Travels in Asia: 2005

Well - back in Hanoi again, in the sweltering heat.

After 3 days of bumming it around Sapa and avoiding the mob of minority people trying to sell something to you at every step yet being increadibly friendly and photogenic I finally made it out of there.  Walking down the street on the second day in search of accommodations that were closer to town I bumped into a gril with a backpack.  Randomly I went up to her and asked her if she needed a roomate.  As it turned out she did.  So we bunked together with her going on a 2 day trek at one point and me spending the night with a Korean girl.  What was most ironic that in a town where room prices seldomly dropped below 100,000-150,000 dong, the first night I paid 40,000, 2nd night I paid 37,000, 3rd night it went down to 30,000 and somehow for the last night we succeeded in getting it for free.  Got to love that.

Then by some miracle I found 4 people for a jeep tour into the northwest - something I had given up hope for since everyone coming to Sapa seemed either to be in a rush or already was there on a packaged tour.  So together with 2 dutch people - Justin - 6'8" (huge - this guy is double the size of most locals), and Astrid, as well as Libby - a Brit with whom I shared the room in Sapa we set out on our nearly 1000km journey.  The scenery was gorgeous, the people super friendly and aside for hours and hours of driving and a finniky driver who always wante dto leave at different times than us we had a blast.  Last night in Mai Chau was the best.  Peaceful, surrounded by rice paddies, sleeping in a stilt house with a local family!!!!

Now Hanoi - 2 days to kill and off to Halong Bay.

Keeping this brief since I don't have much time.... and sorry for all the mistakes.

Take care and will try to post pictures, but whenever I seem to insert the USB stick the computer seems to freeze.

Kasia

Hey Everyone.

It';s true and it';s sad.  Paulina has left me.  She';s deserted me.  Now I am left all by myself...

Well.  Hanoi was nuts - chaotic, busy, crazy, big, modern and yet still somehow Vietnamese, traditional and fun.  You just need to ignore the chaos, let it go by while savoring the fact that something is going on rather than the way it was in Laos.  However, one thing you can't ignore is the heat.  The humidity was just insane.  I felt like I was melting alive and that by the end there would be nothing left of me.  Even the nights were no respite.  We would be swimming in our bed to the extent that I would go under the shower and soak myself - including my PJs just so that I could stay cooler for a while longer. 

But yeah... now out of Hanoi in slightly cooler regions.  I dropped Paulina off at the taxi yesterday morning and just meandered my way around Hanoi for the day.  At night I caught a sleeper train to Sappa.  Soft sleepers were sold out but the hard sleeper didn't prove any worse.  Used to sleeping on stone hard beds by now so the thin mattress in the train made no difference.  What was god sent was the airconditioning and it was the first night in quite a few that I actually got a decent amount of sleep.

Sappa is nice enough - northern highlands with many local minority groups.  THe probelm is that ti's increatdibly touristy.  Wanted to just hike around some of the villages here for a bunch of days but it turns out that you need permits to walk through the countryside - enough to make me not want to do it.  Hence you have 2 options.  You either stay in the increadibly touristy town where all the "minoirty" people keep on sticking their hand out for money for posed photos or try to sell you something while trying to dodge the busloads of tourists that are arrivign here by the minute.  Or option 2 is you buy a tour that takes you to these villages, pay money to see the countryside and life that is once again geared at the tourist.  Neither one too appealing... yet I have 10 days and nothing to fill them with...

We'll see what comes of it.

Kasia

PS:  Sorry can't post phtoos because Paulina took the CDs with her

PS:  Nancy - thank you very much for that list.  Greatly appreciated.

PS:  I refuse to take credit or blame for this message.  All of it was composed by Paulina while I filled out my invaluable student loan application without which I would not be able to afford to travel.  Hence, although seemingly nice and concise the blog this time round was not given it's justice since Paulina as usual spent the first hour writing to all her friends (she must love all you guys dearly - appreciate it - my friends don't get this special attention :o) ) and then quickly scribbled down a bunch of facts for the blog.  Well - at least now I know where her priorities lie.

After the Kayaking tour we're off to Phonsavan, then to Vang Vieng and by June 17th to Vientiene. Haven't burned any more photos so can't post anything new - maybe out of Vang Vieng or Vientienne.  Till then.

Hey everyone!

Hope you're all doing well.  We've had about enough of China by now... well not quite, just running out of time since our visa expires on the 6th.  But yeah, we made it to Kunming in a sleeper bus - by this we mean a bus filled with 37 bunk beds with Paulina and I being shoved into the very back bottom corner right where the engine is with a ceiling of bunk beds above us hence no air circulation (5 beds across in the back) and no air conditioning that far back.  It was honestly hotter than a sauna.  Otherwise really comfortable but you can't do much with yourself in heat like that.  The ride took nearly 13 hours but we made it to Kunming and against Liz's instructions of staying at the Camila we decided to go to the Hump - highly recommended by all other travelers we met.

We've been relaxing here for the last couple of days - not much else you can do in a big city.  Went saw Star Wars last night, a stone forest in Shilin today and off on a 25 hour sleeper bus tomorrow.  Once in Laos don't know how advanced technology will be.  They don't have ATM machines - and the only one they do have in the capital city isn't connected to the world - so as to email and uploading equipment... well we'll see.

Other than that we've been doing well - treating ourselves to great Chinese food by pointing at what other people are eating and saying we want it.  The places here have no menues and unless you know what the stuff is called there's absolutely no way to communicate to the waitresses what you want to eat... unless you mime out a chicken or a cow - but what you'll get with it will always be a surprise.  So although the food is really good, it's always a bit of a surprise and hit and miss thing when you order.

Trying to post some more shots as well but the connection we have is horrible so it's not really working.  We'll do our best, but sooner or later we'll have to go to bed.

Take care