The time has come...

The time has come...

I have come to prefer the squatting toilets over the western ones. Who would have ever thought?!

I'm no longer bothered having to wear the same clothes over and over.

I find myself bargaining over a simple dollar.

I find a 5 hour bus ride to be a quick one.

Am no longer bothered when a fly or insect crawls into my food. I am now able to pick it out and continue eating. Yes I know it's gross but you really have no control over this!

Have gotten use to fish bones and skin any time I order fish.

Getting use to constant sweat!!

I now ALWAYS remember to carry toilet paper with me everywhere I go.

I have finally succumbed to spraying my body with poisonous deet EVERY night :(

Trusting hand sanatizer to keep my hands clean throughout the days

Looking forward to my next meal of rice, veggies and sometimes fish. Haven't gotten sick of it yet.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll ever get use to or comfortable sleeping with cockroaches, but come on... who would be?!


With all that said, I feel like an official traveler now :)

I'm ready for INDIA!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Taking a rest in Bangkok and saying goodbye

Wow- it's been a month with my group and now it's come to an end. 30 days beginning in Bangkok, onto visiting the kind people of Cambodia and seeing incredible temple ruins, to Vietnams busy streets, acres of rice fields and hundreds of tailor shops, to Laos where it turned into a laid back environment with scenic lush mountains every direction you turn. Now, back to the bustling streets and polluted air of Bangkok.

I needed some time to rest. We really moved quickly through 4 countries. I'm so grateful I decided to join this tour group. I have met some wonderful people who I will keep in touch with and a handful I will see again in the future. Now I get to visit friends in London, Australia, and Switzerland! How lucky am I :)

I want to take a moment to thank some of my new friends. As I am grateful for everyone who comes in and out my life.
Krysia, Louise and I grew so close. The last couple nights we all crammed into one room. The 3 of us all shared a double bed. Although we had little room to move we were all so happy to be so close and didn't want to leave one another.

I knew Sam and Jeremy were good friends when they convinced me to buy pepper spray for my trip alone to India and tried it out on themselves to make sure it was strong enough. Silly of them but deep down incredibly considerate.
And my tour guide Matt who has to be among the top guides out there. His child like spirit and love of his job was a breath of fresh air from most americans i come across who hate their jobs.
I am grateful for this handful of people that were close in my life for the last 33 days. We started out as strangers and ended feeling as if we were family.

So my finals days in Bangkok were spent resting up, getting last minute things for my time in India, which comprised of a visit to the Bangkok mall which was massive and an experience in and of itself. I also visited Chinatown for a great adventure, went to the floating market, peaked in the grand palace and Wat po, which housed the reclining buddah. And enjoyed the last few nights with my friends before saying my goodbyes.

Chinatown !

Click on this picture below for pictures of my time in Bangkok.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Reflecting while on the Mekong - Laos back to Thailand

Right at this instance, I am on a long boat, travelling on the Mekong River from Laos to Thailand. We are set out for a 2 day journey (22 hour total) and I am grateful for the down time to reflect and take in the beautiful scenery. What a nice change from a bus ride. Check out my view!

It’s been 6 weeks today since I left USA and somewhere around 9 weeks since I left my home in AZ. Wow! I still have to remind myself sometimes that I am really doing this. I am living one of the biggest goals I have ever made for myself in my life. It feels amazing! With this free time I am finally doing some of the things I have always been interested in doing but didn’t have the time back in the US, like learn how to cook better, read, explore more music, read homeopathy for fun (yes  I’m a dork – but a passionate one at best), deepen my meditation practice, learn about other cultures, and more! I love this time in my life! Couldn’t be happier J
As I reflect on my life at this moment it is a perfect balance of stability and instability. I have no home at this moment, moving day to day to sleep in a different bed, hoping for a decent shower to use, and praying for no cockroaches at my next destination. (Last night, in Pak Beng,  I had the privilege of sleeping with all sorts of insects, on the hardest bed and pillow ever and with a lack of electricity for the first few hours. It is so hard to sleep without a fan or A/C out here).

