back to the beginning: phuket

if i had known that i would be given that extra week off, i would have left hanoi a few days earlier and made it to laos as i had intended as part of that trip. i wouldnt have had to fly back and i would have been able to experience the tubing that all of my friends have raved about. but since i didnt know i went back to bangkok and couldnt leave the country again because the immigration offices were closed and therefore i couldnt get another reentry stamp.

on monday i headed over to stephs. on tuesday she found out that she would have the entire week off as well. by wednesday morning we were arriving in phuket town.

we stayed with a friend we met in chiang mai who is also a teacher and consequently met many other teachers as well. at one point, i was talking to one of them and mentioned that i went to maryland and he said "seems like there are a lot of you guys." i was confused because i hadnt met anyone from maryland at that point, but he said there were a few others teaching in phuket and even one who lived right next door. turns out that person was sid, ians friend who i had met briefly one night out in dc last summer when we had already both decided to teach in thailand for a year. cliche time, but seriously, small world.

steph and i took a day and went back down to nai harn. it was just as beautiful as we remember with the only significant change being that there were more chairs set up on the beach, which we guessed was because the high tourist season was just ending. we reminisced about our three weeks spent there and talked a lot about all the people from our group who we were missing. it was nostalgic and slightly sad to be there without everyone. but we discovered that it is still one of our favorite beaches in thailand and realized how lucky we were to start our time in this country in such a great location.

the most notable part of our trip back to phuket was a canoe trip that steph got us for free. on the first night there, while making a run to the convenience store, she met some thai guys who told her they worked giving canoe tours and told her she should go on one. she told that that shes a teacher and so she didnt have the money for that, but they said they would do it for free. so she exchanged numbers with them. later that night they called and asked when we would like to go, so she said friday would be good. they called agin the next day to confirm for friday and told us to meet them at tesco at 1030 the next morning.

we went a little earlier to have breakfast and decided to buy some apples fro the trip and to give to the guides since they were doing this for us for free. when steph got the call that they were on their way, she was then told "ok, we will see you soon. expect to be back around 11 tonight." that was when we realized we had gotten into much more than we were expecting. it was not an hour in a canoe that we were getting, but this.

we had two amazing gourmet meals on the boat and went around to 4 different caves, and in and out of lagoons. at points the top of the caves were so low we actually had to lay down completely in the kayak and our guide had to get out and push so that we could get through. the last cave we went to was the bat cave, named of course because it is full of bats. so.many.bats. also, because this cave was so dark, we were able to see glowing plankton, which is basically particles in the water that glow when they get disturbed. it was quite an amazing experience and had we known what to expect we may have taken a camera to get some quality pictures......but since we didnt have one with us, i took these offline to give you an idea :]

school year on pause.

aside from one exception, i didnt post on the political situation that was happening in thailand the last few months. it is largely due to the fact that while the serious stuff was happening, i was traveling. but its likely that even if i hadnt been, there wouldnt have been much that i could say that would have been worthwhile because it is so complicated and as a westerner living here, i cannot possibly comprehend everything.

i arrived back in thailand from vietnam on sunday, may 16, expecting to head into school the next day to start of the new school year. i found out when i got home that the next two days had been declared a 'national holiday' so that the government could try to gain control of the situation. this meant that all government businesses would be closed, including schools. since i work at a private school, they were able to determine their own plan of action, and they decided to cancel classes for the entire week.

it turned out that those two days the government was giving as holiday were meant to be used to 'get women, children, and the elderly out of the center of the city before the deadline,' which at first was set for monday, may 17 at 3pm and then pushed back to wednesday morning when it became obvious that people were still not leaving. steph and i found out through some of her teachers that this was because following that deadline, the military was basically going to just go in and open fire in order to disperse the group of protestors.

come wednesday, may 19, things got really bad. the military went in and gunfire was exchanged. buildings and businesses were set on fire. tear gas and rubber bullets set off. this 'war zone,' as it was call, lasted for about three days before the red shirt protest leaders started surrendering, bringing the situation to somewhat of a close.

