Hanoi, Vietnam

So far on this trip, Claire and I haven't really been thrown out of our comfort zone... Until now. Leaving laos was definitely bittersweet, but we were anything but enthusiastic about our 27 hour bus journey from Vang Vieng to the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi. It was our first sleeper bus (overnight bus) experience and for the first time, we were the only tourists traveling on the bus. We were immediately assigned the back of the bus... Which to be honest we took offence to at first, but long story short, it really wasn't that bad. We left at 7pm, stopped for dinner at around midnight, and were at the Vietnamese border at 7 the next morning. It was early, and not a comfortable experience... Being the only Caucasian tourists, language barrier prominent, and trying to understand where to go and who to give our passports to, we realised that everyone bribes border control to get their passports stamped first. While we were being ignored, pushy Vietnamese men would squeeze their way to the front of the line, money in hand, until they were allowed to cross the border. Claire and I were scared that at this rate, our bus would continue on without us, but after some convincing, border patrol finally stamped our passports and we were off. When we finally reached Hanoi, we were overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of the city. We checked into Hanoi backpackers, made a few friends, then joined in on a pub crawl which ended up consisting of going to one very crowded club. We were reminded that we were in Vietnam at midnight when the military came into the club to shut the DJ down at exactly 12am...curfew in Vietnam. The following day we took a free walking tour of Hanoi. We started with St. Joseph's Cathedral. Then we continued to stroll around Hoan Kiem Lake where for the first time since I've left home I can say I had chills running down my back... It was windy and cold! The walking tour wrapped up, we grabbed some street food with some girls from the tour ( fried yummy food) and went back to the hostel where we buddied up with Maria and Verena, two Germans we met at the hostel,  and booked another sleeper bus that night to get further south... where it's hopefully a bit warmer.

I LOVE LAOS- Vang Vieng

After another very windy bus ride through the mountains, Claire and I arrived in Vang Vieng, Laos!



Vang Vieng, Laos
 

When we arrived, Claire, Sarah and I checked into a room at ''Chill Lao.'' Clay and Lee were also staying there and Ruby and Joep were right across the street. The others were around the corner and although our ''Laos Crew'' was not staying in the same hostel this time around, we were all still pretty close. :) Upon arrival, we were all starving so we went out to eat and I know I'm not in Thailand anymore, but I still ordered some Pad Thai.. yummmmy!! That night, the ''Laos Crew'' wanted to celebrate our reunion (after all being together in Luang Prabang and reuniting in Vang Vieng), so we went out to a hoppin' place called the 'Fat Monkey' where we had.... a Tequila night! It was great fun, although I despise tequila, and afterwards Pete, Adam, and I ended up at the local discoteck, 'The Moon,' where we danced the night away with locals, ladyboys, and fellow backpackers.

Tuk Tuk loadng up the inner tubes!

Tubng down the Nam Song River with Claire, Ruby, Joep
and Clay!

Vang Vieng is a riverine landscape of black karsts and sleepy ricefields. For many, it tries too hard to please foreigners and there's a palpable sense of loss for its old traditional way of life. It's a place to tune out in a video bar, (there are some on the waterfront that play 'Friends' or 'Southpark' 24/7), and tube down the Nam Song river. But with that being said, one has to make sure not to miss out on climbing, kayaking, and caving!

Day two in Vang Vieng, Clay, Claire, Joep, Ruby, and I went tubing! Tubing was HUGE here until about 4 months ago when an Ausi died... there were many riverside bars where tubers would hop on and off the river, grab a drink and dance, then continue floating. Ever since multiple accidents occurred, it has ALL been shut down. And although it might not have been the same experience so to say, the 5 of us had a great time cruising down the Nam Song River!! 

