http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/celiasprague/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from celiasprague en-us Fri, 08 Jan 2010 03:04:25 +0000 Fri, 08 Jan 2010 03:04:25 +0000 I'm sorry that I haven't been able to upload pics. I just spent the last hour trying to make it work... the computers here are not the best and the internet is incredibly slow Since I'm 'stealing' internet time at the Faculty of Medicine's Physician's room I have to be quick...Since the first week things here have improved significantly Since then I've really gotten to know the surgeons and th http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-411874.html Not having any expectations for this trip was probably a good thing My Rwandan life so far has been full of surprises and challenges and it's only been a week.On Monday June 5th myself and another med student from NOSM named Julie left from Toronto to head over to Rwanda to complete a 4 week medical placement with the International Federation of Medical Students. I was to be placed in surgery http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Rwanda/Province-du-Sud/blog-407511.html Leaving PP I jumped on a bus to Kampot a small town supposedly only 3 hrs away. Six hours of bumping along unpaved roads in a public bus that surprisingly made it in one piece and I finally arrived. I had stopped in Kampot because I was eager to go hiking in Bokor National Park. Unfortunately when I arrived I was told that the Bokor mountain was closed to tourists and everyone else because so http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-305981.html Well Phnom Penh has defied all negative stereotypes. Coming to this city I was actually worried that it would be awful since different travelers had told us really negative things about PP and Cambodia in general. After three days in the city I haven't found any of the negative rumours to be true and would've loved to stay longerWe arrived to PP in the night after our long long boat ride. We c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-303625.html After a whirlwind couple of days in Ho Chi Minh City I was ready to chill out on our supposedly very relaxing three day boat trip along the Mekong Delta. Sightseeing by boat is a very different experience compared to staring out of the window of a bus. Although it was a slow way to travel I really enjoyed it and was able to see how ppl lived along the Mekong and experience their way of life. The http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-303597.html The past five days in this chaotic city has been stimulus overload Ho Chi Minh City HCMC or Saigon is Vietnam's largest city and by large I mean INSANELY large There are so many ppl and so many motorbikes it's enough to make your head spin. EghadTory I arrived here from Mui Ne and checked into a super nice hotel 16night eep that's the most we've ever paid for a room w aircon tv a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-301329.html It's true you can smell Mui Ne before you can see it Mui Ne is a small fishing town where fish sauce is mass produced then shipped to Thailand before it can be exported abroad under the pretense that it was actually manufactured in Thailand not Vietnam apparently Vietnam doesn't have high enough hygienic standards to be granted exporting licenses. Food for thought when making Pad Thai back h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-299530.html I was really looking forward to getting to Dalat. Located in the Central Highlands the climate is cool and not humid. Finally I could sit still and NOT sweat like crazy. Our bus from Nha Trang was an uneventful 7 hour trip. The bus was comfortable but in Vietnam tourist bus companies are given money if they make stops at certain restaurants or tourist shops so we stopped quite a bit making o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-298758.html Leaving Hoi An after dinner landed us in the beach city of Nha Trang just as the sun was rising. As we pulled into Nha Trang we drove along the long 6km stretch of white sand beach. Already the Vietnamese were up and at 'em hundreds of ppl young and old were out an about doing various activities. Soccer badminton tennis running aerobictype exercises All before 6am Talk about early ris http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-298726.html Ok so I KNEW that Hoi An is THE place to make clothes and I KNEW that I would probably have something made but I never thought that I would get THIS out of control hahahSo Hoi An is this cute little fishing town and a world heritage site to boot. Innocent enough you'd think can't get into too much trouble here Ah but oh no Hoi An is also the home of over one hundred tailor shops and shoe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-296840.html Ok. Wow. Where to begin Egad. The epic journey of getting into Vietnam from Laos started back in Tad Lo where since there isn't a bus station or anything you just wait on the side of the road until a bus goes by. There is no schedule so you just wait and wait which we did for about 3 hrs. GAH We took a public bus squishy hot dusty the usual to Pakse where I sadly parted w Ali and immedi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-295510.html So after a very peaceful couple of days I left the islands to come back to Pakse to meet up with my friend Ali. Since I was a day ahead of Ali I decided to go off on a day trip on my own. To get anywhere in Asia being able to drive a motorbike is a MUST In Canada I'd never dreamed of riding on a motorbike let alone driving one myself. But here in SEA I've turned in a motorbiking diva I r http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-293178.html After Luang Prabang Tory I took a VIP bus loaded w tourists to the capital city of Vientiane. Unfortunately Vientiane was a bit of a bust. Nothing I did there was worth writing home about but I did flex my purchasing power by supporting a number of local projects programs. One night Tory I splurged at a restaurant that helped kids get off the street by training them to be servers chefs. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-293156.html After the remoteness of Laos' northern provinces Luang Prabang was quite a contrast. Beautiful in a very different way than Luang Nam Tha Luang Prabang is a lovely town with lots of history colonial architecture temples and of course MANY tourists. Deemed a UNESCO World Heritage city in 1995 LP has since been pumped full of funding and is now a premier tourist destination drawing foreigne http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-291891.html So I'm pretty sure that Gravol was invented because of the roads in Loas. Honestly The ride from Luang Prabang to the small town of Vang Vieng was the most picturesque drive but my God is it ever twisty Every time I take a bus anywhere in this beautiful country I am reminded of my motion sicknessfilled childhood car trips where I would be pressed up against the window breathing in fresh a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-291229.html After a quick trip across the river in a very skinny boat we arrived in Laos. Despite hearing stories of terrible boarder crossings into Laos we were met by a VERY friendly Laoation man who guided us through the process of getting visas etc. We were soon passed the checkpoint and on our way. I had very much wanted to go trekking in Northern Thailand but had decided against it seeing that it wa http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-291493.html I'm nearing the end of our travels in Thailand and I'm so sad Thailand has been so amazing all the way through although the most damaging to my bank account I'm so happy that we chose to fly out of Bangkok at the very end of our trip so it's not really the end for Thailand. There is still so much shopping to be done hahhaSo the last couple of days have been so chill. This entry wont' be very http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-286022.html What a week After my whirlwind weekend of fun with Brooke Kelly I met back up with Tory in Bangkok and took an overnight train to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. Somehow during the trip I got really sick and had a fever runny nose bad cough etc. so the first day in Chiang Mai I spent face down on my bed. All day. So unusual for me Thankfully we're staying in such a great guesthouse which http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-284638.html This weekend has been so fun On Thursday morning I took a ferry off of Kho Pha Ngan and then took a bus to the nearest train station in Surat Thani. The train to Bangkok was supposed to leave at 7pm but was delayed by an accident for 3 hrs so I waited at the train station forever. I should stop expecting things to ever leave on time Delays are the name of the game I guess. Anyway the trai http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-282847.html After a long day night and day of travelling crossing the border into Thailand after a night on the bus we arrived in Krabi town in Southern Thailand. The town of Krabi was pretty it had a nice walkway along the water and had the best night market for food. There are stalls and stalls of different foods including fruit and desserts. Most of the time we'd use the old point and hope for the b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-279844.html