Last week in Paradise....

I landed in Kuta on the Afternoon of October 2nd, and met up with my cousin Jamie at the Arena hotel off Poppies II. It took me 10 minutes to be turned off by the crazy Kuta traffic... Needless to say, we booked our speedboat tickets to Gili Trawangan ASAP.

The next day we started the crazy trip to the islands– 2 hour mini-bus ride, followed by 2 hours of BUMPY speed boating, but we finally made it to Paradise... Four of Jamie's friends from Canada were traveling with us, so we hired a couple of horse and carriages and went up island to stay at windy bungalows, and Coral Beach. I snagged the same bungalow I had the last time I stayed, and the rest of the crew settled down at Windy. The coral mobile I made the last time still hanging on the porch. I walked up, and put my backpack down, and realized my little Indo friend Rudy was inside cleaning it still. I said hello, and he remembered me "Hey- I know you," he said... I smiled and said I remembered him too. I waited outside on the porch for him to finish, and as he was leaving I noticed something glint off his chest– Now... I have been very careful with my limited possessions whist backpacking, but I did "lose" my favorite silver starfish necklace on Gilli T. the last time I visited– I said, "Hey Rudy, come here for a sec..." he did. "Nice necklace you have there... " I smile, he smiles (totally knows, that I know, it's mine) and I say, "I think I'll take that back now bud" and he smiled and said "OK" as I plucked the, tarnished sun and salt-water corroded metal from his necklace. My once shiny and sparkly-most-favorite necklace in the world, came back to me, a little worse for the wear- but with a great story! I asked him why he stole it from me when we were friends, and he said "Well... because I wanted it! Why'd you leave it in your room while I was cleaning it?!" Indo-logic... fair enough. hahahah!

I was so happy to be back in the sun again, I stayed out a little too long my second day on the Island, and had a very uncomfortable "code 3" horse and carriage race back to my bungalow where I spent the rest of the night sick! Bummer... On a side note, you wouldn't believe how easy it is to communicate to a non-English speaking person that you're feeling extremely nauseous... Universal sign-language! The driver just nodded, and ran his horse like a mad-man as we bounced down the sandy dirt roads– worst. trip. ever! But we made it. After getting some rest, and 2L of water into me, I felt much better.

The next day Jamie and I went up island in a pony to watch the sunset behind the mountains. The colours were electric, and it got better after the sun had gone below the mountain tops. Naturally, we had to take some jump photos to capture the moment, right Jamie? Anyone for another Bintang?


No trip to the Gilis is complete without a ride on the infamous "Disco Pony." You have to understand the setting to get the humour in this: So... sand island, generator electricity during limited times of the day, pot-hole roads, no cars, no motorbikes, only horse and carraiges-- with candles inside glass bottles as headlights. Then there is ONE pony that has a car stereo, with two large speakers, and strobe lights.... One of these things is not like the others... Awesome. Jamie and I were lucky enough to catch a ride in the disco pony from the sunset to Scallywags where we had dinner. Numerous fist pumping photographs ensued....

A couple more days of blissful sand, sun, and surf flew by and before I knew it I had to return to Bali for my flight home!! This is when the day turned annoying REAL QUICK...

1. Van driver thought I said the Vina hotel, not the Arena hotel- tried to drop me 7km from where I was supposed to be

2. Rather than bring me to the Arena he dropped me off the the middle of downtown Kuta so I had to walk through the alleyways with two backpacks for tewnty-five minutes to get to my hotel.

3. Whilst walking with two backpacks and a purse, a motorcycle driver got too close to me, hit me and snagged my purse on his handlebars dragging me back with it

4. Narrowly missed being hit by 3 other oncomming motorcycles AGAIN... yelled at the world to PLEASE GIVE ME SOME ROOM TO WALK!

5. Got to the arena and booked a room- only to have a 10 minute argument with the front desk lady because I didn't have enough Rupiah on me, and she didn't want to let me pay for half now, and half when I could get to the bank (she let me eventually)

6. They gave my room to someone else before I could even leave the front desk and tried to give me a dodgy one that was super dirty.

7. More "negotiations" with security for 15 minutes... resulting in them giving me a nice room on the 3rd floor, and then discussing for another 10 minutes that I still owed them half the price (a whopping $8) for the room.... *sigh* One step forward, two steps back! hahahaha

Anyway, I finally got settled, and did some last minute shopping in Kuta before catching a taxi to the airport. I caught the red-eye to Taipei first, then continued to Tokyo, Seattle, and finally Victoria!! It was great, because I was upgraded to first class on the Denpassar - Taipei flight, plus I had 2 seats to myself on the Japan-Seattle flight! BONUS!! I arrived home, safe and sound, after a looong 24 hour journey.

Christy's Adventures in Asia have left an impression on my soul... I feel enlightened, brave, strong, happy, vibrant, GRATEFUL, spiritual, patient, lucky, and more alive than I've ever felt before. Words simply cannot express how this journey has impacted me. Thank you to all the incredible people I met on my trip; Ruby, Elsa, Lisa, Billie, Amanda, Thad, and of course, Sy! Each of you stand out as being integral parts in my journey... Thank you for being you. And finally, I have to say, one of the biggest reminders resulting from my trip was how amazing my friends and family at home are... I am so blessed! Thanks everyone for reading my blog, for sending me positive vibes, support, emails, and for facebook stalking my every move! Until next time....... HOLLA!

