Last week we embarked on a three day, two night cruise to the spectacular Halong Bay. Just as everyone says it is some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, in my experience, and although the tourist movement there has become somewhat overwhelming, it remains well worth a visit to experience its grandeur. As you leave the dock on your big wooden junk, the sleeper boats used for all tours here, massive limestone karsts begin to rise all around in amazing teetering and flowing formations that require lots of camera work. What really made our particular trip so fun, however; was the group of twelve people that made up our boat, the Duong Song. As usual, and on this trip more than ever, the people around us continue to make all the difference, despite the location. Our boat consisted of travelers from Germany, Singapore, Australia, Belgium, and one crazy Russian. He felt obligated to buy the boats stock of wine(8 bottles) amongst many beers to ensure everyone had a good time during our night spent on the boat, afterwich I felt obligated to free the bird that was caged on the bow of our boat. The second night was spent on Cat Ba Island in a great hotel right near the beach. It was a really fun trip and we were sad to say goodbye to our new friends.
That said, I looove Sapa. It is my favorite city/town that we have visited to date. Located high up in the mountains, yet still surrounded by even larger mountains, Sapa is breathtaking. Its beautiful old buildings are backdropped by splendor from all sides and the flowing stair-stepping rice paddies covering the hillsides are stunningly green and concentric, reminding me of the lines that make up our fingerprints. On top of that, we got the deal of the year at a great hotel with a great view and staff, even bartering for two free breakfasts each to accompany our room. The town is full of great restaurants and cafes and the people are friendly. The most surprising, but my favorite, aspect of Sapa were the droves of hilltribe women wandering the streets, trying to sell their handwoven goods. Many of them speak fluent English, which they learned from tourists alone, none in school. Their people, the Black Hmong, live extremely difficult lifestyles, comparable to that of native Americans in the U.S. a hundred years ago. They live completely off of their own crops and weavings, in dirt floored wooden huts. They are opressed by the vietnamese people who call them cats and have zero respect for them. We found them to be more friendly and smarter than any Vietnamese we have encountered. We had the privelage of joining two of our befriended hilltribe women, So and Csi, for lunch one day in their village. After buying some food at the local market, we hiked three hours up to their house through dense mist. Upon arriving we found the house empty except for Grandma and the youngest daughter of So. After twenty minutes ten more family memers had arrived, straight from the fields where they spend their entire day, even the 10 year old boys and girls. After about two hours sitting around the wood fire, cooking lunch, we sat down to a delicious meal, men at one end of the table, women at the other. Throughout the meal any time someone said "How", everyone took a drink of rice wine. DO NOT be decieved by the name wine here..this stuff is lethal. Rice whisky or 100 proof wine would be a more appropriate name which we found, and experienced quite quickly. We should have known it was trouble after grandpa stumbled out of his room at 11:00 am, already drunk as a skunk, almost falling into the fire. I was lucky enough to sit next to him at lunch as he rambled on in Hmong dialect, to nobody, for two hours, before stumbling back to bed. Impressive for an 86 year old. Our second to last day we took a moto to Bac Ha for the Sunday market where we saw buffalo, pigs, and dogs being sold among other craziness. We spent five days enjoying this great little spot and I wish I could stay longer. Now its off to catch our flights to Taiwan for our last stop. Miss you all and hope everythings great back home. Love Mas
p.s. Happy Graduation Kenyonites!!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Escape the Heat
Since our great few days in Dalat, one of my favorite stops in Vietnam due to the beautiful area and friendly locals, we have been heading north faster than expected. Hoi An was our next stop where we spent three days in brutal heat waves reaching over 100 degrees every day, 104 once. The town itself was a really fun, beautiful old town full of great food and over 500 tailors interestingly enough. We made it a few hours walkin around the town before retreating to the nearby beach on rented bicycles for the rest of the afternoon on day 1. Day 2 started at 4:45 am for a tour to My Son, a Cham Ruins site nearby. Again we made it to around noon before running for shore. Aside from touring and beaching we had some custom clothes tailored for us, some button downs for myself, which are especially comfortable.
Next on our route north in n attempt to flee the heat was Hue, the old capital of Vietnam which was a big bustling city, but full of culture including a really interesting old Citadel from an earlier emperor which was heavily bombed. Other sites included tombs and pagodas from hundreds of years past. We took the sleeper bus from here north and stopped in Ninh Binh for the day to visit Tam Coc. These sleeper buses are pretty hilarious. Two levels high, three "beds" acrosse each row. I unfortunately am far from fitting but with enough snacks and a book I make it through the night. Tam Coc is called the Halong Bay of the rice paddies. Half of our canoe ride was spent in the rain, but the scenery was the most spectacular that we have seen yet. Huge rock formations and cliffs coming out of the rice paddies as we quietly canoed through their shadows..a real highlight despite the weather (It wasn't all bad as we were the only boat out there for the first hour).
