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Aubrey White
I'm about to set out on a solo trip to France. No set plans, no set destination, just me and a map. But this time I'm keeping a blog. It's the first time and we'll just have to see how it goes! Aubrey B
Travel Blog Posts
Signing off...for now
Published: May 8th 2012North America » United States » California » Los Angeles » Long Beach
May 8th 2012
I close my eyes as the plane gains speed, its wheels regretfully lifting off the ground and I can feel the pull of gravity as we move further and furher into the sky. The land falls far below, white clouds move in. I always hate this part: the end of a trip. It's bittersweet, though too often I taste the bitter more than the sweet and I can't help but wish for a delay or that I might have boarded the wrong plane. But I haven't and as China falls far below and I travel back in time over the blue Pacific I think back on the past four months and what they mean to me. I circled the world in hopes of finding an adventure and now I face the important question: did I succeed? ... read more
May 1st 2012
We come to the end of things, here in the capitol of Vietnam, Hanoi. In Saigon I confronted a new pace to life, frantic and rushed. Da Lat and Sapa were both quiet, their distances from the great cities freeing them from a press of too many people and Hoi An was like being transported back into a slightly twisted European culture. Now I find the capitol to be something all of its own as well. There is the ever-present division of wealth, with shacks hugging to the river and skyscrapers rising up behind them and the traffic is worse with more motorcycles zooming by than you have time to count. Highways here have ramps, the only time I've ever seen a road in Vietnam rise above the ground and from the back of a motorcycle ... read more
The height of scamming and the top of the country. Connection?
Published: May 2nd 2012Asia » Vietnam » Northwest » Lao Cai » Sapa
April 28th 2012
A night train in Vietnam is like anything else in Vietnam: crazy. People rushing, pushing, falling, and screaming to get to a train that could very well possibly leave without them. There are no platform numbers, few train "staff" (even fewer who speak English), and the police in green uniforms hardly offer comfort with their austere, unsmiling faces. I was saved by an equally-overwhelmed British couple and we all safely got out to the train...but didn't know which one was ours. Which mass of people do I follow? That mass of Vietnamese or that one? A girl who sat next to me in the waiting room, who also gave me a pitying face when I hoisted my now-too large bag on my back, came back for me and beckoned me to follow her. Once in my ... read more
A long way from beautiful Halong Bay
Published: May 2nd 2012Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hai Phong » Cat Ba Island
April 26th 2012
Fourteen hours on a bus and I go from mid-point Vietnam in Danang to the Northern capital of Hanoi. But I will leave this city for another time and skip over instead to Cat Ba, the largest island of Halong Bay. Halong Bay (and Lan Ha Bay which is the same thing just different province) is supposedly one of those "must see wonders" of the world. Legend says the karst mountains, at a distance appearing as one continuous chain but which are in fact separated by quiet coves and smooth expanses of water, were created by the tail of a passing dragon rising and falling as his wings carried him further inland. Most of the islands are uninhabited, there being few places to dock a boat and building a house on sheer rock face an engineering ... read more
April 25th 2012
Sit back on a sleeper bus straight out of Harry Potter (crazy driver and near-misses included) and relax...for a fifteen minute ride to the side of the highway where I'm dropped off on the outskirts of Danang. It's the midpoint of Vietnam. I have been here for 15 days and I only have 13 left. Danang is ugly. Hate to say it, but it is. Industrial and pushing for development, it's hard to decide if the greyness comes from cloud cover or pollution. Probably a mixture of both. Riding on a motorbike from the highway into the city is like crossing a desert of half finished buildings, gaping structures through which sand flies to sting the eyes of my driver. But he swerves with style. Very few Western faces show themselves in the streets, the city ... read more
Clothes, ruins, and sea storms and all in one location
Published: April 23rd 2012Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Quảng Nam » Hoi An
April 23rd 2012
If you were looking for a Western feel in the middle of such an Eastern country as Vietnam, I think Hoi An might be the place. Maybe it's the mansions, now faded mustard yellow with dirt caked within the stone work that speak of an old colonial presence, or the latern-lit bridges that span the river creating a reflection of mulitcolored firefly lights, or the hundreds of tailor shops lining the streets displaying everything from wedding dresses to pin-striped suits that make it seem like you're not so far from home. The city is calmer than Saigon but with more beat than Da Lat and wandering the streets can be a joy and a challenge as motorbike and bicycle taxis both compete with the cries from seamstresses enticing you into their store and to magic the ... read more
The road slightly less traveled
Published: April 23rd 2012Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Binh Dinh » Qui Nhon
April 20th 2012
It is time to descend the highlands and return to the coast. But first the inevitable transportation adventure. From Da Lat I take a bus to Nha Trang, an ocean side town about 11 hours north of Saigon. The road is windy, swithcbacks most the way. My seat companion rolls and stuffs orange peels up her nose which I admit I find odd. I also take offense because it's one thing to know you smell but entirely another to have someone else point it out in such an odd manner. But by hour two I realized that my companion's world does not revolve around me and my attempts at hygiene because I understood as another woman threw up for the third time that citrus must counteract car sickness in some way. Note to self: must learn ... read more
April 17th 2012
Vietnam, one country, so skinny....but sooooo long!! I feel like my time spent here has mostly been on buses. To get to my next destination it takes 11 hours, me sitting next to an elderly Vietnamese man who, I suspect, is trying to block out my existence by holding up his newspaper like a wall between us. Our bus driver is anything but considerate and I believe he might be mistaking the sound of the horn for a catchy tune because he leans on it about every three minutes, even when the road ahead is clear. We drive through Saigon city limits and buildings get closer and closer to the ground until there are only two room shacks lining the road, and hammock stops where motorists can escape the sun for a few hours and take ... read more
April 14th 2012
Saigon can only be digested in increments and so I had to get out for a few days. In Vietnam, making money is the ultimate goal in their rising economy but unfortunately this new love for capitalism has brought with it an increase in swindling and a decrease in morality, particularly considering tourists. Vendors in the street sell pirated everything and their uniformed brothers are no better: organized tour companies have found a skill in wording advertisements so I think I'm in for an adventure but really just purchased a seat on a rickety bus or overheated boat. And though I've found it difficult to temper by cynicism, overall the experience of getting cheated and taken is one I am glad to have had. I'm telling myself it's all for educational purposes... So, back to my ... read more
Rats, cockroaches, and guns
Published: April 14th 2012Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1
April 14th 2012
Showered, backpack off, teeth brushed after a 22 hour flight, I sit on my bed, savoring the air-conditioned cool air, and am at a loss for what to do. Simply because I have no idea where to begin. I can hear the honk of horns and the nasal melodic cries of the old woman pushing her cart through my closed window, like the city's intensity is so strong it beats itself against the glass, trying to get in. I feel excited and overwhelmed all at once and I half want to get in bed, hide under the covers, and wish myself back home and half want to dive right into the mess. Home not being an option and resting beneath a comforter in 90° heat not advisable, I take the leap. Ho Chi Minh City (aka ... read more
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