Check out this creepy crawler. Its gigantic!

I love how I had to take out my head lamp for this hostel! Great fun! It was SO hot, my little hand held fan didn't do squat :( 

But I am dealing with all of this surprisingly well! I never know  what the next day will bring, who I will meet, the places I have the privilege of seeing, and the fact I get to learn something new each and every day about this world. This instability is SO good for me as I tend much towards the planned and stable life back in the US. It feels great!

I decided to change up some plans now that I know my residency is going to start sooner than expected. I am no longer going to visit Spain and Portugal and I feel completely at peace with this decision. Since booking my flights I always had a gut feeling that I would not make it there as I never felt a strong pull to visit, whereas SE Asia, India, and Israel have very strong pulls. Spain and Portugal aren’t going anywhere, so I am certain I will visit in my future.

 So, now I will return home in 9 weeks. 9 weeks – yay so much more time!  When I return I look forward to visiting both coasts and plan my cross country road trip from Arizona to what will be my new home in Connecticut. I guess I am not finished my travels by returning to the US. There is SO much to see in our country!

I find it interesting when I meet people who have been travelling for months on end and dread going back home. I feel bad for them. I am looking forward to coming back home, but still enjoying my each and everyday away. I am learning that most people in life don’t really love what they do for work. They seek out travel and vacation time to really live life and use work as the necessity to just pay bills and such. When I am asked what I do for work I begin to smile ear to ear and explain to them what naturopathic medicine is and how I love the work I do. How fortunate I am! I choose to travel to learn and grown rather than to escape. I may not have been able to say that about my travels a few years ago, but as the years I grow older, the more I am loving my life and the path that I have laid out for myself.

And for now, I have another 9 weeks to go! Im sure these weeks will be filled with more challenges and plenty of life altering memories! Awe, so grateful for this time!

Will be back in Thailand again soon to explore Bangkok and then off to the next country. INDIA!!!

For more pics of the Mekong along with our stop at a Buddah Cave, click on this picture below.

Laos food

I really love learning about the different cuisines in each country. So if I end up with more food pictures on my blog than anything else – I am quiet ok with that J

Loas food is very similar to Thai food, however a main difference is the rice that is served. In Thailand, steamed jasmine rice is served, in Laos STICKY rice is served. Other than that, the dishes are fairly similar.

Another difference in Laos is the amount of free alcohol that is served. Almost every restaurant that I went to we were offered a free bottle of either whiskey or rice wine.

Another food that I often found in Laos and not in the other places was Seaweed.

This is a traditional Laos dish called Lap. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the dish so much but it is made up of minced meat (fish is in this picture), mint, lemon, lemongrass and other spices. Was just OK.

Sticky Rice

Although Papaya Salad is served in other countries, it is extremely popular here in Laos.

Simple curries similar to Thailand.

 
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Luang Prabang – So much happening in a single day!

Alright, bus rides are now starting to get to me. I can’t even count the number of hours I have been spending on buses. 10 hours one day, 7 hours the next, 5 here and there. The first few hours don’t bother me at all. In fact, I like the down time. But once 4 hours hits, I get pretty antsy.

Anyway, the beauty of these long bus rides is that they always seem to take me into another amazing destination J So no complaining here!

I had an incredible day packed with meaningful experiences. I was exhausted by the end, but it was well worth it.

A few of us woke at sunrise to line up and make food offerings to the monks in town. We joined the locals and other tourists in a long line running down the street. Women kneeled while men stood offering anything from sticky rice, to fruits, cookies, packaged goods, etc. There must have been hundreds of monks, young and old, walking in a line with their bright orange garments and silver bowls taking the donations from all of us. What an experience. Was definitely worth the early rising.

 Later in the morning I rented a bicycle and rode into town to volunteer and teach English. The day got even better!! First off, any day cruising around on a bike in a foreign city is an exciting day, but to sit with a Laos local and help him learn English was such a treat for me! I LOVED IT!

