Feels like Home

HOI AN, Vietnam // Not waking up to an alarm and not rushing has been one of the highlights of the trip for us. Based on recommendations from other travelers, we ended up in Hoi An, a place we really enjoyed and ended up staying a lot longer than we planned. 

The reason I think this happened, as it did with Luang Prabang, was the home like feel to this place and the connections we made. We spent 7 days here, and although Hoi An Historic Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we spent probably less than 15 minutes there. Instead, we made this place feel like home and did what we would do if it was a weekend in New York. We had a homemade breakfast, took walks / bike rides exploring, found an Indian food restaurant which we went to for lunch everyday, went to the local gym for a workout, and found a vegetarian place for dinner that we went to every night. The feeling of seeing the same people, and the same smiling faces everyday brought a sense of home and community feel to us that we have not had in quite a while. 

We have found that spending less time in the “must do” or “must see” attractions of a new location have been the least exciting, and the best parts are places that we stumble upon, or little things that we like to do anyway even if we are traveling or spending a weekend at home.

Reunification Express

HUE, Vietnam // A train ride through Asia has been something we have wanted to do for a long time now. We plan on doing one in Malaysia, but were afraid we might miss out on one earlier. We heard that the train trip along the coast of Vietnam was incredible. It is called the Reunification Express and links Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City with Hanoi. You can do the whole thing, or small parts of it as we did.

From Hoi An we rented a motorbike and drove 45 minutes to Danang train station. We parked the bike right outside with an attendant and booked a last minute ticket. We had a sleeper car all to ourselves and the ride lived up to the expectations. The mountains were on the west and the isolated coastline to the east. Carts came up and down the train hall and we got a mango cut up in a bag as well as corn on the cob. 

In Hue, I’m not sure what we would have done for more than one day. The Citadel and Imperial City were very fun to wander around at, but we found the places we enjoyed the best were the abandoned fields and courtyards that no other people were at. We laid there for a good half-hour just appreciating the architecture. 

The train ride back was non eventful because the only other ticket we could get to return was at 7:50 pm when it was dark. When we finally found our motorbike, we drove through the streets of Danang just before midnight. The lights, big buildings, and sea breeze were incredible as we drove on this little motorbike. 

Today the trip to Hue and back was a challenging and fun day trip. It is a solemn reminder that some of the best parts of our trip has been the journey and not the destination.

Jolly

DANANG, Vietnam // My grandpa flew the Jolly Green rescue helicopters during the Vietnam War out of Danang, Vietnam. Now I am here. Its a surreal experience. I broke through the clouds as the plane landed at sunset and teared up. I speak to the moon like he is Grandpa and find myself looking at the mountain peaks and thinking that Grandpa did too. I bike through rice paddy fields and feel the humidity on my skin, breeze in my face, and wonder what it was like when he was here. He told me once that even through the eyes of war, Vietnam was a beautiful country and he was right. 

Disconnected

HAI PHONG, Vietnam // I just finished reading a book entitled Confessions of an Economic Hitman. I am sure there is some truth to it, but you can tell the author has an ax to grind with the system, and you have to read it with a grain of doubt. 

The three biggest points I took from it are:

• All economic growth benefits humankind, and that the greater the growth, the more widespread the benefits. Those who excel and stoke the fires of economic growth should be rewarded the most, are actually false statements. 
• Statistics can always be skewed to tell the story you want to tell.
• Not all news is news. NBC is owned by General Electric, ABC by Disney, CBS by Viacom, and CNN by Time Warner. Large Corporations own the news. Omitted news is as important as headlines. Reading between the lines is a skill that I should work on.

This has all kind of come to a theme I'm starting to express that I’m labeling “Disconnected". There is a disconnection between filling up our gas tank, what it took to produce that gallon of gas, and where that gas came from. We are disconnected from our clothes and the idea that a physical person made the clothes on our backs, beyond the “Made in Thailand” label. We are constantly connected to food but are disconnected from what is in it and where it comes from. Walking through some of the meat markets in Southeast Asia can seem barbaric with full dead chickens hanging from hooks. However, they understand what it took to raise the chicken, kill the chicken, cut the meat off the chicken, and cook it. We, myself included, can’t handle this process, so we disconnect the chicken running around the farm from the one that appears on my plate. 