Now we are in Hanoi, a huge metropolis full of motorbikes, big buildings, an endless flow of people, and most importantly niiice cooler weather! It is a great city with lots of great attractions around a very nice 'Old Quarter' part of the city which is centered around a big lake. Among the many museums we have visited is the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, which houses the body of Ho Chi Minh. Not a fake body, or a wax body, his real body, which spends three months a year in Russia being kept in good shape. It was a little creepy in there, and extremely strict. If you stepped out of line, a military official was there to push you back in line. Tomorrow it's off to Halong Bay for two nights!! Hope you're all happy and healthy, love Mas
Next on our route north in n attempt to flee the heat was Hue, the old capital of Vietnam which was a big bustling city, but full of culture including a really interesting old Citadel from an earlier emperor which was heavily bombed. Other sites included tombs and pagodas from hundreds of years past. We took the sleeper bus from here north and stopped in Ninh Binh for the day to visit Tam Coc. These sleeper buses are pretty hilarious. Two levels high, three "beds" acrosse each row. I unfortunately am far from fitting but with enough snacks and a book I make it through the night. Tam Coc is called the Halong Bay of the rice paddies. Half of our canoe ride was spent in the rain, but the scenery was the most spectacular that we have seen yet. Huge rock formations and cliffs coming out of the rice paddies as we quietly canoed through their shadows..a real highlight despite the weather (It wasn't all bad as we were the only boat out there for the first hour).
Now we are in Hanoi, a huge metropolis full of motorbikes, big buildings, an endless flow of people, and most importantly niiice cooler weather! It is a great city with lots of great attractions around a very nice 'Old Quarter' part of the city which is centered around a big lake. Among the many museums we have visited is the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, which houses the body of Ho Chi Minh. Not a fake body, or a wax body, his real body, which spends three months a year in Russia being kept in good shape. It was a little creepy in there, and extremely strict. If you stepped out of line, a military official was there to push you back in line. Tomorrow it's off to Halong Bay for two nights!! Hope you're all happy and healthy, love Mas
Friday, May 6, 2011
Ho Chi Minh??
Vietnam. We have successfully returned to the flow of backpacker living. After a few rocky days missing the comfort of traveling with my parents i.e the comfy beds, buffet dinners, great company, and the occasional massage, we have regained our stride.
We spent two nights in the Mekong Delta at a cool little "homestay" on an island in the river. Our place had a working orchard full of tons of delicious fruit and a 91 year old owner who eerily resembles Ho Chi Minh himself. Every so often, only when you were lucky, you would see him emerge from his quarters, staff in hand to walk the grounds for a minute or two before silently disappearing again for hours. When we made contact it was clear he may not have really known what was going on as he waved his hands around somewhat randomly until we continued on our way. The only downfall was our room was a bit dirty..we awoke to several hundred dead bugs coating the floor the second morning. That aside, we enjoyed a great river boat cruise through the delta canals with a local guy, and visited one of the many floating markets where we clambered onto the sellers boats to pick out the best watermelons and pineapples from the pile of several hundred laying in the hull. In the afternoon we used Ho's rickety bikes to explore the island a bit, and Stef got a nice purple 50 cent pedicure along the way. Other than that we spent a lot of time reading, relaxing, and watching some great evening lightning storms.
After the delta we headed North to Mui Ne, a beautiful little beach town full of great cafes, lots of guesthouses, and perfect weather. We were in full out relaxation mode at this point, reading on the beach, and swimming in the amazingly warm waters. In the afternoon we rented a motorbike and headed off to find the sand-dunes we had heard about. After about forty minutes driving, we tailed a tour jeep most of the way so as not to get lost, we arrived at spectacular white sand dune mountains next to a water-lilly filled lake. It certainly did not feel like Vietnam at any point. We hiked up them for a beautiful view of the surrounding desert area. It felt just like New Mexico strangely enough.
