caught up on my emails. After lunch we followed detailed directions given us by owners of our next place – El Sol Nuestro and we very easy found it.

I selected the place because it seemed to me unique – a B&B in mountains, with main house, 2 log cabins in the woods, pool, sauna, horses (Alexis loves to ride). But the most inviting was owner, Elizabeth. She promised when we arrive to meet us with the hug and they did! All people who ruun/work in her B&B were friends or relatives. She runs the place with her son Xavier and help of her friends. We were shown our cottage and we immediately felt at home. Xavier took our dirty laundry to wash. We had incredible views from the house. No locks, very secluded. No windows screens. No a/c, no TV. We had a kitchen and electricity and hot water though , so there were regular comforts. We requested dinner in advance so Elizabeth said her neighbors and friends are cooking. They did not have wi-fi, but Xavier hooked my laptop to his computer dial up (no broadband in this location!) so I was able to check my emails.

Meanwhile our newfound friends – Belgian family from Los Lagos arrived and there were again hugs, kids were happy to see each other. We agreed to have dinner together in the main house. Meanwhile we drove back to town and visited butterfly garden and frog ponds. The species were beautiful. I liked more frogs than butterflies. For some reason in Butterfly garden many butterflies were dead. In the evening, we went back “home”. The dinner was delivered we together with Belgian family had nice dinner in the main house dining room. It cost $10 per person including good Chilean wine and was very good.

We spend long time talking and went late back to our cottage. Night was very comfortable – temp in 70’s. Besides few discomforts (a bites from a spider, and then cat landed in our bed), we had a good sleep. Breakfast was delicious, the best we had in Costa Rica. The owners are originally from Canary Islands so food had some European specialties for a change… We loved fried cheese, interesting jams, and excellent German type homemade bread. And of course more hugs from staff and owners. We planned our day with Belgians and decided to go to rainforest together. Xavier recommended Aventura company and called them to reserve. We went to town and booked bridges tour – it was nature walk in different levels of forest, walking by hanging bridges. We saw snake but not too many animals. We hoped for quetzal but only seen their nest.

Afterwards we booked zipline. It was first time I tried it and I survived. Zipping through stations afforded incredible views but some of them was too much for me to handle. I did rappel but skipped Superman and Tarzan. No thank you. I was not successful in braking so they gave me a guide to zip with me, it was much better. I just hang zipped and guide did all job. Great.

So another great day was over and I was still alive after these adventures. J We came back to the El Sol Nuestro, had some drinks by the sauna and had another nice dinner. Next morning, again good breakfast, multiple hugs, the owners gave us a bottle of Chilean red wine as a gift.. What a nice family….

Day 7-8, July 16-17. Tamarindo Beach
We were leaving for our next destination Tamarindo beach. Xavier gave us good directions which reduced our driving in almost an hour. These directions were not in GPS and we had to break our trip in 4 parts. The road was mountainous, around lake, but very beautiful. We had to stop on the way for break and quick lunch and continued to Tamarindo. JW Marriott was advertised as the best resort in Costa Rica so it was a nice way to finish vacation in style.

JW Marriott is located in the relatively isolated area of Tamarindo, Hacienda Pinilla. It has golf course, Florida style developed villas and now Marriott which is on the beach. It takes about 15 min just to get from the gate to hotel. The beach was very picturesque with some rocks and surf but it was not comfortable to walk in the water – rocks and waves. Pools are huge and beautiful including infinity. But steps only on one side so if you do not jump into the pool but walk in using steps, a long walk around. We visited bar and there were some usual drinks, nothing special. We stayed by the pool and then went to the room to change for dinner. We chose Argentinean restaurant since by that time I did not want rice and beans. The Surf and Turf contained Argentinean beef (very good, tender, prepared like I asked – rare – and lobster was huge Caribbean lobster. I finished lobster but could not finish beef. Too bad, it was delicious. We chose some sides – sweet potato, etc. It was very nice dinner but turned out to be the most expensive we had in Costa Rica. I wish they changed this resort to all-inclusive since cannot go anywhere you without car and are a hostage to expensive restaurants. Otherwise Costa Rica local restaurants are very reasonably priced.