I think we have become disconnected from our jobs, the value of our money, and how much money we need. We are disconnected from our emotions and ourselves. We are one of the wealthiest empires in history yet we have more people addicted to prescription medication, high murder rates, and a large prison population than many countries who have far less than us. All these disconnections add up to one large story of being disconnected from the rest of the world and how the world views us. Our entire supply chain is disconnected from our consumption of global natural resources.

These are the problems as I see them from my soap box, but I have yet to come up with the solution. Become a vegetarian? Eat local and organic? Join the tiny house movement? Reuse, reduce, recycle? Perhaps a little bit of all of the above?  Im open to ideas and discussions.

The End of our Rope

CAT BA TOWN, Vietnam // It was a sad day because our rock climbing trip in Asia has come to a close. We climbed in Railay, Tonsai, Thakhek, and now Cat Ba Island, which was our final stop. There are not many more really great climbing destinations in the next countries we plan to visit, so this the end. 

Before our trip started, the plan was to take all of our climbing gear with us, and then leave the rope in Vietnam. This is precisely what we did. The rope is 60 meters long, and weighs about 15 pounds. It takes up more space and weighs more than all of our other climbing gear combined. We sold it to one of the guides in town for a really low price. He gladly took it off our hands, and we were happy that someone can use it since it's still in pretty good condition. 

We were a little skeptical of rock climbing in Cat Ba because the main climbing area of Butterfly Valley is well outside of town in the middle of nowhere. Instead of going right to the crag the first day, we did a deep water soloing trip with Asia Outdoors that was amazing. The routes are marked and labeled in the guidebook, so you know what you are climbing instead of blindly hanging onto the rocks. We met a few other travelers, and it was a great chance to see Lan Ha Bay as well. For the next day, the people who worked there pointed us in the right direction of a reputable motorbike dealer, aka Mr. Khan. For 4 to 6 dollars you could rent a motorbike for the day. No drivers license, passport, or credit card was needed. 

We took all of our climbing gear, loaded it up to the motorbike, and drove to Butterfly valley, which was a spectacular ride through rolling hills and valleys. It took about 20 minutes to get there like we thought, but the walk was pretty easy from where we parked the bike. There were water buffaloes and ladies farming, but the crag was right there. It rained both mornings which delayed our climbing until the afternoon, but we did 2 routes the first day, then 2 routes on the second. They were all really long single pitch sport climbs 24 to 29 meters, which used up the entire rope, so they took a little longer to complete. 

• Bread and Butter, 24 meters, 9 bolts, 5c // 5.9
• Rome to Hanoi Express, 24 meters, 9 bolts, 6a // 5.10a
• Mother Butterfly, 29 meters, 13 bolts, 6a+ // 5.10a
• Argentina's Delight, 29 meters, 13 bolts, 6b // 5.10b

This place lived up to it's name and there were Butterflies everywhere. It if wasn't for climbing we would have never made it out to this area. Although our rock climbing adventures are over, it's time to switch gears on activities. We have not had the chance to scuba dive or surf yet, so we plan on focusing our attention there. We head next to Hoi An, based on recommendations from other travelers. From here we will spend our last few days in "Indochina" before heading south to Indonesia. 

20 Questions

CAT BA TOWN, Vietnam // Where did you come from? How did you get here? Where are you going next? How long have you been here? How long have you been traveling? How long are you going to travel for? Where else do you plan to go? Where are you from?

If I like someone, we get around to, "What is your name?” which ironically is not a mandatory question or typically in the top 20 questions asked. These are the standard questions asked of other travelers. They are valuable questions that help you plan your trip. Someone has always just come from where you are going or vice versa. First hand accounts and recommendations are more helpful than anything read in a book or a blog. These conversations don’t take long and typically are the end of the discussion, but with a rare few you get into some deeper grounds. We’ve been fortunate here in Cat Ba to find some real gems. 

The first group we talked to at the Woodstock Beach Camp. They were sitting around us at family dinner and we talked until midnight over some beers. These guys were some of the most entertaining crazy guys we’ve met. Two Canadians and one English guy. They bought motorbikes in Hanoi and are driving them all over Vietnam. They call themselves the D.A.R.K. riders based on the initials of their first names. If you want to read their blog it reminds me of a mix between the book "I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell” and the movie "Hangover Part II". They karaoke with cops, get robbed at road sides, buy badges off Siem Reap officers, and get tattoos that say “#SHOTGUN50" after shotgunning 50 beers in one day. Listening to them retell their stories makes you laugh until you cry // rutisup.com // We touched on almost all world problems. We talked about the garbage vortex swirling in the Pacific Ocean that recently killed 13 sperm whales whose stomachs were full of plastic, garbage, and car parts. We talked about the ape being shot in the zoo, and Trump starting world wars. We talked about racism and the names of sports teams in the US. We touched on how Canada has more rules than the US. We discussed the use of the word “gay” and how some things are extremely offensive to say in the US that are fine in Canada. We talked about work and expensing things, but making sure to not go over our allotted 15% tip factor. The conversation naturally flowed as our stream of conscious moved. There were many other topics discussed, but as it always happened, half of our profound thoughts were gone by the morning.

