Singapore--the city/country

I landed in Singapore last night, and as I was expecting it is much different and more first world than the rest of SE Asia. I actually planned it in the middle of my trip for that exact reason--if I needed a break I could have it, and then continue on my journey refreshed from the A/C in every building and coffee shops on every corner. So far I've explored Little India (where my hostel is), and found out they are having a food festival, so I couldn't be happier.

I also went to the National Museum of Singapore and, after only getting 1/4 of the way through one of the exhibits in an hour, will be going back after my lunch break here to continue learning about Singapore's interesting history. I'll be here until the 4th, and plan on seeing the Night Zoo along with some other historical landmarks. I'll go to Orchard Road, the shopping capital, but will do more looking than buying. Overall I just have enjoyed walking around and taking in the different flavors and languages of this bustling city. I can say for sure that if I had to move anywhere in SE Asia, this wouldn't be a difficult adjustment to make.

Good day exploring Vietnamese history

Since I took it pretty easy yesterday (not that it mattered--it rained a lot yesterday and would have slowed me down even if I had intended to do a lot of sight seeing) I was refreshed and ready to take on the day this morning. I had a full breakfast at my hostel since it is included in the room rate and headed toward my first stop: the war remnants museum. The Vietnamese have been in the middle of too many colonization attempts (real, perceived, or ambiguous) for their liking, the most recent and/or despised being the Chinese, French, and Americans. Because of this, the museum apparently used to be called the museum of Chinese and American war atrocities--and it's not hard to imagine why that name didn't stick. I was told from the start, and assumed from the other museums I have seen, that the museum would be very one-sided. And, to a good degree, it was. However, it really wasn't as biased as I could have imagined (that could be indicative of the Vietnamese government actually doing a better job or just of how low my expectations were--I don't know yet).

The outside lawn of the museum has helicopters, tanks, planes, and long range missile launchers parked outside to show the sheer quality and quantity of brilliantly destructive equipment the US government had at their disposal. The ground floor showed an exhibition of the people that "supported a free Vietnam", a euphemism for the people that spoke out against the US aiding in the South's war effort (the distinction, of course, being that disagreeing with an outside country's involvement with a civil war does not necessarily mean they support the side that ended up winning it). I was impressed that they spent so much time documenting the protests in the US, including Kent State. It surprised me only because it seemed to really attempt to paint some Americans in a positive light--not all Americans were the "colonial aggressors" (a term wrongfully adopted by the North) the VC fought against; many were against the war and extremely vocal about it. In another floor, I was sad to see that they kept a really good explanation of the typical American soldier's psyche during the war in English without translating it for the Vietnamese. I think it would have been very moving for the Vietnamese. After all, the college-age boys that too often were the ones on the from line weren't the politicians escalating the war. They were victims too, even if they are painted as killers. Seeing this side is essential and something most Americans have access to, especially through amazing writers like Tim O'brien. The other exhibits were dedicated the the massacres, like My Lai, amid quotes of European intellectuals condemning the actions, along with pictures of victims on Agent Orange, which was terribly sad. As we know too well, civilians and soldiers from both sides were affected because chemicals don't care whether you have a gun in your hand or what color your uniform is.

After that, I went to the museum of Ho Chi Minh City, which was extremely interesting because it covered everything from previous invasions and uprisings to the crafts that were native to the city and where they came from, art, traditional ceremonies, and an economic history detailing changes in imports/explores and GDP. At the time, There were also two Vietnamese brides that came to the beautiful museum building to get their wedding photos taken. It was fun to watch them, one in white and one in red, pose with their new husbands.

After the museum I headed over to the Reunification Palace, which used to be the President's palace before the end of the war.

For dinner, I went to a coffee shop that reminds me very much of Starbucks to escape the chaos. However, I won't just be drinking a mocha and eating banana bread. When in Saigon, do as the Saigonese do--and Saigonese love their noodle soup, or pho. So I had a cup of strong Vietnamese coffee, sweetened with condensed milk the way they like it, and some delicious beef pho. The one thing I don't think I'll try here is the weasel coffee. It is normal coffee beans fed to a weasel and collected after it's made the trip through their digestive system--noooo thanks!

