here, there, everywhere

... from Tuyen Quang to the small town of Na Hang...

... from Na Hang to a road that turned into a giant rock quarry with no end in sight, so we decided to double back, lose a day, and then set out via alternate route (and what turned out to be worse roads)...

... to get to Ba Be lake, where we spent 3 days lazing around...

... then headed further north to Cao Bang, where we spent a few more days visiting caves and waterfalls...

... then drove back down Route 3, spending the night in Bac Kan before driving back to Hanoi yesterday afternoon. Or, more accurately, Iain drove all the way back to Hanoi. I ingloriously crashed my bike and hurt my wrist* on the way out of Ba Be, and so actually the latter half of this trip was a bus trip for me, rather than a bike trip. Not the most heroic story, but well worth learning a) that while a Wave can drive over a veritable quarry of rocks, it is best to steer clear of a single rock lying innocently in the road all on its own, and b) that there are myriad logic-defying ways to wedge a Honda Wave into and onto a Vietnamese bus. 

Misadventures and all, it was an awesome trip! I can't think of a better way to have celebrated our three year anniversary together.