12.06.2017 Vietnam, Hanoi - Ninh Bình ±100 km

3:00 AM Someone is snoring really loud in the dorm.
3:11 AM Thinking - 'Am I the only one who is awake?'.
3:17 AM In whisper - 'Brent, are you awake?'.
3:20 AM Brent and I discuss what to do with the snoring guy in the bed. above me, our best solution is to roll the guy over to his side so he will stop snoring.
3:21 AM Brent is out of bed and walks to our suspect and starts pushing the guy. However, the suspect is not the snorer and is wide awake when Brent is pushing him. A few curse words are exchanged.
3:22 AM Brent has found the snorer and pushed him onto his side. Silence.

Today I have to say goodbye to Brent, who with his broken leg has to stay behind in Hanoi, which makes me sad. I'll be continuing my travel to the south of Vietnam, stopping at Ninh Bình only a 100 km drive.

I give Brent a big hug and leave the hostel too late (10:30 AM) Hanoi's traffic is a total chaos by now. Anxious I start the engine of my motorbike and pray all will go well, I just need to make it to the highway, where I'll be safe!

The sun is burning and I am sweating everywhere, which has nothing to do with the heat. It is all nervous sweat. Who knew driving in Hanoi's traffic would be this scary? Not long after, I make it to the highway: I'm safe! Wait a minute, is that young man driving on the high way with a bowl of phở in his left hand? Vietnam, you keep surprising me...

Ninh Bình, also known as Hạ Long on land due to its similar landscape, is foggy when I arrive in the afternoon. It has a mysterious, appealing look and when I spot two gigantic rocks with the road going through I have to get off my motorbike and take a picture. Just as I am standing casually in the middle of the road to take my snap, someone is honking at me. I turn around and it's Dutch Christine, with whom I travelled in Northern Vietnam.

Christine has already booked into a homestay, so I do the easy thing and follow her and book into the same room. Also, since she has been here for a couple days I follow her to Van Long Nature reserve. We get into a tiny wooden boat and pay 50.000 Vietnamese Dong (€2,30) each to the old Vietnamese lady who will be rowing us through the beautiful landscape. High black mountains surrounded by water filled with countless lilies, in silence I admire the scenery.

The lady rows into a low cave and without warning a colony of bats fly in all directions over our heads. We can not help our selves but scream as a bunch of schoolgirls. To the delight of the Vietnamese lady, who can't stop laughing...

12.06.2017 Vietnam, Hanoi - Ninh Bình ±100 km

wow enjoy your holiday