kaleidoscope

fineto

2009-01-11T15:05:00.002-05:00

the last day of my journey was on Monday (Jan 5). hard to believe i was still in Thailand a few days ago. i spent that morning slowly getting the rest of my things together, eating some breakfast, and then taking my last walk through Chiang Mai. i ended up in the massage parlor where i had started my time in Thailand and got a 2 hour thai massage (i first asked for one hour and my masseuse asked 'don't you want 2 hours?')... at about $10, how could i say no? what ensued was a combination of massage, physical therapy, acrobatics, and yoga. Unlike typical massages i have had, you wear some light pants and a top for most of the time while the masseuse gets underneath and on top of you to work out all your muscles and to stretch them. the only time my skin was bared was when she worked on my back. definitely the best massage i have ever had... left me hoping that i can find somewhere around here that does thai massage, although i'm not sure i'll find it.

my 36 hours of travel was not the best time i have ever spent, nor was it the worst. After 5 flights (including one that had to be rebooked mid-travel because i had originally booked it for the wrong day - don't ask), i made it back into DC. it was really nice to have ben come get me from the airport... we picked up my mail from the post office (including my package sent from Hoi An that i was not sure would find its way here) and then went to grab some dinner at Dogfishhead.

As expected, it did not take me very long to fall asleep. Unfortunately, i woke up at 2 am and did not fully fall asleep again after that. Needless to say, i felt pretty awful on Wednesday with a migraine and only went into work for about 3 hours. After 10 hours sleep that night, i rebounded back by the next day. Don't get me wrong, i've felt a little wiped out, but nothing like i did the day after returning.

I'm slowly getting back into things, but surely my head isn't quite there yet... hopefully by next week... Kaya is still readjusting to my return (and her return to the apartment) as well. she hasn't really eaten much since i brought her home, which is not like her... i'm hoping she's return to her peppy (albeit psychotic) self over the next few days.

i should probably continue cleaning my apartment since it looks like a bomb hit it... well, that and watch the playoffs.

bugs and more bugs

2009-01-04T09:59:00.003-05:00

Since I knew I wasn't going to be climbing today, i decided to have a slow morning... i had breakfast and then spent some time getting this here blog up-to-date. At about noon, i headed out to my main destination of the day - the Museum of World Insects and Natural Wonders. It was kind of a far walk, but it was such a nice day that i didn't mind it... plus, not only did i not have much else on the agenda for the day, but it was my goal to not once hire a tuk-tuk or taxi (except to and from the airport) while in Chiang Mai so that I could actually feel like i was getting some physical activity again.

After about an hour, I saw a sign marking the museum. I realized rather quickly that this was not the brick and mortar museum i had envisioned, but a small museum out of a house. I rang the high tech doorbell (actually a string connected to a bell higher up) and this cute old man, in a t-shirt and pants with insect prints on them, came to the entryway. I paid the requisite 300 baht fee and entered the museum. The man, whose name i learned was Khun Manop, handed me a computer printed sheet of paper with numbers and descriptions to use as my guide through the museum. He and his wife are both entomologists - she still does research while he is the museum curator.

I started moving through at number one, beginning with some insect nests and wood carvings made by water erosion. After about 5 minutes, Mr. Manop came up to me and asked me to look at something. He brought me to a bell with the metal pull handle reading something like 'ring this bell to honor the nature's pure devotion'. He had just put the bell there and wanted to know if the description made sense. After he told me what he wanted the words to reflect, I helped him reword it a bit - 'ring this bell to honor nature's pure selflessness' (or something like that)... and then he let me be the first visitor to ring it. The next room contained different pieces of wood turned into artwork by termites. The third room described how the museum came to be and contained some butterfly and other insect specimens. Throughout the first three rooms there were many (and i mean many) little sayings and thoughts about the importance of protecting a nature, how insects aren't bad but it's the things we do that lead to harm, how nature was created by god, etc. The tour then lead me to the upper level, which contained 'his life's work' as he put it. There were 436 species of mosquitos, as well as butterflies, housed in glass cases. Who knew there were so many? And man, some of them surely don't look like the mosquitos that we know them to be... some are large as (or even larger than) beetles and have armor-like shells. I actually really enjoyed walking through there, not only because the bugs themselves were interesting, but knowing how much love, time and energy was put into not only collecting the insects but creating a museum for them. He asked me to write a blurb in his guest book and then sweetly thanked me again for helping him out and for coming to the museum.

I had decided to next go the the Art Museum. After another 30 minute walk, I got to the museum... it was actually the Chiang Mai University Art Center/Museum. Still, i thought it would be interesting to go in. Turns out, however, that they are between exhibits and the next one doesn't come in until Jan 9th... so there wasn't anything for me to see.

After that, I headed back towards my hotel's part of town. I hung out there for about an hour and then headed to the Sunday Market, which luckily was right outside the hotel doors. I had thought last night's market was big, but this one took the cake. Again, it was a pleasurable strolling and shopping experience at the beginning, but became less so as the crowds moved in. There are few times that i do not like shopping: 1) when i need to find something specific, 2) when i don't really have the money and just end up tagging along with other people, and 3) when it involves huge mobs of people stepping on the backs of my flip flops and creating barricades across the spots i want to get to. Somehow in all of it, i managed to by another bag full of stuff (i said that i didn't like to shop in this situation, but not that i couldn't). Also, since it was my last day here before leaving, i felt like i should try some of the street food i had seen but not yet tried - grilled calamari (the whole squid grilled, sliced, put in a bag, and drenched with spicy sauce - my mouth was en fuego), strawberries laced with sugar and salt (the Vietnamese and Thais are huge fans of mixing sweet and salty, and sometimes spicy), these mini fried eggs that they had me put salt, pepper, and soy sauce on, and a waffle folded in half with banana slices in it. Although it was my dinner and i ate it over the 4 hrs of walking around, i still ended up pretty full - i guess it is a lot of food, but at least most of it wasn't too unhealthy. Like Huy had said before, i didn't want to leave wishing i had tried something that i couldn't try at home - and Thai street food is one of those things.

So, now i'm back at the hotel, getting ready to pack up my stuff. And yes, i did buy an additional bag to help me bring back the goods i got here. Luckily I also sent some stuff from the first half of my trip back home via post when i was in Hoi An (although i'm still not convinced it will make it to Gaithersburg). Off to get packing and have my last slumber in SE Asia... well, at least for now :)

Chiang Mai

2009-01-03T22:33:00.002-05:00

The next morning, I used wifi at a coffeeshop across the street to see and email from the place where i had booked a room - there were directions and a note to make sure that my taxi driver did not take me to the OTHER Garden Guesthouse... i was really wishing i had seen that email before getting to Chiang Mai... i emailed him back and said that i would arrive today if it was possible, but also did some more looking online (thanks iPhone)... at this point, i decided that after 3 weeks of living in $2-$12 places, i was maybe going to treat myself at the end of my trip to a nicer place. So before heading to the place i had booked, i stopped at another that got good reviews online. It's a charming place called the 3 Sis (sisters) B&B and Lodge. For $40 a night, i feel like i am living in luxury - it has teak every where and the air of Morocco to it... a proper shower, proper toilet, toilet paper, and no bugs (oh, and this morning i discovered the hairdryer)... love it... and it's in a great location in the center of the city...

I spent the morning of my first day walking around to see a few Wats (temples) - one of them is across the street from my hotel - and to see a bit of the area. I found a cute natural bath product shop that i bought some goodies in and then headed back towards the hotel to a massage place i had spotten on my way... it was finally time for me get one since i had yet to in SE Asia... i ended up booking a foot massage (didn't want full body yet because of sunburn), clay body mask (i was told it would help my sunburn heal quicker), and a mani/pedi. The 45 min foot massage ended up being about 30 min on my legs and feet and the rest of the time on my neck, shoulders, arms and back. I then spent about an hour doing the body mask before getting my mani/pedi - it was so nice to finally get all the dirt out from under my nails... i ended up being at the place from 4:30 until 9pm... closing them down... the awesome thing is that everything together cost 920 baht, which is about $26.50... insane...