Tonight I will meet up with a French Canadian I met in Hanoi who finished her bus trip from there to Saigon a few days ago--it's great that you can keep running into the same people here. After that I'll be off to bed and then wake up early for a tour of the Mekong Delta south of here, which is supposed to be stunning. Hope you are all well and, if you can believe it, I'll already be heading home in three weeks! How the time flies.

Saigon explorations

I've very much enjoyed Saigon so far--overall I really think I've enjoyed Vietnam the most of all the countries. Yesterday we explored the Cu Chi tunnels that the VC used during the Vietnam War when taking Saigon. The propaganda surrounding the war is very interesting (though I'm not sure how effective it is) and I may talk about it some time later. Later that night we had some drinks at the Rex hotel with a couple young men we met on the tour who were working in architecture and oil and gas.

Today my companion left me--so sad! But I was able to meet up with a future classmate in the afternoon and visit the city's jade pagoda before getting some good pho bò (Vietnamese beef noodle soup) near the night market. Tomorrow I will hit up the museums and the next day do a day tour of the Mekong Delta before leaving on the 30th for Singapore.

Got into Saigon!

Just a quick update that we got into Saigon. I'll write more soon but for now we are off to the Cu Chi tunnels!

Still taking in Angkor--but first to catch up on sleep

Angkor was absolutely beautiful. The first day we explored Angkor Thom and went to the Elephant Temple for sunset.

This morning we got up at 4:30 to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat, which was stunning. All of the Angkor temples are truly remarkable and span so much distance, but I can see what Angkor Wat gets so much glory.

After that we went to the beautifully dilapidated ruins at Ta Phrom, which has been taken over by the massive bodhi trees that dominate the forest.

After we were wat-ed out, we went to the Angkor museum to see some of the relics they removed from the wats for preservation.

Now we are in Phnom Penh, the capital, after a six hour bus ride. Tomorrow we will see the killing fields and some other less gruesome city sites.

Got into Cambodia--safe but a bit scammed

Ah, Cambodia, Thailand's much poorer neighbor. Our bus ride to the border was already an ill omen. My companion put his leg up to stretch it on the bus while we were both listening to headphones and his iPhone slipped out without either of us noticing. What he did notice was a man and his friend getting off the bus quickly and then, once off, turning to look where we were sitting as the bus started to pull away. He felt uneasy about that and immediately checked for his phone, which we ended finding out was gone. Luckily for him it was a company phone that he was going to be switching off of soon anyway, so there is really no financial setback--just the inconvenience of not having a phone number for a while.

When we got to the border, our tuk-tuk driver dropped us off at a building that was trying to look like a tourist information building. In typical fashion, it was just a shop trying to make a couple bucks off of tourists and they tried to hurry us into the building. By now we are so used to it we just walked away without a problem, passing all of the signs saying you had to get your visas for Cambodia before you depart Thailand and you should get your visa with them for "bery cheap". Of course, just another silly scam that at this point we are too smart to fall for. Once we crossed the border and were going to get our visas in Cambodia from the officials, there was a section for a passport photo. We paid our visa fee and were told that the fee for not having a photo (we didn't have one) was 100 baht, or $3. However, the man never actually charged us for the photo fee. Then a different official took us aside to tell us to pay the fee, which felt very sketchy. However, I didn't think that officials in a government building would scam us so we paid him. It wasn't until later that we found out that he was in fact scamming us and the passport photo "fee" was a total farce--how frustrating! Obviously it's not the money; it's just the idea that even in official institutions you can't trust them to treat you right.

After we got through to Cambodia we were shuttled to a place that overcharged us about $4 for a taxi ride, which was better than I was expecting. Normally a two hour ride into town is about $10 a person, and we each paid about $14, so really it was an amazing deal compared to America. The tuk-tuk driver that was supposed to take us from the taxi stop to our hostel was obviously ordered to take us to some hotel he makes a commission for, so I told him we already had reservations at our hostel of choice so he would actually take us where we wanted to go instead of insisting we stay somewhere else. Then he tried to get us to buy a tour for today, which I refused.

Long story short, I'm looking forward to a day in Angkor Wat not just for the temples, but to get away from the massive amount of people trying to get in on some of my USD by any means necessary. So far we have been very smart travelers, if I do say so myself. But you always get caught off guard sometimes--and you live and you learn! The Cambodians I've met that work in the restaurants are absolutely lovely, so it's not all of them either. You just have to use your head and adapt as you go.

