Gillian's Big Adventure

Coralie and I fell in love with Budapest! We were supposed to be there for three nights and ended up staying four. We easily could have stayed even longer!

I think it was really our hostel that made the experience for us. We stayed at this great place called Tiger Tim's. It's owned by an Irish guy who is super friendly and wanted to get everyone involved and having a good time. He showed us all the great places to see, cheap yummy Hungarian food to eat, and organized nights out for everyone in the hostel. We really loved it there. We met so many great people too.

On our first day we didn't do too much. We went out for some yummy food, the food in Hungary is amazing! We bought some wine and brought it back planning to go out with everyone that night but we were both so jet lagged that we went for a nap and didn't wake up until morning!

It worked out for the best though because we had a busy day the next day. We got up early and headed down near the river for the free walking tour of Budapest. It was awesome in Budapest there are three different free walking tours, a general city one, a communism walk where you see all the evidence of communism, and a Jewish district walk. We did the general city one that day. For two and a half hours we walked around with a small group and a guide who pointed out some of Budapest's main attractions. I learned that each side of the river is actually like its city. The main flat area is Pest and on the other side it is Buda. 

We finished the tour by walking up to the palace on the top of the hill on the Buda side. There were beautiful views down to the Pest side where you could see the parliament building and the huge St. Stephen's Basilica. At the end of the tour the only payment you make is a tip for the guide if you choose. Then the girls took us to where they eat, this type of office cafeteria, where we got delicious Hungarian food really cheap!

Hungary was a good place for me to start in Europe after Asia because at least there wasn't too much of a price jump! Everything in Budapest was relatively cheap, from site seeing to eating and even drinking and going out!

We had to hurry back to the hostel because that afternoon we were going caving! I was so excited because first of all I never even knew there was caving in Budapest and secondly, I've had never been so it was going to be an all new experience!

We took the bus up to the caving place and they got us in these hilarious caving suits. Coralie and I looked hilarious in our one piece jumpers with bright blue helmets! We were glad to have them though because we were about to be crawling though caves and we were going to get really muddy.

Caving was a crazy experience. We had one guide for a small group of us and he told us a bit about how the caves actually used to be under the ocean and it was the water running through them that created theses caves. They wore down the limestone because it was a weaker type of stone. He took us through the cave and at first it just seemed like climbing over a bunch if rocks and stuff in a cave but then it got more intense. He would point to a tiny crack in the wall that you would never imagine you could fit through and then he would go diving through and yell to us from the other side! He usually had to tell us exactly how to turn your head and what arm to put forward. He would tell us things like if you get stuck, just keep wiggling your bottom until you get free! Haha that sounded promising! Another great one was when we were going through an especially tight space he told us to give our cameras to our friends instead of keeping it in the breast pocket because you would either crush your camera, or crush your chest! Ah!

Luckily Coralie and I didn't really have much trouble getting through even the tightest spaces. We usually tried to make sure one of the bigger guys could get through ahead of us though haha. Just to be safe! There were some times where I got a bit nervous though. Overall it was a really cool experience that I never expected!

We went out with people from the hostel that night. Tim gets his staff to run a bunch of drinking games to get everyone involved and ready to go out. One of them that was terrifying was King's Cup Jenga! It's like your typical King's Cup game but instead of cards it is played with Jenga blocks, so the first person to tip over the tower has to drink everything that had been added to the one cup in the centre. Gross!

A little after 10pm Tim makes everyone leave the hostel to head to the bars so that people who aren't going out can get some quiet. In Budapest they have these cool bars called Ruin Bars that used to be old abandoned buildings that have now been converted into these crazy bars that have random things all over the walls like bicycles and car parts and weird things like that. The weather was gorgeous while we were in Budapest so we sent some time in the outdoor area too. Overall we had a really fun night with the other hostel people.

The next day we slept in because of the late night before and took our time getting going in the morning. We headed to one of the recommended restaurants and got a big bowl of Goulash each. Goulash is a really hearty beef soup that had lots of vegetables and came with dense rye bread. It was so yummy and a great way to kick the little hangovers we were feeling.

The House of Terror Museum had been highly recommended at the hostel so we decided to check that out. It was a really interesting museum that showed the history of communism and the presence of the Nazi's in Budapest and their terrible effect on the people and the community. So many of the countries I have visited on my travels have been terrorized by a corrupt communist government at some point and I have learned so much about the terrorizing and violent effect they have on the people of the country. Once again we learned stories about secret societies, people being forced from their homes into labour camps, held in detention centers and separated from their families. It is really important that I have learned all of this because I honestly would have had no idea about the horrors people in these countries have faced and how extremely lucky I am to have had such a safe and privileged life.

From there we decided to hike over to the Buda side and go up the hill to look out over the city and watch the sun go down. We did a lot of walking in Budapest and getting to the top of the Buda hill was a trek! But the views definitely make the trip worthwhile and we spent time enjoying the view of the Danube and parliament and the church and watched the buildings lit up in the setting sun and then artificially lit up when the sun had finally set.

We rushed back and grabbed some hummus and pita for dinner and some wine and joined in to the drinking games. The fun thing is that some people were still there from previous nights but also every night there are new people joining in the fun. That night we went to one of the best clubs in Budapest and had an awesome time dancing all night.

On Friday we got up and walked to check out the synagogue in the city. Apparently it is the largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest one in the world! We didn't do one of the tours inside but from the outside you could see the beautiful detailing of the building and it is also has beautiful gardens in the back. It was definitely an impressive structure and you can see how there used to be a large Jewish presence. However many Jews were run out of the county during the second world war or were forced out of the country to one of the many detention camps in eastern Europe. So now there is a much smaller Jewish community but they are still present. Unfortunately we didn't have the chance to do the Jewish district walking tour.

That afternoon we did do the communism walking tour. Once again we walked around the city for two and a half hours. This time our guide was a woman who was a little bit older, so she had actually lived most of her life under the communist regime and now had the opportunity to see the country changing under a democratic government. We were told by all of our guides that Hungarians call their government a communist democracy, because although it is technically a democracy now, it is going to take a long time for people to completely alter their political ideas and for the government to end its corruption. The tour was really interesting from a political perspective and the guide was excellent. She spoke really passionately about all of the effects communism had on Budapest and on her personal life. But all of our guides stressed that although in their public life Hungarians are not always the happiest, in their private lives they are very happy people who like to go out, drink, eat and have a good time.

After the tour, we went back to our hostel and grabbed our train tickets to make a reservation for our train to Zagreb, Croatia the next day. Then we got some dinner and some more wine and headed back to the hostel to join in the fun for one more night! As usual we got to meet some new people and hang out with the others who had been staying as long as us. We went to some more ruin bars that night. We were sad we weren't staying one more night because the next night Tim was going to be taking everyone from the hostel out to the big outdoor clubs they have in Budapest! But it was time to move on...

The next day we took our time getting ready to go because our train wasn't until one and we were right across the street from the train station. But stupid us, we didn't realize that we were across from the domestic train station! When we realized our mistake we were really crunched for time so we had to grab a cab to the train station instead. But the taxi drivers in Hungary are extremely corrupt. He said he would use the meter but we noticed it was going up at an alarming rate so we told him we only have this much money, will that get us to the station? He said yes no problem so we relaxed and got to the station with enough time. But when we got out and tried to pay he told us a huge cost! We argued that we had asked him at the beginning if we had enough and he said we could use credit card but that was not what he had agreed to! We fought with him for a while at the station and he threatened to call the police. We told him to go ahead! But he made a fake call, said it would take half an hour. It was so frustrating because we knew the police would agree with us if he had ever actually called them but our train was leaving soon and we didn't have time to wait around. We finally got the price down a bit more but we left feeling extremely frustrated and upset. Not a good parting memory of Hungary!

The train ride to Zagreb was around seven hours long and was a pretty nice trip. Since I'm used to taking buses everywhere to get around Asia a train was a nice alternative because you can actually get up and stretch your legs and walk around. Plus the seats were actually really big and comfy! And the views along the way were beautiful. The only problem was we hadn't brought anything to eat or drink and there was no food car. I was so thirsty!

