Halong Bay, Vietnam

From Hanoi we set off for Halong Bay. Along with Dani and Alberto, we piled into a crowded minivan early in the morning for our 4+ hour drive to the hauntingly beautiful Halong Bay. Driving in Vietnam is an interesting experience and it was one of those moments when I was extremely thankful to be pocket-sized. Poor Karim was cramped beyond belief.

But when we arrived at Halong Bay, we understood what all the hubbub was about. The huge bay is filled with undulating mountains that are shrouded in fog and mist by day and create breathtakingly beautiful seascapes of blue on blue at night.

We stayed out in Halong Bay overnight in a rustic sleeper boat and visited Halong Bay's "Amazing Cave" the next morning. Despite food poisoning among some of us, we were glad we made the journey.

Halong Bay by day

Dani and Alberto share a moment

And another

Halong Bay as darkness falls

The next morning

One of the floating villages in Halong Bay

The scene from outside the Amazing Cave

And now entering the Amazing Cave...

Cheese!

It was like another planet in there

More shots from outside the Amazing Cave

No more funky seafood dishes please!

Hanoi

After our whirlwind tour of Angkor Wat and the other temples of Siem Reap, we jetted off to Hanoi, still without Liz's lost luggage. But thankfully I was finally reunited with my suitcase, since my two lightweight sundresses weren't going to cut it in chilly Hanoi. We also met up with our good friends, Dani and Alberto, for this leg of the trip. It's always a good time with our favorite Columbians!

The city is utter chaos - something like 2 million motorbikes zip along in every which way, navigating around pedestrians and vendors. Power lines sag across the streets in huge bundles. It was definitely a change from our last stop. Here's a pictorial overview of our time in Hanoi.

Motorbikes and clothing stores aplenty

A rare intersection without hundreds of motorbikes, but plenty of powerlines

Karim on a teeny tiny stool

The kids here were freaking adorable

Chaos! Crossing the street made my heart palpitate

More cute kids

Karim bravely stood in front of traffic at a red light to take this shot

He climbs any tree he can find

Dani, Liz and Alberto

Rush hour here is INSANE

Dani and Karim strike a gangster pose

As does Liz

And the girls think they're in a karaoke bar

Cambodia: Part 3

Here's the last bunch of photos from Cambodia. We packed as many temple visits in as we could over our day and a half in Siem Reap. If you can get over there, we highly recommend it. This was one of our favorite trips in Southeast Asia.

Karim, looking uncharacteristically tiny in comparison to the temple

I'm so strong!

Relaxing in the shade. It's seriously hot here!

I just love this series of detail shots

This is one of my favorite shots of the whole trip

One of the hundreds of vendor stands near the temples

Karim is happiest when he's climbing

Just incredible

Ride 'em cowboy!

Typical Cambodian mode of transport

Some young Cambodians that sold us sodas

Karim, mid jump

This tree was freaking huge

This one too

There are no words for this...

Dinner at Nest before hopping on a late night flight to Hanoi