the tiny town of hoi an.

as soon as we arrived to this little town, i was automatically in love with it. its tiny and easy to figure out how to navigate and has the laid-back feeling of asia, but at the same time has the elegance of an old european town because of all the french influence. the streets are lined with cafes, bakeries, and tailors that offer cheap prices for custom shoes, bags and clothing. at night, colorful lanterns are in all the windows and the riverfront restaurants, creating a glow off of the water. its an easy 4km bike ride to the beach, and a free bus runs from one of the biggest bars to the nightly beach party as well.

hoi an also has a few vietnamese dishes that is special to its area. one is white rose dumplings, filled with shrimp. another is a special style of fresh spring rolls, which are available all over vietnam but in certain areas they change it up a bit. the best is cau lao, a noodle dish with either tofu or meat, some greens and a certain sauce. i only had it once but fell in love with it and then couldnt find it again.

our time in hoi an was pretty relaxed and laid back. we did a lot of walking around the town, went to the beach one day and the market another, had some things made (3 pairs of shoes, a bag, and 2 pairs of shorts, hehe), and eating some great food. because of the holiday, we were here longer than we originally planned, but if we were going to get 'stuck' somewhere, this is the place in vietnam i would want it happen.

bus rides from hell.

if you ever travel in vietnam, DO NOT BOOK WITH TM BROTHERS!

the easiest way to travel this country is by purchasing an open bus ticket. its cheap and allows you to travel from the bottom to the top, or vice versa, on your own schedule, stopping where you choose. the standard stops (from bottom to top) are ho chi minh, mui ne, da lat, nha trang, hoi an, hue, and hanoi. the idea is that you take the sleeper buses at night and get as much time in each location as you can.

the first time we set out for our bus trip, we were going from saigon to nha trang. we wanted to leave at night on the 28th (of april, sorry im so behind in posting this!) but everything was booked, so we had to settle for the 8am bus the next day. we got up, checked out of our hotel, and went to the travel agency early in the morning. they kept telling us there was traffic but that the bus was on its way. by 930 we were getting really antsy, and shortly after bugging them a bit, we were finally told that the bus had already left. it wasnt that we missed it, it just 'forgot' to get us.

ok.

the agency we booked with felt really bad, and made sure to put us on the next bus at 8pm that night. so we hung around the city for one more day and were back at the agency at 730. unfortunately, two hours later we were still waiting. again, they continued to tell us that the bus was on its way, but after what had happened that morning, we were skeptical.

finally, the bus got there a little after 10. except it wasnt our bus. it was the bus that was going to take us to our bus, which was parked on the side of the highway about 20 minutes out of town. and so all of us switched onto said bus on the side of the highway and finally headed out of saigon.

we were given the back, which consists of 5 beds big enough only for a small asian person and therefor we were squished as could be. the air didnt turn off and we were on the top, which made for a very bumpy ride. but we got to nha trang the next morning and thought we would have a good beach day (see here to find out why we didnt).

but that wasnt our only bad trip.

the next night, we were scheduled to go from nha trang to hoi an on the 730 sleeper. again, at 930 we were still waiting. again, after 10 a bus came to get us. this was a HUGE improvement from our last bus, and we were quite excited to have a better journey than the night before.

but about a half hour after we pulled out, we came to a stop and were told to get off the bus and get our belongings. it was a small, dark road we were on in the middle of no where and it seemed like the makings of a horror film. but up head there was another bus that we were told we would be getting on instead. confused, we put our things in an lined up at the door, only to find that there were already people on that bus. they told us they had been stuck there for 5 hours because something was wrong with the bus.

rather than move those people onto our amazing bus and continue on, they sent our bus back to nha trang and expected us to use the broken down one to make it all the way to hoi an. i still havent figured out that logic.

but they changed a tire and we were back on the road. kinda. moving very slowly because apparently the tire was still bad. we went to a few different tire stores before i passed out, but when i woke up in the morning we were told it was still 8 hours away, and it was only suppose to be about a 10-12 hour trip. i have no idea what happened that night, but this bus, unlike the last, had NO aircon and therefor smelt like sweaty feet, because everyone im sure had sweaty feet amongst other body parts.

