Hanoi, Vietnam

We arrived in Hanoi early the next morning and got to our hostel. Hanoi was very different than HCM. The architecture was very French with large roads and so many coffee shops! It was so striking, every corner had another coffee place! Our hotel was on a little backroad which made it incredibly difficult to find. We ended up getting lost almost every time we wanted to go back to the hostel, it was frustrating because all the streets looked similar! The first day we arrived, we toured the city. The traffic was worse than in HCM! Really at about 4 PM, insanity struck and people started to drive like crazy people. I have never seen worse traffic.. we were lucky we didnt get run over, seriously.. sidewalks were NOT sidewalks they were just another part of the road.. We saw another Cathedral that looked very similar to the one in HCM. The weather was quite different that HCM as well. it was actually cold! for the first time in Asia, I was cold!! Probably should have checked the weather before I left Hong Kong and packed a few extra sweatshirts! We had to hunt to find fleece for the Halong Bay Boat trip the next day that we had already signed up for! It was nice to just have relaxing day to explore Hanoi!





The next morning we left early for our Halong Bay tour which was located 3 hours away from Hanoi. We booked the tour with our hostel so it was all young people which made it a lot of fun. We got there and it was tourist central. Junk boats everywhere and so many tourists! I had no idea it was going to be like that. But it was a lot nicer when we finally got on our boat and got into the lake. It was beautiful with the limestone everywhere, we went kayacking for a couple of hours but it was too cold to swim! I never thought I would be on a boat in 2 layers of fleece and a scarf!! Still it was fun because we got to meet people from all around the world that were traveling like us! That is one of the best parts about hostels i think, just there are so many interesting people you meet! We stayed overnight on the boat, surprisingly it wasn't that cold because they gave you lots of blankets. The food was actually really good and so overall it was a fun time! We arrived back in Hanoi about 4 PM the next day and made the crazy decision to jump back on an overnight train at 9PM the same night and head up to Sapa for the next day!






We had heard from some of the other backpackers that it was totally worth the trip and we were kind of over Hanoi with its crazy traffic..so we headed up on the train! The overnight train was not bad, similar to the one we took in Mainland China from Beijing to Shanghai. We arrived early in the morning and had to get on a bus to drive the extra hour and a half to Sapa. Sapa was a valley area that was covered with rice fields, it is one of the touristy places like Halong Bay but is beautiful and you get to meet and eat with local people. We booked a motor bike tour of the area for something different and unusual. But when we arrived, the weather was just crappy.. It was cold and rainy plus the flog was crazyyy.. It was kind of a letdown but we were determined not let it get the best of us and we bought gloves and hats at the market and got on our bikes!! Our guide was really nice and brought us to restaurant to get breakfast before we left with a fire! The drive down into the valley was really crazy. It was dirt roads on motorbikes in the rain and was sooo coolldd! It took us 2 hours to get down to the village we were stopping at for lunch. By the time we arrived, we were soaked, freezing and kind of miserable..but they made us an amazing lunch of noodles and we started to feel better. It wasn't raining in the valley so we met us with some local women and brought us to a waterfall. It was very pretty and they were very nice. Even though they were just trying to get us to buy stuff from them, they were nice and kept complimenting us! We had to say goodbye to them and hope back on our bike to go back to the rain and crappy weather... It just kept getting worse and worse as we went us to the town. We arrived back and had enough time to get dinner and hop back on the bus to the overnight train to Hanoi. We arrived back in Hanoi then next morning and had to wait at the hostel for a bed which sucked.. but we left for an extra couple of hours and woke up for our last day in Hanoi!

Vietnam Continued..

