Hi,
I am in the Taipei airport, 6 hr layover - Last night M and I had a nice last night, didn't get to our hotel in Bangkok until 9:30pm but they had a little restaurant around the back run by a Filipino family, the guy spoke great English and when I complimented him on it, he said, it's because we start learning when we are young in the Philippines. Ha.
Restaurant was open till 10pm so we shared some sweet/sour chicken and rice and had two huge bottles of Singha Thai beer. Our hotel also had a 24hr massage place next door, so after dinner we got one last massage ($10) - felt bad b/c one of the girls had to wake up to give us the massage, but I think they were glad for the business.
One more flight, then back to reality!
A
Monday, March 1, 2010
Last Update :( - Feb 26th, 2010
Hi Guys,
Today is our last day at the beach :( I hear there's a crazy rain storm up in the bay area, so I will try to appreciate it as much as possible even though I was contemplating with M this morning, how can I keep getting paid and keep travelling around the world :)
Yesterday was an easy day, got into Phuket, the hotel here is fine, very British and charges 10% service charge and 7% tax on top of everything which is different than what we've gotten so far. But only one night, so no big deal.
Patong is very busy - lots of neon lights, go go bars, lady-men dancing, lots of prostitutes, people in the street getting right in front of you trying to sell you something every 5 feet, and lots of live bands blasting old hits that are somewhat understandable. The drinks are just as expensive as in the US and they measure out 1oz of whiskey for your whiskey+diet coke (1oz is less than a shot, for $6/drink not so much worth it). The beach is nice enough, but very crowded and it costs 100baht to sit at one of the umbrella chairs (2x as much as on Koh Phi Phi island). So to sum up, interesting to see, but one night is certainly enough - and if I were to recommend a place in the Thai islands, it would definitely not be Patong beach.
Tonight we fly back to Bangkok, stay in an airport hotel tonight and start the long flight back home!!
A
Today is our last day at the beach :( I hear there's a crazy rain storm up in the bay area, so I will try to appreciate it as much as possible even though I was contemplating with M this morning, how can I keep getting paid and keep travelling around the world :)
Yesterday was an easy day, got into Phuket, the hotel here is fine, very British and charges 10% service charge and 7% tax on top of everything which is different than what we've gotten so far. But only one night, so no big deal.
Patong is very busy - lots of neon lights, go go bars, lady-men dancing, lots of prostitutes, people in the street getting right in front of you trying to sell you something every 5 feet, and lots of live bands blasting old hits that are somewhat understandable. The drinks are just as expensive as in the US and they measure out 1oz of whiskey for your whiskey+diet coke (1oz is less than a shot, for $6/drink not so much worth it). The beach is nice enough, but very crowded and it costs 100baht to sit at one of the umbrella chairs (2x as much as on Koh Phi Phi island). So to sum up, interesting to see, but one night is certainly enough - and if I were to recommend a place in the Thai islands, it would definitely not be Patong beach.
Tonight we fly back to Bangkok, stay in an airport hotel tonight and start the long flight back home!!
A
Snorkeling, Kayaking, Fire Jump Rope - Feb 25th, 2010
Hi Guys,
Yesterday was a fun day, just relaxed in the morning, and went on our snorkeling cruise - I have to say with this trip I'm getting a lot more confident with going on boats. We were on a pretty tippy catamaran and I was fine all day - the tour lasted from 1pm to 7pm, although granted we were getting on and off the boat a lot. First stop was to a beach that had monkeys - these monkeys were not quite as friendly as the ones we saw outside Bangkok, probably from the masses of tourists teasing them every day. I did hand one a banana and he took it right from my hand though.
Next stop was to an area we went kayaking back into a lagoon in between cliffs and got out of the kayak to go swimming, it was beautiful and the water is super warm. Then did some snorkeling - saw a huge school of fish the kept jumping out of the water, lots of coral, and a few "non stinging" jelly fish - then just toward the end, M tapped me and pointed and there was a jellyfish maybe 10 feet away that was at least the size of my head with big tentacles. We decided to make a beeline for the boat and get out then. Ha.
Then we went to Maya bay, which is the beach that is in the movie "the Beach" w/ Leonardo Dicaprio - it's on an island that doesn't have anyone living on it, M was telling me the story since I haven't seen the movie (going to have to watch it now) - and apparently the movie is about this deserted island that only "backpackers in the know" know about, and some drug scandal that goes down with the local people. Anyway it was quite ironic because since that movie, lots and lots of tours go to that beach and it was packed with people. Beautiful, but a little too crowded for my taste. We got back on the boat and watched the sunset from the boat while they fed us fried rice. Beautiful but kind of cloudy so we didn't see the sun touch the horizon.
So yes, in my subject I said fire jump rope :) We went to a bar on the beach last night whose fire show gets a little more interactive. We did not participate but definitely got a good show. They did a huge jumprope lit on fire and any tourist that took a stab at jumping rope got a free shot of vodka - then they had a limbo that was lit on fire, got down pretty low (the guys there, not me!) and then last but not least, they had a big ring that they lit on fire and had people, whoever wanted to, jumping through. Crazy - M was saying our fire department would never give a liscence to do that ha! But on the bright side, sand can put out a fire pretty easily!