for days i was checking twitter and the bangkok post every few minutes trying to stay up-to-the-minute on what was happening. there was a lot of chaos and confusion, which is still trying to be sorted. however in the grand scheme of things, everything could have been a lot worse. as time has passed, there have been many comments on how the government handled the situation, and this is what i found to be most notable: no other country would have allowed a protest of that magnitude to continue on and harm the economy to the extent that this one did for as long as it did.

world of backpacking.

its a world where you refer to people, not by names, but by the country or city they are from. where you can tell how long someone is planning on traveling by looking at the size of their backpack, or look at the state of their hair and tell how long they have been away. where one conversation can make you someones new best friend and travel partner for a week or more. where all the rules about what life and society expect from you back home are lost and the only things that matter are the new places you see and the new friends you make. plans go out the door along with all preconceived....expectations. you can lose yourself completely and yet somehow, you are able to find out more about yourself than ever before.

its addictive.

world of vietnam.

crossing into vietnam from cambodia, there wasn't really anything that struck me right from the beginning that set the country apart significantly from any of the others in southeast asia. however, after a bit of time, some differences did emerge.

its hard enough to find bread on its own in thailand, let alone any that is good, but the lingering french influence in vietnam means that street stalls are well stocked with supplies for making good baguette sandwiches and restaurants sell french baguettes on the side of all of their dishes. coffee shops are plentiful, and their coffee isnt just a cup of lukewarm milk with a pound of sugar and a splash of coffee flavoring, as it is in thailand. this is gooood coffee. they even have special little tin filters for each glass that is made. i found myself drinking at least a cup, and usually more that, of coffee each day, and even bought a few packs and the coffee maker to take back with me to thailand.

the famous food of vietnam is pho (pronounced 'fur'), which is a noodle soup. they eat that stuff any time of day. i tried some and liked it, but its not as flavorful as thailands noodle soup, so i was slightly disappointed. in fact, aside from the specialties in hoi an and the fresh spring rolls, i wasnt a huge fan of vietnamese food in general, and i definitely picked the right spot for asian food in choosing thailand. however on the other hand, vietnam does have a better variety of tastier western food than thailand, which was nice to get once in a while for a change.

coffee, bread, and western food might be better in vietnam, but unfortunately there is something which is the complete opposite. and thats the attitudes of the people. in thailand and cambodia, everyone was so incredibly friendly and anywhere we went we were greeted with smiles and found people willing to help us with anything we needed. that was not so here.

i dont say this just because we were robbed in nha trang. maybe its because we are american, but i have a feeling that was only a part of it. i heard from other, nonamerican travelers, that they had the same experience, with people generally just being inconsiderate and rude, not just to foreigners, but each other as well.

at one point while waiting for a bus to go to a different town, outside of the travel agency we heard a loud crash. it turned out that some type of large box had fallen from somewhere right onto the windshield of a car. more than 70 people were at the intersection, and for the first 15 minutes when the three injured people stepped out of the car, the driver with blood pouring down his face, no one did anything. in fact, it was meghan that ran over and gave the guy her sarong to try to stop the bleeding before he got onto a motorbike taxi to go to the hospital.

obviously there have been exceptions, and that story is just one example, but it sums up their attitudes pretty well. and i find it to be such a shame because the country is so beautiful and has so much to offer to visitors who really want to appreciate it all.

time in vietnams capital.

even though today it is the capital city of vietnam, hanoi is rather quaint and has a relaxed feeling about it, as it is built around a giant lake. its easy to walk everywhere, but difficult to navigate. at one corner, each street that comes off of it has a different name, but many streets (and businesses as a result of a lack of copyright law!) have the same name.

the small-town quality made it really easy to meet people, which was nice since the majority of my time in this town was spent in a hostel because meghan had left just two days after we arrived. but for being 'alone,' little of my time here was spent by myself. i stayed in a hostel, which automatically made it easy to make friends, and being one of the "backpackers" chain, it was almost all young people as well.