Next day we woke up early to go on our last adventure – deep water fishing. Michael chartered a boat for a full day. The boat was Talking Fish with captain Randy Wilson. Captain said we will need to sail 1 hr into Pacific Ocean where waters are calm and there is a fish. I never did or watch deep sea fishing so this was new for me. We drove to the beach – the place on Tamarindo beach where we were supposed to be picked up - restaurant Nougi. We had light breakfast there. The captain’s crew came on a small boat and transferred us to the Talking Fish. It was large fully equipped boat with 2 first mates (can there be two first mates? Maybe first and second mate). There was a cabin below for rest, two stories, and a fighting chair in case large fish will resist. We sailed 1 hr and soon we saw many activities – dolphins, whales, birds. It was beautiful and relaxed. Fish started to bite and Alexis caught large fish – mahi mahi, yellowfish tuna and large 7 ft sailfish. Sailfish was released. It was a great catch and Michael and Alexis got excited.
I saw how the crew filleted fish and saw blood and I got a bit weak in my stomach. Like hunting, fishing makes me somewhat uncomfortable. Especially catch and release. Where I grew up, fishing was done for living – catch and eat as food. When fish is caught just for play and got hurt and then released, it just did not make sense. Expensive sport. Also in this deep sport fishing, you do not do that much since most job is done by mates. They spot it, You have to do some spinning but then they pull it out for you and you take a picture and either they kill fish for you and fillet or release.
When I finally agreed to fish, by that time fishing ended. I almost decided to become vegetarian however, the first mate offered to make sushi and that changed my mind. J . It was the best sushi we ever ate. Before I thought the best sushi I had was in Tokyo in fish market, but this one was fresher…
Anyway, it was an interesting experience and I found out that I am not a hunter, I am a gatherer if related to homo sapience development …I am glad I did it.

We sailed back to the shore and to a small boat on the beach. We walked to Nougi restaurant and they cooked our fish for dinner. They charged $8 per person but they supplied salad and rice and beans of course J.
We then shopped a little in Tamarindo beach and drove back to Marriott.
I noticed Tamarindo Diria hotel on the beach and while 4* hotel, it would be my choice to stay there so you can walk to a nice beach and be in the middle of action, shopping, restaurants.
We stopped at supermarket - nice mall and did more shopping.

Back to hotel, pack. Next morning we drove to Liberia airport , 1hr approximate time (brochures say 45 min but do not believe them). Roads are still a problem in Costa Rica.

In airport was a chaos and we found out to our surprise that we had to pay departure tax $26 per person. I guess I did not do my research well and did not plan properly. Fortunately we still had cash left but they also take credit cards.

There was no a/c in Liberia and if the flight would be delayed, it would have been uncomfortable.

That concluded our trip to Costa Rica.

Final thoughts.

It was my second trip to Costa Rica (first time 10 years ago on expedition cruise). Last time it was mostly access from the water including small islands and peninsulas. This time I saw more land so it was different perspective. It was Michael’s 5th time. It was Alexis (15 year old) 1st time. She enjoyed it . It is great family destination. Most of the people traveling we’ve met were families. Not too many couples looking for romance.

We used the following modes of transportation for traveling and for fun:
Jet planes, little planes, car, ATV, white water rafting, zip line, boat. Alexis rode horses.

We stayed in different type hotels – from “Monkey jungle” resort in Manuel Antonio – Costa Verde, to full service resort with natural attractions and hot springs at Arenal Volcano – Los Lagos. The best we liked for mountain log cabin and their owners at El Sol Nuestro – to 5* JW Marriott. So it was wide spectrum experience.

We liked natural attractions – national parks, animals, reptiles. I liked the most monkeys at Costa Verde right on our roof. There were not too many animals in Manuel Antonio. Yes we saw sloth and I saw it on my previous visit but with low metabolism this animal hardly moves and to watch it was kind of boring.. I enjoyed frogs and beautiful birds. There were interesting food plants. If I ever come back, I would like to have food tour where we were told you go through the farm, collect food, explain food and then cook it.

Food (my favorite activity!) Food we ate was mostly not impressive. I liked seviche. Fish was simply prepared and was good. We ate many homemade meals so it was interesting. Rice and beans, plantains (good!), dishes kind of Caribbean style but they lacked kick of Caribbean spice. Meat was most of the time overdone and was tough. I did not see good wine there, except in Sol Nuestro had nice Chilean wine. Deserts were mostly fruit and fruit was good. Pineapples were very good.