Detour Down Undaaaa!

How do I begin to recount the ten most amazing days of my life?! I guess, I should start at the beginning... perhaps before the detour down under– Nha Trang, Vietnam... where I met the three most fabulous Aussies of all time (And yes, all time includes both Crocodile Dundee, AAAND Steve Irwin...) I recall mentioning the Aussies in a previous blog entry, but at that time I was only starting to realize the HUGE impact those two notorious Nha Trang nights would have in my life:

I guess I should provide a few more details on said Aussies. I'll start with the girls, Billie and Amanda; two of the funnest, most thoughtful, vibrant, generous, beautiful and hilarious girls I had the pleasure of meeting on my trip. I already know these two will be in my life for a long time. Awesome is an understatement... And if all that wasn't fabulous enough for you, I saved the best for last, the final fantastic Aussie, Mr. Sayeed David (Sy).

I'm at a loss to even begin to describe the brilliance of Sy (and we all know, I'm not one to be speechless!) How about a list of a few highlights: smart, funny, thoughtful, kind, unbelievably gorgeous, successful, trustworthy, stylish, FUN, sensitive, charismatic, strong, generous, confident.... pretty sure I could go on for a few more hours- but I think you get the point: HE'S AMAZING.

Sooooo... obviously when I was invited to head to Melbourne for a visit, I couldn't say no! I hooked up some Air Asia tickets, for the Detour Down Undaaaa September 21 – October 2nd.

Now, this is the part where it gets tricky for me to recount- there are so many sensational details to tell, it's hard for me to prioritize the best bits and tell the story without writing a novel! So.. here it goes....

I arrived in Melbourne and made it through customs/immigration shortly before midnight after a 9 hour flight from Kuala Lumpar. I walked through the arrivals gate and saw Sy waiting for me- my heart skipped about a hundred beats, and an entire colony of butterflies came to life in my tummy. I flashed him a smile, and walked over to meet him. A half an hour later, we were still standing there, in our own world, blocking the exit for everyone else arriving... whoops! Eventually we got to his car and drove, Mario Andretti style, home (so hot).

Now I will recount a typical morning at Sy's house- wake up, shower (imagine how much of a HUGE treat showering, in a squeaky clean glass shower with a rain shower head, is after 4 months of showering in dirty cockroach-ville with no hot water...), enjoy a superior latté made by Barista Sy (YUM), have breakfast of either fresh mango and plain yogurt, or fresh toasted rye bread (which he would get from the bakery around the corner). Often followed by a second perfect latté.... Seriously, can you think of a better way to start the day?! I can't.

On Day 1 I received a Melbourne overview which included: A visit to the market, a trip to a delicious coffee house, a tour of the Lebanese district on Sidney street where we picked up some Lebo pizza, and sweets (DELICIOUS), a walk along the boardwalk by the ocean (likely one of my favorite Melbourne spots), and dinner at a FABULOUS seafood restaurant called Claypots. My favorite part, aside from the OUTSTANDING food, was the fact that I didn't even look at the menu. Sy ordered all his favorites, for this meal, and every subsequent one we shared together. Those who have had the pleasure of dining with with CJ Smith will appreciate how awesome this is, as they will have experienced my A.D.D. tendency to want EVERYTHING on the menu, take FOREVER to decide what to order, and then stress that maybe I should have ordered that other dish that looked delicious.... HAHAHA

The next day was just as memorable, and started with the typ morning routine- glorious- followed by going to a fabulous Japanese restaurant in downtown Melbourne. YUM! Then we walked around downtown, and Sy stopped at an Aussie chocolate shop, comparable to Purdy's, to pick up dark chocolate frogs for us to eat while we went to another fabulous coffee house for latté #3 of the day. Nirvana. The guy has a Phd. in pleasing Christy Smith.

Ok... I see this becoming a novel already- This is what I was worried about... so many amazing details, its hard not to recount EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM! Focus Christy....

So, the next most important thing to mention is dinner Thursday night (HAHA I love how everything revolves around eating... yum) We met up with my two favorite Aussie girls Billie and Amanda and went to a sensational Thai restaurant called Cookie. The girls, being the sweet-hawts they are, made me an "Aussie Survival pack" that included a TON of treats including, but not limited to: Australian flag Havaianas flip flops, every type of delicious candy known to Oz - most notably Caramello Koalas and a photo album with pictures from Vietnam. SO AWESOME! After dinner we went to a rooftop bar that overlooked all the beautiful lights of downtown Melbourne and had a beer... super fun.

On Friday, Master Chef Sy cooked me an incredible meal at home featuring fresh King George Whiting fish, Calamari, and a Vietnamese green papaya salad. THEN, Sy's friend Paul called and said that Arabian Prince from N.W.A. was doing a hip hop show, and invited us to go– As if the day could get ANY BETTER!? The music was off the hook!