After that I was not in the mood to hit the touristy Night Bazaar, so just came back to chill at my hotel... didn't even make it to dinner, which is fine since i have been eating enough for two people over this trip. I emailed a woman about taking a Thai cooking class the next morning before getting to bed (well trying to, but i ended up awake until like 2am).

I opened my eyes the next morning to a beautiful sunrise just outside my window... it felt like heaven... after getting myself together, i contacted the woman from the cooking school and she said i would be picked up at my hotel. I spent from 9am-3pm at the cooking class... it was me and 3 other people at first (2 sisters from Canada and a guy friend of their's)... our teacher was this beautiful Thai woman who was down-to-earth and funny... we first took a trip to the nearby market for her to show us didn't kinds of veggies and herbs used in Thai cooking, some of which i had never seen before. Afterwards, we headed back and were met by the another guy from Ireland who had missed the pick up because we was sleeping. It turned out to be a good group and i had a lot of funning cooking and talking with them. We made soooo much food. I was told beforehand by friends that you are supposed to eat everything at these classes, but i couldn't do it... i alone had made pad thai, fresh spring rolls, tom yum prawn soup, hot basil stir-fry with tofu and veggies, green curry with tofu and veggies, and bananas in coconut milk... plus, we tasted each other's stuff since people chose some different things to learn for each of the 6 meal courses.

After the class, i stopped back at my hotel and then headed to a local climbing place to book a trip for the next day... i arrived at the place to discover (sadly) that they were closed for a couple of days, so i couldn't book something... i then decided to check out the Night Bazaar... using my map, which has incorrect street names and doesn't show some streets that actually do exist, i headed towards the Bazaar (or so i thought)... i eventually realized i was headed in the opposite direction that i had planned. Luckily, there was also a Saturday night market on this end of town. I had been told by a few locals that the Sat and especially Sun night markets are much better than the Bazaar - less touristy, more crafts, and better deals... when I arrived to the market, I soon realized how large it was - it seemed to go on forever. Gradually more and more people seemed to appear and after about an hour, it was starting to get packed. By the time I left about 3 hours later, it was so jam packed that it was difficult to get through the mass of people... at one point i even stopped trying to get to booths because it meant pushing through so many people. It was still cool, though... i got some gifts (for others and myself), but learned that if i am wavering on something that i think i will want to come back for, i should just buy it... there were these two pictures i liked but wasn't 100% sure about... stopped on my way back to get them and they were gone... i'm hoping they, or something similar, will reappear at the Sunday market tonight, which is serendipitously outside the doors of my hotel.

Day 8 (our final day): Can Tho back to Ho Chi Minh City and then to Chang Mai

2009-01-03T21:51:00.006-05:00

Vanessa and I were the only ones actually awake for our set 5am meeting time... after realizing this, we got back into bed (me fully clothed since i had packed up all my stuff) and slept for another hour (well, i tried to). About an hour and half later, we all headed in our sleepwalking state towards the water to board a boat. We rode for about 20 minutes before coming upon all the boats with people selling all their stuff (watermelon, pineapple, etc.) at the Floating Market. Smaller boats even came up to us to sell us drinks and other food - felt like the era of waitresses on roller skates coming to your car. After riding slowly through the market, we hopped from our boat to another for Huy to buy us some pineapple, which we ate standing on the boat we bought it from. After this, i dozed in and out of sleep reclining on the boat as we headed back to shore.

Immediately upon getting to the hotel, Chin said we had to go... I was supposed to have breakfast with the ladies, but since we had gotten a late start he wanted to get going... my stuff was already loaded on to his bike, ready to go. The other ladies were heading to the border that day so that they could go into Cambodia, but I decided to head into Thailand for my last few days. So, Chin was driving me back to Saigon (HCMC) to catch my plane. After about an hour he asked if i was hungry and we stopped for me to grab a sandwich (our fall-back staple of bread, laughing cow cheese and cucumber)... i had to eat it as we continued driving, so there were bread pieces flying everywhere - it was probably comedic for passerbys who saw me. Luckily, today was the one day i rode where there wasn't a drop of rain - it was actually really warm and i ended up adding some sunburn to my already red-tainted skin.

After 4 hours, we got to the airport - that was quite a racket because they wouldn't let the motorbike take me up to International Departures... Chin had to drop me off and then i had to pay a taxi 50,000 dong to take me 1 minute up the ramp.

I was at the airport almost 5 hours before my flight was set to depart and the ticketing desks didn't open until 2 hours before flight time, so i camped out on some chairs in the ticketing area, falling in and out of sleep, until i could get to check in. After listening to many people in line getting upset because the the baggage weight limit had gone down and they had to pay $15 per extra kilo, i got through (luckily without having to pay anything extra) , went through Immigration and then went to catch my plane. After a two hour flight, i arrived in Bangkok. Air Asia only has terminal flights so I couldn't check my bag all the way through - so i spent the typical 45 min getting my bag and then walking back to Domestic Check-In. I headed to the Thai Airlines counter to check in, but the agent was confused and said that he thought I was really flying Bangkok Air... I gathered my stuff and headed to the Bangkok Air counter (even though i was sure it was a Thai Air flight) only for them to tell me my flight number was a Thai Air one... so, i traipsed back to my guy at the other counter and had him look again... only to find that my flight was going out of Don Muang Airport - the other airport (an hour away) in Bangkok... i hadn't known when booking my flights that there were two airports in Bangkok, so i didn't think to make sure of it... luckily, i had given myself 3 hrs between flights... so even though i had already spent over an hour getting my bag and figuring out my flight, the attendant said i should still have time to grab a taxi to the other airport. I asked how much it should cost and he told me 300-400 baht... i got money out of the ATM and headed down where he told me to catch a taxi... along the way, some guy tried to con me into paying 1200 baht for the ride... after pshawing him off, i caught a metered cab outside and asked the guy if he could go fast so that i didn't miss my flight... he did a great job, getting me to the airport with an hour to spare, and only charging me what i was told it should cost.

I arrived in Chiang Mai at 11:30pm, so it was after midnight when i grabbed a taxi. Although i had booked a room, i did not have internet access over the past few days and did not have the address written down - so i just told him the name of the place... he dropped me off to a hotel with a locked gate (a lot of the budget hotels i stayed at did this)... however, unlike most of the others, there was no one sleeping close to the entry... so banging on the gate did me no good. I left and began walking to find another place to stay... i felt a little uncomfortable walking by myself at 1am, in the dark, to find a place... i had no idea where i was or whether the area was safe. After about 15 min of walking, i came across a large, seemingly nice hotel that was open... it was 1400 baht for a room (4-20 times what i had been paying up to that point), but i didn't want to keep walking. I booked and paid for the first night in the room without looking at it. Needless to say, it was certainly not worth the approximately $40 i was paying - as bad, even worse, than some of the $2 and $12 hotels i had stayed in... so i went to bed knowing that i would find another place in the morning.

Day 7: Mythos to Can Tho

2009-01-03T21:13:00.004-05:00

Today we continued our ride through the Mekong Delta (aptly named because the Mekong River runs through)... after riding for a bit, the guys dropped us off at a huge suspension bridge, told us to walk, and they would meet us at the other side. This bridge crossed the Mekong River, so we spent some time taking pictures as we made our way across. Besides motorbikes (and a few cars) the other thing the bridge was laden with was women selling their goods - cigarettes and such.

After getting picked up at the other side, we next rode to a spot set alongside the Mekong and boarded a boat to ride in the river. As in other places I've been in Mekong, there were many people on the water - living and working. Our first stop was a fish farm floating in the river... other than getting to take some pics of the fish as they came to the surface for food, not too much happening there.

Our next stop was alongside the river at a place where they made coconut candy - as soon as we walked off the boat and over a small dock bridge, a woman held out a plate to offer us coconut paper and coconut candies... the paper was a little odd, but the candies (made of coconut, banana, sugar, sesame seeds) were heavenly. We were encouraged to sit down and eat more as we drank some green tea. We then watched as a guy (maybe teenager) stirred a vat of the coconut mixture.