We got into Zagreb at around 8pm and took the tram almost right to our hostel which was nice. We checked in and went down to the common room but it was pretty empty and not very exciting... We were seriously missing Tiger Tim's! But we got the girl running the hostel to show us where the bars, restaurants and clubs were and headed out.

We didn't realize how late it was by the time we left but we got to a bar a little after 11. There was this nice street that was lined with bars and restaurants that all had big outdoor seating areas and it was packed with people enjoying the nice weather. It was actually a little cooler in Zagreb than it had been in Budapest though, we were chilly sitting outside! It was great for people watching though. We sat outside enjoying a beer and then we realized it was getting late. We headed to one of the clubs probably close to one o'clock.

We had thought it was going to be a quieter, calmer night, but when we got to the club we someone found ourselves in the middle of a group of Scottish guys celebrating a stag! They were a ton of fun and hilarious so we spent some time with them. It ended up being a really fun night!

The next day we hung around Zagreb until the evening when it was time to catch our overnight bus all the way to the other side of the country to Dubrovnik. The bus ride wasn't too bad and we tried to get some sleep... Surprisingly it made me miss the overnight buses in Vietnam! At least those seats were almost all the way flat so it was more like a bed. These seats only reclined back a tiny bit so it was pretty much like sleeping sitting up for twelve hours. But we did get amazing views of the sunrise as we were driving closer to Dubrovnik.

We got into Dubrovnik and caught a bus from the station to the Old Town. We were really excited that we had managed to find a hostel actually within the walls of the Old Town, the only hostel in the walls! But it made for a very difficult trek with our bags. Dubrovnik is all hills and stairs- so many stairs! When we finally made it to the hostel we were exhausted! But we were too early to check in so we dropped our bags, had some of the free breakfast, and decided to go explore the town. We tried to ask the girl at reception for some ideas of what to do in the city but she was super unhelpful and gave us nothing. Once again we were seriously missing Tiger Tim's! But we were for a walk around, visited the harbour, climbed some more stairs, and took in the beauty that is Old Town Dubrovnik.

The Old Town is a small town full of cobbled roads, tiny streets, and beautiful stone walls. There are no cars or bikes or anything allowed within the walls so it is all just people walking around. One downfall with it is that in the middle of the day it becomes packed with tourists who come off the tour boats and walk around the town. But in the morning and in the afternoon the town is much more pleasant. We realized we came at the perfect time because the weather was gorgeous and sunny and warm but it the town wasn't completely packed with the hoards of tourists who crowd the town during the summer months.

The town is right on the Aegean sea and there are little openings in the walls where to can go out to the water and sit on the rocks and enjoy the beautiful blue view or go swimming. The water was freezing though! Especially for me since I'm used to the warm southeast Asian waters.

After doing some exploring we headed back and checked in. At this point we were both beyond exhausted from two nights of very little sleep so we took a nice long nap! When we woke up we headed out to a restaurant that the hostel had recommended as well as people I had spoken to who had already visited Dubrovnik. It is called the Taj Mahal for some reason but they actually serve Bosnian food! We had delicious cevapi, this flat bread filled with a white sort of cream cheese, onions, and a bunch of sausage rolls. Delicious!

We grabbed some wine, of course, on the way back to the hostel, and got together in the common room with every who was staying who felt like going up that night. The girl working at the hostel brought us out to a few bars and then a bunch of us felt like dancing! Kat, the girl working, was not pleased because the only place open that had dancing was the Latino club Fuego. But there were a couple of English guys who really wanted to go out too who convinced her it would be a good time. So we went there and it really was fun! They didn't play Latin music, they played a little of everything. And even though the club wasn't that busy, it was a Monday after all, there were enough of us there from the hostel that we all had a good time. It was another late night!

We got up late the next day and headed to the beach. There are a lot of beaches around the Old Town area so it was a nice short walk but the beach was a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it was absolutely beautiful, e water is a gorgeous aqua colour and so clear you cold see right to the bottom even at deep points. It was the beach itself that wasn't the most pleasant. All the beaches around Dubrovnik are actually pebble beaches. It kills your feet to walk around! We also forgot to bring towels so we kind of just say on the pebbles for a while. Then Coralie wanted to go in the water but we made it up to our knees because the water was sooooo cold! It was still really refreshing though and the views of the sea and the Old Town were beautiful.

We headed back into town, went to the grocery store and bought sandwich stuff, and then got ready for our big hike. There is a big hill/mountain behind the Old Town that has a fortress at the top that looks out over the town and the sea and Lokrum island which is just a short boat trip from the town harbour. There is a cable car to take you up to the top, but we were feeling adventurous so we decided to try the hike! We left a little after 5:30 in the afternoon so that the sun wouldn't be as strong and we could catch the sunset from up on the hill. 

The beginning of the hike was really the most difficult part. First of all, there aren't really any signs telling you how to get to the path that goes up the mountain. So we kind of had to navigate our own way through the town outside the walls. We figured we knew we had to go up so we just kept taking as many stairs up as we could. That was the most tiring part! Soooo many stairs in Dubrovnik! Luckily, we only hit a dead end once, and we managed to find our way to the bottom of the path. I'm really impressed that we did though because there were no signs or anything, we just assumed it was the path because it was the first dirt part we saw headed upwards. From there it got a little bit easier because the part had gentle inclines zigzagging up towards the top, the the path was mostly just loose stones and big rocks so still a little tricky to manage.

There were beautiful views of the Old Town, Lokrum Island, and the islands in the opposite direction for the entire walk up the path. We finally made it up to the fortress but we were both exhausted and sweaty. We checked out the fortress itself a bit and then headed to the viewpoint to enjoy our sandwiches we had packed. The sun was just starting to set. Really the views had been better from the path we had taken up because there weren't cable car lines in the way so once we finished our sandwiches we headed back down the path to catch the best views of the setting sun.

The they were definitely worth all the stairs and rocky paths! It was one of the most incredible sunsets I have ever seen. The sky was a beautiful combination of pinks and oranges and reds as the sun went down over the sea and the islands in the distance. We walked down slowly, took lots of pictures, and enjoyed the beautiful view. Walking down after the sun had set though was not the easiest! Luckily there was still enough light in the sky that we managed to make our way down the rocky path and then we were back in the town streets so it wasn't too sketchy of a trip.

We were completely spent by the time we got back so we had an early night to prepare for our full day boat trip the next day!

We were up early the next morning, had some breakfast, and headed to the meeting point for our boat trip. Another guy from our hostel, Chris from Scotland, was coming on the trip too. A bus brought us to the pier and we boarded the bus. We were a little disappointed because as lovely as the weather had been the two previous days, today there was a heavy fog settled down on the town and the water. Luckily it was starting to burn off just as we were setting out, but for a while during the ride to the first island we were surrounded by a thick fog. It definitely ruined the views at first!

We finally arrived at the first island and were giving two hours to go exploring. This was the island with the one sandy beach in the area and was supposed to have the best beach so Coralie and I decided to go check it out. As usual with everything we wanted to see on this trip it was a trek to get there! We had to go up this steep hill and down a bunch of steps... I better be in shape by the end of this trip! Haha.

The sandy beach was really nice, especially compared to the pebbles we had been walking on the day before! We lay out for a while, first on a chair, which I told Coralie we had to pay for but she didn't believe me, then a man came and tried to take money so we just moved our towels onto the sand. The sun was finally shining at this point so it was nice and warm and we just dozed on the beach for a while.

When we headed back it was lunchtime on the boat. The meal was actually really good, better than we had expected, and all the drinks were included during the trip so Coralie, Chris and I enjoyed wine with our meal and started having a really good time. Chris is a hilarious, outgoing, borderline rude Scotsman so he was great for a laugh. At the next island we walked around a bit and got some ice cream. The day was mostly just enjoying the sea and the sun and having a good time on the boat with a glass of wine.