Another dinner highlight was at an INCREDIBLE restaurant called Cumulus inc. We rolled in hoping to get a couple seats at the bar where you can sit and watch the chefs prepare the food similar to at a sushi bar. The entire restaurant was PACKED, except for two prime real estate seats at the bar- which we were seated at within 2 minutes of stepping foot in the restaurant. Lucky us!! Sy ordered some amazing dishes, and another bottle of super fantastic wine, and we topped it off with the most amazing dessert ever– house made chocolate ice cream, with a chocolate truffle that had a hard dark chocolate shell, with soft mousse-like filling, fudge, and chocolate cake. Seriously, spoiled.

Sunday was one of my favorite days in Melbourne (if I HAD to pick one). We drove out to Sy's mum's house and had lunch and a visit with her, and Sy's two brothers, his sister, and his seven month old niece Layla- ADORABLE! Sy had asked his mum to make some traditional Lebanese food, and Mrs. David made the most outstanding spread EVER! Like, honestly, it barley fit on the table, it was overwhelming... aaaand delicious. I tried everything, and LOVED everything!! Plus, Sy's family is super awesome!! I had a really nice time visiting with everyone and felt so welcome- it was really amazing.

Monday was really cool because we went to the Salvador Dali Liquid Desire exhibit at the National Gallery of Victoria. SO INCREDIBLE! Being the creative I am, it was exceptionally special for me to share something like that with Sy. The art was absolutely incredible- Dali has got to be one of the most innovative artists of his time. It was pretty great to watch Sy going through the gallery as well- Dali is his favorite artist. Did I mention that I LOVE that he even has a favorite artist, let alone one as ingenious as Dali!? Seriously- I had to pinch myself a couple times to make sure I hadn't died and gone to heaven.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we took a little road trip down to Waratah Bay, and Wilson's Prom to do some surf fishing, and check out some of the beautiful scenery. We stayed in a little cabin right off the beach, and the view was sensational! I had so much fun fishing with Sy, it was completely different than the fishing that I'm used to, but it was fabulous. He even caught a couple fishies! I woke up at 5am to watch the sunrise, and despite it being ridiculously cold, and early, as you can see by this photo- it was totally worth it!


On my last night before leaving we had another remarkable dining experience at a very special Tapa restaurant called Movida. Normally one would book 2-3 months in advance to reserve a seat at this exclusive place, buuuuuuut, Sy and I decided to test our luck- as things seem to "just work" for us. We rolled in and the place was jam packed- obviously. Sy spoke to the host who said he would "see what he could do" and that we should go have a drink next door for a half hour. We did, and when we came back? Table for two!! Unbelievable! The next awesome thing that happened, was the waiter came over to take our order, and when Sy said, everything looked good, the waiter said "Well, why don't you just let me take care of you then.." BOY DID HE EVER! We had course after course of the most tastebud tantalizing food EVER! Sooooo special!


Anyway, it was sad to have to strap on my backpack and leave Melbourne, but I know there are many good times to follow, and as Sy said, the incredible adventures we had together are "just a drop in the ocean in comparison to what hopefully lies ahead..." I got on the plane to leave, looked at the seat in front of me and saw an Air Asia advertisement stating: "COME FALL IN LOVE IN MELBOURNE" I smiled to myself, and thought.... I just did!

Thailand: The final affair...

I arrived in the Bangkok airport around 11am and ran into a few backpackers I had met in Sapa. Five of us opted to sandwich into the back of a 4 seater taxi and head to Khao San Road... Two of the crew were dropped off along the way, and the three of us remaining found a hostel along the main strip to crash for the night. We agreed to meet up for dinner, and I headed out to eat some Khao San street meat pad thai, people watch, and hit the infamous MBK to shop.

Around 7:00pm we caught up and had dinner at a greasy diner. There we met two other girls from England and we all decided to hit up a ping pong show together... The trick with ping pongs in Bangkok is to find one that's not going to have three huge bouncers meet you at the door on your way out and demand you pay them several hundred baht before you can leave... Somehow we managed to find a dodgy tuk-tuk driver to take us to a "legit" performance. The tuk-tuk drive was an adventure in itself... Three of us were crammed into the back, and the driver was the craziest mofo I've met in a few weeks fo shizzle... He started off the trip by popping a wheelie (this is the 2nd tuk-tuk wheelie I've been fortunate enough to experience to date) and continued to blast through the streets of Bangkok at approximately 100+ km/hr passing every single other taxi, and tuk-tuk at speeds so great it felt like we were the only ones moving... I started to make a video of the craziness since it's pretty hard to describe- at which point the driver decided it would be funny to take his hands off the wheel and show off a bit. The good news was- we made it to the ping pong show without injury!

Now... I'm about to describe a few of the more "special" acts witnessed at said ping ping show... so Grandma, Mom, and anyone else who is easily offended... Please go ahead and stop reading here... I will mark an astrix when it's safe again. ;-)

LAST WARNING- THIS IS BEYOND PG-13... Purely RESTRICTED material here: Read at your own risk of trauma...

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So... I walk into this dark room with everyone else in tow, and see an elevated stage in the middle of the room with four poles on each corner and right in the middle of the stage: two Thai's having a go at one another in a live sex show!!!! That was enough for me to nearly turn around and leave on the spot! I exchanged horrified glances at the two girls with me, and we avoided looking until we found some seats a few rows back to ensure safety from any kind of off-shoot ping-pongs, darts, crabs or airborne STD's... Luckily by the time we got our seats and ordered a couple beers the two on the stage were finished, and there was a bit of a break for us to recover before the next act.

