I did the thing, I got on a boat and toured Ha long Bay. It was beautiful, we got to kayak through a cave, jump off the top deck of the boat, and see monkeys on monkey island.

Boats in cat ba bay

Limestonge Mountangs

Kayaking through a cave

The inside of said cave

Monkeys on monkey island. Escaped without needing to get a rabies vaccine or have anything stolen. Score!

View from the top of a climb up the highest point on monkey island

Yeah, that was enough of that, onwards and outwards! To Ninh Binh! The “inland ha long bay” (same rock formations, but surrounded by rice fields and villages). After a long bus ride, reaching the golden hour (sunset), I convinced someone to hike up a mountain with me to watch the sunset. It was beautiful and we got to enjoy a cold beer while climbing a dragon statue on the top of a limestone mountain looking out at the valley. Yep, that’s South East Asian life.

View into the valley from the top

Sunsetting behind dragon statue on top of mountain

The next day I got to explore caves and a Vietnamese jungle with my new best friend, a sadistic Frenchman named Germain whom I’ve re-encountered four or five times since coming to Vietnam. I also got to watch an amazing sunset (yep, still digging the sunsets), and eat an amazing barbeque duck from an authenticly Vietnamese restaurant, you guessed it plastic chairs, draft bia ha noi, guy in a military helmet running the barbeque.

Inside a cave that was essentially part of a hollow mountain. Lots of stairs and lights in the main chamber of the cave but we were the only ones there and there were crevasses that you could go into, which opened up into what felt like unexplored caverns

View from inside the cave, from a hole that opened up at the top of the mountain

Beautiful flowers

Ohhh lovely sunset

And a great meal