Ninh Bình Province lies 100 km south of Hanoi. It’s one of the gems of Vietnam, with magnificent limestone pillars rising abruptly from the landscape. I was there for one full day, and happened to get perfect weather. There’s not much of a story to tell here, just some great pictures.

These photos were all October 30th. I considered staying another day in Ninh Bình, but the weather forced my hand. A tropical storm is currently hitting the middle of the country, and the forecast for November 1st was rain, rain and more rain. I really did not want to ride the final leg of my motorbike trip in a downpour, so it was a spooky Halloween ride to Hanoi for me.

The ride was pretty miserable – traffic was heavy, the scenery was the drab industrial outskirts of the city, and Google maps keep trying to direct me onto the cars-only expressway. Then I got into the city proper and spent a terrifying half hour winding through the insane, absurd traffic. Somehow I managed to make it to the rental agency without an accident. I said goodbye to Shelby, collected my deposit and walked to the hostel.

This hostel, the Old Quarter View, is one of the nicest I’ve stayed at. It’s clean and quiet, has a good social vibe, and has the nicest bathrooms I’ve seen the whole trip. And of course, they also had a Halloween party.

I ended up hanging out with a couple of Danes, who convinced me to go meet up with a group of their friends at a club. The friends were only in Vietnam for a short trip, this was their last night, and they had a birthday in the group, so they were doing some serious partying – private booth, bottle service, the works. So I just… pretended to be Danish for the evening.

Fortunately for me, a typical Vietnamese breakfast of fresh fruit and a big bowl of noodle soup is a great way to address a hangover.