The second group we met we went deep water soloing and kayaking with in Lan Ha Bay. They were all around our age. One couple from New Zealand who declared themselves unemployed as well, and another couple from Argentina and Germany were here on holiday from a job of actuary science and an IT consultant. We skipped the twenty questions since we had common experiences from the day to discuss. How great that crag was. How scary and polluted the water looked with the garbage floating in it. How the large jellyfish was eating the smaller jellyfish. How this place was going to be like Thailand in 2 years as they continue to build party huts. How great holding an icy cold beer in your hands feels after rock climbing. When we got back from our adventures we continued the conversation over drinks and dinner. We talked about traveling as a couple and the communication required during tough times. One couple enjoys charade communication. They were constantly making signs to each other and laughing. How when its really hot and humid there is an automatic, “don’t touch me rule” that gets put in place. How much we budget and what they include and don’t include in the budget. Flights and clothing purchases shouldn’t be included in the daily budget for some people. Then we got into work topics, and we found out the guy from New Zealand actually is working as he owns a custom print shop. He is doing fair trade recon for his company at which point I had to un cheers him from our unemployment cheers earlier. He is also volunteering to make websites for almost every business he has met along the way of his travels, from the mud hut homestay in Sapa, to the ice cream street vendor where we got "Kem Xoi", coconut ice cream with sweet sticky rice.

These interactions have been welcome as Adam and I have been fairly stuck in the 20 question game with most other people we met. 

Desensitized

Rome 2006 // study abroad 10 years ago

CAT BA TOWN, Vietnam // 10 years ago my life was changed forever. I remember this very vividly because the date was 6/6/06. Today is 6/6/16. Exactly 10 years ago I was on a plane to Europe to do a study abroad in The Netherlands. It was the first time I left North America, fist time flying over an ocean, and first time alone in a foreign country. As I was on that plane I thought to myself, how ironic that this is happening on this day 6/6/06. I remember how culture shocked and afraid I was, and clueless about what to expect of the new environment. The whole scope of my existence up to that point revolved around where I grew up in Ohio and going to college in central Pennsylvania. The way I thought about the world changed on this trip to Europe. I was determined to make traveling the world one of the top priorities of my life. 

Ten years later my priorities have not changed, but my life is radically different. Living in New York City has desensitized both Jenny and I. We are no longer shocked at all the different people, customs, or places. Any city that we go to, whether it be Phnom Penh, Hanoi, or Vientiane, they are cities just like New York, and still have the same chaotic atmosphere. Even all the different people don't seem any more strange than going to Queens or Brooklyn on a random weekend.

I'm very happy how the last 10 years have turned out, but I now realize that I will never have the same feelings, excitement, and experiences while traveling that I had when I was younger and more naive to the world.

Unprepared

CAT BA TOWN, Vietnam // We left Hanoi on the 11:20am bus to Haiphong. We drove through a strange industrial sea port area and switched onto a speed boat and landed in Cat Ba Island. This island is known to have lots of awesome outdoor activities and we expected a rustic sea village. It turned out to be the Vietnam version of party central Panama City. 

There were high rise beach hotels and Vietnamese people everywhere walking around town in swim suits. Us and every other foreign traveler on our bus expected to arrive and just book a place like usual at one of the hundreds of options. However, we realized that it was a Saturday evening. Every place in the entire city was full. No vacancy anywhere. The people at the hotels were getting angry every time I walked in as they shouted "full!" at me. We must have tried 15-20 places and eventually saw a few other people from our bus. They had walked the opposite way as us, and said every place was full their way. We told them all the places were full from our way too. We stared at each other in disbelief thinking of what our options were. Finally a lady from the hostel came out and said we can stay at their other hostel outside of town, but we had to camp in tents. Huh?? Well, it was our only option. We did not have much of a choice. A van pulled up and an Australian guy about our age told us the place was pretty cool and he worked there. He could take us for free. Me, Jenny, and 4 other German backpackers got in.

