Day 75 Saturday 11/10
We started the day at the Women's Museum and learned about Vietnam's history and women over time. We found a cinema and watched Skyfall (the James Bond movie), the one English film at the theatre and enjoyed some theatre caramel popcorn and fountain drink cokes. The night was spent on the train to Sapa, Vietnam, the only cold weathered destination on our map. We had a four person room and got put with a local couple and their baby.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Vietnam- day 74
Day 74 Fri 11/9
We enjoyed our last breakfast on the island before hopping on the boat and heading back. We were served lunch on the boat and had a nice relaxing back through HaLong bay. The bus ride back was another 4 hours or so and everyone was exhausted. When we got back, I found us a great room with a much needed hot shower. Maggie went to church and we enjoyed an early night in our own room. It had been days since we had a room to ourselves, and the price difference from the backpackers hostel was just a dollar.
We enjoyed our last breakfast on the island before hopping on the boat and heading back. We were served lunch on the boat and had a nice relaxing back through HaLong bay. The bus ride back was another 4 hours or so and everyone was exhausted. When we got back, I found us a great room with a much needed hot shower. Maggie went to church and we enjoyed an early night in our own room. It had been days since we had a room to ourselves, and the price difference from the backpackers hostel was just a dollar.
Vietnam- day 73
Day 73 Thurs 11/8
The time day on Castaway island was relaxing. At 8 am the group that greeted us started their journey back to Hanoi, while we enjoyed the day kayaking around the islands, laying on the dock and beach, rock climbing, and just hanging out. We were also supposed to go wake boarding, but the boat broke before our turn, and we were compensated instead, which we were totally happy about. We welcomed the other group in the afternoon with welcoming them to the island and putting a slip of paper in their right hand that said "Buffalo" and making them shotgun their beer with their right hand before reading the paper in their left. We shared another fun night on the island.
The time day on Castaway island was relaxing. At 8 am the group that greeted us started their journey back to Hanoi, while we enjoyed the day kayaking around the islands, laying on the dock and beach, rock climbing, and just hanging out. We were also supposed to go wake boarding, but the boat broke before our turn, and we were compensated instead, which we were totally happy about. We welcomed the other group in the afternoon with welcoming them to the island and putting a slip of paper in their right hand that said "Buffalo" and making them shotgun their beer with their right hand before reading the paper in their left. We shared another fun night on the island.
Vietnam- day 72
Day 72 Wed 11/7
We woke up early and met the forty other backpackers who joined us as we journeyed three days/two nights through HaLong bay. The trip started from Hanoi with a four hour bus ride to the port where we loaded onto a boat to Castaway Island. The tour we chose was the most popular among young backpackers, but is also known as the "party tour". In the bus we met a lot of the others from around the world, many from Canada, Australia, England, and Germany. There was one other American with us from California, which turned into a nice bus conversation, because about an hour into the ride, Obama got elected. Justin (the Californian) was very knowledgable on politics and what exactly has been happening in the world and the rest of the bus was very interested in American politics as well. We got to the boat around noon and cruised through the gorgeous HaLong bay for about four hours, viewing over 1500 islands with huge rocks, gorgeous greenery, and scattered beaches. We also enjoyed drinking games on the party boat and learned the rules of the island: if you drank anything with your right hand, you got buffaloed and were forced to chug your drink on spot and go replace it at the bar, and if you said the words "mine" or "ten", you had to do ten push-ups. We stopped for a swim break for about an hour and arrived at the island around 5:30, where we were welcomed by the group that arrived the day before us. We knew a few of them, because we had roomed with them for a night in Hanoi before they left for HaLong bay. Our welcoming was the group painting themselves and acting dead on the island and as we arrived the popped up, made a tunnel and slapped us as we ran through onto the beach. The little beach has about six bungalows that each sleep around ten people each(a mat, blanket, and mosquito net around each one), five bathrooms, four showers, and a covered pavilion area for food and company. The night was fun. We celebrated Diego the Argentinians birthday and the Californian got into a fight with a Canadian who was 6 ft 4 in. Unfortunately, Justin's nose broke and he accompanied the welcoming group home the next morning.
