Last Stop - Hong Kong

Wow, was I happy to land in Hong Kong a few days ago! There is only so much sunshine a person can take as well as 90 degrees + temp everyday (says the girl moving to Florida). Hong Kong is a nice, cool, and cloudy change from Indonesia. Living in Hong Kong seems to me like living inside of a mall. Everywhere you go, every place you turn there is a shop. My hostel, for example, is across from Calvin Klein, above DKNY, and just to the right of Outback Steakhouse (ahh welcome back western culture!). For all you Baros's out there, don't worry - Tonny Romas is just half a block away!

My hostel is pretty unique. Land is hard to come by in this city; that is why there are still pulling a Dutchman here (reclaiming land from the sea); and a hostel surely can not afford a big hunk 'o chunk of space. So what they have done is bought several apartments around the city and converted them to 4 or 5 rooms. So my room is on the 12th floor of an apartment building (livin' with the locals), and is about the size of a broom closet. Really, it is. There is not enough room to even sit properly on the toilet! I had to study all angles before deciding the best way to use the thing. And I don't even want to get into failed attempts....

Hong Kong also has learned a lesson from Vegas, if you keep it bright all the time, maybe people will forget it is midnight and hopefully continue shopping. It is the strangest feeling to sit in a restaurant at around 8pm, look outside, and feel like it is noon because of the brightness. I have had to run outside a few times during dinner just to reassure myself it is actually nighttime and I am not going crazy. Now seeing starts is another issue. I am sure they are there, I saw an unbelievable amount in Bali, but sorry charlie, you are not going to spot one from Hong Kong!

I have spent the days walking though the city with what feels like the other 6.5 million people that live on this island. The streets and sidewalks are always packed with people! Walking through town you feel like you are on a human conveyor belt, the flow just don't stop.

I have also taken a class on Chinese Medicine, and decided that I like Western Medicine. There aint no way someone can convince me that eating deer wee-wees is good for my health! Not to mention, they are quite dear (American translation = costing major mullah). And the most popular item in Chinese medicine - Bird's Nest. That is just a fancy name for bird throw up. But it is ok if it gives you a nice compextion, right? Uh - NO! Sorry, they did not make a believer out of me.

I also took a class on Jewelry Appreciation, now that is something I can appreciate! I learned all the ways to identify the most expensive pearls and diamonds. Oh that can and will be useful information! The class was great until the teacher tried to sell me pearls. Well.. they will just have to wait until next time.

Now I am waiting for the laser and light show - its a Christmas special. Whew-hoo! Stay tuned for the picts.

Burning Time

So after I left Lovina I made my way over to the next Island to the East - Nusa Lombogan. To get to this island you have to take a ferry. Normally for common folk this would not be a problem. But for those prone to sea sickness, the 2 1/2 might be alright if it were not for the massive swells and a storm that we hit halfway through the trip. Too bad I am prone to sea sickness. Getting into the ferry was unique as there is not really a marina or port. The boat was just anchored about 15 feet out in the sea. This is bali.. no need for those luxuries. So basically you had to carry your bag over your head out to sea with the water up to your waist to get on the boat. You just have to pray that you can make it to the boat before the next wave comes that might knock you over. I could not have been happier once we made it to the island, though I probably did not look it. I somehow ended up at a really nice bungalow guest house. Tourism is quite low at the moment and I was able to enjoy secluded white sand bays all by my self. What do you do when you have a beach all to yourself? Well, i don't know what you would do - but I did cartwheels. Yeah... i know all you girls out there are jealous. When was the last time you did a cartwheel??I also got to enjoy some nice snorkeling and surfer watching and beautiful sunsets.

But the Island in the end got the best of me. I got burned, both by the sun and by a motorbike muffler. Well, that was then end of my beach enjoyment. The motorbike burn ain't lookin pretty, and probably being on sandy beaches would not be the best in terms of pain management. So I decided to head back to Ubud (not you bud), the town in the center of Bali. I am sitting here getting plenty of reading time in, as well as banana juice sippin time. In a few says I am headed to Hong Kong... the place for the shopping time!

Bali-hoo!

Well, though there was some speculation on whether or not I would pass immigration at the airport here I am happy to report not only was there no problem getting an Indonesian visa, but I got it at a discount! Welcome to Bali, where everything can be bargained. I have no idea why the border dude gave me $5 off (maybe it had to do with my shocking good looks...) but I was not about to start asking questions.

Bali is an Indonesian island known for its good surf, nice beaches, and cheap goods. I would like to add a few things to that: too many hawkers who do not give you a second of peace, strange business practices where people actually get mad and belligerent when you do not buy from them, and beautiful country side. I took a driver with a few other people yesterday and he got pretty mad at us for not wanting to eat at the exorbitantly overpriced restaurant that he took us too - probably missing out on a pretty commission. But really... the place wanted min. $5 for lunch without drinks! Well $3 - beer included - is about my top mark.

My first stop in Bali was Kuta Beach, the place where the terrorists bombed the clubs back in 2002 and 2005. I am glad to report that despite the bad history, people are still bar hopping til the early morning hours there. I also treated myself to the nicest hotel i have stayed in yet during this trip! TV, air-co, pool with a swim up bar... ah, the luxuries of life.

After Kuta I headed up to a small town called Ubud. The hotel was not quite as nice as Kuta, but at $7 you can not really ask for much. In ubud I saw an official Bali style fire dance. Although it lasts about 1 1/2 hours, I am pretty proud of the fact that i stayed there for a full hour and did not fall asleep once! Yeah - that is attention span progress for me! There must be something in the air here..

Now I am hanging out on the black sand beaches of Lovina, in the north of the country. I plan on doing some major vegging out here, as well as some diving. From Lovina you can organize some dives to the best place in Bali - a national marine park in the west, and a shipwreck dive in the east!

Happy Hanukkah! (For those that are interested.. no - in this Muslim nation there are not many lights to be seen from the windows. Since I am wary to draw too much attention to myself I have decided to light a mosquito coil every night in place of candles. It is a 2 for 1 deal for me: it gives off some light, and it minimizes the ritual scratch dance every morning.

There is no 'poor' in Singapore

I made it into Singapore 2 days ago after another great Cathay Pacific flight. Nothin' beats the service on Cathay Pacific! Honestly, I did not really want to get off the plane.

• First impression of Singapore: Its darn hot and humid
• Second Impression: Stunned by the fact that not only are their traffic laws here, BUT that people obey them too! (Rarety in SE Asia)
• Third Impression: Its clean and organized. So well organized, in fact, that it looks like a real life Sim City.

After a few days at Bangkok I was getting pretty good at spotting the trash piles next to trees where a few people threw down their trash together. This does not happen all the time as most people just randomly throw their trash down as they are walking. Well no need for that skill in Singapore, trash cans everywhere!

Another shocker I got in Singapore is the quality and cleanliness of their public toilets! Not only do they exist (I simple fact that I have A LOT of appreciation for), there is also always toilet paper and soap too!!! Yay! Singapore, you impress me. If Hong Kong has the best toilet paper, then Singapore has the best restrooms.

