Travel Break

Don't get me wrong, I obviously love to travel. But sometimes while backpacking, it's nice to have a few days off the road, and to enjoy some modern comforts. So when Nelson, my friend who lives in Phnom Penh, invited me to come spend a few days with him, I was happy to accept the offer. And to get to my next stop, I need to pass through PP anyway, so it worked out perfectly.

So for the past few days I've been doing a whole lot of nothing. But to me, it's been really exciting. I've been sleeping in, watching TV/movies/the news, doing laundry, cooking...I hadn't cooked a real meal in so long! And Nelson took me grocery shopping at a big western store, which was so fun for me! He got me actual cheddar cheese and honey bunches of oats cereal...the kind with vanilla bunches, arguably the best kind! This may not sound like much to you, but to me it's been so so nice. I meant to stay 2-3 days but its been almost a week! Oops. Nelson also cooked me an African dinner (he's Nigerian), which was delicious. We went to the gym and I realized that I actually missed working out, who knew?! Last night we got massages, I'm currently sitting poolside...not too shabby. I spent some time today with Nelson's friend wandering the city a bit and checking out a Wat and a pagoda, which was fun. But for the most part I've seen the sights I wanted to see in Phnom Penh already, so I've been fine just hanging out.

I can't believe that tomorrow is February 1st already (happy happy birthday Alyss!). Time is flying by! So I continue my travels tomorrow, ill be heading to the northeast. It will be filled with, hopefully: small towns, river cruising to see dolphins, trekking, ELEPHANTS, jungle...not a bad itinerary, if I may say so myself.

Kampot and Kep and a border run

My next stop was Kampot, a sleepy little town along a river. Mia, Kristine and I stayed in a small bungalow in a guesthouse set right on the water, which was really nice. The girls rented motos and we spent our first full day exploring Kep, a nearby "city" known for its fresh crab and pepper plantations. We ate at the renowned Crab Market and had fish as fresh as you can get--aka we ate while  sitting on the riverbank watching the fishermen at work! We also went to a pepper plantation and tried the different varieties that they grow: red, white, and black. I wish I didn't have to carry everything on my back, I would have loved to bring some home to cook with! And it would have made a great gift. Ah, well...
The countryside here is really beautiful so we had a nice time just riding around and taking it all in.

The rest of the time in Kampot was pretty relaxed, as the town is known to be. Another moto ride up through a national park, swimming in the river, a sunset river cruise, relaxing on rocks and swimming by some rapids, chilling at the guesthouse...just a nice couple of days.

We didn't know how long we would stay but we kept extending, and ultimately stayed for 4 nights. I could have gotten stuck there for longer, but my Cambodian visa was set to expire in a few days (I can't believe I've been here for almost a month already!! Wasn't it just New Years?!) and I already knew I wasn't ready to leave. I'm not too keen on overstaying visas, so I knew I needed to extend. Kep is pretty close to the Vietnamese border, and my Vietnam visa is still valid, so I decided to do a quick border hop so I could get a new visa for Cambodia. So this morning I came back to Kep,
found a place to stay for the night, dumped my bags, hired a moto driver to take me to the border and back, and off I went! It was actually really painless, and $20 and an hour later I had my new Cambodian visa! I'm really falling hard for this country, and I'm so glad I have more time to spend here.

Tomorrow I'm back to Phnom Penh for a few days, then I think I'll head to eastern Cambodia next. I'm looking forward to it all and I'm having a really great time. Thinking a lot about what comes next, post-travel, but also trying to live in the moment and enjoy the time I have here.

Ill leave you with this gem from my evening. Adding salt to the wound, this is the most money I've spent on a room in weeks and I was SO looking forward to my own room, big bed, and private bathroom. A splurge for one night, right?

A Tale of Horror and Devastation:

Wait weeks for hot shower.

Acquire guesthouse with hot water.

Euphoria.

All day anticipation.

Evening comes.

Enter bathroom.

Turn on shower. 

Watch approximately 10 cockroaches scurry out of the drain.

Feel, and then see, the largest cockroach run up leg.

Exit bathroom.

Im still waiting for my hot shower. 

Beach Bum

For a very long time, I was looking forward to this part of my trip. It was a vacation within a vacation, and I was so ready for it. I could spend my life happily on a beach, and I always feel rejuvenated and relaxed after a few days of sand and sun. And I won't belabor the point, but it's not a bad feeling knowing that its winter back home while you sip a mango smoothie in a bikini.

Justsayinn.

