I woke up around 4pm and was finally ready to start my day! I grabbed an iced coffee and started walking around this big beautiful lake in the heart of the city.
Within the hour I spent there, a beautiful local girl asked to take my picture, a young student asked if he could have a conversation with me to practice his English, and, my favorite of all, an old woman walking with her friends reached down to hold my hand as we lined up to cross the street! I was absolutely beaming at this gentle gesture as we giggled and crossed the street in one long, diverse chain. Wow, Vietnam you know how to welcome a girl!
And don't even get me started on the food!! I met up with a friend I met two months ago in Pai and she showed me to one of her favorite Vietnamese restaurants, and we feasted!
And don't even get me started on the food!! I met up with a friend I met two months ago in Pai and she showed me to one of her favorite Vietnamese restaurants, and we feasted!
Pho, spring rolls, rice with veggies and fried fish, cashew chicken stir fry... All of which was the best I'd ever tasted. Then to cap it off we walked around the lake to a delicious ice cream place and enjoyed some coconut ice cream and live music.
Our crazy climber guide, Vu!
The big boat dropped off the other folks who were just on for the day, and Caitlin and I transferred onto this huge, nice boat which we would have all to ourselves for the night! One of the staff accompanied us as well, and the three of us had so much fun. 
We were served breakfast then took the boat back to the island where we'd switch boats again to go on the original one with new people for a full day of kayaking! Out in the bay again, we slipped into tandem kayaks and our fearless leader Luca took us to some beautiful nooks and crannies. 
The next day, I found the highly-recommended Zenith Yoga & Cafe, which was a dangerous discovery for me because I hardly felt the need to leave there for the next few days. Aaand it was pretty expensive.. but so entirely worth it. Check out these mango avocado spring rolls!
Sooo good. Plus free tea whenever you visit. And that evening they had a donation-based meditation class, but no one else showed up, so the teacher let me just have the studio to myself 😊
Iended up taking them up on their buy-two-get-one-free yoga class deal, so I found some much needed serenity at this point in my travels.
That night I tried to meet up with a friend, and in a attempt to find wifi, I made a new friend who I ended up hanging out with that night, and the next day, and the whole next week after that as we traveled to Cat Ba Island and Sa Pa!
Caitlin and I realized our travel plans were similar in regards to time frame and places we wanted to visit, so we became temporary travel buddies. I have gone through so many travel dynamics during my travels—being in new groups/by myself/with friends from home/with new friends—and each has taught me different things about myself. I had a tendedncy with new people I had met throughout my travels to only spend a limited time with them before distancing myself once again to be on my own. But now that it is towards the end of this journey I realized how nice (and often convenient) it is to travel with someone else.
Caitlin and I's first stop on Cat Ba Island (after a bowl of pho) was Asia Outdoors, a climbing/adventure company that would be the source of all of our amazing experiences that week. They gave us info on climbing, where to stay on the island, where to eat, and where we could catch the best views of the island. We checked into a hostel then hiked up to a beautiful viewpoint of the island for the sunset!
A little further hike, with 360 views, was to an old fort on top of the island. We decided to wake up nice and early and hike that one for the sunrise! Since it was overcast there wasn't a distinct sunrise, but it was still beautiful to be up there in the morning and to scope out the bay where we'd be living the next couple days.
Yep, we booked an overnight trip with Asia Outdoors and made this beautiful bay our home! After some breakfast (pho) we caught a small boat over to the Asia Outdoors boat. WOO!
We passed the most beautiful karst formations in the background of colorful boats and floating villages. We even saw dogs and cats living out on these homes floating in the middle of the water... hmm.
Once we got there, we had a delicious lunch and a beer, then shuttled over to an island with some awesome rock climbing on the beach. I think I climbed 5 out of 6 routes on Moody Beach, thanks to the belays by the staff guys. It felt so good to be back in a harness and on some nice rock, plus the views didn't hurt!
And made a sweet lil friend, she was only 10 and was climbing for her hirst time! She didn't make it up on her first attempt and was pretty upset, but to everyone's surprise she gave it another go and made it! I did my best to congratulate her in broken French haha. Then we bonded and exchanged shells and emails, it was adorable.
We sailed out to the middle of Lan Ha Bay, where we parked against the floating house (?) of some local fishermen. We had a delicious Vietnamese dinner, beers, then joined the locals for tea and tobacco and green mango.
After it was plenty dark, we hopped into some kayaks and went night kayaking in the bay! We maneuvered between shrimping boats and karst towers, ending up in a dark bay where we could see more of my favorite little bioluminescent plankton! Every paddle stroke lit up the water beneath us, and if I splashed it looked like I just threw glow in the dark paint out into the water or something.. So indescribably cool!
We had the option to sleep out on the top deck, which we obviously opted for, and we hung out there and talked under the stars until we all drifted off to sleep. Waking up to the early morning light on the bay was possibly the most beautiful sight I'll ever wake up to. Wow... Not a bad start to another amazing day.
