...for my dear clothes that have all been returned to me with bleach marks all over them after getting laundered this afternoon >=( It's not like I have all that many clothes to begin with, preferring to spend my money on other frivolities, so when every single t-shirts I bring (plus the nifty new ones I picked up in Thailand and Japan) are ruined, what am I to do? I just thank god the pricey shorts and pants I picked up from REI before I left didn't make it into the wash or I'd be really screwed. Damn damn damn. This means I have to spend the better part of tomorrow buying stupid kitschy t-shirts in vogue with the young backpacker crowd ("Same same," "Don't worry, be hap phuoc," Vietnamese flag tees etc. etc. if you were here you'd understand what I'm talking about). When the launderers that the hotel outserviced to are open tomorrow morning, I'm gonna do my best to awaken some latent genes I know I inherited from my dad and make a grand old fuss. Until then, a candle light vigil for the Wildlife Works shirt Chris got me for my birthday, the kawaii tee I picked up in Harajuku Japan and the quirky thing I picked up in Chiang Mai. (I'm overdue for some new underwear anyway so that's no big loss).
On a happier note, I rented a motorbike today and biked about 30km to a white sands beach I had nearly to myself. The water was a sublime temperature and as far out as 400 meter from shore I could still stand with my head above the water. I've been hanging out with some lovely Irish girls whom I'm about to meet for a drink so I'm off.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
Vietnam: Halong Bay
Halong Bay was absolutely stunning and despite being on the very lower end of the pay-scale, the accommodations were actually quite nice.
From Hanoi, a group of 12 or so of us took a minivan to Halong city where we embarked on our quaint yet charming junk. The scenery obviously was the highlight so I won't go too in depth into what we actually did, but we kayaked in the bay, swam, visited a cave and got our overpriced drink on at night. We spent just one night on the boat and then spent the next morning motoring back to the harbor where we were whisked back to the bustle of Hanoi. Here's some pictures from on the bay:
Despite looking overcast, the weather was quite pleasant
There's tiny little floating villages with submerged nets full of all manner of aquatic fauna
Sunset over Halong Bay
After spending a few hours in Hanoi, I embarked on my overnight "sleeper" bus to Hoi An--a city renowned for its excellent tailors. It's a real shame I never really have occasion to wear expensive threads since I could get a nice tailor made suit here for nothing...oh well. I was planning on only spending a day here before heading to Nha Trang but as tonight's bus is full, I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow. Time to hop on a motorbike and head to the beach!
From Hanoi, a group of 12 or so of us took a minivan to Halong city where we embarked on our quaint yet charming junk. The scenery obviously was the highlight so I won't go too in depth into what we actually did, but we kayaked in the bay, swam, visited a cave and got our overpriced drink on at night. We spent just one night on the boat and then spent the next morning motoring back to the harbor where we were whisked back to the bustle of Hanoi. Here's some pictures from on the bay:
Despite looking overcast, the weather was quite pleasant
There's tiny little floating villages with submerged nets full of all manner of aquatic fauna
Sunset over Halong Bay
After spending a few hours in Hanoi, I embarked on my overnight "sleeper" bus to Hoi An--a city renowned for its excellent tailors. It's a real shame I never really have occasion to wear expensive threads since I could get a nice tailor made suit here for nothing...oh well. I was planning on only spending a day here before heading to Nha Trang but as tonight's bus is full, I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow. Time to hop on a motorbike and head to the beach!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Hanoi
Firstly, OTC valium is a godsend. I was literally conscious for about four hours during the whole 24 it took to get to Hanoi from Vientiane much to the envy of my fellow travelers. So I'm staying now for the second night in a cheap hotel in the old quarter of Hanoi with two British and one Belgium guy I met on the bus ride over. We all get along quite well and together the room only comes to $3 a person...sweet.
This morning, we basically just figured out how to get out of Hanoi. This city is madness. Not as big, dirty and polluted as Bangkok but the racket that is day-to-day life here is already grating at my nerves. There's maybe one car to every 100 motorbikes zipping around the narrow streets and it seems like the horn is used nearly as much as the accelerator. If bats use echolocation to maneuver around unseen objects, the Vietnamese do the functional inverse--honking copiously at anything that appears in their line of vision. It's a total mystery why they even bother because everyone here is completely inured to the sound of horns anyway.