We woke up early and met the forty other backpackers who joined us as we journeyed three days/two nights through HaLong bay. The trip started from Hanoi with a four hour bus ride to the port where we loaded onto a boat to Castaway Island. The tour we chose was the most popular among young backpackers, but is also known as the "party tour". In the bus we met a lot of the others from around the world, many from Canada, Australia, England, and Germany. There was one other American with us from California, which turned into a nice bus conversation, because about an hour into the ride, Obama got elected. Justin (the Californian) was very knowledgable on politics and what exactly has been happening in the world and the rest of the bus was very interested in American politics as well. We got to the boat around noon and cruised through the gorgeous HaLong bay for about four hours, viewing over 1500 islands with huge rocks, gorgeous greenery, and scattered beaches. We also enjoyed drinking games on the party boat and learned the rules of the island: if you drank anything with your right hand, you got buffaloed and were forced to chug your drink on spot and go replace it at the bar, and if you said the words "mine" or "ten", you had to do ten push-ups. We stopped for a swim break for about an hour and arrived at the island around 5:30, where we were welcomed by the group that arrived the day before us. We knew a few of them, because we had roomed with them for a night in Hanoi before they left for HaLong bay. Our welcoming was the group painting themselves and acting dead on the island and as we arrived the popped up, made a tunnel and slapped us as we ran through onto the beach. The little beach has about six bungalows that each sleep around ten people each(a mat, blanket, and mosquito net around each one), five bathrooms, four showers, and a covered pavilion area for food and company. The night was fun. We celebrated Diego the Argentinians birthday and the Californian got into a fight with a Canadian who was 6 ft 4 in. Unfortunately, Justin's nose broke and he accompanied the welcoming group home the next morning.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Vietnam- day 71
Day 71 Tues 11/6
We woke up and ran around the big lake, located in the middle of the city. The city is one big car accident waiting to happen. The number of traffic lights in the huge city can be counted on one hand and the attitude of drivers is do what you can to make it to the road you need. There is no such thing as a one way street nor a rude honk, the honk is used so commonly, it's regarded as normal. Look both ways before crossing the street is a joke in Hanoi. To cross the street you simple step in front of a bus and leave it to them to avoid hitting you. Pedestrians don't really get honked at as much as honking at other cars. Maggie and I crossed a street at a busy five way intersection, totally mauling right through the middle, no assessment of street conditions needed. On Wednesday, we are leaving on a three day cruise of Halong Bay.
We woke up and ran around the big lake, located in the middle of the city. The city is one big car accident waiting to happen. The number of traffic lights in the huge city can be counted on one hand and the attitude of drivers is do what you can to make it to the road you need. There is no such thing as a one way street nor a rude honk, the honk is used so commonly, it's regarded as normal. Look both ways before crossing the street is a joke in Hanoi. To cross the street you simple step in front of a bus and leave it to them to avoid hitting you. Pedestrians don't really get honked at as much as honking at other cars. Maggie and I crossed a street at a busy five way intersection, totally mauling right through the middle, no assessment of street conditions needed. On Wednesday, we are leaving on a three day cruise of Halong Bay.
Vietnam- day 70
Day 70 Mon 11/5
Crossing the border into Vietnam was a lot harder than any we had passed thus far. We had to preorder Visas and they're only suitable for a month. It took over an hour to get past the border, and about an hour past the border, the bus was stopped by soldiers and the compartments under the bus were searched, including one bag randomly getting thoroughly checked. The entire day we only stopped for food once,which really killed me, and around 6:40 pm we made a stop to drop off lodging wood at one of the workers houses (illegally of course). The wood was stored in a bus compartment that could only be opened by making the backseats of passengers exit the bus. We finally arrived in Hanoi at 10:00 pm and four others and I found the Backpackers hostel downtown. Luckily, Maggie was there at the front door when we walked up and we grabbed some dinner, my second meal of the day...
Crossing the border into Vietnam was a lot harder than any we had passed thus far. We had to preorder Visas and they're only suitable for a month. It took over an hour to get past the border, and about an hour past the border, the bus was stopped by soldiers and the compartments under the bus were searched, including one bag randomly getting thoroughly checked. The entire day we only stopped for food once,which really killed me, and around 6:40 pm we made a stop to drop off lodging wood at one of the workers houses (illegally of course). The wood was stored in a bus compartment that could only be opened by making the backseats of passengers exit the bus. We finally arrived in Hanoi at 10:00 pm and four others and I found the Backpackers hostel downtown. Luckily, Maggie was there at the front door when we walked up and we grabbed some dinner, my second meal of the day...