At the next stop an Australian couple came over and joined us at our table. The people running the trip staring pour out cups of local brandy which was definitely not to Coralie or my taste haha. By the end of the trip everyone in our little group was feeling pretty good, we had had a great day in the sun, and we were ready to keep going! The couple came back to our hostel with us and we got some wine and chips and met up with everyone else staying there and everyone started having some drinks. Then we all went out together and had some delicious pizza. There are so many pizza restaurants in Dubrovnik! From there a bunch of us headed out to the bar and we had another great night.

The next day Coralie and I decided to go check out Lokrum island. It was just a quick ferry ride over. It was a beautiful island with botanical gardens where they are growing different tropical plants to study how they grow and adapt to the Croatian climate so we got to see some really interesting flowers and trees. Then we went to check out the fortress on the island. Of course this was another huge hike to get up the hill to the fortress, but again, the views over to Old Town and out at the Aegean were breathtaking and made the hike up worthwhile. For some reason though we always seem to be alone when we do these hikes up to different sites... I guess no one else likes climbing up stony pathways the way we do!

The island is really rocky so we headed down to the shore and sat on some of the rocks and just took in the sun and watched the waves crashing on the rocks. Then we headed back in to get something to drink and wait for the ferry back. Oh ya, a weird thing about Lokrum island is that it is full of peacocks! They were running around everywhere you looked! But they were beautiful birds and we even got to see a couple of them open up their tail feathers and do some kind of crazy mating dance. It was hilarious.

When we got back we finally walked around the walls that surround Dubrovnik. This is a must do in the Old Town. The views down into the town and out to the surrounding area were beautiful. And it gives you a completely different perspective on the town itself. While you walk around within the walls you can just walk through the tiny streets that are surrounded by big stony buildings, but from up on the wall you can see down into the streets and get a better idea of where everything is. It is incredible that this town is completely surrounded by these huge stone walls and I can definitely see why so many people from all over the world come to Dubrovnik to walk these walls and experience this amazing part of Croatia's history. It was a great way to end off our time in Dubrovnik. Such an incredible old town!

That night we took it easy, got huge delicious bowls of pasta, and went to bed incredibly early. It was so nice to finally get a good full night of sleep. Other than the guy in our room snoring! Ugh! Coralie and I were so frustrated, but I guess that's what ear plugs were invented for!

So now we are waiting at the Dubrovnik bus station to catch our bus to the island of Korcula. We had hoped to ferry from one place to the next in Croatia but since we are here in off-season, the ferries don't start running until next month. Oh well. So instead we are taking a bus to Orebic on the coast and then a short passenger ferry from there to Korcula. We are going to spend a couple nights there then head to Hvar, another island, and finish our time in Croatia in Split. Neither of us can believe how quickly the time has been flying by! But we are having an amazing time and Croatia is so beautiful. Can't wait to get to Korcula for the weekend!

It was a quick flight to Luang Prabang from Hanoi. Dan still wasn't feeling 100 percent so we taxied into town and found a place to stay. We took it easy for a bit before heading out to get some lunch and explore the town.

Luang Prabang was a really small and relaxed town. There is even a curfew so all the bars and restaurants have to stop serving drinks at 11pm and be closed by 11:30. Our hotel had a sign saying that you had to be back by midnight because they lock the doors. This was fine for Dan and I because Dan was still recovering from his stomach bug and I needed a few days of detox after the Ha Long Bay trip. But we did hear that for people looking to party in Luang Prabang there is a bowling hall that serves alcohol and is open until 3 in the morning so apparently a lot of people head there after the bars close. Weird.

Our favourite place to go and hang out was this amazing bar called Utopia. It's right on the river with a bar area, a patio area, a volleyball court, and my favourite part, a big bamboo deck that looks out over the river. They have mats and pillows out so you can lie back and relax with a Beer Lao or a fruit smoothie and look up at the stars and out at the river. It was so peaceful and relaxing and I loved it, I could have hung out there every day! Actually we did...

In the middle of the town there is a big hill called Mount Phou Si and Dan and I had read blogs of people saying the climb to the top was a must do in Luang Prabang and that there were excellent sunset views. The blogs said that it would take about two hours to get to the top and to get there early for good sunset viewing seats so we left at around 4 o'clock to start the trek. We climbed up a bunch of steps and got to what the blog had called the halfway point where you pay for admission but it had only taken us about five minutes to get up so we were starting to question the blogs' accuracy. We kept going up more steps and made it to the top. The whole thing had taken less than twenty minutes. We weren't going to stay up there for two hours waiting for the sun to set so we took in the views and then headed back down. I have no idea how that climb could ever take anyone two hours! It wouldn't have been that great of a sunset anyway I don't think because in Laos in April it is really hot and the farmers all burn their crops so it was always really smokey. It would have been a smokey sunset!

We decided to head to the river and watch the sunset from one of the restaurants along there but as we were walking along a man asked us if we wanted to go for a boat ride. We bargained down to a reasonable price and got to take our own private boat trip along the Mekong river right at sunset! It was beautiful all along the river and you could see abandoned temples on the other side and children playing in the river. It was a nice way to enjoy the riverside and the sunset ended up being gorgeous.

At night in Luang Prabang one whole street is shut down for the night market. It was different than a lot of the other markets I've seen in Asia because it was a handicraft market. Everything was handmade. There were lots of beautiful clothes and blankets and scarves and cute slippers and all sorts of things like that. Luang Prabang is also the only place I've seen an outdoor buffet. For around a dollar you can go down this one side street and you get a plate and you can fill it with as much food as you want. There are people ere making noodles and there are vegetables and all sorts of different foods. It looked amazing!

On our last day we took a shared tuk tuk to the Kuang Si waterfalls. It was about a 45 minute ride outside of the town. Dan and I brought some sandwiches with us to have a picnic lunch too. The falls were incredible. There are lots of different levels so as you walk through there are different areas with smaller waterfalls and pools at the bottom for swimming and relaxing in. The water is this gorgeous clean aqua blue colour and the weather was so hot that everyone goes there to relax and cool off for the day. One of the pools had a rope swing so we each took a few turns swinging into the pool. It was so refreshing!

We hiked up to the main waterfall. It was one of the most beautiful waterfalls I have ever seen. The water cascades down over the rocks and the colour is so bright. It was also nice that it was fresh water so we didn't have to worry about the saltiness like in the ocean. Dan had read a blog saying that there are amazing views and a big pool right at the very top of the waterfall so we hiked up beside the falls. It was a serious trek! When we got to the top we couldn't find the pool that he had read about but we did get a great view out over the mountains. The hike down was even harder than the way up because it was so steep and slippery. We had to take it really slowly and be really careful.

We enjoyed out sandwiches beside one of the pools and took a few more swings on the rope swing before heading back into town. We had booked the night bus to Vang Vieng so we headed to Utopia to relax one more time at this awesome bar and then went to catch the bus.

I had thought that it would be an overnight bus and we would get into Vang Vieng in the morning but at 4am I was woken up by the bus driver yelling that we had reached Vang Vieng. Tired and disoriented Dan and I stumbled out. There were only a few other people getting out there so we all caught a tuk tuk into town. The others had booked places to stay but we had just been planning to find a place when we got there so we kind of just wandered the streets aimlessly for a while. Everything was closed obviously. We were trying to decide if we should get a place to stay but we decided we better because everything was closed and we couldn't really just sit in the street for hours. Besides, we were both really tired and since we only had two days to spend in Vang Vieng we figured we should get some rest to take full advantage of the day.

We passed a man in the street who told us he knew the hotel around the corner had beds so we went and woke them up and got a room. This was definitely the sketchiest place I have ever stayed! It was the kind of place you worry abut bed bugs. But it was cheap and it was a bed so we put my silk sleeping liner down under our heads and passed out for a few hours. When we woke up we went to a hostel we had read about called Central Backpckers. Luckily they had a private room, it was super cheap and was actually one of the nicest rooms I have ever stayed in! Having a nice clean comfortable place to come back to was especially nice in the craziness that is Vang Vieng.

