Erin in SE Asia

R & R in Chiang Mai

2009-03-25T22:43:00.001-07:00

Although my first trip really went very smoothly and was quite a success (in my humble opinion!), I desperately needed some serious peace, quiet, and relaxation on my break between trips. I deceided against the beach - too hot right now, and I really wanted a week with no distractions, like full moon parties and buckets of Sangsom (Thai Whiskey!), so I deceided to take the overnight bus to Chaing Mai, in Northern Thailand for some trekking and yoga and hopefully lots of lazing around.

I've been here for 7 days and here's what I've done: Eat, yoga, nap, read, wander, trekking in the jungle, massage, sleep, eat, yoga, read, shop, eat, nap, massage, yoga, watch TWILIGHT, eat, sleep, massage, read. I'm so beyond blissed out, I hardly know what to do. Unfortunately what I HAVE to do is get on a train in a couple of hours and go back to Bangkok, but if I could stay here I would.

There are so many yoga places, I've taken 5 classes, each at a different studio. And every other restaurant is of the crunchy veggie tofu and fruit shake variety, so I've been eating the most delicious food, too. And yes, I invested in a portable DVD player and definitely bought TWILIGHT. And someother movies, too. So I had at least one night in for a movie marathon.

Most importantly, I've had a LOT of alone time. As my mother can attest, that didn't necessarily put me in the best mood yesterday, when I was feeling a bit homesick and neurotic and overly-emotional on the phone, but I think it's a good thing. I haven't had more than a few moments at a time on my own since I got here nearly 3 motnhs ago, and it's been good to let some things process themselves, and to reflect on my already eye-opening (what an understatement) experience here.

Beisides all of this self-indulgent deep thinking I've been doing, I went on a FANTASTIC trek into the jungle. It's called "The Flight of the Gibbons". I haven't watched much of The Amazing Race, but apparently they did the same trek on the show one season. It doesn't have anything to do with Gibbons, other than the fact that it's a huge zipline course through the jungle canopy, so you literally "fly" like a Gibbon (that's a monkey, by the way). I didn't see any, either (although we saw lots on Macaques in Vietnam and Cambodia - so cute!), but I have never been in such a majestic place. The trees are SO OLD. I imagine they're as big as the Redwoods, but they're gnarly and twisted and so unbelievably tall! And somehow, my fear of heights was non-existent. Maybe because I was so Zen-like from all the yoga or something, but I was zippping along like there wasn't a 200 foot drop to the jungle floor below me.

So I'm sad to be leaving, but ready to get back and get on with the next trip, which starts in two days. Wish me luck!

~Erin

Singing Trees

2009-03-25T22:04:00.000-07:00

Like Vietnam, Cambodia felt different the second time around. Maybe because I knew what to expect and had already felt the initial shock of visiting the Killing Fields. And I had immersed myself in several books about the Khmer Rouge so it was all I really had on my mind on that first trip through. I was stunned and inspired by the determination of the people, especially in Phnom Penh, but also deeply saddened by what had happened - and the fact that before this trip I had never really heard anything about it.

This time, although I still love the city and I can see why it was once called the "Paris of Southeast Asia", I felt the seedier, more gritty side of it. It is a place teetering on the brink of badness. Or at least I got that impression this time. There is such a will of the people to change that, and to improve their country, but the government is still so corrupt and ridiculous, it's hard to see it changing any time soon. One of our guides, when discussing the current tribunal to convict former Khmer Rouge of crimes against humanity, he remarked, with a laugh, that he used to see one of the guys on trial at the supermarket all the time. With a laugh, only because it's so completely ridiculous. This tribunal has been years in the making, held up for financial reasons, but also because many people just want to get on with things, on with life. But here is this guy, most likely guilty of the most barbaric of crimes, the torturing and killing of prisoners, including children, and our guide has to see him in the supermarket all the time.

I did have to go back to the prison, S-21, where the Khmer Rouge summarily executed thousands of its people, usually after torturing them each for weeks on end, but I didn't go inside - I stayed at the aptly named Bhodi Tree Cafe across the street, in case any of my group needed to escape early and have a nice glass of iced Bale Fruit tea. The same went for the Killing Fields. I stayed outside, but even the perimeter of that awful place reverberates pain and suffering. Just walking to the bathroom I caught myself looking down, hoping I wouldn't see any bone shards or remnants of clothing, like you see scattered about the inside everywhere. I treaded lightly and made my way back to the bench by the front gate and stood there and waited for my group. It was still hard not to be emotional even on the outside. Most of my group was pretty strongly affected, too. Several of them bursting into tears, and coming to join me after just a little while.