Laos- day 69
Day 69 Sun 11/4
We enjoyed breakfast together looking over the Mekong River, before Maggie and I went separate ways to our next destination: Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Maggie caught a flight at 3, which got delayed to 5, and arrived in Vietnam an hour later. I got a nice long run in along the Mekong, before boarding a 27 hour bus ride to Hanoi at 6 pm. The staff on the bus was terrible, yelled all the time (of course we didn't understand it because it wasn't English), and played ridiculously obnoxious music while showing videos of girls club dancing. Luckily there was a good group of people on the bus and we were all on the same page thinking turn this s*** off. I got stuck sleeping next to a man from Laos, but the most communication exchanged between us was a few seconds of eye contact.
Here's Maggie's account of what she did...
After a nice wait at the airport, the sunset plane was well worth the flight. I arrived and a nice Dutch guy named, Zander or Zoloft??. Had an IPhone and helped me find the hostel. Backpackers Vietnam is a famous hostel and we had heard rave reviews about it. When I arrived, a party was in full swing with loads of people and loud music. I was starving and went to a cute vegetarian restaurant. I loved trying new things and had tofu topped with mixed vegetables that was amazing and I will try to make at home. The next morning I woke up early, unaware of the time, and set off to explore the city. I walked A LOT, saw the cathedral, ate some Pho (dish of Vietnam) on the street, read in the park, saw the Water Puppet Theater show (recommended in guidebooks), and figured out the city. I sat at a cute rooftop restaurant overlooking the river and then headed back to the hostel to wait for Emily...
We enjoyed breakfast together looking over the Mekong River, before Maggie and I went separate ways to our next destination: Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Maggie caught a flight at 3, which got delayed to 5, and arrived in Vietnam an hour later. I got a nice long run in along the Mekong, before boarding a 27 hour bus ride to Hanoi at 6 pm. The staff on the bus was terrible, yelled all the time (of course we didn't understand it because it wasn't English), and played ridiculously obnoxious music while showing videos of girls club dancing. Luckily there was a good group of people on the bus and we were all on the same page thinking turn this s*** off. I got stuck sleeping next to a man from Laos, but the most communication exchanged between us was a few seconds of eye contact.
Here's Maggie's account of what she did...
After a nice wait at the airport, the sunset plane was well worth the flight. I arrived and a nice Dutch guy named, Zander or Zoloft??. Had an IPhone and helped me find the hostel. Backpackers Vietnam is a famous hostel and we had heard rave reviews about it. When I arrived, a party was in full swing with loads of people and loud music. I was starving and went to a cute vegetarian restaurant. I loved trying new things and had tofu topped with mixed vegetables that was amazing and I will try to make at home. The next morning I woke up early, unaware of the time, and set off to explore the city. I walked A LOT, saw the cathedral, ate some Pho (dish of Vietnam) on the street, read in the park, saw the Water Puppet Theater show (recommended in guidebooks), and figured out the city. I sat at a cute rooftop restaurant overlooking the river and then headed back to the hostel to wait for Emily...
Laos- day 68
Day 68 Sat 11/3
5:45 am came too early. Every morning, the locals and the tourists in town wake up extremely early to feed the monks as they walk through the main streets of the city. We stood on a corner by our guesthouse and watched the line of monks walk through and receive food. Some of the tourists may have missed the "worship" part of the procession and whipped out their tripods with their cameras right in the monks faces. It was interesting. I tried to get some good shots from the corner diagonal to the action. For dinner, we went back to the night market and spent the night with two friends, Phoebe and Cynthia, from Holland and Canada. We introduced them to the great wine place we found the other night and had a lot of fun.
5:45 am came too early. Every morning, the locals and the tourists in town wake up extremely early to feed the monks as they walk through the main streets of the city. We stood on a corner by our guesthouse and watched the line of monks walk through and receive food. Some of the tourists may have missed the "worship" part of the procession and whipped out their tripods with their cameras right in the monks faces. It was interesting. I tried to get some good shots from the corner diagonal to the action. For dinner, we went back to the night market and spent the night with two friends, Phoebe and Cynthia, from Holland and Canada. We introduced them to the great wine place we found the other night and had a lot of fun.
