Halong Bay.

(not my picture, but simply stolen from the internet to prove how pretty this place is)

I've been in northern Vietnam for about a week now.

It has been wonderful. The weather up north is cool and dry, so I don't end up breaking into a sweat every time I step outside. The coffee is wonderful here, and thanks to colonial French influences I get to eat a crunchy baguette with that coffee every morning, and after months of rice, that is a very great small joy.

I've spent most of the week living on Cat Ba island. It is the biggest island in Halong Bay, which is surely one of the more beautiful places on earth - giant limestone karsts rising straight out of the ocean. We've gone on a bunch of adventures around the area: kayaking around the bay, going on a hike through the interior of the national park, sailing around at suset, but the highlight may have been the chance to go climbing up these giant rock formations and simply falling into the warm water if you happen to lose your grip.

Today I'm going back to basics, I have plans to read my book on the beach and eat mangoes for lunch, but that is probably all the excitement I'm looking for. Tomorrow I'm hoping to do a little bit of biking around the island, and the next day we'll probably catch a ferry and head off toward somewhere new!