But on a lighter note, don't get me wrong, I still love Cambodia. We took a beautiful whirlwind cyclo tour through the city, past massive pagodas and temples, huge French-Colonial buildings, remnants of the days of Indochina, which stand regally, having endured so many years of hardship and war.

After PP, Siem Reap is a relief. What a cool town! I had more free time on this trip to explore and just enjoy the place. Of course the Angkor temples will never lose their majestic power, and I am still taken aback by how beautiful they are. I went with a couple on my trip to some temples I hadn't visited earlier - on the outskirts of the temple complex, old Hindu-style brick temples, crumbling with age, but reaching so high to the sky, with impossibly narrow stairs, symbolizing the difficult trek to Heaven. It's also just a fun town to bum around in. There is a great little cafe called The Singing Tree with hammocks and rattan chairs and huge shady trees that serves garden burgers and fruit shakes and has yoga classes in the evenings. I spent a lot of time there!

Finally we had to leave and made our way back to Bangkok. There is such a stark and immediate difference crossing the border. It's easy, almost, to get used to the lack of development, but once you get to Thailand and there are paved roads and street signs and stop lights, highway landscaping and 7-11, you realize how much farther Cambodia really has to go.

I was pretty sad leaving this group - again, such nice people (and patient, considereing this was my first trip!), many of whom left me really sweet notes and heartfelt goodbyes. I'll be keeping in touch with many of them, I am sure, and I think they will always be more special than most being my first group. A couple of the girls and I still hung out a few nights after the trip was over, back in Bangkok - we didn't want to say goodbye - ha!

My next trip is the "reverse" loop - it's a more basic-style (read: lower budget, longer bus rides, no free meals) trip, and goes in the reverse order of what I'm used to, with a few new places ont he itinerary - so I'll be back in Cambodia in a couple of days with a new group (and VERY young - all under 23, I think! Yikes!). I feel like I have my mind blown a little bit each time I go there, and I"m excited to see what is in store on this next visit. We'll also being going to Shianoukville, on the southern coast, which I'm looking forward to seeing for the first time (and going to the beach, of course!).

More later!

~Erin

Vietnam Take Two

2009-03-19T23:13:00.000-07:00

I'm so behind on my blog! It really is harder than I thought it would be on the road to keep up - we're so busy and when I do have time online I am doing accounts or just trying to keep up with email. My apologies! Anyway, I finished my first trip successfully, and I'm now in recovery mode in Bangkok. I'm leaving tonight on an overnight bus to Chiang Mai for some peace, quiet, yoga and trekking. Then my next trip starts in a week!

Some recaps on Vietnam-

My first time through Vietnam, I really felt a love/hate-ness for the place. It's overwhelming, the traffic is insane, just walking down the sidewalk is an effort in and of itself, it's incredibly communist-feeling and it's just jarring compared to it's laid-back neighbors. That said, I knew there was something I was missing, and I resolved to keep my mind open one the next trip and try to see past the tough outer layer. And I am so glad I did.

I LOVE Vietnam. It's still completely insane, especially the cities, but this time around, I did see what I had been missing. I had my bearings a bit more in Hanoi and was actually able to walk through the old town without getting totally lost and practically run over, the weather was cool which helps curb the frenetic energy in general, and I was able to see what a cool town it is. Our second night there, a few members of our group were leaving us, and we had a farewell dinner and drinks at a small restaurant down an alley in the old quarter. Amazing food, as usual, then we headed up the street to a little bar. The bartender was playing music by request and when one of the guys in the group, an English guy named Steve, requested the Stone Roses, the bartender darted out the door, down the street, to a little shop that sold burned CDS and DVDs and bought three albums, just to be able to play the one song Steve wanted to hear. It's these encounters that happen so often that make me love that place. That the people are so up for a good time and aiming to please that he would run down the street in the rain to get some random album by a random (albeit beloved in the UK) band for a random patron is amazing to me.