I spent the past few days walking around the city, sippin' on iced lattes, and studying the clothing of the locals. Talk about people who dress nice! Yesterday it started pouring rain and I found myself in a mall connected to the SwissHotel. The SwissHotel here is one of the tallest towers with, I heard, and great bar at the top. I decided that I would check this bar out, but I felt a little out of place in my Champion Capris and Tshirt. I was temped to go shopping but there is nothing cheap about the fancy clothes that people are sporting around here. I fairly quickly talked myself out of that crazy shopping idea and made my way to the top. Good thing, because it was happy hour (meaning the drinks were only double the price of the normal bars rather then quadruple the price). It was amazing to watch the downpour over the entire island and sip on a few Whiskey Sours.

I also made the mandatory visit to the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel, the place where the Singapore Sling was invented. Great bar, drink... well its so so. They sell so much of it that they do not even make it on the spot. It is all pre-made and they pour it out of milk jugs when you order it. What a sham. Well... I only did 1 of those (and more of other good stuff)! Drinks are meticulously expensive (more then my hostel for the night), but atmosphere is great. A place where you can throw the peanut shells on the floor and listen to live Jazz music is always fun.
Food is also a gastronomic affair here! They have these places that are like food courts where you can get anything from Fish Ball Soup to Pig Entail Delights. I have been sticking to the Indian cuisine, which is a nice change from the rice and noodles that I have been eating everyday for the past 2 months. I find these places to be definitely better then the oodles of restaurants that are around town.

Another fun place in Singapore: Sentosa Island- A perfectly manicured Island with beautiful white beaches and fun theme park sections. Every blade of grass is pointing in the direction the way the organizers want it to.

Now I am off to the airport for my flight to Bali. I want to get to the airport early to check out the IMAX and Pool that they have inside!

Back in Bangkok!

I made it back to Bangkok last night, and managed to keep all my internal organs in the proper place. That should not be a hard thing to do, one might think. But let me tell you... if you have travelled on the road from Siem Reap, Cambodia to Poipet, Cambodia (a boarder town with Thailand) the fact that you make it in one piece is truly an accomplishment. The road (when it exists) is notorious for being one of the worst in SE Asia. There are huge pothole, blinding dust everywhere, and the road is packed with cars, trucks, bicycles, motorbikes, tractors. There are no such things as traffic rules... so really the whole ride is just a game of chicken. What made it even more exciting in my case is that the shared taxi I was in had the steering wheel on the right side, when theoretically Cambodians drive on the right side. This made passing always a fun experience. This is a rundown of the tallys that I kept during the 4 hour ride:

Percentage of time spent on the wrong side of the road: 47%
Number of times the driver nearly hit a dog: 5
Number of dogs actually hit: 1
Number of very close calls with hitting other cars: 2
Number of cars actually hit: 1
Percentage of time car spent soaring over potholes: 78%
Percentage of time I spent cursing myself for not wearing a better bra: 78%

But I will tell you something... I have never been happier to be at a boarder crossing. Normally they are a pain in the behind, but after that ride I could not have been happier to get out of the car and manage the bureaucracy of the border guards.

At this point I must publicly give a big thank you to Barry, the other guy I shared the taxi with. Barry lives in Bangkok, and could not have been nicer guy in helping me out. He explained the whole locals bus vs. tourist bus scam thing to me that the Thais have going on at the boarder. Apparently most tourist take the tuk tuk (motorbike with a little caravan attached to the back for you to sit on) from the Thai boarder to the bus station. Well, good 'ol Barry new better! We took the locals transport that was more comfortable and a fraction of the price. There are also 2 buses to Bangkok - Barry worked out the better one. Then once we got to Bangkok - he went totally out of his way to show me the skytrain and took me to the area of town that I had to get to, and walked around with me till I found a guesthouse. Normally I don't mind doing all this work myself. And I would do so without complaints. But I have to admit, it felt nice for once in 2 months not to have to think and figure this stuff out myself. It would have got done, it just would have cost me more in terms of both mulla and time. So, here is to you Barry! You are a good 'ol chap!

Now, I have been in Bangkok before, but this time I decided to stay away from the backpackers area. It is like a whole different city! The smelly and grimy Bangkok I remember seems like a 3rd world country to the area I am now staying in. I went wandering in the big malls today, more in search of air-co then to fulfill and shopping urges. I walk into the first mall and I see REAL Prada sunglasses and La Perla Black Label lingerie being sold. Whoa... I could not believe this is the Thailand that I was in just 2 months ago. Up in the north the poor children in the villages don't have shoes, and here the people are spending $400 for a pair of underwear. Don't get me wrong, I respect the people who have earned the money and choose to spend it on underwear - but I was totally taken by surprise! This was not the Bangkok that I saw before.

Well... the fun does not stop there. I then made my way to the 2nd mall. The second mall made the first seem like a Macy's. The second mall would even put Neiman Marcus to shame! We are talking about store after store of the best names... Cartier, Hermes, Piaget, (this was just the floor with the watches), Bang and Olefson, even Ferrari! And then there was me walking into these stores with my tshirt with just a few small wholes, and well worn travel pants (rolled up, if I put them down then everybody would see where my pants got burned when I got too close to a candle one day). Yes, I did feel a bit out of place. But was that going to stop me?? Shoot - I wanted to see the latest Piaget styles.

I also did get my first reminder of Christmas. These mall owners know exactly who they are catering to. They have the reindeer's and Christmas tree up, they even had "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" playing over the loud speaker. Oh yes... this place is for Expats and tourists.

Today is also a very big Buddhist holiday to mark the end of the rainy season. How do you celebrate: well you float flowery things down the river, eat a lot of street food, and move down the street very very slowly. The river part is pretty cool. There are areas you can not even see the water anymore since it is full of these flower offerings.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I would like to wish everybody a very Happy Thanksgiving; both Americans and non-American alike ('cause I don't discriminate). I am very thankful for my awesome parents, cool sibs, and great family in general. I am also thankful that my travels have been easy and adventurous so far and that my health has stayed pretty good (well an extra shout out to Mr. Fleming for discovering Penicillin is needed for that!). In honor of Thanksgiving my celebratory meal was as native as I could get and as much as my stomach ... well would stomach. I had Khmer Curry. I must say Khmer Curry is the best darn curry not only in Cambodia, but I would even dare to say anywhere! On the subject of food I would like to go over my best food discoveries in SE Asia:

• Bananas - so sweet you would think they were grown in a candy store
• Bananas - esp. when they are piping hot
• Banana Shakes - nothing better when you are hot and hungry
• Banana Pancakes (aka Rotti) - Talk to anybody who has been in Thailand or Laos and they know what I am talking about! Its a greasy conglomerate of goodness smothered in chocolate.
• Pad Thai - Tried it with bananas but it just does not work :(. Best place for Pad Thai: a small whole-in-the-wall restaurant in Bangkok.
• Fried rice with Chicken - always a dependable fall back.
• Khmer Curry - yeah, it is just that good if you can get over the natural inhibition to have BOTH rice AND potato in the same dish!! Gasp... I know... how 1990's!

If there is such thing as banana poisoning, I am definitely at risk!

Oh - I got caught going off on a tangent and did not finish my beating story from P^2. Well...I just wanted to share my joy of discovering huge fried cockroaches with ya'll. To do so I was planning on taking a picture. Well...I made the mistake of being a nice tourist and I asked if I could take a picture. As soon as the word photo left my lips... and the stall lady saw the camera in my hand she went crazy. It is like the word + the camera created some bad chemical reaction in her head and she started punching me and spitting on the ground and a whole slew of other stuff. I was paralyzed by this reaction. I did not know whether to laugh or cry or fight back or maybe just snap the picture and run! In the end I did the sensible thing and just walked away. Should have taken the picture though....

