Vietnam

Girls carrying a younger brother in a hill tribe near Sa Pa in the mountains of Vietnam. On the last morning of our biking trip, we went off roading and visited a Thai village. We were invited into a house which was so similar to the huts in Ecuador it convinced me of the theory that the tribes migrated from China and Mongolia. The funny part was the main living area included a wood burning fire with a cooking pot, a loom and a television playing "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" in Vietnamese.

View from a scenic spot in Ha Long Bay which we fondly knicknamed "how long" bay. We joined a package trip from hanoi which started with a 3 hour bus ride in a tiny van crammed with 12 people and lots of luggage. Our bus made a rather long stop at a tourist trap of a shop which was stopping point for all the Ha long Bay tours. Unfortunately, we got there early and our van was trapped for much longer than expected. We also waited quite a while for our boat and then the next boat. We ended up reaching the hotel 4 hours late but then got in trouble for being 5 minutes late for dinner. Even with all of the waiting, the scenery was beautiful!

Carla and Marcus in a cyclo touring Hanoi on our second day. We rode the cyclos past pagodas, the main lake and jumped out at the Ho Chi Min's museum.

Paul and me on the second boat in Ha Long Bay. The boat was tiny but the views from the top deck were spectacular. The tiny huts behind us were built on the water. The villages were spread out throughout the bay.

On the first day of our bike trip, we stopped at a local school to drop off stationary, pencils and markers. Our presence completely interrupted all classes and the kids ran around us saying "hi" and using other English phrases that they must be learning in school. The teachers invited us inside for tea, and then we took a photo outside with the whole school.