Crawling through 'Water Cave'

After tubing we were starvvvved and stopped at a riverside restaurant to watch the sunset and have a late lunch... or early dinner. The night was once again spent at 'Fat Monkey' with my Laos Crew, followed by sandwich streetfood, then bed. Sidenote: I eat streetfood a lot, but here in Vang Vieng they have the best sandwiches! Men and women are out with their rolling carts, ready to fire up the grill and make you a tasty late night snack. After not seeing bread once it Thailand, it was nice to have a baguette filled with goodies in Laos.
The next couple of days were spent hanging out, Clay setting of fireworks by the river, and caving!! Oh man... Clay, Claire and I had the BEST caving experience! After a failed attempt to rent motorbikes to drive ourselves to the caves, we hopped into a tuktuk, I pointed to a cave on the map, and we were off! Naturally, I had to pick the furthest cave away called, the ''Water Cave'' (about 16 km), and the road was SOO terrible, I thought for sure the rusty old tuktuk was going to collapse into a thousand little pieces.

In front of the Water Cave entrance

Once we arrived, we were greeted by villagers residing in a small town along the River. We crossed the bridge and and because it was all so unofficial, we just started walking towards the mountain. Halfway down the path, a local man started walking with us. Turns out, he was our guide. We walked until we came across a lagoon with rubber inner tubes piled up along its shore. At first I thought to myself, I didn't come all this way just to sit in a little lagoon! But what I was about experience was far from that. We each hopped into a tube, received a headlamp, and followed our guide into a little opening in the side of the mountain.

Claire, Clay, and I inside the cave

There was a rope to help guide you into the cave, and I slowly pulled myself along until the water ran shallow. We came upon a bank inside the cave, where we hopped out and left our inner tubes behind. At this point, we were completely submerged in darkness, with only the echos of our own voices and the drip dropping of water to be heard. We crawled, climbed, and swam through the passages that made up this amazing cave. I honestly couldn't stop commentating because I felt like I was on my own show on the Discovery Channel ;) We looped around somehow and made it back to our inner tubes where we were finally greeted by a ray of light at the end of the tunnel... and we were out!
Covered in sand and mud, we washed off in the lagoon, and back into town we went.
That night we watched hot air balloons drift into the sunkissed sky, and hung out with the ''Laos Crew'' one last time in a video restaurant along the river. Leaving Vang Vieng was hard as we had to say goodbye to so many truly wonderful people... Our 'Laos family' was going separate ways for Christmas, and after over 10 days with them, and over 3 weeks with Clay, Claire and I said our goodbyes, and got on our sleeper bus to Hanoi... just the two of us.

Shout out to my Laos Laos Crew!! Miss you all already!

P.s. Dear Laos,
You were better then I could have ever imagined! Thanks for the unbelievable memories!!

Cultural Tip of the Day: In Southeast Asia, transvestites are called ''Ladyboys.''

Laos Laos- Luang Prabang

White Temple in Chiang Rai

Slow Boat on the Mekong River

Monks walking across footbridge in Luang Prabang

Made it to Laos!!!
After a long windy van ride through Chiang Rai to Chiang Khong, a day of slowboating on the Mekong river, a night in Pak Beng, and another 9 hour slow boat ride, we finally made it to Luang Prabang!
 The slowboat was an experience in itself. I originally thought it was going to be like a ferry boat, but I was off by a mile... It was more like a long wooden canoe with a motor in the back, and about 100 people squeezed into car seats that had been taken out of cars and placed on the boat. But it was a beautiful ride down the Mekong River, and after nearly 17 hours on a boat, you see some spectacular views, and meet some great fellow backpackers.

On our first day, Claire and I decided to use our guidebook to do a walking tour of Luang Prabang. 
We met up with Isabella and Anja at the sandwich stand, two German girls who were on our slow boat, and started our walking tour with That Chomsy. After approximately 350 steps we made it to the top and had a 360 degree view of the city! Woohoo! 
Then we checked out Wat Xieng Thong, and That Phu Si. Walking around Luang Prabang has a completely different feel to it then Chiang Mai. With  its  former French  influence, you get the feeling like your somewhere in Europe. The restaurants and guesthouses look like Swiss chalet's, minus the flower pots, and everything is very clean and spruced up. We walked around the peninsula, watched as the monks crossed the bamboo foot bridge over the river, and after hours of walking were sucked into a massage parlor for a one hour foot massage :) That night, Claire, Anja, Isabella, Clay, Felix, Sarah and I checked out Utopia, an awesome restaurant/bar that sits up high along the River, followed by some live music ( ironically a San Franciscan musician) at Mojo cafe. 

