Transylvania

From Bucharest, we went out to the countryside to follow in Count Dracula's footsteps. Bram Stoker based Count Dracula on Vlad the Impaler, a 15th century count who was nicknamed "Dracul" meaning devil. He was as charming as the name suggests. He once set fire to a sealed castle filled with the poor and sick "to rid them of their troubles." He also liked to set up banquets so he could eat while he watched people die. Vlad is still something of a hero in Romania because he beat the Turks in battle. A lot of other character flaws can be forgiven here so long as you beat the Turks.

We went out to Bran Castle, which is nicknamed Dracula's Castle. Vlad was never actually here, but the name is great for tourism. The castle is gorgeous!

We spent the night in Brasov, which has declared that it is “probably the best city in the world.” (That’s taken from the Carlsberg beer ad- “probably the best beer in the world”).

 In the hills over the town, “Brasov” was spelled out in huge white letters, just like the Hollywood sign.

The next morning, we went out to see a fortified church. Back in feudal times, when the town was attacked, people would move inside of the church walls into these small compartments surrounding the church. 

On the way back to Bucharest, we stopped at Peles Castle, which looks like a fairybook castle. The inside is incredibly ornate and beautiful. They make you wear these ridiculous cloth booties over your shoes and then attempt to walk down the long flights of stairs. Miraculously, I managed not to faceplant.

Bucharest, Romania

I've been having a great time in the EU's newest member country. Contrary to what I expected, the streets of the capital, Bucharest, are not overrun with gypsies and gymnasts doing backflips on the sidewalk. The city likes to think of itself as the "little Paris of the east." There is a lot of French architecture and people say "merci" for thank you. Then, alongside these French buildings are concrete monsters from Ceauşescu’s communist "rebuilding" phase. (Not unlike Northwestern's campus really.) Then the National Village Museum transported dozens of homes from the countryside to this large open air museum to show how people live in different parts of the country. I was really impressed by a 300 year old church built entirely out of wood. There were "no smoking" signs everywhere.

The Palace of Parliament, Ceauşescu’s 1984 3.3 billion dollar behemoth,  is the world's second largest building after the Pentagon. Apparently, all marble production in the country for five years went to this building. The starving citizens were not amused by this, and Ceauşescu's rule was ended by a firing squad on December 25, 1989. I wonder if "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was playing in the background? 

There's  monument to those killed in the 1989 revolution. The locals refer to this modern art piece as the Impaled Potato.

Singapore

Singapore was the last stop on my 10 country tour. What a great place! Very modern, clean, and easy to get around. I arrived the day after the Grand Prix. The Singapore Grand Prix is the only race that is at night. The city was transformed into a racecourse and the cars zoomed past all the major landmarks. When I arrived, most of the racecourse and stands were still set up. It meant that most of the streets were closed which was great for me, since I was walking around. I took the Singapore Flyer, the largest ferris wheel in the world, for a great view over the city. The Flyer calls itself an observation wheel rather than a ferris wheel, which I imagine implies that it was not assembled by carnies. 

Instead of riding on seats, you ride in these enclosed pods with glass on all sides. Great panoramic views!

(If you can't tell, I'm loving my reunion with my laptop and my ability to add pictures easily.)

Then I checked out Merlion, the symbol of Singapore tourism that was dreamed up in the 1960s. It is half Mermaid, half Lion. Like I said, imagined in the 1960s...

I also explored Chinatown and the old colonial district. Mostly, I decided to follow the guidebook's advice on the two most important things to do in Singapore- eat and shop. I bought a new shirt to wear on the plane, since I hadn't done laundry since KL. (Yeah over 2 weeks). I was worried that I might be quarantined at customs in any of my other clothes.

I'm back home now with some really terrific jetlag. I woke up at 6 pm yesterday. Brutal. On Saturday, I leave for Bulgaria. Then I'm off to Romania, London, Chicago, and Alaska. I'll post some updates then! I've finally purchased a dslr camera so I'll post pictures from that :)

I put up the last of my pictures from my southeast asia trip. For anyone not on facebook, the links are:

Taipei: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.898358649925.2358845.2407552&l=4087949d50&type=1

Singapore: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.899141246595.2358999.2407552&l=99866070da&type=1

Palau: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.892361198865.2357586.2407552&l=fcd506c725&type=1

Taipei

Taipei was a blast! On the plane ride here, I read up on the etiquette. Here are my faves:
3. The number four is unlucky because it sounds like the Mandarin word for death.
2. Do not give shoes to the elderly as a gift. This is interpreted as urging them on their way out of this life.
1. do not whistles or ring a bell at night. This is an invitation to ghosts.

Chris and I went up to the observation deck of Taipei 101, the world's second highest skyscraper. It is designed to look like a bamboo shoot. It really is pretty. On the 87th floor there is a 660 ton suspended damper, which is a large ball that helps stabilize the building in case of earthquakes. This being Asia, they have spray painted it bright gold and made it into a mascot- Damper Baby. Damper Baby talks on the videos in a piercingly high voice and graces every souvenir imaginable.

