After yesterday’s debacle, we figure things had to get better…we were only a little correct with this assumption. The hotel we were in only had rooms for us for one night, so we had to set out on a quest to find 2 new rooms—we also found out it was a holiday weekend and Vietnamese were coming out in full force for the occasion. We finally find a place on the beach; there were small huts with two hammocks hanging inside. They were cheap and we weren’t picky. Before settling into our new beachfront home, the girls and I sought out [View Full Entry]

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Thursday morning we depart our hotel at a reasonable 9:30am to catch a mini bus to Halong Bay, where we will get the ferry to Cat Ba Island. Everyone advertises tours out to the islands, but we figure we can do it ourselves. There is six of us in total: the Fins, the Irish girls, Wade and I (the Americans). Arriving at the bus station was a hectic mess, the minute we exit our cab we’re being dragged in several directions. We rush and buy a ticket and make our way to the designated mini bus. Imagine my wonderful surprise when [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday morning rolls around and we’re all packed and ready to country hop. The group of us (sans the American girls who did something else) hike down to the bus stop and pile on for the 7-8 hour journey to Hanoi. The ride was lovely. As soon as we got away from the cement sidewalks of Nanning, fields are bursting with different shades of green. The farmland seems to extend for miles, circling large mountains of limestone. The area is known for it’s limestone topography—had I been more adventurous over the weekend I would have gone and checked it out, but [View Full Entry]

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As I lay on my hostel bed in Nanning, I was rejoicing in the brilliant humming of the air conditioner and bathing in my satisfaction of finding a quiet spot for a few days. Just then I hear the beep of the door, I had visitors. For anyone that has stayed in a hostel before, there is a certain satisfaction that comes with having a 6 bed dorm room all to yourself. You get to make all the rules, spread the contents of your pack everywhere, dry your laundry on the extra beds, turn the air-con up as high as you [View Full Entry]

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To get my money’s worth out of my 24 hours of internet usage I get up at a decent hour, pack my bags, and run downstairs to get to Starbucks. At this point I was made aware that Hong Kong is under a level 1 typhoon warning. Of course it would be…I hustle out the door, dismissing the many offers for ‘this’ and ‘that’ and get to my sweet haven, Starbuck’s. My drink order starts out as an iced chai to combat the wicked heat outside. Although the clouds are hanging dangerously low and are a menacing shade of gray, the [View Full Entry]

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My first night in Hong Kong was less than restful. My air conditioner is horrendously noisy, but also a necessary evil for sleeping in the cramped closet space. Four times during the night I had to lazily, drag myself to the end of the bed and push myself up to adjust the amount of cold air being pushed into my room. Never achieved the perfect temperature… My first full day in Hong Kong had a bit of promise. I took the ferry again to Hong Kong island and walked around. Saw the world’s longest escalator, which bored me so I changed [View Full Entry]

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My stay in Macau was quite pleasant. I wandered the streets for a few hours during the day—wandered till I was properly drenched in sweat and would then return to the homestead and watch dvds till I couldn’t see straight. I managed to get through seasons 1-4 of Entourage and got to see a little of season 4 of Prison Break before I departed. Macau has a lot of Portuguese influence, which was a beautiful sight for me. I have gotten rather bored with refurbished Chinese architecture. The city was easy to maneuver, once I embrace the alleyways I could get [View Full Entry]

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The ferry ride from Macau was quite pleasant. Although, felt like I was back in China the way people were staring at me. While still in the Macau terminal, I was quite a hit with my backpack. Apparently, Muslims are quite entertained by my monster-like strength. While I was in Macau I felt like people didn’t stare—if they did it was quite brief. My ‘game plan’ for arrival in Hong Kong was to get a cab to the Chungking Mansion (don’t let the name fool you) and then get to the visa place right away. Well, it almost happened that way. [View Full Entry]

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Travel days for me are never dull. I don’t know if it is because I’m blessed with “good luck” or if it is because I’m my father’s daughter and particular people and situations gravitate to me like flies to shit. Maybe it’s my uncontrollable urge to smile and laugh when I have no other response or my awkward way of not quite saying no, more or less a “we’ll see, maybe, perhaps” stumbles out of my mouth… I finished my packing this morning, horrified at the monster my backpack became. I swung it onto my back, d [View Full Entry]

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The taxi drops me off on a street corner, I quickly recognize the store names (7-11 and McDonalds) that are marked on my map. I throw my pack on my back and set off to round the corner. I find the lobby with glass doors and waltz in before anyone asks me any questions. I find the apartment number (20th floor) and ring the bell, anxiously awaiting what I will find. Suraj opens the door with a big smile and before I can even say my name he ushers me inside and takes my bag. And then announces he’s going to [View Full Entry]

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