Leaving for Angkor

Had a great day seeing Phanom Rung historical park--it is supposed to be a preview for Angkor Wat and if that is the case I am prepared to be very impressed by what we find in Cambodia--can't wait!

Ready for some Khmer temples!

We just arrived in Khorat, northeastern Thailand, after a twelve hour bus ride. We will see some Khmer temples tomorrow as our preview for Angkor Wat, and take in some of the beauty of Thailand's Isan province. It is much cooler here and actually has a very suburban feel, not something I was expecting coming so far up north and out of the tourist sphere. So far I have very much enjoyed Thailand and have been happily surprised by how well developed it is, especially considering what I've been learning about their government structure. Talk soon!

Bangkok to Ayutthaya, and now in Chiang Mai!

We left for Ayutthaya, Thailand's old capital, yesterday morning and spent the day there bicycling around and looking at temple ruins. We then gorges ourselves on delicious Thai food before taking the night train to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, where we will spend today and tomorrow. It is a bit cooler than Southern Thsilsnd and has a much quieter feel. And it's still very cheap--a private room with A/C costs $30 total and our guest house has free wi fi and a pool, hard to go wrong! Today we will shower and head to the Sunday market, which should be very fun. Tomorrow we make take an elephant care class and go to the temple on top of the hill and inside a protected park, which I am very much looking forward to. And of course, try to avoid getting eaten by mosquitoes! So far with the DEET it's been great, but if I don't wear it I become a tasty mozzie snack.

Stuffed!

Today I stuffed myself with delicious Thai food during a cooking class in the afternoon after visiting the Jim Thompson house in the morning. What a good day! Tonight we are heading to the Moon Bar at Vertigo for some great city views. And tomorrow we head to Thailand's old capital, Ayutthaya, for a quieter feel.

Loving Bangkok

So far I've loved what we've seen of Bangkok. I met up with my travel companion two nights ago and we got up early to see some beautiful temples. We took the river boat to Ko Ratanakosin and, as I've heard many a time, had many scams tried on us just after disembarking. An apparently nice man stopped us and looked at my map, telling us that Ko Ratanakosin was closed until 1 pm that day and that we should see a different Wat instead. He also told us that my companion, wearing shorts, wouldn't be allowed in. He was about to get a tuk-tuk to take us somehere better before I hurried us away. More people stopped us to tell us it was closed, he wouldn't be allowed in, only Thai people could visit today, etc. Even if there weren't tuk-tuk's around, they tried to con us. However, we didn't listen and were rewarded: the complex was open til 4 and if clothes weren't appropriate (like shorts) they provided pants free of charge. We explored for about three hours, and it was stunning!

We ate lunch at the least dodgy street market we could find, and I thoroughly enjoyed my food. We headed to Wat Pho in the afternoon, and after getting Buddha'd out we headed back to our hostel in Bangkok for a quiet night so my companion could get acclimated to his jet lag.

Landed in Bangkok. My, how western!

I got into Bangkok about 7 hours ago. The airport was immaculate, and had much better A/C than the Vietnamese one. It's very obvious from the start which one is the wealthier country. I took the sleek new airport train to the city center and the BTS (city train) to get to the street near my hostel. Everywhere we stopped there were TV's playing Thai and English ads for different cosmetic products, Canon cameras, and even KFC. Like with everyone here, I'm amazed at how bilingual this country it. Not only do they need to know another language, but also an entirely different alphabet. I don't know how good they all are, but it seems like they are better at speaking English than the average Vietnamese person and since their ads are in English I can guarantee they are better at understanding it.

After I got off the train, I was surrounded my McDonalds, Burger King, and Starbucks. I hadn't eaten lunch and had a weak will after no American food the past week, so I caved and got a giant Starbucks drink, which was delicious (and served to me in very good English) but it cost about twice what a meal + drink in Vietnam would cost. First world luxury comes with a price! I then found my hostel, which is very nice, and took a long shower. Now I think I'll do laundry (we have a hanger in the room) before I get caught up on this blog so my clothes have time to dry. It's not like any of you are awake anyway!

It seems like since Bangkok is more western, it may be easier to use my Visa card here. In Vietnam, it was pretty much all cash--you could never rely on someone having a credit card machine. We'll see how it goes though. I would recommend for anyone travelling to get at least $100 of the native currency before they get out of the airport. I wouldn't have been able to take the train without it or get on my Hanoi shuttle either. Don't rely on them taking US dollars (though that's your best plan B, for sure).