The highlight, or one of them, may have been Hue. I knew I liked the town the most on my initial trip, but on this one, we took a guided motorbike tour all throughout the town, in through the villages, out into the countryside. Don't worry - we had helmets and the drivers are excellent, and Hue is nothing compared to Hanoi traffic wise. At one point, riding through the tiny alleyways of the small villages, the kids standing out to yell "Hello!" and give high fives, the sun beginning to set over the rice fields, I almost started to cry. It must have been the wind in my hair, or the fact that it was just so damn fun, but I was almost completely overcome by emotion. And my group must have been, too. One woman, Gail, hugged me afterwards, saying that it made her feel young again. Ha. I know what she means...

The one place I don't care to revisit again, and I will stay outside next time, is Cu Chi Tunnels. You may recall from my former blog that this is a sort of propaganda-filled museum depicting life for the Viet Cong who had infiltrated the south to fight the Americans during the war by building tunnels and setting booby traps. I went through for a second time with my group, but rather than being moved as I was before, I was just pretty disgusted. It's beyond propaganda. It's so over the top it's almost funny, except it's not. What made me feel better, though, was our guide, who was excellent. While we were walking through, he had a pretty scripted explanation for everything, and he seemed impatient and annoyed with my group who was too turned off to really listen closely. But back on the bus, in the safety of the closed quarters, we got a different story out of him. He is a government employee, and he cannot dissent from what he is told to say as a guide. However, he admitted to the place being a tool of propaganda still. In fact, referring to a large US tank that stands on display with a sign explaining that the tank was gunned down by VC and captured thanks to the cunning fighting tactics of the Cu Chi Village people, the real story, our guide said, was that the tank was actually left there when the Americans left Vietnam, and the VC used it as their own tank to fight rebel South Vietnamese. The placard at the site is a complete falsification. Anyway, it took guts for him to admit that, and it became clear that although it's still a communist state, the people don't necessarily fall in line 100 percent...

In general I just felt like all of my initial impressions and feelings along the way were different the second time around. Which just goes to show how much I still have to learn over here. The word complex doesn't begin to cover it. I have felt scared, I have felt heartbroken, I have felt elated and welcomed and saddened and frustrated, all in the course of a few weeks. And this is just the beginning!

Cambodia, coming up...

Lovin' Laos. Again.

2009-02-24T22:30:00.000-08:00

The trip is flying by so far - we're already on day 9! I think it's running well. I've had a few days where I've had to really wing it, and I definitely bought my entire group breakfast one morning because I thought it was included with the guesthouse and it wasn't (it was about 15 bucks, so it's not a problem - ha!) but everyone's really nice and laid back and go-with-the-flow, so they either haven't noticed or, thankfully, don't seem to care. I did have one night were I probably drank too many beers and felt awful the next day, and I was crabby and tired and not at all productive, so I think I'll keep the beer drinking with the passengers to a minimum. At least when I actually have to do things the next day. Ha!

We're in Vang Vieng now. It's a crazy little town where many a backpacker has come and not left for many, many days or even months. The "tubing" is famous (which I believe I touched on in a post during my training trip - whiplash, anyone?) and since then Gap has actually instructed us not to recommend it to our group and we are no longer allowed to tube ourselves. It's really that dangerous, and kids have recently died doing it. Beer + Mushrooms + Lao Lao + Shoddily Rigged Ziplines+ River Rocks in Shallow Water = A Really Bad Idea. Just sayin'. Anyway, a few of my group are going because, let's be honest, it's also really freaking fun, but I've made them promise not to trip on mushrooms or do the zipline.

I, on the other hand, skipped the tubing but went on a great Kayaking trip this morning! It wasn't very long - maybe 10KM? But it was so much fun. Another passenger, Anne, went with me and we had a great guide named Lam who pointed out all of the interesting things and told us all about the town beforre it was a backpacker ghetto. The countryside is breathtaking - the river butts up against massive limestone mountains which, in the summer when the fruit is ripe, are apparently full of monkeys. Can't wait for that! We also saw water buffalo literally chillin' (ha!) in the water and we were SO close! when I saw them hanging out so peacefully, I almost felt bad about eating that buffalo skewer the other day. Also, the dragonflies are fuchsia! Bright, hot pink fuchsia! Anyway, the trip was just long enough not to be too difficult (or hot), we navigated the rapids well and managed to stay in our kayak, and got back in time for lunch and a nap.

Tomorrow we leave for Laos' capital city, Vientiane. Last time I was there I was recovering from tubing, so I didn't explore much and I'm looking forward to going back and actually doing something. Of course I will keep you all posted!