this meant that days, and often the late part of nights, were spent around the lake, just a short walk from our hostel. and the early parts of nights were spent on the top of the hostel for their happy hour, followed by a stop to the 'beer hoi' corner. a beer hoi is basically a street bar that sells a glass (wouldnt say it was quite a pint) of beer for just 4000 dong, which is about $0.25. this also means that everyone goes to these spots, and by 9 or 10 each night they are out of beer, so at that point we would move on to one of many different spots that are recommended for young backpackers that all have different specials running at different times so that everyone can find something they like.

no mom, i didnt spend my whole time in this city drunk.

while it seemed like i was in hanoi a long time (i arrived on a thursday and didnt leave until sunday morning a week later), i wasnt there that long because it was from hanoi that i left for sa pa, then came back and left again for ha long bay, before coming back again.

there were some interesting things to see in the city. the one that i was most interested in was the temple of literature, the first university of the country. when we were first given directions, they didnt understand where we wanted to go, and sent us to the temple that was in the center of the lake instead. this place was nice, but it was small and the only thing that made it special was its location.

when i finally got around to getting to the actual place, i was very impressed. i learned that in vietnam and most eastern cultures, the turtle is the symbol for learning, wisdom, and education (yay terps!) and that the stork is their symbol for strength. this meant that there were statues everywhere of the bird on the turtles backs, including sculpted into the bushes. but the coolest part was this one section that had many turtles and each turtle had a tablet on its back listing the names of graduates from the university.

unfortunately i didnt have my camera with me that day.

so i stole this picture from the internet.

hanoi was a good spot to end my trip, if it had to end at that time, for every aspect except for the fact that flying back to bangkok was double the price that it would have been to go from saigon. but flying back allowed me to stay until early in the morning of may 16, a day before i had to get back to 'normal' life.

ha long bay

another short trip i took while up north in hanoi was to ha long bay, which means "descending dragon bay." it is a unesco world heritage site and has 1969 (would not have wanted to have been the one to count these...) small islands, which are really limestone rock formations. the water is clear and in the center of the bay, the islands are very close together, making a very beautiful and unique landscape. the maze created by the islands also used to be useful when the site was a common grounds for battle against the chinese.

some of the islands.

i took an overnight cruise in the bay on a wooden ship. it included a visit to two caves, one of which was extremely big, and canoeing through some smaller ones. we had a good group, with almost everyone being young travelers, and we all stayed up late on the top deck of the boat. the second day it was rainy though, so there wasnt much happening except heading back to the harbor.

our boat.

view of the bay from the top of the cave.

inside the big cave.

saleswomen came right up to the boat.

sa pa

before i came to vietnam, i was told that one of the things i HAD to do was a trek in sa pa. as soon as i arrived, i figured out why.

after an overnight sleeper train, i arrived in lao cai, the town closest to sa pa. from there it was a long and winding bus trip to the top of the mountains where we would be meeting up with our final group and tour guide. our group was small, only 6 people: me, two sisters from lichtenstein (yeah apparently they exist!), a guy from serbia who had lived in the states for a few years, and two guys from belguim. quite a mix.

unfortunately, the group didnt get as close as on my last trek (but that was obviously a tough group to beat!) and that was a disappointment, but the trek was good and the scenery was amazing. how could i not be with rice fields and farms set amongst grassy mountains?

our group did a homestay with another group at a big house and the best part of the night was dinner. they cooked for us and it was pretty good food, but after that they shared with us "magic water" which was basically rice liquor. they made us all do shot after shot until all the bottles they had were gone. needless to say, by the time the rain started pouring on us at 11, we were all more than ready to head to bed.

got room for 20?

the second day was a lot more work, uphill most of the way, and because of the rain the night before it was kinda slippery. but once we got to the top, it was so worth it.

please ignore my face.

o, and every village we went through had many puppies. i got excited every time. my group started making fun of me, but just look at the face!!

puppah!

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.