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Hello All!!
My journey from Bali to Bangkok was almost the most beautiful flight i have ever taken (second only to flying over the rockies on a crystal clear day), flying right up the middle through southeast Asia, the thousands of islands that make up Indonesia and Malaysia looked stunning from 30,000 feet in the air. I Arrived in Bangkok and waited a couple agonizing hours for 2 of my girlfriends to fly in from southern Thailand. They had come to Thailand one week before me and were flying back to Bangkok to meet me and travel together for the next 4 weeks. It was a VERY exciting reunion and from the first second it was hard to believe that 5 months had passed since i had seen them back in Vancouver.
We found a place to stay in Bangkok. had a couple celebratory drinks and collapsed quite early after all 3 of us having a long day of travel. We spent 2 days in Bangkok, and although it has a negative reputation i found it buzzing with great energy, shopping and nightlife...
Our first day there we hired a Tuk-tuk (a 3 wheeled taxi)
and asked him to take us to the main shopping district in the city. he quoted us a price that seemed absurdly low and instantaneously i had a flash back to one of my first lessons i had learned in Delhi. If it sounds to good to be true it is. So i said that i wasn't interested in going to any of his stores (where he would get a commission to take us to). he said it would be only one store, and we would have to only pretend to look interested for 10 mins. The other 2 girls had never experienced bartering yet, so him and i went back and forth until finally we agreed on a rate. 5 Baht each (about 20 cents) and only one store. He pulled up to the store fount and all 3 of us moaned. it was a tailor, specializing in suites. It was HILLARIOUS walking in there, the three of us decked out in our very best dirty backpacker gear.. and 7 big men all pearing at us trying to convince us that if we bought our "boyfriends" a certain shirt or tie he would proceed to buying us the wedding
dress of our dreams.. we were in stitches laughing at this situation and eventually got kicked out of the store for not taking it seriously. We walked back to our tuk-tuk and our driver looked really upset. he told us that because we didn't spend the entire 10 mins in the store he wouldn't get his commission. He started telling us that he was going to take us to one more store. We said absolutely not, the deal was one store, he pulled over and kicked us out of his tuk-tuk... we still laugh about this...
We then took the night bus up north to Chaing Mai, were we hoped to stay for a couple days while our Visas for Vietnam went through. Its a beautiful city that has a very holistic mentality. the Vegitarian food was amazing. One day we ended up being extras on a movie set. it was a story about a little Thai boy who trains an elephant how to paint beautiful pictures. We ended up being bused up to an elephant farm for 12 hours to pretend that we were tourists watching the elephant show. it was amazing to hang out with all
the elephants, and we left 1000 Bhat richer (2 dollars an hour wage).
After spending more time then we had planned getting everything sorted there we flew to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. It was an instant change. For me it was love at first sight. Back on the right hand side of the road.. an very different culture and energy from Thailand....Finding our hostel with only one scam artist in our way, we woke up the next morning and checked out the city. We booked to go to Ha Long bay the following day to spend a night on a boat and kayak around the epic scenery. Hanoi had the worst traffic i have ever experienced and getting to the peacefulness of the ocean was a welcomed change. There were 28 of us that loaded on to a big wooden boat and took off for our 2 day trip. we Kayaked around for 3 hours and then spent the night eating/drinking/swimming with our fellow travelers. it was a definite highlight of my trip so far.. what a amazing place.
After a 14 hour bus ride, with 2 breakdowns we arrived in Hue. We used it as
a stop over and the next morning took off for Hoi An. Hoi An is known for its tailors and leather workers. you can get any piece of clothing made, in any fabric however you like for unbelievably cheap. its a very small town, still with all its traditional architecture and the quiet streets and a near beach is a very welcomed change....
Our plan is to continue to work our way down to the very south of Vietnam (Saigon) and then travel into Cambodia, where Hollis and Sidney will leave me to go back home and i will stay for another 2-3 weeks...
I will write again soon. thanks again for following my adventures...
xoxoxooxx
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