RSGabroad

Nate and I left the glorious lands of Laos for Vietnam a few days ago. Laos was so relaxing and slow paced, there was barely any honking and cars did not try to run you off the road, everyone smiled patiently and took turns with things. Needless to say we were definitely on Lao time when we arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam. Immediately we were shaken up. There was honking everywhere we turned, people were constantly trying to hustle us, we got ripped off at currency exchange and our hostel was bustling with British bros. Hanoi is not a bad city but we were on such a different wave length that everything seemed so shocking and foreign to us to the point where we were overwhelmed. I can see why people fall in love with the country ... read more

We (Me, Nate, Alyssa and Katie) arrived in Laos after 15 entertaining hours on an overnight sleeper train from Bangkok. We exited Thailand and crossed over the Friendship bridge into Laos. It was a pleasant open air train ride filled with other backpackers, young and old alike. Once we got into Laos we caught a taxi to Vientiane central, where our hostel was located. Upon check in they tried to tell me and Nate that we had booked a room with only one bed... luckily I had printed out our confirmations from hostelworld showing we had definitely booked a twin room. They begrudgingly gave us a room with two beds and when we went up to it we were pleasantly surprised. This hostel was more of a hotel room in America then a hostel. We had ... read more

So this is it, me and nate are saying Byebye to China and leaving for the glorious lands of South East Asia today! In fact, I am currently sitting in the Shanghai airport waiting to board our plane to Bangkok. China, it's been real. Too many memories, friends and things I never thought I would see... Next up: Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia! Be expecting a blog post in Thailand within the next few days. As for now, I don't have alot of time so here are some various photos of China for you to enjoy!... read more

Chinese night life puts the US to shame. Every night is filled with a fun dance party, a laid back pub or a free happy hour. In fact every Wednesday and Thursday the whole city is packed with ‘ladies night’ where ladies drink for free all night without a cover charge. Many of these free ladies nights are at swanky bars or dance clubs that have live performing gogo dancers and singers, so they are not skimping on the amenities! However, I do get the impression that all the people buying booths at these clubs for the night are extremely wealthy since they drink Hennessy all night, have personal attendants from the clubs to light their cigarettes and fill their drinks. The average cost for a booth per hour is about 1300 RMB (more then ... read more

Today we decided to tackle the ever famous forbidden city of Beijing. The structure was finished in 1420, taking 15 years to complete and used the labor of over 1 million workers. In China’s imperial times, it served as the boarding house of China’s emperors and empresses and as a meeting place for many political decisions. Only certain people were allowed to enter and exit with the permission of the emperor himself, thereby making it the “forbidden” city. The forbidden city is surrounded by a giant walls, spanning 26 feet high and 28 feet deep, effectively, keeping it secret from the rest of the city. Additionally it is surrounded by a large moat, spanning 20 ft deep and 171ft wide. The city itself is massive, containing over 980 building and roughly 9,000 rooms. As you enter ... read more