Why Ha Long Bay, Vietnam is the coolest place you've never heard of

Before doing some research on Vietnam, I had never heard of Ha Long Bay. Even upon arrival, I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into when I signed up for a 3-day "Junkboat" tour of the bay. Junkboats are old wooden ships very common throughout Southeast Asia. Since the only way to view Ha Long Bay is on a tour of one of these boats, they play an integral part in the tourist industry here. After a 3 hour bus ride from Hanoi, Vietnam, we arrived in the village of Ha Long, where we boarded the Junkboats and sailed into the fog. With 30 new friends around my age from around the world, we were greeted with a delicious lunch of traditional Vietnamese. I wasn't very sure what all the food was, but most of it was pretty good. Throughout the next few days, I became friends with people from 10-15 countries while taking in some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. Kayaking, swimming, hiking, caving, and all night karaoke highlighted the 3-day journey.

Check out some highlights below:

9. Junkboat Harbor in Ha Long

8. Apparently one of the World's 7 Wonders of Nature.. Seems pretty Asian-biased to me, but who knows.

7. Oh, you like beaches?

6. The coolest boats

5.  Typical Asian sunset

4. Mountains that come out of nowhere

3. HUGE Caves

2. East Asian Sunsets

1. Amazing