Loas

The S is silent, so its pronounced Lao. The French screwed everything up adding that S.

We took a bus from Hanoi to the capital city, Vientiane. Everyone we talked to had horror stories about this 22 hour bus ride. We looked at flying, but it was way too much money. SO we bought lots of food, charged all our toys and made sure we had sleeping pills and gravol.

We arrived at the Vietnam - Laos border at about 6.30am, after 12 hours of being on the bus. We had to get stamped to leave the country, and then walk to the entry to Laos. This is where Denise realized that she had left her passport at the hotel in Hanoi. She handled it so calmly, whereas Leesa and Romi were pretty sure that they would be having a nervous breakdown. Anyway, Denise left with our guide from the bus and then we just assumed she got back on the bus to Hanoi. Turns out she just stayed at the border in a sketchy communist hotel, called Beth and Mike who were still in Hanoi, and had them bring her passport for her when they came through the border. Leesa, Romi and I continued on to Vientiane and just hoped that it would all work out. It did, we met up with Denise last night, 24 hours after we left her.

Our bus ride was not that bad at all. Beth and Mike were not so lucky. Their bus was smuggling opium through the border, and everyone on the bus was smoking opium. But I am sure that they are ok now that we are all in Vientiane because it is such a beautiful city. This is my favorite place so far. It is so laid back and chill. Unlike Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, no one harasses us to buy jewelery or to hire a tuk tuk. Its very refreshing and we are loving it. We celebrated the end of the bus ride by drinking way too much at a martini bar. Then yesterday we found a spa and got massages and pedicures. Life's rough but someone has to live it.

Tomorrow we head to Veng Viane. where there is river tubing and caves to explore. Almost everyone I know that has been here said its their favourite place in SE Asia, and I can see why.

Leaving Vietnam

The rest of Vietnam was so much fun. We went to Ha Long Bay on a boat tour for 3 days. I normally hate tours, being herded around and told what to do, and this tour reinforced all that. But the scenery was amazing, with huge rocks just shooting out of the ocean.

In Hanoi, it was nice to just walk around and look at beautiful architecture. There were lots of cafes and restaurants. I went to Hoa Lo Prison, which was for Vietnamese Independence fighters during the French occupation. Then during the Vietnam War, this prison held US POW's that were captured, including John McCain, the guy who will not become president (hopefully).

We also had to say goodbye to the two Euro guys that we have been traveling with since Cambodia. Vallerio flew to Thailand and Jonathon was went to China to continue studying Buddhism. It was great to travel with them, we had lots of laughs.

Vietnam is an amazing country with very kind people and lots of things to do. There were some things that we had to cut out because of time, like a motorcycle trip all over the Northern part, and then trekking in Sapa. I'll just have to go back one day.

My Favourite Day So Far

Today I rented a scooter and rode all around Hoi An. Its south of Danang. We went to China Beach and then rode along a road in the mountains. I have never ridden a scooter before but it is my new favourite thing in the world. I want to buy one when I move home. So far in Vietnam, I have seen about 50 cars and 2 million scooters. Everyone has a scooter. And becuase it cost $2.50 to fill the tank today, I can see why.

A word on honking. In North America, we use the horn as a defensive tool. If someone cuts us off, we usually lay on the horn and call someone an asshole. Or we use it just before someone plows into the front fender or something. However in Asia, it is use as a communication tool, as in "I'm coming to get you, so look out." This is the way it is in Seoul also. It makes for a noisy city, but a pleasant drive, expecially when on a scooter and wanting everyone else on the road to know you are there.

On the way back from the beach, I stopped at the tailor where I ordered a new wardrobe yesterday. I spent $350 and got a wool coat, 2 pairs of shorts, a pair of trousers, 3 dresses, 4 shirts and a pair of custom made leather boots. Yeah, I haven't been that excited in a long long time. So today when I went to the tailor, I had a fitting and made sure everything was just so. And it is. I pick it up tomorrow and then send it all home. I want to wear it all now, but a wool coat and 35 degree weather don't really go together.

Good Morning Vietnam!

We've been in Vietnam for 4 days. We crossed the border from Cambodia on a bus. It was the easiest border crossing in the world. The whole time being on the bus, I had lines from 'Good Morning Vietnam' stuck in my head. 'Oh my god its Hanoi Hannah! Oh wee oh...Ho Chi Minh. Follow the Ho Chi Minh trail, follow the Ho Chi Minh trail.'

We spent 2 days in Ho Chi Minh City, which is beautiful. I loved the feel of it there. The architecture is beautiful. There are more scooters than cars and it is insane. The first day we walked around the central city area. Our group has grown to 8 people and it is getting on my nerves. Its hard to make plans and I feel like I am waiting all the time. So after about an hour of wandering with a large group, Denise, Romi, Leesa and I went off on our own.

We went to the War Remnants Museum, which is all about the Vietnam War. Its pretty horrific. I was certainly happy to not be American while I was going through. Mostly the information about chemicals, the use of Agent Orange and napalm made me almost nauseous. There were lots of photos of Vietnamese people who had been born with deformities and then stories of American and Australian GIs and the problems a lot of them had during the years after the war. Anyway, I'm really glad I saw it and I am really happy to be Canadian.