Me at the top of That Chomsy

The following day had to have been my favorite day in Luang Prabang. After breakfast, our slowboat crew of 10 ( Claire, Sarah, Eline, Anja, Isabella, Clay, Joep, Adam, Pete, and I) squeezed into a Tuk Tuk  that brought us to Kouang Si Waterfalls!!! Probably the most beautiful and unique set of waterfalls I have ever seen... Tucked away about 40 minutes from town, these waterfalls are a highlight and definite MUST when in the area! 

Luang Prabang with Claire! 

We jumped off waterfalls, flew from rope swings, and swam around the limestone pools until we got the chills. Then we walked up to the main waterfall, but along the way, Adam, Pete, and I got kidnapped by a group of Asian tourists wanting to take pictures with us....we were stuck there for 5 minutes!! Ahhhh! 

Paparazzi at the waterfall ;)

My cheeks hurt so bad after the photo session that I could barely take any of my own pictures at the top of the waterfall. 


Kouang Si Waterfall

The 10 of us then walked back to our Tuk Tuk, grabbed a bite to eat ( yes I did very much enjoy my banana, peanut butter, nutella crepe thank you ;) ) and drove back into town. Since we are all staying in the same guesthouse, we cleaned up and headed over to the night market for dinner. Here in Luang Prabang, there is a night market EVERY night. It seems like sooo much work to set up each booth and take it down every night, but its what they do. There is also a food section ( like a 'food court' so to say) at the market, where you receive one plate, pile on as much food as you want from the buffet, and pay 10,000 kip ( approx. $1.20). Sooo we found ourselves eating there pretty much every night. That evening our crew of 10 walked over to Mojo Cafe once again, a guy from our slowbot was preforming, followed by... bowling? In Luang Prabang, curfew is at 11:30 so all the bars close around 11. Bowling is one of the very few places that is opened past that time, so we Tuked tuked it over to the bowling alley to play a couple of games, have a few drinks, and enjoy each others company. Fun fun fun! 
Another highlight from my stay in Luang Prabang would have to be the Lao Theatre. The actors did not speak, all the men wore masks, and the storyline was told through music, movements, and dance. Afterwards we went to a beer garden for dinner, and then it was off to bed for me!! All I have to say is that I have LOVED every second of this charmed city... its scenery, nature, and the amazing group of international friends , my 'Laos Crew,' who made the experience all the better. Ya Bra! ;) 

LAOS CREW! 

WATERFALLS!

LOVE THEM! 

Cultural Tip of the Day: Why are food orders brought to the table at different times? In Laos, all food is served in the middle of the table and every dish is shared by everyone. Is it considered extremely rude to pull an entire order in front of oneself. The concept of possession is completely foreign to the Lao people.

Same Same but Different Different- Last Days in Chiang Mai

Our Lantern-Clay, Marina, myself and a bit of Claire ;)

Following our jungle trek adventure, we got back in to Chiang Mai right in time for the Kings birthday celebrations! It was December 5th, and not to mention a DRY holiday, so all the bars were closed, and no alcohol was being served. It is disrespectful to drink alcohol on the Kings birthday here in Thailand. They REALLY admire their King... it is illegal to step on any money, as it has the kings face on it, or tamper with ANY portraits of the king, and trust me they are allll over the place. Fun fact: A tourist thought it would be funny to draw a mustache on a public picture of the king, was caught, and jailed for 3 years!!! Its pretty intense but interesting none the less.  Ironically enough, Anyways, Clay's 21st birthday happens to fall on the exact same day as the kings birthday... hahaha Happy Birthday Clay!!
So we joined some friends out on the main square to light some lanterns and watch them float and carry themselves away in the sky in celebration... it was beautiful.