Out of all areas, Tamarindo was very nice.. I liked it most. I prefer beach destination to mountains. Arenal volcano had plus with hot springs, very pleasant but I suggest to stay longer than one night. One night for volcano if the weather is bad, you miss it. And there are hikes and horseback riding by volcano.

Monteverde forest did not have as many birds, animals and reptiles as we hoped. We only saw some spiders and that’s it. We saw more creatures at our B&B …Zip line was not for sightseeing as I thought but just for thrill. Whitewater rafting was fine but I would not go higher than grade 3.

Best hotel – B&B El Sol Nuestro. Best food we had – breakfasts at El Sol Nuestro and dinner at JW Marriott.

Best service and value – El Sol Nuestro.

Best attractions – hard to say. Probably hot springs but I liked rafting, ATV as well.

Overall, beautiful country, great family destination, friendly people many speak English, easy touring. If you are bored with Caribbean Islands, try Costa Rica. Highly recommended.

May 24-25 Saigon-Narita - home

May 24-25, Saigon-Narita-DFW-Tampa
Last day in Saigon. We are leaving at 8pm for 11:40pm flight for airport. Hotel Rex reception was nice enough to extend our late check out until 8pm. I felt a little bit down the weather last night at dinner and we attributed it to dehydration. It is hot in Saigon and one should remember always drink a lot.

This last day we had breakfast, and went to do some leftover shopping. We bought so much staff on this trip so we needed a new bag. We walked to the mall and bought one for $27. We also went to the market and bought fish sauce which I’ve read is not exported outside of Vietnam.

We were not hungry so ate small lunch at Paradise café adjacent to Rex hotel. We rested, repacked and stayed until 8pm. We checked out and went downstairs to wait for our guide and driver who will go with us to airport. The lovely girl at reception, Dung with whom I communicated quite a bit lately, offered us to visit bridal show in second floor. She said it will give us something to do, and porters will watch our luggage. We went upstairs and discovered a lovely bridal show , very much like Western. The young people were beautiful and well dressed. There were floral designs, interior designers, spa, honeymoon offers and even some kind of luxury residences either for sale or for time share or honeymoon? We felt kind of old for this crowd. But it is was interesting to watch. The large second floor area was transformed into gardens and even (as it was reported to me). Interesting to see how Vietnam is a country of contrasts – from poverty to luxury.

Then we departed for airport. Flight was on time and uneventful, 6 hrs flight. We arrived Narita Tokyo at 6am and our next flight for DFW was due to depart at 6:30pm. Both from the same terminal - 2. Our luggage was checked in, so we loaded carryons on cart and walked terminal. It was like mall. There were miscellaneous shops, cafes, spa, travel stores. To our delight, we discovered day rooms. We walked to day rooms and for about $66 rented a twin room for 6 hrs. The room had two twin beds, a shower, toilet , hair dryer and even hair products, toothpaste, sleepers. We slept for 5 hrs, then showered, changed clothes, and refreshed walked out into terminal. It was time and money well spent before our 13 hr flight to DFW. We still had time to eat and shop and then walked to our gate. I wish USA airports adopted this practice. We boarded our flight to Dallas, and then arrived to Dallas and Tampa and that concluded our journey to Asia.

Final thoughts.
It was very interesting trip, short stay in Tokyo – which is well advanced country, much ahead of us in technology, service, etc. Vietnam on the other side, had two spectrums. From luxury hotels in cities, to poverty stricken and simple life in villages. Beautiful nature in Sapa, Mekong Delta, Halong Bay. Great beaches. Vietnam does not have developed infrastructure yet but it is going to be developed pretty soon. I would describe it in one word: Exotic! There are foreign investors. There are hotels and houses being built and nice resorts on the beach. So far it is less commercial than let’s say Thailand so it might be a popular destination in about 5-10 years. It has this exotic feel and has something for everyone. Hanoi and Ho Chi Mihn city have French colonial architecture for city lovers. There is history for war buffs , there is communist memorabilia. There are nature tours and mountain trekking and paradise for shoppers. The scenery is great and all the chaotic energy everywhere just amazed us. It is inexpensive now and you can enjoy great food and service. The people were very friendly and really welcomed us Americans. The offered their children to take pictures of, they wanted to shake our hands…

Hotels: We stayed in quite different hotels and I inspected more however I was somewhat confused with classification of hotels. By the time I booked and by the time we visited, classification changed! Here is brief description and my impressions.