I started in Sihanoukville, on the southern coast of Cambodia. I opted to stay a few kilometers outside of town, known to be a bit trashy and full of young, drunk backpackers. I stayed on Otres beach, a strip of white sand, clear blue water, a few guesthouses and restaurants/bars, and not a whole lot else to do. I was a complete bum for 3 days there and could have easily spent more time. I met some great people, some of whom came to Otres for a few days and ended up staying 3 weeks! I got a massage on the beach ($5 full body, heaven), watched beautiful sunsets over the water, swam, read, tanned...just enjoyed myself. I spent a bunch of time with 2 Canadian girls Mia and Kristine (part of the 3 week group) and with Nelson, a guy I previously met in Phnom Penh and who came out to the beach for a few days.

After a few days on Otres Nelson and I headed to Koh Rong, a small island off the coast (about 2 hours away by boat). So from one small, rustic beach town to a smaller, more rustic little island. It was so gorgeous there! There's electricity for a few hours a day at most places, the wifi worked for like 30seconds a day, there is just sand and water and places to eat and drink. It was such a nice little getaway from the rest of the world! I got my first real stomach rumbles while on the island, but I just relaxed on the beach or in a hammock until I started to feel better (maybe it was the sea air,
possssibblyyyy the antibiotics I started taking, but I managed to feel better quickly which was really nice).

I got back to the mainland and spent another 2 nights on Otres. That brought me to a full week of beach bumming, so I knew it was just about time to move on. Luckily for me, Mia and Kristine had the same gameplan as me for the next few days, so we decided to travel together for a bit.

I'm going to try really hard to update the blog more regularly. Hopefully I live up to the task!

Angkor What?

Angkor Wat. It's going to be really hard to do this part of my trip justice, so I'm not even going to try. Ill keep this short and sweet, and if you're interested definitely research more about this incredible place. The temples here are unbelievable; you really feel like you've been transported back in time.

The world's largest religious building, Angkor Wat literally took my breath away as I watched the sun rise over it on the first day of the new year. What an incredible start! After the sun rose and we took tons of pictures, we explored a bit more then had breakfast. Followed by a full day of temple exploring! There are tons and tons of temples to see, it would take a very very long time to see them all. I think in the 3 days we saw a total of 20 temples! In terms of architecture and creativity I think I was most impressed with Bayon, famous for all of the faces carved into the walls/towers. For ambiance and "Ohmygod I'm discovering hidden treasure" and "Woww I'm filming Legends of the Hidden Temple," Ta Prohm wins the award. If you saw Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie, Ta Prohm will look familiar. It was just incredible. So we're the other temples, but I can't describe them all here! So ill be boring and leave it at that. But let's just say we had a few wonderful, tiring, awe-inspiring days. It's one of the wonders of the world and if you ever have a chance to go, I cannot reccomend it enough. It's really not to be missed.

While in Siem Reap we also did a boat ride through a floating village and a floating forest (mangroves), and we took a Khmer cooking class. I made a banana flower salad and Chicken Amok. (Amok is a typical dish here, similar to a curry). It was all delicious and we had a great time! If I can find the ingredients at home I'd love to cook it again!

After Siem Reap I said bye to Joc and Danit :(, then the next day was off to Battambang. The city is really chilled out and relaxed, a nice change from the cities I had been in. It's set on a river, there's really pretty French architecture--just a lovely place to hang out for a few days. My hostel was set in a garden with hammocks and big comfy chairs, so I spent some time just reading and relaxing, which was nice. Also explored some Wats in the nearby countryside (monastery temples), some of which were set atop mountains, or up many many stairs. So lots of walking! On the way to one I stopped to see the Killing Cave, sadly but aptly named from the Khmer Rouge time. You can imagine what it was used for. And the bat cave, also pretty self explanatory. At dusk each night millions and millions of bats fly out to catch their prey for the evening. It was incredible to watch! I also took a ride on the Bamboo train, an old rickety "train" (more like a wooden board with an engjne), no longer in use but for tourism. It's sort of like a roller coaster at times, and if a train is coming from the other direction one has to be lifted off the tracks. Bit sketchy but got the adrenaline pumping for sure. And you see some villages and countryside along the way.

From Battambang I had to bus back to Phnom Penh for a night; to get to a lot of places in Cambodia the easiest thing to do is to loop back through the capital. I did have sushi for the first time in forever though, which made the travel time totally worth it. And had a fun night out, so all in all I'm not complaining.

My next stop was Koh Kong, where I wanted to do some trekking in the Cardamom mountains. I ended up booking a tour for a 2 day, 1 night trek through my guesthouse. It was a bit chaotic and unorganized, and at times our guide was an 11 year old boy, but for the most part it was fun. The 2 days involved boat rides, jungle trekking, pseudo-rock climbing to a waterfall, lunch overlooking the mountains, more waterfalls and swimming holes, getting shipwrecked (ie stuck on rocks) for about 2 hours and needing another boat to come get us, wading through calf-deep mud, sleeping out in hammocks under the stars, and more trekking.