Taipei is a great city- good food, friendly people, and an airport that doesn't require you to take cabs between terminals. Glorious.

I'm on my way to Singapore tonight and then home on Tuesday!

Boracay

Boracay was an adventure. I arrived into Caticlan airport and then took a tricycle (a motorbike with a side cart), a ferry, and then another tricycle to reach Boracay. My favorite part of the tricycle ride was that the "slow, school zone" signs were placed in the middle of the traffic lanes rather than on the side of the road. This caused the cars and tricycles to have to swerve into the oncoming traffic lane to avoid the signs. Somehow they seemed to achieve this without actually slowing down. So much for that idea.

The first day, I went out diving to a shipwreck. I saw four purple pygmy seahorses! Then when we got back to the boat, it would not start. This was not surprising. The real surprise was that the rickety old wooden boat had ever started in the first place. Eventually, another equally unpromising looking wooden boat passed by and towed us back in with a plastic rope that someone on each boat held onto. Welcome to the Philippines...

The beaches in Boracay were stunning- beautiful white sand and clear water. Unfortunately, it is rainy season now so I spent the time split between the beach and the Starbucks when downpours started.

Manila airport is the worst. I had a 2 and a half hour layover and still barely made my flight to Taipei. Such a mess. You actually have to pay a taxi to switch terminals which are far apart and most taxis refuse to take you since they want to wait for a fare into the city. Disastrous.

Luckily, I made it to Taipei!

Palau

Once again, I've been terrible about keeping this blog up to date. Luckily, it is because I've been having such a great time rather than because I've been eaten by sharks etc. Palau is absolutely beautiful with lots of limestone rock islands. Palau is actually a collection of tons of small islands. Diving in Palau was amazing. I must have seen hundreds of sharks in my six days of diving.I saw loads of turtles too. One of the coolest things was a lake filled with stingless jellyfish. You can't dive there because the water is toxic below 40 feet, but snorkeling with the jellyfish was really incredible. There are millions of them in the lake! Naturally, the Asian tourist groups were taking great joy in throwing them at each other, even though you're not supposed to touch the jellyfish.

Since Palau played a big role in the Pacific battles in WWII, I got to visit a fair bit of the Japanese navy underwater. (USA! USA!... I tried not to chant that during dive briefings). My favorite story: An American submarine torpedoed a large Japanese ship halfway between Palau and the Philippines. The Japanese through some heroic efforts managed to get the ship hundreds of miles so that they were within sight of land in Palau. The US then sent in an air strike. The ship burned for three days on the surface before finally going down.

Among the other cool things I saw: snake eel, giant Napoleon wrasses, nudibranches, and a red leaf scorpion fish. My favorite fish were the giant tuna that would be freshly caught and turned into sashimi by the dive shop.

I absolutely loved Palau. It is on the short list of places I really want to visit again asap. Leaving was especially difficult because I had to go back to Manila, which is such a mess. Luckily I only had one night in Manila and then an early morning flight to Boracay. It is stunning here- absolutely postcard perfect with white sand beaches and turquoise water.

I've posted some pictures finally:

Manila: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.892347341635.2357584.2407552&l=2e000f6130&type=1

Brunei: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.892345784755.2357583.2407552&l=a9c3d0f8ed&type=1

KL: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.887874505235.2356477.2407552&l=42a10414c2&type=1

Brunei and Manila

Brunei was so shiny! There is an amazing mosque there with golden domes and beautiful stained glass windows. A bank attempted to build a building that was taller than the mosque and the sultan ordered that the top floor of the building be removed. It must be nice to be sultan. There is also a Royal Regalia museum. The entire first floor is taken up by a recreation of the sultan's coronation parade, complete with giant chariot. There is also a recreation of the sultan's Jubilee parade, including an even larger chariot. Once again, it's good to be sultan. On the second floor, there are displays of the gifts that other heads of state have given the sultan. If you're wondering  what to get a guy who has everything, the answers range from a gorgeous silver miniature of Angkor Wat (from Cambodia) to a colorful shield with your own picture in the middle.

I was ready to leave by the end. Having 9 pools and no chance for a Bloody Mary (Brunei is Muslim and there's no alcohol) was too depressing. When I asked the hotel how early I needed to get to the airport, the woman asked me if my flight was international. There's one airport in Brunei...

I'm now in Manila. I spent last night in an 8 bed dorm listening to karaoke from the bar downstairs. Who knew Celine Dion was still so popular. Apparently my heart will still go on.

I spent the day sightseeing in Manila. It's a much more charming town than I expected. I leave tonight for Palau, an island country east of the Philippines. I'll be diving there for a week. So excited! The diving is supposed to be amazing.

I come back to the US two weeks from today. It is hard to believe that 6 weeks and 6 countries have already flown by!

Kuala Lumpur and the Empire Hotel

KL was great. Elisa and I waited in line forever for tickets to go up the sky bridge that connects the Petronas towers. We were lucky since it closes for 3 months of renovation starting next week. The view was amazing and totally worth the wait. KL is a huge city. It was fun to walk around, get cheap massages and try the food. Elisa is back in Paris now and I'm in Brunei.