Happy Thanksgiving Ya'll!

Khmer, Khmer where ever you are...

Ah Cambodia.... Land of the Khmer peeps, astounding poverty, generous poor, public beat downs (maybe that was just me), rich and sad history, and just about any insect for sale to eat.

As I thought I would do, I promptly made it out of Phnom Penh (the capital of Cambodia) after just 1 day. I just found P^2 (that would be 'P squared'; aka Phnom Penh) just to be a little to sketchy for my likes. After just being there for a few hours I managed to get beat on in the local market. OK, here is the low down. I went for a little wander through the street and ended up at some market by the river. After doing a double take I realized that the baskets in the little food stalls were full of ever insect imaginable, available in every size. To give you some perspective the size of some of those edible cukarachas would put a Costco dog to shame. If they only had hot dog buns and a LOT of ketchup, then maybe I would have tried one of those freaks of nature. Ok, a bit of exaggeration there. I would never try a cockroach no matter how much Heinz was available.




The next day, before I caught my bus out of town, I decided to just take my down mood and bring it down even further. I went to visit the Tuol Sleng genocide museum. The museum is in an old high school that was converted to a prison during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. The horror that went on their from 1975-1979, during the rule of Pol Pot, is unimaginable. All the torture methods clearly displayed, unimaginable dying conditions (I can't really call it living conditions, since nearly everyone sent there was sent to die), and the barbarianism recounted through pictures and testimonies left an impression that I will probably never shake.

Well, what I needed after that museum tour was to be alone. It just happened to work out perfectly that on the 6 hour bus that I booked to Siem Reap my assigned seat was in the 'local' section. I few hours after dozing, listening to some good ól American music, and just relaxing, I was rudely disturbed by a persistent crunchy sound. Turns out the woman next to me was just munching on some freshly fried spiders! Talk about instant gag reflex! Next time I am nauseous and need to make myself hurl - the lady and the spider legs will be my inspiration.

Currently I am in Siem Reap. A cute town catered mainly to tourists - believe me I am NOT complaining. In between my sipping lattes in chic cafes and enjoying 13 hour happy hours (dude, 75 cent draft beers!), I have been exploring the temples of Angkor. Angkor is an area chock full of ancient Khmer ruins. It is absolutely gorgeous and I am afraid that no picture can do it justice. The most grandiose and famous of the temples in the area (although I would say the least enchanting) is Angkor Wat.

Wondering through some of the ruins was like being transported to some mythical land. I am telling you, if unicorns and dragons popped out of some of the old passageways I don't think anybody would think it is strange. They would just blend in so perfectly with the surroundings.

What brings ya right back to reality after you leave a temple, are the cutest and most cunning children waiting to sell you anything they can. It takes strong determination and a lot of quick dashes into your tuktuk to get away without buying anything. The employment of children is a tough moral dilemma. Most times it is the parent who puts the child to work. Western tourists find it harder to turn down buying the kitchyist bracelets from a cute child then they do from an adult. If the children can sell more it makes sense to keep them out of school so that they can make money and pay for food for the families. Yet, every time you buy something from a child you just perpetuate this cycle. On the other hand, there is no social network in Cambodia and the families depend on the children to make the mulla. The few things I did buy I tried to buy from adults if they were around. But mostly I found it easiest to pass out toothbrushes to the kids in lieu of buying anything. They seemed pretty happy with that.

I also popped my head into a children's hospital here to donate some blood. It will go a longer way the the $1 I paid to a kid for postcards.

Tomorrow I am headed back into Thailand. Right now my bet is on rolling into Bangkok a full 12 hours after leaving Siem Reap. Although the potential for it taking longer will keep me from putting any money on that.

You say Ho Chi Min City, I say Siagon

Well I had a great time in the beach resort town of Mue Ni. Although there was not much surfing to be done, I did enjoy watching the few hundred kite boarders that were out in the Ocean. I wonder how they avoided bumping into each other... After two nights in Mue Ni I motored down, or rather was motored in a fancy a/c bus to Ho Chi Minh City. Now I must admit that I took the "tourist" bus and not public transport, but us tourists were definitely in the minority! Apparently the locals have also discovered the fancy amenities on the tourist bus and decided that they like it too. So after a good dose of blasting Vietnamese music and cold a/c I got into HCMC.

The question on my mind was (and probably yours too if I am as good of a mind reader as I like to think I am): "is it Ho Chi Minh City and not Saigon now?" Well here is your answer kiddos: it is both! Apparently among the older generation (pre 'american war' peeps) and the hip yuppies the city is called Saigon. If you are in the younger generation and not hip - you call the city Ho Chi Minh City.

I did the quicky tour of Saigon and hit up the major sites in 2 days. I managed to pack in a tour of the Mekong Delta, a tour of the Cu Chi tunnels, the War Museum, Post Office, Cathedral, and market.

The funny thing about booking city tours is that you have a lot of people from all over the globe with ya on the bus. Levels of English knowledge vary considerably. I must say, I have respect for the French guy (who just happened to forget to put on deodorant and managed to not use any soap when taking a shower) sitting next to me on the bus. He had NO clue what was going on during the Cu Chi tunnels tour.

But then again, it ain't that hard to figure out. The Cu Chi tunnels are the tunnels that the V.C. used to hide/sleep/live in/attack from during the war. Granted Westerners are a bit bigger than your average Vietnamese. But, wow - these tunnels are tiny!

Just to continue with the depressing war theme of the day next I hit up the War Museum. I must say they did a good job of thoroughly depressing me, and expounding on the tragedy of war. War ain't like they show in Hollywood, absolutely no sexiness there.

I also managed to see the main Post Office. Not much excitement in putting stamps on envelops, but the building is pretty cool. It looks like an old french train station! I almost thought I had walked into Musée d'Orsay, but the lack of art gave it away.

I also made a day trip down to the Mekong Delta. Highlights of the trip included Rice Paper making demonstration (and opportunity to buy!), Coconut candy making demonstration (and opportunity to buy!), natural honey tasting sight from the bee hive (and opportunity to buy!), and row boat ride down the small estuaries (paddlers not for sale).

This morning I hoped on another bus for Phenom Phen. Honestly, not my favorite of cities. Honestly, I am not such a city person but I enjoyed Saigon. Phenom Phen... well there is just a weired feel here. I might have to book it out of here and head to Siam Reap sooner rather then later. Whats there to do in Siam Reap?? Go to Angkor Wat!

Water Water Everywhere

Diving in Na Trang was excellent. It has been a good 5 years since my last dive, and I forgot how much I like it. No matter the very strong current, the limited visibility (just 10 feet), and the effects of not having enough weight (basically you get to a certain depth and there is NO stopping the accent. up ya go. You just hope that there are no boats on top of you when you get to the surface!). It was a blast! Now every other time that I have gone diving, I was wearing contact lens. It hit me 10 minutes before I got on the boat that, oh - glasses really don't fit all that well under a mask. Well... thank goodness for human ingenuity! Did you know that they make masks that already have prescription lens? Oh thank you brilliant person for coming up with the idea, and thank you company that I went with that actually had some on the boat! Being able to see just makes the dive SO much more enjoyable!