Today is our last day in Koh Phi Phi :( tomorrow we go over to Phuket for one night, then back to Bangkok for a night before heading home.
A
Yesterday was a fun day, just relaxed in the morning, and went on our snorkeling cruise - I have to say with this trip I'm getting a lot more confident with going on boats. We were on a pretty tippy catamaran and I was fine all day - the tour lasted from 1pm to 7pm, although granted we were getting on and off the boat a lot. First stop was to a beach that had monkeys - these monkeys were not quite as friendly as the ones we saw outside Bangkok, probably from the masses of tourists teasing them every day. I did hand one a banana and he took it right from my hand though.
Next stop was to an area we went kayaking back into a lagoon in between cliffs and got out of the kayak to go swimming, it was beautiful and the water is super warm. Then did some snorkeling - saw a huge school of fish the kept jumping out of the water, lots of coral, and a few "non stinging" jelly fish - then just toward the end, M tapped me and pointed and there was a jellyfish maybe 10 feet away that was at least the size of my head with big tentacles. We decided to make a beeline for the boat and get out then. Ha.
Then we went to Maya bay, which is the beach that is in the movie "the Beach" w/ Leonardo Dicaprio - it's on an island that doesn't have anyone living on it, M was telling me the story since I haven't seen the movie (going to have to watch it now) - and apparently the movie is about this deserted island that only "backpackers in the know" know about, and some drug scandal that goes down with the local people. Anyway it was quite ironic because since that movie, lots and lots of tours go to that beach and it was packed with people. Beautiful, but a little too crowded for my taste. We got back on the boat and watched the sunset from the boat while they fed us fried rice. Beautiful but kind of cloudy so we didn't see the sun touch the horizon.
So yes, in my subject I said fire jump rope :) We went to a bar on the beach last night whose fire show gets a little more interactive. We did not participate but definitely got a good show. They did a huge jumprope lit on fire and any tourist that took a stab at jumping rope got a free shot of vodka - then they had a limbo that was lit on fire, got down pretty low (the guys there, not me!) and then last but not least, they had a big ring that they lit on fire and had people, whoever wanted to, jumping through. Crazy - M was saying our fire department would never give a liscence to do that ha! But on the bright side, sand can put out a fire pretty easily!
Today is our last day in Koh Phi Phi :( tomorrow we go over to Phuket for one night, then back to Bangkok for a night before heading home.
A
Swimming with Sharks - Feb 23rd, 2010
Hi Guys,
Yesterday morning we woke up at 5:30am, yes that's right, before sunrise on our vacation - to go swimming with the sharks. The company we booked the tour on took us out on a longtail boat and first thing we got out on the water and not too far away was a big pod of dolphins!! The tour guide had us stop the boat to get in the water with them, and he goes "Oooh I've only seen dolphins a few times, I'm scared!!" To which I said uh oh, we're going swimming with sharks with you and you're scared of dolphins??? ha. They ran off after we stopped the boat though, so didn't get too close. We did however, get very close to some reef sharks - they looked scary but they were fairly harmless, seemed more afraid of us than us of them. We had to swim very quietly (no splashing) and not use our arms (back fins only) to swim, they were only about 3-5feet big, no huge ones. It was fun though, got to see lots of other colorful fish and coral, a few conch shells, razor fish - lots of jellyfish which freaked me out, but come to find out they are the non-stinging type. The guide picked one up and handed it to me b/c I told him they were concerning to me. ha.
In the afternoon we really just relaxed on the beach in the shade of some trees. Took a nap - and then got Thai massages right on the beach - beautiful setting and the massages were wonderful, although slightly more expensive than the last few we've gotten (300baht, or $10). :)
Today we're going to relax this morning and we're going on a snorkeling/kayaking tour this afternoon to Koh Phi Phi Ley, another island not far away - supposed to be some really beautiful caves and beaches. The tour is 1pm through sunset.
A
First Day on Phi Phi - Feb 22, 2010
Hi All,
Yesterday was quite the day of traveling - took a cab to the airport (45mins), then the flight across thailand (1hr), bus to the ferry from the airport (1hr), then the ferry out to the island (2hrs). We finally got here and settled into our bungalow about 5pm. The hotel is great - everything on the island seems to be fairly new since the 2004 tsunami totally devastated the island. They have rebuilt quite a lot though now and hard to tell it was all wiped away except that everything looks pretty nice. The other great thing is that there are no roads on the island, only walking paths, so all the bustling and honking is gone for now!! Yay!!
Last night we walked the ~50 ft from our hotel out to the beach and ate at one of the waterfront restaurants for dinner. Things here are much more expensive than any of the other places, beers are ~$4 and cocktails ~$6, but for a secluded beach island, not too bad still. Then last night we went exploring around the island to check out the other restaurants and happened upon one that was having a beach-front fire dancing show, all you had to do was buy your drinks. So, we bought a few drinks and watched the show, amazing, I even took some videos with my camera so you guys could see.
