Monday, August 31, 2015

~Southeast Asia Adventure~

Hello! It's been awhile Blog World! 

I often have many friends ask me for recommendations on their travels when they know I've been to a country they are visiting. I've been able to use some of my past blog posts as a reference point. So, I was thinking it may be helpful, and probably fun for me to read back on, if I started the blog back up (at least this one time), to write about my most recent Southeast Asia adventure! I’ve even hyperlinked some of the hotels and places we visited for your convenience!

I just finished a busy summer in New York City interning for The Bronx Defenders, while my boyfriend, Adam, studied and took the California bar. After both working our butts off, we decided a little rest and relaxation was greatly needed and we jetted off to the majestic shores of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. 

Vietnam


Cow Dai Temple

Ho Chi Minh City/Siagon

We first landed in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where we stayed in Siagon, a busy little section of the city. We stayed in the Asian Ruby Hotel which was modest and hosted breakfast for us on the roof every morning. 


Our first day we took a tour a little outside of the city to a temple where the religion is Cow Dai. The temple was so beautiful filled with many colors and worshipers. We listened to them sing and play instruments before heading on towards the Cu Chi tunnels. 
  

Cu Chi Tunnel entrance
The Cu Chi tunnels where incredibly interesting. They were used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam war and run thousands of miles. The Vietnamese soldiers used the tunnels to transport war supplies, lay booby traps, and mount surprise attacks. American troops trained soldiers called "tunnel rats" to combat the guerrilla tactics. Adam and I got to actually walk through the tunnels, although we didn't go very far because they are really small and it was incredibly hot. 

Egg Shell Art










On the drive home, we stopped by a local arts and crafts center where victims of Agent Orange and the land mines use artisan skills to make income for their families. We bought a really beautiful landscape picture made out of egg shells. 




Back in Siagon, we visited the War Remnants Museum. The exhibits really drove home so effectively the brutality of war and its many civilian victims. From there, we did a walking tour through the city visiting the Reunification Palace and went shopping at the Ben Thanh market




There were so many propaganda posters in Vietnam. We actually bought a few. It's really interesting seeing the war from the Vietnamese prospective since I grew up hearing about it so much in my family. My mom's longtime boyfriend is a Vietnam Veteran, and deals with his memories of Vietnam almost every single day. My dad was actually drafted, but he qualified as a consciousness objector, something that was incredibly difficult to do at the time. Part of the museum had a section dedicated to how Americans, and the rest of the world, were actually against the war. 

Saigon was a busy, but fun city. We were also first introduced here to the Vietnamese motor-bike scene. Even women would drive motorbikes in heels and dresses! 





Hoi An
  
Hoi An was a magical little place, located in the peaceful outskirts of Danang City. I call it a "beach town," but Adam thinks of it as more of a historical marketplace. 

We stayed at Lemongrass Homestay, just a little ways from the downtown. It's in a rice field about halfway between the South China Sea and town, which means its a nice place to be in the evening because its quite. You can take a cheap taxi too and from town, or you can use complementary bicycles. Hoi An Chic, the "big brother" hotel, is located about a hundred yards away and you can use its facilities, like the pool, which we often did to cool off at the end of a long day exploring.  We arrived late, but we still mustered up the energy to go down to Old Town for dinner. 

Small streets full of locals selling crafts, tourists laughing in foreign languages, and foodies on the search for a yummy bite pretty much sums up Old Town. The shop fronts were lit by delicate handmade lanterns, and classical music played through speakers on the light polls. The food was pretty much unbelievable, and Adam enjoyed stopping at the local coffee shop every day. 












Vietnam is also known for its silk and garment industry. I was able to get a full on gown made for around $50! Now I just need somewhere to wear it! 


The Old Town market was, in my opinion, the best place where we picked up arts and crafts because they were really authentic and unique. We walked into one store where the women literally hand embroidered huge portraits that looked so incredibly real. Each piece would take anywhere from two to seven months! 

We also walked down to the Dragon Bridge where you can see lotus candles floating on the river. Local women sit by the river selling local snacks and you can watch dancing at the outside theater. So many restaurants and bars line the waterfront and Adam and I enjoyed sitting around during happy hour sharing some wine (Adam drank whiskey of course) and peanuts before dinner. 

The next day we headed to An Bang beach so Adam could splash in the waves. We got a little sunburned, but the water was clear and warm and it was hard to leave even when our skin began to tell us differently. 

We also went to My Son Temples. We rented a motorbike, Adam drove (I sat on the back terrified), and went north for about 2 hours. It wasn't really that spectacular, but we enjoyed the drive, or at least Adam did (I was too busy having a heart attack on the back). We stopped off at some huge boat on the river for lunch. 

Inside Marble Mountain. The pictures do not do it justice!
However, even more spectacular, was Marble Mountain....a MUST GO! We again rented the motorbike and drove about 35 minutes to one of the most spiritual places in Vietnam. You walk up stories of steps and come up on a giant white Buddha. Overlooking Danang to one side of the mountain, and Hoi An to the other, Marble Mountain was unbelievable. There were caves to explore in which huge Buddhas sat, monks quietly chanting, and dragon spiral marble stairs carved into the temples. 

