I saw some amazing thing on both dives that I did today. The waters of Vietnam are home to some of the biggest starfish ever! Well, I have not seen otherwise to prove myself wrong. And some of those starfish come in brilliant blue colors. I think Vietnam should change its flag from just a yellow star to a big blue starfish! They should show some pride for their local wildlife. Even the sea slugs are the prettiest and biggest ones that I have ever come across. I even saw one of these:

Cuttlefish

Tonight I am headed down to the next beach town - Mu Nie. It is THE surf spot of Vietnam. I will do a little reconnaissance work and see if it all that it is cracked up to be. I might even have to try it out myself...

Welcome Back Sun!

I just escaped the flood waters in Hoi An in time, and made it to the next city on my tour of Vietnam. The last two days in Hoi An it was raining non stop. I think there is something with the molecules of the water here that seem to make the rain drops enormous. Really, they are the biggest darn rain drops I have ever seen. By the time I caught my bus last night, the flood waters from the river were nearly up to the hotel, 300 yards up from the river bank. As much as I enjoy swimming - doing it in the streets is not an experience I was particularly looking for.

I took the sleeper bus from Hoi An to Na Trang, a 12 hour journey. The sleeper bus has about 30 beds in it. Now that is a comfortable way to travel! I felt all chirpy and refreshed by the time we pulled into the city. Seeing the sun and being warm again was just fantastic!

Today was spent in the mud baths of Na Trang. Oh, my skin is all soft and shiny now! Tomorrow - SCUBA diving! Na Trang is a beach city which is said to have some nice dive spots. Hopefully visibility will be good.

Hellooo New Wardrobe!

I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the not-too-terrible overnight train from Hanoi to Hue. The Vietnamese have overshadowed the Thai in the overnight train department! Watch out capitalism, the commies have done something good here. There were just 4 people in the compartment, with surprisingly comfortable beds. In fact the beds where a lot better then the 'trying to be as hard as wood' mattresses I was sleeping on in Thailand and Laos. So the mattress plus a sleeping pill made the 13 hour journey quite pleasant. If it were not for the attack from the locals once I left the train station, I would say it was my easiest travel experience yet!

1 female + foreigner + no hotel reservations = PRIME target for hotel hawkers. About 20 people immediately swarmed on me when I got out of the station. I was able to shake all but 3 of them after 5 min. They must get paid commission for bringing people into the hotels, and they will not take no for an answer. When one actually hit my arm to get my attention I just had to put my foot down. That was one tap too far. Bye bye nice Hannah, welcome in American Bi-atch. It worked like a charm, but left me in the middle of no where with just a lonely planet map to guide me along. Perfect, because a good walk is what I needed to get over the sleeping pill.

Whats in Hue? Well I spent the better part of the day exploring the old citadel, and citadel within the citadel, and the citadel within the citadel within the citadel (no joke, THREE moats!). The old emperors of Vietnam used to live there. Apparently the 3 moat system was not enough to protect them from the French in the end.

The next day I caught a bus to Hoi An. Hoi An is THE place to get tailor made clothes. I was like a little girl walking though the biggest candy store ever when I was exploring the city yesterday. Culture smolture - that all fell to the way side when going through store after store where they will make a dress for your for $10! Beyond the clothing stores, I am not sure what else is in this city. Although I am sure it is interesting since it was not totally destroyed by the war. If only I can pull my eyes away from the latest in coat designs to see the old houses....

Warning...getting tailor made clothes is addicting! Before I but down some real mullah for a suit (or leather shoes!) I will see how the dress and shirts I ordered yesterday turn out. It might be all great to look at but fall apart if you actually wear it. Well if that is the case, at least the clothes will look good in my closet.

I was hoping to check out the beaches here in a few days. I got wind of the best surf spot in Vietnam, and it just happens to be on my route down to Saigon. Slight issue... there is a typhoon headed toward Vietnam. That might make for some great waves, but I don't want to be there to see it when it does!

Oh Boy, Hanoi

Wow - Hanoi, a place where no moment goes by without hearing the honk of a horn and successfully crossing the street puts religion into the most devote atheists. The only way that I saw myself getting through a few days in this city was either to become an alcoholic or to live it up in a posh hotel. Both possibilities offer a nice comfy sanctuary away from the constant barrage of offers for:

• Copied versions of the Lonely Planet
• Vietnamese Phrasebooks
• Motor Bike rides
• bananas
• pineapples
• pictures with the banana and pineapple seller
• and "lady massages"

Yeah - I got offered a lady massage! I was like "Dude, WTF mate?" And he was like "Dude, you just walked into a lady massage hotel." And I was like "Oh Oops - not a posh hotel then...". Well the conversation did not go exactly like that... but in my quest for a posh hotel (I chose nice hotel over alcoholism - its cheaper in the end) I did wander into some of the shadier places, they had nice facades.

Well I finally did get a NICE room on my second night with a balcony and a TV and a closet and a clean white towel! You gotta love it when you get a clean white towel that does not smell. Its the little stuff that counts.

My first day I did a little walking tour of Hanoi. It was then that I learned quickly that if you want to cross the street it is best to just close your eyes and go. There are an unbelievable number of motorbikes and cars in this city, with hardly and stop lights (as if people would follow any sort of traffic laws..). And apparently you are a bad motor bike driver if you are not honking your horn ever 5 feet!

The streets in the Old Quarter are somewhat organized by guilds. You have your street for fake Nike shoes, the street for fake North face bags, weaved rugs, kitchen vents, Buddhist alters, silk, toys, and more. I can't say that this is a good lookin' town. But it is quite interesting. And yes, there IS dog on the menu at quite a few restaurants!

Today was a bit more productive. I hit up the Army Museum - you can imagine what that was all about. I made it to the Ho Chi Min Museum. I wanted to go to his mausoleum where his body is normally on display. But Ho Chi Min is on his annual vacation this month to Russia for the embalming tune up. I saw the famous Hanoi Water Puppet show. It was surprising entertaining to watch puppets perform in water. I did not understand one word of the show, but the splashing water kept me entertained. Then I went for a hair cut and a pedicure! I figured that most people in the pedicure business in the States are from Vietnam, so I might as well see what they can do here! Yeah, in the States it is better. I just threw in the hair cut because... well it was about that bi-annual hair cut time. They did a pretty good job on the hair, but as I have come to learn, hair is a seri-oso business in SE asia.

Tomorrow: I am off on a 2 day tour of Halong Bay, and then it is straight to Hue for me (a town about 1/2 way down the Vietnamese coast)! Getting to Hue will be a 12 hour train journey. As long as I still have enough motion sickness pills to keep me out of it, I expect it to go smoothly.

12 hours + 16 hours = A LOT of travel time!

Current location: Hanoi, Vietnam. Location for the past few days: In the boondocks of Laos and Vietnam. Oh, what a journey it has been. Let me start from where I left off.
So last week I took a mini bus to Nong Khiaw. Yep, I put down the extra two bucks for the mini bus over the local bus. Yeah yeah... I heard it all before about getting the "real" local experience. The mini bus is just tourists, where as on the local bus... well there you get to travel like a local. From what I got to experience first hand of the local buses a few days after that journey, it was money well spent.

Nong Khiaw is gorgeous! See:

It is a beautiful, not so touristy town. It is set on a river between stunning mountains. There is not much to do in Nong Khiaw except just sit back and enjoy the beauty in your bungalow by the river. You can also make the excursion out of your hammock into town to buy grilled banana's (that just happen to be one of my favorite foods in Laos, so I got to know the banana lady pretty well). Also, because it is such a tiny place, by the end of the evening you pretty much know every tourist in town and their story.