Here is the student, Somsuang,  that I was working with. He looks so young but is actually 21 years old. He is in his third year in University and his goal is to return to his hometown in the country side to teach English.

Later in the afternoon I joined my group again and we drove up to visit waterfalls. Beautiful scenery and a nice time to relax.

This plant was everywhere around the waterfalls! Such a great metaphor for me right now. It’s called the Wandering Jew!! I’m serious!! J

The night ended with a bike ride to the best night market yet! I wish I got more pictures of it to share but I was so present in the moment enjoying the crafts and eating really cheap food from the buffets I forgot to take my camera out to take pictures. Oops. But of course, I didn’t forget to take pictures of the food with my iphone. Oh Elana…

Here are some more pics of my time in Luang Probang



Laos Cooking and Vang Vieng

I’m doing it! I’m really doing it! A cooking course in each country I visit!! Yay! So far I’m accomplishing this goal! And I am LOVING the experience.

Today, I had the fortunate opportunity to work one on one with a local in the kitchen of the guesthouse I was staying at. I went up to the front desk to ask about cooking classes and the manager totally hooked me up! It was incredible. He told me to meet at the entrance of the guesthouse tomorrow morning at 7:30am and my teacher, Wan, will pick me up, take me to the market and return to cook. I was told to just pay for the ingredients and that’s it. Really?! How can this be?! This is the ideal situation!!!! And did it work out you ask? It worked out even better than I expected. I got to chose exactly what I wanted to cook and vuola – done! Here is a pure example of the kindness of the Laos people. They are giving in nature and accommodating to us tourists.

Here is Wan and I in the outdoor kitchen of the guesthouse. We just got back from the market and ready to cook!

 I chose very basic dishes so I could return home and repeat these recipes. They were each delicious and very easily reproducible.

First we cooked  a Pumpkin Soup

Laos Pumpkin Soup Diced pumpkin (skinned and deseeded) Enough water to blend pumpkin 4 tbsp Coconut milk (+ more for garnish) 1 tbsp butter 1 tbsp Sugar Pinch of Salt Pinch of black pepper  Garnish: Cilantro *I would add ginger next time

Place raw cubed pumpkin and water in blender. Blend till smooth. Heat up butter and coconut milk in pan and heat on high for 5 minutes. Add blended pumpkin to pan. Boil on high for a few minutes. Add a pinch of salt, sugar and black pepper. Garnish with a bit more coconut milk and cilantro.

Next dish was a delicious Steamed Lemongrass Fish dish

Laos Steamed Fish Filet of fish cubed 2 stalks of lemongrass thinly sliced on the diagonal 3 inches of minced ginger 2 minced green onions 4-5 minced kefir lime leaves 6 tbsp of coconut milk 3 tbsp of soy sauce Banana leaves to cook in with toothpicks Steamer

Add fish, veggies, coconut milk, soy sauce into a bowl and mix. Add mixture to a banana leaf and steam for 20 minutes.

Third dish was Veggie/Tofu Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

Laos Stir Fry Tofu and Veggies with Peanut Sauce Stir Fry: Veggies: Cut on a diagonal a handful each of green leafy and long beans. Mince 2 spring onions, 3 inches of ginger, 2 cloves of garlic. Thinly slice 1 carrot. 1 cup of fish flavored tofu 1 tbsp of oyster sauce 1 tbsp of soy sauce 1 tbsp of sugar Pinch of salt Pinch of black pepper Oil Garnish: cilantro Peanut Sauce: 2 handful of peanuts Water to blend peanuts 4 shallots 2 garlic cloves 4 tbsp of coconut milk 1 tbsp red curry paste 1  tbsp of sugar Pinch of salt

Place oil in a pan and heat. Add ginger and sauté for a minute. Add the tofu and continue to stir fry. Next add all of the veggies and mix until wilted. Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, salt and black pepper. Lastly, add some peanut sauce if desired. Garnish with cilantro Peanut sauce: Blend peanuts, water, shallots and garlic. Set aside. Heat oil in a pan and add the coconut milk. Stir for 5 minutes. Add the peanut mixture and mix well. Let boil. Add salt and sugar.