Monks on a Train

2009-02-17T20:21:00.000-08:00

I'm on day three of my first trip and things are going really well so far! My group is really nice and easygoing, and so far everything has gone pretty smoothly! We took the overnight train last night up to Chiang Mai, which is one of my favorite places. The train is nice, too. We were in a car FULL of monks, though. It was really funny! There were probably 20 of them! There's a huge monastery here called Doi Suthep (we're going tonight) so it's not surprising, but I felt nervous around so many of them in such close proximity.

The monks here are so beautiful - they wear bright orange robes, their heads are shaved, and they just pop no matter what scenery surrounds them. Seeing them chant at Doi Suthep is really a beautiful, moving experience. But there are so many rules, especially for women (because they are celibate and we are all temptresses - it's true!) Don't touch them, don't look them in the eye, don't speak to them, don't sit next to them on a bus, you must be lower than them at all times, cover your shoulders and knees, etc., etc., etc. I take these rules very seriously, of course, and I think it's what makes them so mysterious and beautiful. It's mostly for politeness and respect, but really also has to do with the fact that they are only human and ladies are way distracting....ha.

Anyway, on the train, I was literally sat next to two monks. Young guys, probably early 20s, and I was so nervous! I didn't know how not to be taller than them, or not brush against them in the aisle or look at them. After sitting back with my group for a big Singha beer and some cards, I came back to my seat and just tried to read and sit primly with my knees covered. But the the train steward came around to set up my bed and then I wasn't just SITTING next to them, I was laying in bed! With an aisle between us of course, but still, it all seemed incredibly potentially scandalous, for sure. So I just shut my curtain and went to sleep.

This morning, though, we were all up bright and early for coffee and I was sitting, watching the sun come up along the countryside, and the monk across the aisle started to talk to me! This was a first. Then he offered me his leftover breakfast sandwich - and I said no thank you! I was so stunned that he was talking to me, I refused a blessed sandwich. Then, I was just incredibly embarrassed and really hoped I hadn't offended him. Ha. And another woman in our group said that the night before one monk came up to her berth and chanted for a while, then struck up a conversation with her to practice his English. So I guess these were just young, progressive modern monks? I dunno. In any event, they were very friendly and apparently able to handle sitting in a train cabin with the ladies.

Ok, I think I can finally check into my room now, and I am in desperate need of shower and some MTV Asia.

xxx
E

Goin' Solo

2009-02-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

So the training is over, I've had some days to relax, and now I FINALLY start my own trip today - yikes!

I meet my group (all 14 of them) this evening at 6pm for a welcome meeting at the hotel, then dinner nearby. I barely slept last night and woke up in the middle of the night with one of those gasping, panicky dreams. But I woke up early and I'm all prepped now with my booklets and handouts and budget confirmation and booking sheets. All of my "pax" are checked into the hotel and I have my snazzy GAP Adventures tee shirt on, all ready to greet them later on. I'm still nervous, but I'm really excited, and I feel organized and ready to go. I just hope they're nice people and easy going, most of all!

My friend and fellow trainee, Karis, who was on my training trip with me, started her trip last week and everything has gone really smoothly, so I'm sure my trip will be fine, too. Thankfully I think I have time for a little nap this afternoon before it all begins! We have a day here in Bangkok tomorrow before getting on the overnight train to Chiang Mai.

So wish me luck! I'll keep you posted along the way!

xx
Erin

Back in Bangkok part 2!

2009-02-15T03:22:00.000-08:00

Finally! Back on the ball to finish the previous post. My excuses are many: I had office training for a week which involved power points and many after-training-session-drinking-sessions, then I left for a week for the beach where the internet was few, far between and expensive. And then I was just lazy the last few days. But I'm back now, and ready to start where I left off!

Cambodia!!
What can I say. Sigh. I love Cambodia. My heart broke a little bit, but I desperately want to go back (and will do in just a few weeks!). After a tough couple of days in Vietnam (Cu Chi Tunnels, etc.), we boarded a bus to head down toward the Mekong Delta and to Phnom Penh. Along the way from Saigon to PP, I read a great book called A River of Time by Jon Swain, a British journalist who was living in Cambodia during the VM war and was in Phnom Penh when the Khmer Rouge overtook the city. Needless to say by the time I got there, I was captivated and humbled by how ignorant I have been on the whole history of the area.