In case you need a refresher on your Laos geography here is a map with Nong Khiaw marked:

So the plan was to somehow get to the Lao / Vietnam boarder in Na Meo and from their make my way to Hanoi. Looking at a map, it looks like that could be a breeze. But, as well all know - looks can be deceiving.

After speaking with a few locals in town, and the self pronounced tourist info man, I found out that I would have to take a bus to Xam Nua. OK, we are still doing good at this point. The bus to Xam Nua passes through town every night (another plus), but can come anytime between 7:30pm and midnight (ah the first negative). The Bus takes 12 hours about (definite negative - but ok: i am still 2 for 2). As I sit down to have dinner a nice leisure dinner at 5:30, the very kind owner of the guesthouse jumps up and pulls the meal away from me and tells me the bus is here. Darn.. the first bite I had of the meal was quite tasty too. I turn around to see an old soviet style truck, converted to a bus, and JAMMED packed with people and other goods (rice piled higher then the seats in the aisle). The people on the bus where quite kind and made a spot for me to sit down. As I have tried to block out the 12 hours after that moment, I can't give you exact details, but I am pretty sure that the inability to move my legs caused some blood circulation to stop in my lower extremities for some period of time. I can also say that those seemingly idyllic mountains are not what you want to be on at 4 am on a tiny road with potholes the size of, well, the entire road. Yeah - driving down steep steep mountains when the road is washed out ain't that nice.

But no worries, by 5:30am the next day, when we got to Xam Nua, I was still able to walk off that bus! Yay! I would say that I could not have been happier, except that it was cold and rainy in Xam Nua. I can always be happier at those times. Just give me some sun! One would think that maybe getting some rest after such a great journey would be wise. I would have entertained that thought, except I ran into a Belgium couple in the local market. They were just about to leave to do one of the only 2 things to do in Xam Nua - go to the neighboring city of Vieng Xai. in Vieng Xai you can find the old tunnels that the Lao Communist revolutionaries hid in during the Vietnam war. Side note: Laos got the smithereens blown out of them during the war. That's what I learned on my tour :). Well, god bless those Belgians - they can travel in style! They had rented a mini van and a driver to take them around the country, and so kindly offered to give me a ride! Good thing, cause honestly for me - one cave just looked like the next. The only difference was the big house that the communist revolutionary leaders built for themselves in front of their caves after the war.

A few words about Xam Nua - it is not pretty, and their is no chocolate in the whole town! I know, I searched. So in my quest for chocolate I decided to book it out of there the next morning and head to the border town of Na Meo. Rather then describe the transport for the 4 hour ride to this border town, let me show you a picture:

Comfy, eh?

Well, as I found out after such a luxurious ride (this time there were just boxes of Beer Lao stacked in the pick up, not rice - it was torturous!) that there is nothin' in the border town except the border. As I was probably the only foreigner they would have crossing at that border that week the Vietnam Border guard took over a minute to accurately place the Visa stamp. No joke! But I must admit it is the straightest and best darn looking stamp job in my entire passport!

What about the town on the Vietnam side, Nam Xoi, you ask? As soon as you cross the border there is 1 dude on a motor bike who tells you he can take you to the next town on his bike so that you can catch a bus to Hanoi. Yeah - like I was going to do that. Ha! Instead I decided to walk through the town to find a bus or some other information. After the 2 min walk through town this is what I discovered is in Nam Xoi: Nothing. No buses, no taxi, no guest house. Nothin' honey. The motor bike was the only option, and their was no haggling on price. Maybe someone smoother than me could have bargained on the outrageous amount that he wanted, but I saw no way out of it. So off I was on a 54 km ride on the back of a motor bike.

Just for the record, the roads in that area of Vietnam are not any better then Laos. The potholes 2 feet deep, and occasionally running the span of the road exist in Vietnam too! However, the ride was beautiful and most enjoyable, and about 100 times better then a pickup truck. We also made great time, but I later realized this was because the driver was really craving some drugs - which he promptly took as soon as we got into town.

So the name of this town that I ended up in was Quam Son. I was not even sure if their was a bus their, and was just relying on the good faith of my druggie driver. But he did not let me down, and their WAS a bus there. At that bus driver was more then happy to rip me off over 400% in charging me a ticket to Hanoi. Again, I tried to bargain... but the driver just started to take off when ever I did. On the up side... my VIP price got me the passenger seat next to the driver, and a banana and an orange. Real first class like.

By 10pm, 1 pick-up, 1 motor bike, 2 buses, and 1 taxi later I finally got to Hanoi!

Into the Wild, Laos

Yesterday I made it back from the 2 day cycling / trekking adventure. It was absolutely incredible being in the mountains. We started out on mountain bikes for the first 4 hours or so. I must admit, I never found mountain bikes all that comfortable. Given the choice, I prefer city bikes. But let me tell you... on the rocky and hilly terrain those mountain bikes do surprisingly well. I can now see those mountain bikes inventors were definitely on to something when the came up with the bike design. Thank you mountain bike inventors!

After a short rest for lunch we started the 3 hour hike up and up and up the mountain. Yeah, probably at that point I was not so impressed with the beauty of the mountains. But that was all forgotten when we reached the top. Total elevation gained: 1700 meters (5577 feet). Total weight lost: 0 kilos (0 pounds). We just ate WAY to well during the whole trip. We spent the night in a hill tribe village at the very top of the mountain. They killed a chicken for us for dinner. First lesson learned: Chicken does not taste better when you have actually seen the live version an hour before.

The next day we stared our 7 hour trek at 8 am. Second lesson learned: What goes up, must come down. And oh - a steep down it was! Luckily our guide made us bamboo hiking poles. They did their job, as none of us fell off the mountain. We did come close a few times though....

Wildlife see on trip:

1. butterflies
2. birds
3. mosquitoes
4. spiders
5. Centipedes
6. HUGE worms (really - they were about a foot long)
7. Other creepy crawlers (some also abnormally large; there must be something in the mountain water)

Domestic animals seen on trip:

1. Turkey
2. Duck
3. Chicken (minus the one we ate for dinner)
4. Cows
5. Horses
6. Cats
7. Flies (I am counting this as domestic since one flew around my head nearly the entire second day. I guess it got attached to me. I know that I actually felt quite alone when the buzzing sound stopped, once I finally squashed the thing).
8. Roaches (debatable on the domestic list - but I only saw them on the bamboo bed we slept on)

Clearly this trip was not for those wildlife voyeurs.

Today was another relaxing day. I am really getting into those... I did a little shopping. Turning down a cute bracelet or necklace for a $1 is tough! If you are expecting a gift from me.. please forgot that I mentioned the price. I also gave in and splurged on a 1 hour massage ($4). Mind you... that is 2 bracelets and 2 necklaces. The massage was great! Although I have not been to a place that tops the foot massage that I got in Pai. But I would say that the one here was second best. When the masseuse is using both her knees and elbows at the same time it is really a feat of acrobatics. And boy, did it feel good!

Tomorrow I am headed further north to Nong Khiaw. Then I will be turning east and heading toward Vietnam.