I don't even know how to explain Vang Vieng. It is like its own little world completely separate from reality. It is a town just full of twenty-something year old travelers. The town is a famous place for backpackers because of one thing- tubing! Every day people wake up late, eat at one of the restaurants, all of which have TVs that are constantly playing friends or family guy, and then sometime in the early afternoon you head down to the river. It's dry season now so the river was pretty low but you can still rent a tube. You get a tuk tuk in town and they drop you at the top of the river and you start at the first bar. There are bars all along the river but the best ones are the first three.

Our first day we rented tubes and headed out. At every bar you get a bracelet and a free whiskey shot when you first walk in and then there are different activities at the different bars. They run drinking games, some have towers you can jump off, some have slides. We were having a really great time at the first bar. We played beer pong and then volleyball and before we knew it it was four o'clock! It takes three hours to float down the river and it gets really dangerous after dark. So we had to grab our tubes and start making our way.

The tubing part was actually really fun. The water is really fast in some areas and then slow and relaxing in others. And as you tube along there are people at  the bars who throw out a rope and pull you in to come to that bar. Then you get another shot and another bracelet and it's a whole new party! We stopped only very briefly at a few more bars along the way but we really had to get moving.

The tubing all started because of how beautiful it is along the river in Vang Vieng. When we finally just sat back and get ourselves be carried along I got to see how incredible it is there. We were surrounded by huge limestone mountains and the sun was setting over them as we floated along. It isn't possible to explain the feeling I got as I tubed along. I was completely content and at peace. It was beautiful!

We did get a lot of really great pictures of everything but unfortunately we lost the waterproof camera in the river at some point. So we have no photo evidence of our crazy couple of days tubing in the Vang Vieng!

By the time we got to the end it was pitch black. We made it out just in time and caught a tuk tuk back to the town with the small group of people who had also braved the tubing all the way to the end.

The next day we repeated, only without tubes this time. It was so fun just getting up late, eating, and heading down to the river. We danced and played games and swam from one bar to the next. It was such a great time! I can definitely see how people would get stuck there for longer than they planned. It wasn't reality it was like a backpacker's fantasy world! Haha.

Then at night there are bars on "the island". People give out flyers for free buckets and there was beer pong and fire limbo and more dancing. It was great. I wish we had more than two days to spend there, but I guess maybe it was for our own good that we couldn't stay for too long.

The next day we caught the bus to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. It was a crazy bus ride because everyone is hung over and the roads are windy and bumpy. Plus we had this idiot on our bus. This guy was drinking whiskey strait from the bottle and was yelling and causing a huge scene. It was like he liked the fact that everyone thought he was an asshole. He even went to the front and bugged the driver a bunch of times! As annoying as it was though it was also entertaining for the ride.

We caught a flight from Vang Vieng to Bangkok and got there late that night. I was excited to end the trip back in Thailand.

This was the fun part. I made it four months traveling in Asia and I somehow never got food poisoning or any stomach bug which is apparently pretty crazy. So of course on my VERY LAST night I get sick! I was up all night, it was not enjoyable at all.

The next day Dan and I just wanted to take it easy so we went to the movies which is apparently a must do in Bangkok. It was really great we got this special sofa seat that was super comfortable and a big tub of popcorn! It was nice to just relax and watch a movie. I hadn't been to a theatre since Goa so that was fun.

That night I headed to the airport to catch my flight to Frankfurt then Budapest. I had a stressful standby situation of course. There were two fights to Frankfurt and one to Vienna and they were all overbooked! And all leaving within like 5 mins of each other so I registered on all of them and waited at each one. The first one Frankfurt was full so I went to the Vienna flight and they said they had a spot but I knew there were more fights to Budapest from Frankfurt so I ask them to wait while I checked the other Frankfurt flight. I ran over there and they made me wait a couple minutes but then thankfully I got a seat!

Dan stayed in Bangkok one night because he had one more week of vacation and was going to go check out Chiang Mai. I'm jealous because I never made it up there! We had such an amazing time traveling Vietnam and Laos though. I was sad it had to come to an end! I wanted more time for Laos at least!

So now I'm on my way to Budapest to meet Coralie for the European leg of my travels! I'm really excited to see her. It's going to be another amazing trip!

Leaving Asia is really difficult though. Four months was definitely not long enough! I love it here so much, the food, the people, the culture...the weather of course! I had so many amazing new experiences, met awesome people, and made so many memories that will be with me forever. I wouldn't have changed a thing! And I will definitely have to come back. I think a little piece of my heart is going to stay in Asia...

But there is more of the world to see! I don't think I'm ever going to come home...

On to Europe! 

Hanoi and Ha Long Bay were definitely highlights of the Vietnam trip!

The bus ride ended up being closer to 15hrs instead of 12 but really we weren't expecting an Asian bus to be on time anyways. I got a bit of sleep and Dan finished his book and rested a bit so overall the ride was better than we had expected. We arrived at around 8:45 in the morning and luckily we were only a few minutes walk from the hostel! We booked at Hanoi Backpackers Hostel, which was a beautiful huge new hostel in Hanoi. We had booked everything at the Hue location which is owned by the same men.

When we got in it was too early to check in so we had some free breakfast that was offered there and relaxed for a bit in their upstairs lounge area. Then Dan and I set out to explore the city a bit. We went to Hoan Kiem lake to walk around and explore a bit. So many of these big Asia cities have huge public park space that is kept so clean and beautiful. They are like a little haven in the midst of the bustle of motorbikes, street vendors, cars, and everything else that made Hanoi such a crazy city. We went to the island in the middle and just walked around the lake enjoying the beauty and the peace.

We walked a little further to check out the big old Opera House and on the way back Dan saw a street that he thought looked cool so we decided to head back along there. It was packed with Vietnamese people on their lunch hour sitting at little plastic tables on little plastic stools eating from these huge plates of rice noodles, pork, tofu, basil with sauce for dipping. We decided to try it out because it looked so popular. I liked it a lot but Dan wasn't a fan of the dipping sauce that came with it. We think it was fish sauce...

Later that afternoon we headed to the post office to ship back Dan's suits and some of my clothes that I don't want to bring with me to Europe. It was quite the experience. Vietnamese people have their own sense of time I think. We went to the desk and after we stood there for a while they finally handed us some forms to fill out. We were nervous at first because we had no idea how much it was going to cost us to send a box so far away overseas. But we filled in the forms and stood at the desk for another ten minutes. Finally a woman started helping us, giving us a box to fit and everything. It ended up being $30 to send it by boat and about three times as much to send it by air. We decided to go with the cheaper option because I won't even be home or need the clothes anytime soon anyway and Dan says he won't need the suits for a while anyway. We were both really relived to get rid of the extra bulk we had been carrying around and we just laughed at the entire process.

When we got back to the hostel I went up for a nap and Dan decided to check out the hostel more. When I woke up and went downstairs I discovered that Dan had been enjoying happy hour while I was gone haha. I joined in and a bunch of us started playing drinking games. The hostel is really huge and was packed with backpackers all there to have a good time. We met some new people, had more drinks, played more games, and then later that night some of the hostel staff rounded everyone up and brought us out to one of the bars nearby. We had a great time dancing before heading back. We had an early morning to prepare for!

The next morning we were up at 7 to get some breakfast before catching our bus to Ha Long Bay! Dan wasn't feeling 100 percent but luckily he got a good seat on the bus and slept for the whole four hour bus ride to the pier. Lucky him, I got a middle seat so I couldn't sleep at all!

We got to the pier, we separated into two groups and were taken out to the boats. We were on this big boat that had a dining room where we ate all the meals, a huge deck up top, and a bunch of cabins all along the second floor. The rooms were big and nice and even had their own bathrooms and hot showers! It was like a luxury boat! Well maybe not quite....

There were probably close to thirty of us on the boat. We started out with a big tasty lunch. The food on the trip was always amazing with lots of delicious food to choose from and more than enough to go around! After lunch we headed up to the top deck of the boat. Cruising through Ha Long Bay was incredible. There are thousands of limestone peaks jutting out of the emerald green water, ranging in size from tiny little rocks peaking out of the water to giant island-sized peaks. The weather in Ha Long Bay is infamously foggy, cloudy and grey, but this actually makes it much better in my opinion because it kind of has an eerie, mysterious feel to it.