Without going into a huge history lesson, it was and is still to a great degree, a mess there. In the 70's the Khmer Rouge, a stringent communist party hell bent on decimating Cambodia and wiping it clean of all it's culture, history, educated class, morale, etc., came into power, emptied all of the cities, sent the people into the country to be rice farmers (in matching uniforms, and a tiny ration of rice per day), and killed anyone in their way. If you had any sort of schooling or were related to anyone one educated at all, you were likely tortured and then send to The Killing Fields. Babies included. It was a bleak time, it lasted over 4 years and really wiped their entire society clean. Of course it's much more complex than that, and there's so much more to tell and to learn, but I leave it to you to read up if you're interested. We, however, spent a fun-filled day at Tuol Sleng and The Killing Fields on our first day in Phnom Penh and let's just say afterwards, I really needed to lay in the fetal position in my hotel room for a while. Pretty sure I did that after Cu Chi tunnels, too.

I've never been to Auschwitz, but I imagine Tuol Sleng is similar. It's hard to go into much detail, mostly because I don't really want to, but also because you just can't believe the things that went on there. To children, too. Lots of children. The Killing Fields is the same thing. It's where most of the prisoners were sent and summarily executed and thrown into mass open graves, just outside of town. They used to play music on loudspeakers so that neighboring villages couldn't hear people screaming. And as you walk around the graves, which are mostly excavated but still there, when you look down all you see are remnants of bone and bits of leftover clothing. That's really all I have left to say about it. Except one thing: incredibly, the entire place was full - FULL - of butterflies. Everywhere. I hope that means something good, at least.

Happily, the rest of our time in Phnom Penh was great - I love the city. After all I saw that day, I couldn't help looking around, again, in amazement that a people can rebound so quickly and be so friendly and beautiful. I know I can be a bit gushy, but it was actually hard for me to walk down the street and not start weeping for these people. That said, there is so much that needs work in the government, especially. It's incredibly corrupt and the party in charge is a faction of the original Khmer Rouge, which is frightening. Also, one of the biggest problems, as you may already know, is the huge population of street kids. It's one of the first things you'll encounter in Cambodia - getting off a bus, walking down the street, getting in a tuk tuk, kids will surround you, asking for money, selling you books. And they are simply the most adorable kids ever. But so sad, and, obviously, not in school - very SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. But they have some sort of spark in their eyes and your heart just breaks for them. I'm not an Angelina fan, but I do see why she brought one home with her.

There's a great NGO that I became familiar with in Cambodia called Friends International, and I was actually required by my boss to be trained by them to recognize issues with kids on the street. The training is called is called Child Safe, and I spent two hours one day learning how to recognize when a child on the street is in trouble (going into a hotel with an older man, for example) or simply what to do when they ask for money (not give them any, but encourage them to go to the child safe center). Anyway, they basically provide a shelter, give them a job and a trade, reintegrate them back into school and provide family counseling, if necessary. I got really into it, and can't wait to go back and support them and hopefully volunteer at some point. They also own two restaurants in town both run entirely by former street kids - the waitstaff, the chefs, etc. And the food and service are spectacular - two of the best meals I had (besides the tarantula - only had a leg, but that was enough. Eek!). This is the site, if you're interested: http://childsafe-international.org/CAMBODIA/CSCambodia.asp

Next we flew to Siem Reap, our last stop. It's much prettier than Phnom Pehn, but tourism has really boomed there because of the main tourist attraction, The Temples of Angkor. If you've seen TOMB RAIDER, you've seen the temples. They are massive, span several square miles surrounded by moat, and Angkor Wat at sunrise (despite being entirely too early for my liking) is one of the most spectacular things I've seen. I actually managed to get away from the tour groups and masses of people and just sat, meditatively, for an hour as the sky turned purple behind this spectacular temple. It truly was a spiritual, beautiful experience. And the Tomb Raider temple was pretty cool, too. Ha!

Other than that, we just bounced around the markets, and I got my 11th massage of the trip, and also donated blood at the Children's Hospital (it's safe - don't worry!) which is another amazing organization that I would love to support. If I were a nurse (hint hint, Katie!!) I would totally volunteer there for a while. In fact, if any of you medical people are interested, let me know!!

Then we were back to BKK and the trip was over. I trained, as I said, then sat my butt on a beach for 5 days and played soccer on the beach with my English friends I made on the way, tried not to drink too much Sangsom (Thai Whiskey, Red Bull and Coke - it's brutal, and very popular), and got a wicked tan.

