Ninh Binh

Our time on Cat Ba Island is done. Yesterday, we went for a hike through the National Park. What the guide said would be an "easy walk" turned out to be scaling vertical cliffs - not easy after the night we spent drinking Tiger beers with a Kiwi expat. We did get some beautiful shots of the island from the top and will post them as soon as technology allows. We left the little island in a high speed boat for the mainland this afternoon. It took about 45 minutes, then we hired a driver to take us to Ninh Binh - another 3 hours away. We are planning to catch the Reunification Express train from here south. I think we are both ready to get to the Central and Southern regions of Vietnam. The north has tested our patience a bit too much... we hear it is another world down south, and we've got our fingers crossed that it is.