Next thing I know, there is a Thai girl back up on stage dancing around (very unenthusiastically I might add) with a bucket of ping pongs... She proceeded to play ping-pong tiddly winks, shooting the ping pongs from her hoo-ha into a glass vase in the center of the stage. Thankfully, none of them went into the crowd as that may have been enough for me to chuck my pad thai from earlier... The next few acts included many acts performed by numerous hoo-ha experts including: shooting darts in the air to pop a balloon, pulling out razor blades, blowing out candles from a birthday cake, smoking a cigar, writing Welcome to Bangkok on a paper with a jiffy marker, and removing a glow in the dark string long enough to stretch the length of Khao San road- TWICE! Most of this was like a train wreck- you want to flinch and look away, but you just can't tear your eyes from the obscenities they are witnessing... However I did spent PLENTY of time just laughing at the creepy old men in attendance. Some of the looks on their faces- priceless! I left when the climax (no pun intended) performance sex show started up again, cause that was a traumatic incident I didn't need to witness more than once.

The long and short of the ping pong show is: It's an experience that I'm glad I saw once- cause you really do need to see it to believe it- but its something I NEVER want to see again. Bangkok: Complete!

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Okay, Mom, Grandma, any other respectful people who didn't want to read that (and I sincerely do hope you flipped past it) it's now safe to resume reading...

The next day I caught a bus and a small boat to Ko Samet Island to get a couple days of beach in before I left. The journey was a typical Thai experience- we arrived two hours later than expected and spent most of the day playing the never dull game of "Hurry up and Wait." Eventually we arrived in paradise, and I ended up meeting a nice girl from England who I ended up sharing a bungalow with. The weather was gorgeous for us, and I spent all day enjoying the sunshine for the next day and a half before I had to head back to Bangkok. I also met up with a dodgy Thai dude, who I hired to fix up my "Balance" tattoo with bamboo... it was a bit worse for wear after neglecting it for the past three months with sun, sand, and chlorine... The good news there is that bamboo tattoos heal much more quickly than machine tattoos do, and they hurt WAY less too! So hopefully this one won't fade out as much this time. For ten dollars though, I won't complain if it does.

Anywaaaaaaaaay, I spent a few hours on the beach my last day and then made the trek back to Bangkok to enjoy one last night of Thai bliss. I got a manicure, pedicure, wax, Thai massage, and as much thai food as I could fit into my body before finally wondering down the crazy streets laughing at all the drunk people, and lady boys stumbling home from a big night out, getting back to my hostel, and crashing out around 2:00am.

Thus ends Thailand for Christy Smith. Standby for further updates as Christy's Adventures continue on: THE DETOUR DOWN UNDER

Hanoi - Sapa... The last leg of my Vietnam adventure!

Ok... time to update the old blog- but this may be a short entry cause this keyboard is formatted to input Vietnamese so it keeps putting weird letters and accents in place of regular English-- so pardon the "Chinglish" if I make numerous typos... hahaha the joys of traveling. I asked the two night-time guys here to help me but they're total tools, and no speaky too good... soo yah... hêre ưe go!

I arrived back from Halong Bay on Friday at 5pm and Ruby and I caught the night train to Sapa at 8pm. Pretty quick turn around.. but we made it! I had planned to buy a return ticket from Sapa to Hanoi from the train station, but the ticket lady was super rude. After standing in line for 15 minutes, she said a return ticket would cost $300,000 dong. I got my money out and handed it through the glass, and then she said she was too busy to help me, and told me to go away. Meanwhile, she carried on helping all of the Vietnamese people in line trying to buy the same tickets for a fraction of the price. Eventually I gave up after three failed attempts with two sêparate ticket agents and conceded to buy one from a travel agent in Sapa for an even HIGHER price... I was super confused because I haven't been treated so badly before by any of the countries I've visited, but I soon learned- such is life as a traveler in Northern Vietnam- people are downright nasty up herrrrrrr!!

We arrived in Sapa around 5:30am and Ruby had called a tour company to arrange a seat on a shuttle bus to take us from the train station to Sapa- about 30 minutes drive. This ended up being a huge P.I.T.A. because the driver dropped us off at a hotel that had no vacancy, and then some random "tour guide" showed up and wouldn't leave us alone until we allowed him to take us to a hotel (that paid him commission). The deal was, if ưe stayed in this hotel, the bus would be free- otherwise, god only knows what the price would be--- this is why I never pre-book stuff when I travel, but Ruby is much more trusting than I am... So... anyway, buddy takes us to this dive of a hostel, for $11/night, which is about $5 more expensive than anything else in town, and about 10x more dodgy. But we dropped our stuff off so we could avoid wasting any more time arguing with anyone.

From thêre we continued on to the Sapa market where I picked up a cheap North Face knockoff jacket, and a few souvenirs. I also wandered through the "local" market where they sell mainly household items, produce, spices, and meat- Here is where I found FRESH BUTCHERED DOG FOR SALE! AHH!


