Travel Blog Posts
July 17th 2008
Note to reader, this post is extremely long as I have not written in a while. I left you in Nha Trang the day before I went diving. The diving was fun, nothing out of the ordinary, some of the cast of "Finding Nemo" things of that nature.The only glitch I had there was that apparently I have the most sensitive fingers in the world because I managed to blister three of my knuckles pulling my wet suit on and off, and on again (the guys on the boat insisted I was wearing it back to front cause the zipper was forward, although I was right to begin with). By the way, Nha Trang was host to the Miss Universe contest this year. Clearly they did not receive notice of my participation as it was held ... read more
Salsa in Saigon, Muggy in Mui Ne and more...
Published: June 16th 2008Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Nha TrangJune 16th 2008
After I recuperated from my terrible cold I decided to explore Saigon and got sucked into the life of an ex-pat. I think I must have stayed there for three weeks basically walking around trying to avoid the motorbikes and visiting the sites. Of all, the most impressive were the War Remnants Museum and the Cu Chi Tunnels. Obviously both were interesting in that one sees the other side of the war, what the Vietnamese went through and also a lot of anti-American propaganda at both. The tunnels were exceptionally interesting because the guide that I luckily got, my guy got sick half way there, actually fought in the war on the American side with none other than our ex-presidential candidate John Kerry. The Cu Chi tunnels are a series of well yes, tunnels, built by ... read more
Sick in Saigon/ The Asian Tattoo
Published: May 27th 2008Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City
May 27th 2008
Finally, three months of nonstop travelling have caught up with me and I am sick as a dog in Saigon, luckily I am staying at my friend Sonja's house and have a nice comfortable room with a computer and some Internet access so that I can update my blog. I last left you right before the sleeper bus experience which I will call just that, an experience. I booked the ticket for myself, an American girl, Erin, and two Argentinians, language barriers I guess told the saleswoman we needed a bed for the four of us and we were booked to sit in the bottom bunk in the last row which is basically one bed the width of the bus with one small aisle size exit and no room for sitting. Not only was that horrifyingly ... read more
May 5th 2008
Again I apologize to those of you who have been following my travels for not having written before, but until last night, when I actually sat down and wrote everything down I didn't think I had done much. Now I realize this post will probably be really long. So, here goes... Once I arrived in Laos' capital Vientiane I realized there was not much to do here so I packed up and headed north with a Canadian couple to the famous for tubbing town of Vang Vien. We arrived on a bus that unlike those in Colombia (who must stand for the whole ride), offers the extra passengers a small plastic stool to sit in in the middle row for the ride. The following day we did the whole tubing thing. Unlike the tubing I am ... read more
April 17th 2008
I'm moving on... After almost two months in Thailand I will be moving over the Mekong into Laos. I have been resting in Nong Khai at Richard's house for the past ten days. Nothing but good company, good food and the feeling of home. Thai New Year's started a couple of days after I arrived in Nong Khai and the celebrations lasted four days. On the morning of the first day, Richard hosted a typical Thai ceremony full of New Years blessings. The ceremony began at 7 am when the monks arrived to chant. Once the morning chant was completed, the attendants, all villagers from Richard's town, proceeded to share their food with the monks by placing portions of their food into some beautiful rattan baskets. I was invited to participate in the sharing of the ... read more
April 7th 2008
I'm back in Nong Khai with Richard, having a wonderful rest from hostels and guest houses and preparing for both the Thai New Year and my move to a different country. Here are some of the pictures from my stay in Chiang Mai... I took a cooking class and that is some of what I made. The rest are pictures from a temple I visited outside the city. ... read more
April 3rd 2008
The internet service and price have been unfavorable for posting blogs but, I have set aside some time now and am sitting in an airconditioned room prepared to update you on what's happened so far. As I was preparing to leave Krabi, I met an Australian couple who I got along with wonderfully, it all started when I told them about the Malaysian guy I met on the four island tour had three thumbs, yes, three thumbs. The third one was protruding from the knuckle of his left hand. A whole other story all-together. Per my my friend Lela's insistance, I proposed we all moved to a place called Rai Leh, which although not an island is very similar to one because the only way to get there is by boat. The hotels on Rai Leh ... read more
March 18th 2008
Krabi, that's how I feel now after the sunburn I got today... Although I must admit that overall I had an AWESOME day. I took a four island tour of the surrounding islands and you can not imagine the beauty, fish all around, sand, islands. Since I foolishly left my camera on for who knows how long, I did not have any batteries to take pictures, but Lionel, yes like Ritchie, my new travel buddy/roommate took some and as soon as he passes them on I will post them. Apart from that I haven't posted because I spent the last five days in the company of my Irish posse at Ko Pha-Nang, mostly drinking at night and lying on the beach during the day. Sorry to those of you in NY, not trying to rub it ... read more
March 8th 2008
Since last I communicated with you, a lot of things have happened. We left off with me leaving Bangkok on a night-train and heading south which is where I am at the moment. I arrived in Ko Samui, an island in the south east of Thailand, on a Monday where I met a very nice American couple from Boston with whom I spent the majority of my stay there. I tried to ride a scooter, which is the transport of choice in the island, but mopeds are just not my deal. Fortunately, Caroline, decided scooters were not for her either and we rented a hot little two-seater, a Suzuki caribian, with which I had my first left -hand side driving experience ever. It was pretty fun although Thai people don’t usually stay on their side of ... read more
March 1st 2008
Pre-Note: Please ignore any spelling mistakes... no way to check... So, I am leaving Bangkok tomorrow on another overnight train, this time heading south to Ko Samui where I plan on skipping over to some smaller islands to get scuba certified. Will post on that as it happens. I arrived in Bangkok on Thursday after an overnight train from Nong Kai and hooked up with a couple to take a cab to the "backpackers paradise" aka Kao San Road. The main strip is loud, dirty, crowded and not my scene so I hauled my heavy bag a couple of blocks and found what is known as a guesthouse, not a hotel, not a hostel, where I got a room with a bathroom in it for only 200 baht (+/- $6). So basing myself ont he knowledge ... read more
Tot: 0.086s; Tpl: 0.003s; cc: 11; qc: 85; dbt: 0.0605s; 1; s:notus w:www (50.28.61.183); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.7mb