Celebrating the Kings Birthday 

The days following Marina, Claire, and I decided to check out what Chiang Mai had to offer so we grabbed our maps and headed out to some of the Wats in town. The first was Wat Duang Dee, followed by Wat Phan Tao. Then we went to Wat Chedi Luang, which contains the ruins of a huge chedi dating from 1441 that was believed to be one of the tallest structures in Chiang Mai at the time. This site also holds a "Monk Chat," where monks from the monk university get to chat with people about just about anything.

Claire and I taking in the sites at Wat Chedi Luang

Marina, Claire, and I chatted with a monk who was a big Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, and Nickelback fan, to name a few ;). He was awesome!! And overall, it was great to sit and chat with a monk, after not knowing if we could even look at them directly in the eye or not. But as it turns out they are free to indulge in their passions, and are just as interested in hearing about your background, as we are in theirs. Our final Wat, was Wat Phrasingh which is the star amid the old city's famous temples and is a perfect example of Lanna architecture. It was established in 1345 and houses the city's revered Buddha image, Phra Singh, which is the focal point for the religious festivities of Thai New Year.  Because we went in the evening, we got to see the monks chanting in the temple... they were all lined up in rows, sitting criss cross applesauce, with pamphlets in their hands, chanting.

Monks from the Monk Chat!! 

The next couple of days were spent reading, doing laundry, and hanging by the pool. I got the book "Water for Elephants" from a backpackers bookstore where you can buy a book, read it, then sell it back. I can't wait to read it!! Another highlight was a once a year craft market in town that Claire and I went to. Everything was beautifully handcrafted, and we were seriously struggling not to buy it all!! It was also on the outskirts of town over by Chiang Mai University so we got to see a new, less touristy part of town. But our ride back to the guesthouse consisted of almost 1.5 hours of polluted jam packed roads (dang old motorbikes puffing out black exhast) just to be dropped off at the "Night Bazaar," a huge street market on the opposite side of the city and NOT where we wanted to get dropped off... there was clearly a language barrier involved and we were frustrated the driver couldn't read a map, but once we found a different driver, we were back in no time! Talk about a 10-15 minute drive gone wrong... haha! Unfortunately, I got a cold as well the last few days, so I didn't get to experience too much nightlife, however I did manage one night out with my team :) (Marina, Claire, and Clay) at a popular spot right across the street from our guesthouse, called Zoe's. Clay bought a bucket of mojito (the only drink in english) and we danced the night away! Fun fun fun :) We have some GREAT memories from Chiang Mai, a hip, cultural city full of Wats and fellow backpackers... but now its time to move on and we will be heading to Laos in the morning. Chang chang!! Cultural tip of the day: When someone says 'Same same, but different different' in Thailand (and a few other countries) what they mean is 'whatever/ doesn't matter/ its all the same to me.'

"Oh My Buddha"- Chiang Mai Jungle

I believe I left off at... ELEPHANTS!

Thai Elephants!!!

Last Tuesday Claire, Clay, Marina and I got up and ready for our trek out into the jungle. It was only the 4 of us, which was nice because we got our own private guide, Rocky. We got picked up at our guesthouse, 'Nice Place', hopped into the bed of a truck and we were off! Pretty much all transportation around here is in the bed of a pick up truck, however it has a shell over it and two benches along the sides, so its not totally uncomfortable :) I have to note that on our ride out into the wild, we were SUPER excited to get out of the city and couldn't stop singing "In the Jungle" from the Lion King...oh- weemb-a-what, oh-weemb-a-what!