Today we arrived in Dalat, a town north of Mui Ne and inland at an altitude of about 5000 ft. The weather is sooooo nice, 70 degrees in the middle of the day, almost cold at night! What a great relief from the 90's and humidity. The city is bustling but very interesting. We had our best Vietnamese food yet and found some tasty street stalls as well. Tomorrow we are heading 15 km out of town to hike Lang Bian Mountain which is a little under 8000 ft so we shouldn't have to much trouble..we hope. Hope you are all doing well. Miss you, Mas
We spent two nights in the Mekong Delta at a cool little "homestay" on an island in the river. Our place had a working orchard full of tons of delicious fruit and a 91 year old owner who eerily resembles Ho Chi Minh himself. Every so often, only when you were lucky, you would see him emerge from his quarters, staff in hand to walk the grounds for a minute or two before silently disappearing again for hours. When we made contact it was clear he may not have really known what was going on as he waved his hands around somewhat randomly until we continued on our way. The only downfall was our room was a bit dirty..we awoke to several hundred dead bugs coating the floor the second morning. That aside, we enjoyed a great river boat cruise through the delta canals with a local guy, and visited one of the many floating markets where we clambered onto the sellers boats to pick out the best watermelons and pineapples from the pile of several hundred laying in the hull. In the afternoon we used Ho's rickety bikes to explore the island a bit, and Stef got a nice purple 50 cent pedicure along the way. Other than that we spent a lot of time reading, relaxing, and watching some great evening lightning storms.
After the delta we headed North to Mui Ne, a beautiful little beach town full of great cafes, lots of guesthouses, and perfect weather. We were in full out relaxation mode at this point, reading on the beach, and swimming in the amazingly warm waters. In the afternoon we rented a motorbike and headed off to find the sand-dunes we had heard about. After about forty minutes driving, we tailed a tour jeep most of the way so as not to get lost, we arrived at spectacular white sand dune mountains next to a water-lilly filled lake. It certainly did not feel like Vietnam at any point. We hiked up them for a beautiful view of the surrounding desert area. It felt just like New Mexico strangely enough.
Today we arrived in Dalat, a town north of Mui Ne and inland at an altitude of about 5000 ft. The weather is sooooo nice, 70 degrees in the middle of the day, almost cold at night! What a great relief from the 90's and humidity. The city is bustling but very interesting. We had our best Vietnamese food yet and found some tasty street stalls as well. Tomorrow we are heading 15 km out of town to hike Lang Bian Mountain which is a little under 8000 ft so we shouldn't have to much trouble..we hope. Hope you are all doing well. Miss you, Mas
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Laos Livin
We have made it to Vietnam after an amazing two weeks in Laos with my parents! Our time in Laos included an amazing two day river cruise down the mekong, full day treks over unbelievable green peaks and rivers, kayaking, spalunking, elephant riding, tons of eating, and endless great company.
The river cruise was really relaxing and enjoyable as we cruised about seven ours a day, split up by some cave stops and village walks. It was really interesting to observe such a remote culture based on fishing and farming alone with little to no interactions with the outside world. We saw lots of new fishing techniques, people panning for gold, and there were always lots of naked kids screaming and running around the shore. We met up in Luang Prabang after the cruise where my dad met up with us and from there we were on the move, treking, kayaking, and touring the city. We did one long trek to an overnight homestay in a Hmong village of only 300 residents. We were definitely brought back in time a bit as we lay in our bamboo hut that night. It was really fun. After, we headed south 7 hours y van to Vang Veng, known for its absurd drugs and party scene...mom picked it. It was by far the most beautiful area we have traveled through with dramatic steep peaks covered in virgin jungle. The town itself wasn't much and we spent most of our time outside of it. One day we went spalunking in some huuuge caves, some that take over 4 hours to walk through. We went about 500 meters into the largest one before turning around. The final cave/tunnel was filled with water so we rode tubes through it. After some more hiking and kayaking we headed down to Vientiene for a final couple days of touring and eating and enjoying the peaceful, happy, friendly Lao people. It was really great getting to travel all together and we had an amazing time. Laos is a spectacular country and will thrive in the coming years as they have so much to offer.
Our first day and a half in Vietnam have been humbling as we visited the war museums. It is definitely hard not to feel like the bad guy as an American, especially since the communist government is in charge of all the writings. They make it very clear the North "liberated" the South and we were trying to destroy the country as a whole. That said we were clearly well out of line on several issues and it was very hard to see the images of tortured POW's and those affected by agent orange. Today we went to Cu Chi tunnels, a network of vietcong caves stretching over 500 km at their peak. We got to 'walk' through one of them about 30 meters ( I basically had to crawl it was so small) which was a really eye-opening experience. These soldiers would spend weeks inside, often without room to sit up. Crazy.