So as I was saying, today we booked an overnight trip to Halong Bay leaving tomorrow morning. We'll stay in a junk overnight and have some time to swim around or kayak amongst the limestone karsts...looking forward to it. I also bought a get-on-get-off sleeper bus ticket that gets me all the way to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) by way of Hue, Hoi An, and Na Trang. It breaks my heart, but I decided I didn't have time to get to Sapa in the north (quite near the Chinese border) since it looks absolutely stunning:
Plus to get anywhere so picturesque requires a good bit of trekking which I'm frankly not really up for anymore. I'm not sure how long I'll hang out in Hue and Hoi An, but Nha Trang is a beach town so it'll be nice to get some sun and snorkeling in since after nearly a month in SEA, I haven't yet been to a single beach!
So today I taxied around Hanoi and took in the sights. Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum pictured below was unfortunately closed by the time we got there so I couldn't see Mr. Minh's embalmed carcass, but I remember Mr. Taylor mentioning a long time ago that it's not in very good shape compared to Lenin's which I saw way back in 2001 so maybe that's ok.
It's in there somewhere
A view from the former residence
After that we took a look at the Temple of Literature and some other sights--none all too picturesque.
The highlight of the day was a water puppet performance I just got back from. There was live music which was awesome since I even recognized the look and sound of a few from my "Music of Asia and Oceania" music class in college and the performance was pretty whimsical. Basically the stage is water and there's some reeds towards the bag that hide the puppeteers with their puppets affixed to long bamboo poles. Here's a shot of the performance poached from some random person's blog...I'm almost positive this is the same theater though:
Right then, time to pack up and get to bed. Another UNESCO world heritage sight is on the horizon tomorrow so look for some awesome pictures soon!
This morning, we basically just figured out how to get out of Hanoi. This city is madness. Not as big, dirty and polluted as Bangkok but the racket that is day-to-day life here is already grating at my nerves. There's maybe one car to every 100 motorbikes zipping around the narrow streets and it seems like the horn is used nearly as much as the accelerator. If bats use echolocation to maneuver around unseen objects, the Vietnamese do the functional inverse--honking copiously at anything that appears in their line of vision. It's a total mystery why they even bother because everyone here is completely inured to the sound of horns anyway.
So as I was saying, today we booked an overnight trip to Halong Bay leaving tomorrow morning. We'll stay in a junk overnight and have some time to swim around or kayak amongst the limestone karsts...looking forward to it. I also bought a get-on-get-off sleeper bus ticket that gets me all the way to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) by way of Hue, Hoi An, and Na Trang. It breaks my heart, but I decided I didn't have time to get to Sapa in the north (quite near the Chinese border) since it looks absolutely stunning:
Plus to get anywhere so picturesque requires a good bit of trekking which I'm frankly not really up for anymore. I'm not sure how long I'll hang out in Hue and Hoi An, but Nha Trang is a beach town so it'll be nice to get some sun and snorkeling in since after nearly a month in SEA, I haven't yet been to a single beach!
So today I taxied around Hanoi and took in the sights. Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum pictured below was unfortunately closed by the time we got there so I couldn't see Mr. Minh's embalmed carcass, but I remember Mr. Taylor mentioning a long time ago that it's not in very good shape compared to Lenin's which I saw way back in 2001 so maybe that's ok.
 |
| From Vietnam |
A view from the former residence
After that we took a look at the Temple of Literature and some other sights--none all too picturesque.