Leaving for Bangkok!

My flight for Bangkok leaves in 3 hours, so I need to finish packing and take a taxi to the airport. I can't believe a week has gone by already! I'm so looking forward to my next adventure.

Water Puppets

I went to the water puppet theater last night, and it was so fun! And it had A/C, so I was doubly happy.

Ho Chi Minh

Saw the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, museum, and homes today. It was a very interesting experience and made me think a lot.

I want to write about my thoughts on Hanoi, Sapa, the mausoleum and the Vietnam War, but I'm completely wiped out right now because of the heat. Look at that--and it's already afternoon!


 I'm off to the water puppet show for now!

Saps Trek Success!

I just finished my trek through Sapa, a town in northern Vietnam that is home to many minority villages. It was absolutely stunning. I'll be taking a sleeper train tonight to get back to Hanoi and I'll write more then, when I can use a computer rather than my iPhone. Talk soon!

Bugs, bugs, and more bugs

Just an update on practical travel problems. So far, I've been using my Deet lotion pretty regularly and only really got bug bites (2 or 3) when I didn't put it on. So that has been a great success. I think the permethrin treatment of the clothes has worked well so far too, because I haven't gotten any bites through my clothing either. However, I either got bitten by fire ants or some other bug when I was on my Halong Bay tour and may have gotten bitten by bed bugs in a couple places already. They don't itch, but they are clearly a rash and look like small bites on my arms. No fun at all! The hostel we are staying at is very clean, but it's really hard to tell when you have bed bugs or where you might get them from. Hopefully the rash/bites will start to go down, or I'll start looking pretty ridiculous soon.

Back from Halong--sunburnt but happy!

I got back yesterday from my tour of Halong Bay, and it was fantastic! I went on a tour with my hostel and we were gone for three days and two nights. I did the Rock Long Rock Hard tour with Ma May Hanoi Backpackers Hostel, and I can give a very positive review with only one real annoyance. The first day we bussed for 4 hours to the shore and then went onto our junker, the Jolly Roger, for an hour and a half to get to our spot for the night. We cruised past the hundreds of islets that dot the bay. There are supposed to be almost 2000 of them, the biggest being Cat Ba Island. It's a sight like nothing you will ever see anywhere else--almost otherworldly. There are also fishing villages that nestle themselves in the karst landscape and, unless for school, childbirth, or selling their wares, they never step foot on land. They all give birth in the same place, a building set atop one of the islets. It's quite odd--the women are sent to the house to give birth but are not allowed to have any help along the way. They are left for an entire month on their own, and if they or their infant die during the time no will know or be able to help. How I would hate to be a woman in that village!

I was the only American except for our tour guide's girlfriend in a group of 40+ people. There were a group of Dutch, French Canadians, and Australians, but most people were Brits. I guess Americans just don't do SE Asia as often. Once we got to the Jolly Roger we got ready to swim--it's always ridiculously hot and humid here and you pretty much just surrender yourself to the sweat. We jumped off the boat and swam around. It being a group of young backpackers and our guide being a partying alcoholic, there were offers of free beer for people that jumped off the boat naked. I can't say I regret not participating, but it was still funny to watch. After that we went kayaking through the bay for a bit. We wanted to under and through a cave with our kayaks, but since it was high tide we couldn't fit. Instead, we moved to a different cave that we could enter and went spelunking for about an hour. The cave was pretty nasty because of all the bats and bat droppings, but it was fun to explore and we saw some good stalactites and stalactmites. Also, the limestone glistens in a pretty way when you shine light over it--it was a lovely effect.

After kayaking, we came back to the boat and had a delicious fresh seafood meal, followed by a good amount of drinking (beer never gets more expensive thatn $1.25) until I, tired as hell from traveling and jet lag, went to bed at 10. I woke up at 6:30 but couldn't really see sunrise because an islet was covering the horizon, but it was beautiful and very peaceful the sit on the deck of the ship, rocking in the bay and listening to the island bugs buzz with lfe. With our Jolly Roger cruise out of the way, it was time to go to our private island for the day, Castaway, to indulge in some great sprorting fun.