We saw some people who were repelling down into the caves! 

Hoi An was probably my favorite place I went in Vietnam because I liked the small feel of it, and of course the beach! I wish we had more time to spend in Danang, but next time! 




Hanoi

Luckily for us, our friend Blake lives in Hanoi! Blake and I met back in Peace Corps Kenya and were in the same training group. He was a business volunteer then, and now has some of his own projects going on in Hanoi. He's lived there for about two years now, so he was the perfect tour guide and we were grateful to have him. 

We stayed at the Hanoi Elite Hotel and loved this place as well. It is part of the Essence Group of hotels, all of which are nice and located in Old Town. 



While I thought the traffic was bad in Saigon, it was nothing compared to Hanoi, where once again, convinced by unafraid boys, I braved riding on the back of the motorbike again. We traveled through the city literally exhaust pipe to exhaust pipe, while I sang to myself to keep calm. Adam heard every song and I was actually pretty impressed with the playlists my brain could come up with in a time of near death. 



Our first day, Blake took us out on the town! We first went to a very local bar where Blake and Adam ate dried squid...not for me. We then traveled around the local lake and went to a happy hour spot for another drink. Then we went to dinner at another place and Adam and Blake had frog legs. Sufficient to say, by this time I was feeling pretty toasty. But that wasn't the end of the night. Finally, we headed to beer street where we sat on small stills among tourists and locals and had a few beers. 

Although the next day we were struggling, we mustered up the energy to explore the city. Adam tried egg coffee (apparently a secret recipe). It was actually really good and tasted like a pastry. We also ate at New Day, an amazing local restaurant near our hotel that was pretty cheap. A few other places we enjoyed eating were Red Bean and just the local Banh Mi spot. 

We also visited Ho Chi Mingh's body at the Mausoleum. Kinda creepy, but also cool. The dude, Chairman of the Communist Party of Vietnam for over ten years, died in 1969. So seeing his body embalmed was really weird. It looked wax (rumors are that it is). You are only allowed in until 10:30am and Mausoleum guards will shuffle you silently through. No pictures are allowed. 

We walked around the Old Town of Hanoi and did some shopping. Just a note for anyone into North Face gear, this is the place to get it. We bought a really nice bag for only $20, which would usually go in America for around $90. 


Our last day, Blake took us on a two hour drive up to Perfume Pagoda. Again, bearing the terrifying drive out of the city and down the country roads, we headed for another day of adventure. To give Adam credit, he was actually a really good driver...I'm just a wimp. 

Once you reach the site, you have to take a boat about 40 minutes out to an island. There are some colorful temples at the bottom of the mountain we explored, and after we took a gondola ride up to the cave at the top. The cave was a vast, dark, deep enclave with high ceilings and small rays of light peaking through the cracks. We heard it was good luck if a bit of the water falls on you from the ceiling and each of us was just lucky enough to get a drop. Local believers kneeled before alters in the cave and we watched them quietly pray. The rock walls of the cave looked like paintings, probably because of the way the dripping water has helped form them. 


Anyway, Hanoi was really fun, and our last stop in Vietnam. We had heard Halong Bay was also an amazing place to go, but unfortunately didn't have enough time to visit. I had a friend that did a cruise on the bay and loved it. We were also happy that we chose to fly to each city to save time and the flights were relatively inexpensive. We met some people who took a sleeper train which didn't sound too bad either if you don't mind a 12 hour trip. Vietnam was such a beautiful country and we were happy we had spent most of our trip there, and agree that we probably could have done the whole trip there since we didn't even get to see half of what we would have liked. 

Adam's suggested reading for the trip: "One Man Against the World: The Tragedy of Richard Nixon," by Tim Weiner. 



Laos

Laung Prabang 

We flew into the small airport in Laung Prabang, Laos on August 15, 2015. Our hotel, Kiridara, was waiting for us and drove us the short drive to one of the most beautiful hotels we stayed in during our trip. The hotel was on a hill looking over the town onto Buddhist temples where monks lived and prayed. Our room looked out onto the infinity pool!


Our first night we got a ride down into town and walked around and did some shopping at the night market. We got my dad a really cool painted turtle back and ourselves a beautiful Buddhist painting. Adam tried rice whiskey. For dinner (basically every night we were there) we ate local street food. A little allyway near the night market had table after table of local eats. You could walk up, put what you wanted into a bowl, and a lady would heat it all up for you on a wok. We also enjoyed having drinks at Tangor each evening and watching tourists walk by while they shopped in the market.

After breakfast at the hotel each morning, Adam and I would wake up and head out for a day of adventure. Our first day, we explored all of the temples in the area. For one temple, you scaled the steps and at the top was an amazing view of the Mekong River. It was always so calming to come upon monks praying in the temples. Their singing is methodic and soothing. All of the temples had spectacular gold Buddha’s decorated with orange silk and sitting amongst offerings from local believers.

There were more temples in the area than we could do, so we took a break for lunch next to the river at a restaurant called Saffron.