The highlight of the day was a water puppet performance I just got back from. There was live music which was awesome since I even recognized the look and sound of a few from my "Music of Asia and Oceania" music class in college and the performance was pretty whimsical. Basically the stage is water and there's some reeds towards the bag that hide the puppeteers with their puppets affixed to long bamboo poles. Here's a shot of the performance poached from some random person's blog...I'm almost positive this is the same theater though:
Right then, time to pack up and get to bed. Another UNESCO world heritage sight is on the horizon tomorrow so look for some awesome pictures soon!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Escape from Vientiane: Redux
I may live to regret it, but I ended up getting the bus ticket to Hanoi departing tonight. The folks at the front desk even gave me my money back for the room I had paid for for tonight. That's the great thing about Laos, really...everyone is so nice and laid back. I'm actually a little bit nervous about Hanoi because I've heard from so many people how pushy and tiring the Vietnamese can be. For example, last night I was hanging out with an American couple who I met on the kayaking trip and at a little shop, I accidentally handed the shopkeep 20,000 kip instead of 2,000 (the notes can be confusing). The shopkeep just laughed and handed me back my money. Rebecka and Miguel told me that in Vietnam, that money would be gone. Furthermore, people will deliberately hand you back incorrect change and pass it off as a joke if you catch on and complain. It's such climates that can be especially taxing on the solo traveler since no one's got your back and you don't have the whole strength in numbers upper-hand during bargaining and negotiations.
Aside from such concerns though, I'm getting along well on my own. It's much easier to meet people on the backpacking circuit in Asia compared to some of my other travels in Europe, for example. Only a few times have I felt lonely--I think there have actually been more times when I would have liked to be off totally on my own during a hike or in the jungle for example. That being said though, there are so many experiences that would be enhanced by having a good friend along for the ride. The fact that I'm posting twice today definitely shows my lack of motivation to do anything at the moment...it'd be nice to have a friend along to at least chat with.
Anyway, today I just did some shopping and visited the Lao answer to the Arc d'Triomphe. I think knock-off shopping is my new favorite thing to do in the big cities. I picked up the 24-disc DVD box set of Studio Ghibli (makers of Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke etc.) for like $30...probably costs more than $150 in the states. If anyone has any movie/DVD/video game (wii games for $5!) requests, let me know.
The Arc d'Triomphe is a beast of concrete. The expats call it the "Vertical Runway" since it was made from cement the US donated to Laos to lay an airport tarmac. I love the sign on it...it's clear the Lao don't have much reverence for the thing either:
It's a lot more derelict looking inside
Lol
OK, that's it for Laos. I'll miss it for sure and am glad I saw it when I did. Something tells me this gentle country which is still more or less below most people's radar will see big changes as surrounding countries like Thailand and Vietnam become tourist-saturated and the spillover starts flowing into Laos. Wish me luck on my 20 hour bus ride to Hanoi (and time spent in Vietnam thereafter).
Aside from such concerns though, I'm getting along well on my own. It's much easier to meet people on the backpacking circuit in Asia compared to some of my other travels in Europe, for example. Only a few times have I felt lonely--I think there have actually been more times when I would have liked to be off totally on my own during a hike or in the jungle for example. That being said though, there are so many experiences that would be enhanced by having a good friend along for the ride. The fact that I'm posting twice today definitely shows my lack of motivation to do anything at the moment...it'd be nice to have a friend along to at least chat with.
Anyway, today I just did some shopping and visited the Lao answer to the Arc d'Triomphe. I think knock-off shopping is my new favorite thing to do in the big cities. I picked up the 24-disc DVD box set of Studio Ghibli (makers of Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke etc.) for like $30...probably costs more than $150 in the states. If anyone has any movie/DVD/video game (wii games for $5!) requests, let me know.
The Arc d'Triomphe is a beast of concrete. The expats call it the "Vertical Runway" since it was made from cement the US donated to Laos to lay an airport tarmac. I love the sign on it...it's clear the Lao don't have much reverence for the thing either:
It's a lot more derelict looking inside
Lol
OK, that's it for Laos. I'll miss it for sure and am glad I saw it when I did. Something tells me this gentle country which is still more or less below most people's radar will see big changes as surrounding countries like Thailand and Vietnam become tourist-saturated and the spillover starts flowing into Laos. Wish me luck on my 20 hour bus ride to Hanoi (and time spent in Vietnam thereafter).
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Escape from Vientiane
So Vientiane is nice enough...a sleepy capital town worth maybe a day but right now, having been here less than 16 hours, I'm feeling like there's no good way to leave.
