October 16: Vietnam - The Last Two Weeks

It's been nearly a month since Christi's been back in America, but she is still filled with many fond memories of her travels. In her last two weeks in Vietnam, she attempted to find some of Asia's natural beauty, checking out limestone cliffs south of Hanoi and in Halong Bay, as well as visiting a national park.

Sleeper bus. In the middle of the night I was awakened by the guy below me; the top half of my body was hanging over the edge and my blanket was falling in his face. I guess I slept.

Lunch? They serve dog meat, cat meat, and I'm not sure what the bottom one is. Umm...

Never again do you have to feel lonely while taking care of business! That is so relieving...

Outside of Ninh Binh, not far from Hanoi, is a place called Tam Coc. These limestone cliffs jut straight out of the water. Beautiful.

I spent a hot but relaxing day on the water enjoying the views.

Left: Paddling and spear fishing. Right: Staying cool with tourist while rowing with the feet.

Yes, rowing with the feet.

Coming out of the cave and back into the light.

Heading to the cave. Just another day on the water.

Breath-taking. I love bridges.

A mountainside temple.

Next, I took a slow boat to Cat Ba island. How slow? It took me about 4 hours to do a trip others did in 20 minutes. I was the only foreigner on board.

Halong Bay on the way to Cat Ba island.

The fishing life of Halong Bay.

Sparkly. I love the water. And the sun.

And cool, comic-y looking boats.

The view of the harbor from my hotel on Cat Ba island.

Boats are cool.

Cat Ba island - it's no longer a sleepy fishing town.

Halong Bay - I waited 5 days to take a boat out here because it rained like crazy the whole time I was on Cat Ba. I was fearing another aircrafter carrier rescue. (Well, actually, that was pretty cool!)

A fishing "village" in Halong Bay.

Turquoise water; limestone cliffs - I know some climbers who would go crazy here!

Monkey Island.

After Halong Bay I headed up to Hanoi, which is crazy so I don't really have any photos of it. This is Ba Vi National Park which is about an hour west of Hanoi and up on the side of a small mountain. Relaxing.

Hanging out in the park.

Jungle plants - I love these leaves.

My Kung Fu teacher - but he only knows one move...

The largest snail I have ever seen.

Hanoi - okay, maybe you don't think gothic cathedral when you think Asia, but it looked cool.