I have "Laos" to tell you...

Bad pun, agreed, but not entirely inaccurate either. Now in Cambodia after a relaxing 10 days in Laos. Don't get me wrong though, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, but it was a completely different experience than the rush of Vietnam.

As I mentioned in my last post, we arrived in Luang Prabang on July 17th. Luckily for Hannah, we had lucked out and booked one of our nicest accommodations thus far..I say luckily because the poor girl was ill after eating at a veggie restaurant in Hanoi the night before--see meat is the way to go. We ended up having dinner with the English couple, Oli and Cassie, that we met on our tour of Halong Bay. I am jealous, they had been traveling for 10 months all over the world and were headed to India next on the last leg of their trip.

Anyway, Hannah was ill because she ate healthy vegetables, it is the only reasonable explanation. I'm sticking to street vendors for the rest of the trip...mostly. Despite her fragile state, we all managed to visit our share of wats, or buddhist monasteries. The young buddhist monks in orange are a frequent sight throughout Loas as apparently it is fairly common for most men to spend at least a few months as a monk. The wats were impressive and like churches in Europe, everywhere you turn your head. We also visited a cave where people have been coming for centuries to pray and make offerings of buddhas.







After deciding to linger in Luang Prabang a day longer than planned, we boarded a "mini-bus" (which apparently is code for mini-van with extra row of seats and no leg room to compensate)and headed north to Vang Vieng. The drive was stunning through the mountains but you could see where parts of the road had been washed out days before from landslides resulting from heavy rain.

We arrived in Vang Vieng in mid afternoon and tried to take in the strangeness of this place. It literally feels like it is in the middle of no-where, along the Nam Song River. Its claim to fame along the backpacking route is a river tubing ride, "happy shakes" and Friends. Specifically, I mean literally the only thing people do here is consume various opium-laced fruit shakes and float down the river in an inner tube and finish off the day by going to one of the many restaurants set up with pillows and cushions, grab a seat and watch hours upon hours of Friends' episodes. Not to worry though, you have three reasonable and prudent young ladies traveling...ok, well Reena and Hannah are reasonable and prudent and they seem to mimic my mother's look of concern (i.e., the look of death) sufficiently enough to quash any potential for tom-foolery on my part. We did however indulge in a drug-free evening of Friends watching--seemed like the thing to do. Reena and I really enjoyed it, Hannah seemed disinterested with the six episodes we watched and was much more concerned with the possibility that the green curry she had for dinner was laced with narcotics (see below)...Not surprisingly, it was not.

Here is a picture of the river:


River tubing sober may have been a go except the town had shut it down. Rumour has it that some inebriated travelers lost their lives the week before. It is likely that they were completely off their heads and they decided floating down a very fast river was a great idea. The town people really didn't talk about it so its difficult to know if there was any truth to it or they were merely being pre-cautious because of the high water conditions. However, given the lack of regulations of any sort here, I doubt that was the case. It seems that most anything goes around here, so best to use your own common sense. Nevertheless, our day was kind of wasted, so we upgraded to a hotel with a pool and spent the day there...not a bad deal either.

After Vang Vieng, we took a bus to Vientiane, the Capital of Loas. This was the most chill city I've ever been to...VERY RELAXED. We spent a few days seeing the sights, including the Arc de Triomphe, which we thought was quite lovely.







Apparently the Laos disagreed, calling it a "monster of concrete"....



It is funny how much our mindset has changed since Vietnam. We have adopted a much more laissez-faire attitude to this trip, well perhaps I should say I have adopted this attitude--Hannah, God bless her, tries, but the need to schedule SOME things persists...

We arrived in Cambodia on the 26th and met with Hannah's friend Emily. We were planning on taking a trip to Kampot in the south before meeting up with Melanie back in Phnom Penh but Sunday was election day and consequently most things were not running, including the buses. This forced day of being grounded in the city with next to nothing open did not deter Hannah, who still managed to find a market for us to see. We then discovered---a SHOPPING MALL. Strange as it may have been, because it was so western, it was good to see it because it was not directed towards tourists at all, so you didn't feel like you were being forced fed some type of culture, rather you saw how your own culture has been forced fed here. Could have been a mall in any north american city, where teenagers hung out, greasy mall food abound but surprisingly, you could still barter on prices...The mall, not surprisingly, also had a movie theater and so we spend a few hours watching a Cambodian produced film (luckily with English subtitles) called "The Last Letter". Interesting way to spend the day. Anyway, Hannah and Emily have escaped to Kampot while Reena and I stayed in Phnom Pehn to await Mel's arrival tomorrow morning...