Clay singing "In the Jungle" off the back of the truck

Jungle Camp

Once we arrived at camp, we changed into our special elephant clothes and had Mahout training. We learned simple thai commands to communicate with the elephants. Like 'bai' for go, and 'hue' for stop. We practiced these commands on Wasanai, a very gentle sweet elephant before heading out into the jungle for a couple of hours. We each got our own elephant to ride, and rode them without a saddle through mud, plants and trees. I never realized how strong elephants were until my elephant, Poihi, started ripping trees out of the ground!! He washuuungryyyy and man can elephants EAT!I literally got stuck in a tree, and it's not because I climbed one, it was because Poihi pulled one down onto my head! More then once! But it just made myself and the others laugh, so it was all good. Once we got back to camp, we bathed the elephants in the river and when they had had enough water, Claire, Clay, Marina, and I continued to have a water fight... and then just sat and talked in river. Shortly thereafter, a Mahout walked by and giggled saying "be careful for the leaches..." and we sprinted out of that water soooo fast I felt like Flash from the Incredibles. 

Poihi and I

Playing in the River... haha! 

That night we ate at camp and played card games with some other trekkers that were there on another tour. Then we celebrated Clay's birthday with a pile of bananas, an elephant... and beer :) After a cold night in the huts (the first time I have been cold on the trip thus far) we woke up, threw on our still wet bathing suits and trekked with the group to a waterfall in the jungle. But this wasn't just any old waterfall... it was a waterside! At first, I was hesitant to go down the stone waterfall but after the tour guide did it, we couldn't get enough! It was awesome! After some lunch, we hiked back to the trucks and rode over to a hill tribe nearby. It was very interesting to see how Thai people lived outside the city. Its a very simple life, very basic and everyone shares and does favors for their neighbors instead of being paid for work. After saying goodbye to the hill tribe villagers, we headed back over to the river for some white water rafting! Our guide was amazing and kept starting water fights with any other boat that crossed our path, on the more calm parts of the river of course. Claire even got kidnapped by another raft halfway through, but was able to get away and swim back to the American/Argentinian raft. :) Once the rapids were through, we continued down the river on a bamboo raft, except the bamboo raft had a little trouble staying afloat, haha! 

My Girls in our elephant outfits :)

Our group of 8 or so were not only trying to stay afloat, but trying to balance our bamboo raft while trying not to think about the water snakes we were seeing... Ahhhh! It sounds terrible, but I promise it was a lot more fun then just sitting on a raft floating down a calm river. 

Overall the trip out into the Jungle was amazing. Great people, awesome elephants, and an overall great experience in Northern Thailand. 

Cultural Tip of the Day: Here you don't say "Oh my God"... It's "Oh my Buddha" ;) 

Chiang Mai

So in case anyone was wondering, the sleeper train was amazing!! And don't worry dad, I took a picture of the train for you ;) The 12 hour ride went by quick considering the first couple of hours were spent in the restaurant car turned into a disco-tech when some Europeans took over ;) And the duration of the ride was spent sleeping until we arrived in Chiang Mai the next morning. Since we got here yesterday, we have been relaxing poolside, and eating...a lot!! Last night there was a huge Sunday Market and Claire, Marina, and I tried a little bit of food from each stall, followed by an amazing dessert called Roti (Like a crepe with banana and chocolate yum yum yum!)
Then we checked out all the booths selling anything from lanterns to jewelry to essential oils. After the market, Marina and I found an awesome black light reggae bar which played anything and everything but reggae music, haha! But there was a great atmosphere and a lot of cool backpackers so we were happy.
And today, Day 6, was spent mostly planning and once again...eating, but tonight we changed it up a bit and had Burmese cuisine which was delicious!
Now it's off to bed because tomorrow Claire, Marina, Clay, and I are taking an overnight trip to the mountains where we are going to be training and taking care of elephants! So excited!!! Good Night!
Cultural tip of the day: Monks CAN have tattoos... who would have thought ;)

I'm here!!! Bangkok and Ayuthaya

Hello hello! Or more appropriately sa-wat-dee-ka!!