Fourth  was Vegetable Fried Rice

Laos Veggie Fried Rice 1 ½ cup cooked rice Small diced long beans Small diced cabbage Thinly sliced carrot Thinly sliced green leafy veggie Minced garlic – 2 cloves 1 tbsp oyster sauce 1 tbsp soy sauce ½ tbsp sugar ½ tbsp black soy sauce Oil Garnish: cilantro

Heat oil in a wok. Add garlic sauté for 1 minute. (If you want to use an egg add the egg at this time and scramble) Add the veggies and sauté until wilted. Next, add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and black soy sauce. Lastly, add the rice and sauté for a few more minutes. Garnish with cilantro. *Place rice in a bowl and pack tightly. Flip over the bowl onto a plate and lift bowl. You should be left with a nice dome of rice.

Last, for dessert, was Coconut Sticky Rice. Yummy!

Laos Coconut Sticky Rice 1 cup of sticky rice 1 ½ cup of coconut milk 3 tbsp of sugar Pinch of salt 1 tbsp butter Garnish: fruit and marmalade

Heat butter in a pan. Add the coconut milk and boil for 5 minutes. Add the sugar and continue to stir. Add the sticky rice and break up into pieces mixing it into the sauce. Stir on and off until the mixture thickens. Garnish and serve.

Wan was such a sweet women to work with. And the hug she gave me with appreciation for my gracious tip was a memory I will always remember.

I had SO many leftovers it was such a wonderful feeling to share with all of my new friends. Now, I look forward to reproducing these recipes to share with family and friends!! Can’t wait!!

For detailed pictures of the process click on this photo below.

 

Later that day I took a ride on an ATV to do some sightseeing and of course got super dirty. Here are some pictures of the town I was visiting called Vang Vieng. Great little town full of tourists. Most popular thing to do in Vang Vieng is go tubing down the river, but since this was my only chance to take a cooking course in Laos, I had to pass on the tubing. I don’t regret it at all! One other highlight of Vang Veing to note are the outdoor bars scattered throughout the city with TV’s playing Friends series over and over and over. I am completely and utterly serious. I have some pictures for proof. Felt weird being in Laos watching Friends.

A chat with a Monk!

I am such a curious woman. This characteristic of mine comes out more and more as I get older. I find a local to chat with and find myself holding myself back from the next question I have. Elana - patience! :)

I was brought up with a strong Jewish culture but I also resonate with Buddhism. A big reason why I chose to travel to Asia was to learn more about Buddhism, and Israel to learn more about Judaism.

So what did I learn from chatting with a monk??!!

I learned what it was like to live as a monk! Life in a monastery can start as young as 6 years old. It is common for young kids from the countryside to take advantage of life in a monastery for opportunity for an education, food and shelter, all of which are not easy to come by in a small village in the countryside. Between ages 6-19 these boys are called novice monks and not until age 20 can one be considered a monk. Novice monks have different “rules” than the monks, but for the most part everyone follows these same basic practices. They all meditate morning and night somewhere between 3-4 hours per day. They are only allowed to eat 2 meals per day, breakfast and lunch. I was curious why and was told that dinner was avoided so the men wouldn’t have enough energy in the evening time to think about sex. Since sex is forbidden as a monk the goal is to try and distract their thoughts and rather focus on their hunger. In addition, I learned that monks can’t ask or use money, rather they live off of donations. As a monk you are allowed to marry, however, once married you can no longer be a monk. Therefore, many boys grow up in a monastery and then leave to marry and raise a family. If/when he becomes a widow or divorces his wife, he is welcome to return to the monastery.