After thoroughly giving myself a sugar high, we re-boarded the boat to head to our last stop - a farm where they grow fruits and vegetables. We had a tour guide walk us through on a stone pathway, with trees on each side of us - growing asian apples, jackfruit, mango, you name it. Then we hit an area where they housed some ostrich (we could take a ride for a fee), monkeys, a bear, and some alligators (also a fee if we wanted a shot at feeding them). Soon after, we separated from the guide and I heard Huy curse for the first time - he was pissed that the guide there tried to get money out of us and he said that he could easily take us through himself. Our last stop in the farm was a covered area with my new favorite piece of furniture - hammocks. As we lied there chilling out, we were served asian apples to eat. After about 10 minutes there, it started to downpour yet again... so, we relaxed there until the rain let up a bit. By the time we boated back to the shore, it had returned to full-fledged downpour... so we had a small bite to eat and some coffee before donning our full body rainsuits and getting back on the bikes.

As it was already getting late (we had spent a few hours out there), we headed for the hotel. After quickly showering and changing clothes, we headed with Huy and Son to a boat where we would be having our New Years Eve dinner. We seemed to be the only non-Vietnamese people on the dinner cruise, so people enjoyed watching us - especially after we had a few bottles of wine and got silly. After Lynne told us she could put her whole fist in her mouth, and then showed us, we all had to take a try... oh yes, there are pictures to document it... and i'll have you know that i was successful after attempt #2. The family at the table across from us was getting such a kick out of it and us that before they left, they even came by to talk with us (interpreted by Huy) to tell us (in particular Dre) how pretty our hair was and how pretty we were... then the teenage son proceeded to show us his body trick by flipping his eyelid inside out... totally gross, but of course he wanted a picture so i obliged him with it.

At dinner, Huy really encouraged us to order some things that we would probably not get to eat again once we left Vietnam... for sure i was not going to get dog (at least knowingly), but i was willing to try something... we ordered an eel dish (which i've had before, but others hadn't), frog (also another one i've eaten before), and field mouse... you heard me right - mouse. Luckily it did not come out whole, but in squares covered in a glaze... after one bite... i was... loving it! it turned out to be my favorite thing on the table other than the garlic sauteed cabbage. I'm sure the glaze played a big part in me liking it so much, but it tasted like pork ribs... so now i can take eating field mouse off my list of things to do.

The dinner cruise only lasted until 10pm, so after that Dahn met up with us and we went to a dance club. We were 5 of only about 8 white people (and i only met one of them) in the place, so we were quite the center of attention at times... people coming up to ask us where we are from and wanting to dance with us... and lots of glances... we were there when the clock struck 12 and it felt really cool to be ringing in the new year with my new friends in a new place.

We got back to the hotel a little after 1am, with plans to meet up at 5am to go to the Floating Market (it only goes until 9am). My already challenged sleep time was interrupted at 3:30am by a phone call from my dad making sure i was ok and not in Bangkok yet since there was a fire at a club there. In a daze, i told him i was ok and not leaving until the next day (actually that day since it was 3:30am)... I tried falling back asleep but really stayed awake most of the time until i actually got up.

rode on through to Can Tho (with a hammock lying, rest/pee stop in between). Once we got to

Day 6: Ho Chi Minh City to Mythos

2009-01-03T12:31:00.009-05:00

Today was a day centered on the Vietnam War. Just outside of Ho Chi Minh City is the War Remnants Museum. This museum is all about the war, with some it from the perspective of journalists, but most of it from the Vietnamese perspective. It was very eye-opening for me since i (embarrassingly) know little about the war. What i gleaned from the museum, however, made me feel almost ashamed to come from the States. I know that our generation is not responsible for those of the past, and not every American supported the war, but seeing what happened during the war was really hard. Growing up as Jewish, with grandparents who lived through the Holocaust, i couldn't help but feel like there were similarities. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there is any comparison to Hitler or the concentration camps, but some of things that happened to the Vietnamese people during the war as a result of the war itself, agent orange, and napalm are just as unsettling. The biggest thing i walked away from the museum with was a desire to really learn more, so i'm definitely going to do some reading when i get back to learn more about what happened so i can have a more informed opinion.

The second thing we did today was visit the Cu Chi (pronounced Chu Chi) tunnels. These were a network of tunnels dug (by hand) by Southern Vietnamese people from Cu Chi between the 1940s and 1960s. These tunnels housed sleeping quarters, meeting rooms, a kitchen, and infirmary - and lots of booby traps. Tourists can now go through parts of the tunnels, however, anyone with claustrophobia or a heart condition can't partake because the tunnels are so small - extremely so at some points. Not only the tunnels themselves, but also the 10-20 different kinds of booby traps set up by the people who created these tunnels, show their ingenuity - not that i'm a fan of injuring people, but some of the booby traps were pretty crazy.

From Cu Chi we headed to the Mekong Delta region, with our first stop being Mythos. This was the only night that i was overly disturbed by my sleeping quarters. Checking the beds immediately when we entered the room, Vanessa and I found a swarm of ants and smaller guys that looked like they could be bed bugs or something. We went down and said something, only to have the woman reappear with bug spray. I told her this wasn't acceptable and we wanted to see another room... if it weren't for being with 4 other girls and not wanting to offend our guys, i would have picked up and found another place. The 2nd room, obviously just bug sprayed by the woman, seemed to be better (at least with no visible bugs on the bed)... i kept my bags and stuff up off the floor just in case... thought i wouldn't be able to sleep that night, but after a beer and being tired, i fell asleep quickly in my silk sleeping bag, with my head on my own, pillow protected travel pillow - no way was i sleeping directly on the bed.

Day 5: Mui Ne to Ho Chi Minh City

2009-01-03T11:50:00.006-05:00

We began our day at a dragonfruit farm... these are quite pretty fruit, deep pink on the outside and white with black seeds inside... their taste and texture is similar to kiwi, but they have a much milder flavor. After walking through some of the trees, we were treated to tea and some sliced dragonfruit by the proprietors. we bought a couple dragonfruit and some other treats to take with us.

After the dragonfruit, we got to see a woman making rice paper... from using the water left when soaking rice to creating a 'batter' that was poured onto a hot, round griddle...this wasn't like typical rice paper i am used to... not sure if it's because it had not dried yet, but it was not only soft and chewy, but had dragonfruit seeds in it along with a taste of onion. I'm thinking it was more like rice cracker than rice paper, but maybe it's just a variety i haven't seen before.

Next were the hammocks... so nice... we went to a place along the side of the road to have a break, drink some tasty Vietnamese coffee (damn that condensed milk is good, yet evil), and lie out in hammocks for a bit (really nice for our butts that were beginning to feel the effects of being on a bike for 5 days)... the only imperfection in this vacation-like atmosphere was the toilet (of course)... maybe the worst, not smell or dirt wise but logistically, i have been in... i opened the door to a square cement floor, with a ridge along all four sides, and a small hole in the back corner... i was seriously unsure what i was supposed to do... i ended up with each leg on opposing ridges, awkwardly pulling down my skivvies since my legs were not in close proximity to each other, and peeing on the floor... as you can imagine, liquid hitting flat cement floor means splatter... then i had to maneuver getting the tissue out of my pocket (you didn't think there was toilet paper in there, did you?), pulling my pants up, and exiting without stepping into the square. Once that was completed successfully, i used the provided hose to wash the ground and wash the liquid into the tiny back hole.

After this we headed into Ho Chi Minh City. Although i was told how crazy the city could be, i was not fully prepared for it. Take NYC and make it 10 times worse... with motorbikes... all on top of each other and no regard for any kind of traffic rules... bike literally on top of bike, edging by each other, cutting each other off, playing chicken... my backpack, strapped to the back of the bike, proved to be a weapon.

Incident #1 occurred soon after we got into the city when my guy and a woman on a motorbike headed into the same opening... she hesitated while my guy moved forward... i heard a screech, he turned back for a second and then kept moving... since the bikes behind us didn't stop moving either, i could not see what happened behind me... a few minutes later when we were stopped at a traffic light (one of the few actually around), the woman pulled up next to us and started yelling at Dreung... turned out that my bag had snipped her handlebars as we edged past her... after a back-and-forth until the light changed, we moved on and Dreung said that it wouldn't have happened if she had just kept moving and didn't hesitate...

Incident #2 happened about 10 minutes later when all of a sudden i feel the bike being pulled down to the right and i see a woman on a bicycle holding on and taking us down with her... luckily she let go and Dreung (barely) kept us upright... again he kept moving and later told me (when i asked why he didn't stop) that it would just lead to more accidents because of all the people behind us... not sure what caused her to fall (probably my bag hitting her) or if she was ok... pretty unnerving for me...