The next day we work up early and headed to see the Cu Chi Tunnels. There were about an hour outside HCM so we took a bus there. The Tunnels were set up by the Vietcong in the south trying to defeat the Americans. They were very elaborate and even could house soldiers underground for months at a time. We saw many of the tunnel openings and different gorilla warfare techniques used. I also got to shoot an AK47! This was the first time I had ever shot a gun, and will probably be my last. I didn’t really like the loud sound that was emitted or the crazy push back. The guy in charge had to hold me from not flying off the end of the gun after I shot it. Still made for a great picture.. We also got to climb through the tunnels, now the size was made bigger so that larger tourist could get through, but still they were so small.. We made it the full way but were covered in dirt and sweat when we emerged. It was small, dark and I had really bad claustrophobia while we were inside. Glad I never had to do that again..
This sadly was our last day in HCM, I wish we had more time here but we did get to see most of the touristy things. It would have been nice to have more day, but guess I just have to go back!!

Never Play In Traffic, Except for in Vietnam?

We arrived in Ho Chi Min City a day later than we had expected. Our cheap airline out of Macau pushed back the flight to the next day, we all were pretty disappointed but there was nothing we could do. The flight was none other I had ever been on. To start the people were so pushy! They pushed in the ticket line and then ran on to the plane, you would think that it wasn’t assigned seats! Even after we landed and started to taxi, the people on the plane started to rush to the front of the plane with it still moving! It was so weird; I have never seen people in a hurry to go somewhere so fast. I am still unsure if that was just a Vietnamese cultural thing or if it was just that flight. We arrived in Saigon at about 7 AM; we were all so tired because we had stayed up the night before because we had to take the ferry from Hong Kong to Macau. My first impressions of Saigon were that the traffic was INSANE. Really there were no rules and people drove everywhere. It looked like most people owned a motorbike instead of a car, so the streets were filled with them. Even sidewalks were considered part of the road ways and you had to be careful that you didn’t get run over. We arrived at our hotel and we were staying in what seemed to be the center of the tourist part. There were like 40 hotels right next to each other as you walked down the street. We stayed at a place called “The Beautiful Saigon” and it was just lovely especially being only 15 USDs a night including free interest and breakfast! We took a quick nap and then headed off to tour around Saigon. We walked to the major landmarks in HCM including the Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Vietnam War museum. It was interesting to see the Reunification Palace because it was the place where the tanks from the North pushed town the walls and declared victory. It was very beautiful inside and was decorated very much like the 80s. After touring this landmark, we headed to the Vietnam War Museum. We were warned that it wasn’t going to be easy to stomach being an American and they were right. It was shocking to learn everything we were never told in our history classes. There were really bloody pictures and even artillery artifacts. On the second floor, there were multiple different journalist and photographer’s journals during the war when they were on the front lines. All these people were from different countries and had very different perspectives. As I walked through these pictures, I could help but wish I knew more about this war. Fortunately, one of the guys on our trip wants to be a history teacher so he was able to give some insight on the events that we were looking at. I can’t really explain the feeling after seeing that museum; it’s just something you have to see. I never felt more disillusioned on my American heritage.

We walked back from the museum and got ready for dinner. We ate at this great Vietnamese place and it was so cheap! I had no idea how cheap it was going to be! For a nice restaurant with a full course meal, it was about 2 USDs. In the US, that same meal would have cost about 40 USD! For desert, there was a crepes (yes, crepes!!) stand right outside our hotel! There were freshly made and amazing. Love the French influence!!

Notre Dame Cathedral

Inside the Reunification Palace

Tank outside the Reunification Palace

The outside of the Reunification Palace

Thailand: Really Paradise?

For our 3 day weekend, me and 3 other girls decided to go to Thailand! We were very excited because we had heard such great things from everyone here. However, this trip was definitely not what we expected..We arrived into Bangkok late on Thursday night, Bangkok defintely wasn't what I was expecting. I guess coming from Hong Kong every city is going to be dirty and not up to the standard we have been living at for the past 2 and a half months. I just felt like the streets were gross, everything seemed so dark compared to the bright neon lights in HK. We got up early the next morning and took a tut tut to the Royal Palace. I didn't realize how bad the traffic was in Bangkok until that ride.. basically there are ZERO rules. It was a ride for your nerves, i felt like we were going to crash every time we turned a corner! Finally we arrived and toured around the palace. It was amazing beautiful, I hope the pictures capture it! They even had a dress code, you had to wear long pants and no sleeveless shirts. There were guard stationed at the entrance that called you out and made you put on a sarong if you had indecent clothing on. But it was beautiful!