After learning this information, I think that this option to become a monk is really a wonderful option for many of these people who have such little opportunity. Since monks are taught English in the monastery, these men tend to be the people who have jobs and thus have more money and a better life after they leave.

So, what other questions did I have for the monk? Well, the obvious one….. what’s the story behind the fat happy buddah? J I’ve been so curious!

Well, I’m not certain this is true, but this monk told us that the fat buddah use to be a very attractive  monk in his early years. He often times had women chasing him around which distracted him from reaching enlightenment. He requested from God to stop these women from chasing him so God placed his hand on his head and squished him into a fat man. At this point, he was able to focus and reach enlightenment, thus transforming from a monk into a happy fat buddah. Ha!! Thought that story was cute. Not sure if its sound but it’s a cute story nonetheless.

I was also curious about how Buddhism differed in different regions of the world, specifically in India since that is my next stop.

I was told that in SE Asia, Buddhists believe in nirvana and that people are cremated so the smoke and ashes can reach the heaven. Apparently, in India and Tibet Buddhist’s believe in reincarnation instead. I would love to look more into this when I get to India.

Lastly, I asked how popular Buddhism is in Laos and what other religions are practiced here?

He shared with us that there are 3 classes of people in Laos. The high grounds, middle and lower grounds. The lower grounds practice Buddhism, are more educated and have more money. The middle and higher grounds practice Animism – which was explained to me as believing in jungle spirits. These groups of people often times live poorer lives with less education.

And a bit of history to share about Laos too that I learned from him.

During the Vietnam War, Laos was very much involved but was rarely spoken about, hence the reason why the war in Laos is referred to as the “Secret War”. Laos was bombed more than any other country during the war. Ho Chi Minh, who was the leader of the communist government in Northern Vietnam, used the southern part of Laos, which parallels Vietnam, to move troops from the North to the South of Vietnam. Since the South and America knew this route, there were many bombs and landmines planted all throughout southern Loas.  Similar to Cambodia, during the Khmer Rouge, landmines were placed and forgotten about, therefore there are still people today that die each year from accidently stepping on one. The monk said that 30-50 people every year die from them.

So here is a tidbit of info directly from a monks mouth to my curious ears. Love sharing what I have been learning on the road!

Vientiane and Buddah Park - Laos

Oh how nice it is to cross the border from the fast paced life of Vietnam to the laid back relaxed feel of Laos!!
The 10 hour drive was one of the most scenic yet. I couldn't imagine it getting better after bicycling through rice fields but driving through the thousands of bright green mountains with a creek running thru was truly a warm welcome.

My group went from 16 in Cambodia, to 15 in Vietnam to now a small group of 6 of us.  Louise and Krysia from England, Sam from Switzerland, Jeremy from Virginia and Matt from Canada.

Unlike my experience with northern Vietnamese people, the people of Laos are incredibly friendly and smile very often. It feels like I'm back in Cambodia in this regard. Oh how that touches my heart. Poverty is pretty apparent here in Laos and smiles still prevail. Such a good example for me to learn from.

Unlike Vietnam, Laos is comprised mainly of Buddhists so temples (wats) are scattered throughout country. Im so happy to return to a Buddhist country as part of this journey of mine is somewhat of a pilgrimage. Feels great to walk down the street and pass by a monk, chat with him for a bit and then walk into a massive temple full of beautiful buddahs. These temples are constant reminders of the life I continually seek out - that of simplicity, meditation and ultimately happiness. I admire these monks and feel honored to be welcomed into their temples.

My tour guide said something interesting to me on our drive to Laos. He warned us that there will be a lot of monasteries and young novice monks walking the streets of the capital city, Vientiane. He mentioned how these boys often times chose to leave their homes in the countryside and take advantage of the free education at the monasteries in order to have future opportunities. They are free to leave whenever they want but choosing this path definitely sets them up for a better life then if they chose to stay put in the countryside.