On to Luang Prabang

Yesterday was a tough travel day on those individuals that are prone to motion sickness, namely me. I arrived in Luang Prabrang yesterday after the most gorgeous but gruelling minibus ride. The whole way was through the mountains on a small windy 2 lane road. There were some moments where I thought the chances of the minibus staying on the road was minimal, but we made it. Maybe it is a part of Lao tourism to put some religion into people. That or make them too sick to complain when the minibus drops them off way out of town so they have to pay for a tuk tuk... But if that is the case then I did one better. On the minibus was an Australian family that I started chatting with. They were staying at the nice hotel in Luang Prabrang - the the hotel sent a van to pick them up. There was 1 extra seat in their van and they offered me a lift into the city! That was quite nice of them.

My last day in Vang Vieng was spent lounging by the river on and sleeping on a hammock. Definitely a good day. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but a liter of lao beer costs $1. Yeah.. good stuff. Then in the evening I caught up on some episodes of Friends that I had never seen. Yes, nearly every bar/restaurant in Vang Vieng has Friends playing! You choose your restaurant depending on which season you want to watch! Food is all the same - so really, the season is the deciding factor.

Back to Luang Prabrang. It really is a beautiful and fun city. One of my favorites so far! It is so artsy and quaint. I met up with Sara here. Hanging out with Sara means leaving backpacking mode and entering fun good living mode! We went to a wine cafe before dinner and shared a nice bottle of Torres and had some appetizers, before heading to a nice french restaurant for dinner. It is a good life travelling with Sara.

Tomorrow - a 2 day adventure involving mountain biking and trekking in the mountains. Should be good fun!

Vientiane: Party Time, Excellent!

The past few days I have been hanging out with Sara, my cousin, who conveniently works in Vientiane, Laos. Well, the convinence is no coincidences. In fact, the decision to travel in this part of the world was largely based on the fact that I have family living here.

Over the weekend I got a glimpse of the 'boring' life that Sara has to deal with here as a UN worker. Although Lonely Planet might pass Vientiane as a sleepy little capital, let me tell you something else - it is happening with parties! I'll tell you.. these people here can put UGA students on a winning football game weekend against Alabama to shame with their party skills.

In fact, as I am sitting here in the Internet cafe, trying to recall the details - I am drawing a blank. This might or might not have to do with the amount of Lao Beer consumed in 24 hours.

Ok - Friday night was a goodbye party for a colleague of Sara's. The night started pretty tame with some Buddhist string tying ceremony. But then the wine began to be poured and poured and ( well not exactly poured.. what do you call it when you pour wine from a box, tapped?). Well, you get the point.

On Saturday, while Sara and I were on our way for a late Brunch (you could say lunch, as it was that time of day, but the breakfast menu was still available and you bet we were going to hit that up!) Sara got a phone call asking where she was and why she was not at the party! Party? Yes, apparently her Laos boss was throwing a party for his department and she was invited. Well we finished our Western Breakfast (again, we were not going to pass up that good food!) we headed over to the boss's house.

As the boss is a Laos government official, it was a traditional Laos party. Meaning LOTs of food and LOTs of beer laos and LOTs of singing! Sara is vegetarian so they cooked a variety of egg dishes especially for her. I jumped on that band wagon too since the other food dishes were a bit harder to recognize, and pork is as readily available as water. Now in Laos it is rude to say no - and there is this tradition of being handed a drink and you need to finish it all at once. You can imagine the damage of drinking 5 cups of beer in about 10 min. Well, it made it easier when I was handed over the microphone to sing! Yes, we were forced to sing!!! Laos gov't forced singing event. Thank god for the lao beer....

So imagine with me about say 25 lao people, including 1 high gov't official. Everyone is stuffed with food and drink and they are belting out Laos traditional songs. Then the mic comes to me. What do I do? Sing 'Am Israel Chai' of course! I got a few of them to come up with me and sing as well as keyboard accompaniment! Yes Lao people - Am Israel Chai!

And that was just Sat. afternoon. Sat. night there was a big party that just about every Ex-Pat in Vientiane attended. It was a benefit concert with some quite good local bands doing cover songs. It is a good thing the music was good, because it gave me a chance to dance and sweat out the beer still in my system.

Now I know you all are aware that Sat. night was ALSO the final world cup rugby match! Yes, South Africa vs. England. You might be thinking.. why in the world would you be at a concert when the BIG game was going on? Well, no worries. The match started at 2 am, giving us just the right amount of time to get from the concert to the place where the match was being shown. Oh yes, I watched a whole rugby match at 2 am without falling asleep! It was the final after all. South Africa won, if you are interested, although I do think they got more bloody and bruised then the English.

On Sunday, Sara and I decided to take it easy. Sara took me around to all of the important sites in the Capital, and we managed to fit in some shopping too! Laos apparently has some very nice silver jewellery at great prices. Sara, in fact, bought me a beautiful silver ring that I was admiring. I must get her something nice in return.

And oh... after talking with bunches of people I decided to scratch my China plan. I am going to Vietnam instead. I was really undecided on which one to do, but someone made a very very good point. Vietnam is a smaller country, therefore you can see more in a shorter period of time. Very good point. So this morning (monday), I made my way to the Vietnam embassy. Got my visa via the 'rush service' (ie paying them $20 extra dollars). And jumped on the a/c bus to Vang Vieng. What they mean by a/c here is it works for the first 30 min and last 30 min. Apparently it is not needed during the hottest and longest stretch of the trip. Oh well.

So now I am in Vang Vieng. I will stay here for a few days and then head up to Luang Prabang, where I will probably meet up with Sara again. More parties..? We'll see, with Sara you never know...

Making and Changing Plans

Well, all my plans that I laid out in my last post - Scratch that. Just go ahead and wipe that last post from your memory. Done? Good... Because my plans had totally changed. After thinking for another 2 min. about how to plan my travels for the next few weeks I decided that it was silly to enter Laos from the north. Originally I was thinking to travel down from N. Laos to Vientiane and then fly from their to Kunming (a city in southern China). Like a good Dutchman - after researching the prices I thought that it was unwise to spend so much mullah on a flight when I could just cross into China overland from N. Laos. At least that WAS the plan.

OK - last day in Chiang Mai: Had a fantastic 3 hour conversation with a Buddhist Monk. Now given that Monks can't sit next to women on the bus or touch women, I was quite honored and impressed to chat with the fellow for a while. Well... it turns out this monk is quite the renegade - he will swat a mosquito if it is bothering him (of course it is always an accident!). I learned a bit about the religion from him. But mostly he was interested in discussing America and Sports. He knows about sports because he mischievously gets glimpses of games when he peers through the windows of houses that he walks past.

I also took a cooking class! I learned how to make some cool Thai dishes. Now only if I could figure out how to turn on an oven.... humm... something to figure out for the future.

Then I took an overnight bus to Udon Thani - a Thai town close to the Laos boarder with Vientiane. There were about 7 other backpackers and we all stuck together as we had to jump through the various hoops to cross the border and get into the capital city. It was like an obstacle course - one wrong turn and you have been scammed! Luckily we made it through with only overpaying a dollar or two then what a local would pay. Mom and Dad - you trained me well!

Once over the boarder I met up with my cousin Sara and their the Vientiane Party Time adventure began...

Where to, and how to get there....

I am back in Chiang Mai. After a nice rest in Mai Hong Son, I got the Air-Co (ohhh fancy...) bus to Mae Sariang. Never heard of Mae Sariang? Well neither have a lot of tourists. It has definitely been the most tourist free city I have been in. This is good and bad... On the good side I became really good friends with the guesthouse owner. I had many a cups of tea with her. She did get slightly upset when I added sugar to my tea (apparently THAI tea should be taken without sugar), but I think she got over it. On the down side... there is not much to do at all. In the morning some girls I have been travelling with and I took the bus to Chiang Mai. We were all prepared to pay the extra $2 for the air-co bus again, but the Thai Transportation Industry decided that today there will be no air-co buses. The fan bus took about 5 hours, and was quite an experience. Oh well.. $2 saved.