I'm at a fork in the road at this point in my trip. From here, I can either take a grueling ride to Hanoi (20 hours!), work my way south through Vietnam, then cross overland into Cambodia and then to Bangkok where I'll catch a flight to the islands in the south. Or the other option is to head south now to Cambodia, go overland to Ho Chi Minh City, work my way north to Hanoi and then take a cheap flight to get to Bangkok. Either way it looks like it will take at least two days to get to my next destination and as it's Sunday here, all the booking agencies are closed, making it incredibly hard to try and arrange the multi-legged journey. I'd even be tempted to spend the money on a flight on Lao airlines to Hanoi (despite their dubious safety record), but the website says I have to book 3 days in advance.
Argh, I thought I was settling into the pace of things here, but now all of a sudden 3.5 more weeks in Asia does not seem like adequate time to cover Cambodia and Vietnam with some time for R&R on the islands in the south of Thailand, particularly when it's going to take days to get to my next destination. I guess another decision I have to make is whether it's worthwhile to extend my trip a bit and fly back maybe a week or two later. The fee itself is not inconsequential, however I'm more concerned about having enough time to find a nice place in Berkeley before school starts and also having a bit of time for summer in California. I still need to wrap up some things in the lab, would love to go camping for a spell and of course spend lots of time with friends who may sadly become seen less often once I start grad school in a different town.
Time to sign off...got some serious thinking to do.
I'm at a fork in the road at this point in my trip. From here, I can either take a grueling ride to Hanoi (20 hours!), work my way south through Vietnam, then cross overland into Cambodia and then to Bangkok where I'll catch a flight to the islands in the south. Or the other option is to head south now to Cambodia, go overland to Ho Chi Minh City, work my way north to Hanoi and then take a cheap flight to get to Bangkok. Either way it looks like it will take at least two days to get to my next destination and as it's Sunday here, all the booking agencies are closed, making it incredibly hard to try and arrange the multi-legged journey. I'd even be tempted to spend the money on a flight on Lao airlines to Hanoi (despite their dubious safety record), but the website says I have to book 3 days in advance.
Argh, I thought I was settling into the pace of things here, but now all of a sudden 3.5 more weeks in Asia does not seem like adequate time to cover Cambodia and Vietnam with some time for R&R on the islands in the south of Thailand, particularly when it's going to take days to get to my next destination. I guess another decision I have to make is whether it's worthwhile to extend my trip a bit and fly back maybe a week or two later. The fee itself is not inconsequential, however I'm more concerned about having enough time to find a nice place in Berkeley before school starts and also having a bit of time for summer in California. I still need to wrap up some things in the lab, would love to go camping for a spell and of course spend lots of time with friends who may sadly become seen less often once I start grad school in a different town.
Time to sign off...got some serious thinking to do.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng
Firstly, I'm sitting in an internet cafe where I'm trying to get my virus-infested memory card recovered. Pray it works or I'll lose all my pics save the few I've uploaded so far! =(
Luang Prabang
LP is a charming little town--so much so that it's a UNESCO world heritage sight. The French influence is apparent in the architecture and even more excitingly in the cuisine. There's tons of cheap baguette sandwich stands and delicious french-press coffee (mixed with sweetened condensed milk it's just lovely). Looking back, I didn't do all too much in Luang Prabang, really. Like all Lao towns I'm discovering, it's pretty laid back and I'm continuing to slow down to the pace of life here. I walk at about half the speed I usually do (any faster and you break into a sweat) and have begun limiting myself to no more than one adventure a day. There's so much to be done here but I'm learning that without looking back at the few pictures I take, I'm having trouble assimilating all the memories. The law of diminishing returns rules--the more you do, the less you get out of it (and the more god-awful tired/sore etc. you are the next day). Not to mention the budget constraints. In SE Asia, you can easily get by on $10 a day if you're just hanging out. This breaks down to roughly $5/night for a decent guest house ("decent" heretofore defined as clean, private bathroom, hot shower and fan. A "nice" guest house would also include A/C and have some ambiance...maybe $7-8/night), $4 for non-sit down meals (e.g. street food) and $1 for a beer with dinner. However a ride to a waterfall, inner-tubing down the river, rock climbing or what have you will inevitably add $5 to $20 a day so you can't always be doing something. After all, at home I would probably be lying around the pool reading my book right now so why can't I just lie by a river in Asia and do the same (with a cheap cocktail in hand)?
