Not much I can add...

Now that Craig's safely returned home (with an unexpected stop in Minneapolis), it's great to re-read his account of our vacation last week.  He couldn't have summed our trip up any more perfectly.  More than anything, it was fantastic to share with him all the great things about Vietnam I've discovered over the last four and a half months and it was hard to see him leave. 

Since Craig's post was so thorough, though, there's not much I can add other than to share a few additional pictures I had from the trip.

As Craig mentioned, we spent two days aboard a Syrena Cruise at Ha Long Bay.  Between the group of Taiwanese we travelled with, their karaoke-fest late into the night and our lack of air conditioning, it was an interesting trip.

View from the Sun Deck

We climbed to the Pagoda atop Titop Island

Beautiful Sunset

After a long, sleepless night,
we awoke to a beautiful rain shower at sunrise

...and then it really started raining.

After returning to Hanoi, we spent time with Thanh and his girlfriend Van.  They were kind enough to take Craig and I on a last minute Sunday morning drive before his flight left Sunday afternoon.

We made a short drive to the Thay Pagoda in Chua Thay, about 30km Southwest of Hanoi.

After being eaten alive by mosquitos at the Pagoda on top of the hill, we then climbed back down inside the hill while visiting the Phat Thic and Cac Co Caves.  (Sorry, no pictures.  It was dark).  Of course no trip to a pagoda or cave would be complete without a ca phe sua da, which we had on our way back to Hanoi.  :o)

In closing, I'll share one last pic.  In case anyone was wondering exactly how prolific the scooter culture in Vietnam is, I think this pretty much says it all:

It's the first and only sign of FedEx I've seen in Vietnam and was taken on our layover in Saigon.