Today was a totally lazy day. Woke up at 9:30am only because free breakfast at the hotel only goes till 10am. It was great - short order eggs, and a full buffet of other stuff, anything you could want. Then we spent a few hours reading on the beach until we got too hot (rented an umbrella and beach chairs for 100baht/$3) then went to lunch and booked a sharks swimming/snorkeling tour for tomorrow morning. Then laid about the pool reading. I've finished three books so far and working on my 4th - now reading 'The Blind Assasin' chose it b/c M had heard good things and it's 700 pages long, so hopefully this one lasts me the beach and the plane ride home :)
As I mentioned, we are going on a snorkeling tour about a kilometer off shore tomorrow morning at the bright and early hour of 6:15am, because we get to swim with sharks! That's right, no cages, just reef sharks swimming around with us and the guide... hopefully this goes well!!
A
Yesterday was quite the day of traveling - took a cab to the airport (45mins), then the flight across thailand (1hr), bus to the ferry from the airport (1hr), then the ferry out to the island (2hrs). We finally got here and settled into our bungalow about 5pm. The hotel is great - everything on the island seems to be fairly new since the 2004 tsunami totally devastated the island. They have rebuilt quite a lot though now and hard to tell it was all wiped away except that everything looks pretty nice. The other great thing is that there are no roads on the island, only walking paths, so all the bustling and honking is gone for now!! Yay!!
Last night we walked the ~50 ft from our hotel out to the beach and ate at one of the waterfront restaurants for dinner. Things here are much more expensive than any of the other places, beers are ~$4 and cocktails ~$6, but for a secluded beach island, not too bad still. Then last night we went exploring around the island to check out the other restaurants and happened upon one that was having a beach-front fire dancing show, all you had to do was buy your drinks. So, we bought a few drinks and watched the show, amazing, I even took some videos with my camera so you guys could see.
Today was a totally lazy day. Woke up at 9:30am only because free breakfast at the hotel only goes till 10am. It was great - short order eggs, and a full buffet of other stuff, anything you could want. Then we spent a few hours reading on the beach until we got too hot (rented an umbrella and beach chairs for 100baht/$3) then went to lunch and booked a sharks swimming/snorkeling tour for tomorrow morning. Then laid about the pool reading. I've finished three books so far and working on my 4th - now reading 'The Blind Assasin' chose it b/c M had heard good things and it's 700 pages long, so hopefully this one lasts me the beach and the plane ride home :)
As I mentioned, we are going on a snorkeling tour about a kilometer off shore tomorrow morning at the bright and early hour of 6:15am, because we get to swim with sharks! That's right, no cages, just reef sharks swimming around with us and the guide... hopefully this goes well!!
A
Hugging the Tigers - Feb 20th, 2010
Hi All,
Yesterday M and I trudged around sweaty sweltering Bangkok and tried to find all the Temples and Buddha's described in the lonely planet guidebook. It was beautiful, but a bit frustrating of a day as Bangkok is not nearly as well labeled as Vietnam, and in some cases, not labeled at all, or labeled in Thai which is completely incomprehensible to us. At least in Vietnam, even if we couldn't translate we could recognize the signs as they use western symbols for the language. Thai is impossible and there are a lot of people very eager to put you in a tuk tuk and take you "around town" (ie. scam and who knows where/if you will end up). So we tried to sort it out on our own - did decently, but it was a long day. We did, however, end the day with another $8 massage which was decent. We tried to find the Wat Pho school of Thai Massage but were unsuccessful so we just went to one near our hotel. Forgot to mention - Thailand drives on the left side of the road, a surprise to me!
Today was amazing. We went on our tiger temple tour where we had quite a long ride out of Bangkok to the north east province of Kochanburi in a private car (didn't know that when we booked, but nice surprise). Great AC! :) Stopped at a few highway bathrooms that were mostly just holes in the wall; Mom wish you could see these bathrooms! Squat and drip-dry then use some hand sanitizer! There were a lot of people at the Tiger Temple, but the guide we were with put us to the front of the line as she goes there every day and knows everyone, we certainly got VIP treatment. Got to walk with the tiger and pet it, then took pics with the tiger's head in my lap, and got to pose with and sit next to a couple of different ones. The we went to a different part where they had cubs - some a few weeks old (didn't get to touch those) and some about 6-8mos old. Took lots of pics with those, and literally laid down next to one like I was spooning him and took pics with our faces next to each other. Amazing. They were hot but still very friendly and just seemed like big domesticated cats, although of course much more powerful and strong. Quite awesome creatures - can't wait to show you all the pics. I have a ton and sorry, but I'm not editing out ANY of these :)
We went on to stop at the side of the road where she knew there were monkeys and we fed them peanuts and water straight out of the water bottle, it was really cute. They are friendly and you can see the expressions on their face. She told us only thing we need to be careful not to tease - if you hold out food, let them take it or they will get angry. Scary!!!
Then we went on to go on an Elephant ride - kind of a circus atmosphere at this place, but the ride was quite long - they had carts tied to the top of the elephant and a local that rode on it's neck as a "driver" but halfway through, he got off the elephant and made me get up on it's head to "drive" and take pics, etc. Then he directed me to step on his head to get back up on the cart and let M drive for a bit. I didn't fall off or drop my shoe!!!