We started playing drinking games up on the roof and then the boat stopped in the middle of one of the bays so we could take turns jumping off the top of the boat into the emerald water below. It was a scary jump! I didn't know if I was going to be able to do it because I'm normally way too scared to jump into water from way up high but I figured, I'm only in Ha Long Bay once, so Dan and I both jumped at the same time! The water was freezing at first! We jumped one more time with everyone else but didn't spend too much time actually in the water. It's really sad actually but the bay is pretty disgusting. Full of garbage and who knows what else floating in it. Asian counties don't have the same level of environmental awareness as we are finally starting to develop in western countries.

After spending time jumping in we all got in kayaks and headed to a big cave abut a half hour paddle away. It was a pretty small cave, not actually anything that exciting considering a lot of the other caves I visited on my travels. It seemed like more just a way to fill time. But kayaking through the bay was still fun. Then it was back to the boat for a shower to clean the gross Ha Long Bay water off us and to get some dinner.

After dinner it was time for the drinking games to begin! The entire trip there was one rule that could really get you if you weren't paying attention. You are only ever allowed to drink with your left hand! If you get caught drinking with your right hand, anyone who sees you can yell "buffalo!" and you have to finish your entire drink! This ended up being very dangerous for a lot of people. Our tour guide, Steve, had an eye like a hawk for this and you could never get away with drinking with your right hand, he would always catch you! He was a really great guy from Ireland, really fun and funny and was right into it with the rest of us.

The night continued with all sorts of different games, from flip cup to kings cup. We played for a while but the people we were with on the boat weren't really feeling it, maybe because you had to pay so much attention haha. Some of the rules were really funny though like if you pulled a seven you had to be the troll. And where do trolls live? Under bridges. So the troll would have to go under the table and just get people to give it their drinks the whole time. Guess who pulled the troll card twice in a row and stayed under the table all game? No not me, Dan of course! Haha he was definitely not impressed.

At one point someone made a rule where everyone had to get up on their chairs and dance for three minutes. Well three minutes never ended and the rest of the night was a huge dance party! At one point Steve got really mad because we had a whole bunch of Dutch people on our boat and the Dutch are apparently notorious for listening to techno music. Steve was not having it and stormed to the roof of the boat while the Dutch people all danced away to their techno music just to annoy him I think. But after a while he came back down, we put on some different music, and everyone danced away until early morning.

I woke up at around 6am the next day to Dan stumbling in, muttering something about how Steve told him to sleep for a couple more hours, and passing out. He had fallen asleep on the roof of the boat on one of the lounge chairs there!

We woke up at 7:30, well I did. I told Dan we had to check out and he was so confused, he thought we hadn't even spent the night yet! Haha he did not have a good morning after that. We had a pretty good breakfast and then the boat set out again. After about an hour the boat stopped beside a smaller boat and anyone who was continuing on for another night switched onto the small boat and people heading back stayed on the big boat. As we got on the smaller boat, we switched places with people returning from their second night. "Good luck!" someone said to me. Uh oh!

We were on the smaller boat for another hour before we pulled up to our private island! There was a nice beach with a volleyball net, a main eating area, bathrooms, and a bunch of big bamboo huts that were open air with mattresses on the floor and mosquito nets you could pull down from the top. It had a great adventure/outdoorsy feeling to it.

A lot of people were tired from the night before so some people napped and a bunch of people just sat around on the beach and stuff. I joined in a game of volleyball with some people for a while. After another delicious lunch the activities began! Everyone could go rock climbing and choose between tubing or wake boarding in the bay! I had never done either water activity but I figured it would be a cool place to learn wake boarding so Dan and I both signed up for that.

While the first group went out wake boarding, the climbing started. I had done some wall climbing at summer camp and a bit of repelling but never any actual rock climbing so I was really excited to do it in Ha Long Bay! Two climbing areas were set up and so we got started. I saw some people struggle on the one side so I decided to try the "easier" climb first. I got all strapped in and started climbing. It felt amazing! It was really exhilarating getting myself up this cliff face with just a spotter underneath me. I had to figure out the best places to put my feet and the best rocks to hold onto to pull myself up the rock face. I made it to the top in no time! I felt like a rock star haha. It was such a workout too!

We were still waiting for our turn to go wake boarding and I was on a high from my rock climbing success so I decided to attempt the harder wall. No one had made it all the way up yet, just to a point about a metre and a half from the top. I started climbing and it was definitely harder than the first wall but I was managing pretty well and climbing relatively quickly. I made it to the same spot that others had got stuck and struggled there for a long time before I finally conceded defeat. My forearms felt like they were going to explode! But I still felt really great about my climbing achievements for the day. I think I found another hobby I want to take up!

When I got down it was our turn to go wake boarding! We went out on the motor boat and watched one guy who had wake boarded before. When it came to my turn I thought I had an alright idea about how to position myself to start and what to do when the boat starts moving but I was still nervous. I wanted to get up and wakeboard for real! I had seen others that didn't make it up and I didn't want that to be me!

I got in the water and got strapped into the board. I followed the directions of how to get yourself set up. For some reason I just got this feeling like I was going to be able to do it! The boat started going and I prepped myself, pushed down with my back leg and I did it! I was wake boarding! I was so proud I must have had the biggest smile on my face! And I was doing it in the most beautiful place too. Another new hobby I want to take up!

When we got back the tubing groups went out. I sat down and had some noodles with some of the other people just hanging around but I really wanted to go tubing too! The last group was going out so I asked if I could come along and just watch. It looked way crazier than I had ever expected! There were two tubes going at the same time, two people sit in the one, it has two bum spots, and two people lie on their stomachs on the other one and hold on. The second one was way scarier and way more dangerous. The boat would go flying through the bay and the tubes are bouncing and flying around and inevitably the two people lying down end up going flying through the air and fall off the tube into the water. It looked insane but so fun!

When the boat was starting to head back a few of us who were watching begged to have a turn too. So the boat went out one more time! I started out on the lying down one and it was actually terrifying but in the best way. You have to hold on for dear life as the boat speeds around, twisting and turning and pulling you over its own wake. I went flying a few times and it's kind of a painful landing when you smash into the water but it was definitely worth it. I loved tubing. The sitting tube was next and that one is a lot less scary than the other one. I just laughed hysterically the entire time because the water is bouncing underneath you and hitting your butt and your legs are bouncing around. It was hilarious and so exciting.

Everyone showered and had dinner and the drinking games began once again. Dan was taking it really easy because he was still hurting from the night before. We played some generic games first and then we played this new game called Paranoid. Everyone sits in a circle and it starts with one person whispering in the ear of the person to their left. They ask them a question like, who do you think is the best looking, or who would you most like to kiss, or who do you think most likely to have a criminal record, anything crazy like that. Then the person who was asked the question has to go sit on the lap of the person playing who they think most fits the answer. The person who was chosen then has to decide whether or not they are paranoid enough to need to know why they were chosen. If they are paranoid, they have to have some of their drink and then the person on their lap has to reveal the question. There were definitely some hilarious and some awkward situations.

The next morning we were up early again to head back to Hanoi. It was a long trip back and everyone was a little tired and hung over. We finally got back that afternoon but then poor Dan caught some kind of stomach bug! He was out for the night and I took it easy too because it had been a long three days and we had to catch an early flight to Luang Prabang, Laos the next day!

Hanoi and Ha Long Bay were an amazing mix of partying, new friends, new activities and stunning natural beauty. I had such an amazing time and would not have changed a second of it! Less than a week left in Asia which is really depressing, but we are so excited for Laos!

I have been so busy lately and constantly on the move I haven't had a minute for an update!

We all really enjoyed Nha Trang, it was great to get back to the beach again. We were exhausted when we first arrived after the long train ride so we went to bed early, after getting some delicious chicken souvlaki pitas from a real Greek restaurant. The next day we got up and head to the beach. The beach in Nha Trang is huge but very different from the beaches I experienced in Thailand. The water is so much colder! And the beach dropped off and got deep right away. The sand was much rougher as well. But Dan Stephanie and I got some lounge chairs on the beach under a big umbrella and spent the day relaxing, swimming, and eating fresh mango from the women who come around selling fruit. It was a nice change from the hectic atmosphere of Ho Chi Minh City.