Hanoi.
Sofitel Metropole – in my opinion, best hotel in Hanoi. It has french colonial feel, excellent service, great buffet breakfast. Our room was standard but very comfortable. However like most luxury hotels, they charge for the internet. Deserves 5*.
We also visited hotel Sofitel Plaza, it also was 5* hotel but it is modern and does not have feel of Asia. Great views however from every room.
Sapa Hotel. We stayed at hotel Chaulong in the Sapa village. It was comfortable enough but I did not find staff very friendly just OK. Also it was not clean as we expect from 4* hotel. I visited hotel Victoria Sapa and liked it better.
Hanoi. Flower Garden hotel. When I was told, that our tour booked for this hotel, I was disspointed, it looked like 3* hotel in Old Quarter. However when we arrived, I saw 4* classification and it was very good 4* hotel. They had friendly staff, good restaurant, free internet, great service . Highly recommend it. Good location in the center of Old Hanoi quarter.
Hue. 5* Saigon Morin hotel, very nice, old, historic, free internet. Right next to Citadel. We only stayed there one night but we enjoyed it.
Halong Bay – stayed on standard junk boat, for 4 cabins, very interesting, characteristic . If you can handle room a/c only turned on at night and small shower/bathrooms, that’s for you. There more luxury junks however will be more people. Worked for us well. No internet J
Hoi Ann – stayed at Golden Sands resort, 5*. Excellent place to relax near China Beach. Just what we needed in the middle of touring. Great beach, pool, swim up bat, service, good restaurants nearby. Free internet.
Ho Chi Mihn city (Saigon). Rex hotel . 4* hotel I thought but when we arrived, they were adding (practically drawing) 5th star. It is historic hotel and their rooftop terrace is famous bar in southeast Asia. It does have good views. American correspondents reported from that bar during the war. Excellent location next to town hall and Opera. However – the hotel has two sections – old and new. Old section is not that good. We stayed in old section and visited new. They offered us room in new section to move on second day but we did not want to move. When we first assigned room, it was without window! I went back and ask for another room. They moved us to another room with balcony. The room was worn out but comfortable and we had 2 balconies. They have a small bedroom area and another sitting area. I would just prefer one large room. New section was very nice and modern and hardwood floors. Always request new section. I suspect the price is different. Even pool was worn out. A/C in hallways was not working. A/c in rooms was fine. The staff was very nice however and let us stay practically extra day for 8pm checkout. Also free internet. Good breakfast.
Finally – train to Sapa was OK. I hear Victoria train is better and hopefully they have clean toilets! Ours Tulrico did not .

I always recap modes of transportation traveled. This time we used many modes of transportation:

Train to Sapa
Motorbikes in Sapa
Minivan
Boats
Junk in Halong Bay
Sampan Boat in Mekong Delta and Ox Cart
Elephants (for ride)
Cyclos in Hanoi
Still the country is not ready for travelers with disabilities. The streets have potholes, hard even to cross the street in the beginning and getting in and out of boats is also can be challenging.

Overall, it was a great trip, educational and eye opening. I recommend going there until it will become too commercial.
Thank you for reading my blog!
Sophia.
Ps. Please do not copy this itinerary, it is does not work well for regular traveler. It was designed for travel professionals to learn the country , “crash course” . For each individual client, the trip can be designed with more relaxed pace and according to people’s energy level and interests. There is everything in Vietnam for everyone!

Saigon (Ho Chi Mihn city)

May 21.
We were reluctant to leave lovely Golden Sands resort but we had to go to Danang for flight to our next destination - Saigon - now known as Ho Chi Mihn city. Before flight, we hd time to visit Cham sculpture museum dedicated to Cham - minority people living in Vietnam.
I wish we knew more about them before we went to the museum since without prior introduction it was not that informative.
Our Danang flight was without and issues and an hour later we arrived Saigon where our new guide JUng (John) picked us up.
Saigon owherhelmed us first. It had horrendous traffic with motorbikes, cars, people. More than in Hanoi. But it also had lovely French colonial architecture buildings. It was often called Paris of the Orient. In the center, smaller version of Champs Elysees and boulevards was busy with people shopping expensive stores, traffic on the streets and lovely cafes. This is definetely different from Hanoi. We checked into our 4* hotel - but turned out it was upgraded to 5* - Historic hotel Rex in the center of the city. Right next to Opera.
We went to obligatory place to be seen, Rooftop garden. It is listed in Newsweek magazine as the best bar in Souteast Asia and in "1000 places to see before you die " by Patricia Shultz. I did not think about this place on my bucket list however view was lovely.