Tomorrow we are off to the Mekong Delta for a homestay and some floating markets!! Hope your all well back home and getting some nice weather, Love Mas
p.s Happy Liberation Day! (Yesterday in Vietnam)
The river cruise was really relaxing and enjoyable as we cruised about seven ours a day, split up by some cave stops and village walks. It was really interesting to observe such a remote culture based on fishing and farming alone with little to no interactions with the outside world. We saw lots of new fishing techniques, people panning for gold, and there were always lots of naked kids screaming and running around the shore. We met up in Luang Prabang after the cruise where my dad met up with us and from there we were on the move, treking, kayaking, and touring the city. We did one long trek to an overnight homestay in a Hmong village of only 300 residents. We were definitely brought back in time a bit as we lay in our bamboo hut that night. It was really fun. After, we headed south 7 hours y van to Vang Veng, known for its absurd drugs and party scene...mom picked it. It was by far the most beautiful area we have traveled through with dramatic steep peaks covered in virgin jungle. The town itself wasn't much and we spent most of our time outside of it. One day we went spalunking in some huuuge caves, some that take over 4 hours to walk through. We went about 500 meters into the largest one before turning around. The final cave/tunnel was filled with water so we rode tubes through it. After some more hiking and kayaking we headed down to Vientiene for a final couple days of touring and eating and enjoying the peaceful, happy, friendly Lao people. It was really great getting to travel all together and we had an amazing time. Laos is a spectacular country and will thrive in the coming years as they have so much to offer.
Our first day and a half in Vietnam have been humbling as we visited the war museums. It is definitely hard not to feel like the bad guy as an American, especially since the communist government is in charge of all the writings. They make it very clear the North "liberated" the South and we were trying to destroy the country as a whole. That said we were clearly well out of line on several issues and it was very hard to see the images of tortured POW's and those affected by agent orange. Today we went to Cu Chi tunnels, a network of vietcong caves stretching over 500 km at their peak. We got to 'walk' through one of them about 30 meters ( I basically had to crawl it was so small) which was a really eye-opening experience. These soldiers would spend weeks inside, often without room to sit up. Crazy.
Tomorrow we are off to the Mekong Delta for a homestay and some floating markets!! Hope your all well back home and getting some nice weather, Love Mas
p.s Happy Liberation Day! (Yesterday in Vietnam)
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Pai, Songkran, and a New Traveler
Last week we headed up to Pai, a small town on Northern Thailand that we kept hearing about on out travels from fellow backpackers. We had an interesting ride to Pai, to say the least. To put it quickly, we were jammed in 1/4 of a pickup truck back (the rest was full of stuff) with three thai teenagers, driving up a road that they make tee-shirts about due to the 700 and some turns/uturns it takes to get to Pai over the mountains. Luckily we only hit one chicken, which smashed the front light, and only rubbed one guard rail on an espcially tight turn, making it there safe and sound. In Pai we had a relaxing couple days filled with a great Thai cooking class, and a Thai massage class the following day. Both were very informative and I'm sure very useful for the future. The area itself was really beautiful, lots of mountains, and a great little town full of stalls and cafes.
After Pai, we took the bus back to Chiang Mai to stay at the house of Judy and Richie, friends of a friend from Lizzie's family in Chicago. Jusy and Richie lived in New York for 30 years and are now retired back in Chiang Mai in really great house with beautiful gardens. They took us in like family and piled us up with more Thai food than we could handle (Judy loves food and is a great cook as well). These few days also happened to be Songkran, the Thai new year. It is also known as the water festival and in Chiang Mai has turned into absolute mayhem. The streets are crowded with thousands of people, mostly Thai, with foreigners mixed in, in an all out water fight for three days straight. Every truck that drives by has eight people in the back, and three trashcans filled with water and buckets to throw on the crowd. Everyone in the crowd is armed with giant super soakers and buckets of their own to battle the trucks as well as each other. To make it all even crazier, there is loud music blasting from different stages and trucks with ice blocks that some people have the coldest water possible to dump on you. This goes on from morning until night in the center of Chiang Mai. Luckily, after the 200th bucket of water gets poured over your head it's all the same; though you never get used to the ice buckets. It was a really fun time, comparable to a spring break like atmosphere down in Florida, but much better.