Just had another long ride back to the city - going to have a nice dinner, maybe do some souvenir shopping (any requests??) and then have an early start tomorrow - 8:30am flight to Phuket, where we will immediately take a ferry over to Koh Phi Phi and check in for the final leg of our trip. I was commenting to M today that we've been travelling for 2 weeks now and with everything that has happened to us, it feels like a LOT longer.
A
Yesterday M and I trudged around sweaty sweltering Bangkok and tried to find all the Temples and Buddha's described in the lonely planet guidebook. It was beautiful, but a bit frustrating of a day as Bangkok is not nearly as well labeled as Vietnam, and in some cases, not labeled at all, or labeled in Thai which is completely incomprehensible to us. At least in Vietnam, even if we couldn't translate we could recognize the signs as they use western symbols for the language. Thai is impossible and there are a lot of people very eager to put you in a tuk tuk and take you "around town" (ie. scam and who knows where/if you will end up). So we tried to sort it out on our own - did decently, but it was a long day. We did, however, end the day with another $8 massage which was decent. We tried to find the Wat Pho school of Thai Massage but were unsuccessful so we just went to one near our hotel. Forgot to mention - Thailand drives on the left side of the road, a surprise to me!
Today was amazing. We went on our tiger temple tour where we had quite a long ride out of Bangkok to the north east province of Kochanburi in a private car (didn't know that when we booked, but nice surprise). Great AC! :) Stopped at a few highway bathrooms that were mostly just holes in the wall; Mom wish you could see these bathrooms! Squat and drip-dry then use some hand sanitizer! There were a lot of people at the Tiger Temple, but the guide we were with put us to the front of the line as she goes there every day and knows everyone, we certainly got VIP treatment. Got to walk with the tiger and pet it, then took pics with the tiger's head in my lap, and got to pose with and sit next to a couple of different ones. The we went to a different part where they had cubs - some a few weeks old (didn't get to touch those) and some about 6-8mos old. Took lots of pics with those, and literally laid down next to one like I was spooning him and took pics with our faces next to each other. Amazing. They were hot but still very friendly and just seemed like big domesticated cats, although of course much more powerful and strong. Quite awesome creatures - can't wait to show you all the pics. I have a ton and sorry, but I'm not editing out ANY of these :)
We went on to stop at the side of the road where she knew there were monkeys and we fed them peanuts and water straight out of the water bottle, it was really cute. They are friendly and you can see the expressions on their face. She told us only thing we need to be careful not to tease - if you hold out food, let them take it or they will get angry. Scary!!!
Then we went on to go on an Elephant ride - kind of a circus atmosphere at this place, but the ride was quite long - they had carts tied to the top of the elephant and a local that rode on it's neck as a "driver" but halfway through, he got off the elephant and made me get up on it's head to "drive" and take pics, etc. Then he directed me to step on his head to get back up on the cart and let M drive for a bit. I didn't fall off or drop my shoe!!!
Just had another long ride back to the city - going to have a nice dinner, maybe do some souvenir shopping (any requests??) and then have an early start tomorrow - 8:30am flight to Phuket, where we will immediately take a ferry over to Koh Phi Phi and check in for the final leg of our trip. I was commenting to M today that we've been travelling for 2 weeks now and with everything that has happened to us, it feels like a LOT longer.
A
Checking in from Bangkok - Feb 18th, 2010
Hi All,
We had a great time at "Angkor What?" bar last night, got to chatting with one of the owners who is half Indian and half Portuguese, grew up in Scotland, made a bunch of money doing engineering for the Palm Islands in Dubai, then decided to quit that job and open a backpacker bar in Cambodia. I think he's 32 or so. Hmmm, so I still have time to take that career path :) He gave us t-shirts at the end of the night cause he was so glad to have someone to talk to, it was good fun.
Today we flew to Bangkok, not a whole lot of news except we got settled in our hotel, Khao San Road is the backpacker district and is super crowded with street vendors selling tshirts, sunglasses, bathing suits, dresses, hats, food, massages, anything you could possibly want to buy. Our hotel is nice, a little set back so not too loud, but very basic, advertises all the amenities - free wi fi, except they have no computers.... so am at an internet cafe now.
We just rested and went to dinner, had some red curry that was super tasty but super spicy. I need to remember to ask only for medium spicy so I can taste my food.
Tomorrow we're just touring around Bangkok, going to just hit the major sites as we only have one day. I am so excited to finally be in Thailand, I have wanted to go here ever since we used to get Thai food from one of my dad's massage clients when I was growing up. I have a feeling I will want to be back too, too little time, so much to see!
A
We had a great time at "Angkor What?" bar last night, got to chatting with one of the owners who is half Indian and half Portuguese, grew up in Scotland, made a bunch of money doing engineering for the Palm Islands in Dubai, then decided to quit that job and open a backpacker bar in Cambodia. I think he's 32 or so. Hmmm, so I still have time to take that career path :) He gave us t-shirts at the end of the night cause he was so glad to have someone to talk to, it was good fun.
