Halong Bay, Vietnam

...and the transportation to/fro our overnight junk boat cruise

This is leaving Vietnam's capital, Hanoi. I didn't get to experience Hanoi since all my planes were delayed, but I got to see it the morning I left the hotel (that I arrived at a mere six hours earlier). I was blown away by the sheer volume of scooters on the roads, as well as the lack of caution people used when driving. Most people pictured here have helmets on, but many don't wear any protection while on their scooters in Vietnam. I saw a graphic scene of a dead man laying in the road on the way back from Halong Bay, which was disturbing but also eye opening to their lack of resources such as readily-available ambulances, etc.

More views from the bus window. People ride scooters with mattresses tied down to them, cages of chickens, and their own families (I saw six people on one, including an infant)

Did you think I was kidding?

Hmmmm...what's inside?...

 Sneaking a view into someone's house/apartment at this pottery-making place we stopped at on the way to Halong Bay

We made it! Ferrying out to our junk boat...

 The top deck, AKA my own personal 5 a.m. reading nook. It took me about eight days to get over the jet lag.

 Locals paddled around the junk boats trying to sell tourists whatever they possibly could

 Exploring the inside of a cave

 I got to check out this beautiful little island. See that hut-looking building on top of the limestone formation? The hike to get there was STRAIGHT UP. We're talking 90 degrees.

 If the hike didn't interest you, you could swim.

  But if you made it to the top, the view was incredible.

  People do a lot of sleeping in this country...

  Sunset views off the back of our boat

  Everything looks like it's about to fall apart in Northern Vietnam. Locals have chairs with mirrors set up along the street for cutting hair, and lots of Vietnamese gather under bridges to find some shade during the days. The heat and humidity in Southeast Asia is inexplicably relentless. The way people live in this part of Vietnam is more foreign to me than that of any other country I've ever visited.

Next, I returned to Hanoi and hopped on a plane to Hue, Vietnam.