there are multiple companies that book these open bus tickets in vietnam. the two main ones are tm brothers and hanh cafe. the moral of this story is use hahn cafe.

robbed in nha trang.

were told about it all the time, in cities back in the states and while traveling alike. its not that we dont think it can happen to us, but its tricky to keep it in the front of your mind 24/7, especially when the majority of the time you are surrounded by people who, even though you have only recently met, are nothing short of amazing and who many times, you would trust with your life.*

but the truth is that tourists are targets for crime. and in a place where you can be looked at from miles away and stand out from the local population, it is even more true. add to that the fact that we were on a beach, during a local holiday, and its obvious that we had probably been watched from the time we stepped onto the sand.

i really did get lucky in that my purse was looted through and, unlike meghans, dropped about 30 meters from where it had been picked up. though all of the cash i had on me (in 4 different currencies!) was taken, my debit and credit cards were not touched. i lost my point-and-shoot camera, but i had luckily emptied the memory card onto my computer the night before and THANKFULLY it was not my slr i had on me. my phone was taken, but since ive left thailand it has really just been serving as a watch/alarm clock and its cheap enough to replace once i return to bangkok.

it could have been really bad. but my passport and work permit were looked at and left.** my bag also contained my glasses, which had my bag been the one carried off instead, would have disappeared as well. not to mention my note book in which i write down important information and notes about my days to later refer to when writing this blog.

the "tourist" police were no help. none of them spoke english and all they succeeded in doing was making us more angry and frustrated. in the end, we filed reports and had to buy them envelopes and stamps so they can ship us the information they gather during their investigation...which im sure will never happen.

we went back on the beach later and some friends told us they had spotted a group of guys who had been snatching things from all over the beach and meghan approached them. obviously it was no use, and they feigned not knowing english before getting really angry with her. after her confrontation, they dispersed, making it clear they had been guilty of something, even if it wasnt of thieving our bags.

its annoying and makes me think of the city of nha trang in a negative light, as that was literally my only experience there. but from now on i will definitely be even more careful about where my things are, especially when in the water.

*mom, im sure this is one of those times you think i am showing/acting my age.

**i wouldnt usually carry this on me, but as we did not have a hostel because we were only in town for the day, i felt safer having it on me than leaving it at the travel agency where we left our other bags.

saigon/ho chi minh city.

the old capital of independent south vietnam and formerly saigon, ho chi minh city is the largest city in vietnam. when arriving from cambodia, it is frequently the first stop for travelers. for backpackers, this usually means heading to de tham in district 1, which has a feel very similar to that of my often frequented khaosan road in bangkok. most of the people here are able to communicate in english and streets are filled with cheap hotels/hostels, restaurants which offered both vietnamese and western dishes, and bars that advertise drink specials for almost every night.

being our first stop in vietnam, the one thing i noticed right away was all of the motorbikes. i thought there were a lot in bangkok, but was in no way prepared for what we were about to encounter as we hopped on some moto taxis and headed to the war remnants museum. (perhaps in numbers they were less than in bkk, but percentage wise, they dominated traffic.) halfway through the first ride, i yelled to meghan while at a stop that it was likely i would die while in this country if we continued to take motorbike taxis everywhere.

motorbikes.everywhere.

we went to a buddhist pagoda that was a good distance from the center of the city so it was an accomplishment that we were able to make it there alive. it was interesting to see the differences in the buddhist temples here compared to all of the ones ive seen in thailand. its a different type of buddhism they practice, more like what is common in china, and the buddhas are the fat kind, which is what most people think of then they think of buddha.

inside the temple.

following the pagoda we went to see the war remnants museum, one of the main things i wanted to see in ho chi minh. it wasnt as big as i thought it would be and there wasnt too much new information, but it was incredibly interesting to look at the war from the other side. obviously, in school we are taught from the american perspective and getting the back story and history from the other side was really cool. additionally, i was impressed with the fact that there was still representation about the movement in america and the rest of the world thatwas in opposition to the war. it was definitely one of my favorite parts.