Later that night we bumped into a guy who had done the same Cu Chi Tunnels tour as us, Joel, and we sat down with him and some others for a drink. We ended up staying there all night because they had two for one deals and then a deal where you get a free bucket with the purchase of a meal! Dan and I had these really good fried noodle plates.

So we sat having drinks and making new friends and while I was sitting there I saw someone I recognized walk by. It was Adrienne, my friend from Koh Phangan and Koh Tao! Her and Tara had arrived in Nha Trang a couple days before me. It was so crazy to bump into them again!

We had quite a few drinks that night and headed out to the sailing club for some dancing. Dan and I had booked a boat trip for the next day that started at 8:30am and it was already about 3am! We stopped to get a bahn mi then we were headed to bed but Steph thought she had lost her wallet so we retraced our steps back to sailing club looking for it. We didn't find the wallet but we did see lots of rats along the way! So it was about 4:30 in the morning before I finally got to bed! Ugh!

We got up the next morning, had some breakfast and caught the bus to the boat. We did a full day boat trip through the hostel so there were lots of other young people on the trip. We hung out with two English guys, Jack and Marcus, who we had actually met while having bahn mi the night before! Or morning I should say.

The trip started off with a stop at the aquarium which was actually pretty cool and made inside this sort of rock formation that is shaped to look like a giant ship. After an hour there the boat headed out for us to do some snorkelling, swimming, and jumping off the boat. Dan and I wanted to snorkel but the masks we're really terrible and you couldn't even see out them! So we jumped off the boat a couple times and swam and cooled off because it was a really hot sunny day. Then we just hung out on the boat.

Next we headed out and anchored for lunch. The lunch was probably the best part of the trip! There were tons of plates of all different kinds ofmvietnamese foods like rice, fried noodles, fish, omelette, vegetables and spring rolls. The spring rolls are different in Vietnam than in Thailand because they aren't full of veggies but have pork instead. After lunch there was a live music performance which consisted of a band and a Vietnamese man dressed in women's clothes singing and dancing. It was interesting to say the least!

After that it was "happy hour" where it was free drinks for an hour. Bt the only option was some Vietnamese vodka and juice mixture that was absolutely disgusting! It was really hilarious thurs because the bartender went out on a floating tube that they called the bar and everyone jumped in and was given a tube and a cup to get drinks from the bartender. It was a funny scene. After that, the boat stopped at an island where you had to pay to go to the beach so a bunch of us just hung out on the boat instead. We had had enough sun for one day anyway!

We called it an early night that night because neither Dan or I had had much sleep the night before and we had another early morning the next day. I was booked for two fun dives! I was soooo excited because I had been going through serious diving withdrawal! Dan, Steph and Joel booked on the same boat to do some snorkeling.

The next morning we were up at seven, had some breakfast and headed to The Sailing Club for diving. The boat took us out to the first site. When I was diving on Koh Tao most people didn't even wear a wetsuit because the water is so warm but in Nha Trang the water is much colder so we all had to wear full wetsuits!

I went down with one divemaster, an American couple and an old German man who has been diving with The Sailing Club for years. It was really beautiful down there! It was different from Koh Tao because there was a lot less fish and big sea creatures but there was a lot of beautiful coral. At this site they had these cool swim-throughs that were kind of like caves but had a small opening on the other side that you could swim up out of. It was really cool but some times I felt a little panicky and once I put out my hand again the cave wall and scratched up my fingers.

The whole time I was diving I felt a little off my game... Maybe because it was a new divemaster, a new location, not having my buddy Chris who had done all my other dives with me, I'm not sure! It was still as amazing as ever it just felt much different than before.

The second dive site had even more beautiful coral than the first and we spent the entire time swimming over a huge reef. I loved all the colours and different types of coral that were there and we saw an eel hiding in some too! The one thing that took away from it though was that it was absolutely freezing! Even in my full wetsuit I was still shivering the entire time!

It was really great to get another chance to dive. Thanks Nanny! Dan said the snorkelling was really good too because they got to swim over the same reef I was diving in. They were cold too!

That night we were catching the overnight bus to Hoi An so we took some showers and got some food. Our bus was classically late,  by a couple of hours. Joel decided to carry on to Hoi An with us since his friend Pete went home. So the boys had a few drinks before the bus ride.

We were not at all impressed by our overnight bus! We were all crammed into the back first of all. The seats are like individual bus seats but they recline almost to 180 degrees so it should be comfortable for sleeping. But we were put all the way at the back and there must have been too many bags on the bus because they placed a bunch of backpacks up behind our heads! This meant the entire ride the bags were falling down on us and hitting us in the head. It didn't make for a very good sleep, that's for sure!

Luckily we got into Hoi An earlier than expected so we were on the bus for too too long. We didn't have a hotel booked though so at first we were just wandering the streets asking for prices. We were all a little tired and cranky so we stopped for breakfast to rejuvenate and then found a place that had alright rooms for a reasonable price and we were within walking distance of everything. Hoi An in a really small town though so pretty much everything is within walking distance of everything!

Hoi An is a beautiful quaint town that is set around the riverside. There is an area right down by the river where no cars or motorbikes are allowed and there are lots of little shops and cute restaurants and bakeries. The city is also famous for its tailors. People from everywhere go there to have everything and anything made. The first morning we were there we checked out a few of the tailor shops because Steph wanted to get clothes made and Dan was thinking of getting a suit made. Then we headed down to the river to get something to eat. Apparently when you cross the bridge you enter An Hoi and it is supposed to be cheaper on that side of the bridge. We found a restaurant with a nice upstairs overlooking the river. Dan and I both had Cau Lao, a local speciality of noodles that are more like pasta and pork and crispy pork. It was alright, not my favourite Vietnamese food. And we all had fresh beer. It is a local beer that is brewed every night and delivered every morning and has no preservatives. It is only twenty cents a glass!

Our server at the restaurant was annoying at first trying to sell us anything possible, coins with our Chinese animal on them, laundry services, etc. But she caught our attention when she asked if we wanted to go for a boat ride. So for about two dollars each we got to take a private boat trip down the river.  We had a blast playing around taking pictures and drinking the fresh beer we had brought with us.

We took it easy that night because we were all exhausted from the lack of sleep on the overnight bus. The next day we had a really yummy breakfast, eggs Benedict for me! There were so many great food places in Hoi An! Then Dan got fitted for a nice navy suit and then ended up getting another suit made (charcoal) and a shirt (light blue)! All excellent investments into his future as a serious businessman. I won't even mention how many clothes Steph had made!

That afternoon Dan and I rented bikes and went to check out the beach. It was a beautiful beach that stretched on forever! We brought a picnic of sandwiches with us and at first we were just taking it all in. Bt then we went for a walk down the beach and the waves were huge so we took advantage and went for a swim. The bike ride there and back was really lovely, first through the town and then you bike by rivers and inlets from the ocean and rice fields. It was nice. And good to get some exercise too! It was about a 15 to 20 minute ride.

That night for dinner we went to this outdoor street food cafeteria area that we had spotted during the day. I still don't really understand how it works. There are about 15 different stalls and they all have the same menu but are each owned by different families. They all come at you at once trying to get you to eat at their restaurant but at the same time they seem to take turns. There must be some sort of profit sharing I guess. But the food we ate there both nights was some of the best I've had in Vietnam! We all chose a couple dishes and shared them, it was delicious!

We had some fresh beer with dinner and then headed to the bar Before and Now. It was full of backpackers and seems to be the only place in Hoi An that stays open past 11pm! We had a couple more beers there and Dan and I played fooseball with a German couple. It was a good night overall!