Anyway, so the first night in LP I just headed to a bar and bumped into a guy I met on the bus ride over and had a nice chat. The next day I took a 40 minute van ride outside of town to a public waterfall/water park that was totally awesome. It required some slippery hiking to the top pool but it was worth it to jump into the cool water at the top. Some pics
Later that evening, I met up with some of my fellow waterfall for a drink and the next day was off to Vang Vieng.
Vang Vieng
OK, so the more culturally attuned, sensitive and experienced backpacker (which I, at times, fancy myself to be) will generally avoid Vang Vieng because it has a bit of a sordid reputation. As if Khao San road in Bangkok ran amok and took over a whole little town, VV is a place crawling with cushiony video bars playing old Friends episodes where groups of young backpackers in fake dreadlocks languish and load up on cheap lao beer and other intoxicants quietly ordered from the "happy" menus. I came here mainly because I didn't want to be on a bus all day to get to my next stop, Vientiane (the capital) and because the other main attraction is inner tubing down the bar-lined river which is supposed to be a blast. I took a mini-bus here and was on board with four Dubliners and an English girl traveling with them and we shared a tuk-tuk into town from the bus stop and decided to share rooms at the guest house even. I shared a room with Sonya--large, gregarious and loads of fun and Aaron, a young lad on leave from the Irish army. The lot of us went out to dinner together but it was only Aaron, Sonya and I who were up for a drink afterwards so we bonded over lao beer.
The next day we got an early start on our tubing adventure. The 4 km stretch of river only takes about an hour to float down by tube, but the point of the whole thing is really to do it pissed out of your mind (stupid, and yes there are deaths every so often) so it can take quite a lot longer depending on how much time you spend in the bars. I took it relatively easy--for safety's sake and because drinking ALL day is not so pleasant of course, but mainly because I was having way too much fun on the various trapeze swings they had at each bar that went into the river! Some were probably high-dive height and by the end of the day, I was kipping into back-flips to the drunken crowd's applause. Unfortunately, early on as I was clambering out of the river I scraped my leg up on a hidden rock. The kind woman at the bar took a look at it and wasted no time pouring whiskey all over it (you think it's like fire in your throat...try an open wound). Even now it still hasn't scabbed over entirely...another scar another story I suppose.
Ouchie
Later on at one of the bars we played some beach volleyball and I gave my thumb a good jam. So really I guess when it comes down to it, there's no way to escape tubing in Vang Vieng without some corporeal damage. After recovering for a bit, I decided to move to a different guest house on the quieter west side of the river...some really nice simple bungalows. When I stepped out onto the porch this morning, I found a friendly roommate...
I took it real easy today and just took a walk through the wilderness and hiked to the top of one of the limestone karsts. The landscape here is enchanthing with rice paddies in the valleys and tree-covered, jagged peaks all about.
I went up there
Thank god my memory card has just been recovered, but sadly I lost a few recent pics of the awesome view from the top. On the way down, my shoes got so caked with mud that I started slipping around and gashed my hand open falling onto a rock. Now, this tired, sore, mangled lump of flesh is going to call it a night. Tomorrow I'm kayaking half-way to Vientiane and need some good rest!
