Hello! It's been awhile Blog World!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Laos
Laung Prabang
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.
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:
Cambodia
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.
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!
General observations/important things to
note:
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
Ho Chi Minh City/Siagon |
| Cow Dai Temple |
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 |
 |
| 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.
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
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.
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 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! |
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
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.
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.
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.
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! 
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.
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.
THE END.
-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
-go to Marble Mountain, Laos