I thought of how this compares to opportunities in the US and thought about the military as an option for young boys to create future opportunities. Not in all circumstances is this true but I've met many men who choose to join the military because they lack direction in life and figure they can get a free education and make some money to serve their country. I am leaving my judgment out of this choice people make as I feel everyone needs something different in his/her life and I commend those who fight for our country. But with this comparison I found it interesting that in SE Asia, boys go off to become monks and in the US boys go off to be soldiers fighting. These are two extreme opposite ends of the spectrum. One instilling peace and the other instilling violence and fear. Just think the contrast is quiet extreme.

Our first stop was Vientiane, the capital city. Only a short stay was needed as the entire city was comprised of one major street with French inspired bakeries, coffee shops, massage places, the night market along the Mekong river and an amazing buddah park outside the city limits. There is a big French influence here in Laos because the French colonized this part of Asia by the late 19th century. It has been a month now and this was the first time I stepped foot in what seemed like such a western shop to eat. I actually didn't care for it much. In fact I don't miss western restaurants AT ALL! I'm enjoying Asian food so much!

Coincidently my friend, Mike, who I met in Chiang Mai, was in Vientiane so we met up and had another amazing dinner together. Mike took me to a restaurant called Makphet that hires street kids to cook and serve. The mission is to get kids off the streets from begging and give them jobs and empower them to work and make a life for themselves. I was so happy to spend loads of money at this restaurant! It was perfect!

They have sister restaurants to. As a group we visited the one in Cambodia called Friends. These are must restaurants to visit and contribute to!

Next morning we rose early to visit the Buddah Park before our 6 hour journey to our second stop, Lauang Prabang. (hence more writing as I have plenty of time to waste so there may be more details to share while I'm in Laos)

Oh this park was great fun! Two favorite things in one place - buddahs and nature - happy as can be!

For more pics of Vientiane and the Buddha Park click on this picture below!

Hanoi - Northern Vietnam

Some places I am going to love and some I will hate. Unforutately, Hanoi falls into the latter category.

Hanoi is the capital city of Northern Vietnam. It is massively crowded, motorbikes whizzing in and out of traffic without regard to pedesitrians, locals are rude to me - won't look me in the eye and seem as though they are annoyed at my presence, and so few places have air conditioning everyone is constantly sweating from the sticky humid weather.

Ironically, in the US my favorite places are the big cities. Now that I am travelling so much, I am realizing that it is the exact opposite abroad. I really dislike the big cities, all of the pollution, the crowds and the trash.

North and South Vietnam are quiet different. Although the country is no longer divided, the North definitely has a stronger sense of communism and the people are much more rude up here.

As I always do, I try to put myself in their shoes to try and understand why these people seem unfriendly and rude. As I walk the streets of Hanoi I see shop after shop with the exact same goods as their neighbor sells. The family will sit infront of their shop day in and day out just waiting for a customer to come in - they look bored to tears. There is no business sense here. How can they function when there are a row of the exact same shopes right beside them?! They sit, they wait, and when they get desperate (which is often) they come out from their store and find people walking by and try their hardest to get them to come into their shop. This gets old really quick.

They sit with their families eating mostly street food - often noodle soup - outside in the hot sticky weather, sitting on the low tables and chairs, eating food that has been sitting out all day with flies all around it. Then a customer comes into their shop and starts barganaing with them over a mere US dollar.

If this were my life, I would be unfriendly and rude too!!

Although I am just an outsider looking in, this assumption of a families life may be right on for some and far off from others. But, as a general rule I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and understand why these people are the way they are.

It still doesn't change my opinion of the city of Hanoi, rather it makes me sad that these people have to endure this type of enviornment and hope they are finding joys in the simple things in life like family and friends.

Today is my last day in Vietnam and I am ready to leave for Laos. I am grateful for the opportunity to visit Vietnam as it brought a unique flavor to SE Asia with its landscape, people and daily customs. It has had some of my favorite spots like Hoi Ann and Halong Bay along with some of my least favorite spots. Overall, I am grateful for this experience.

10 hour bus ride to Laos tomorrow - here I come!