Laos- day 66
Day 66 Thurs 11/1
Never having spent a constant few consecutive months with one person 24/7, we decided that we needed the day to ourselves. I spent my time at the spa and got a little culture in talking to Pai, who spoke a little bit of broken English. Maggie might have been a tad more productive than me and volunteered at the library for the day and explored the city. She talked to a monk and learned about his life and said that he was from a small town, so committing his life to seven years as a monk was a beneficial choice. Some of the monks are just little kids, seven and eight years old, and its sad to see them commit to such strict rules as they grow up: Bare feet, two hour walk to and from the city every day, no sports, lots of worship, no food after 11am, and no physical contact. Maggie touched his arm when they were chatting and learned that rule quick. Alot of the locals are Buddhists as well and really support the monks. We met back at the room and went to a cute bar/yoga place/restaurant called Utopia, that had been written up in lonely planet. It had a great environment and I hung out while Maggie did sunset yoga on the river. As we walked around the city, we must have seen twenty people we knew and it's really cool to run into people in different cities. We've even been running into people we met two months ago in Bali, and even though it takes five minutes for us to figure out who they are, we eventually always do. Lots of wine here, best wine Maggie's had in a year and a half.
Never having spent a constant few consecutive months with one person 24/7, we decided that we needed the day to ourselves. I spent my time at the spa and got a little culture in talking to Pai, who spoke a little bit of broken English. Maggie might have been a tad more productive than me and volunteered at the library for the day and explored the city. She talked to a monk and learned about his life and said that he was from a small town, so committing his life to seven years as a monk was a beneficial choice. Some of the monks are just little kids, seven and eight years old, and its sad to see them commit to such strict rules as they grow up: Bare feet, two hour walk to and from the city every day, no sports, lots of worship, no food after 11am, and no physical contact. Maggie touched his arm when they were chatting and learned that rule quick. Alot of the locals are Buddhists as well and really support the monks. We met back at the room and went to a cute bar/yoga place/restaurant called Utopia, that had been written up in lonely planet. It had a great environment and I hung out while Maggie did sunset yoga on the river. As we walked around the city, we must have seen twenty people we knew and it's really cool to run into people in different cities. We've even been running into people we met two months ago in Bali, and even though it takes five minutes for us to figure out who they are, we eventually always do. Lots of wine here, best wine Maggie's had in a year and a half.
Laos- day 67
Day 67 Fri 11/2
I got a good run in along the river in the morning, before meeting up with the girls from Sweden that we went tubing with in Vang Vieng. The five of us took a tuktuk about 30 kilometers to the waterfall. The water was gorgeous and crystal blue, but too cold for me for swimming. There was a rope swing and Rebecca was the only of the five of us brave enough to get totally wet. I talked to a couple from Argentina for a while, while the others were wading on the water. We thought we had seen the whole waterfall at the swimming area, but we walked up a little further and were shocked that we actually hadn't gotten to the main waterfall. It was humongous and as we walked up, we could feel the most from the water pouring down over the rocks. We explored the night market for dinner, and for $1.25 we ate the buffet, where you got one plate and could take as much food as you could fit on it in one walk through. Maggie did a bit of souvenir shopping through the night market after dinner. We decided Luang Prabang is definitely our favorite city we've been to thus far and love the environment.
I got a good run in along the river in the morning, before meeting up with the girls from Sweden that we went tubing with in Vang Vieng. The five of us took a tuktuk about 30 kilometers to the waterfall. The water was gorgeous and crystal blue, but too cold for me for swimming. There was a rope swing and Rebecca was the only of the five of us brave enough to get totally wet. I talked to a couple from Argentina for a while, while the others were wading on the water. We thought we had seen the whole waterfall at the swimming area, but we walked up a little further and were shocked that we actually hadn't gotten to the main waterfall. It was humongous and as we walked up, we could feel the most from the water pouring down over the rocks. We explored the night market for dinner, and for $1.25 we ate the buffet, where you got one plate and could take as much food as you could fit on it in one walk through. Maggie did a bit of souvenir shopping through the night market after dinner. We decided Luang Prabang is definitely our favorite city we've been to thus far and love the environment.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Laos- day 65
Day 65 Wed 10/31
We spent Halloween on a bus to Luang Prabong, Laos. We were all packed up by 10:30 to try and catch the 11:00 bus, but on the way down the four flights of stairs, the zipper on my backpack officially broke. Luckily, there was one shop in town that sold backpacks, so I bought a bigger one with hope that the I won't have to cram everything in anymore. The bus ride was windy, but no fear, Maggie got the front seat as usual. A lot of the trip was winding up a mountain. We stopped twice, and one time when we stopped everyone was dressed in humongous ski jackets and the weather had only dropped to about 60 degrees F. It was a little chilly, but I think a light sweater would have sufficed. We arrived and found a guest house called Heritage that is perpendicular to the river. When we finally ate, we had dinner at a cute place overlooking the water.