Incident #3 another 10 minutes after that when a woman on a motorbike to our left started falling into us (again leading us to nearly fall to the right) - i really thought we were going down on this one - but again Dreung recovered. The woman, however, did not and her bike went down... she fell to the ground with one flip flop flying off and a hole left in the knee of her jeans (this time, there was a spot we could pull over). Dreung helped her up... she was obviously upset... they went back and forth a bit, but then he came back and we got back on to the bike and rode off - no insurance information exchanged (do they even have it?)...

In all three of these motorbike incidents, i remained intact and unscathed. I was not so lucky when walking on the sidewalk that evening in the city... no, i was not hit by a running motorbike (although they often do ride on the sidewalk) but one that was not in use. A guy was rearranging his bike and swung it out, without looking, as i was passing by him... the metal rack on the back nailed me in the shin and i eeked out a very audible 'Ouch'. He apologized and asked if i was okay but i was in the intense pain stage and my friends were still walking ahead of me, so i just kept moving. I was gimpy and sore for a few hours... it felt better when i woke up the next day, but i now have a nice gash as a souvenir.

Day 4: Dalat to Mui Ne

2009-01-03T11:25:00.007-05:00

This morning we started with another wet one (boo), but headed to a flower park in Dalat... it was pretty... lots of flowers :) as you can tell, i like flowers, but i'm not one for frequenting flower parks...

Then we went to the Crazy House, which was designed by an architect named Hang Nga (she was the daughter of a former president of Vietnam)... it has all these odd rooms, twisty staircases... kind of like being in a house that would come from Alice in Wonderland.

After that, we attempted to taste wine at the Dalat winery... i say attempted, because it didn't happen. We got there and realized that it was Sunday and they don't do tours and tastings on Sunday - the only workers there were two security guys... we couldn't even buy some wine to take with us (and it was so much cheaper than the Dalat wine we had been buying in Vietnam).

So, we got to see more Buddhas at another pagoda - this one decked out with neon lights... Las Vegas meets Buddhism...

Our last stop before getting into Mui Ne was a village where the main craft was weaving... it was more a break and chance to get us to buy things, but it was still cool to see the amazing work these women produced... plus, there were some cute kids for me to take pictures of :)

We got into Mui Ne just a bit before sundown... we headed straight to the sand dunes where, even from a distance, you could see people sliding down the hills. There are young kids (mostly girls) that come up to you as soon as you arrive, offering to take you for rides on sleds (really plastic sheets with strings) down the dunes. Our guides warned us that they would try to get more money out of us than they should (pay per ride, make it more expensive), but that we shouldn't pay more than 10,000 dong. It was gorgeous up in the dunes, especially with the sun setting. The girls were relentless at trying to help us walk, start sliding, take our pictures... we finally did our first rides and it was a little less exhilarating than i imagined, especially since my girl (Lynn) pushed me before i was ready (as i was saying 'don't push me yet' because i wanted another girl to be in place to take my picture) and i ended up with a bucket full of sand in my face - not so fun with contacts... but i quickly recovered and we climbed a larger dune... after about 30 min of putting the girls off ride #2 by playing games of tic-tac-toe, we each took another ride. After walking with us back to our bikes, we paid the girls the 10,000 dong agreed upon at the beginning, but as our guides warned, they tried to get an additional 10,000 for the second ride. After refusing, and watching them put their pout faces on, they went home (it was getting dark) and we left for our hotel. The hotel was set just off the beach... me, Vanessa, Dre, and Maud decided to head down and take a swim before meeting up for dinner... Maud and me went in first because the other two were not loving the not-so-warm (but not unbearably cold) water... it was really beautiful... the sky was pitch black except for the millions of stars we could see... the water glistened around us... and we saw a fire twirler on a nearby beach spot... it was also cool because it was my first time ever swimming in the South China Sea.

After the swim, we met up with the guys for dinner at a local joint just up the road. Along the way, we got to see another victim of a motorbike accident in a crowd of people on the side of the road... at dinner we sealed the deal and signed on for an additional four days with the Easy Riders.

Day 3: ? to Dalat

2009-01-03T10:46:00.004-05:00

Today we woke up to another morning of rain... luckily it didn't last too long or too hard, with spurts here and there throughout the day.

Our first stop of the day was a chopstick factory... unlike the brick factory, men and women both worked here. Some of the jobs seemed so tedious - like the woman who sat in front of a huge, upright wheel of chopsticks, picking out bad ones by pushing them through to the other side. Her young son was with her - it seems in Vietnam there is no problem bringing kids with you to work, especially if they are working as well. I just kept thinking, I hope that they rotate jobs and she doesn't have to pick out bad chopsticks day after day.

Driving along the roads we saw full lawns worth of coffee beans drying on tarps... this allowed them to use the sun to turn the coffee beans from red (the mature ones) to black. At one place we stopped, they also had a huge tarp full of corn and another bin full of a root similar to ginger (after my cooking class - see later - i now think it was galangal). Then we stopped at a farm where they nurtured (aka feed lots of leaves to) worms used for silk production... ones that were moved from the feeding trays to a lattice were in all stages of morphing... it was pretty cool. Then we made a quick stop to see the dried (black) coffee beans being hulled before heading to the factory for roasting.

Next was a stop to visit the Happy Buddha... the entry and pathway leading up to the Buddha was hydrangea bush after hydrangea bush (char would have been in heaven, well if there were lilacs also). The Buddha was enormous in size and pretty cool to see.

Next in the line of seeing how silk is made, we went to a silk factory... here they removed the worms from their silk cocoons... they then washed the cocoons in water and pulled single strands out that were wound on to larger reels above the bath area... after this, the silk was put through a loom-type machine to wind it onto spools.

After the silk factory, we had a minor detour because Huy ran out of gas (apparently he isn't use to the gas tank on his new Harley)... Dreung pulled my water bottle out from the bungees holding it onto the bike and the guys quickly downed my water so that they could use the bottle to transfer gas from another one of the guy's bikes. We were standing on the road alongside a cemetery where i saw another symbol that looked like a swastika. not sure if i already mentioned this, but i saw a lot of them around and it was unnerving at first... but then Huy explained that it is actually a symbol of good luck in Buddhism.

After remedying the gas situation, we continued up into the mountains to get to Dalat. After a quick stop at our hotel, we walked to the market and into the city center for dinner... we ended up at a place that served pizza and had a guy playing blues guitar that night... it was really nice, especially in the romantic setting that Dalat actually is. On the Saturday nights in the evenings there, they don't let people drive cars or motorbikes, so you see people walking everywhere, including couples holding hands.

It was around now that our guides planted the seed in our heads to add more days to our trip with them... rather than take us just to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), they suggested 4 more days down to the Mekong Delta - bringing the other ladies to the Cambodian border and driving me back to Saigon since I was going to fly to Thailand on the 1st... we started to seriously consider the idea...

Day 2: Buon Ma Thout to ?

2009-01-02T12:05:00.005-05:00

Our guys didn't always tell us where we were (we figured out Buon Ma Thout from looking at store signs)... and i don't think we asked this one (or my amazing memory has failed me yet again)...

In any case, we began our day with some waterfalls, slat board bridges and slippery rocks (at least for a clutz such as myself). Nothing remarkable here - just some trees, rocks and a waterfall.

On the road again, we checked out cashew trees and a market. Then we arrived at what we couldn't understand Huy calling (Bison farm?)... turns out he was saying python. Those of us (me included) who wanted to hold the very long and heavy snake were encouraged to do it... i was all cool with it until i felt the snake starting to squeeze me - literally wrapping itself around neck/chest. i didn't freak out, but i was certainly uncomfortable at that moment. We took a short tour, being shown first the bunnies that would serve as snake food :( Then we went into a large shack that housed a mushroom farm.