Halong Bay - another favorite spot in Vietnam

The cockroach infested train ride was worth it for a visit to Halong bay!! This place deserves a spot as one of the top places I have visited so far!

We chartered a private junk boat for 4 hours to view these mountainous islands and visit the caves. I felt like I was in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. Nice and relaxing. Beautiful sites!
Once again, my iPhone camera can only capture so much. The web album below is much better!

Click on this picture below to see much better pictures of the islands and of the massive cave!

The train ride I will never forget - Hue to Hoian

Had the worst overnight train ride experience in my life last night :( So here is my warning!! Never take the overnight train from Hue to Hoian! Opt for a flight or bus instead.

Boarding the train was not too bad. We were welcomed by "clean" beds compared to the "already slept in" beds from our last overnight train. So at this point, all was going well for us. Until I heard a scream from a cabin two doors down yelling that there were cockroaches in the cabin. "Great" I thought to myself. "This is going to be a LONG night."

We boarded the train at 3pm and arrived at 4:30am the next day. Indeed this was the longest train ride of my life!

Although the cockroaches started creeping up in two cabins away from me, they soon made their way to my my cabin as well. Ugh!! These buggers creep me out! So my cabin mates and I decided to "sleep" with the lights on so we can see the roaches creeping in and kill them easier throughout the night.

As you can imagine, I couldn't get comfortable even at the slightest knowing that there was a great possibility that I woke up with a cockroach on my face. Gross! Oh the joys of traveling :) But I knew I couldn't stay up for the entire 13 hour train ride. So I crawled into my sleep sack, curled up into a ball, covered my entire body, including my face, into my sleep sack and tried my very best to go to sleep.

I couldn't really get into a deep sleep. I was not only bothered by the roaches, I was bothered by the light blaring through my thin silk sleep sack and the drastic temperature changes ranging from freezing cold air to hot and humid air blowing from the vent. This couldn't get any worse!

I finally got fed up and decided that sleeping was just not an option any longer. I needed to get out of my tiny cabin and off this train! So my friend Jeremy and I decided to roam around the train and try to find something entertaining. I was so grateful for his company. He killed some roaches that were near me while I tried sleeping and kept me company during this madness.

As we walked through the train it just got worse and worse. Different smells radiated from different sections of the trains, dead cockroaches lined the hallways and bathrooms just got dirtier and dirtier. So what did I do - I reminded myself that I was in Vietnam. I yet again realized how fortunate I am to live in the US where cleanliness is expected and  safety regulations are enforced. I started understanding why everything in the US is so much more expensive compared to SE Asia because there is a lot that goes into keeping places clean and sanitary. From now on I will hold a greater appreciation for the work that it takes to keep things clean and can now value the price it costs to live in a clean country.

At this point, Jeremey and I decided that roaming around was making things worse. So we found plastic chairs in one of the bathrooms (yes, this was very random to us too) and sat and chatted. We took pictures of our reflections in the window to pass time and started finding people to talk with who were also up at 3am.

By 3:30am the train stops and loads of people start rushing to exit. Jeremy and I look at each other and wonder why so many people are departing this early. We were told we weren't supposed to arrive until 5am! We assumed this was a different stop until we kept on seeing more and more people depart. We finally asked someone what stop this was and it was Hanoi! OUR STOP! Jeremy and I looked at each other in panic. We were on the opposite end of the train from our group and couldn't get through the line of people to join our group. Were we going to miss our stop and have to stay on this god forsaken train? NOOOOOO!!!! I couldn't take it any longer!

We finally pushed our way through the crowded walkway and ran to our cabin to find the others. We saw our group leader just coming out of his cabin and I said to him "we are in Hanoi, this is our stop right?!". He said he was just told and we got in 1 1/2 hours early. I couldn't believe my ears. I started crying with joy. I was really crying. I was SOOOOOOO happy. I was free!! I could leave the train now!

Below are a few pictures of my train trip if you are interested.

