Beyond the Bounds: March 2014

Why am I referring to Vietnam as a yin yang country? I entered the country from Laos and began traveling from the north in Hanoi. I ended in Ho Chi Minh, in the south. It was a change from night to day. The attitude of the northerners were rude to the point of disbelief. The southerners were cordial and apologetic for the north's behavior. In life, the bad must be there to balance the good, right? Like one of the characters in Shantaram had said, "Happiness is like a drug and suffering is needed as an antidote," (or something along those lines). So even though, I was faced with negative experiences, they have to be there to balance with the positives. And the other travelers I met in this country were a major positive. In this way, the country really balanced out.

Entry into Vietnam began at one of the borders at a crazy hour after a long ride from Vientiane. To top it off, the immigration officer was very weird and a professional at taking a piss at tourists. This immigration officer was clearly the highest ranking since he had the most amount of stars on his jacket. He would look at your picture, nod at you to ask if it was yours, and then laugh at it. If he was in the mood, he would shake your hand. This was all after getting a dollar from you for the stamp. I didn't have a dollar (no USD left on me at this point), nor did I have any kip left. So I was told to return to Laos, at which point another American behind me gave me a dollar. Later, he was out from behind the counter and came over to feel my face and give me a handshake. All of us tourists looked at each other, and kept laughing it off. After waiting for several hours, we were trying to figure out why our bus wasn't allowed to cross the border. Far to long later, the officers arrested one of the locals for smuggling. We are off to a great start folks!

Several days into Vietnam, I've figured this is one country where you know you're getting ripped off but at the same time there is nothing you can do. Second, if you need a knock off, this is the best place to get it and tailored suits too apparently. Last but not least, it's much better to explore this country with a motorbike. It allows you to see what it was that brought people to this country from the beginning and back again and again. Besides, who needs an excuse to ride a motorbike? I regret not going with a Dutch traveler to check them out and ride it down the country. Heaps better than their so called sleeper buses.

The route: Hanoi - Ha Long Bay - Hue - Hoi An - Mui Ne - Ho Chi Minh City (A lot of H's, I know @_@. Click on the name to see the proper spelling with the punctuations and be further informed about the city.)

I tried ordering a bowl of these noodles and was immediately dismissed. I've never met a local so rude from the get-go. This was my first morning in Hanoi, my first stop in Vietnam.

Walking a little further down, I noticed a guy burning something. It turned out he was burning a live rat by squirting fuel on it. It was a horrid sound combined with a foul smell. Unnerving sight.

Motorbikes are the main form of transport for everything.

Outside the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum that's only open in the mornings.

A star apple that I was originally calling a milk fruit (牛奶果) after hearing a Chinese tour guide explaining to her group what it was.

Inside the museum promoting and outlining Ho Chi Minh's communism.

Kayaking around a fishing village through the Ha Long Bay. Though the bay was beautiful, it was a sour point. Whatever you order, it's never going to be all that they promise. Plus, it's one of those trips that you find out everyone's paid a different price and that difference can be up to 50%. Speaking with a traveler that's done this tour for the third time, he talked about the vast difference in quality and price over the years. In short, I wouldn't recommend this trip though the bay is marketed as a natural wonder. If you must come, I would suggest staying in Cat Ba Island and using the tour company for transport only. (Photo courtesy of Helen Pitchik)

Hand sewing pictures: rather amazing but at an annoying tourist only shop on the way to and back from Ha Long Bay. They literally turn all the shops on when the tourists arrive and turn everything off once we leave.

A cool cafe I passed while walking around Hue.

On the way to the Imperial City, I stopped in one of the local markets. There were a lot of locals enjoying this dish with quail eggs and pork. She reminded me of Kung Fu Panda for some reason.

I love how they cut the bushes into shapes! Just outside of the Imperial City, Hue.

Inside the Imperial City in one of the temple areas.

A view from inside the Imperial City. If you look closely, the two bushes on either side are shaped like turtles.

One of the gates where cars can only exit the Imperial City.

I think she looks amazed at this big water basin in the Imperial City. What do you think?

Cao lau: my first meal in Hoi An, and now my favorite Vietnamese dish. Normally, it's served with pork but I got the vegetarian version with tofu. Due to tourism, the local cuisine has been altered to cater to dietary preferences. Sadly, I can only find these noodles in this city. I guess it's a reason to go back :).

Frequently seen and similar to a buffet. This is a commoner's hawker stall where you can choose several dishes served with rice and soup. I would recommend finding one of these places for lunch when the food is still fresh and hot.

Motorbike food stall. I think they were selling noodles.

A common sight/the local hangout. There are numerous shops like these with the little chairs open only to sell drinks.

Double pedaling. Love it!

Roaming around the city and came across these beautiful rice paddy fields tended to by these hardworking farmers.

At a herbal medicine shop. That medicine package was far from finished. I think they contained 15 different herbs in it by the time it was done.

A courtyard in one of the temples in Hoi An. A lot of the architecture has Chinese influence.

Paper lanterns waiting for buyers.

The river at sunset.

All of the below photos are from Helen Pitchik. My camera started acting up and gave me an unknown error message. Luckily, I met Helen and Elizabeth in Ha Long Bay and again in Hoi An. We traveled for a bit and I got her to take extra photos on her fabulous Nikon DSLR to pass on to me. Super thank you to Helen!

Lantern Festival in Hoi An.

About to lower them into the river.

A day trip from Hoi An to the My Son Santuary with other travelers.

Vietnamese pancakes galore at a market in Hoi An.

Public karaoke fest along with lots of drinking and dancing.