Thai Guards in Formation

Beautiful Palace

This is all we really had time for because we had to make our next flight to Phuket so we walnered around the city a bit more, then headed to the airport. We made it into Phuket that night, our hotel was quite pretty. It was right on the water (all we cared about when we booked...) but it was a little far from the town. It was quite and had a great pool!
The first day we were in Phuket we went on a tour to see the James Bond Island. I honestly don't remember what movie it was actually in... but it was cool to see. My favorite part was definitely just riding along the water in the long-tailed boat there and back. It was just beautiful, after the island we went on a crazy kayaking ride through caves. We had this crazy guy that steered for us, who took a liking to speaking English with us.. he made the ride memorable!! haha, but again just more breathtaking scenery everywhere.. i kept thinking we were in postcards!!








For lunch, we went to this fishing village built on stilts. It was some of the best seafood i have ever had! There was this great spicy seafood soup - I just couldn't get enough!! We all wished we could have gone back for a meal or two but clearly there was no way.. After this, we headed back to our hotel for a much some much needed beach time. We also got a massage and headed into town for dinner. Khao Lak was a cute town, just based off tourism. There weren't many people there yet because technically the diving season doesn't start until November 1st.. Similan Island tours are really big here because it is the closest land point to the Islands.
On our second day in Phuket, we tried to go snorkling at the Similan Islands. However, things didn't work out the way we had planned them to..Technically the tours weren't going yet because the islands didn't open until november 1st. But we figured if someone would take us, we would try..I now understand why they don't open until november 1st...The water was so rough that after being basically thrown around a boat for 2 hours trying to get to the islands.. we had to turn around and come all the way back.. It was so depressing, when we turned around we could literally see the Islands in the distance. The Similan Islands are considered one of the top 10 places in the world to snorkel...guess i will just have to go back and actually go at the right time!! Instead we just hung by the hotel pool for the remaining afternoon. It was a good time, very relaxing but just would have been amazing to snorkle!
Our last day in Phuket we went to ride elephants! I really didn't realize how big elephants are....they are huge. really. We rode them for a good hour and then got to feed them bananas! They are just really cool animal and so sweet natured.

Feeding it bananas!

On our way back to the hotel the car that picked us up, took us to the pretty picture view of the beach we were staying at. They also told us that this was one of the places that was hit the Tsunami in 2004 the hardest. All of the resorts including our own were destroyed and most people died. I hadn't thought of the amount of people that had died before this but it was hard to imagine the sea that had looked so calm that day could have killed that many innocent people so quickly.
This was a tree on our beach right outside the resort we stayed at with pictures of many of the victims. It was incredibly sad to look at the pictures and read the letters from their loved ones telling them that they were missed. I walked out to the beach and couldn't even think of what I would do if there was a tidal wave coming for me and I could not escape. As much as this place was paradise and just so beautiful, it was hard to forget that so many people had died there just five years before and they were in Phuket for the same reason I was, a vacation.

My trip to Thailand was not what I expect by any means, I did come away with a good tan and some beautiful pictures. However, I came away with more than that, a new, real understanding that life can be taken at any moment, so we should enjoy it while we are still here.

Singapore!!

This weekend we got out of Hong Kong for the weekend and went to Singapore! Initally, I knew nothing about Singapore...just kind of booked on a whim because a few people had told me that it was definitely a place to go! We left Thursday night and arrive in just after midnight, I had no idea that the flight was going to be 3 hours long. It was not what I was expecting, but now after looking at a map, it does make sense! We were down next to Malaysia and Indonesia. When we arrived we got picked up by a bus (that looked like a bumble bee, no joke I wish I got a picture) and went to our hostel. We stayed at a hostel that had been recommended to me and was located in Little India district. Again, I didn't really do much research so I had no idea what to expect. Little India was actually really Indian... Our hostel was enclosed by India restaurants and there was a mosque down the road. It was a really cool area to be staying in, it was filled with culture and there always seemed to a party outside! The hostel was really quite nice, I regret that I didn't get any photos.. but the bottom floor was a common room, then there were two floors upstairs with rooms. We just booked the cheap dorm style room, which was the cheapest. It wasn't bad, I got my own top bunk and basically I sleep through anything so I had no issues at all. I did make one big mistake and forgot to rent a blanket the first night.. the AC was freezingggg...