It was a solid 20 minutes outside of town down a sketchy gravel road, but the place was awesome. It was called Woodstock Beach Camp and their were lots of other travelers there. Some we even recognized from our bus, and like us, had no other options. The tent was nicer than we thought, but the weather was crazy humid. We ended up having a big family style dinner with everyone at the hostel and chatting with a group of Canadian guys till about midnight. This turned out to be really fun, and sometimes the biggest problems and most stressful situations turn into the most vivid memories. It wasn't the best way to arrive on Cat Ba Island, but sleeping in a tent with a bunch of other travelers turned out to be not that bad. 

Navigating Like the Locals

HANOI, Vietnam // There is a pottery village a few miles outside of Hanoi and Jenny wanted to check it out. Not many tourists go there, but we planned to make the journey into an adventure. The goal // use all local public buses to get there. 

From the information that we gathered online, we first needed to walk to the Long Bien Bus Station, about 10 minutes from the Old Quarter where we were staying. Here, we waited for the 47A bus which comes every 20 minutes. Without problems we got on and it took us outside Hanoi, through a super nice gated community, and to the area where we think was the pottery village. Every time the bus stopped, Jenny and I would look at each other and ask, "get off here?" We got to see the outskirts of the big city, and the total cost was 7,000 Vietnamese Dong, or about .30 cents in US dollars. We saw a sign that said "Ceramics" so we just got off. 

We walked down a gravel path kind of in the middle of nowhere, into this beautiful garden like area where we came to a ceramic factory that makes tea pots and vases. I'm not sure how many visitors this place gets, but we had 3 tour guides. When we told them we were from New York, we believe they interpreted this as we were wholesaler buyers, looking to purchase in bulk. They gave us tea and wanted to take pictures of us while we watched the people make the pots and vases. We bought a micro tea pot from them that we hope to use back home, one of the few souvenirs purchased on this trip. 

From here we wandered around the town and a lady let us use her studio to try to make something. The potters wheel was one where you had to manually spin it with your arms and was incredibly difficult. It was way different than the electric ones used in the US, or even in Cambodia where it was foot powered. It gave us an appreciation for everything that was made here. 

We waited for the return bus in the city center, which was non-existent and consisted of a guy in a large tent sitting on a cooler selling warm bottled drinks. We finally got back on the bus and in 40 minutes were back in the chaotic Old Quarter of Hanoi.

Going to a random place and using the public bus system was a different kind of fun. It was a little difficult, but using our minds to problem solve, navigate, and focus today, was a lot more enjoyable than sitting somewhere and being entertained. It was incredibly satisfying to learn something new. 

Loving Luang Prabang

LUANG PRABANG, Laos // Now that we have been in Asia 2 months, we have developed places that we have liked a lot, and others not so much. Luang Prabang tops the list as one of our favorites, and most likely a place that we could even consider returning to again one day.

This place was like a little French village in the middle of the mountains. There was actually a lot of stuff to do, and we stayed here 9 days. It was much longer than we had planned, but it was a great location to be in while we waited for our Vietnam Visas to process. We made this place feel very "home like", and each day was pretty similar starting with one of the coffee shops or cafes. We went to a different one each morning to read books, research places for the rest of our trip, or read the local newspaper the "Vientiane Times" 

In the afternoon we usually had one major place that we wanted to see, which included the Kuang Si Waterfall, Mount Phousi, Wat Xieng Thong, and The Royal Palace. From one of these places we would then head to a local gym that we found called Mr. Big Muscle Gym. This place was down one of the side streets and was very small, but had all new equipment. There was never a single tourist there and was pretty fun to go to everyday and see the same Lao people over and over. Our bodies felt amazing, and it was nice to get into an exercise routine again.

In the evening, there were lots of great restaurants and we wanted to try as many as possible. This is definitely a foodie town, and with the French influence, it had many Lao or European restaurants. One night we even had filet mignon. We realized it was our first piece of beef we have eaten in 2 months, and it tasted incredible. It made us realize how much we missed certain foods, and the ability in the United States to eat whatever we choose to every night. 

After all the bus travel and rock climbing in southern Laos, and the future that awaits us trying to navigate the crazy streets of Hanoi, this was an ideal stop for us at the right time. We are glad that we came to Luang Prabang, and even happier that we had the flexibility to stay as long as we wanted.