After weeks of hostels with squat toilets etc., I splurged and I'm staying at this crazy hotel built by the sultan in Brunei for a totally reasonable 1.1 billion. There are nine swimming pools, lots of Italian marble, and my hotel room is bigger than my law school apartment. It's like Vegas but without the willingness to laugh at itself. I'm going out to explore the rest of Brunei today and then I fly to Manila tonight where it will be back to dorm beds.

Bromo

After 12 hours of trains and buses, I made it from Yogya to Bromo, a gorgeous volcano in east Java. Elisa and I woke up at 3am to climb the nearby hill and watch the sunrise over Bomo. Absolutely stunning. We then climbed Bromo and were able to look into the steaming center of the volcano. Really amazing, but not a place you want to lose your balance.

We then took a three hour ride to Surabaya, a town in east Java which not even the ever crunchy Lonely Planet guidebook can get excited about, calling it pandemonium writ large. We tried an ice cream shop that Lonely Planet recommended and all of the flavors just tasted like rum. Interesting choice for a heavily Muslim city.

We have a flight from here to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow afternoon. It will be sad to leave Indonesia, but more adventures await!

Bromo pictures are up:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.885308647235.2355722.2407552&l=8d78ddcd79&type=1

Yogyakarta

So I spent a restful night in Yogya. The karaoke bar shook my room until 4am and then the nearby mosque started its loudspeakers blaring at 5am. Tonight, I'll be sleeping in a  non-reclining train seat for 6 hours which I imagine will be more comfortable.

I went out to two amazing temples. First, I went to Borobudur for sunrise since I wasn't sleeping anyhow. It is a Buddhist temple 30 miles outside Yogya, that was constructed in the 9th century. Once Buddhism fell out of fashion (as I dream that Crocs will), Borobudur was abandoned and then covered in volcanic ash from an eruption in 1006. It was abandoned until it was rediscovered when Stamford Raffles governed Java. Way to go Brits. It has some absolutely stunning carvings throughout the large temple.

Then I went to Prambanan, a Hindu temple complex with some equally stunning carvings. It was badly damaged in the 2006 earthquake, but UNESCO is doing a great job of restoring it. At least that's one thing the UN does quite well.

Over the course of the day, at least a dozen Indonesians at the temples asked to take pictures with me. This makes me suspect that today's outfit- Birkenstocks, a tiedyed maxi dress, green hipster sunglasses, neon bag- looks like a costume to them (and to me) so I basically spent the day like a crunchier Disneyland themepark princess.

I'm taking a 1am train out to east Java and then a series of buses to meet back up with Elisa to go see Bromo, the volcano there. It is supposed to be amazing.

Pictures from today are up: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.884407163815.2355401.2407552&l=dd73618006&type=1

Komodo

OK I really want a komodo dragon as a pet. They may have anger issues and may eat their own kind alive, but is that really so different from first year law students? I took a boat out to Rinca island, which is in the Komodo National Park. It is never guaranteed that you'll see dragons, but I was lucky. I saw at least 10! A number of them were lurking around the ranger station, because they could smell someone cooking. The ranger offered to take a picture of me sitting in front of them, but then took like 10 pictures, which produced a series with me looking more and more nervous the longer my back was turned to the dragons.

He then led me on a hike through the island to look for dragons. At one point there was a tree with a ton of skulls of the dragons' prey which the ranger identified- buffalo, deer, monkey, unwary tourist... (followed by only his hysterical laughter). The dragons really were amazing. There was one that had a broken foot and looked so sad that I really wanted to take him home with me. Another thing to add to the list of things to adopt from Southeast Asia. Apparently he has a broken foot because he has an especially violent temperment and won't stop picking fights with the other dragons. I'm such a good judge of dragon character.

The diving in Komodo is the best diving that I've ever done. In the first five minutes of my first dive, I'd seen a shark, a turtle, and a giant moray eel. Unreal. On the second dive, I saw about 40 manta rays and it isn't even manta season!

After two flights, I'm now in Yogyakarta, Indonesia which is on the island of Java (where Jakarta is). Tomorrow, at 5am, I'm off to see Borobudur, the most popular tourist site in all of Indonesia. It is a huge temple built in the 9th century. Then off to Prambanan, another amazing temple. I may well be awake until 5am anyways since my room is on top of a karaoke bar. This is karma for the night in college I thought I could sing Lady Marmalade. The room also has a squat toilet. It's basically awesome.

I added more dive pics to my Gilli T album: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.882788667295.2354745.2407552&l=cd48ce9609&type=1

And Komodo pics are up: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.883974445985.2355197.2407552&l=4b7302aa38&type=1

xoxo

Komodo Dragons

After a couple of flights, I've made my way to Labuanbajo, an island near Komodo. The Komodo dragons are the world's largest lizard weighing in at over 200 pounds full grown and reaching 9 feet in length. It has massive claws, huge teeth, a creepy yellow forked tongue, and can expand its jaw to swallow a goat whole. It can sprint and raise up on two legs before attacking prey. Who wouldn't want one of these adorable little guys as a pet? It eats deer and buffalo, and, on occasion, farmers. The males also attempt to eat the eggs that the female lays, leading to an epic battle of the sexes. Adult dragons are cannibalistic, so the little ones live up in trees until age five. The dragons make those kids on Teen Mom look like model parents. The Komodos are a protected species since the world needs a real live nightmare Godzilla.