The hill tribe people were EVERYWHERE, and very much "in your face" at all times. I'm normally pretty patient with this kind of thing, and I usually enjoy talking to peddlers and lôoking at their stuff- just for kicks, but thêse people were awful! I got sooooo claustrophobic cause they'd basically attack you mob style and give you no way to escape them until you were forced to snap and tear a strip off someone. Asking politely for space, or saying no thanks one hundred and fifty times, goes nowhere!

Later that day I bumped into an Aussie that I had met a couple weeks ago in Nha Trang. We got to talking and decided to check out a waterfall nearby via motorbike. Well- this ended up being a gong show too because first of all, the bike wouldn't start, then it needed another part, then it was dropped on ít side, and cracked a display case in a merchant shop- which cost the Aussie $200,000 dong, by the time we were finally ready to go, it started monsooning!! We grabbed a coffee to wait it out, and were confronted by a young girl peddler- the rudest of the bunch. She continued to stand beside our table verbally abusing us for not buying from her for the next 45 minutes. Despite asking her to leave about 100 times, she refused, and dropped so many F-bombs I lost count. I wonder who the jerk-face tourist was who taught her that!? :-(
The weather finally cleared up so we took off on the bike- only it started raining again within 5 minutes of the trip. I quickly got drenched, and we ended up breaking down again, and taking a wrong turn somewhere before heading back without seeing any waterfalls...
Soaking wet and cold, I went to find a place to have dinner with Ruby. While at dinner, I had a great idea to call one of the nice hotel/spas and see if we could go use their hot tub... The front desk clerk said we could use their hot tub for $10 and that would include use of their steam room and sauna... SOLD! I spent the next half hour walking in the rain (thêre are no taxis in Sapa) up a large hill to the hotel/spa, only to discover- NO HOT TUB! The hotel people were huge jerks about the whole thing- which was not surprising by this stage of the game- and Ruby ended up buying a $55 massage just so she could get a ride home as her knee was hurting too much to walk back.

Later that night, I ended up having a domestic díspute with my hotel because thêre were no sheets on my bed, and nobody could speak English to understand what I needed. I said "no sheets, I NO PAY" which they miraculously understood, and then presented me with a bill for $11 for the room + 40,000 dong for the shuttle bus!!!!!!!!!!! This made me snap because the ONLY reason we were even thêre was for the free shuttle-Meanwhile, a room full of Vietnamese people across the hall thought it would be hilarious to try and pimp out tưo older men to me, who started trying to enter my room while making sexy noises and pelvic thrusts... this action resulted in an appearance by super-grumpy Christy who ripped up the hotel bill, threw it on the ground, and slammed the hotel room door in the face of the two men. Nothin but class...
The next day started out well- We ưent to the Bac Ha market- about 3 hours away, which happens only on Sundays... The market was great! So many amazing costumes, and cool handmade things to look at and buy. I took loads of photos of the locals wearing their traditional costumes. We stopped for lunch (which was HORRIBLE) and then continued on to a small villiage to have a short walk, and then to the border of China/Vietnam where I snapped a shot of the China side before loading up in the van again to head home....

This is when day two took a turn for the worse- around 7pm, I had a light supper of a veggie sandwich, and tea and started feeling realllllllllly sick... I managed to stagger back to my room before becoming violently ill and spent the next 24 hours wanting to die-- FOOD PÔISONING-- not fun... but it was bound to happen at some point on my SE Asia tour, and might as well have been the dang N. Vietnamese that did it!

The following day, I was still feeling a bit woozy, but I caught the night train back to Hanoi and went back to the hostel I stayed in before. Sooooooooo, all in all, Sapa wasn't my favorite part of the trip so far- in fact, aside from the gorgeous scenery, cool costumes, and markets- I don't have many great things to report. Maybe my expectations ưere too high, as many people I've met said Sapa was one of their favorite places... or maybe I just had a string of bad Karma- either way, the last few days have made me MORE than ready to be blowin this popsicle stand tomorrow to head to Bangkok. It's too bad this had to happen at the end, as it left a bad taste in my mouth for the Vietnamese- however, if it happened at the beginning I may not have wanted to see the rest of the great things the country has to offer- so maybe its a good thing....
Oh and by the way, thêre ảe about 10 other brutal incidents that happened with people ripping me off being unbelievably rude (including a parting F-you from the night time staff at my hostel in Hanoi) I opted not to report for tưo reasons - 1. It's negative, and I don't need to focus on that, and 2. This keyboard is driving me mental...

So with that, I'm out! PEACE

Hue - Hanoi - Halong Bay (aka Nirvana)

Right, so I have a bit of catching up to do, as the last few days have been a whirlwind of travel, when compared to my last two lazy weeks in Hoi An and Nha Trang... So- Here goes

HOI AN - HUE

I took a train from DaNang, just outside of Hoi An, to Hue because I had heard the trip was scenic, and the train went through several mountains, and went over the highest peak of the railway system between these two places. GREAT ADVISE! The trip was fantastic-- with exception to the bad breathed Vietnamese man sitting beside me that decided to strike up conversation every hour or so... (HHHHHEY, MHHYY NHHHAME IHHHS HHHHHONG- foul). I also had to remind him of the invisible line between our seats that represents the division of my space, and his, as at one point I was squashed so far to the asile, I had one butt cheek hanging off the side of the seat. Thank goodness for tuning out via iPod is all I have to say about that... buuuut, back to the view- phenominal! We went through several tunnels between mountains and the green hills and ocean views were unforgettable! Needless to say the ride passed quickly, and soon enough I had arrived in Hue.