We spent Halloween on a bus to Luang Prabong, Laos. We were all packed up by 10:30 to try and catch the 11:00 bus, but on the way down the four flights of stairs, the zipper on my backpack officially broke. Luckily, there was one shop in town that sold backpacks, so I bought a bigger one with hope that the I won't have to cram everything in anymore. The bus ride was windy, but no fear, Maggie got the front seat as usual. A lot of the trip was winding up a mountain. We stopped twice, and one time when we stopped everyone was dressed in humongous ski jackets and the weather had only dropped to about 60 degrees F. It was a little chilly, but I think a light sweater would have sufficed. We arrived and found a guest house called Heritage that is perpendicular to the river. When we finally ate, we had dinner at a cute place overlooking the water.
Laos- day 64
Day 64 Tues 10/30
We did an excursion that included a little trek, tubing through a cave, lunch, and kayaking. We had a good group of people, a couple from Bangkok, a gay guy from Australia, a blonde from Israel, and two crazy boys from China. The tubing through the cave was really cool and required headlights because it was so dark. We sat in the tubes and pulled on a rope to get as deep in as we could. One of the highlights of my day was one of the guys from China who enjoyed the tube caving in a tight pair of jockeys and also enjoyed splashing around a lot of of his tubing, running through the cave every chance he got. Another highlight of the day was running into a Korean tour group going into the cave and forming a line to get pictures with Maggie and I before they entered the cave. Those Koreans love their Meegooks (Americans). The kayaking was a lot of fun as well. Maggie took the front of the kayak and I got the back. We did have one incident where the rock got in our way and the kayak flipped. Before we knew it, our bag, waters, kayak, and paddles were all floating down the river. We survived. The Lao boat races were held I the afternoon and we caught a glimpse of the rowers and the festivities going on in town. It was a terrific last day in Vang Viene.
We did an excursion that included a little trek, tubing through a cave, lunch, and kayaking. We had a good group of people, a couple from Bangkok, a gay guy from Australia, a blonde from Israel, and two crazy boys from China. The tubing through the cave was really cool and required headlights because it was so dark. We sat in the tubes and pulled on a rope to get as deep in as we could. One of the highlights of my day was one of the guys from China who enjoyed the tube caving in a tight pair of jockeys and also enjoyed splashing around a lot of of his tubing, running through the cave every chance he got. Another highlight of the day was running into a Korean tour group going into the cave and forming a line to get pictures with Maggie and I before they entered the cave. Those Koreans love their Meegooks (Americans). The kayaking was a lot of fun as well. Maggie took the front of the kayak and I got the back. We did have one incident where the rock got in our way and the kayak flipped. Before we knew it, our bag, waters, kayak, and paddles were all floating down the river. We survived. The Lao boat races were held I the afternoon and we caught a glimpse of the rowers and the festivities going on in town. It was a terrific last day in Vang Viene.
Laos- day 62
Day 62 Sun 10/28
We tubed the Mekong River! Pretty cool to say. Tubing the river is a huge tourist attraction, but has been labeled "dangerous" due to a couple of deaths from tubing with too much alcohol. The river had been shut down to tubers on and off throughout the past few months, so we were lucky for it to be open. We tubed with three Swedish girls from our guest house and there were three bars open. There were a bunch of other people tubing as well and it was a great experience.
We tubed the Mekong River! Pretty cool to say. Tubing the river is a huge tourist attraction, but has been labeled "dangerous" due to a couple of deaths from tubing with too much alcohol. The river had been shut down to tubers on and off throughout the past few months, so we were lucky for it to be open. We tubed with three Swedish girls from our guest house and there were three bars open. There were a bunch of other people tubing as well and it was a great experience.
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