After all that hard work, it was time for the beach. So that's where I went next.

I hear that it's been cold cold coldddd at home, so you may want to skip my next post. Ill be talking about the sun a lot :-)

The start of Cambodia

Hello and happy 2014!! I hope you all had a happy, healthy, wonderful start to the new year. I sure did! After a lovely home cooked Vietnamese meal courtesy of Danit's coworker and his family, the next morning it was off to Phnom Penh, about 7 hours by bus. With only some minor overcharging for my visa (gotta love the mandatory bribes to get across with no trouble), I made it safely to Cambodia's capital. It's mostly what I expected, busy and a bit dirty and chaotic, some beautiful architecture, museums, markets...overall I liked it. It's also the home to S21 prison, now the genocide museum, from the Khmer Rouge, and the killing fields. More on that soon.

I had three days in Phnom Penh with Danit and Jocelynn, and we were really busy! In no particular order we: went to the royal palace, visited the national museum, ate dinner at the night market, wandered the central markets, drank 50cent beer and danced by the riverside, haggled for (or avoided) tuk-tuks, and walked around the city a lot. We also spent a day at the genocide museum and the killing fields--an intense and emotionally exhausting day. I learned much more about the Khmer Rouge and what happened during the genocide. I won't get into the politics or details here, but if you don't know much about it you should at the very least skim the Wikipedia page. Walking through the killing fields, now so peaceful with birds chirping and tourists snapping pictures, it's hard to believe the horror that it once held. 

I've also been putting on my social work hat, particularly in Phnom Penh. There is so much poverty, with so many street kids and families with babies sleeping outside. It's really heartbreaking, particularly when there is nothing you can do about it. I would really love to work with an NGO here, there is so much need. At the moment I am not committed to learning the language or settling in one place, so I don't think ill do anything with my complicated thoughts on this at the moment. But if I ever announce that I'm moving to Cambodia for a while, you have just been forewarned and this is the reason why.

After PP we bussed to Siem Reap, just in time for New Years. Siem Reap is the base for Angkor Wat, the star attraction in Cambodia (and probably in Southeast Asia). We arrived in the afternoon, napped and showered, and headed downtown to Pub Street. As the name implies, it was the place to be. We also decided to celebrate with a nice 3 course meal to start the celebrations, which set me back about $6. I had a smile when thinking about how much a similar meal would cost on New Year's Eve back in New York or Boston. We met up with some of Danit's friends who were also in Siem Reap, and we spent the night dancing out on the street with what felt like every person in the city. We had a really nice time.

The plan was to stay up until dawn and then watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Let's be serious though, I am way too old for that. We ended up heading back to our guesthouse to sleep for about 2 hours.

Did we make it in time for sunrise? Whats the big idea with Angkor Wat anyway? 

Next post will tell! 

Here's to a 2014 filled with love, laughter, and adventure. 

Continuing my southbound journey

Hoi An. How to describe this beautiful little city on a river? The ancient area is all a unesco world heritage site (yes, Vietnam has many!) Beautiful old buildings, small streets, boats and lanterns dotting the riverfront---it's beautiful. One of my favorite places so far--I ended up staying for 4 nights and had a lovely time. Hoi an is also known for its tailors, and everyone goes to have clothes made for them. I spent waaayyyy too much money and will soon be shipping a small package home--but I have new dresses and am quite happy! Katie and I spent a stupid amount of time shopping and designing/thinking about/talking about dresses. We also kept running into people we had previously met, which was really nice. Due to the shape/size of Vietnam, pretty much all travelers travel north to south, or vice versa. So once you meet someone going in the same direction as you, it's really likely that you will keep seeing them along the way.

Katie was making her way down south faster than me, so we said our goodbyes and I spent one last rainy day in hoi an uploading pictures, reading, catching up on emails, etc etc. Then it was another (my last in Vietnam!) overnight bus to nha trang. Nha Trang is known for the beach but the weather was not great, so my new friend Marga and I (we met at the bus station-- not creepy at all while traveling but sounds strange in the real world) wandered around a bunch. A day after we got there 2 of her friends arrived to meet us. We relaxed a lot, and one afternoon took a boat ride to monkey island. It's just what it sounds like--monkeys running around everywhere, and they are crazy! But cute.
My last day in Nha Trang the sun came out, so I had my first few hours of lying on a Vietnamese beach. Happy girl.