After our party with the python, we headed to what our guys called a 'minority' village. it is still unclear to me what makes the people in minority villages minorities - religion, tribe, or just lack of money. One of the cool things about the village is that there were elephants there... we first saw them in the water from a distance, carrying passengers, then walking right past us to enter the water. After interacting with some of the younger village children (i need to re-emphasize how cute EVERY Vietnamese child is), we stumbled across some teenage boys playing volleyball. Vanessa suggested that we join in, so the two of us did. It was funny because the net was way too high, they didn't really know the rules, and weren't that good (although maybe because the net was too high)... still we all had fun and found ways to communicate. I later realized that a volleyball net is common in a lot of villages, as we saw at least 4 others - understandable since all it takes is a net and a ball for some fun.

One big downer today was when we were driving along and started to see a crowd of people and traffic slowing down... we then saw a motorbike down in the middle of the road... with its driver along side of it, covered in a sheet...

That night we stayed at a lodge set on a lake, nothing 5 star but still nice... it felt like a stark contrast to the poor village we had just visited that i felt a little uncomfortable with it... it really wasn't exravagant by any stretch of the imagination - it's amazing what i consider luxurious accomodations after a month of backpacking... toilet paper - awesome... an actual toilet - amazing.

Day 1 with the Easy Riders: Nha Trang to Buon Ma Thout

2009-01-01T23:41:00.002-05:00

After more than a week traveling by motorbike, I am finally at a place where i can update my blog (i've decided to splurge on a nice $40/night B&B for the last few nights)... the bad thing is that, although i have taken notes, i am sure to forget some details... but here goes...

On Christmas Day, we awoke to downpours... a continuation of the previous day's weather... although slightly apprehensive about being on the back of a motorbike in the rain, we were all still super excited... every time we heard a motorbike from 8-8:30, we'd say 'ooh, maybe that's them'.

Our five guys arrived at 8:30am, fully loaded with plastic bags for our stuff and head-to-toe rain suits for us... we put on our santa hats and helmets and hopped on our bikes. Our driver's names, which i did not get down until halfway through the trip, were Dreung (my driver, pronounced like Chung), Dahn (John), Huy (Hoy), Chin (not sure if that's the correct spelling, but it's how it's pronounced), and Son (pronounced as spelled).

From that point on, Huy emphatically pronounced that we would be seeing the 'Real Vietnam'... not what popular tours bring you on and what we would miss if we had travelled by bus... from the moment we started, his enthusiasm was obvious...

Our first stops were a lobster farm and a place where this guy paints the shells and sells them as souvenirs. As he was holding his young son, he took the santa hat off my head and put it on his son's... obviously a perfect photo opportunity for me... after he showed us some of his masterpieces, we left and continued on.

Next stop was a lot where men and women were sorting fish for sending off (not really anything remarkable).

As we drove along, we started to see brick buildings with massive amounts of smoke coming out of them... eventually we stopped at one to see how bricks are made. The one thing that stands out from that stop is that all the workers were women - Huy told us that this was considered easy work, although to me it didn't really look it.

With feet covered in mud, one of the guys led us over to the side of a house to wash off... three kids and 2 women came out onto the porch... one of the girls was wearing a santa outfit... our first encounter with one, but throughout the day we saw many more - it seems Christmas there is sort of like Halloween and all the kids dress up, but all in different santa and red/white outfits.

In the afternoon we started to make our way into the mountains... not gonna lie, it was scary at points... imagine being on a curvy road, in the rain, passing trucks, without being sure if another one is coming from the opposite side of the curve... there are moments when it feels like playing chicken... sometimes i would close my eyes when it was really close...

The afternoon was filled with seeing a family farm of pepper trees, a coffee farm, and rubber tree forest/farm. The coffee trees were filled with green and red fruits - turns out that the green ones were young coffee beans and the red ones older, more ripe ones. It is the red ones that get dried out in the sun and then hulled to reveal what we recognize as the coffee bean. The rubber tree farm was also pretty cool and we had fun pulling on the rubber oozing from the trees...

That evening we stayed at a homestay, where we ate dinner and played and sang songs (Dreung has some guitar skills, although they only have a small repertoire of English songs under their belts). After the evening ended, we went back to sleep on foam mattresses, under mosquito nets, in what felt like a big tree house.

rain rain go away

2008-12-24T04:20:00.002-05:00

on our second full day in Nha Trang, we have rain... this stinks for two reasons: 1) we can't lie on the beach, which is the highlight of being in a beach town and 2) it is a little worrisome for the next few days if it continues since i am about to spend 4 days on a motorbike traveling to Dalat and Mui Ne.

Yesterday was a fun day spent just chilling and walking around town, then having some drinks at the backpackers bar (Red Apple) - two for one drinks and the best music i have heard since being in Vietnam (usually it is techno or some slow song with a lady singing in Vietnamese). We left the bar to grab some dinner and were coaxed into a place across the street that a girl with us (a local) knew some people at. Turns out it was a 'biker' bar with another one of the Easy Rider groups - turns out there are now many offshoots of the original group. We had already booked our trip with another group, so it was sort of a shame to meet this crew afterwards (headed up by a guy named Nam). We were having some beers and getting ready to order some food when everything seemed to stop and next thing we knew, cops were picking up the table and chairs we had been sitting on and throwing them into the back of their truck. Turns out it is not okay to sit out on the sidewalk (at least at night) whilst drinking (and i think even eating) in Nha Trang (or at least this street)... although street food eaten on plastic tables and chairs is the hallmark of Vietnam, so i don't really get it. The people from the restaurant could apparently get their stuff back from the cops later by paying for them.

The rest of the evening was less eventful... we ate some food there and then went to another bar - Why Not - that this guy had been promoting. After one drink, we headed out and took a taxi back to the pad we are staying at. Turns out that two of the girls i am traveling with are couch surfers, which means that they offer up their couches in return for the ability to stay on others when traveling. It sounds frightening, but apparently there is a whole vouching system and it's not done willy nilly. In any case, Vanessa had spoken with a guy in Nha Trang, so she and Dre could stay at his place... turns out he was leaving in the morning to go on a trip, so they would have the place to themselves... they asked if the other 3 of us could stay as well and he was cool with it... so we got to leave our buggy and bugspray-laden room for an apartment... there are two double beds and another twin mattress, so we all have comfortable sleeping spots (no one actually has to sleep on a couch - and it's a good thing since he doesn't actually have one).

tomorrow morning we are off for a 4 day adventure riding motorbikes through Dalat to Mui Ne with a group of Easy Riders... we are all really psyched for it... although today's rain has dampered our excitement just a tad... we are hopeful that it will ease off or disappear altogether... while on the road, i will obviously not be able to blog, so don't worry about me :)

miss everyone! and hope you all have wonderful holidays!
i'll be spending Xmas day on the back of a motorbike :)

being sick sucks... especially on vacation...

2008-12-22T21:33:00.003-05:00

so, although i hoped my Vietnamese pharmacist gave me a wonder drug, it's more a helpful drug... i go in waves of feeling better - yesterday by the afternoon, i was already feeling yucky again with a headache on top of my sinus pressure... and my stomach is started to bother me as well a few days ago... i think i have to go back to eating vegetarian for the rest of the trip (i have eaten chicken and pork)...

it's nice to finally be in warmth at a beach town (Nha Trang). we took an overnight bus on Sunday night and arrived on Monday morning. We spent yesterday exploring a bit, but mostly hanging on the beach. the slightly overcast skies (and my stupidity) led me to not put sunscreen on and i am paying for it today. i had fallen asleep on my tummy, so now i have a very red and sore back side...

later in the evening, my friends when out for some dinner and wine, but i stayed in to sleep... i really didn't want to put them through my crankiness since i wasn't feeling well. this morning they went out to go scuba diving, but i had to pass since you can't dive with a cold or sinus stuff going on (can't equalize pressure)... so, i'm going to spend some time walking around a bit before meeting them in a few hours. also we are going to check out of our hotel because: 1) it is too far from everything, including the beach and 2) our room has the overwhelming scent of bug spray (and there were still critters flying around).