We had the option to sleep out on the top deck, which we obviously opted for, and we hung out there and talked under the stars until we all drifted off to sleep. Waking up to the early morning light on the bay was possibly the most beautiful sight I'll ever wake up to. Wow... Not a bad start to another amazing day.
We went back to the boat for a delicious lunch (theme of good food throughout all of Vietnam) and went swimming (jumping from the top deck of course!)
We also got to play around on some SUPs which made my whole day complete! I learned how to do a rescue flip, and a 180 turn, and showed off some yoga moves on the board (before falling in, repeatedly)!
We then sailed up to the north part of the bay for some even more magical kayaking!
We passed massive jellyfish and found ourselves in these incredible tucked away coves where we swear mermaids lived. It was all so unbelievably beautiful, and I was in complete denial about leaving (yes, leaving a boat to go onto an island).
The following day we rolled out of bed for some breakfast, then rented motorbikes to explore the island. On our way out we luckily ran into our new friend Julian, who gave us the locals tour de Cat Ba (he'd been living and working on the island for about 10 months so he had the best suggestions!)
We explored this awesome cave and dodged bats and did some completely silent sensory deprivation.
Then we stopped somewhere and explored up and down a dried up river bed full of crazy insects. After that Julian took us to a yummy local restaurant where we got some power food before heading to the island's National Park for an evening hike. Even biking around was a beautiful adventure in itself! I've completely fallen in love with the
We started around 5 and sent the hike in about half the time than expected, putting us at the top of this peak before sunset. We got to enjoy a beautiful sunset all to ourselves and played around with echoes and pictures
Riding home in the dark was a little sketchy though (I think I killed a rat that ran out in front of my bike).
The next day we had planned to go to Sapa, a cool mountain town up near the Chinese border, but we heard the weather was iffy (plus we wanted to climb more!) so we postponed our journey there by a day. We met up with some climber boys and rode out to Butterfly Valley, the beautiful crag on the western side of the island.
First thing, they had me lead up a route so I got any nerves out real quick. The next one Julian led up barefoot, so naturally I wanted to try it barefoot as well! Such a cool feeling to have that direct contact with the rock—plus this route had a tree growing out of the rock about halfway up making it equal parts rock/root/branch climbing! SO FUN :)
We rode out to the hotel where the Asia Outdoors staff all live, which is right in the harbor of Lan Ha Bay. We ended up putting crash pads and blankets and pillows out on the roof and just sleeping there! Which made for another epic wake-up view, I greeted the sun with some yoga! Then slept a little while longer :)
Nha was our awesome 19-year-old guide from the local CatCat Village, and he knew the area back and forth. We set out with two other Americans and began following our guide up a steep hill. We got to a lookout back towards the highest peak in Indochina, called Mt. Fansipan (it was a bit cloud-capped that day though).
There were spring rolls, chicken and veggies, sautéed morning glory, bamboo shoots, tofu and tomatoes, pork and peppers, this sweet delicious pumpkin mash, all served over rice. YUM yum yummma!
My man!
Next we chilled out and napped and watched other climbers and jammed, then went to a different area and I led up another climb and then finished off the day with a 6b (European ratings...)
We rode back at dusk and shared a delicious hot pot for dinner, plus some tea with the restaurant owner.
Then we tried Xem Soi (mango sticky rice and coconut ice cream!) at a little local place.. SO good. Afterwards we got cleaned up for our final night on the island and first went to the Good Bar, to find that everyone was going out to a nightclub! The island has one nightclub that was pretty small but so loud and crazy with techno music and lights and dancers, plus every table had a large bowl of assorted fruit to snack on. Totally normal... I turned it into a low-key food fight haha
That day we finally packed up and somehow turned down offers to staff and work at Asia Outdoors as we were saying goodbye. We caught a bus at noon to a ferry, to a bus to the town nearby, where we caught another bus to Hanoi, where we caught our final bus up to Sapa! I don't really fit anywhere in Asia, sleeper buses included. I always end up in a little ball and hope for the best. I think I slept for maybe 3 hours total before rolling into Sapa.
When we got off the bus at about 5am we were totally disoriented, my map app listed the bus station in the wrong place, so we just wandered and tried to cross reference street names, before finally stopping for some breakfast and then finding wifi (and coffee) which set us right.
Sapa Town was beautiful and just got us qso excited to explore the surrounding mountains. We headed past all the women (asking to take us on treks) to an organization I was recommended called Sapa O'Chau.
SOC educates and employs local village children and families, plus they are super helpful to visitors. We were presented with a few options for trekking and decided on a 2-day trek that promised nice views and a homestay with some villagers. We saw this sign on the wall in their cafe, and he ended up being our guide!
We continued along winding village paths past children and farm animals and rice farmers and women in beautiful handmade garments. We then hiked up over a ridge to the next valley, through a bamboo forest!
