In the north

Finally made it to the Capital City of Ha Noi today, after a 13 hour train ride and then a 5 hour bus ride to the coastal town of Halong Bay yesterday.

Halong bay was so incredibly stunning. All the photos I took just do not do it justice. The only way to get the true feel of it is to come here yourself. Halong Bay is surrounded by 1,969 little islets that make up this giant maze around the Bay. We took a boat trip out around them and got to explore a couple of caves. It was very misty, which made little islets appear out of nowhere when we went floating past them.

Hue was also a very worthwhile stop. I visited the imperial city (based on China's forbidden city) and got to dress as a local would have during that error. A lot of asian tourists thought we were part of the attraction and started taking photos and clapping at us. A lot started following us as they thought we were about to put on a show.

Before we left Hue for Halong Bay we took a motorcycle trip round the country. This may have potentially been the scariest thing I have done to date, as drivers here aren't particularly fond of giving way but more just all go at once. We saw huge rice farms and then even went and visited a Rice Museum. I know what you're thinking - that must have been quite boring right? Well it was. Apart from this really old lady that gave really odd demonstrations on how rice is made. Almost borderline disturbing.

I was chatting to my rider as we were going through the country - he's approaching 50 and has still never left Vietnam. He would quite like to go to Cambodia if he gets the money, but this was still in the distant future. The health care system is also less than desirable. If patients can't afford a bed for a night (about $20 to $30US), noone could care less. The hospitals will just leave them outside to die. If locals can't afford to be buried, they have mass graves that have a whole lot of dirt piled on top of them. People put coloured ribbons on these graves as good luck prayers. I saw several of these during my trip north. Makes me feel a very long way from home.

Anyway, in Ha Noi for the next couple of days until I head West to Laos. Will update when I can.