Sapa, Halong Bay and Laos

So much to write! We've been hopping around here like fruitflies on a rotting lychee fruit!

Our trip to Sapa was amazing. While Sapa is not yet the most touristy of places, it has definitely become a budding industry in the region. You can tell because hotels continue to pop up everywhere trying to take advantage of the killer view of mountains and mist. As soon as you arrive at your hotel you have a group of young girls from the H'mong people swarming you. They are rather cute, they ask you your name, your age, where you're from, whether you have any brothers or sisters, etc. You are immediately struck by how these young ones have learned to speak fluent English solely from their exposure to foreigners in this isolated area of the country. But you also quickly realize, they've been doing this whole routine for some time now when they ask you sweetly "you buy something from me?" Fair enough.

We went trekking to this village inhabited by a local ethnic group called the Red Dzao, I thought we were lost on numerous occasions and feared that we would soon become dinner for the vultures which circled the skies...but no, we found our way. On our trek we did meet the loveliest young girl and her mother. They literally got dropped off on this isolated road where we were the only ones walking to try to sell us something. They gave us the same routine the H'mong girls tried and basically, they follow you until you do buy something. Given that we were on this road with no where else to go but the village where they lived, we started chatting with them on our way. The young girl had the nicest demeanor about her and spoke with such a soothing calm in her voice. She was 14 and she had finished school, not being able to pay to stay in longer. It was quite the reality check as sometimes you forget that these little girls who are harassing you to buy their two dollar souvenir would much rather be elsewhere. Anyway it was nice to get off the beaten track a bit and have a conversation with a local... Sapa was beautiful and one of highlights of our trip to Vietnam. We ended up back on the train from hell overnight to Hanoi only to jump on a bus heading to Halong Bay, a world heritage site.

Halong Bay was gorgeous and a popular destination for Vietnamese vacationers. There are huge limestone rocks which jut out of the blue green waters, really quite a site. You can imagine that these are the tops of a mountain range which have long since been flooded by the sea. We boarded a junk...that's right, the ship you sail in Halong Bay is called a "junk"--not the least bit concerning...anyway there are a ton of them in the bay so we were glad when the boat went to a more remote and isolated part of the area and the guide informed us that we could swim. Eagerly all of the 15 or so people on board took advantage of the only respite from the heat. What the guide didn't mention was that the area was infested with beloved jelly fishes! Almost everyone who took a dip ended up with at least one lovely stingin' rash to remember the bay by...including Hannah and Reena. They were not impressed as you can imagine. Anyway, I also kayaked (with virtually no instruction as to how in fact you kayak) through some bat infested caves before returning to the boat. But hey mom, don't worry, no rabies!

We spent the night on an island, with about 15 other people at a resort in beach huts...I know life is tough for the backpacker I tell you...I am fairly certain that there was mouse poop all over our bed when we woke up though if that is of any comfort to those of you wishing me ill at this moment. The next day we spent the night on the boat, which was pleasant, albeit cockroach infested. I also (perhaps stupidly) jumped off the top deck of the junk into the water below with some English travelers on the boat--so much fun! No worries, I have no broken bones and I still managed to escape the jellyfish...

After Halong Bay, we stayed one more night in Hanoi and then took a flight to Laos, where we currently are parked for a few days. Luang Prabang, also a UNESCO world heritage city, is very peaceful and runs at its own slow pace. Its been raining since we've arrived so we've passed the time sitting in cafes, visiting Buddhist monasteries and getting $4 Lao Massages...again life is tough for the backpackers here.

We're headed south in a few days, so I'll update you on that soon...from what I hear the buses in Laos can be as pleasant as the trains to Sapa!

A few pics from Sapa

Catching Up: Vietnam thus far.

Since I've decided to update this thing so late in the game (I've been traveling since June 30th), here are some highlights of my trip. Be forewarned this will be a long one but I will do my best to exercise brevity in my posts hereon. For those of you who don't know, I'm traveling with Hannah, whom you might remember from such posts as "Gay Paris" in December '06, and Reena, otherwise known as Renal Failure, but I'm the only person who calls her that and I actually know her from law school. Both formidable companions for this journey and to add some fun to the mix, I only introduced them once before we met up in Vietnam! Some might consider taking two strangers on a trip with you to be a risky move, but as you all know, I live on the edge. All kidding aside, we're all getting along very well. I suspect they will one day band against me in mutiny, but we'll see.