my day pretending to be on project runway

2008-12-20T09:52:00.002-05:00

this morning i awoke before my alarm and could not fall back asleep because i was running all the potential clothing designs of the day in my head... i finally just succumbed and got out of bed to head downstairs and find that my laundry had not come back... without a pair of clean underwear and leaving an hour later for a day trip to My Son (pronounce me-saw, not my son), i was not thrilled... it finally came back 10 minutes before we were leaving for me to discover that it was all still wet and wrinkled from them shoving it all back into my bag wet... i had to keep it if i wanted some clean underwear for the day, but i made sure to let the lady at the front desk know of my displeasure (thanks mom, dad, and char for my ability to vent). I only got more agitated when halfway through she started pretending that she did not understand me. It was obvious they had forgotten to do my laundry so there was no time for it to dry - she, however, blamed it on the bad weather. hmmm, not sure i understand unless they were hanging my clothes out to dry in the rain...

after that, we boarded a combo regular/sleeper bus to My Son. the weather wasn't fantastic, but it was an interesting trip, nonetheless. we saw some ancient ruins inspired by hindus... i enjoyed it, but my short attention span only allowed for my interest level to last about 30 minutes of walking around the site. We took the bus back to a point close to Hoi An and then boarded a boat for lunch (we were told we were paying for the 'fancy lunch', but soon realized we were hosed when we saw that we, along with everyone else, had a cold plate of white rice and veggies waiting for us). After returning to shore, we all went to our respective tailors to check out yesterday's designs and order a few more... it is so addicting once you start thinking of designs and picking out fabrics... about 2 hours later, i had an order for 3 more dresses (i made 2 yesterday along with a pair of linen pants) and a shirt. crazy. luckily, the post office is open on Sunday (tomorrow, the day we leave on another overnight bus to Nha Trang).

i'm starting to feel a cold coming on (yuck), so i'm going to head up early tonight to start packing my stuff back up and get some sleep... hopefully my little critter friends that i saw partying in my room earlier have vacated the premises...

coco black diamond

2008-12-19T19:26:00.002-05:00

last night was definitely one that i will remember well and with a smile on my face... on our excursions during the day yesterday, Dre met a tailor-by-day and drag queen-by-night who invited us to hang out with him in the evening... Ha came to our hotel at about 8:30pm donning a purple dress embellished with applique and sequins, accompanied by his boyfriend. They took us to a gay bar that was housed on beautiful grounds with lush plants and sublime lighting by lanterns and candles. After walking around a bit, he brought us into a dark building filled with laser lights and techno music. Unfortunately, it was apparently a slow night because there were only 6 other people there - and even they left after about an hour. Ha felt so bad that he had brought us there and it was empty... So then we walked a bit in the rain before hopping into a taxi for Ha to take us to 'his place'. We were dropped off in the middle of what seemed like nowhere (Toto, i don't think we're in Kansas anymore ran through my head). We then went to this garage where they opened up the door... we literally sat around a table in this garage for the next few hours drinking beer and eating some spring rolls made by the owner's wife. Apparently this is a hangout for gays and lesbians when they don't go to the bars. About 15 minutes into being there, Ha's friend arrived - Coco Black Diamond.. he was such a trip... we didn't stop laughing most of the evening as he told us how popular he is and how he is a Buddhist - except when he is cold and needs sex. The woman of the house would not let our beer glasses go more than a sip down before she filled them back up... eventually i just kept my glass in my hand so that she couldn't add more... it was quite an evening...

Hue and Hoi An

2008-12-19T08:01:00.005-05:00

On Wednesday night we boarded an overnight sleeper bus to Hue (our pitstop to Hoi An). This was my first experience on a sleeper bus... it is just that - a bus with 3 rows of bunk beds. Unfortunately, we were basically the last to board so i got stuck in a top bunk, just under a tv monitor. To make it even better, there was a bright bus light that stayed lit on my left side. It totally sucked, not gonna lie. Until we hit a break spot a few hours in, I kept my shirt covering my eyes so that i could avoid both the light and the terrible Vietnamese variety show playing just in front of my head. I manuevered myself out of the bunk (barely) with the tv screen immediately over the ladder. I was not so lucky when returning to my spot, however, and nailed my head on it. This ass (a white guy, not sure of his nationality) across the way starts cracking up in laughter... needless to say, i was not in a laughing mood, so I say to him 'it's funny when it's not you'... and he just continues to bellow... luckily the guy behind me (a tall German or Dutch guy) decided to move to a longer bunk after someone else got off, so i moved my stuff and climbed over bunks to the one behind me. In a slightly more comfortable position, along with the sedative effects of Dramamine, I was able to sleep most of the ride.

I was apparently half asleep when i made my first trip to the bathroom... i saw flip flops outside of the stall, but assumed that they were just left there by someone, like maybe one of the operators. I received a rude awakening, however, when I walked into the stall and immediately felt a very moist carpet under my feet and the scent of urine was overwhelming. I swear, this was worse than most of the holes i have peed in thus far (and I have had the opportunity to pee in many on this trip). Even on my next visit - even though i tried my hardest to wait until we got off the bus - and i wore the provided flip flops - i was overwhelmed... and not in a good way.
And on my return trip to my bunk, i realized that my blanket had fallen on the floor. I reached over the woman sleeping below me (because it was in the other row) and received a smack from her in return. Luckily she stopped after i told her i was just grabbing my blanket.

We arrived in Hue at 8am and hired a guide Toi) along with two other girls (Joyce and Ina) from the Phillipines. Before pulling out, he looked into the van and said out loud '6 girls, haha'. He was somewhat entertaining, but not really a great guide. The good thing was that we got to see a few sights before we came back to board a 2pm bus to Hoi An. The Citadel was okay, but nothing that excited me all that much. We then visited a small village where women were making incense and straw hats... and we got to try making incense sticks ourselves... i wanted to keep mine, but it didn't last too long in my backpack. Then we visited some royal tombs... only Dre and I decided to pay the entrance fee and go in, but we were both glad that we did... it was really cool... we actually wished we had longer than the alotted 30 min before we had to meet back up with the others for lunch. The grounds were beautiful and it was cool to see the tombs of emperors and emporesses from ages ago. We ate a tasty lunch at a little stand just outside the tombs (i had a mango juice and noodle soup with veggies and egg). By that point, it was time to return to meet our 2pm bus. We were on another sleeper bus, but this ride was only about 4 hrs.

Once we arrived in Hoi An, we were barraged by people from the hotel in front of us to book rooms. It turned out that another girl (Lynne) was already here, so we merged a room with her along with another room. So, Vanessa and I are sharing a double... it is so nice to be in a real room, with our own toilet and shower, and not have at least 10+ people sleeping around me. Oh, and there is no sopping wet carpet on the bathroom floor - it's amazing how we take these things for granted. And at only $12 a night (split between the two of us) it's even better.

My first impression of Hoi An was that it is much cleaner and more quaint than Hoi An. In the evening, it almost looks and feels like you are in Paris or Venice (there are lights and restaurants along both sides of the river). We ate dinner at one of the places along the river and it was really good... after a few glasses of wine at the restaurant and our hotel, i passed out cold at about 11 or so.

Vanessa and I woke this morning and decided to take a walk around the city. Again, we felt really happy to be here over Hanoi. Just the reduced sound of horns as background noise is more relaxing. We walked through the market full of goods, food, and people... it was slightly chaotic, maneuvering around people, bicycles and motorbikes as well. We decided we should eat something there to get the full experience of the market, so we tried these shrimp pancake things - although not terrible, also not one of the better things i have eaten on this trip.

There are tailor shops and shoe shops everywhere you turn here. You walk in and can pick from styles and fabrics hanging all around you, or you can look through catalogs and magazines. It's kind of addicting, actually, especially given how relatively inexpensive it is to have clothing not only made for you, but made to fit you since they take all your measurements. Today I ordered a pair of pants and two dresses (one of which i chose from a picture in Cosmo magazine). Although I went back for the pants tonight and need them to alter them slightly, it's a really fun experience. Plus, the pants only cost $12 and the dresses $18 each - and they are lining them. We are taking a day trip to My Son tomorrow, but i will take another walk around after we get back at 2:30 to see if i want anything else made before i leave the next day... we also found out where the post office is because i am surely going to have to mail back some of my finds (along with clothes that i packed but now realize i do not need) before leaving for my next destination.

