I have read many horrid tales of chain smoking, hurling, and spitting that occurs on this journey and how tourist are often put off and disgusted of China simply because of their experiances on the bus. We also thought that traveling so close to the Spring Festival that it would exacerbate the traveling experiance. After the whole experience and arriving in Lijiang in relatively good shape, the bus ride was not as bad as I had expected. One thing that we did underestimate was how busy the bus station would be during this time. Sure we expected a mass mob of [View Full Entry]

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We have heard from a lot of people that if you have seen one Wat you have seen them all. Which we can understand after coming from Chiang Mai, Wat hopping just becomes a little monotonous. They start out being something different from the other things you have seen and at the end of it all you wonder whats so special about the Wat you are looking at now. Well if you are feeling a bit of Wat burnout and want to be fascinated by something new, head to Chiang Rai. We only spent 1 night here for the sole reason [View Full Entry]

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We decided to head over to Krabi after hearing that it was monsoon season on the eastern side of Thailand. What a disappointment that turned out to be. As some of you know already we're traveling with a not so strict budget. We can spend about $50 a day each and have easily averaged spending only half of that so far. Upon arriving to the Ao Nang area of Krabi we were disappointed to find out that 600 Baht would only get us a double room with fan and a shared bath with only cold water. On top of that the [View Full Entry]

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Jeff speaking (Qing Editing) Our trip to Saigon didn't start out on the right foot. First of all, Qing and I both have a case of the sniffles and our bus to Saigon ended up overheating when we were 10 km away from the center of the city. We ended up waiting in the evening for about half an hour for another bus to come and pick us all up. It could have been worse, Saigon is horrible during the midday sun, it may only be 86F or 30C outside, but the humidity could easily rival NYC's. Because of the horrid [View Full Entry]

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Since Nha Trang and Mui Ne are both beach destinations we decided to go to only one of them, and we chose Mui Ne since it is less touristy. Our pitstop in overcasted Nha Trang confirmed our beliefs. Nha Trang seemed to be busy, even in the early hours of 9am. Mui Ne is a destination for those seeking a more relaxed enviornment. Tourism is still at its infancy here. The people that do end up coming here are the adreniline junkies since the conditions are prime for windsurfing, kite boarding, and other water sports. There isnt much to tell you [View Full Entry]

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Qing speaking: So after the grueling transit day from Sapa to Hanoi to Hoian we decided to treat ourlselves. Luckily, the taxi driver (under commission kickbacks) drove us to Phouc An Hotel, a rather posh hotel, a little outside of the main part of Hoi An. We were sold when the bell boy showed us to a room with a queen size bed, scattered rose petals, a huge basin sink, and a computer with internet. What was even better was the bell boy quoted us a $30 room for $22. Too bad the bellboy got yelled at by the receptionist when [View Full Entry]

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Qing speaking, YAY: No, We didnt climb Fansipan (the highest point in Vietnam), Jeff's a wimp!!. We decided to watch b-rated films on HBO the first day, to get used to the altitude change. After I believe the third uneventful movie we decided to venture outside. The little city was full of real and fake Black H'mongs-a popular local tribe. We wouldve loved to purchase colorful hemp blankets and bag for our friends and family but realized the extra load would be too much to carry (especially for lil' ol me) After walking the main parts of the town (30 min. [View Full Entry]

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Our transit day. Today would be the last day that we would be with the amazing group of people that we went to Halong Bay with. Then it is to Hanoi, where we would pick up overnight train tickets, and then head over to Sapa that night. And then there would be 5 (Me, Qing, Peter, Tesma, and Birtet) In transit from Cat Ba island, Pink overheard us saying that we need to get dropped off at the train station so that we could buy tickets. To make things easier, she offered to call the transportation office to book our tickets, [View Full Entry]

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Forget about seperate blogs every day. Its getting way to difficult to update as much as I would have liked. Not that its difficult to find internet connection, but we do seem to be too busy to stop by a cafe to update this blog. Right now we are in Sapa. A city in the Northwestern area of Vietnam and I am trying to remember what I was thinking when we were in Halong Bay only 4 days ago, and everything that happened is a bit jumbled up. Lets just stick with a few highlights and hopefully I can do better [View Full Entry]

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Day 2 What is the first thing that guys think about when we wake up? Wait. No. Whats the second thing that guys think about when we wake up? Right, Food! So upon leaving our hotel we were out looking for food. But to cut down on time we decided to find food that is on our way to the Temple of Literature. (BTW Baguette au Chocolate is no where to be found at least not where lonely planet puts them.) What we stumbled upon whats a culunary pleasure! Outside on a random corner are these Vietnamese eateries that set up [View Full Entry]

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