The lobby was beautful however hallways were worn out and we got a room without window! I went back to reception asking for room with the window and got a room with 2 windows and balconies. Much better. It was kind of strange setup that you could not turn off light on the balcony and finally I gave up and asked for help. Turned out that light is controlled from outside! Very strange. For dinner, our guide took us to Italian restaurant Amigo. While food was well prepared, it was nothing to write home about so I would skip this while in Vietnam.

May 22-24 Saigon - Mekong Delta

May 22. Saigon. In the morning, we visited UNification Palace with a Vietnam history, Notre Dame Cathedral and then we shoppe at Ben THanh market. In the afternoon, we inspected New World 5* hotel, which was very nice. Lunch was at Le Mekong Restaurant. Dinner was at the floating boat with etertainment. It was very touristy and band was dressed as Mexicans. They sang American songs. Go figure. Too touristy for my taste. Food was not that impressive. But weve seen many locals there so it must be a popular place.

I can not believe I am done with the tour. We are in the Rex Hotel in Saigon. A very old and historic hotel. It ws built in 1902 and renovated often. It has a bar on the fifth floor overlooking the crazy streets. The city of Saigon has the largest population in Vietnam and 4 million motorbikes. Only a few street lights and very crazy streets. It looks like orchestrated chaos. The populous move everything on the bikes. You see a family of four on the bikes or people moving livetock, foods, construction materials and everyday house items. They will go againt traffic patterns or across 8 lanes of traffic without stopping. We went to the Mekong Delta today. About 2 hour drive from our hotel. We then took a boat ride to 2 seperate islands. There was tours of small villages, horse and buggy rides through regions that held historical significance. The VC held region was a hotbed during the Vietnam war. All the people are unbelievably hospitable and friendly. The first place we wnt to was a banana leaf thatched hut. We were served fesh fruit and serenaded with local songs on local instruments. We next visited a coconut candy factory and a always ate and drank everything along our way. I had an interesting introduction to Vietnamese rice wine (not at all like its Japanese cousin Sake), and a banana wine that had a snake and scorpion formentng in the bottle. There were more unusal and differently tasty fruits. The fruit names may be familiar, called bananas, strawberries, oranges, plums and pears. But the color and flavor is not even close. There are exotic fruits called dragon fruit or Jack fruit with no western reference points. The freshly made candy was unique. We then walked down a path to a cart dawn by a horse to cross the island to another short path. This lead to some green tea mixed with honey and local limes. Very nice. Then onto a small boat where two oreswoman took us qietly and smoothly through a small water passage. This lead back to the original vessel. On our way back to port across the Mekong River we wee treated to a fresh coconut flattened on the bottom and a small opening with a straw in it. The milk isde was refreshing. The whole tour lasted 2 hours. Add on the 2 hour triip each way and we were done. I must say the trip was well orchestrated, flowed easily and very enjoyable. If you have $60.00 US you are a millionaire here. On dollar is equal to 17,770 dong. The average person according to different resources makes between $ 250-850 dollars per year. So food, drink, service and all local made handicrafted items are redicously priced. There are local markets where bargoning or negotiating is expected. With some practice 50% reduction on most items are obtainable. For example we were approached by a street sunglass vendor. He was asking $10 for Oakley Sunglasses. I bought 2 pair for $3.00. Thats $1.50 each. He wanted 20,000 dung for the hard case. Thats $ 1.13. Almost what we paid for the glasses. I passed on the cases.

It is very interesting experience. More in next few days.

Hoi An May 19-20

May 19. In Hue which was the capital of Vietnam until 1945 when emperor abdicated, The seat of the Nguyen emperors was in the Citadel, which occupies a large, walled area on the north side of the river. Inside the citadel was a forbidden city where only the concubines, emperors, and those close enough to them were granted access, the punishment for trespassing being death. Today, little of the forbidden city remains, though reconstruction efforts are in progress to maintain it as a tourist attraction as a view of the history of Hue. We visited Forbidden city and there was opportunity to dress up and ride as emperor on royal elephants! See picture below.