Anyway, back to the trip. We started in Ho Chi Minh City, more commonly (and formerly) referred to as Saigon. It was an insane place to start our travels. Here we learned very quickly that traffic laws are non-existent. You are likely to get hit by one of the city's million or so "motos" at any given moment. There are virtually no traffic lights and where there are, well they are blatantly ignored. People don't signal, they just honk. When you cross the street, don't expect anyone to stop. Just dogde traffic and hope for the best. Looking both ways is useless as people drive on whatever side of the street they like. Don't let the traffic light fool you in this picture either:

Here is one where we suffered a torrential downpour


Since HCMC, I've learned these same anti-rules apply all over this country. We also learned the importance of carrying some rain gear with you at all times after being drenched by a sudden downpour of monsoon proportions. Saigon is busy busy busy, so on our second night in, I managed to convince the girls that a massage would be a nice treat. The institute for the blind does hour long body massages for a mere $3USD. Sound questionable? Hannah and Reena thought so. Yet, in a moment of weakness, they agreed to give it a go. Rest assured, it was a lovely massage and Reena wanted to go back again. Best $3 I've ever spent.

From Saigon, we took a tour of the Mekong Delta and did a homestay with a local family. Met some cool people and experienced the floating markets. Interesting to see, but not sure I would recommend a trip there for anybody planning a visit.










We then headed north to Hoi An, a beautiful little town which is now a world heritage site. The thing to do in Hoi An is get clothes made by the gazillion tailors who line the streets. Hoi An's a bit more chill and was a welcome break from the insanity of Saigon. Although we didn't go, Hoi An is near the famous China Beach.






Next on our itinerary was Hanoi, in the north. Another bustling city. We tried to go and see Ho Chi Minh (now deceased communist leader/national hero)'s embalmed corpse (what's with the commies freezing their leaders?!) but unfortunately for us Fro-Ho was out of commission. Hanoi was very European in some areas, with wide tree lined boulevards.


Note the look of sheer joy on Hannah's face. She was as excited as I was to see Fro Ho in the flesh, despite the 35 degree temperature.




From Hanoi, we wanted to go to Sapa, which is in the North-Western part of the country, but when we went to the train station to book our overnight tickets for the 10 hour journey the following day, the train was sold out of sleepers. Our only option was to go for a "soft seat" and begrudgingly we agreed to do it. In retrospect, this was a mistake. I thought trains like that only existed in movies and in the slums of Mumbai or something. Apparently they thrive in Vietnam as well, where the communist version of luxury is questionable. Words cannot really describe the atmosphere or reality of this train ride. A "soft seat" consisted of a hard seat in a train with people sitting in the aisles and sleeping in doorways, windows covered in chains, people bringing full on trees with them, yelling, smells, I could go on but suffice to say we arrived safely after a very long night.
Hannah is putting on a very brave face here, I don't think the picture really does the filth of the train justice but it gives you an idea!

Luckily Sapa is so beautiful it is worth it. It is a mountainous region and the views are beautiful and breathtaking. There are local tribes here as well and as soon as you leave the hotel, the women swarm you by the dozens trying to sell you stuff--worse than when I was in Morocco, but they seem to be generally good natured. We went for a trek today to one of the local villages. I made Reena and Hannah take a motobike back---took some arm twisting with Reena, who ironically in the end loved it and didn't want to get off. It was a great way to experience the vastness of this countryside.

The internet connections here are weak so I'm not sure if I'll post pictures until later but I'm hesitant to do that regardless because I am a mess here. Humidity is insane and I am instantly hot and sweaty as soon as I step outside. This makes for lovely pictures. Until next time..

Good Morning Vietnam!

I'm useless at writing on this thing unless I'm traveling and feel the need to update friends and family as to my well-being, without resorting to the despised mass group email. Ironically I will have to send said mass email regardless so you all know I am writing on this bloody thing again. Anyway, briefly, I am alive and in Vietnam, traveling for two months. It has been an insane trip so far and I will keep you updated as to my whereabouts! Next post will be a long one, so please feel free to ignore :)