We cruised another two hours deeper into the bay, which only got more beautiful as we continued. We saw significantly more fishing villages here as well. Our private island was beatiful, and since it was now low the beach was huge. We went swimming for a while and then I learned to wakeboard, which was fun but difficult with only 8 tries! They also had climbing set up, one medium course and one difficult one, and I was able to do both without falling and/or slipping. Both climbing guides were Americans, so it was fun to talk to them and hear their story. They really wanted me to try solo climbing, which is when you get a boat and ride up to the rock face in the islets and climb without any gear. Once you get high enough you just jump back into the water, and repeat until you're too tired. It sounded really fun but I didn't have the time. Maybe next time I find myslef here.

The whole day I spent a lot of time meeting all the different groups of people--the one nice thing about traveling solo is it forces you to meet people and to be social. They all had interesting stories and had traveled quite a bit already, so I also got some helpful tips for my other destinations along the way. Everyone is so nice, and so pleased to find an American that really wants to learn about their culture. It's crazy that it was not unusual for the Dutch group that they knew 5 languages proficiently, and here I am with more language knowledge than the average American and I only know 2!

Later that night I got to know them better as we played some more drinking games and went swimming. I guess this trip is known for being a party one, but our group had a good balance and never got out of control. However, our guide wasn't so happy about that, so when he realized no one was going to be getting naked again without an incentive for free drinks he pouted and went to bed--I think him being pushy about drinking was really my only complaint about the trip. After the party was over, we went swimming again for a bit and admired the bioluminescence in the water and went to bed. We slept in huts on the beach, and about 6 people fit in each one. There were padded mats on the ground and mosquito nets, and though it was very simple I had no problem sleeping. The next morning we go up bright and early and started our cruise back to land. We boarded our minibus and after four hours of cramped driving got back to our hostel at around 5 pm. I was really tired but knew if I napped it would continue my jet lag and make it harder to go to sleep again, so I just relaxed in the hostel and got some dinner. After a good night's sleep, I got up and took my time with breakfast before going on a walking tour of Old Town Hanoi, which I'll talk about in a separate post.

Ready for Halong Bay after a long night

I got into Hanoi safe and sound--though I'll admit it was quite the adventure. Luckily I made a couple friends and that allowed me to get to the hostel faster and with little worry for my safety. The Halong Bay tour is due to start in about an hour. My iPhone is running low on battery and I doubt there will be any computers on our boat, so it may be a day or two before I update this or email anyone. If you're concerned just shoot my local phone a text--I should still have service most of the time. Onward I go!

Made it to Tokyo!

Already an interesting trip and I am not even in Vietnam yet! My first evening flight out of Denver was cancelled,  so the airline put me up for a night and I left first thing the next morning with a revised schedule. All in all, besides less sleep, I lost little time. Because my layovers were so long initially I only lost 6 hours on arrival time even though I left 12 hours later. I should arrive in Hanoi around 9:40 pm, so I should get to my hostel at 11 ish with plenty of time to sleep before my excursion leaves for Halong Bay that next morning. It is crazy to think that it is 1 am my time and I still will not see another sunset for another 5 hours or so. My new layover is in Tokyo, where I am now. The people here are so nice; I cannot wait for when I come to travel here sometime. Everything is immaculate as well. And the lounge I was given access to has free food and beer, definitely something I am going to take them up on! I will update more once I get into Hanoi; until then, sleep well all of my Western hemisphere dwellers!

Why I'm bringing my iPhone 4

I already posted about bringing a global phone with me in case of emergency or lack of available internet. But I also decided to bring my Verizon iPhone 4. Even though it seems mostly pointless (Verizon gets no international service) there are a couple benefits to bringing a smart phone, and they all have to do with its wifi capability. The iPhone 4 will be able to connect to the internet when there is wifi around (for example, when I'm in a coffee shop in Singapore) so I don't always have to find an internet cafe to shoot a quick text, email, or Facebook post. But the best part is that I can still use FaceTime, as long as I can get wifi. This is an amazing piece of technology because it enables me to see the faces of friends and family for free, without a computer, any time I can get wifi. No laptop, no ethernet, no roaming. All I have to do (to ensure I don't pay roaming) is go into airplane mode in Asia and turn wifi on to connect to whatever hotspot I have access to. For more info, see here. I feel like I am really going to enjoy using FaceTime--finally, the Apple commercials are living up to the hype!