Three days ago my Mom arrived in Chiang Rai, Thailand and we met up with her that afternoon! Since then we have been having such a great time together exploring the markets of Chiang Rai, ordering all the best Thai foods, and for the past two days we have been on a bike trip through northern Thailand with our guide Bee. It is such a great change of pace to ride through smaller towns on bike and to enjoy the beautiful countryside and different farms. Tomorrow, we have one more day on our bikes before heading into Laos for ten days, where we will meet up with my dad. For all of you family members worrying, mom is doing great, and Stef and I are trying to keep up with her. We just enjoyed a nice Thai massage and are off to the Opium Hall in the morning before heading out on our bikes. Hope everyone back home is happy and doing well. Love, Mas
After Pai, we took the bus back to Chiang Mai to stay at the house of Judy and Richie, friends of a friend from Lizzie's family in Chicago. Jusy and Richie lived in New York for 30 years and are now retired back in Chiang Mai in really great house with beautiful gardens. They took us in like family and piled us up with more Thai food than we could handle (Judy loves food and is a great cook as well). These few days also happened to be Songkran, the Thai new year. It is also known as the water festival and in Chiang Mai has turned into absolute mayhem. The streets are crowded with thousands of people, mostly Thai, with foreigners mixed in, in an all out water fight for three days straight. Every truck that drives by has eight people in the back, and three trashcans filled with water and buckets to throw on the crowd. Everyone in the crowd is armed with giant super soakers and buckets of their own to battle the trucks as well as each other. To make it all even crazier, there is loud music blasting from different stages and trucks with ice blocks that some people have the coldest water possible to dump on you. This goes on from morning until night in the center of Chiang Mai. Luckily, after the 200th bucket of water gets poured over your head it's all the same; though you never get used to the ice buckets. It was a really fun time, comparable to a spring break like atmosphere down in Florida, but much better.
Three days ago my Mom arrived in Chiang Rai, Thailand and we met up with her that afternoon! Since then we have been having such a great time together exploring the markets of Chiang Rai, ordering all the best Thai foods, and for the past two days we have been on a bike trip through northern Thailand with our guide Bee. It is such a great change of pace to ride through smaller towns on bike and to enjoy the beautiful countryside and different farms. Tomorrow, we have one more day on our bikes before heading into Laos for ten days, where we will meet up with my dad. For all of you family members worrying, mom is doing great, and Stef and I are trying to keep up with her. We just enjoyed a nice Thai massage and are off to the Opium Hall in the morning before heading out on our bikes. Hope everyone back home is happy and doing well. Love, Mas
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Pygmy Seahorses and Giant Olivers
Tonight is our first night back in Thailand so, as always, we celebrated with a trip to the night market for pad thai, spring rolls, fruit shakes, mango sticky rice, and banana roti. Amazing. Our last week in Bali was a blast. We took our rented moto up and around almost all of Bali. Our first big leg of the trip across half the northern coast line took three hours and was spent nearly entirely in a torrential rainstorm..not very fun on moto. We arrived at our final destination in Lovina late that night and after two hours of bargain hunting found the best room. We went on a morning, 6AM, dolphin watch on a tiny Balinese boat and saw two dolphins for a total of 3 seconds. The more entertaining part was watching the 40 other boast zoom around in packs every time one boat appeared to have seen a breach. After that we took our moto to the NE corner of Bali to look for Oliver, who we knew was docked somewhere off the Menjangen Resort bay. Two hours of motoring and we found ourselves at the beach looking out at his ship the Mir. I stopped to help some locals and a westerner fix an anchor while we waited to try and figure out how to get to the boat. Turns out that westerner was Laser, the owner and captain of the Mir, and the mooring we were getting ready was for his ship. Soon after, we found ourselves aboard the Mir with Oliver and the rest of the crew, enjoying some lunch and an amazing view of mountains, volcanoes, and ocean. We ended up spending the entire day on the Mir, helping with daily chores and mooring the ship. We had dinner and left around 9 to get back to Lovina for the night. Our next two days after were spent in the most amazing world ever. We went diving, four dives in two days, at Menjangen Island, which is known as one of the best dive sites in the world, especially for coral. It was incredible. Our first day was highlighted by spectacular hundred meter walls covered in every color coral and every color fish you could imagine as well as five black tipped shark sightings (The Mir had seen two sharks on twenty some dives so it was very lucky). While I thought it would be nice to get a closer look at them, Stef, Wide eyed with terror, went torpedoing in the opposite direction. Day two was highlighted by equally amazing coral and the sighting of the pygmy seahorse (three) which is the smallest seahorse in the world, about 1cm long. The big time divers come from all around the world hoping to catch a sighting of these guys in this area, often with no luck at all. A frog fish, also very rare, and another shark topped off a great trip. We spent our last day and a half meeting up with Oiver back in Ubud and saying our goodbyes at Yayasan. I will definitely miss Bali, but am excited to get back to Thailand as well. Hope all is well back home, Love Mas
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Shipwreck Scuba
Barracuda!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)