Now I am organizing my trip to Laos. There are some agencies here which arrange the trip for you... but after talking to a few of them I have decided to do it independently. If you go through the agency you are stuck on their schedule and staying at their guesthouses, and of course they want the money up front. I don't think soo... To many potentials for a nightmare trip. Tomorrow I will go to the public bus station and buy a ticket for Chaing Rai and then to chiang khong. Depending on the time... either spend the night in Thailand or cross immediately to Laos. Then the next day jump on a slow boat down the Mekong. Slow boat takes about 6 hours to Pakbeng (city in between boarder crossing and Luang Prabang - my destination)!! I will spend the night there and then maybe take a speed boat into Luang Prabang. Now those speed boats give you lift vests and helmets... hum.. there must be a reason why... Boating with a helmet will be something new for me.

For those of you who read the news about the tourists getting killed by a flash flood.. it is terrible. That happened all the way in the south by the nice beaches. Hopefully we will have none of that on the Mekong.

Tonight's plans - catch a movie in a theater with massage chairs!! Oh - it is ALL about the massage here.

Just Floating Along...

Yesterday I finished my 2 day rafting trip down the Pai river in the North of Thailand. It was incredibly beautiful. If you are looking for the next world class, non stop heart pumping rafting adventure, this aint the place for you. But if you are up for just taking it easy going down a river with incredible beauty and spending the night in the jungle with God's more ugly creatures (he did not do his best work on the bugs here - maybe too much time was spent on general beauty)- then I highly recommend it!

We were a group of about 10 backpackers - with yours truly being the only American rep! I decided to do this trip because some girls met in Bangkok were doing it, and it seemed like it would be fun. And that it was. Going down those 1-2 class rapids provided quite a few laughs as we all were ridiculously ignorant on how to actually control the raft. I lost my paddle a few times - but managed to stay in the raft. I did not go without taking a few good gulps of questionable river water though... So I plan on taking it easy the next few days while my stomach and Thailand's worst polluted water battle it out in my gut. Current status: my stomach is holding its own right now.

I spent the night in a bamboo camp in the middle of the jungle. May you be blessed with never seeing these biting creatures that live in these outcast places. I, thank goodness, layered myself with 50% deet and came out ok. You might thinks Deet causes cancer and is a pollutant- HA, who cares if it keeps you free from getting bit! Others - by the looks of their legs -were not so fortunate. We did get mosquito nets - but believe it or not - they are not so effective when they have holes in them.

The area though is so pretty that one would think they are in a fairy tale. The green and the rocks and the mountains look like something right out of the Efteling. Fairies could have flown by and it would not have seemed out of place.

After the trip a few girls and I decided to spend the night in Mae Hong Son. Our first stop in the city - the 7-Eleven (open 24 hours) for some nice western comfort food.

There is not much to do in this town. I think I will check out a few Wats (temples) and then be my way tomorrow. Where too... I dont know yet...

Pai in the Sky

Yes I did get to see Pai from the sky. At least that is what it felt like after hiking nearly 15 km. straight up! The trek I went on was quite an experience. I am very happy that I did it, but to be honest - I will not be upset if I do not do it again (it will only lead to disappointment :-p).

On the first day me and another 6 backpackers all climbed on to the back of a pickup (backdoor open of course - this is Thailand!) and drove through this windy pass to get to the starting point. The mountains are so green and jagged - For me just surviving the drive was a reason to celebrate. The first day we hiked about 15 km - the last 6 or so done in pouring rain. This lead me to 2 conclusions:

1. The clay here is amazingly similar to that of Georgia. If I would restrict my vision to just the mud then I can almost imagine being at the old Dalrymple house in Atlanta.
   
2. The above is not hard to accomplish at all when the clay has turned into just straight up mud after a downpour and you are falling in it numerous times.

If you did not know - then let me tell you trying to keep your footing when going on a steep down slope in mud aint an easy task my friend! I think the trekking company is just trying to make a world record for longest mud slip-n'slide - and they are using us to create it!

During the first day we stopped at various tribal villages to rest and eat. Basically they were just your average small mountain side village that makes a living off of selling opium to the people who come through. The opium trade is hot and happening in N. Thailand despite the government crackdown. It is not called the golden triangle for nothing! I think it is irresponsible tourism - these villages start to depend on the tourist to buy the drugs so that they can make a living. It puts the village people in danger and keeps them really from looking for jobs and income elsewhere. That is one of the reasons I would not do it again. But then again... this is probably the way it has been done for many many years. Stop now and then they will really be struggling to feed the pigs that live under their houses (no joke - the pig sty is under the house!!)

The second - and less soap boxy reason - is that I finally got to feel the effects of eating questionable food. Talk about bad timing! There might be something worse then being in the middle of nowhere, without plumbing, pouring down rain, thick forest full of god knows what and getting that "when sliding into first and you feel something burst" feeling - but I don't know what it is. Yeah.. 'nough said.

As a result of my weak stomach I decided to cut the trek short by a day. Was it a dry trek the second day - of course not! It is still monsoon season (It probably would have been wise to take this into consideration BEFORE the trek). After a second day of being soaked to the bone, and up and personal encounters with the mud I appreciated a hot shower like never before.

All in all the scenery here is beautiful; really really exquisite. For that reason I am very glad I did the trek - even though my muscles are complaining about it today.

I tried to take today to relax - but I ran into some Canadian girls I met in Bangkok. They had just been bicycling- and offered one of their bikes to me for the afternoon if I wanted. Well - free bike - I was not going to turn that down! I ended up exploring the area a bit more on a mountain bike for a few hours. So now, at the end of the day, not only are my calves, knees, and quads aching... but my butt is unbelievably sore too! Is it going to stop there - goodness no! Tomorrow I am going whitewater rafting for 2 days. Maybe I can get my arms aching too :).

I am rafting down the Pai river - and ending in Mae Hong Son (my next destination). If I do not get out of Pai soon - I feel like I will end of staying here for a few weeks. It just has that type of allure and pull. It is so artsy-fartsy, Mom - you would love it! It is also so laid back with a lot of interesting and nice people, both the backpackers and locals. I am leaving now - but I just might have to come back for a few days on my way back to Chiang Mai.

3-day Hike and Hopefully Mosquito bite free.

I am headed into the Thailand forests for a few days. Trekking through the mountains and waterfalls! Afterwards... maybe renting a moped and traveling through the north a bit more. Only potential issue - trying to remember people drive on the left side of the road here!

I Love Pai and Pie

Ok - so my last posting was a bit negative looking back. The cacophony of the sights, smell, and noise of Bangkok probably just got to me that hour I sat down to post. And Blogger is only in Thai here, so I can not go back and edit!! Well I could if I read thai...

So my last day in Bangkok I got a Thai massage at what is "supposed" to be the BEST place for thai messages in the whole wide world. A half hour cost me a whopping $8. Mind you... that is nearly as much as I pay for a guest house! Well... I dont know about it being the best. So I have decided in addition to napping when necessary - I will also get a thai massage when ever necessary (hey, when is it not?).