Luang Prabang
LP is a charming little town--so much so that it's a UNESCO world heritage sight. The French influence is apparent in the architecture and even more excitingly in the cuisine. There's tons of cheap baguette sandwich stands and delicious french-press coffee (mixed with sweetened condensed milk it's just lovely). Looking back, I didn't do all too much in Luang Prabang, really. Like all Lao towns I'm discovering, it's pretty laid back and I'm continuing to slow down to the pace of life here. I walk at about half the speed I usually do (any faster and you break into a sweat) and have begun limiting myself to no more than one adventure a day. There's so much to be done here but I'm learning that without looking back at the few pictures I take, I'm having trouble assimilating all the memories. The law of diminishing returns rules--the more you do, the less you get out of it (and the more god-awful tired/sore etc. you are the next day). Not to mention the budget constraints. In SE Asia, you can easily get by on $10 a day if you're just hanging out. This breaks down to roughly $5/night for a decent guest house ("decent" heretofore defined as clean, private bathroom, hot shower and fan. A "nice" guest house would also include A/C and have some ambiance...maybe $7-8/night), $4 for non-sit down meals (e.g. street food) and $1 for a beer with dinner. However a ride to a waterfall, inner-tubing down the river, rock climbing or what have you will inevitably add $5 to $20 a day so you can't always be doing something. After all, at home I would probably be lying around the pool reading my book right now so why can't I just lie by a river in Asia and do the same (with a cheap cocktail in hand)?
Anyway, so the first night in LP I just headed to a bar and bumped into a guy I met on the bus ride over and had a nice chat. The next day I took a 40 minute van ride outside of town to a public waterfall/water park that was totally awesome. It required some slippery hiking to the top pool but it was worth it to jump into the cool water at the top. Some pics
Later that evening, I met up with some of my fellow waterfall for a drink and the next day was off to Vang Vieng.
Vang Vieng
OK, so the more culturally attuned, sensitive and experienced backpacker (which I, at times, fancy myself to be) will generally avoid Vang Vieng because it has a bit of a sordid reputation. As if Khao San road in Bangkok ran amok and took over a whole little town, VV is a place crawling with cushiony video bars playing old Friends episodes where groups of young backpackers in fake dreadlocks languish and load up on cheap lao beer and other intoxicants quietly ordered from the "happy" menus. I came here mainly because I didn't want to be on a bus all day to get to my next stop, Vientiane (the capital) and because the other main attraction is inner tubing down the bar-lined river which is supposed to be a blast. I took a mini-bus here and was on board with four Dubliners and an English girl traveling with them and we shared a tuk-tuk into town from the bus stop and decided to share rooms at the guest house even. I shared a room with Sonya--large, gregarious and loads of fun and Aaron, a young lad on leave from the Irish army. The lot of us went out to dinner together but it was only Aaron, Sonya and I who were up for a drink afterwards so we bonded over lao beer.
The next day we got an early start on our tubing adventure. The 4 km stretch of river only takes about an hour to float down by tube, but the point of the whole thing is really to do it pissed out of your mind (stupid, and yes there are deaths every so often) so it can take quite a lot longer depending on how much time you spend in the bars. I took it relatively easy--for safety's sake and because drinking ALL day is not so pleasant of course, but mainly because I was having way too much fun on the various trapeze swings they had at each bar that went into the river! Some were probably high-dive height and by the end of the day, I was kipping into back-flips to the drunken crowd's applause. Unfortunately, early on as I was clambering out of the river I scraped my leg up on a hidden rock. The kind woman at the bar took a look at it and wasted no time pouring whiskey all over it (you think it's like fire in your throat...try an open wound). Even now it still hasn't scabbed over entirely...another scar another story I suppose.
Ouchie
Later on at one of the bars we played some beach volleyball and I gave my thumb a good jam. So really I guess when it comes down to it, there's no way to escape tubing in Vang Vieng without some corporeal damage. After recovering for a bit, I decided to move to a different guest house on the quieter west side of the river...some really nice simple bungalows. When I stepped out onto the porch this morning, I found a friendly roommate...
I took it real easy today and just took a walk through the wilderness and hiked to the top of one of the limestone karsts. The landscape here is enchanthing with rice paddies in the valleys and tree-covered, jagged peaks all about.
I went up there
Thank god my memory card has just been recovered, but sadly I lost a few recent pics of the awesome view from the top. On the way down, my shoes got so caked with mud that I started slipping around and gashed my hand open falling onto a rock. Now, this tired, sore, mangled lump of flesh is going to call it a night. Tomorrow I'm kayaking half-way to Vientiane and need some good rest!
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