The diving near Komodo is supposed to be amazing, so I'll probably go tomorrow. The diving in the Gilli islands was insane. I saw 10 turtles in one dive yesterday! Then I'll probably take a boat the next day to get up close to these charming little critters.

Trekking Gunung Rinjani

From Bali, I took the slow 4 hour ferry to Lombok, an island east of Bali. I stayed in a pretty little beachside town called Senggigi. The next morning, I started a 3 day, 2 night trek on Gunung Rinjani, a 3700 meter high volcano. Inside of the volcano, there is a crater lake with another volcano inside. It really is gorgeous. As for the climb, there's a reason both trek and camp are four letter words. It is an intense climb, and people die every year attempting it. On the second night, the guide decided to tell us a story about a girl on one of his tours that lost her footing and fell to her death while her boyfriend looked on unable to catch her. I suspect this was a ploy to convince me to hold his hand the whole way down the volcano the next day.

I met some great people on the climb- an Aussie girl, a Dutch guy and an English guy. Our guide, a Hindu man, started to talk about reincarnation, and in an attempt to compliment the Aussie girl, he told her that she would be reincarnated as a man, since she was such a good climber. Compliment fail.

All in all, the trek was similar to law school- something I'm glad I did, but have no desire to repeat. There were some great parts and some brutal parts. There were annoyances- like a still burning brush fire on the way down- but nothing was nearly as annoying as HLS during the 2008 presidential campaign season.

I'm now on the Gilli Islands, which are between Lombok and Bali. I'm on the biggest island, Gilli T. It is very charming with white beaches and horse drawn carts instead of cars or motorcycles. I'm going diving tomorrow.

I've posted a ton of pictures!

Bali: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.880347888635.2353770.2407552&l=c2d2d188ff&type=1

Diving in Tulamben, Bali: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.880395992235.2353798.2407552&l=ab85738210&type=1

Diving in Padang Bay, Bali: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.882188495045.2354547.2407552&l=9883f87a19&type=1

The trek: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.882116075175.2354519.2407552&l=4f5042ad2f&type=1

Bali

So I haven't posted in quite a while, but it was just because I was having such a good time in  Bali! Elisa and I bid Cambodia and our hotel room lizard (which we naturally named Gordon Gekko) a fond farewell and headed to Bali. We stayed in Sanur, which is a quiet town on the east side of the island.

We went diving and it was Elisa's first time ever diving. There is a US cargo ship called the USS Liberty that the Japanese sunk in 1940 right off the coast of Bali. You can shore dive to it. There were a lot of amazing fish and coral.

We also tried surfing. The surf lessons started with a group jog down the beach and stretching. This made sure I was nice and limber every time I fell off the board and had it hit me in the head when I surfaced. I prefer to watch surfers rather than actually to attempt surfing.

Bali really is paradise- beautiful beaches, lovely people, stunning rice paddies, and great food. I can't say enough good things about it. More to come later :)

Off to Indonesia!

Elisa and I spent the morning going out to the Killing Fields. It was an eerie experience. There's a memorial stupa with the skulls of 8000 victims piled up. Some terrific parent brought his four year old who kept tryig to touch the skulls. We then visited the Toul Sleng torture prison used by the Khmer Rouge. Like the Nazis, the Khmer Rouge kept detailed records of their barbaric treatment of prisoners. This translated into some displays that are painful to look at- including pictures of everyone who passed through the prison. There were only 7 survivors out of 20000. An international tribunal recently sentenced the guy who ran the prison (Duch) to 35 years in prison. He's old,so it is essentially a life sentence, but for someone who was responsible for torturing children to death, it seems like the Toul Sleng water torture machines should be taken out of retirement.

In the afternoon, we visited the royal palace, which had a gorgeous golden throne room. We then went to the Silver Pagoda, which houses a life size gold Buddha decorated with nearly 10000 diamonds! I want one but my bag will already be in trouble tomorrow with Air Asia's 15 kg weight limit.

We're off to Bali in the morning!

Siem Reap and Phnom Penh

Elisa and I had a great three days of temple visiting around Siem Reap. We hired a jolly tuk tuk driver who took us around to all the temples. There was one temple with amazingly intricate carvings in pink stones that were over 1000 years old. Another temple was built with the same floor plan as Angkor Wat, but has been so destroyed that the only way to explore it is to crawl around the ruins. This was a bit of a challenge as Cambodia has been taking the whole monsoon season thing pretty seriously.

We took a six hour bus ride to Phnom Penh today. After that we opted for traditional Cambodian food by the hotel pool. The food in Cambodia has been terrific. Last night we got Khmer BBQ, where you grill the meet at your table. It is similar to Korean BBQ but at the side of the grill there is a place for broth and vegetables. We had a great time trying to cook the meat- chicken, pork, alligator, squid, and beef- without dropping the meat into the broth constantly. The waiter kept offering us help.

Tomorrow is shaping up to be a depressing day of sightseeing. In the morning, we're going to Tuol Sleng, the Khmer Rouge torture prison. In the afternoon we're heading out to the Killing Fields where there is a memorial stupa displaying more than 8000 skulls of Khmer Rouge victims. We'll end the day on a happier note- a visit to the royal palace.

Then, the next day we are heading out to Bali!

Temples, Temples, Temples!

If you ever get a cold in a tropical country, avoid checking the health section of your guidebook for all the tropical diseases with the same symptoms as the common cold. I'll save you the time: Dengue fever, Leptospirosis, Malaria, Schistosomiasis, Typhoid, and Typhus. Luckily, most of the time, a cold is just a cold.

Elisa and I met up at Siem Reap airport. Siem Reap is the charming little Cambodian town that serves as a base for exploring the temples of Angkor. Aside from Angkor Wat, there are a ton of other surrounding temples that are also really impressive. It takes a few days to explore the area. The guidebook suggested seeing some of the less impressive temples first to get an idea of the progession of the building styles over the centuries. We ignored this advice and took the "eat dessert first" approach and headed straight to Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is incredibly impressive. It is the largest religious structure in the world. Although it was built nearly 1000 years ago, it is in considerably better shape than some of the hotels that I've stayed in this trip.

After Angkor Wat, we explored some of the other nearby temples. Every single temple looks like it should be a location for Tomb Raider or Indiana Jones. One temple, Ta Prohm, had giant, centuries old trees growing on top of and around the temples.The roots were snaking around the buildings and the trees looking like some kind of alien monsters trying to choke the buildings. Really wild.

I'll post pictures soon. I just uploaded some from Vientiane:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.877555304995.2352692.2407552&l=d6a2faee5f&type=1

Vientiane

I had a good day exploring Vientiane, the capital of laos. it is filled with lots of intricate temples. one entertaining highlight was patuxai, the city's knockoff of the arc de triomphe that is built entirely out of concrete that was donated by the usa for construction of a new airport. as a result, expats refer to it as the vertical runway. there's a sign in front of the entrance saying that they regret that it is even uglier up close than it is far away. at least theyre honest.

i'm at the airport waiting for my flight to siem reap, cambodia, so i can explore angkor wat with my friend elisa!

Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang, Laos is one of the most magical cities I've ever seen. I stayed on the Unesco-protected peninsula which is filled with so many beautiful wat. I was there two days and still didn't see them all! I met some Californians on the plane over, so we explored together the next day. We went out to the Pak Ou caves, which are filled with over 4000 Buddha images that have been left by pilgrims over centuries. The Buddhas are packed on top of each other. It looks like an episode of Hoarders.

We then took a tuk tuk, which in Laos means a motorized bike looking thing towing a trailer with two benches facing each other, to a waterfall. In Vietnam, the tuk tuks were actually pedaled. I heard from a disgruntled traveler that the Vietnam tuk tuk drivers will charge overweight people more and will say "You fat so I have to pedal harder." Ouch.  

In the evening, we went to the Night Markets, which are filled with beautiful paper lanterns, jewelry, and embriodered blankets and aprons. I wanted to buy everything but didn't end up getting anything since my suitcase is already a fatty. The tuk tuk driver would definitely charge it more.

The next day, I woke up at 530 am to give alms to the monks. Hundreds of them walk by and you put some cooked rice in each of their baskets. That is their food for the day then. I swear they started speeding up at some point, and I felt like I was in that episode of I Love Lucy with the candy conveyor belt.

Then, I went out to an elephant sanctuary, where I got to go on an hour long elephant trail ride. I just love elephants. Apparently, they cry when they're upset or scared. How sad is that? Sorry left-leaning buddies, but the elephant is about 1000 times cooler than the donkey. I was able to ride on the elephant's neck, which is more comfortable for the elephant than the basket on its back. It was a glorious experience. I'm adding elephants to my adopt from Asia list.

I uploaded lots of pictures!

Luang Prabang:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.876792189285.2352418.2407552&l=e00d72e723&type=1

Hanoi:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.876791585495.2352417.2407552&l=2466109b80&type=1

And my favorite: Sapa

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.876789599475.2352415.2407552&l=bfcacf61ed&type=1

Goodbye Vietnam, Hello Laos!

I've made it to Laos! It's a shame that I had to leave Vietnam just when I was getting good at crossing the streets there. Crossing the street in Laos is like playing a real life game of Frogger. There are practically no crosswalks and even when there are red lights, they do not inspire cars and motorbikes to stop. The trick to crossing is to walk across at a slow steady pace so that the cars and motorbikes can swerve around you. This is harder than it sounds because when you get to the middle of the street and see a bunch of cars coming your way, all you want to do is sprint. I try to cross near older people who are also crossing because if theyve managed to stay alive for 80 years, then they're on to something.

On the flight to Luang Prabang, Laos, the in flight magazine had a page of Dos and Don'ts so that you do not inadvertently offend the locals. Some of the don't were expected: don't engage in public displays of affection, don't yell at the locals, don't dress like Christina Aguilera circa the Dirrrty music video. Other Don't were less obvious- women may never touch a monk; Touching anyone on the head, even a small child, is consideredv very rude; Anything involving feet is the ultimate evil. It is extremely offensive to prop your feet on anything, to motion with your feet towards anything, to touch someone with your foot, or to step over anyone who is seated on the ground. Naturally, my first day here, I managed to slice my toe on a rock. Good luck explaining to a pharmacist that your foot is bleeding without pointing to your feet.

When I got to customs, there was a sign requesting that women not go in with just bikini tops. I seriously want to know if this is a common problem. I've seen that sign all over Laos since then. I have so much to report on Luang Prabang, but I have to go catch a flight to Vientiane so it will have to wait. Until then, here are some pictures to tide you over.

Hue:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.876393837585.2352242.2407552&l=c4d5a94f32&type=1

Halong Bay:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.876395529195.2352244.2407552&l=b90d1baf07&type=1

Cultural Anthropology in Hanoi

So spoke too soon about the train. I spent last night in a sleeper compartment above some part of the train that made a crashing sound like metal hitting metal at high speed, about every 30 seconds. Never a dull moment.

I arrived into Hanoi at 5am. 5am is rarely agood time to arrive in any city, but is especially undesirable when arriving in the middle of a downpour, the tavel agency where I was supposed to stash my bag was closed as were all nearby coffee shops. Eventually, the agency opened and I headed out to explore.

My first stop was Kinh Do Cafe for coffee. This little hole in the wall was a daily stop for Catherine Deneuve when she was here filming Indochine. Amazing coffee and croissants.

After that, it was time for the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. I was excited to visit it, because it completes my set of pickled commie leaders- Mao, Lenin and HCM. At first, I had no interest in these pickled fellows, but Dad dragged me along to visit Mao when we were in Beijing for the Olympics. In response to my protests, he told me to think of it as cultural anthropology. Plus, it was on the way to lunch. In the end, I am very glad that I went. The amount of ceremony and bureaucracy involved in visiting these places is pretty impressive.

HCM is only on view from 8-10am. the line can get quite long, so I arrived at 8 on the dot. From September until December, HCM is sent to Moscow for maintenance. (And you thought your job was bad...) I had to spent the 90+ degree day in pants and a baggy t-shirt because the people running the mausoleum consider shorts and tanks tops to be indecent. Who am I to ignore lessons on decency from the folks who pickled a guy who desperately wanted to be cremated and then  turned him into a tourist exhibit?

Now, with the trifecta complete, I can rank my favorites.

1. Mao
The highlight: Seeing vendors selling plastic flowers for visitors to leave at the entrance of the mausoleum and then scooping the flowers back up and reselling them to the next group. Capitalism literally being thrown on Mao's grave. Excellent.

The security guards were the scariest here. I was pretty sure that if I even thought about Madame Tussauds, they could send me to Mongolia.

2. Lenin
The setting of Red Square is really impressive. So he's missing an ear and a couple fingers- he is still looking real good for his age.

3. HCM
Still totally worth a visit, even if the side of his head looks like it is starting to melt. Plus, in the same complex is his old house on stilts, a propoganda museum (ok they call it a history museum), the presidential place, and a pagoda.

In the afternoon, I went to the first university in Vietnam. It is now a museum that focuses on literature. There is a sign from the old university in front, requesting that you dismount from your horse before entering.  Nice of them to keep the sign up, just in case.

Sapa

If you are ever trying to get around Vietnam, TAKE THE TRAIN. It was glorious- no sandwiching between people, no techno, no weird smells. It left on time and arrived into Sapa on time as well. Imagine that.

Sapa is incredibly charming. It is a mountain town near the Chinese border. The clouds are always on the mountains. I spent today and yesterday trekking around the mountains with a guide who claimed to be 18 but looked about 12. She spent most of the time trying to convice me I should marry her brother. She introduced me to her sister and her sister's little baby. So cute! I wanted to pull an Angelina and take him home with me.

I was completely impressed by their ability to just trot down these slippery mountain road even carrying the baby! Meanwhile, I was trying to remember anything I'd ever heard about surviving a mud slide/ flashflood. Nothing came to mind, so it is a good thing the mountains stayed intact. The rain never stopped! I bought a cross body bag from the sister which will probably end up in the "seemed like a good idea at the time" drawer at home alongside with my llama legwarmers from Peru.

The people up here are so short! I must have been about a foot taller than my guide. It's pretty fun to feel tall for a few days (even if I realize in the back of my head that malnutrition is probably to blame). The food was fantastic. As a rooster had the nerve to wake me up at 5am, I'm eating as much chicken as possible.