I met a couple of backpackers from Slovenia before boarding the train, so we met up after we arrived in Hue and shared a taxi to a hostel. Afterwards we had a quick dinner, and then I hit the sack. I got up the following day and went for a walk around Hue. It used to be the capital of Vientam and the home of the emperor, so there is a lot of history. I walked to a walled mini-city called the Citidel and wondered around looking at the various buldings and statues contained within. I met an Irish traveller wondering around and we chatted for a while before I continued on to a park to stop for a break on my way home.

At the park I ran into some old Vietnamese dudes playing some form of "Asia-Botchie" that had eight lead balls instead of the tratitional two balls for botchie that I've always used... I hung out watching them for a while hoping that they'd finish, and I could take on the winner for a $15,000 dong prize, and bragging rights, but they took too long... So, then I walked over to the gardens and took some pictures of the beautiful statues they had. Obviously, when I encountered the female statue with breasts, I had no choice but to set the self timer on my camera (while it balanced on top of my water bottle) and took a picture of myself molesting said statue. This was going well until some female garderers insisted on taking my picture- which was rather embarassing, so I had to pose naturally for the second shot.

On the way home, I got caught in a monsoon downpour- again- and enjoyed the funny looks I received from the locals wondering why the crazy blonde tourist wasn't sporting an umbrella (which I ALWAYS forget to bring on monsoon days) or a poncho. While I walked, I rocked out to my iPod and wondered WHY on EARTH is it that everytime you want to find a cyclo driver, they are NOWHERE to be found- yet every other second of the day it's: HELLO! MISS... WHERE YOU GO? HELLO!!! I TAKE YOU! MISS!! OVER HERE!! HELLLOOOOO!

HUE - HANOI

The following day (Tuesday), I slept in, had a lazy breakfast, and prepared for my flight to Hanoi. As it turned out, my flight was two hours delayed... so I used the time productivly to book flights home! I will be coming home on October 9th, at 11:00am.... So y'all can go ahead and get your welcome home signs, and champagne ready for my arrival in YYJ mmmmmmmmmkay.....?

So I arrived in Hanoi late, around 4:30pm and felt really super nervous about getting a taxi. I'd heard many, many horror stories about robberies, and being taken to the wrong hostels and stuff... so I decided to book a hostel, and requested they send a driver for me. This went well, and I arrived safe and sound! YAY!

Once I arrived at my hostel, I made arrangements to leave the following day (Wednesday) for Halong Bay. I went out for dinner, picked up an "authentic" North Face backpack for $8 and packed it for my trip. I figured I'd invest in a smaller pack so that I wouldn't have to haul my big one all over Halong, and Sapa for the next week- an excellent call I'd say!

Soooo, now we get to my favorite part: HALONG BAY

The trip started with a long drive to the boat launch area. Once we arrived, I was confronted by a cute little tour guide named Jenny and taken away from my bus group (a fun mix of european backpackers) and put with a group of 12 Asian tourists (hello kitty).....

I was pretty bummed out about this at first, as most of them didn't speak english, but I soon found out this was only the Universe intervening, as there was a very special person on the boat I was meant to meet later on.

Once on the boat we had a seafood lunch, that wasn't that fresh, or delicious, considering the circumstances, and then we began our cruise. I went by myself to the top deck where I rocked out to my iPod while watching the scenery and topping off my tan- paradise. As you can see by this stunner photo, Halong Bay is pretty much the most amazing thing EVER. It's soooo beautiful!! I had a smile across my face the entire time! Eventually we ended up in a small bay where we stopped to check out the "Amazing Caves" (touristy, but a couple good views) and then went to another bay go for a swim and watch the sunset. It was then that I met Ruby- my newest travel friend.

I had noticed her sitting alone at lunch earlier and wanted to sit with her- but I couldn't because we share communal food, and my table was a meat eating one, and she is a vegetarian. So anyway, Ruby and I went swimming together and I had the fortune of learning all about her massivly interesting life. She is in her fifties, was born in India, got her PhD in England, and then practiced medicine, and public healthcare in over 50 countries in the world, she has done consulting in over 100! Currently she lives in Papua New Guinea where she teaches Public Healthcare at a University. We've had an amazing time talking together, and have decided to go to Sapa together tomorrow night.

Anyway, back to Halong Bay, Ruby and I decided to sleep on the top deck of the boat last night instead of in the cabins- and it was AMAZING! I watched the moon rise over the crest of the stacks and rock formations, and starred at the stars until drifting to sleep. I also watched the sun rise the next morning before retiring to my cabin to get a few extra hours in before breaky... Definitely one of the highlites of my trip- potentially my life.

During the night, Ruby told me all about India, and invited me to attend an Ashram with her near the Himmalayas- done aaaaaaaand done... just a matter of when I'll get around to it, but I know it'll be in my future for sure!