Streets of Little India

The mosque near our hostel

The first day we woke up and enjoyed the free hard boiled eggs at the hostel (I really miss something other than bread for breakfast...) and headed out to see Singapore! We walked everywhere.. really.. first we walked along the Colonial District to City Hall, saw the Supreme Court, the Penang (the cricket field), walked across the bridge, saw the beautiful Boat Quay waterfront area and many other lovely buildings.

The Supreme Court Building

Large cricket field

Constant Construction on the Skyline

I wanna stay there!! Pretty hotel in Boat Quay
Art Museum

St. Andrew Cathedral

Then we went over and road the Singapore Flyer which is the largest ferrist wheel in the world! It was really high, you could see Malaysia and Indonesia from the top! I was stunned at how much construction was going on all over the city, it was like everything was being ripped down to build something better. Vanessa's (my roommate) uncle lives in Singapore and said that the government can tear down buildings every ten years, so everything is being constantly rebuilt.

View to Malaysia

Don't they look like we are going into space??

The huge Flyer!

Soccer field in the bay? Why not?

After the Flyer, we grabbed lunch at the Raffles Hotel in the heart of Singapore. The hotel is named after the famous founder of Singapore and basically everything in the city is also named after him. We also had to get (as orders of our Southeast Asia in the World Political Economy Professor) a Singapore Sling drink at the bar.

O just a fountain in the courtyard...

Can we stay there??

Beautiful Raffles Hotel Courtyard

Next, we set off for a new part of town Chinatown. It was quite different than what I expect coming from Hong Kong. It unlike an of the Chinatowns I have seen in the states especially in architecture. We saw two temples there, I don't remember their names but one had 10,000 Buddhas everywhere. It was amazing. There was also a garden rooftop with a prayer wheel, it was definitely my favorite temple so far.

The Temple of 100,000 Buddhas

Streets of Chinatown
Rooftop Prayer Wheel

Finally we ended up back in Little India, and went through this crazy market. Apparently, it was a large Festival there this weekend, so there was everything from henna to flowers for sale. It was so overwhelming, there were people EVERYWHERE. I wanted to buy some scarves or something but i just couldn't figure out how because of so many people!




For dinner, we went to a Singapore "institution" called a Hawkers Market. It is basically a really big food court with everything really from sushi to dim sum to Malaysia to India to Satay to Noodles to Sandwiches. We were told for the best food, stand in the longest line and so we did. It was great food and we ate at them all weekend all over the city and never got the same thing twice! I wish Hong Kong did these!
The next day we spent shopping. Singapore is known for their malls, so we had to check them out. Maybe it was having nothing else to do, but the shopping was pretty amazing. All the malls on Orchid Street are connect underground so you never had to leave!!! hahaha after we were good and tired, we went back to the hostel and got ready for the Night Safari! Now, I had no idea what to expect and when we got there I felt like I was at Disney World or some theme park with the amount of people.. But it was actually really cool. We got to see an elephant, hippo, lions and a bunch of other animals I don't remember. It was really well done and we got to ride around the park on a open air bus. I wish I could have gotten pictures but they forbid use of flash photography!
Our last day, we went to the Botanic Gardens and had brunch. It was quite hot but the flowers were beautiful and so was the whole park. I really wish this was in Hong Kong because it looked like a great place to run. We saw some beautiful Orchid Flowers. It was a great way to end a stress free trip! Singapore was beautiful and I was really impressed. It seemed like a very livable place and I would love to go back in the future!