Finally, the rumored dress-up night arrived, and we met in a hotel dressing room filled with imperial-style clothing in all sizes, shapes, and colors.

After a brief nap (who can sleep after a couple of salt coffees), a few of us slipped across the street to have lunch at a magnificent hotel, the Azerai La Residence…

Time to pack our bags and leave the Old Quarter of Hanoi for an adventure on a boat in Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO site known for its thousands of towering limestone islands topped by rainforests.

Breakfast is served in the hotel's basement. That sounds bad, but it was a charming restaurant with smiling waiters and waitresses who immediately fetched coffee. The cool thing about hotel breakfasts in Asia is the variety.

We gathered in the hotel lobby at 6 pm to meet our fellow food tour travelers. This is when you discover who you will be traveling with for the next 10 days.

I was very excited. We were about to embark on a 10-day food tour with celebrity chef Luke Nguyen, zipping from the top of Vietnam in Hanoi to the bottom in Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon).