- They're Taking the Christians to Isengard! We returned to Ha Noi from Sa Pa for an international flight, and took a night or two to further explore the city’s nightlife offerings. The “party” hostel we stayed in afforded some cheap beer and recommendations on where to go for our last 48 hours in Ha Noi. We accepted the beer, and ignored the recommendations. We’d done a bunch of the cultural stops, and found posting up at a cafe with a Vietnamese coffee and people watching to be far more enlightening and entertaining.
- A Fantasy Town in the Clouds We didn’t have much time in Vietnam, and to be frank we were still pretty exhausted from Dana’s adventures with food poisoning, but we wanted to see more of the country than just Hanoi. We decided to spend a few days in Sa Pa, which is known in the backpacker scene for its beautiful setting in the hills surrounded by rice fields, and for its trekking. We’re big fans of beautiful scenery and hiking, so this sounded like the place for us! Sa Pa is a former French outpost located up in the hills almost to the border of China; it stays relatively cool there even when Hanoi is suffering in the steamy heat of summer. It’s a ten hour sleeper train ride from Hanoi, or a six hour bus. We opted to take the train there and the bus back for the sake of variety.
- Differing Perspectives, Part 2 Our first day in Hanoi was a Sunday, which we discovered was typically a quiet day, and Monday brought out a much livelier city. Venturing away from the still-relative quiet of the lake made us realize something very quickly - crossing the road in Hanoi is a hairy affair!
- Differing Perspectives, Part 1 We had heard from several fellow travellers that Vietnam was a beautiful, enriching country full of wonderful, friendly people and delicious food. Based on these glowing recommendations, we decided to stop off in Vietnam for a week or so and see what the country had in store. As we did some research however, we read more than a few accounts which indicated that Vietnam was home to some of the meanest people the authors had ever met, their only joy in life scamming, or outright pickpocketing, unsuspecting tourists. After absorbing these differing accounts, we really had no idea what to expect as we set down in Hanoi. Fortunately, our experience was very much the former. The scamming culture was about as bad as Thailand, which is to say that you have to be on your guard. However, the amazing people and sights we encountered quickly put these concerns aside.
- Our Last Two Weeks in Thailand - Beach Bums, The Jungle Line, and An Unexpected Stay Ao Nang is a touristy city by the beach with a boardwalk feel. There are a plethora of bars and restaurants on the main strip, a big long beach, and not much to do unless you want to hop in a longtail boat or minibus to somewhere else. We found ourselves here with four days to kill, and not a lot of money to spend (that’s the problem with planning nothing beforehand; sometimes you end up with a week and no idea what to do with yourself). So we became beach bums! We spent our days and evenings walking around, lazing in the shade or in the water, and becoming intimately familiar with the cheap pad thai food carts on the street.
- It'll Make a Good Story, Right? Koh Lanta was the perfect place to chill for a week, but we decided we were a little curious about the famous party islands of Thailand. Maybe just for a day or so, just to see what it was like. We hopped a ferry to Koh Phi Phi, which is known for its lovely white sand beaches, beautiful diving and snorkeling, and crazy nightlife.
- A Breath of Fresh Condensed Air The night bus deposited us at the Krabi bus station at 6:30 AM, and we couldn’t check into our hostel until 2, so we were left with practically a whole day to kill. We were groggy and half-coherent from our unconventional night’s rest, not to mention grimy from lack of a shower (we had walked several miles to get partway to the bus station in Bangkok, so we were pretty stinky). Thankfully, Krabi Town seemed to be the perfect place to wile away a day doing nothing in particular. It’s a sleepy town sitting on a swampy tidal river, with fewer tourists compared to many other areas in southern Thailand. We spent most of the day in a big local park by the water, which turned out to be really peaceful and a great chance to see how the locals spend their mornings. We watched families getting their early morning calisthenics in, relaxing like us, or helping to set up for a big ceremony that was taking place later that day in honor of the King’s funeral.
- You want Tuk Tuk? We arrived in Bangkok feeling a little trepidatious. We were fairly exhausted by the madness that had been India and Nepal, and were craving a little quiet R&R time. Bangkok is not a city famed for being quiet or peaceful, so when our plane landed, we already were looking for a way out. However, we were quickly won over by the speedy modern skytrain that delivered us to our hostel, and by how CLEAN the roads and air were! You don’t think of Bangkok as being a particularly clean city, but compared with Kathmandu, it felt a lot more like home. Gleaming skyscrapers jutted skyward, there were huge malls everywhere full of consumerism run amok, and people followed traffic laws! We decided to stay a few days and give it a chance.