Vanessa and I tried a couple things on the street for lunch. First, these translucent mini dumplings that I was actually hesitant about because it looked like they were floating in oil and would be slimy. But, I was pleasantly surprised... some were filled with shrimp and some with pork (i think)... she sprinkled some crunchy things on them and gave us some chili sauce to have with them... very tasty. Then i tried a bun that was filled with pork (i know, i'm a terrible jew), mushrooms, herbs, and a bird egg. Seriously, one of the tastiest things ever... the dough tasted like it had coconut in it and the filling (even the mini bird egg) was full of flavor.

We then bumped into our other friends at a travel place where they were starting to figure out if we should book our day trip together for tomorrow... we all decided it was a go and so we paid $7 a piece for the trip and a supposedly good lunch...

I have realized over the past day how quickly my trip is going... and i'm already getting sad about it... i am going to try and stay with my new friends as long as i can, but will have to separate from them at some point if i want to be able to hit some places that they either will get to later or have already visited. I am trying to accept that i cannot be sad if i don't hit all the places i had planned because i am having such a great time at the places i am at - enjoying the moment and the people i have met along the way.

A few pics...

2008-12-16T19:52:00.011-05:00

I'm sure that i have not included all the details i would like in my posting, but at least wanted to get most of it down before too much time passes and i forget things... and, unfortunately, since i shoot in raw format on my good camera, i can't upload those pics yet... but i have a few on my smaller camera that i can share :)

Hanoi

2008-12-16T18:44:00.005-05:00

i've been here since 10:30pm on Friday night (December 12), but haven't had a chance to post... guess that's the sign of a good trip...

My flights over (once I finally got on them) were long, but not as bad as i expected, especially given that i got stuck with a middle seat... it's probably because i watched 4 movies to help pass the time - i recommend Bottle Shock... it's about the rise of California wines and how they (much to the dismay of Europeans) surpassed French wines. Flight meals were like no other that i've had on a flight - Bim Bim Bop and a meat bun (yes, i've relaxed my veggie status since being here and luckily have yet to get sick). I was worried about catching a cold, flu, or some crazy Japanese encephalitis from the one guy next to me who coughed the entire 13+ hour flight, but i think i got away scott free. I still did not yet see bag since i had left DC, but was assured it would meet me in Hanoi. I had a stopover in Incheon Airport (Seoul, Korea) - this place feels more like a high-end shopping mall than an airport (Gucci, Prada, Burberry, Ferragamo, endless duty-free shops)... everyone walks around with carts not to hold their luggage, but all their purchases. Once I arrived in Hanoi after my last leg, I waited for an hour and half to be picked up by the hostel... after turning down countless taxi drivers, i hopped on an airport shuttle... didn't even care that he charged me double the rate because i just wanted to get to sleep (it was only $5 USD any way). The minivan was stuffed with 13 of us, there was dust flying up in the road around us, and numerous xe om (motorbike) drivers would drive up to the van as it let people off. I finally got to the Hanoi Backpackers Hostel at about 1 am and fumbled my way in the dark (there were many people sleeping) to lock up my bags in the locker and climb up to my top bunk.

The next morning, I awoke to the sounds of people waking up in the room, birds chirping, music playing in the street, and many motorbike horns (which are now part of the background noise that surrounds me). After having a quick breakfast of a roll and jam (free at the hostel), I hopped on the local 14 bus from the lake and traveled about 30 min to the Museum of Anthology (luckily the ticket guy told me when to get off when i showed him where i wanted to go in my travel book). I still took some wrong turns walking the rest of the way, but a nice security guard told me where to go and even came after me when i made another wrong turn. Although people here can be a little pushy trying to sell you things and take you for rides on the xe om or taxis, they really are quite friendly. The museum was really cool - gave a glimpse of all the ethnic groups that make up Vietnam... there was a cool outdoor exhibit as well that took you through different homes and huts as well as this community center that you have to climb up totem pole steps to get into. There were also these funky obscene sculptures (don't worry, i have pics) that this young Vietnamese couple was getting such a kick out of and the guy wanted his picture taken with every sculpture that included a man's penis. It was a really cool setting, so there were at least four brides getting photos taken around the grounds. By 3 pm i was starving, so i went to the restaurant there and had my first official Vietnamese meal - a mango juice (fresh, full of mango pieces, and lacking the American tendency to add tons of sugar) and a bown of pho... $3.15 later, i was quite satisfied. After returning to the hostel, i met 2 girls (one from Australia and another from Canada) who i went to dinner with... we had a feast of veggie and herb spring rolls, shrimp spring rolls, seafood and veggie dish and grilled calamari with chili sauce. I also got a watermelon juice here - again, to die for. That evening two of us went to the water puppet show (supposedly a must-see)... it was entertaining, but not something i would rave about... plus the jet lag was starting to set in and i feel asleep multiple times (the guy next to me caught me a few of them).

The streets of Hanoi are crazy... hundreds (thousands even) of motorbikes on the street, with no real traffic laws - they just honk at each other to get them out of the way... and you take your life into your hands every time you go to cross the street... eventually i learned that you just have to be confident and walk out, even as bikes whiz in front and behind you. The bikes carry anything from one to four people at a time, bunny rabbits, a Xmas tree, old and young... about half the people have masks (they look like surgical masks) that cover their nose and mouth to avoid inhalation of too much dust and exhaust.

On Sunday morning, I woke early, not able to sleep very well... jetlag really had set in... and again i woke to the sounds outside in the street (included other packpackers laughing it up out my window from 5-6am). Today i took a tour set up by the hostel to the Perfume Pagoda... i was the only one going from the hostel that day, but merged up with a group of Dutch and Australian travelers. We had a 2 hour van ride and then got to a dock where we boarded small row boats in groups of four with Vietnamese women who rowed us an hour up a stream. We got to see fisherman and farmers along the sides of the stream along the way. It was a great ride, but my butt hurt so badly after an hour sitting on a wooden stool in the boat. Once we got to where the pagodas were, we had a few km (i forget the exact distance) hike up thousands (literally) of steps. After an hour and half of hiking up, we got to a pagoda within a cave - the cave is shaped like a dragon's mouth, tonsils and all. I learned from our guide that a pagoda is meant to honor Buddha, while a temple is meant to honor god and other people. After being here for about 15 min, we trekked back down all the steps to have lunch... it was a feast of tofu with tomatoes, bok choy, some meat dish (i didn't eat it), and a whole fish... it was really good... and ended with the customary pile of bananas (they serve them all the time here). We then walked around the actual Perfume Pagoda before heading back down the stream and boarding our bus back to Hanoi. Along the way we passed through towns filled with French provincial style homes that were completely run-down, but if in the States would be worth a lot of money if they were restored... definitely see the French influence still remaining here in the architecture. Once I got back from my trip at about 6pm, I met up with Vanessa (the Canadian girl i met the day before) and some other people she met while traveling... they convinced me change my Sapa trip (up north) to leave that night rather than the next day... i am so glad that i did...

That night at 9pm, four of us boarded an overnight train to Sapa. The other girls included Vanessa, Andrea (Dre) from Florida (the first person from the States i've met here) and Maud from Holland. They couldn't get us all in a cabin together, so I ended up in a car with 2 Vietnamese men and a German guy... luckily it was safe and i made it in one piece with all my stuff. We arrive in Lao Cai and then took a 2 hour bus ride to Sapa, where we met up with 2 other ladies from Slovenia (Miya and Irena) at the tour guide place. We were able to shower (unfortunately mine was cold after being 4th to go), but it was still nice to clean up. During this time, the weather got about 15 degrees colder and started to rain... we were not thrilled to begin our trek this way. After a 1 hour van ride, we got to the spot where we began our trek... luckily the weather improved... as soon as we started, a group of about 8 or so village girls (ages 15-30) started walking with us... our guide Binh encouraged us not to buy anything from the girls because although it helps them in the immediate, it's not good for them in the long run because then they go longer without being in school... they didn't part from us until a few km in at a waterfall... i'm not going to lie - parts of this trek were really hard... i almost face planted in a mudslide, avoided that, but later on slid down a huge hill of dirt created by cranes working on building a new road. i had a nice lot of orange clay-like stuff all down the back of my pants, but luckily didn't get hurt. Today's trek was 14 km... we passed through many villages and i was in photo heaven getting to take pics of so many beautiful children - literally, they are all gorgeous and adorable... we were asked to buy stuff in every village we passed and did a few times... it was eye-opening for sure to see how poor the people here are and how tied they are to tourism... we finally reached our homestay after a long day... the family there was really sweet, but we soon realized that the village was basically created for tourists to give a glimpse of life there... but it felt kind of artificial in a sense... the best thing i can akin it to is Williamsburg, VA - where there are people churning butter in their colonial outfits for visitors to see... but still, we had an amazing dinner cooked on a fire in the home and then sat around drinking some beer and rice wine. We also had a heated match of Uno... our sleeping quarters consisted of cushions on the floor with mosquito nets... the bathroom here (and in many places i have gone) consisted of a hole in the ground. both today and yesterday at the pagodas, it was a little tough to squat after all the treking...