May 20. This morning we split. Myself, Phyllis and Hy went with our guide to see Hoi Ann. Michael was booked by resort on ecological adventure to fish with fisherman. We both had interesting days. Hoi Ann was very colorful, with lanterns and traditional vietnamese old houses. There were tailors in abundance. I did not order any clothes however it is very cheap and they would measure you and bring clothes ready to hotel. We bought souvenirs. There were many silk items. We had lunch at Cargo restaurant and Patisserie. Food was good however the cruise ship arrived in Danang and crowds of people filled restaurant and downtown just when we were eating. After lunch, we inspected 5* Palms Garden resort and concluded we liked ours better.
We came back to resort and spent some time before dinner.
Michael returned from eco-adventure around 4:30. He throughly enjoyed day spent with fisherman. He participated fishing from small round boats, pulled the net, caught some fish. Then h went to the village with his guide (actually were two guides - husband and wife). The guides cooked delicious lunch for him and afterwards they walked in the village visiting villagers. The villagers were very friendly and even offered him 19 year old girl and 6 month old baby to take t America. Michael politely refused both :-)

We were planning to go for dinner by boat since our dinner was in well known cooking school and restauran Red Bridge. But it started thunder so we continued by car. Looks like they opened restaurant just for us. The staff was talking to us when we ate . One waitress even sang a song for us. It was yet another excellent dinner.

Hue - Hoi Ann May 18-19

May 18-19 . Hue
The flight to Hue lasted only 55 minutes but we did not eat anything since early morning lunch so we were hungry. On arrival, our next guide Hahn (Mrs) was waiting for us in Hue (pronounced "Wei") . We went immediately to the restaurant for dinner and then she took us to check-in into hotel. The hotel Saigon Morin was listed as 4* however when we arrived, I saw it has 5*classification. Hotel indeed was lovely. http://www.morinhotel.com.vn/
We had balcony with the view of the perfumed River. It is within walking distance to citadel. I wish we stayed longer. But next day we had sightseeing of Hue and were bound of to next destination in Central Vietnam - Hoi An.
Next morning after breakfast, we took a boat cruise on Perfumed River and we saw 7-story Pagoda and imperial citadel with tomb of Nguyen Emperor. We also visited monastery where we've met monks in their school , some of them were young as 4 year old studying there.
After lunch in local restaurant called Biet Thao Nhi, we continued to Hoi Ann - 130 km.
On the way we stopped to take pictures at famous China Beach. It was very crowded with beach goers. Again, a lot's of traffic and motorbikes. Looks like very busy area.

We checked into 5* Golden Sand Resort and liked it immediately. It is located an lovely Cam An Beach, just 5 km away from Hoi Ann. We had a nice room with balcony. The resort had very tropical feel , lke those in Thailand and there was nice pool at the beach.

After check-in, we went for dinner to lovely Full Moon Town restaurant. It had very romantic outdoor setting. The dinner was Vietnamese fare, very well prepared.

Hanoi - Halong Bay

May 14 -18
May 14. The return train from Sapa was a bit cleaner then first one however still a bit more cleanliness to be desired. If I knew I would take something like a sleeping bag. RR owned by government and train companies only manage – run different cars. A/c was working well however and we only had to visit bathroom once. We got to Hanoi at 5am in the morning and same driver from Hanoi whom we used previously, Tuan, nice young man, picked us up. He had our large suitcases with us in addition to our Sapa overnight bags. He drove us for early breakfast for a small café . After meal, he drove us to our next hotel Flower Garden. On the way we asked him to stop at flower market and we took some colorful pictures. I liked lotus flowers and Michael bought them for me . We arrived hotel and were able to check-in at 8am instead of 2 pm. The staff was very friendly and hotel was just great. I thought it was 3* hotel but it turned out new 4* hotel.
We took shower and went to sleep and then went for search of place for lunch. The staff at hotel recommended french colonial Vietnamese restaurant Seasons of Hanoi and we were not disappointed.
At 3pm we were to meet other members of our group , Phyllis and Hy from MD . Turned out we are only 4 people for this tour. So it was semi-private tour. We went to our tour operator’s office to meet staff of Vietnam Travel solutions, and they were all young, enthusiastic and eager to work with American travel agencies. They provide all kind of tours, from veteran to ecological to adventure.
We went for dinner at restaurant Le Tonkin and had lovely dinner . It consisted of 6-7 Vietnamese dishes all well prepared, not that spicy and beautifully presented.
Early to bed after dinner. Excellent beds, shower, service…. We are very happy with this hotel.