I am happy to say that after a gruelling 12 hour + 7 hour flight, Claire and I arrived safely in thailand... more specificaly the grand city of  Bangkok! We arrived at the airport to find our taxi driver "uncle tim," waiting for us... we walk over to his taxi and I decided to ride shotgun. Tired and disoriented, I got in the car and shortly thereafter realized I had a stearing wheel in front of me. Haaa, I forgot they drive on the other side of the road...but at least uncle tim got a good laugh then went on to tell me that I was the second person to do it that day, sooo I didnt feel so bad ;)
Our first day we stayed on Khao San Road, a crazy busy street, full of nightlife, and considered to be the 'backpakers ghetto' of Bangkok. We didn't get to experience much of the nightlife, as we were adjusting to the time change and didn't make it past 9pm our first two nights, but the street food was great and everything is so CHEAP! We checked out the Grand Palace, the formar royal residence. We recieved longer clothing because you have to be completely covered and frolicked through the temples. Then out of nowhere it started pouring so everyone ran into a temple for cover. After the downpour most people had left so Claire and I ran around taking pictures, saw the emerald buddha, and spashed around in what used to be a sidewalk now covered by an inch of rain water. Then we walked over to Wat Pho, the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok, dating from the 16th century. It is the largest reclining Buddha in the country! At this point, our sweaty sticky, wet clothes were uunbearable so we took our first Tuk tuk ( semi-crazy drivers, but a must at least once in Bangkok) back to Khoa San Road. Then to end the day we walked over to the river to participate in the Loi Krathong Festival (11/28), a festival where Thais launch banana-leaf boats decorated with candles in honor of the river goddess. You make a wish, and let it float away. I launched a boat in memory of my might as well been sister Laurie.
Made sure there was pink on it and it even had glitter, which I know she would have loved...We then listened to the Thai band playing and admired all the pretty lights in the trees before we walked back to our hostel and went to bed.
On our second day in Bangkok, Claire and I decided to check out Chinatown... which was not too entirely different from the Chinatown in San Francisco, except for the fact that I don't think I have ever seen a grocery store with cats sleeping on the food, haha! We then continued over to Siam Square (shopping) and found a stand with REALLY COOL self made sunglasses! They were a highlight of our day and Claire ended up getting a pair.

The next day we decided we wanted to leave the big city so we checked out of the hostel and were directed to the bus station. However, every Thai person that we asked for directions said it was a 3 minute walk away... "3 minutes" followed by another "3 minutes" and long story short, we walked for 30 until we finally jumped in a cab to learn that the bus station was another 30 minute drive away... Ahhhh! But hey, it worked out and before we knew it we were on a bus to Ayuthaya (a 2 hour drive north of Bangkok). Once we arrived we decided we were going to chill for a bit, and maybe wash some sweaty clothes ;) We checked into a guesthouse, then got a drink next door at a place called 'Street Lamp.' We ended up staying at 'Street Lamp' all night and chatted about how many couples are backpacking throughout Southeast Asia, and how we haven't really made any backpacking friends : / Little did we know, that was all about to change.
Day 4 in Ayuthaya, Claire and I went back to 'Street Lamp' for breakfast, and as we were trying to figure out how to see all the temples we met Marina from Argentina! The three of us ended up getting a deal with a Tuk tuk driver and for 450 Baht (not even $5 each) we got a 3 hour tour of all the temples! It was great, and stress free which was nice. Plus we didn't have to trek around in the heat! We checked out Wat Chai Wattanaram and Wat Phanan Choeng to name a few. And yes, we did take some super touristy jumping picture at the 'most photogenic' Wat :) After the tour, we headed back to "Street Lamp' where we finally met... quote unquote... 'our friend!' His name is Clay and he happened to be sitting two rows in front of us on the flight over, we saw him again in Bangkok on our Tuk tuk ride, and then AGAIN in Ayuthaya! So we figured by this point it was meant to be, and we just had to be friends. So Clay, Marina, Claire and I had dinner, hung out, cooled off, and chatted while we waited until 9pm to hop on our sleeper train to Chiang Mai (a 12 hour train ride to the north of Thailand).
Well that's all the time I have for now! Off to Chiang Mai and super excited to get out in some nature!
Cultural tip of the day: Public bathrooms in Thailand do not supply toilet paper.