We had rented the bikes for two days so we had them overnight but the woman who worked reception at the hotel was really nervous that the bikes would be stolen at night even though we had them locked. So she had said she would bring them in for us at night so we gave her the keys. But when we got back that night the bikes were still outside. When we came in and asked for the keys so we could move them she said the man renting bikes across the street had come in and told her one key was his so she had given it to him. I didn't understand! She knew all the keys were ours! So we had to leave the bikes overnight. We were so worried it was some sort of scam to make us pay for the bikes or something. Luckily they were still there in the morning and we went across the street and told the man to give us our key back and he did. It was a strange situation!

We had a lazy morning and then in the afternoon all four of us rode bikes to the beach. It was another really hot day and there were still some waves to play in. We got some lounge chairs and Dan played in the waves, Steph and Joel dozed on the chairs and I went for a long walk along the beach. It was really nice.

When we got back it was time for Dan to go for one of his last fittings and on the way there we ran into Alex! The French canadian guy we had travelled with forever ago on Koh Phi Phi and Koh Lanta in Thailand! He has this big smirk on his face saying he had just been thinking about us and the crazy booze cruise we had all done on Phi Phi. It was so nice to see him again!

Alex came with us all to dinner and the street food cafeteria again and we had another amazing dinner. Then we went for ice cream at this great place on the river that Dan and I had gone to a coupe nights before. They have the best cookie ice cream! All homemade! We all went to Before and Now for a drink again and then parted ways because Alex and Steph had a cooking class in the morning and Dan Joel and I had to get an early bus to Hue. Steph decided to stay a couple extra days in Hoi An which I think is pretty dangerous considering her shopping habits!

The bus ride to Hue the next day was much smoother than our ride Nha Trang to Hoi An. We were told the ride would take five to six hours but we ended up getting there in about four! And it was a sleeper bus so we were able to sleep the whole way.

When we got to Hue Dan and I had to go to the train station to get tickets to Hanoi for the next day and to Fed Ex to see about shipping home Dan's suits and some of my extra clothes. But the train station was a disaster! We hadn't realized before that there was a festival going on in Hue during the time we wild be there so when we went to the station to book and overnight train to Hanoi we were told that the train we wanted was completely sold out! There was another train we could take, a slow train, so we were about to take those tickets when the information man who works at the station as a translator came over and started confusing us. He said there was a really good overnight bus we could take instead of the train. But we wanted to book a tour leaving Hanoi for Halong Bay at 7:30am the day we arrived and we knew busses weren't always as reliable for arriving on time. The man assured us this was a really good reliable bus and we should come with him to buy the tickets. At first we thought this sounded like a good idea but then just as we were about to buy the tickets we had second thoughts about what this man's motivations were. He was really pushing this bus trip... So we tried to go back to the train station to get the tickets we had been about to get but the man told us it was all sold out, we took too long deciding. Now we really didn't trust him so we hopped back on our bikes and went back to the hostel.

We wanted to book the three day, two night boat trip through Hanoi Backpackers Hostel because it seemed like a really fun way to experience Halong Bay and Cat Ba national park. So we went to the hostel and the receptionist tried to call around for us to get us an overnight tran but they were all full because of the festival. So we decided to change our plans a little bit, push everything back a day, and booked an overnight bus for the next night, one night at the Hanoi Bckpackers Hostel, and then leave on the boat trip a day later. Once we had it all settled it was such a relief. We had booked th next 5 days and nights of our trip! I'm so exited for the boat trip too! Halong Bay is supposed to be incredibly beautiful.

Once that was all out of the way we decided to go check out the festival. We stumbled upon a beer garden kind of thing. First we saw in one corner there's was a soccer competition thing set up. There was a wall with three holes cut out and you had to kick the ball into one of the holes to win a prize. There was a huge crowd gathered around all jumping up and down for a turn. As soon as Dan showed up and raised his hand they picked him out right away. Being a tall white guy has its advantages! When I put up my hand it took them forever to give me a turn! Dan said I'm too short and brown so I just blended in with all the other Vietnamese people! Neither of us got a prize though.

From there we wandered over to this big tent that had a stage and a bunch of beer vendors and tables set up all around. Most of the tables were full so we decided we would grab one can of beer to say we had been there and then head out. But as we bought our beers and man came over and said that he would like to invite us to join him at his table! We sat down with him, two other Vietnamese men, and a young Vietnamese couple. At first we just sat there drinking our can of beer but then one of the men pulled out a whole stack of tickets for free beers! The man who had invited us over explained that his friend was involved in the festival and that since it was the last night of the beer festival he had lots of tickets to use up! So before we knew it the table was covered in cans of beef and bags of peanuts and we were cheers ing every couple minutes with everyone around the table. A few others joined us and people were making us chug our beers and it just got up of control! It was such an amazing night! We really got to experience Hue with the locals! After a few hours of drinking the main event started up on the stage and there were singers and dancers and Vietnamese movie stars. It was quite the event! On the way home Dan and I went to this amazing pho place where everyone was just sitting out at little plastic tables on stools eating giant bowls of pho. Delicious!

Today we had a slow start to the day but headed over to the Citadel, or the Imperial Palace. Joel left us this morning to do a tour of an army base nearby and then he is flying to Hanoi tonight. We walked around the palace for a few hours. The palace is completely surrounded by a moat and the buildings inside are very beautiful. It was build between 1803 and 1833 and it is undergoing major restoration now. The entire place looked extra dressed up because it was the main festival location so there were stages and lights everywhere. I'm sure it must look incredible at night!

After leaving the Citadel we headed back to Fed Ex. They had been closed when we went the night before and closed for lunch when we tried earlier today but they were finally open. We went in and Dan spoke on the phone with someone to confirm that he would get his Air Canada employee discount if we shipped from there. They said we would so we hurried back to the hotel to grab our stuff to ship. But when we got back they had changed their minds and said we couldn't have the discount! So frustrating! We wasted so much time on a failed Fed Ex attempt. It's too expensive to use Fed Ex without the discount.

So now we are on our twelve hour overnight bus to Hanoi. It has been exciting as always. Luckily we were some of the first ones on so we could choose good seats but before that the bus tried to leave without us, and then we were standing at the front of the bus trying to get in when the bus driver had already started moving but there was a guy on the bus trying to get out to use the bathroom but the driver refused to stop. All of a sudden I was thrown into the front of the bus as the driver slammed really hard on the brakes! Luckily for the guy who had been complaining was standing beside me so he took the brunt of the hit, smashing into the dashboard and window of the bus. I just landed on him so I wasn't injured at all, just shaken, but he was furious! He had hurt his wrist really badly when he fell and he was yelling and it was a huge commotion! It also mad Dan and I pretty nervous because clearly our bus driver is crazy!

So that's the excitement of this bus trip so far... Hopefully we make it to Hanoi in one piece because I am extremely excited for this boat trip! You spend a day on the boat touring around Halong Bay, sleep on the boat for one night and then go to a private island in Cat Ba national park the next day and sleep on the island overnight! There is swimming and kayaking and Rick climbing and watersports like tubing and wake boarding. Plus it's with all backpackers so you know it's likeminded people looking for a good time! I can't wait!

For now, hopefully we get some sleep on this 12 plus hour bus ride! Wish me luck....

I made it back to Phnom Penh in time to go out for a drink with all the other volunteers. It was really nice to see everyone again.

The next morning we went to this store in the city where they also have a restaurant and swimming pool. As long as you buy something you are allowed to swim. We spent the morning relaxing there and swimming, the pool was really refreshing and we got a bit of sun. In the afternoon, some of us went to see the killing fields. Like the high school turned into a detention center, S. 21, the killing fields are a reminder of the terrible genocide that Cambodian people faced in the 1970s.

The fields are a little outside the city and when you get there you are given an audio headset that takes you around the grounds of the fields. It makes it a very solitary experience which I think intensifies the stories and facts you are hearing about the site. When the Khmer Rouge were in power in Cambodia they decided that it was the farmers and the poor who were the real heroes of society and that the rich and well educated needed to be punished and eliminated for taking advantage of the farmers and for being selfish and trying to improve their own lives. Everyone was moved out of the cities and forced to work in the farms under extreme conditions. Many died of exhaustion and starvation.