really liked this quote in the museum.

what was suppose to be our last full day in saigon was our trip to the cu chi tunnels. (well, actually it was suppose to be the day before, but we overslept and the agency was nice enough to let us switch our ticket to the next day!) we combined the tour with a temple that is apparently the biggest of its kind in the country, and it was interesting but seemed more like a waste of time because it took us 3x as long to get there as we spent there. the tour of the tunnels was slightly disappointing as well, but the tunnels were still amazing. when they told us that entire communities lived underground for years without seeing sunlight, i was shocked. i had thought that the tunnels were just used by guerrillas. there was a section of the tunnels that were bigger than the rest and this is where we were allowed to climb through. it was super hot and really tight in some spaces, but out of our entire group, i was the only one to make it through to the end :P

the big temple.

meghan in a man hole.

inside the tunnel. cannot see how small and dark they really are!

when i finished the tunnels.

i suppose the other thing to mention about or time in this city was that we had a place we hung out at almost every night with the same people, ones we had actually met back in cambodia. we went to go2, one of the backpacker hot spots, every night for their happy hour on the roof. there were a few times we ventured out to try to find another place that maybe had some dancing, but apparently dancing and vietnam do not mix well. so, we spent most of our time learning 'international drinking rules' and other such games from the english boys. all in all, good times.

the result of some rule in some kind of drinking game....

world of cambodia.

this entire part of the world has economies that are unstable and lifestyles that seem outdated by centuries. the people have been through so much and live life trying to survive from day to day. this is even more so the case in cambodia, one of the poorest countries in the world and THE poorest in the region.

but the people here are amazingly friendly and helpful. they have somehow been able to overcome their tragic history, that is surprisingly recent, and work to make the most of their days and their lives. any negative interactions we did have with people were limited to the standard begging or plea to buy something, which was clearly a result of the poverty they are facing.

my days in cambodia were limited and i was only able to see the two main areas of most notable tourist sites. however, in the short time i was there, i saw and learned enough to make me want to go back for at least a month after teaching and volunteer, probably in an orphanage. so it is safe for me to say that my experience with this country is anything but over.

a history lesson in phnom penh.

sorry, no inspirational music on this post. actually, its depressing to the max. cambodia is a country that has been plagued with hardship after hardship. speaking with the people on a daily basis, it is easy to forget this as they are absolutely one of the friendliest people around, but our one full day spent in phnom penh brought the facts of their history back to us, very clearly.

our first stop was choeung ek, one of the most famous of the killing fields in the entire country. basically, these places are sites of mass executions and consequently, many many mass graves of people who were killed by the khmer rouge, a group with a communist mindset run by pol pot, who were charged with killing millions of cambodians who threatened their power and their most brutal time period being between 1975 and 1978.

upon entering the site, it first comes off as quiet and rather peaceful. however, that impression soon vanishes when you come upon the tall, white, stupa which was built to commemorate the victims who were killed at the camp. shelves upon shelves of human skulls are the dominating feature here, and its surreal to see all of these together in one place. it really drives home the facts of how many people were not just killed, but tortured and brutally murdered, by the regime.

a walk around the fields showed us some of the mass graves that had been discovered and exhumed in 1980. a look through the museum gave a concise but decent explanation about who the khmer rouge was and what they wanted. many of the leaders have been, or are in the process, of being tried for their crimes.

from choeung ek, we headed to s21, the most famous of the security prisons that the khmer rouge ran and where prisoners were kept and interrogated before being sent to a killing field. the museum was once a high school, which was taken over an transformed by the khmer rouge and housed over 20,000 victims from 1975-1979. there was an eerie feeling throughout the entire place, which included 4 buildings which had been used as cells and torture rooms and a small graveyard for the last 14 victims killed here and discovered by the liberating forces. the buildings now house testimonies of the few survivors and former khmer rouge members, pictures of the victims, and some of the instruments used for torture.

its so grim, that meghan had to leave before the 3:00 showing of the video, and so i finished the day out on my own.