Tomorrow I start my first actual trip that I lead on my own. I'm nervous but mostly really excited. I've gotten to really like Bangkok, too, but I'm itching to get back on the road and revisit all the places I didn't get enough of (all of them - ha!).

I'll try to keep the posts more regular from now on - thanks for reading!!

Love,
Erin

Back in BKK

2009-01-31T22:08:00.000-08:00

Ok, ok so I did a pretty lame job the last few weeks keeping this going, but between being on the go almost completely nonstop and the ridiculously slow internet connections, it was hard to find time to really sit and write anything profound, so I just didn't Ha. However, I'm back "home" now, in Bangkok, for about 2 weeks and, while I wait for Lost, season 5 Episode 1 to load on this slightly sketchy but awesome website (thank you Andrew!), I thought I'd start posting.

The training trip was amazing!! It was long, hard, emotional and really, ridiculously fun. I start my first solo trip on the 16th and I actually think I'm ready - I have a lot of prepping to do beforehand, and some office training, but I'm excited to get started.

A quick recap on a few things:

The Job:
It's going to be great, but it's not going to be easy. Between having to manage passengers' personalities and expectations and also knowing what to do and where to go in every city, town and village we visit as well as getting 15 people from point a to point b, it's a pretty stressful job at times, but also so much fun. I'm obsessed with learning more about the countries we visit and their (sometimes sordid, heart-wrenching) pasts as well as getting to know the people, too.The group on the first trip was pretty great- and we spend an awful lot of time together in sometimes very close quarters (over night trains, slow boats, teeny passenger vans) so it helps that they were all really nice folks. The ages varied more than I expected - quite a few older passengers, and some young ones, too, so it was good to have a mix. Lots and lots of Canadians. Ha.

The Rest of the Trip (Part 1):
It's hard to say so far what my favorite part of the trip was. I unfortunately discovered that I do not, in fact, have a stomach of steel as I thought, so there was a good week and a half where I was really pretty uncomfortable, to put it nicely. I love the food over here (especially in Vietnam!) but what they make up for in fried noodles and spring rolls they certainly lack in coffee (Nescafe and something resembling condensed milk) and if I never eat another fried egg it will be too soon. Also, tubing, as you read above, set me back a couple days - ha - but I managed to recover just in time for the craziness of Vietnam.

I Love-Hate Vietnam. I love the food, first and foremost. Every single thing I ate I loved. I was like a black hole. But it was such a sudden and jarring change from laid-back Laos, Hanoi especially, that I was a bit taken aback and it wasn't until we moved on to Cambodia that I realized that I might not actually hate it. Maybe it's being raised American that makes the communist presence seem that much more pronounced, but I just saw it everywhere in North Vietnam, especially, and it was a bit hard to swallow. We went to see Ho Chi Minh, who is preserved Lenin-style in a mausoleum (basically, lying in an open casket, pickled, for all to view and pay respects), and you literally had to line up by twos, march in a line behind a guard in full military garb, follow a silent processional through the mausoleum (no talking whatsoever!) so you can peek at him in the dimly lit room surrounded by guards with full-on machine guns. it was surreal. And not a little bit scary. Also, Hanoi is just completely insane. When I say a sea of motorbikes fill the streets at every hour of the day, I do mean a sea. Every single inhabitant of that city must be on their motorbikes at every single moment of the day. Crossing the street is harrowing but, as they clearly don't believe in or bother with any sort of street lights or signs, you just have to go for it. And they go around you. It is organized chaos to be sure.

The next town, Hue, was a bit of a haze, although I know I played pool with some of the guys on the trip in a backpacker bar and we stayed in a nice place with a great breakfast buffet (cereal with milk!!), but other than I that I can't remember, but Hoi An was fantastic.

We had three days in Hoi An and I spent almost the entire time on the beach. It was heaven. After go go go the whole time, it was great to be in one place for a stretch of time. Didn't do much except rent bikes and ride through town, then past rice paddies and farmers,over a bridge and to the beach every day. But it was fantastic. It's also the place to get tailor made clothes - dresses and suits hand made and tailored for a steal but, as I am living out of my backpack for 18 months, I didn't get anything made.