Today we flew to Bangkok, not a whole lot of news except we got settled in our hotel, Khao San Road is the backpacker district and is super crowded with street vendors selling tshirts, sunglasses, bathing suits, dresses, hats, food, massages, anything you could possibly want to buy. Our hotel is nice, a little set back so not too loud, but very basic, advertises all the amenities - free wi fi, except they have no computers.... so am at an internet cafe now.
We just rested and went to dinner, had some red curry that was super tasty but super spicy. I need to remember to ask only for medium spicy so I can taste my food.
Tomorrow we're just touring around Bangkok, going to just hit the major sites as we only have one day. I am so excited to finally be in Thailand, I have wanted to go here ever since we used to get Thai food from one of my dad's massage clients when I was growing up. I have a feeling I will want to be back too, too little time, so much to see!
A
Tuk Tuk is a Great Way to Travel - Feb 18th, 2010
Hi Guys,
Had a few days MIA since I thought we'd be staying at the Siem Reap Hostel, but when we arrived on Monday night, they seemed to have given our room away and didn't have room for us! Luckily Siem Reap is teeming with cheap guest houses and we just went down the list calling the places in our guidebook, and found a room for $25/night - the lady that owns the place is super nice, and they have free breakfast, kitties, hot water and... drumroll... AIR CONDITIONING! :) But, sadly, no internet.
Monday morning we went around Saigon hurriedly catching a few museums we wanted to go to but couldn't previously due to the lunar new year holiday, then got a $5 massage - I'd stick to the $14 dollar ones, this one was definitely not a legitimate place, the girl spent more time practicing her english with me than actually massaging me, had long nails, and at one point left so I could take a nap. ha. Oh well no harm done. Tuesday our hotel helped us hire a tuk tuk (motor bike with an attached cart to haul us tourists in the shade) $12 for the day. The driver was really nice, had very basic english - the english in Siem Reap is much better than anywhere in Vietnam. He took us all around many different temples - they are amazing, huge structures with large stones cut and fitted together, the older places don't have any mortar holding them together, although many of them have been restored and do have more secure walls. Lots of detail etched in the stone - took many many pics, but hard to capture how amazing it is. The last stop of the day was at Angkor Wat, the most massive of them all. We climbed all the way to the top (had to wait in about a half hour line to do it) - beautiful views and again, amazing architecture and beautiful carvings in the stone. We then went out on the lawn and watched the sun set reflected on the front of the main entrance - it faces to the west. Had our tuk tuk drop us off at a restaurant in town, food was decent, coconut soup, fried frogs legs with basil and lemongrass (tastes like chicken), stir fried beef and a green mango salad. All for about $24. The restaurant had a girl doing traditional dancing and a (separate) crocodile pit - they looked scary but didn't move much. Probably because of the heat.
It has been SOOO hot here. Climbing temples is hard work!! We've been very diligent with the sunscreen and so far no burns knock on wood. I guess my 45 spf and M's 70 spf should be good enough :) It seems similar temps to Saigon except that the heat is very still here, no breezes and the sun beats down on you.
Today we hired a tuk tuk again and went to some outer lying temples, one that had about a 1.5mile hike up the mountain to some carvings that had been done in the riverbed and waterfalls. The waterfalls were nice but not sure the hike was worth the small bits of carving - still cool to see though. Definitely interesting to see what the countryside of Cambodia looks like - the tuk tuk ride was an hour each way. Lots of very poor families and houses with thatched roofs. Some poor houses with thatched roofs and a DTV satellite attached. Ha. I guess you have to watch the soccer game somehow.
After that, we decided to take a ride in a hot air balloon that some of the backpackers in Hoi An had told us about - just down the road from the main entrance to Angkor Wat, for $15 you can go up in a Hot Air Balloon, it's tethered to the ground but you still go up pretty far, got some beautiful vistas of the countryside and bird's eye view of Angkor Wat. And, my first ever hot air balloon ride! I was a little afraid I'd get motion sickness watching it go back and forth in the wind, but by the time I got up there the views were so amazing I totally forgot about the careening back and forth!
Tonight we're going to have dinner on "pub street" and then head to a backpacker bar called "Angkor What?" We're pretty much templed out, and seeing as we have started at 7:30am to try to beat the heat for the last few days, we're going to sleep in tomorrow before heading to our 1:30pm flight to Bangkok. I think our next hotel has internet, but never know - so until next time!!
A
Happy Valentines Day from Saigon - Feb 14th, 2010
Hi Guys,
Saigon has been super hot and sweaty - I'm sure it will only get worse as we go south - it's a nice city though. Our hotel room is tiny and the bed is very hard, but I'm guessing you don't get as much for $30/night here as we did in Hoi An.