After Nha Trang came Dalat, in the mountains with a much cooler climate. It's referred to as the "little Paris" of Vietnam, and boasts wine, strawberries, flowers, and a beautiful countryside once you get a bit out of the city. I spent my first afternoon exploring the relatively unremarkable but very relaxed and chilled out city, and the next day I did a motorbike countryside tour. You'll notice (parents in particular, I'm sure) how often I mention motorbikes . It's really the only way to get around here, and I always opt to sit on the back instead of renting my own. And helmets are compulsory. Safety first. So anyway, I spent that day riding around the countryside, with many stops: coffee plantation, rice wine factory, silkworm factory, mushroom farm, flower farm, a huge waterfall, and a small village. The coffee was one of the highlights for me. A big thing here in Vietnam is weasel coffee, and I've been wanting to try it since I got here. And I finally did! Many coffee plantations here keep weasels, because apparently they pick out and eat only the best coffee beans. They then--stay with me here--poo them out, still whole but out of the outer shell--and then the beans are removed and used to make coffee. So the idea is that only the best beans are used. Gross but really cool. It's much more expensive but you really can taste the difference in quality. Whatever, don't judge.

After Dalat I took an incredibly stunning and wildly bumpy bus ride to Mui Ne, another beach town. Now that I was much farther south I finally got the real sunshine I had been waiting for. I had a lovely time relaxing and reading by the water, and swimming a bit (the current here was so strong that I didn't venture out too far). There are also sand dunes near Mui Ne (such a crazy mix of landscapes!) so I went to see and climb those as well. I made a sand angel while y'all on the east coast were making snow angels on Christmas Eve! 

And that brings me to today. Whew, finally caught up! I'm back in Saigon, reunited with Danit and spending my last few days in Vietnam here. Ill be taking it easy, getting organized, doing laundry, etc etc. Then on Saturday we bus to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. I have loved my time here in Vietnam but after about 5 weeks I am ready for my next passport stamp.  

I hope everyone who celebrates had a merry Christmas. I am sending so much love to you all! Also, email updates make me smile so please keep sending them! It makes me feel closer to home :)

Phong Nha and Hue

After leaving Hanoi I took an overnight bus to Phong Nha, about 10 hours south. Katie and I wanted to see Phong Nha National Park, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's known for it's massive caves. I'm mixing up the different caves there, but I think I visited the longest dry cave in Asia. The area also has a recently discovered cave, now believed to be the largest cave (by volume) in the world. You can't go into that one as a tourist, as it is still being explored. If you are a scientist though---or really rich--you can pay $3,000 to spend a few days inside the cave. I am neither of those things, so I stuck to the tourist parts.

After arriving to the small town of Son Trach which is located near the park, Katie and some new friends we met at the hostel headed out to explore. We did a small wooden boat ride to Phong Nha Cave, then road the boat further down through the first kilometer or so of the cave. We were also allowed to get out of the boat and walk around a bit. It was incredible--probably the most impressive cave i've been in yet. It was gorgeous. We spent that afternoon walking around San Trach, seeing the animals and local villagers going about their days. This area was also heavily bombed during the war, so we saw more bomb craters as well.

The next day we did a tour to the national park, including Paradise Cave, rode on part of the old Ho Chi Minh Trail, saw a temple where people come to make offererings to ancestors, and visited Dark Cave. Dark cave is exactly what it sounds like. We put on bathing suits and head torches, kayaked to the opening of the cave, then walked through mud and darkness. I'm talking mud up past my waist, scrambling and sliding down and through muddy pathways...super fun though! Then finally it ended in deeper water, where we could swim back out to the cave opening and kayak back to land. There was veggie soup--and rum shots--waiting for us when we returned. Our tourguide was an Australian guy who married a Vietnamese woman and has been living here for many years. He told us some incredible stories that he has heard about the war and we learned a lot about how this area was changed and impacted during that time.

The next morning we took the 5am (eesh) bus to Hue, another 4 hours south. Have I mentioned yet that I am making my way back down to Saigon, to reunite with Danit and head to Cambodia together on the 28th? If not, thats my plan. We spent a day in Hue, which is a city but much smaller than Hanoi and Saigon so it was a nice change of pace. Hue also has a huge Citadel in the old imperial part of the city so we explored that (and awkwardly/awesomely tagged onto an English-speaking tour so we could learn about the kings that used to live there and what the buildings were used for). I have not, but if you have seen the movie Full Metal Jacket, the citadel is where some of the scenes were shot. At this point I had a pretty bad cold and was feeling a bit run down, so we took it easy and chilled out that night. We were in a cute little hotel which ended up being cheaper than a hostel dorm, but with much more comfort. So we were happy.

We then moved on to Hoi An, which is were I am now. Next post will be about that!