■ BAO HA, VIETNAM: I felt like I'd been on the road for a week, yet it had barely been a couple of hours. Little did I know the today's journey had just begun. Up until 10AM riding around the villages and hills of Northern Vietnam is a cool leisurely experience.

That changes abruptly once the sun truly gets going. Luckily there are a ridiculous amount of things to see and keep your mind off of the heat along the roads.

For every time you stop, you must of course indulge in the peace pipe ritual the locals are so fond of with their unquenchable thirst for the strong tobacco known as thuốc lào...