I'm taking a night train back to Hanoi tonight and will then have from 5am (ouch) until late afternoon to explore Hanoi and visit pickled Ho Chi Minh. Then off to Laos! Perhaps I will even be able to figure out if the "s" in Laos is silent or not because I keep hearing it different ways. My favorite explanation so far is that it is pronounced when you're talking about the country but silent when you mean the people who live there.

I have super slow internet here but I managed to upload a few pictures from Hoi An: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.875442573925.2351800.2407552&l=d1bb932c67

xoxo

Halong Bay

From Hue, I took an overnight sleeper bus to Hanoi. Well, at least they advertised it as a sleeper. The buses have three rows of double bunk beds with two aisle separating them, but at the back there are three mats that are all touching because the restroom takes the space of the aisles. Naturally, I ended up sandwiched between two Vietnamese men. Luckily for me, the obesity epidemic has not yet caught on here. Unfortunately, neither has deodorant.

The guy next to me was compulsively texting. Each time he received a text, his phone would whistle loudly and a woman's voice would shout "taxi." As I was starting to accept that I was not going to be getting much sleep in my Vietnamese sleeping sandwich, the bus driver started to blast techno music. I at least figured it couldn't get any worse. Then the bus's built in laser light show began. The bus also arrived 2 hours late. The driver was a bit too busy jamming to house music and stopping for snacks to be bothered with anything so trivial as a schedule.

After zooming across Hanoi on a motorbike with my suitcase, I arrived to find that luckily my halong bay tour was also operating on vietnamese time. After a three hour drive, the tour arrived at halong bay. It really is breathtaking. My overnight boat, the Elizabeth sails, was beautiful. There were about 20 passengers on board. I opted against the cheaper boats for this trip because they have the nasty habit of sinking in the middle of the night and killing everyone on board. I'm a good swimmer but I'm not in the mood to find out how good.

After lunch, we went and explored a huge cave, went kayaking and then went for a swim. Swimming mostly involved jumping off the third floor of the boat into the water. So fun.
I was never lacking in for friends since the boat seemed to be full of couples who had been traveling for months and had run out of things to say to each other- kind of like those couples in restaurants who just comment occasionally about the food but largely sit in silence. Luckily for me, they had lots of terrific tips about Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

I'm taking an overnight train to Sapa tonight.  I'm really hoping it is not a techno laser bus. l'll then stay in sapa one night and then take a night train back the following night. Then, off to Laos!

Off to the north

I just had a great day exploring Hue. I took a day tour around the area which included the nearby tombs. The tombs were built in the 19th and 20th century by the nyguyen dynasty. The emperor would pick the site and then use it as a place for recreation during his life. The places were beautiful- large lakes, pine trees. Amazing. My favorite of the emperors had 104 wives but no children. What do you want to bet he still blamed them?

I checked out the citadel. It apparently looked better before American bombing. Oops. I got to feed an elephant there. In exchange the elephant got mud all over my shirt, which I will be wearing on another night bus today. Going to be looking awesome by tomorrow. Someone actually called me sir yesterday. I was pretty pumped about that. Generally, people are calling me Madame. I really love that. I feel like I should be wearing red velvet and running a brothel.

Tonight I'm taking an overnight bus to Hanoi and then immediately joining a trip out to halong bay. I'll be staying overnight in halong bay on a boat in the bay. So excited.

Then I will be returning to Hanoi and immediately taking a night train up to sapa in the very north of Vietnam, near the Chinese border. I've met so many people who have said that Sapa was the highlight for them in Vietnam, so I am really excited to be going. There are hill tribes and it will be a nice break from the oppressive heat. I'll stay in Sapa on night and then take an overnight train back to Hanoi. That will get me back to Hanoi in the early morning of the 13th. I'll have the day to explore there until I fly to Laos the evening of the 13th. I will certainly be paying pickled ho chi Minh a visit.

I will probably radio silent until the 13th, so no need to worry. I'll update when I can.

So night buses are an adventure...

I made it to Hoi An. The night bus was a treat. The bus had 3 rows of double decker pods that were about 2 feet by 4 feet. It was a great day to be 5'4". The bus ride was 11 hours so I got here around 8am. Hoi An is a great place for shopping and to have clothes tailor made. I managed to fight the urge to have a suit custom made since I would have to carry it around for 7 more weeks, but I did have some sandals custom made. I'm picking them up in an hour, so we'll see how well that goes!

I'm taking a 4 hour bus ride to Hue, which Lonely Planet claims is the intellectual, cultural and spiritual heart of Vietnam. Lots of tombs and pagodas. Should be good!

Diving Nha Trang

I just finished a great day of diving in Nha Trang. First of all, the dive company (Sailing Club Divers) actually picked me up, so that was a good start. The weather was perfect and we took a 45 minute boat ride out to the dive site. My assigned dive buddy was a middle-aged Italian man who seemed to think his dive buddy duties consisted mainly of 1) prancing around in an impossibly small speedo 2) constantly calling me baby and 3) "helping" me pull off my wetsuit in between dives in a way that threatened to take the swimsuit too. Thanks, buddy.