Today, we went to a national park where we took motorbikes over to a small villiage and went on a jungle trek... about 10 minutes before the trek, I was off taking a picture of some villiage pigs and I tripped over myself, and somehow smashed my foot into a pointy stick which pushed itself into my toe, and under my newly pedicured toenail... GROSS! I literally had my toenails painted for less than thirty minutes before this happend- typical Christy Smith! Anyway, being the troopy tropperson I am, I got a wet napkin, and tied it around my toe with an elastic band to stop the bleeding before treking.

While on the trek, we hiked up a small rocky hill to a cave. We walked through the cave and on the other side was a long vine (tarzan style) hanging down... Naturally, I had to transform into Janine of the Jungle and climb up the vine while swinging side to side until I got vine-burn (like rope burn) on my ankle (SMRT). So, now I have multiple injuries, but it was totally worth it- and I have pictures to prove it!

After the trek, as if the day could get any better, we went to another place and went kayaking around the bay-- AMAZING!! It was so peaceful and beautiful, it was actually overwhelming to me. I was really looking forward to the kayaking and enjoyed every minute.

Anyway, now I'm staying the night on an Island in a hotel here, and I have to be up in six hours to start the trek back to Hanoi, so I should really wrap this up... Hope everyone is faaaaaaantastic, and I am pumped for sharing some bubbly upon my return October 9th!! WOOT WOOOOOOOT! Yeaaa Turkey Weekend!

This is Janine of the Jungle, signing off! xo

I think I'm in LOVE!!! (with Hoi An)

This city is just so beautiful! I am in love with the architecture, the people, the culture--- and I have a new found love for the monsoon!

Yesterday, I decided to go for a walk to the city-centre where I sat on the edge of the river watching boats go by, and listening to the sounds of Hoi An: motorbikes, children playing, clay whistles being blown, and tailors calling tourists into shops- HELLO! LADY, YOU BUY SOMETHING?!

After I was finished sitting by the river I decided to go to a classy little restaurant called River Lounge for a bite to eat. For $6 I enjoyed a three course meal starting with a trio of tapa sized appies (Fried spring rolls on top of a sweet mango salad, spicy pumpkin soup, and fresh spring rolls on top of spicy papaya salad...mmmmmmmm), Fresh bass with lemon grass and ginger, and a casheew nut brownie with a Vietnamese coffee. Thank goodness you can't eat like that in Canada for six bux a pop, cause I might turn into a type A diabetic!

After dinner, I walked home and got caught in a ridiculous monsoon. Rather than duck into a store to wait it out, I decided to just enjoy it. I walked down the centre of the street getting SOAKED while shop keepers yelled to me that they could sell me a poncho or umbrella- I didn't want one. When I got home, I figured since I was already soaked, I might as well throw on my runners and go for a monsoon run... so I did! It was the first time I had done any form of exercise (aside from walking) since leaving Canada, but it was GREAT! I ran, and ran and ran, for around 30-45 minutes (dunno exactly cause I didn't have a watch) and I didn't feel tired at all. I could have gone forever. On my run I saw a few Hoi An specialties such as 3 huge river rats, a grasshoper the size of my fist that jumped out in front of me and scared the living daylights out of me, and a Vietnamese Jazzersize Aerobics class.

After running past the aerobics class twice, I decided on round three I'd go in and check it out. I stood in the doorway mimicing their moves until one of the ladies noticed me, started laughing, and invited me in to join. I entered the gym and started bustin a move to Dance mix '95. We actually did the Mararena at one point... no joke! It was so awesome, the ten ladies in the class were all about ages 33-45 and decked out in full on 3/4 length black leggings with flourescent thong backed body suits (circa 1987). One of the body suits, my personal fav, was rainbow coloured with a sheer black pannel around the waist to show off those kickin curves. I wish I had had a video camera to document some of the rockin Asian Jazzercise moves, because seriously, I had to focus like a mofo to keep a straight face bustin a move with them.

After the jazzercise we got our fitness on with some dumbell dancing... I can't even describe the amount of pelvis thrusting that was involved in this. Honestly, at one point I thought I would throw my back out. Plus, you have to appreciate the entire time, the teacher is blasting out Vietnamese encouragement and counting in time to the music. MOT, HAI, BA, BON, NAM, SAU, BAY, TAM! Priceless.

After we were done the class, I ended up in a Hula Hoop competition with a 40 year old Vietnamese lady.... despite my efforts (a good 8 minutes without dropping the hoop) she won! Sooooooo much fun! Eventually, I finished chatting with them, and ran all the way back to the hotel, stomping through puddles up to my ankles the whole way there. I had to wring out my clothes in the bathtub after I got home... it was crazy how soaked I was, but it was totally worth it. Me and the monsoon are friends now.

Anyway, I've gotta get out there and enjoy some of this glorious day... I think it may be my last night in Hoi An, cause I'm thinking of heading to Da Nang, or Hue tomorrow by train.

Keep it real kids! HOLLA!

National Day- and Full Moon Festival in Hoi An

Although I had planned to spend a day in Hoi An at the beautiful beaches, the weather has not been very cooperative. Yesterday it started monsooning like CRAAAAZY, and hasn't stopped since. It put a bit of a damper on the Full Moon festivities for National Day, but I think everyone managed to have a good time anyway- I know I did!

