Cat Ba, Vietnam

I was super fortunate to travel to Cat Ba island with Noel.  He has previously worked with Asia Outdoors and knows an awesome network of people there.  I spent the time climbing Butterfly Valley and getting to know the crew before Noel left to Tonsai, Thailand for the holidays.  I decided to stay in town so that I could meet Brianna in Hanoi for the new years.

The Asia Outdoors team treated me well.  I managed to have climbing partners every day and I even managed to join the crew for their holiday parties.  It was the first time I was traveling alone and it felt great to have such good friends right away.

Noel also knew the owner of a hotel.  We got the view for under $10 a night!

Butterfly Valley.  Most of my days were spent climbing here!

Sunset on the dock. 

Our Captain while on a deep water solo trip with the Asia Outdoors crew.  

Floating city in Ha Long Bay.

Noel Crushing A deep water solo traverse.  Deep water soloing requires no ropes and is a super free way of climbing with water as protection.

A picture of good and bad bolting practices.  The one on the right is what a proper bolt should look like.  Unfortunately, nearly all of the bolts in the valley look like the left making for some slightly sketchy climbing.

Noel cheering on Vera during a DWS route.

Kids in Vietnam tend have have a lot of freedom.  This little guy is no exception.  He walked down the street and joined me for dinner while playing with his toy cars.  I saw his mom watching from a distance.