Halong Bay


So before I even came out to thailand I was researching south east asia and came across the beautiful halong bay. Wikipedia and pictures do a good enough job describing what it is but none truly capture how it feels to be there in the middle of the calm green bay floating on a kayak or trekking though it's caves and lagoons. I was captivated. It is one of my favorite spots on my travels thus far. I could have taken the two night 3 day party boat travel agency cruise with all of the other tourists but instead I decided to do it on my own, wich I strongly advise. It's cheaper, more adventurous, you actually get to experince the bay. I traveled all the way to Cat Ba island, the only inhabited island in the bay and spent two nights at a wonderful hostel called "le pont". I met a lot of great people there, and "Mr. Jim", the manager was a huge help. Along with traversing all of the carsts via boat and kayak and seeing all of the caves I had the chance to rent a motor bike and ride around beautiful Cat Ba for a while. Me and a friend went to Hosptial Cave, a secret hideout built durring the war and I was able to make the hike up cat ba national park for an amazing view of the jungle on top of a mountain. I wish I had pictures for you guys but unfortunately my so called water proof camera decided to not be water proof. Anyways tomorow I go back to thailand for the last leg of my journey. See you all soon!

Back in Nam....

Hello all,

I write this post to you sitting in the backpackers hostel in Hanoi. It wasnt that long go that I started my trip into vietnam. I spent my first night in Saigon in agony due to what I boil down to be food poisoning from a deep fried banana street vendor. I was actually quite worried because it was the first time I've been sick abroad and my international health insurance ran out a few days ago. Regardless of this I got to see a bit of saigon while I was there. I made friends with a few english guys who were on the same bus as me. It ended up being great because they had met a vietnamese friend a few weeks ago in sinok ville cambodia, so she showed us around the city and even invited us all to her house for a home cooked vietnamese meal. When I went to see if I could book some train tickets to hanoi the person at the front desk told me that flights were actually cheaper! So I saved 12 dollars and about 30 hours of travel time. I caught the 20:35 flight into Hanoi. I was still feeling pretty badly when I arrived so I went right to sleep. Like all of the other south east asian cities Saigon and Hanoi are a serious assault on all the senses particularly smell and sound. You cant walk anywhere without the buzz of about 50 motor bikes wizzing by. And as you walk down the street you cant help but take in all of the not neccisarily bad, but bizzare smells comming at you from all angles. As far as taste there is one word that comes to mind pho (pronounced fa) wich is probably one of the most characteristic elements to vietnamese cuisine. It's a noodle soop with all kind of wonderful spices and leafy vegies and can be ordered with your choice of meat. Im glad to say that after taking some prescription medicine I took with me from the states I am feeling much better. I was able to meet up with a few friends from school up here and it was great to see some familar faces but unfortuantley they are leaving today after we visit the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. Luckily for me I'm off to why i most wanted to visit Vietnam in the first place, Halong Bay....

Semester over!

So after some somewhat stressful finals (most of which were worth half of my grade) my time as a student in Thailand has ended. It's really hard to think that not so long ago everything here was foreign to me. Over the last 4 months I feel like Ive actually adjusted. I could live here without difficulty of getting around, speaking basic thai, knowing what food I want and making thai friends. It's wierd thinking that I am saying goodbye to so many memories. But this is why mai pen rai (no worries in thai) is tattooed on my left arm and adaptability in Mandarin on my right. A new chapter begins and I'm looking forward to it. I am currently writting this post from phnom penh cambodia, the capital.  I am specifically here to help out with a program I was recommended called tiny toones. It's a program devoted to youth development in Cambodia, something they desperately need. It was started by a man known as kk. After being deported from the US, after 25 years of residency, KK started to teach a couple kids how to bboy. This grew into what I consider one of the most important NGO's in Cambodia. It has focuses in education (including English, hygiene, math, and Khmer), and also the creative program which lets kids explore different forms of expression like art but also through the elements of hip hop like bboying, graffiti writing, MCing, and DJing. Why I think it's so important is that it is open to all kids not just ones with problems (HIV, drugs, gangs, orphans, etc). This program prevents the problems before they happen. I've never been in such an environment where kids are so driven to learn, whether it be through the creative or education program. They are simply glad to have a chance, something many Khmer don't. I've only spent two days here and I already think that I will return at some point in my life. While I can help the little ones out, the big ones are helping me. They are seriously good, probably due to the fact that they practice all day every day. From what I can gather, they are the best in Cambodia. On top of this they are all great guys. Despite their minimal English skills they always offer me food and always want to know how I'm doing. On the 16th I head to Vietnam, then on the 23 back to Bangkok and down to Kho Pi Pi until I return home on the 29th. I feel a sense of indifference knowing that Ill be home in a few weeks. Well maybe not indifference. I feel that it is going to be the right amount of time. Would I stay here longer, probably, but I am really excited to get home as well. Things I'm craving; a big juicy cheeseburger and an all out American breakfast.

Songkran in in Chiang Mai and Trip to Chiang Rai

So songkran is the thai new year. Despite what my drunken friend alex says in the video, traditionally it's a time when thais go back to there hometowns and spend time with their families and it's also a time when you pour water over the shoulders of your friends and family. This holiday has evolved into quite the event, probably mostly due to drunken rambunctious tourists. If you ever visit thailand or laos in mid april, do not expect to stay dry. People with Ice cold buckets of water and children with super soaker lurk on every street. I had so much fun the first two days but I definetely was done by the third. I went to chiang mai, a popular destination for songkran. It's one of the bigger cities in Thailand but does not compare to Bangkok in the slightest. Regardless of the unrelenting festivities I found that the people of the north were generally like the south of the US in the sense that you had true hospitality. People were just generally nicer and more willing to due things for you. Similarly to the US south they talked slower and in a different dialect. In a split decision I also went bungee jumping which is definitely something I wanted to check off my bucket list and I'm so glad I did it.

After a few days in chiang mai me and my friend pako went to chiang rai, a nieghboring city, almost as far north as you can get. We really wanted to see Phu Chi Fa but it would have been a hassle to get out to and we were told that the pictures are nothing like what we would see because it was the burning season in laos which would really obstruct our view. Instead we visited the white temple, a must see if you are around the north. It was absolutely beautiful. It had some of the most detailed architecture I had ever seen. Before heading back to bangkok, me and pako decide to adventure a little and I had some of my first outdoor rock climbing. We also did a little caving a ziplinning.