The diving was terrific. I found Nemo! Plus I saw a bunch of other cool things- jellyfish, nudibranchs, beautiful colorful fish etc.

Pictures are up:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.873249913035.2350834.2407552&l=acea6e13c7&type=1

 

I'm taking an overnight bus to Hoi An tonight!

Pictures are up!

I am currently in Nha Trang, the diving and party hotspot in Vietnam. I'm staying at this absolutely terrific little hotel (HQ Apartments) where I have my own desktop computer in the room with fast internet, so I have finally uploaded some pictures. If you havent already seen them on facebook you can find them at:


Saigon: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.872977419115.2350727.2407552&l=67b5c64b4a&type=1


Phu Quoc: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.872984554815.2350729.2407552&l=6a4bed21c9&type=1


Today, I'm heading out diving. Maybe the dive company will remember me this time!

Phu Quoc

Phu Quoc is paradise! Beautiful white sand beaches and bright blue water.

I arrived yesterday morning. The scuba diving company that was supposed to pick me up in the morning completely forgot me (cue the nasty online reviews!) but within 5 minutes of yelling at the owner, I was on the back of a local's motorbike chasing down a snorkeling trip that had already left. Zooming down the unpaved roads, I was seriously hoping the the man's pink helmet that said "lovey bear" would not be the last thing I'd ever see. Luckily, I arrived in one piece and headed out on the boat.

The visibility was terrible so it turned out to be a good thing I didn't spend the day diving. We stopped to fish and it turns out that I completely lack my grandfather's fishing skills (as if that wasn't clear from my failure to catch anything at a trout farm when iwas little). I did try the sea urchin that someone grabbed off the bottom. I maintain that sea urchin tastes like low tide. I also ate this water snail that someone found. I should probably book my appointment for a parasite check when I get back.

An Asian woman on the tour went swimming in full on shirt and shorts. The white t-shirt that said "dignity" did not hold up well in water with no swimsuit beneath it. Dignity fail.

I stayed at this fabulous little hotel (moon resort) in a beach bungalow right on the water. I spent the morning at the beach reading the hunger games (since I'm 14) which I'm totally loving. Thanks for the tip steph! I never wanted to leave, but I'm now at the airport headed to nha trang!

Good Morning Vietnam

So far, I'm loving Vietnam! It makes sense that I feel right at home in communist countries after spending three years at HLS (the Kremlin on the Charles). The food is really good and the people are friendly but not overly aggressive. This may also because my backpacking wardrobe suggests I'm an angry lesbian (convertible pants + birkenstocks + baseball cap= dreamy), but that never deterred the Bolivians or Chinese.

My first stop was the War Remnants Museum. There was an entire room dedicated to the evil US, featuring pictures of US soldiers shooting Vietnamese "civilians." There was an outdoor garden featuring american tanks, planes, and helicopters. I'm not sure if that was supposed to trigger white guilt, but it made me want to listen to "Brought to you courtesy of the red, white and blue." (If you dont know it, youtube it immediately.)

In the afternoon, I went to the Reunification Palace. It was built as a palace for the French governor. There, instead of the US being the bad guy, the French were the evil ones. I managed to choke back the involuntary laugh when France and "great military power" pop up in the same sentence.When the communists invaded Saigon in 1975, this building was left just as it was. Just like the Churchill war rooms in London, all the old telephones, radio rooms, and war maps are still in place. It's a total timewarp.

I'll post pictures some time but the internet here is super slow. Off to Phu Quoc tomorrow!

In Saigon

Location: Saigon
Hotel:Saigon mini hotel 5

After 24 hours of flying, I made it to Saigon! The locals seem to say Saigon not ho chi Minh city, so I'm going with that. In my usual fine form, within an hour of landing, I was in the rain on the street arguing with a taxi driver in the middle of Saigon who was trying to charge me twenty times the normal rate blaming increasing gas prices. Clearly that didn't work out well for him. But fear not, I claimed to be from Canada so i haven't given the Vietnamese another reason to hate Americans.

Now that I've figured out how to get my browser to display English, not Vietnamese, blogging should be much easier. Off to explore in the morning :)

Done with the Bar! Off to Southeast Asia!

As many of you know, on Thursday, I finished that 3 day, 18 hour delight known as the California Bar Exam. Now I get to wait until November 18 to get my results while I ponder alternative career paths in case I failed (#1: travel writer, #2: flight attendant, #3 apple genius bar because I really want the employee discount).

Tomorrow, I'm heading to southeast asia for 2 months. I'm starting off in Vietnam, then going to Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei (to chill with the sultan), the Philippines, Palau, Singapore, and maybe Taiwan. Rather than send out groups emails for 2 months, I'm going to blog this trip. The blog is named after my second favorite (the first naturally being Schadenfreude) German loan word: Wanderlust: the strong desire for or impulse to wander or travel and explore the world.

I leave at noon tomorrow, connect through Tokyo, and then land in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) on Tuesday night. Check in for updates!