by the time i got back to the hostel, i was quite depressed. the most haunting thing is how recently in the past this had happened. its crazy to think that it was capable then, and then you start thinking about how similar things are still happening around the world in different areas today.

to get me out of the sad state, i played with these guys for a bit, because, as everyone knows, puppies never EVER fail to make me happy.

the magic of angkor.

before you start reading this post, i want you all to open this in a new window and listen to the song as you do.

ok. so now youre in the proper mindset to experience the magic that is angkor wat. ill start with some pictures to further inspire you:

our first full day in siem reap was spent at the temples.ta phrom, known as the 'tomb raider' temple, was our first stop. this one is well known because it is one of the only ones in which they left the jungle as it was, taking over the structures. the trees are gigantic and roots intertwine with all of the walls and constructions.

much foliage around the temple.

(sorry, ive never seen tomb raider so i couldnt act it out.)

overgrown roots.

next we climbed up the steep steps of a nearby temple of which i have forgotten the name, and got a nice view of the area from 50 meters up.

my big feet make it difficult to climb these tiny steps.

view from the top.

the best part of all of the temples was our next stop, the bayon temple inside of angkor thom, which was the walled city that served as the khmer capitol in the thirteenth century. the reason why this temple was so amazing was that it had hundreds, possibly and probably thousands, of these faces carved into it. apparently it is also interesting because the layout of the temple was an experimental design and so it is different than most others.

close up. of one of the faces.

carved faces at bayon.

for our second day at the temples, we got up early to go watch the sunrise over angkor wat. even though the entire site of all the temples is referred to by that name, the one wat that is most famous is actually called angkor. hundreds of people gather at angkor each day to watch this event, and once you see it, you understand why.

angkor wat at sunrise. picture not doing it justice.

this is one of the largest temples and so we blocked out a few hours here. it was nice because it was still early in the day and while it was still hot and we were still sweaty, it wasnt quite as bad as the day before. we came across one spot that said we could climb up and get a view from the top, but that it didnt open until 8am. it was just after 7 and so we decided to sit back, watch the japanese tourists for a bit (because even here in asia they are very humorous), and wait to be the first ones up. an hour later, as we are standing in line, we are told that what we are wearing (shorts and tank tops) is not appropriate to climb up in. obviously we were quite angry. we debated getting people to let us borrow their shorts to cover our knees, but this was not a likely possibility and so we trekked on to the back of the temple where we found some interesting characters who gave us some great last shots at the temples.

mama and baby sharing a tasty banana!

fascinated by the mirrors on the motorbike.

bombings in bangkok

im currently in cambodia, on my first leg of my travels, and i will write about my experiences here in the coming days. however, there is a lot happening in bangkok at the moment that i think i should explain here.

for over a month now, there has been a large demonstration by the red shirts/udd who established their camp near the famous travelers site of khaosan road. on april 10, just days before the new year celebrations were to begin, violence broke out between the udd and the military, leaving 24 people dead and hundreds of others injured and effectively canceling many of the activities in the capitol for the holiday and shutting down the main business and shopping district of siam.

red shirts near khaosan.

after a week, tensions started to build again and the red shirts planned a protest near the silom area, another business and tourist district, and the military dispersed more troops with the orders to contain but not fight, even though soldiers were set up around the streets with rifles and barbed wire blocking certain areas. days later, they threatened that violence would be used if necessary. and thats when the bombs and grenades began.

barbed wire and soldiers in silom.

one went off on the bts, the skytrain in bangkok, effectively shutting it down, but so far, the deaths have been minimal. there is a movement called the multi-colored shirts which have formed in opposition to the red shirts and who are now demonstrating against them. the yellow shirts, government supporters, are expected to arrive in bangkok within the next week.

the red shirts believe that the elections by which the current government was selected into office were unfair and illegal. their goal with this protest is to have the current government dissolved and new elections held. they have currently proposed an extension of their timeline, giving the government 90 days to plan for the new elections.

the entire thing is still complicated and im not sure exactly what is expected to come of it, but this is a guideline based on what i understand of the situation. as much as im glad to not be in bangkok during this time, a great part of me wishes i was there to experience this important political time.