Yesterday we just did some touring around the city - lots of museums we wanted to go to were closed because of the lunar new year (which is today!) So we just walked around and saw the sights from the outside, covered a lot of the city though. Had lunch at a fantastic pho place and dinner at a place along the street. Found a decent massage place (recommended by hotel) that has 1hr massage for 100,000vnd ($5) - but they are closed for new year so we'll go Monday morning. 2 days without massage! lol. Did learn how to say happy new year in Vietnamese - "Chuc mung nam moi"
Today we booked a tour (since we figured most places will be closed) and had quite a busy day - picked up in our hotel in the AM, then drove 2 hrs east to a place close to the Cambodian border, where they have a holy temple of Cao Dai - one of the local smaller religions. Vietnam is 70% Buddhist, 2nd closest is Catholic, then I think it was 2 million people (of their 86million) are Cao Dai. It is a religion combined with Catholocism, Buddist, and Hindu. They worship the saints Jesus, Confuscious, and Victor Hugo (that's right, the french painter). Very interesting indeed.
Then we went to a place slightly closer to Saigon (in between) called Cu Chi. It was known as a place of guerrilla warfare during the Vietnam war, where this section of the South fought for the North against the Southern Vietnamese army and of course, against the Americans. It was supposedly one of the bloodiest battlefields during the war. We saw a lot of relics, displays of booby traps and other stuff. They have a big network of underground tunnels and we got to crawl through one that was slightly enlarged for tourists - we only crawled about 30 ft but that was more than enough for me. I can't imagine them spending much time doing that, but I guess desperation can cause you to do what you have to. We also got to shoot AK47's - guy said I was a pretty good shot, quite the powerful gun. Ear plugs were not great so we only did 10 rounds between M and myself.
We leave Saigon tomorrow but will probably try to get massages and perhaps hit one of the museums that was closed for new years before our flight.
A
Hoi An Adventures - Feb 12th, 2010
Hi Guys,
I love Hoi An!! It is this cute little beach/river town - still has lots of motor bikes and bicycles like Hanoi, but not nearly as packed. In Hanoi I felt like I had to fight just to have a place to walk because they park all their motorbikes on the sidewalk so there's no room and the street is filled with bikes, motorbikes and cars with no clear direction. Here at least we have a sidewalk to walk on.
The hotel is beautiful, looks newish and OUR ROOM HAS AIR CONDITIONING!!! :) It's definitely hotter here and sunnier than it was in Hanoi. The hotel has free breakfast, and when we checked in, the woman gave us a bunch of recommendations for what to do in town. We have 2 beds, a nice spa bathtub (with jets) and orchids on the pillows of the bed - all for $30/night! (including bkfst and free internet)
Yesterday breakfast was eggs, bread, fruit and coffee at the side of the pool (pool looks niceish but mosquito-ey) Then went to get massages at a spa recommended by the front desk lady. 70 minutes Swedish with aromatherapy (steam machine with lemongrass and chamomile), hot stones - for $20. The massage was wonderful and they said if we come back today we get 30%off, which of course we will - 70 mins for $14 sign me up!!!
Then we went downtown to one of the many tailors they have lining the streets - they all have store fronts showing lots of cotton and silk dresses and shirts and they measure you and make them to your specifications. We priced out a few - disappointingly, a lot of them weren't working anymore because Tet, the new year is on the 14th and they all start to take time off this week. But we did find a few and walked in, dresses are about $35 each and coats $40. They don't bargain on these - after we picked everything out and she took our measurements, she quoted our price and I tried to talk her down and she was like, huh, why? Tricky b/c prices vary widely depending on quality. I ordered one work dress, one party dress, one sun dress, a coat and a pair of jeans ($180). M ordered a long wool coat, a cotton trench coat, a work dress, a sun dress and a pair of jeans ($210). She said come back at 8pm for first fitting.
After that we had lunch and walked around the market, Hoi An town, looked at a few historical sights, merchant houses, Japanese covered bridge. We bought some pork buns from a street vendor and to our surprise they had boiled quail eggs in the middle. Delicious.
At 6pm we went to the cooking class our hotel had recommended for us - they taught us how to make Vietnamese spring rolls, beef green papaya salad and a wonderful marinade for fish. Then they gave us a 6 course meal that included those dishes and a few others - squid stir fry, another curry type dish and fresh fruit for dessert. lasted about 2 hours and total for all that was $14 each. I got the print out of the recipes to take home so I can make them for you guys :)
Then we went back for our first fitting - the clothes look good, the quality on the seams is not wonderful, I guess what can you do in 8 hours for 10 pieces of clothing (they should go on project runway!!) but they did some final fitting right there on the spot - we do have to go in this morning for a few pieces that weren't done last night. Then we'll send them to the US - they said on average it's about $5/kilo to mail by boat to the US (but might take a month, that's ok!) It was sooo much fun to pick out exactly what I wanted - not sure if I'd do it again because for the price, I can get better quality at home, but can't beat having it measured just for you!
This morning we'll go get another massage, do a final fitting and see about sending our stuff then this afternoon we're off to Ho Chi Minh City - trying to get myself prepared again for the bustle of the busiest city in Vietnam. I really like the laid back feel of Hoi An, even though there isn't much to do here except shop, eat and get massages (what else do you need???) :)
A
A Quick Lost in Translation Moment - Feb 10th, 2010
Another one of those moments last night we were ordering dinner and tried to order something called "Hoi An Cake" for dessert, and she kept saying "finish" and we were like, yes, after that we are finished. Then she walked away all frustrated and we just looked at each other confused, and said oh well. Then another lady came over and explained that they were out of Hoi An cake for the day. Lol.