Next was Saigon. Compared to Hanoi, it is a much easier city. Still big and crazy and full of horn blaring motor bikes, but the streets are bigger, they have traffic signals, and the people seemed friendlier for some reason. This began the tough part of the trip, though. We went to Cu Chi Tunnels one morning and let's just say I wish I had prepared myself better. To make a long history lesson short, during the war, the Viet Cong (North Vietnamese military) infiltrated South Vietnam and dug tunnels through out this small village about 30 minutes outside of Saigon. They dressed like the local people and were nearly indistinguishable to the Americans stationed nearby. As you can imagine this led to lots of nasty,harrowing fights and basically, the Americans didn't know who the good guys were and who the bad guys were. Anyway, we went to tour the tunnels and it's not something I look forward to doing again. You have to watch a completely insane propaganda film upon entering which tells all about killing the "evil Americans" (really fun at 9am, especially being the ONLY American. Awesome.),then you walk through and see the tunnels, you can even crawl through one, and they have different exhibits showing the different weapons the VC used, the steel spiked traps, the hooks that would swing out from the trees, all with delightfully colorful murals depiciting American GIs getting gorged by said traps. Then at the end you can buy bullets and shoot an M-16 machine gun. I ate ice cream instead. I also cried a little bit because A, I'm a baby, and B, my dad was stationed not far from there, and I couldn't help thinking about how miserable he must have been and how scary of a place it really was. I was glad to get out of there and go to....The War Remnants Museum! Also a cheery place. Not at all. Maybe the most depressing place I've been. It's an amazing museum, but after that morning and then going to the museum which was so graphic (lots of pictures of napalm victims and torture chambers - even a guillotine - ugh) I basically wanted to go back to the hotel and lie in the fetal position for a while.

Instead, we went to dinner and then to Karaoke. For my LA friends with whom I have been privileged to experience K-Town Karaoke - I definitely thought of and dedicated at least one power ballad to you. Only difference (or maybe not?) between this Karaoke establishment and The Orchid in LA is that we discovered, after the fact, that this was a Karaoke bar of the "sexy" variety. Meaning, much like massage parlours here, there are two kinds. Normal and "Sexy". You don't want a sexy massage and you really don't want sexy Karaoke. We managed to keep it clean though, and the prostitutes thankfully stayed on the street outside where they belong. Ha. I sang Abba.

Ok, I'm apparently making up for not blogging by writing a book. So if you haven't fallen asleep, please stay tuned and I'll post part 2 - (Cambodia! Also a cheery place! Yay Khmer Rouge!) later today or tomorrow.

Miss you all tremendously and love reading your comments!

xoxo
Erin

Let the blogging begin....

2009-01-13T21:27:00.000-08:00

Sabaidee!!

So I'm here and I'm finally getting around to starting this blog. It's been a whirlwind two weeks so far, and internet is brutally slow most places - it's all I can do to just check email and maybe send a few quick replies.. Anywho, better late than never, right?

I'm in Vientienne, Laos right now, and leaving for Hanoi tonight. I'm with a great group - my leader, Kalyn from Canada, Karis, another trainee, then our passengers who are also great (a couple more Canadians, an Aussie, and a guy from Scotland). We meet more people tomorrow night in Hanoi and our total group will be about 15.

So far I think my favorite place has been Cahing Mai, in Northern Thailand. It's so beautiful and slow pavced and the people are amazing. We took a really fun cooking course and then went to a temple on the top of a mountain to watch the monks chant at dusk. You can go around and have them bless you, too, which was pretty amazing.

Presently I"m recovering a bit from out stopover in Vang Vieng - it's mostly a backpacker town, pretty seedy, really, but has some awesome caves and the river is nice. It's also renound for it's tubing - now, I've done my share of tubing back home, with a tube for the beer cooler, etc., but this is like that times 100, at least. We probably only tubed for 50 yards or so, b/c every few hundred feet there is a themed bar - with plenty to drink, of course, and some sort of attraction - a huge slide, a zip line, swings, mud pools, etc. I made the mistake of daring the zip line and, well, I'm just not that graceful and I'm pretty sure I have whiplash! But it was a lot of fun and we met some fun people along the way. I've been taking it easy the last couple of days, though, and definitely taking advantage of the $5 massages. I think I've had 5 so far....

I think I'm going to really like the job. It's been overwhelming so far, but I'm starting to catch on, and I've been picking up the languages much easier than I thought. I'm getting my numbers down, which really helps when bargaining!

Ok, I'm off to check out this stupa in town, and maybe a temple or two before we catch our flight. As soon as I can upload some pictures I will, but it has been easier said than done, for sure.