The whole time Nha was telling us about the local villages and pointing out farming techniques and crazy insect species and how to correctly say hi to the locals in their language(s)... He's the best.
We made it to a spot with the MOST incredble view in the whole area, and posted up for lunch and lots of gazing out into the beautiful Muong Hoa Valley.
After about an hour, we got our feet under us again and started the second half of the day towards our homestay. I immediately saw a 3+ foot long snake winding up the ditch to the left of the path from me and watched it crawl under a rock. We traversed past a few creeks, one where this woman was washing clothes as children played in the waterfall above.
We also saw these MASSIVE water buffalo everywhere... Rough life huh?
:D
After an entire day on our feet, we finally made it to our homestay! It was much nicer and more spacious than I had imagined, and the hosts were so kind. We were greeted with tea and CHAIRS! So grateful to be off my feet.
Before dinner, we went up to a waterfall a short hike from the home and caught some beautiful evening light on the valley.
Caitlin got a picture of me and my new friends...
We returned to the family preparing us the most elaborate dinner!
Before we began, the parents explained that their family is Christian and pray before meals, so the father said a prayer in the local village language, H'Mong. I thought it was so cool that even in the remote village we were in, this family converted to Christianity (they said they heard about God about 11 years prior and were Christian from then on out). They didnt drink, but the others at the table kept the rice wine drinks coming. The Vietnamese like to stop about ever 10 bites and cheers these little rice wine glasses and take a drink together, such a fun tradition! Got me a nice little buzz going before I crashed super hard, falling asleep to the sound of the rain and insects all around us.
I was slightly worried that we would face rain the next day, but we woke up to beautiful blue skies—even more clear than the previous day! Oh and pancakes and fruit :) Nha warned us that we had a big uphill section to start the day, but I was feeling great. We hiked up and up and up this rocky trail for an hour or two to another beautiful viewpoint! We were across and down from the lunch spot the previous day, and I could make out in the distance where we were the previous day. We had come such a far way wowow.
Traversing through the rice paddies was a highlight of the day :) and these kiddos riding a buffalo!
The scenery was too gorgeous for words, I will urge anyone planning on traveling in SE Asia to include Northern Vietnam in their itinerary... It is so, so worth it.
Nha pointed out some graves as we passed by, grouped based on family, and facing East keeping their spirits alive. A good reminder of the one certainty we have in life...
For lunch, we stopped at a different homestay where Nha made us some noodles and eggs. A woman was staying there as she was working on a book about handicrafts of ethnic minority people in the area, and she had some great suggestions for places to visit even more north and east of Sapa. Already looking forward to exploring this part of the world more.
From there we had our final hike out of the valley, a bittersweet but relieving ending to lots of hours and kilometers of trekking!
When we got into town we needed to find a hotel for the night, but little did we know there was a big Vietnamese holiday about to happen and every single hotel in the entire town was booked. WHOOPS. We talked to the girls at SOC and some of them gave us helpless looks. Caitlin talked to a few more who made some calls, and finally were kind enough to offer us one of their beds in their staff dorms (they would share one, and we could share one). It was such an incredibly kind gesture, because we really were kinda screwed without them.
On top of that they invited us to a staff hot pot dinner and afterwards a surprise birthday party/karaoke celebration! I don't know how these things come to happen, but hey that's the travel life for ya. We had cake and drank beer and did our best singing and dancing to quite the variety of Vietnamese and Western songs!
After a few hours of that we all wandered to some small place for tea and snacks. That's another great thing about Vietnam—their drunchies are sliced cucumber and mango with tea. We need to bring that one back to the states!
We caught a taxi back to their housing and fell asleep to the sound of the rain. In the morning we walked back to SOC where our stuff was, and Caitlin and I had to say our goodbyes! :( She was headed on to Laos and I was going back to Hanoi. The bus ride down to Hanoi had some incredible scenery... So glad I got to see it all in the light of day.
When I got back into Hanoi, the bus essentially circled the whole city for an hour and didn't stop anywhere near the Old Quarter. Finally at the bus station I got out and just started asking about local buses to the Old Quarter, and was pointed to bus 15—no 21—no, 34, you need to be on bus 34—and somehow that process brought me right to where I needed to be for 7,000 Dong (about 30 cents, significantly less than a taxi would have been). It's pretty cool to see how comfortable I've become with travel and communication and overall independence in the last 5 or so months. There is no way I would have opted into that interaction at the start of my trip, but I guess this is one of the many ways I have grown throughout these travels.
So that holiday I mentioned? It was for the 40th Anniversary of the Reunification of Vietnam (the day the Vietnamese "won" the American War), so it was interesting to be there for it, and definitely gave reason for celebration. The fact that I could peacefully experience some incredible times in this country that in my parent's lifetime we were at war with... That's some impressive progress. It makes me want to treat foreigners with more openness and warmth once I'm back stateside.
That night they had a beautiful firework show over the lake that I first visited in Vietnam... full circle!