Last Day Hanoi - Feb 10th, 2010
Hi All,
This will be a short one as I just have a few minutes on the computer as we are waiting for our taxi to the airport.
Last night we had dinner, just ok - a place recommended by the lonely planet guide, but then we sat on a street intersection in one of the many "bars" which is really just a bunch of tiny plastic chairs on the sidewalk and they hand you a bottle of beer. The beer was 450ml (1 pint) and cost 20,000vnd ($1dollar). Actually stayed up till about 11 enjoying the people watching and sitting on this plastic chair which I barely fit on. We did walk around a bit on our way back to the hostel, we were in the old quarter and they have a huge local night market which seems to sell mostly clothes, shoes, jewelry, and a few places that have hot noodle soup. Didn't buy anything b/c I was a bit overwhelmed at the number of people, and of course none of the clothes would fit me anyway.
Actually got a normal night of sleep 11pm - 8am ish last night, we woke up and packed everything up, checked out, went and got our favorite beef noodle soup (took some pics this time) and walked around the french quarter a bit. Sat and had some vietnamese coffee - very strong, drip espresso, but tasted wonderful and smooth. They kept coming over to help with the coffee and of course we can't communicate - I asked for sugar and they took the coffee away and brought back a different coffee with a packet of sugar on the side. Interesting. Then we just walked around for a bit and came back here - soon we'll be off to Hoi An!
A
Ha Long Bay Trip - Hanoi con't - Feb 9th, 2010
Hi Guys,
My travel journalling continued :)
Trip to Ha Long Bay was fantastic, amazing. Did you know it's nominated as one of the natural wonders of the world? M is a wealth of travel facts since she works in the industry.
Yesterday morning we all congregated at the hostel and left at 8am for our 4 hour long bus ride out to ha long bay. Gave me a good opportunity to get most of the way through Time Travellers Wife (finished it on the bus ride home, FANTASTIC book). Funny, while waiting in the hostel bar for our bus to get there, they were playing the superbowl live, at 8am on Monday morning, quick reality check. Got on the boat around noon and had lunch - then started our 2 hr ride out into the bay. It was beautiful, Hundreds of luscious rock outcroppings, and weather that is very misty and quiet feeling. It was a great break from the uber-hot and muggy bustling city.
The boat was wonderful, 4 stories - top was a sunning deck with lots of chairs to lay out on (too bad no sun). 2nd deck was a bar and dining area (where we had our late night festivities) 3rd deck was almost right at water level and was all the cabins, and the underneath part I'm assuming is where the staff stayed. The room was beautiful, private bathroom and 2 beds (still no working air conditioning). I was worried about being on the boat, but it was not tippy at all and I didn't have a problem with sea-sickness at all. It was totally fine!!
In the afternoon we went kayaking all around Ha long bay, parked the kayaks at a beach/cave and went caving into the back dark parts. The communication wasn't that good b/c the guide spoke very little english, so although we brought flashlights, we didn't have them with us for the kayaking/caving. It was fun anyhow, your eyes adjust to the light and there were 2 flashlights the guide had. We continued kayaking after that and saw a big family of monkeys up on the cliffs, maybe 30 feet up, just hanging off the side on some branches, swinging and picking at leaves. We parked our kayaks right under them to take pics from the water. After we got back to the boat all the guys and Mand me (the only girls!) jumped from the top deck into the water to go swimming, they said it was 4 meters, not sure how many feet that is.
We got back on the boat and had dinner, and happy hour which was buy 2 get 1 free drinks (promoting volume ha). We played card games and flippy-cup late into the night. Us Americans and a few Canadians taught the British, Irish, Danish and Australians on the boat how to play flip cup. M and I were the only Americans on the boat. Of course our team won flip cup, so the losing team had to jump off the side of the boat at about midnight. Good times, this time we stayed dry.
This morning we had to get up at 7:30am for breakfast and then laid out on the top deck (some sun, although still misty) and I finished my book and we napped a little. Then had a 4 hr bus ride back, so today has been mostly travel. The views from the bay were amazing though, can't wait to show my pics.
M and I are going to have a drink for happy hour at the hostel bar now and then head out to dinner at one of the local places recommended by the guide book. I need to try some pho noodle soup still. So far the beef noodle soup I had on the 1st day is still the best thing I've had. Tomorrow we fly out to Hoi An, might try to get that soup again before we go.
A
First Full Day Hanoi - Feb 7th, 2010
Hi Guys,
M and I had quite the full day today - I went to bed at 8pm last night, took some Tylenol PM last night, put in my ear plugs and my eye mask and slept till 8am. So, although the time between San Francisco and Vietnam are completely switched 12 hrs I had decent energy today.
