Dispatch #16: Organized Chaos

First things first: I love Vietnam.

We've spent the past four days in Hanoi and Halong Bay and I'm smitten. Halong Bay is easily one of the most remarkably beautiful places I've been. We took a junk boat from Halong City into the bay and then explored a huge cave, kayaked, swam and hiked around and on the limestone islands.

And Hanoi? Crazy, but in a way that is not at all overwhelming or frenetic like Bangkok. The traffic is terrifying, but we've slowly become adept at stepping into the street and trusting that the hoardes of motorbikes will simply stream around us (rather than killing us, which is what four girls used to walk signals would expect). We're staying in the Old Quarter and on most of the corners there are bars selling draght beers (bia hoi) for what we've calculated to be 12.5 cents a glass. One of the guidebooks described beer as the "new tea" in Vietnam and considering the number of people nursing a glass right now (it's 9am), that seems about right.

If you have a few minutes, google the Ho Chi Minh Museum. We went there the first day and it's now my favorite museum, ever (yes, it beats out the Spam Museum). We also saw HCM's embalmed body this weekend. Bizarre.

Early each morning, loudspeakers blast what I'm assuming to be government announcements into the streets and that's kind of annoying. Aside from that (and really, it's a communist country, so the announcements shouldn't be a huge surprise), I really love it here.

Dispatch #15: Beach, Cambodia, Beach

So, here's the last week in super-fast recap:

Koh Chang was pretty.

Cambodia and Angkor Wat are overwhelming.

Koh Samui is probably even prettier than Koh Chang. And the water is really calm.

Dispatch #14: Bangkok

We've spent the last three days exploring Bangkok and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I'm pretty relieved to be moving on tomorrow. The city is definitely interesting and there are a number of truly remarkable things that we've seen and done. However, the heat and the noise is more than a little oppressive.

On our first day here, we started out by walking around Chinatown which is an assault on the senses. The narrow sidewalks are crowded with every kind of street vendor possible as well as hordes of moving people. The roads are filled with hectic and loud traffic. On top of that, the cooking smells and exhaust fumes combine to form a sort of haze over the entire area. It's overwelming. We spent the rest of that first day walking around the city and ended up at a rooftop bar at one of the city's tallest hotels. New Yorkers that we are, we all felt better with a good drink and a good view. That night, I was also able to meet up with a friend I've known since high school who is also traveling through Thailand on her bar trip.

We spent Day Two doing most of the big tourist attractions (temples and palaces). Wat Pho was probably my favorite if you're in a Googling mood.

And today, we visited a huge open air market. Aside from the heat, it was a great way to spend the morning and early afternoon. The exchange rate makes shopping here pretty fun. After that, we had a decidedly American afternoon: we went to a huge mall, filled primarily with American stores and restaurants, and watched The Bourne Ultimatum at the mall's movie theater. It was a nice, air-conditioned break from the city.

Tomorrow we're headed to Koh Chang, another island. It's much more developed than the last island we visited, so it might not be as peaceful of a beach experience. There are, however, a lot more activities on the island -- waterfall hikes and elephant treks among them. I'm looking forward to it.

Dispatch #13: Thai keyboards are easier than Japanese keyboards

Carolyn and I have spent the past few days on the island of Koh Mak, in the easter Gulf of Thailand. Virtually everywhere we've been on this and the surrounding islands looks like a movie set. Blue ocean, white sand beaches, palm trees, etc. It rains a lot, but the rains are very predictable and tend to stop from mid-morning to late afternoon, which is kinda perfect.

Today, we took a boat (it's technical classification is probably "dinghy") to the neighboring island, Koh Kahm to go snorkeling. It was pretty fantastic. Although, I should note that I've never snorkeled before, so my standards might not be reliable. In other generic news, the people here are just as friendly as the guidebooks promised and the food is consistently excellent.

And now, I'm headed back to the cabin for a much-needed shower. We only have cold water on the island, so I'm really looking forward to a hot shower in Bangkok tomorrow. The result of the combination of salt water, cold showers, and curly hair is something slightly less than attractive.

Dispatch #12: TOKYO

yep, i am in tokyo. and, this keyboard is tricky. i have abandoned contractions entirely because the apostrophe key keeps messing me up (it is above the 7). not much to report. bottles of diet coke are much cheaper here than at any american airport. also, yen are fun.

oh yes, alaska is enormous. it lasts FOREVER. and now we are in asia. asia. it is possible that a part of me did not really believe asia actually existed until it popped up outside the airplane window today. yes, i know people from asia. beside the point.