My group was franticly packing and trying to get their stuff together so we could leave the train. No one was prepared to leave this early except for me. Before Jeremy and I went to roam the train I had already packed up my things pretending like I was ready to go (I thought this would help me pass time and get me excited :). So I easily grabbed my bag and waited for my group. Tears were literally rolling down my cheeks. I was SO relieved to be leaving and so unexpectedly early!

I yelled to the group, "Come on guys!!"
What! The train is starting to move again. NOOOOOOOOO!

At this point most of us were now lined up with our backpacks on and ready to depart. "But, why is the train moving? We HAVE to get off of this train!" I was seriously ready to just jump off. I couldn't be on the train any longer. It wasn't moving that fast. I figured I would survive by jumping. :) Luckily, it took about 5 minutes when the train stopped and started going back to the direction we needed to be. THANK GOD!

We departed the train at 4am and got onto a bus for another 4 hour journey.

I am finally in Halong Bay, in a clean hotel and just got out of one of the best showers of my life. How grateful I am for clean water, clean sheets, a cockroach free enviornement and an outlet to vent my experience. :)

Now I go onward with my journey. Challenges like these are what helps me to appreciate the small things I take for granted back at home like simple cleanliness. I chose this journey, I knew this was inevitable. I am glad it is over, and I am glad I learned from it.

Click on this picture for more pics of my journey :(

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A scooter tour through Hue - Vietnam

Had a great time with Khoa, my scooter driver, roaming around the town of Hue! We visited the countryside, an orphange, the Citadel and Pagoda.

Here are a few fun videos on the drive and a few pictures below for the sights!

-

 

Click on this picture for more.

Hoi An - my favorite stop so far!

Hoi An, in central Vietnam, was my favorite stop on my journey so far. This is a place I will definitely return to in my future! Can't wait!

Why? This town has a mixutre of some of my favorite places. The town has a European feel with cobble stone streets, narrow allies, bright colored walls, plants and trees everywhere and open air cafes and shops.A river flows right through the center of town where you can take river boat rides.  It has the asian feel with locals walking around with their straw coned shaped hats and restuarnts serving delcious cheap Vietnames cuisine. The country side is only a bike ride away where there are acres and acres of rice and lotus flower fields, water buffalos, well manicured gardens and more! The beach is also very close by changing up the scene for a nice relaxed day. And the shops...... there must be at least 100 custom tailor shops where you can get an entire new wardrobe for an affordable price! Oh, I can't wait to return with an empty suitcase and money to my name.

This town has such a romantic feel. This was my favorite stop so far. I look forward to returning!

Some of the special memories to list:

• One of my favorite flowers called bouganvilla were everywhere! These flowers remind me of both my childhood and my good friend Tawny. Loved seeing them all around town!
• Chiwawa's were roaming the streets everywhere which always make me think of my dad, stepmother and stepbrother who have 4 of them! The dogs in Hoi An were much healthier than any of the other towns I have visited. This made me happy :)
• There was even a place to play bingo in Hoi An which reminded me of my mother and aunt who absolutely love to play :)
• There were much fewer bombarding sales people in this town. Finally! A place we can walk more than 100 steps before being asked to buy something. I just fell so bad for these people. Having a break from them helped me to enjoy my trip rather than feel bad for poor people.
• The architecture is so nice. I just love old buidlings.
• Music on the streets
• Art galleries
• Craft shops made by disabled people and orphans were easily found in town. I just love supporting shops like these.  
• I walked by a school with a huge food guide pyramid painted at the entrance wall. Very cool!
• And really my favorite of all are the many lanterns and lights that line the town and river at night. Just beautiful! 

 These pictures don't come close to the actual town. The web album below is better but you have to see it for yourself :)

 

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 Saw this in one of the shops. Loved it :)

 

 

 I love how the light reflects off the river at night. This town is so romantic at night :)

 

Bike ride all day long
I'm coming back to this place!

 

  

I just love playing with kids!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on this picture for the entire album.