I've made friends with some of the local girls who work at the hotel I'm staying at. They are so cute. Everytime I come or go from my room I'm greeted with a "HELLO CHRISTY! HOW YOU TODAY?!" I sat around with one of the girls for over an hour yesterday talking about all sorts of things. She told me she works here 12 hours/day 7 days a week- I suggested she move to Canada... I cannot imagine how she has any time to herself!! The girls even sleep here, on the floor behind the front desk with a blanket and a mosquito net. She said she was grateful for the job because she used to work in a tailor here, and that was even worse... Thank goodness I was born in Canada, doesn't seem like much fun to have to work so hard everyday...

I wondered around downtown for a while yesterday afternoon and when I got back to the hotel I noticed there was a table set up outside with a bunch of soups, fruit, and other things. Now, it's normal here to offer food to Budda everyday, but never so elaborate as this spread was. I asked the girls if this was special for full moon, and apparently it was. They said that they offer the food to Budda, and also to the spirits who roam the earth (in case the spirits are hungry, and also so that they don't haunt them) and once the food has been offered to and blessed by Budda, then they collect it and eat it.

I was pretty touched cause later on, I was going up to my room and they insisted I take some of the squid soup (made from beans and sugar, not squid) up to my room with me to eat. I dunno how many foreigners get to eat food blessed by Budda himself, so I felt pretty honoured! I had to calm my OCD a little to force myself to eat a few mouthfulls (knowing that it had sat outside with bugs crawling all over it all afternoon) so that I woudn't offend anyone- especially Budda!

I brought it up to my room and decided to take a break from the soup while I got ready to go out for the full moon festival.... While I was getting ready, an army of ants smelled my squid soup and next thing I knew there were THOUSANDS of them swarming about in my good karma! I had a minor panic attack trying to pick up the bowl and put it in the sink to drown the little bastards, but I did it! (I'm getting much better at dealing with some of SE Asia's finer points these days). I eventually flushed the rest down the toilet, but now I'm afraid that Budda will be mad at me... fingers crossed, he'll understand.

After that escapade, I walked down the street towards town, and on the way there I ran into a big circle of locals laughing and cheering at something that was going on inside the circle... Naturally, I had to stop and see what all the fuss was about, so I watched for a while, and eventually worked my way through to the front of the circle where I saw a guy standing with a painted mask made from what looked like a woven basket. It had hair coming out of the top of it, and a big fu-man-chu beard thing going on at the bottom... super awesome! The guy obviously couldn't see through the mask, and he had a club in his hand... At first I was looking for some kind of piniatta- but then I realized it's "same same, but different." What they do here is spin the guy around with the mask on, and then he has to walk forward towards a drum and try and line himself up in the right spot to strike the drum with his club. I'm not sure if it was the traditional Dong Son bronze drum (that leaves an impact on those around) or not, but I felt some pretty sweet energy coming from there, so either way, I'm happy!

From there I walked across the Japanese bridge, which is a major historical site here, and went into some kind of pagoda that I'm pretty sure I'd normally have to pay for... but it was packed with locals, so I figured it was probably free for the night. I walked around there and watched people pray, while I breathed in the spicy incense that was burning EVERYWHERE.

Then I continued on towards the river and walked along the riverfront until a little lady with a bunch of tiny paper boats holding candles asked me if I would like to buy one (in Vietnamese, so, at first I didn't understand a thing). I asked a young local girl beside me to translate, and told her that I'd like to buy one of the lanterns and go for a boat ride. She told me that for $5000 dong (about 30 cents) I get a paper boat, candle, and a boat ride! SOLD! To thank her I bought her a boat also, and she and her three friends and I all ventured out to the river to release our paper lantern boats. IT WAS AMAZING... Not only were there dozens of candle boats flickering along the water, but there are several permanent lantern statues scattered about the river as well that were obviously lit up. It was definitely one of the most beautiful things ever... I don't even know how to describe it, but the closest thing I imagine would be maybe going through the canals in Italy-- only this was waaay less touristy, and much more authentic. The three kids I were with were all 17, and were so excited to be in the boat with me... They wanted me to have the best experience ever, and so after I released my boat, they kept leaning over and catching new ones to give me to re-release into the water. They tried taking a few videos and photos of me, but apparently even though my Olympus was made in Vietnam- the Vietnamese do not understand how to use it! hahaha It's okay though, they ended up getting a few seconds of good stuff, and one good picture.

After that I couldn't wipe the smile off my face to save my LIFE, and this ended up attracting even more good things. Everyone I passed reflected my happiness right back at me, and I ended up meeting a group of English tourists who took a picture for me, gave me the name of a good cooking class here, and then invited me to join them in Sapa next week. I have their email address in case I end up there around the same time.

By the time I finished things with them I realized it was like 9, and I still hadn't eaten anything, so I walked to a small cafe alongside the river, got some food, and people-watched.

Pretty stellar night eh! Anyway, I think I'm just going to have a quiet night tonight, and maybe watch some TV in my room or something. With any luck I can find something in English!

OH! And one more thing... I finally set a time to stop being a gypsy and head home: Thanksgiving! I figure it'll be symbolic since this trip has made me realize how INCREDIBLY much I have to be thankful for in my life... Plus all of youl can thank your lucky stars that your best peep in the universe is back in town! ;-) HOLLA!