The killing fields are where people were taken by the bus load. Hundreds of people, men, women and children, were stored in wooden sheds that had no windows or anything and were kept there to await their death. One by one people would be taken out and killed by the Khmer Rouge soldiers. They were never shot to death because bullets were expensive but the soldiers used knives and hammers and the sharp-edged palm tree trunks to kill their victims. The audio tape told all the gruesome details. It was shocking, horrifying and extremely sad. Cambodians killing Cambodians. Apparently 3 million of the 8 million person population were murdered by the Khmer Rouge during the four years that this went on.

Although much of what I learned was very difficult to hear, I really appreciated that I had the opportunity to go to the fields and learn this important part of Cambodian history.

The next day Stephanie and I got our bus from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam! Stephanie is doing the same route that I am for Vietnam so as long as we stick on the same itinerary, we will probably be together the next two weeks! The bus ride went smoothly enough. We had to get off and go through customs at the border but the whole ride only took around six hours so it really wasn't too bad.

Dan was at the hotel when we got to HCM and it was so nice to see him! He had been in the city a couple of days already and had made friends with a couple guys from California and had been spending time with them. Steph was staying with a friend from home's family in the city so she went to stay with them and Dan and I had an easy night.

The next day we spent the entire day walking around the city, which might not have been so great for Dan since he had stubbed his toe pretty badly a few days ago and it was still really hurting. The nail was partly coming off! Ouch. First we walked to the War Remnants museum which is all about the war in Vietnam. We got there right when they were about to close for lunch though so we decided to come back later. We were going to go to the train station then to get our tickets for Nha Trang but Steph read in her lonely planet that that would be closing for lunch too so we decided this was probably a good time to stop for lunch. We went to this really nice place on Rue Pasteur that had inexpensive yummy Vietnamese food and a nice leafy green setting.

The walk to train station took a lot longer than I had expected and we got there just as it was about to close. To buy your tickets you have to take a number and you are called up in order to purchase your tickets. Our number was way down the list and we weren't sure if we would be able to buy our tickets in time which would have really messed up our schedule for the rest of our time in HCM. Luckily there was a woman who worked there who went around rounding up the foreigners and bringing them to one specific ticket agent so before long we had our tickets to leave for Nha Trang in two days!

We took a cab back to the War Remnants Museum. I read a really great book last week called The Girl in the Picture which is all about the Vietnam war and the girl who is in the most famous picture of the war, Kim Phuc, who was photographed running from a napalm attack. The book gave a really good history of the war and the political and economic circumstances surrounding the time before during and after the war so I was really interested in this museum. Poor Steph though, she is from California, the museum was extremely anti-American and talked about Americans in a really negative way. She took it all with a grain of salt though.

One really difficult part of the museum was the area that showed the effects of Agent Orange and the other chemical warfare the Americans used during the war in Vietnam. Apparently around two million people have been affected by these chemicals, resulting in illness and disability. The photos were very difficult to look at but this is a serious reality that the Vietnamese society is facing.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the Binh Thahn market. During the day it is all indoors and they sell fruit and dried goods and clothing and fabric and pretty much anything else you could need. At night the market is set up outdoors in the streets.

Speaking of the streets, HCM is a big bustling city and the streets are always crazy and busy. Pretty much everyone who lives there owns a scooter or motorcycle so the streets are always full of them! Its almost impossible to cross the street. We discovered the only way you'll ever get across a busy street is to just starting crossing and walk with determination and without stopping to the other side. The mopeds will navigate their way around you. The only way you'll really be in danger is if you stop or change your pace because then the driver can't interpret where you'll be and get around you! It's a little bit thrilling every time you cross the street!

That night, Dan Steph and I went to get some drinks. We did a little bit of bar hopping and at one bar, Le Pub, we ordered some potato wedges to share. Wen they came out I lifted the basket and a beetle crawled out from the fries! We decided not to eat them and headed to the next bar.

At the end of the night we were heading back towards our hotel when we realized the street was full of young backpackers sitting around on stools and plastic chairs in front of convenience stores! Apparently all the drinks here are super cheap so backpackers start out their night here and then head to the bars for dancing later. It was crazy how busy it was in front of these convenience stores!

The next morning we were up early for our tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels. During the war, the northern army known as the Viet Cong were known for their guerrilla warfare. They hid in the jungles and fought the war from there. They worked on farms and in the rice fields during the day and came out as soldiers at night. During the war they dug a system of tunnels that went all the way from Cambodia down to HCM. There were over 200 km of tunnel systems that the Viet Cong used to hide from the south army and the Americans and to get around. So we got to see one area of the tunnels and could even go down through some of them. Most of the tunnels for tourists to try have been widened now compared to the size the Viet Cong soldiers used. It was dark and damp and smelly down there and it is impossible to imagine these soldiers living every day down there for decades.

These soldiers fought a completely different war than the southern and American armies. They didn't have the money or resources for guns and planes and bombs the war the southern army did so they improvised in their jungle surroundings. They made trap door kind of traps in the ground where the enemy would step and the door would swing down,  the soldier falling into a bed of spikes underneath. There were many different versions of these all leading to a slow and painful death for whoever was caught.

The tunnels were super interesting to visit because it was a completely different perspective on war. A type of war that I ave never really learned much about compared to most wars I've learned abut with the use of guns and planes and bombs and that type of warfare.

Dan had read about this little restaurant in HCM known for its delicious and inexpensive crab so we headed there for dinner. Steph is allergic to shellfish so she stayed behind. We were the only white people in the place and weren't sure what to order but the server helped us a little by pointing to certain things. We ended up ordering deep fried soft shall crab and crab meat vermicelli. It seemed like everyone else around us was ordering the same thing. Both were delicious. There was so much meat in the soft shell crab and the meat in the vermicelli melted in your mouth. Dan put some soy sauce and not sauce in his vermicelli and the server came over and was very unimpressed haha. Apparently that's not how that dish is meant to be eaten! Oh well, we both really enjoyed our meal.

On the way back we walked through the nicer area of the city where all the big fancy hotels are and the Opera House. It looked completely different than any other area of the city! Very modern and clean and beautiful.

We met back up with Steph and a guy we had met on our Cu Chi tunnels tour that day and we all headed to the convenience store street! The Californian guys Dan had been hanging out with, Tri and Jarson, met up with us and we all spent the night hanging out talking and drinking cheap beers on the street. The convenience store did have their own bathroom you could use but the guys warned Steph and I against it so we tried to sneak into a bar across the street. On the way out though these two security officers came over and stopped us and were yelling at us in Vietnamese. Steph's parents are from the Philippines but everyone here thinks she is Vietnamese and always tries to speak Vietnamese to her. They ended up making us pay 10 000 dong for using the bathroom which wasn't a big deal because it's only 50 cents but they had made such a big scene about it!

We finished off the night with some late night pho and said bye to Tri and Jarson for now. They are supposed to head to Tri's mom's hometown but said they might meet up with us in Nha Trang if it works out.

So now we are on the bus to Nha Trang. We got a good little spot with four seats facing each other and a table in the middle but the man beside Dan is completely ridiculous. He keeps putting his arm up over the armrest onto Dan's side or falling asleep with his legs on Dan. He even moved my stuff on the table so he could put his bare feet up on the table. So rude!

We are all really excited for Nha Trang though. It's a beach town so we can get some sun, beach and relaxation. I might see if there is any good diving to do or Steph read abut surfing lessons! We are booked for three nights right now and we'll play it by ear to see if we want to stay any longer. Still so much to see in Vietnam though!

Oh ya and the food has been amazing. We have had some pho, some really good dry vermicelli noodles that have meet and sweet and spicy sauce you can add, and what they are famous for in the south called banh mi, baguette sandwiches that you buy on the street that have pâté, meat like pork or salami, mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion and some other sauces all together. I really liked it! Mmm I could go for some banh mi now. And it's super inexpensive. We need to start eating more street food to save money because it's also delicious! There is just always the fear that it isn't the most sanitary or freshest.

Just a couple hours until we get to Nha Trang! We are supposed to be staying at a really fun hostel too so I'm looking forward to the next few days.