Last night I got on a train for Chiang Mai. Wow, what a 16 hour experience without airco. Yep, you read right - 16 hours on the train!. Dad and Uncle Jim - I bet I was on the same exact train you were on 30 years ago. Same seat cushions, same sheets on the mattress. Of the 16 hours - I think I got a total of 2 hours sleep and about 5 layers of insect repellent on, and drank only 1/2 liter of water at most. My plan was to have to use the bathroom/squatter the least amount of times as necessary - once!.

Arrived in Chiang Mai at 6am. After walking around a bit I decided that the city - being the second stop on the Lonely Planet guide just aint for me. I jumped on the next bus to Pai - a city about 3 hours away and I love it! Why I love it... that is for next time....

Bangkok, Can ya get any smellier?

I made it into Bangkok in the middle of the night 2 nights ago. In most towns 2am aint the time for the city to be hoping... well unless you are in an area with bars or clubs (not including California). Well not Bangkok! In Bangkok at 2am you can still by veggies at the market, clothes from the street vendors, and other stores. The city does not stop! I would go so far to say it in a 24 hour shuk. It is dirty like a shuk, smelly like a shuk, and crazy busy like a shuk. Oh the smells! It is also one of the most pungent cities I have ever been to. If you are not smelling the vendors on the street every 10 feet, then it is the exhaust from the cars, or maybe the incense, or the people (it is hot and humid like Florida in August and people need to be taught to use D.O. for the B.O.). But all in all it has been quite a good experience. So far I have managed:

• to get scammed
• navigate my way to the train station and NOT get scammed
• take a water taxi - and not have a fungus infection from splashing water
• take a tuk tuk ride and survive
• take a water taxi - and not get a fungus infection from splashing water river water
• have a thai massage in a Buddhist temple (Wat Po if you are interested)
• Not drink coffee for the past 2 days! I might have to give in soon to the coffee and hit up the Starbucks on Khao San Road before I leave.
• Find the free Internet place at the Israeli travellers center - they try to 'hide' it by writing "Free Internet" in hebrew. I am letting the secret out!!

Bangkok is also full of professional scam artists, and I am sorry to say that I fell for it yesterday! People manage to stop you in the street and offer assistance to help you where you are going. I was trying to make my way to the grand palace and obviously looked a bit confused as I was lost. I nice man approached me and said he was on his honeymoon from Chaing Mai and wanted to help. Coincidentally, ALL the public places in the area (temples and museums) were closed. Well good thing I met him because he knew where places were open! He showed me on the map and said I should take a tuktuk and he would organize a good deal for 3 hours (50 baht = $1.50). Well stupid me I believed him. I went to some temples that I would have never gone to afterwards, but then i was taken to the silk factories and the TAT (Travel Auth. of Thailand - BIG RIP OFF). Good thing they did not know who they were dealing with and I was not about to buy anything. In the end he wanted to take me to the best gem dealers.. and then it dawned on me. I told him to let me off at a nearby temple and said asta lavista.

Well, lesson learned! New method for dealing with the constant hawking by scam artists and tuk tuk riders. Conversations goes as follows:

Tuktuk driver: "where are you from"

me: "Turkey and Gravy"

Tuktuk driver: "Ahh very nice, very nice"

me: "Yep, especially with cranberry sauce"

Tuktuk driver: "where you going today"

me: "Well, to be honest with you sir the cumulus clouds indicate that the weather is not favorable. Thank you. Bye bye."

Tuktuk driver: "Ahhh....ok"

$1.50 is a lot to lose in Thailand, but not in the scheme of things.
Tomorrow - night train ride to Chang Mai.

BTW - total let down with TP in thailand. And the fact that you can not flush it does not help the smelly situation one bit!

Chinese T.P.

I have made it to the Hong Kong airport.. aka The airport with the best quality toilet paper! Yes, Hong Kong really goes above and beyond on the quality and cushiness of their T.P. I am impressed. Maybe it is this way all over SE Asia...??
I have been traveling for about 26 hours now, and have about 5 more to go. I thought I was ok, but the room is starting to spin a bit. Maybe this is some sort of new Chinese technology?

Money for Nothin'

Just got some good news today that made me quite happy :D. This will open up some entirely new possibles in the travel plans! In fact, I am going to up the amount I was planning on spending on hotels 100%!!

Forget those $6 / night hostels ... I am going to go in style to the $12 / night hostels!!! WhooHoo! I will be with the highrollers now.

I also did something that I was not planning on doing at all... I booked a guesthouse for my first 2 nights in Bangkok. I must have had a moment of weakness where I gave into my more sensible thought. My flight lands in Bangkok at midnight - so at least I know I have a place to stay the first night and dont have to wonder around the city ringing the bell of every guesthouse I have asking if they have room available. I have already had that pleasure in Rome, and it really did not work out to my benefit. Plus this place is SUPER fancy... it has a website. Too bad 'private bathroom' is not included in the fancy part. Check it out: http://www.shambarabangkok.com/

In Honor of G'Pa

So the travel dates I was so sure about have changed.... Grandpa Bill got sick last week and passed away. I flew back to FL to be with family. The funeral was emotional, sad, and quite moving. He was a great man who always gave out of the kindness of his heart. He gave not for recognition but mearly because it was the right thing to do. He never bragged about his accomplishments. And unless you really got to know him, you probably never knew the half of what he has done. Only in the last few years did I get to know him better. My adult relationship with him was much different than that I had as a child. I got to see his very dry witty and intelligent humor. His jokes were always very subtle. There were many times I nearly fell off my chair with laughter. If you had a question or a problem, especially about business or finances (or Chemical Engineering - but that never was an issue for me), he was always ready to give advise. Not many people who know him will believe this... But not too long ago I had a 45 minute conversation with him on the phone! Grandpa- Ill miss ya. Since G'pa has visited a lot of these SE Asian countries that I am planning on going to. This trip is dedicated to his memory. Albeit he probably did travel in much more style than I will be travelling, and probably did a lot less trekking then I plan on doing. But in his name I plan on devoting enough nap time as is necessary. No worries... when a nap is needed - a nap will be taken! Love ya Grandpa!

New dates for travel... Leaving LA on Oct. 2.

What's the plan, Stan?

So this is me - Hannah. I have decided to quit my job as a Team Leader/Project Manager at a software company in Santa Barbara to travel around South East Asia for about 3 months. I have no itinerary, and no definite plans. This will be by far the most adventurous thing I have ever done. I have kept my planning to a minimum. I figure Lonely Plant has done a lot of research and I can count on them and everybody else who has read the guidebook to keep me informed :).

All I know for sure are my travel dates. I am leaving from LA and headed to Bangkok on Sept. 17th. At the end of November I am traveling from Bangkok to Singapore for a few day. I hear you can have a flogging good time spraying graffiti around the city. Then I am off to Bali for about 2 weeks. My surfing skills are dreadfully embarrassing after spending a whole year in California - but just maybe 2 weeks in Bali will turn me into a pro. After 2 good weeks on the beaches of Bali I am headed to Hong Kong for a few days. Hopefully at this point I will not be broke and will actually be able to do some shopping! If there is money left after shopping then I might try to find an affordable hotel... Otherwise I will be the homeless American wondering the streets of Hong Kong with all the shopping bags.

By the end of December I will be back in the States. This will give me just enough time to setting into an apartment and get over the jet lag before I start law school! If you are interested... keep reading this blog for updates on where I am.