Halong Bay, with 3000 limestone islands topped with thick jungle vegetation along 120km of coastline, is one of the most raved about locations in Vietnam.
I hadn't intended to venture into the north of the elongated country but when I kept hearing about how picturesque Halong Bay is, I changed my plans and arranged to spend my last two days in Vietnam sailing on the bay's emerald green waters.
Unfortunately, being March, the weather put a dampener on my experience, throwing grey clouds over most of the bay and pouring rain upon my unhappy group who had also dreamt of taking in the postcard scenes under a brilliant sun.
But, as the saying goes, your experience is as good as the people who make it and fortunately, I had a good group of young people who had booked the tour through our hostal.
Although we were all disappointed at the obstructed views, everyone still eagerly climbed into kayaks. I borrowed another girl's pink poke-a-dot poncho to avoid the sprinkling of rain on my head but it didn't save me from the energetic splashes of water I received from my fellow kayak competitors!
We paddled through the World Heritage site and into caves before finding the junk that would be our accommodation for the night.
With 19 backpackers and a few decks of cards on board it wasn't difficult to create a fun night and we soon forgot our disappointment with Mother Nature.
However, one thing the weather couldn't affect was the food. It was absolutely divine and the plates just kept coming. We feasted on fresh seafood, traditional Vietnamese dishes and stir-fried vegetables.
When we woke up early the next morning our prayers had been answered. The sun was breaking through the clouds as they rapidly disappeared throughout the morning, revealing the breathtaking views we had imagined.
Although jumpers were still necessary, the wind had died down enough to allow me to sit on the top deck and soak up the fresh air with stunning 360-degree views - the almost-perfect climax to my three weeks in Vietnam.
We docked back at Halong Bay about midday and drove to Hanoi where I spent my last night before catching a plane to Bangkok to begin the journey home to Australia.
In Bangkok I met my close friend Claire who had just arrived there for a two-week holiday with her boyfriend and friends. It was a perfect coincidence in timing as we had not seen each other since I left, almost a year beforehand.
While Halong Bay - or more accurately, the weather there - had been a slightly disappointing end to my six-week backpacking adventure, there was one more experience to come.
Claire, her friends and I, visited the Tiger Temple, about two hours from Bangkok, where we got up close and cuddly to fully grown tigers.
A year ago, you would have been hard pressed to get me that close to such a fierce animal, but my past 12 months travelling South America and Asia has at times forced me to draw on every bit of courage I can muster and on this day, I sat relaxed behind the great big cats and patted their rough orange fur, wishing only that we had longer with each of them.
The temple is an amazing place set up by Buddhist Monks who want to help abandoned or injured animals as diverse as wild boars, water buffalo and colourful peacocks. They hope in the future to breed the tigers to increase their wild population.
And of course there's nothing like ending a holiday with an afternoon of shopping at one of the biggest centres in Asia - MBK - followed by a one-hour foot massage!
By the time I got on the plane to Sydney the next day, I had been away from home for almost a year. I had left with only a one-month volunteering program in Peru booked with no further plans and was coming home refreshed and refocused with a bag full of experiences, memories and new friends.
When I said goodbye to my best friend in Thailand to begin my backpacking journey in Cambodia and Vietnam, I was in tears, scared of what was to come as I crossed the border into unknown territory alone.
Those fears disappeared as soon as I felt the warmth of the Cambodian people and as time went on and I made life-long friends from all over the world (including a Cambodian Monk!), I wondered what I had been scared of in the first place.
It has been a magical, enlightening experience, not just because of what I have seen and learnt and the people I have met, both locals and other travellers, but also because of the personal journey that backpacking alone forces you to take.
I recommend both solo backpacking and South East Asia to anyone.
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