When we were leaving the museum, we ran into 2 girls that we were friends with in Seoul. Total coincidence. It was so great to see them so we hooked up for drinks that night. They have been to all the places we are going so it was good to hear their stories and get some info.

Yesterday, Romi and I went to the Blind Institute in HCMC and got massages for $2.50. It was very strange. There was a lot of slapping and too much head scratching. The lady who was doing my massage left for a while. Whatever, it relaxed me.

Then last night we caught a sleeper bus to where we are now, Nha Trong. Its a beach town with lots of tourists. The bus ride was 11 hours and was surprisingly comfortable. Our group is still 8 people, but I have stopped waiting around and now go off and do my own thing. We got into the town this morning at 6.30. We got to our hotel and had some morning beers. Good attitude Denise!

Just an update from Nepal, one of the guides that we were hiking with on the trek was named Santosh. He was a guide from another company that was with our friends Hannah and Stewart. I just got a message that he was on the plane that crashed in Lukla last week. He was only 20.

Plane crash in Nepal kills 18

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/10/08/nepal-crash.html

Cambodia - Siem Riep and Angkor Wat

We arrived in Cambodia via minibus for 4 hours, which brought us to the border. After a very sketchy visa process in which I trusted no one and hoped the girl on the scooter taking my passport to the embassy for me would come back, we crossed into Cambodia and were told that the rest of the bus would take 10 hours, or we could take a taxi for 2 hours and $70. We got the taxi. Later we found out that of course they lied and the bus was only about 5 hours. What's done is done.

But what a beautiful country! The drive into Siem Riep was gorgeous. There were lots of scooters with little baby pigs in cages riding on the back. The town is very cute and far more developed than I expected. The architecture is very french and there are massive hotels everywhere. There is also Korean everywhere: restaurants, hotels, shops. I think that Koreans invest overseas heavily, and this is one of the places. Anyway, this is the city where the Angkor Wat temples are.

We bought a 3 day pass. The first day we rented bikes and we ran into Dale at the ticket booth. The bikes were fun, except mine had 2 flat tires so it was really hard to ride, obviously. We saw the main temple and then rode on to Bayon, the one with all the faces. Its all absolutely amazing and humbling to see.

The rest of the time here we took tuk tuks back and forth to all the different temples, of which there are over 1000. My favourite temple was the one with trees growing over the walls and that are covering the entire temple. It was like being on a movie set, hard to believe that it is all real and over 900 years old. Unfortunately I got really sick in Siem Riep, probably some mild food poisoning, so I was rushing to find a bathroom most of the time.

It was great to be with Dale again, although we'd only been apart for about 3 days. We all partied at a pub in SR together on Dale's last night. It was like being in Korea all over again. Dale is going back to Thailand after this and then home to Halifax in the middle of October.

The nice thing about Cambodia and its tourism is that it seems to be very socially conscious. There are banners everywhere about the benefits of tourism for impoverished countries and communities. The downside is that the hassling from the children is horrific. We try not to buy anything from kids because it encourages them to keep selling things, like books and souvenirs, on the streets and then not go to school. But these kids are awful! They want to know our names and then call after us when we don't buy anything. One kid even called Leesa a liar because she didn't buy water from him. Get a life, kid. The morning I went to Angkor Wat for sunrise, I went to the bathroom and a small boy, about 5 years old, followed me there asking for money. I said no the whole time and when I got to the bathroom stall, he put all his weight on the door to stop me from closing it, yelling "pay me! pay me!". I had to physically push him away. He was an aweful kid.

I spent a lot of time in bed being sick when I wasn't out seeing the temples. I watched a lot of BBC news and the discovery channel. I didn't have TV in Korea either so I am getting my fix. I'm also very sweaty all the time and have a really gross heat rash.

Bangkok

We've spent the last couple of days in Bangkok. It's Denise and I. Romi and Leesa arrived on the 1st, and then Dale has gone to Cambodia. Beth and Mike, also were teachers in Korea and they are here too. We'll all travel together for as long as we can, through Cambodia and Vietnam.

We're staying in the main tourist area, Khao San Rd. The last 6 days have been occupied by shopping, massages, pampering and eating delicious and cheap street food (smoothies, pad thai, fresh fruit). We went to the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha which were beautiful. The detail on all the buildings was incredible. Inside the Emreald Buddha temple, we commited the most horrific crime, unknowingly, by pointing our feet at the buddha. My sincere apologies to all the people around us that we offended.

We also took a boat around some of the canals in Bangkok. There were tons of houses and temples along the river. We saw a lizrd/dragon animal thing swimming in the water which was a bit creepy. We also went to a ping pong show (if you don't know what it is, well lets just say that there is no actual ping pong game, just the balls, and its really gross and degrading). Romi fell asleep during the show. It was really sad actually and the girls are very young. But its an industry that is well supported by tourists. Unfortunately.

I keep having dreams about home. Mostly that I am at home and I have to get back to Asia to see my friends.