A most delicious seafood dinner in Mui Ne with squid on the left and grilled scallops and mussels in the center.

Elizabeth, Helen and I watching the moon on the White Sand Dunes in Mui Ne.

Our makeshift breakfast of bananas and salted peanuts stuffed into a baguette. We had a lot of runaway peanuts but other than that, it tasted pretty good.

Funny pictures time! Elizabeth begone :P

Stopping in a fishing village dotted with round boats.

On the way to the Fairy Stream, our nostrils were intruded by a very salty and fishy smell. It turned out to be a fish sauce factory.

A romantic walk down the Fairy Stream.

A lovely couple selling sugarcane juice.

Wakeboarding central.

Beautiful sport.

The view from our hotel with excellent zoom on Helen's camera. Reminded me of Life of Pi. I would hate to get stuck out in sea in one of these.

Last day in Saigon, I met up with a few travelers I had met elsewhere, namely Hai, who I had met in Myanmar. We kept joking about pancakes because she had some awful ones in Myanmar. I told her she just didn't have the right ones. She countered by saying the ones in Vietnam are better than America's so here I was having some pancakes with her as my last meal in Vietnam.

They were pretty delicious and the restaurant used reverse osmosis to clean the vegetables.

Philippines, here I come. Besides the volunteering, there are only two things on my bucket list for this country: eat lots of mango and go swimming with whale sharks.

I don't know any country that embraces Asian time more than Laos. They were so chill about everything and will offer you beer as you wait. Not much to see but no stress :)

Alright, successful crossing back into Thailand. Now what? The Argentinian and I got to Tak and split up to our desired destinations. I took a bus to Chiang Rai, the closest town to the Golden Triangle, where I would cross over to Laos. You may wonder why I didn't just cross from here when I was in Myanmar. Well, it would have ended up like the time I tried to cross to Myanmar from India. It would have failed. The only way to cross this land border was to fly from Taunggyi to Tachileik. This would have defeated the purpose of trying to cross by land, plus the one way ticket would have cost more than the land travel. I found this out when I was in Myanmar, where the country's policy shot down my travel plans once again.

When I arrived in Chiang Rai, a slight dilemma arose. It was near New Years and all of the hostels and hotels were booked. The only one I found ended up being in the middle of nowhere and far over my budget. So I slept in the bus station, luckily with two other travelers. Sleeping bag unrolled, valuables tucked inside and all of our bags under the bench we were sleeping on or in front of. One of the hostels that was full even let me take a shower. Glorious! Early next morning we each caught our intended bus and off I went again. I explored the Golden Triangle for a few hours, filled myself up with more delicious Thai food, not knowing what to expect from Laos, and crossed over to Laos' special economic zone via a short boat ride along the Mekong. What's this special economic zone? Basically a town full of casinos and no public transport for me. Oops, maybe I should have gone down to the Chiang Khong/Huay Xai border. No time to lament now, so I started hitchhiking there. My first ride was a Chinese man on a motorbike. Yay, I could communicate what I needed to him. Anyway, another motorbike ride, and two truck rides later, I arrived. From Chiang Khong, I caught a night bus to Luang Prabang, while meeting some Koreans to travel with.

Laos!

A beautiful house I saw while waiting for a ride.

Riding on the back of trucks are so liberating!

Luang Prabang: Tak Bhat city of the world and a great place to spend the New Year. Hello 2014! Now I just need to remember to put 14 on all those forms.

Giving alms to the monks. It's common to give sticky rice like so.

The early morning procession through the streets.

Remnant of a banana flower.

Cats being fed meat hidden in sticky rice.

Laos style Buddhist temple.

The monks doing construction. I must say they did a bloody good job.

A typical Laos meal: lots of meat and beer.

Happy 2014 everyone!

On the way to the waterfall, we stopped at a Hmong village. The kids were very cute and shy.

At the Kuang Si Waterfall, literally meaning "deer"and "dig". You can read up on the interesting story of this name when you go visit :). The lower tiered section.

The waterfall.

Did I mention they have a moon bear sanctuary? Here the bears are searching for their food. The staff hides it as a way to mimic foraging.

Phonsavan: I went here looking for the Ho Chi Minh Trail and ended up finding jars and the true gem of the town, the UXO Information Center (part of MAG).

Plain of Jars 1.

A bomb crater. It was like a big war site with these and trenches marked.

My ride. It was a great bike but I didn't quite make it to the others sites in the heat and restricted time frame.

At another information center that showed how people would take the bomb shells and make jewelry out of them. The Bombs2Bracelets is also MAG supported but invented by local artisans.

I motioned for the children to keep smiling and then they copied my motion. Cute!

Vang Vieng: a town for tourists with lots of water activities

A wonderful meal of sea salted and grilled tilapia stuffed with lemongrass with a side of the essential sticky rice.

I found this lady collecting seaweed from the Mekong. The seaweed is a local favorite, especially in Luang Prabang. You can find it flavored with sesame seeds, chili and/or garlic.

This local was weaving a fishing net. It took him six months to get it to that length. Incredible patience!

Someone hot air ballooning but you can also kayak and tube down this river.

At the Blue Lagoon, where you can jump from the top branch, lower branch, or rope swing into the lagoon. The rope I could do all day. The top one made my legs turn to jelly. Be sure to check out the cave when you are there. (Photo courtesy of Ji Won Guk)

Inside the Tham Phu Kham located near the blue lagoon. They have a sign saying that you have to pay for a flashlight, which is not true. It's slightly useful but bring your own or use your phone light. It's not a very deep cave. (Photo courtesy of Ji Won Guk)

Vientiane: the final stop before heading over to Vietnam.