We awoke the next morning to dogs barking and roosters cocka doodle dooing... there are dogs everywhere here... puppies and full grown... it is scary to think that many are probably used for food... at one of our stops along the way yesterday (where we had lunch), there were pigs in pens adjacent to a large dog in a small cage who was crying the entire time... it was difficult to see this... oh and that hole in the ground was the least favorite restroom i've had so far... in between pig pens, with no toilet paper, and buckets of water used to 'flush'... luckily i brought packs of tissues and antibacterial hand stuff with me... today we had a shorter trek back, but there was some calf-killing uphill climbing. We got to pass through an elementary school, though, and the kids were so cute! most of them love having their pictures taken, especially when they get to see them on the digital camera screen. After finishing today's 4km trek, we were picked up and brought back into town to shower and walk around a bit. Then we were shuttled back to the train station for our overnight train back to Hanoi. This started out as an interesting experience because the shuttle was full and they expected us to stand for the hour plus ride to the train station... i told them it was unacceptable and so they finally (almost begrudgingly) moved some bags from two rows of seats so four of us could sit there, one in the back between some other ladies, and one on the floor at the front of the bus. Luckily this time, we were able to switch beds up a bit on the train so that we at least had 2 of us each in a cabin together... this time it was me and Maud with a mother and her son traveling. There was also a crazy guy on the train, who actually was in my cabin until my friend switched with him, who was talking non-stop at a mile a minute... he later admitted to be a fan of joints... explained a lot...he actually was on our shuttle there, too, and was talking loudly and non-stop the entire ride (i heard him as i passed in and out of sleep). We spent a lot of that evening with all 6 of us in one of the cabins playing Uno, eating junk food, and laughing a lot. After about 5 hours sleep, we arrived back in Hanoi and walked back from the train station to the hostel at 5am.

So here i am now, back in Hanoi. We are going to spend the day here and then take an overnight sleeper bus to Hue... i am going to stick with new friends hopefully for a while, maybe all the way to Cambodia depending on timing... i have already accepted that i might be cutting out parts of Thailand, but Dre told me i should definitely go to Ton Sai for beautiful beach and climbing... So that's my update for now :)

2008-12-10T13:47:00.000-05:00

And so it begins with my first road bump...

Bad weather in Atlanta caused my first flight today to be delayed
about an hour. Since I only had a 45 minute layover, this posed a
problem. Despite my 5K stride right out of the gate, and the
stewardess's reassurance that all connecting flights would be just as
delayed as ours, I got to my next gate just as the door was closing
(it felt like a movie style slo-mo moment). I won't go into the many
ensuing missteps by Delta, but needless to say I will not be arriving
into Hanoi until a day after planned. I will be flying to LA tonight
and then out through Korea to Vietnam tomorrow (arriving on the 12th).
The silver lining in all this is that I will get to sneak in a visit
with my friends Shehnaz and Ali in LA.

Oh, and the waiting area by the gate in ATL is one of the cosier ones,
so at least I can rest my weary paws while I pass the 5 hours until my
LA flight.

2008-12-10T08:05:00.000-05:00

Oh, and by some miracle, my pack only weighed 31lbs... I thought for
sure I was going to have to shell out $150 for a 50+ lbs... so maybe
it's just stuffed to the gills because it's not a huge pack (or at
least I can tell myself that). No doubt I will feel it's weight after
a few rounds of on, off, on, off...

2008-12-10T07:30:00.001-05:00

Here I am... sitting in the airport geting ready to board the first
leg of my journey through Atlanta. It's been relatively painless -
coasted through check-in and had a quick bag search at security
(luckily no contraband was found). It all still feels surreal, but i'm
sure the 16+ hour flight will push me into reality...

the eve of my departure

2008-12-09T23:26:00.003-05:00

it's the night before i leave and it still feels surreal that i am leaving for Southeast Asia in a few hours (getting picked up in less than 6)... i'm still trying to figure out how to fit all my stuff into a backpack... i've succumbed to the idea that i will also need to carry a smaller daypack if i want to have my camera, among other things... hopefully it won't be too awkward (and i won't look like a ridiculous tourist) toting my stuff...

well, my head is going to explode and i still need to finish working some packing magic, as well as catch a few hours of sleep, so i'll end here... next time i post, i'll be on the other side of the world...

Vietnam Visa - Check!

2008-11-14T14:17:00.003-05:00

just received my Vietnam Visa today... man, that was fast - i just sent the stuff out on Monday and already got it back on Friday... love it.

Things to do...

2008-11-13T08:10:00.003-05:00

I hate to post the mundane, but these are things I still need to do...

I'm sure that I will add more as I think of them...

Cambodia Visa
Travel insurance
Buy a camera bag
Buy security belt
Decide on backpack (NicG's or the Gregory)
Put together first aid kit
Make sure i have travel toiletries
Travel towel

Week before I leave:

AT&T World Traveler plan and maybe a 50mb data plan
Mail hold
Buy food, litter etc. for Kaya
Borrow Char's 8gb SD card
Send scanned images of passport, Visas, etc. to Char
Print out two color copies to carry with me

4 Weeks

2008-11-12T17:32:00.000-05:00

Holy shit - I can't believe that I leave 4 weeks from today!

it looks like this will now be a solo excursion... i'm okay with that since it was my original intention, but it's still a lit bit of a bummer that Farz probably won't be joining me... i feel like i still have a ton to do and prepare, but 4 weeks should be enough time... each day i think of something new... i try to write things down as i think of them, but i still feel a little bit all over the place...

i've decided that other than my roundtrip flight in and out of Hanoi and booking the first place i will stay, i'm not going to plan everything out... i want this to be a true journey where i end up discovering things as i go... of course i will have some idea of places i want to go, but i'm not going to have a set schedule or itinerary... i'll write down possible places to stay and modes of transport, but i'll also ask around while i am there and figure it out along the way...

Convertibles

2008-10-31T11:33:00.000-04:00

i can't believe that i'm actually saying this, but....

i heart my new North Face convertible pants...

they are actually a good mesh of fashion and function.

i'm probably going to get another pair in another color...

Update: i decided (partially because NicG reminded me what a fashion whore I am) that I am only going to bring one pair of convertibles...

The Preparation

2008-10-29T21:48:00.000-04:00

i can't believe that i will be leaving for Southeast Asia in less than 6 weeks... the flights to and from Hanoi are purchased, but that's it... everything else has been left up in the air while i have been waiting (fingers crossed) to see if Farz will be able to come... did not want to join a tour if there would be a chance she could come... and now i'm glad that i didn't because i'm really excited for the idea of winging it a bit... not going there without any sort of plan, but planning our own route, some of it as we go.

i do have a million things to do...

just went and got fitted for a backpack today... figures that the two best ones (and ones i like) are the most expensive... i'm down to two... one is bigger with twice as many pockets and 1000 more cubic inches of capacity... which sounds great in theory - unless i fully utilize the extra space and weight myself down like a cement block in water... so, i'm going to look at some more reviews and think a little more before i take the plunge.

besides that, i need to find a good camera case since i won't be able to take my huge sling pack... it would be so much easier to just take my smaller camera, but i just can't do it... to be on a trip like this and not have my DSLR would be sacrilegious...

i did buy a pair of convertible pants today, however, very reluctantly... they aren't the most fashionable of items i could bring, but i'm owning up to the fact that they might be the most practical... but, i'll keep the tags on just in case...

next up: some more bag research, start list making of things to pack and things to do before i leave (including Visas), trip ideas (i already found a cool backpacker hostel in Hanoi).