in the jungle

one of my goals (and reasons for choosing thailand to come teach in the first place) has always been to ride an elephant through the jungle. there are many opportunities for this to happen all over the country, but i had a specific idea of what i wanted it to be, and for that, i knew it had to happen in chiang mai.

we were given a week off of summer school because of songkran, and decided it would be the best time to venture up north, since it was the one area we had yet to explore. we took the overnight bus from bangkok to chiang mai on friday night and arrived around 730 in the morning. at 930, we were off on a three day trek.

the trip started when we were picked up from buddy tours, the place we booked with, and climbed into a song taew that was already packed. we met our tour group and including our guide, kiki, there were 11 of us. first, our group of 5: tasha, steph, her friend nicky who was visiting from canada, me, and winer. then there were two gus from london, conor and jon, one guy from brazil (his name is italo but we always refer to him as brazil), longkorn, or lachlin, who at one point lived with the karen hill tribes and so was more of an assistant to kiki than another person on the tour, and frenchi. her name was celine, but thats not important either.

so on top of all of these people and our backpacks, we also had a large garbage can in tow. none of us really understood why at first, but soon, we discovered that it would hold our 'ammunition,' because even though songkran didnt techinically start until tuesday, the locals were all starting that day, and starting with the farangs who were heading out to trek.

though it would usually take place on the last day, our first stop was bamboo rafting. they put 2-4 people on this long raft and we navigated down the river for about an hour, all the while getting splashed by thais who were picnicking on the banks. even though the water level was pretty low, there were still times when it was deep enough to cause little rapids, and when it was time to get off, i still wanted to glide downt he river some more.

we went for lunch and then we filled the trash can with water and ice so we could head into battle (the ice is essential, read the songkran blog for a better explanation), and with longkorn hanging off the back on offense, we were prepared to head into the jungle. and by the time we were ready to start hiking, we were actually quite wet.

we did a few hours of walking and in between visited a waterfall and a temple on a mountain before we made our way to our campsite for the first night. they called it a karen village, but it really was set up in that style specifically for these trekking tours they bring through, and a different family stays there on the nights there are tourists there.

they cooked us dinner and we sat around the fire for a while having some drinks, but i retired to our shared bamboo hut earlier than most others since i was beyond exhausted. it was a simple structure made entirely out of bamboo except for the roof which was made out of dried leaves. and though i wouldnt say it was the most comfortable nights sleep ive had, it definitely wasnt the least, and i was too tired to really care.

campsite for night #1.

our second day started with breakfast at 9 and then we were off for a day full of waterfalls and walking. i think we stopped at 5 different locations, including one in which we had our 'packed lunch.'

waterfall, lunch site.

lunch packed in leaves!

we retreated to our campsite for the night just before sunset. this time it was bigger than the one the night before, and good thing because there was another group sleeping there as well. we spent a few hours joking about how much more fun our group looked because aside from 4 girls, they were all significantly older, but when it came down to it, there were only 4 of us that stayed up that night and we ended up joining them because their group was still going waaaay past when our group fell asleep.

campsite for night #2.

two funny anecdotes from this night: 1. when we woke up in the morning, we discovered the stone wall to the communal bathroom to be crumpled on the floor. 2. apparently even after i went to bed, some others stayed out and stayed quite loud. frenchi, who had already established that she was not down for a good time, was not happy about that and decided to ask them to quiet down. they did not. the next morning, when she discovered that longkorn (who was apparently the main perpetrator the night before) was still sleeping, she jumped up from the breakfast table and ran into his room, shrieking and jumping up and down. none of us had any idea what to do, we were just shocked that a grown woman was doing this, and when she came back, we tried but coudlnt hide our laughter.

so we set off again for our last waterfall, which was (kinda) deep enough to allow for cliff jumping. after having already done this, i knew it was scary, and just stayed on the lower ledge. from there, we went to lunch and then went to the final stop and the part i was most looking forward to: ELEPHANTS!

winer and i on our elephant, bua thong cha-cha!

i wouldnt say that it was exactly what i wanted it to be, because i wanted to be on the elephant myself. but it was pretty good. and i was super happy.