May 15. Hanoi. After breakfast we've met or guide and went touring Hanoi. We visited Ho Chi Min Mausoleum, Literature Temple , One Pillar Pagoda, Hanoi Hilton where American soldiers were held. We saw place near the lake where John McCain was shot down.

The impressions of Hanoi and Vietnam were different for me and Michael. I grew up and escaped communist country - Soviet Union so it was first somewhat uneasy for me to get closer to the previous socialist regime I left. Here I saw all remiders: Mausoleum of Cho Chi Minh, pioneers in red scarves, Lenin monument, red stars, cicle and hammer... Being back. Michael was more interested in American war history.. But definetely it is not an ordinary trip and interesting experience.

We went for lunch to Cha Ca La Vong small restaurant - specialty of Hanoi . They only serve one dish - fish. It is served with vegetables and herbs which you cook at the table in clay pot. The small place was crowded and waiters walked around setting hot clay pots. Too bad our guide did not expain to us how to cook it but at next table people showed to us. We enjoyed lunch.

In the afternoon we dropped Michael off at hotel and I inspected hotel Sofitel Plaza. It is very nice 5* hotel with excellent view of the Hanoi and the water. All rooms have views.

We had few minutes to refresh and our driver picked us up for a Water puppet show. It was in Vietnamese, music was nice, costumes were colorful. Byt after 20 min or so we gt tired and something "was lost in translation". Our guide explained plot to us later on the rde to hotel but I wish we had this introduction earlier to enjoy the the show.

Dinner was at well known restaurant Indochina. Good service but I think I liked last dinner better.

May 17. We departed morning from Hanoi for 3 hr ride to Halong Bay. On the way we pssed farmlands of the Red River Delta, and the scenery of rice fields, water buffalos and everyday Vietnamese village day life. We stopped at government sponsored handicraft center for disabled people where we bought some nice souvenirs like cotton and silk embroidery paintings.
We arrived Halong Bay around 12 . The harbor had many authentic junk vessels, local village boats, floating villages nearby . It was beautiful and very exotic. We left our luggage in a car and only took overnight bag with us. The captain appeared and crew took our small luggage, but you really need help there. The steps to the boat were very steep, no rails. We made it.

The boat was called Huong Hai Junks and it is medium category boat. It had 5 cabins. There were two of us and we joined another Australian couple on board. Other cabin was occupied by our guide . We checked our cabin , it was small. It had a shower in the room which was called "wet room" - the arrangement that shower splashes over sink. It was adequate for one night. Such authentic experience! There are deluxe boats for more available however they had more cabins. Basic comforts mean that a/c is working only at night. It somewhat reminded me barge in Thailand was on few years ago. This is my type of cruising! We had lunch onboard and relaxed and took pictures of breathtaking scenery. Then we arrived to the cave and went onboard. We took a walk in the Sung Dot (amazing) cave . I am not into caves, but I went. There were interesting formations. Then we got back on the junk and continued to sail. We stopped at one island which had beach and was named after Russian Cosmonaut Titov. There was a mountain to climb with observation deck on top, 340 steps. We made it and took pictures. It was good exercise. Later we had free time before dinner and Michael swam in Halong Bay waters. He reported water refreshing . Then we had dinner and early to bed. Below are pictures of Halong Bay.







May 18. We had breakfast. Then we salied on a small boat to the cave. Afterwards relaxed onboard as junk was sailing back to the busy harbor. At 10:30 we had early lunch and got off the boat. Our luggage was packed into van and we started 3 hr drive to Hanoi. On the way we stopped at pottery factory and bought some lovely teapot and pottery. We continued to Hanoi airport. n the way, we visited Bu Thap Pagoda situated in Duong River in Bac Ninh province which is the one of te finest pagodas in Vietnam and the first Buddhist center. There were many statues of Budha. We were the only westerners there and our visit coinsided with one local village event. They were interested in us and we asked if we can take their pictures. They smiled and shook our hands. Looks like Americans were a rarity there. We continued to airport and thought we still have time for dinner . Our guide Thao said there is a good restaurant at airport. Howeer on arrival, we found out that our flight changed times and we are leaving within 30 minutes! Our guide was conversion for some time with VN airline officials and by his expression's face we saw that we should be OK. We checked in luggage and Thao led us to security checkpoint without lines. We hurried to hug him goodbye and rushed through security to our gate. The flight to Hue lasted only 55 minutes but we did not eat anything since early morning lunch so we were hungry.