One of the nights we went to the “ballet.” Of course it was me that convinced Adam into going. It was more like a play with interpretive movement. A little slow, but extremely beautiful. The costumes were so colorful and the women make you feel like you are in a trance when you watch them. They can flex their fingers so far back, it’s unreal! Some of the dances were from the 16th century.



One of the days we rented a motorbike and went out to hike around Kuang Si waterfalls. I thought I was getting better at being a passenger on the bike, until a butterfly hit me in the face and in a panic I almost made us crash…Anyway, we headed to the waterfalls down a narrow rural road for about 37km. When we ot there it was filled with tourists swimming in the crystal blue pools. When you first walk in there are black bears that had been rescued from poachers. The bears looked so docile. Adam and I jumped into the cool pools and swam around for a bit. We also hiked up to the top of the falls and admired the beautiful view of the Laung Prabang valley.

 Right near the falls is a Butterfly Sanctuary we visited and ate lunch at. You can put your feet in a fish pond for the fish to eat the dead skin off your feet. My feet, being so gross, were like a feast for those fish, and I couldn’t help screaming out of glee as they quickly swam to my feet and sucked on my toes. Finally, after a long day we took the bike back to town and ate dinner at Bamboo Shoot.

Our last morning we woke up at 5:00am to go watch the monks receive alms. We had been reading signs all over the town about how tourists needed to respect the culture by maintaining distance from the monks, not looking them in the eyes, and being below them. As the monks peacefully walked down the road receiving alms of rice (mostly from local believers, although some tourists also participated), a huge group of rude tourists acted like paparazzi taking pictures. It was really disrespectful. Otherwise, the tradition was beautiful and humbling to watch. There were so many monks. Some were old men, while others looked as if they could be as young as eight years old.


Anyway, Laos was absolutely amazing. While we waited for our taxi to the airport to leave, we shared a fresh tropical fruit juice.


Some other suggestions:
-dress appropriately to the temples…skirts below the knee and shoulders covered
-we heard Utopia was a fun bar for young backpackers if you have the energy at the end of the day.


Cambodia

Siem Reap 



Our last city of our trip was Siem Reap, Cambodia, home to the Angkor Wat Temples. We arrived late our first night, went out to dinner, and walked around Pub Street and the night market. Loud music, flashing lights, cheap beer ($.50 a glass), and drunk tourists pretty much sums up Pub Street.

Our hotel room at Nita ByVo was spectacular. We were upgraded, probably because we were one of the only people staying at the hotel, to a huge room with a balcony. The hotel actually won for best hotel from Trip Advisor, but since it was low season Adam and I got to enjoy the roof top pool to ourselves everyday and watch the sunset while the staff served us complementary happy hour drinks. It was the life!



Our first morning, we were picked up by our tuk-tuk driver, Tiger, and went sightseeing to the small circuit of the temples. The temples were so cool and we felt like we were in Indian Jones while we explored the ancient ruins. We even saw the Tomb Raider tree. Some local old women sitting under a huge gold statue of Buddha said a little prayer for Adam and I and put a string bracelet around each of our wrists.

To go to the temples you have to buy a three day pass. We had been told that it is a sin to only go to the temples one day, but that in order to see all the temples it could take almost a week. So, we went the next morning at 5a.m. and watched the sun rise over Angkor Wat. It was a glorious sight to see the sun peeking up over what use to be the temples high pillars painted in gold. Apparently, the pillars use to have faces on them and you can still see the faces when you look closely. 

We did the large circuit of the temples that day, traveling up over 30km to Banteay Srei. The reliefs were so well preserved at that temple. Bouncing around in the tuk-tuk was semi relaxing, semi terrifying. Tiger was a fast driver to say the least. Anyway, we ultimately felt like two days of temple exploring was enough. The days were really draining, particularly because we were at the end of our trip, but also because we were sweating through our clothes continuously.

We also went to the Cambodian Circus. You MUST go to this if you are in the area. The artists were so talented! And flexible! They really knew how to work the crowd, which is a real skill when your audience consists of people from all over the world who speak all different languages. The circus didn’t need a language. They told a story of a local bar that likes to scam its customers. It was really funny.

Our last night, I convinced Adam to go out on Pub Street. The night club thing isn’t really for Adam, as most of you know, but he braved the dance floor just for me that night.





And that was that. Our trip came and went entirely to fast. We had just enough time to enjoy each spot, but not enough time to see all that we wanted to see. South East Asia is like the coolest section of Disneyland! It gives you an incredibly full feeling—full spiritually, physically, emotionally, intellectually…I am going to miss the people, the food, and most of all the beauty of this distant world. And I cannot wait until our next trip! Hopefully we will go back so we can see Thailand too!


THE END. 





General observations/important things to note: 

-pay like $10-15 more for a hotel room and you’ll get something way better 
-pack sturdy hiking shoes and shocks 
-most places have laundry service
-there’s wifi freaking everywhere 
-get Vietnam visa ahead of time
-rest of the countries are around $35, but don’t need one for Thailand 
-bring US dollars 
-bring sun screen, you can’t get it there or it’s really pricy 
-eat the street food in Laung Prabang
-go to the Cambodian Circus

-you can eat cat and dog if that’s your thing…not for me.
-go to Marble Mountain, Laos