imagine 20 thai kids saying: eeeelefants

from there we battled the water back into chiang mai, and made plans to meet up with the rest of our group for the rest of our time in the city, since, aside from frenchi, we had all gotten so close.

songkran

songkran is the thai new year and it is currently 2553. however, years ago they stopped changing their calendar on this date and now switch their years on january 1st of the gregorian calendar. now, the holiday remains as more of a tradition, and since the majority of thais ar buddhist, it also serves at the time to treturn home and visit family, kind of like what christmas is to everyoen in the states. what it also entails, is a giant water fight.

for those who have a 'life list' or 'bucket list,' whether it is written down or just in their head, many include at least one of the following on their list: attend mardi gras in new orleans, attend carnival in rio de janeiro (or salvador!!), attend the tomatino festival in valencia, attend oktober fest in germany. after experiencing my few days of water chaos in chiang mai, i feel it is my duty to spread the word about this festival and convince others that it belongs on that list as well.

i have been told since i arrived in thailand that if i was still here for songkran, chiang mai was the place i wanted to spend it. so, months ago, steph and i decided to book accommodations up north to ensure we would have a place to stay. we had no idea what this water fight meant, how many people would be involved, or what the city would be like compared to how it normally was. we just new that it would be were we would be to bring in the thai new year.

friday the 9th was my last day of working summer school, and my initiation for songkran. the water fight at school lasted hours. the kids were dumping buckets and shooting me in the face with water guns and rubbing the powder goo all over me. luckily, the water was warmed by the sun and not much coolor than the air temperature, so it was just refreshing. that is, until some of the other teachers decided to fill a bucket with ice water. let me tell you, when one of them hit me, the shrieks i made caused more than a few head turns. but overall, it was a blast, and i walked home just after lunch leaving a water trail puddling.

at school, major waterfight!

puddle!

fast forward to the next monday when we were heading back from the trek. though we had been showered with water on our entire trip back, once we hit the heart of chiang mai, i knew why everyone had said this was the place to be. even though the holiday didnt technically start until the next day, people were lined up on the sides of the canal with the same buckets and water guns i had seen at school. the difference was that this was not just a school, but an entire city, partaking in the water festivities, and we couldnt even make it to our hostel, with bags in tow, without becoming fully drenched.

as we entered the city trying to get to our hostel.

i dont have the words to describe the experience. awesome is the only thing that comes to mind, but even that doesnt come close. because of the water, it was dangerous to have cameras, or really anything, on you, and so pictures are few and of poor quality. the first day, tuesday, we stayed on the side of the canal, sharing large buckets with other farang and taking turn buying ice to make the water cold so that when people got hit they experienced that same chilling shock. no worries, with the heat, it was a shock but in the end it was actually really refreshing. but there was nothing that could compare to the faces of everyone when they did get hit. :]

courtesy of the internet: the canal in chiang mai.

the second day, we pulled our trekking group together, plus a few extras we met at the hostel, and rented a truck to drive around the canal in for a few hours. this was the best part of the experience. we had a team name, 'fall like a mango' which came from one of brazil's sayings in portuguese that he translated into english and then made no sense, and on the back of our shirts we all had nicknames. we spent that day riding and water fighting and drinking and dancing....and there were so many moments when i was just hit with the feeling of the moment that cannot be described to anyone who has not taken part of this festival. so if you have no idea what im talking about, GO SEE IT. its something i would make another trip to thailand for on its own.

team fall like a mango!

from left to right: born ready, nipples, tarzan, pterodactyl, nurse nicky, kinky, brazil.

not pictured: scarface, cha-cha, longkorn.

honorary members: joe, keenan, alex.

splash!

best image i could get of the action at the main gate.

since coming back to bangkok, i have talked to other people who spent the holiday in other areas. usually bangkok is a close second to chiang mai, but songkran festivities were canceled this year because of the red shirt protests and the violence that happened the saturday before the holiday started, leaving 24 people killed. so it is more than safe to say that anyone who was in chiang mai had the best start to this new year.