We had breakfast at the hostel - the room we're in is very basic, not nice, but has a bed and a light and a TV with some bootlegged DVDs we can watch. Ha. Today we went to see the mausoleum where Ho Chi Minh himself is embalmed and on display. They take it very seriously, have guards all around, don't let you take in cameras and don't let you stop walking. Look while you are walking then get out. We went to see his house when he lived here and then stopped to have lunch at a nearby Bia Hoi - basically a local beer garden with fresh brewed daily beer. It's local and unfiltered, nothing added and they drink it all pretty much the day they make it. It was super tasty, mostly men in the place all with their buddys getting drunk on a Sunday afternoon, they looked at us kinda weird but I don't mind! We got lemongrass beef and a few other things too. Tastiness.
After lunch we went to a few other museums, nothing monumental - also nothing air conditioned and it was super hot and muggy. That's right, the museums we went to, except for the mausoleum, were not air conditioned. Our room at the hostel has an air conditioner, but we've learned that "air conditioner" does not equal "working air conditioner" here. Oh well.
In the afternoon, we went to get massages, best decision so far. Maybe 2nd best decision after the beef noodle soup we had yesterday. Massage was pretty good, and we got to take nice steamy showers in the bathrooms which was nice. We actually went to a spa-looking place rather than getting the shady massages since the language barrier can be difficult. Even then the "expensive" massage was only about $30us after tax and tip, etc. Beers here are on average 20,000VND which is about $1us. The beef soup we had yesterday was the same price. Very low prices and kind of funny hyper inflation because everything is in the hundreds of thousands.
Tomorrow we leave at 8am for our overnight tour of ha long bay so won't have internet for a short while.
A
M and I had quite the full day today - I went to bed at 8pm last night, took some Tylenol PM last night, put in my ear plugs and my eye mask and slept till 8am. So, although the time between San Francisco and Vietnam are completely switched 12 hrs I had decent energy today.
We had breakfast at the hostel - the room we're in is very basic, not nice, but has a bed and a light and a TV with some bootlegged DVDs we can watch. Ha. Today we went to see the mausoleum where Ho Chi Minh himself is embalmed and on display. They take it very seriously, have guards all around, don't let you take in cameras and don't let you stop walking. Look while you are walking then get out. We went to see his house when he lived here and then stopped to have lunch at a nearby Bia Hoi - basically a local beer garden with fresh brewed daily beer. It's local and unfiltered, nothing added and they drink it all pretty much the day they make it. It was super tasty, mostly men in the place all with their buddys getting drunk on a Sunday afternoon, they looked at us kinda weird but I don't mind! We got lemongrass beef and a few other things too. Tastiness.
After lunch we went to a few other museums, nothing monumental - also nothing air conditioned and it was super hot and muggy. That's right, the museums we went to, except for the mausoleum, were not air conditioned. Our room at the hostel has an air conditioner, but we've learned that "air conditioner" does not equal "working air conditioner" here. Oh well.
In the afternoon, we went to get massages, best decision so far. Maybe 2nd best decision after the beef noodle soup we had yesterday. Massage was pretty good, and we got to take nice steamy showers in the bathrooms which was nice. We actually went to a spa-looking place rather than getting the shady massages since the language barrier can be difficult. Even then the "expensive" massage was only about $30us after tax and tip, etc. Beers here are on average 20,000VND which is about $1us. The beef soup we had yesterday was the same price. Very low prices and kind of funny hyper inflation because everything is in the hundreds of thousands.
Tomorrow we leave at 8am for our overnight tour of ha long bay so won't have internet for a short while.
A
Checking in From Hanoi - Feb 5, 2010
Finally got here this morning - kind of crazy to get on the airplane Thurs night and have it be dark for 16hrs + then once it gets light, it's Saturday! I read about the first 200 pages of time traveller's wife (excellent book so far, very capturing, helped pass the time great) and I felt like I was time travelling too! No hiccups with the flight or anything, although there was no tv or movies really - one really big screen toward the front that I couldn't see - but I did sleep some off and on, did some crossword puzzles, read and read some magazines.
Am checked into the hostel now, the room is very bare bones, but good for the price! M and I are going to venture out and go exploring around the area as we are staying in a part of town that is "old town" - lots of little markets and shops and restaurants. We are going to go have some beef noodle soup, see what else we find, and try to stay awake at least until a decent time to go to bed to try to adjust.
Will be exploring more museums around the city tomorrow, then Monday night is our Ha Long bay overnight trip.
A
Am checked into the hostel now, the room is very bare bones, but good for the price! M and I are going to venture out and go exploring around the area as we are staying in a part of town that is "old town" - lots of little markets and shops and restaurants. We are going to go have some beef noodle soup, see what else we find, and try to stay awake at least until a decent time to go to bed to try to adjust.
Will be exploring more museums around the city tomorrow, then Monday night is our Ha Long bay overnight trip.
A
Travel Journals
I recently went on a trip to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, and as my way of updating my loved ones, sent out "travel journal" emails. I figured, consolidate it to one email list to keep it manageable, let everyone know how my trip was going, and of course help me document my journey. Despite it starting for mostly for selfish reasons, my friends and family seemed to enjoy it, and urged me to share with others. So, hopefully you enjoy it as much as I did, and I look forward to having more travels to add to these!!
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