My flight from Luang Prabang to Hanoi was already booked when I made my final decision to go home for two weeks, and I was looking forward to hanging out with Victoria, who I met in Siem Reap a few weeks earlier. I wanted to enjoy as much of Hanoi as I could, even though my heart wasn’t quite in it. After a delayed flight and spending way too much on transport from the airport, I arrived at my hotel in desperate need of a shower. Victoria was already waiting for me in the lobby, practicing her Vietnamese with the employees. Her motorbike was parked out front, but luckily when I rushed back from my shower, she said we were taking a taxi to meet her friends on Chicken Street.
chicken feet, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tags: Hanoi, Hoan Kiem Lake, round the world, solo travel, travel pictures, Vietnam
I’ll be honest, Luang Prabang didn’t really do it for me. It’s one of the highlights of any visit to Laos, and I did like the city, but I didn’t fall in love with it like most people seem to. Maybe five days wasn’t enough time. Maybe I had such high expectations because everyone else seemed to love this city, and I had built it up too much in my head. Maybe I was burnt out on temples. Maybe I was just burnt out in general and aching to be back home with Andy.
Tags: homesick, Laos, Luang Prabang, round the world, solo travel, travel hassles
Vang Vieng, Laos
Vang Vieng is a town between Vientiane, the capital of Laos, and Luang Prabang, the culturally rich city most people come to Laos to see. Vang Vieng is known amongst backpackers for one thing: tubing. Sounds harmless, but it’s not just tubing down a river. It’s tubing down a river while stopping at makeshift bars that cling to the river’s shores. Those bars not only sell alcoholic drinks, but often mushrooms, weed, or who knows what other drugs. I’ve actually heard of a few that give you a free joint with the purchase of an alcoholic drink. Yeah, ’cause that sounds like a good idea. They also have rope swings and other things to jump off of into the river. People who are drunk and high and jumping into a not-so-deep river is not a good combination. The only other thing I’ve ever heard about this town is that you can watch episodes of “Friends” in almost any bar or restaurant. Now that’s culture. Finding nothing appealing about this town, I swore I wouldn’t go there. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Laos, round the world, solo travel, tubing, Vang Vieng
almost empty plane to Pakse, Laos
After seeing Angkor Wat and spending six fun nights in Siem Reap, I went to the airport to fly to Pakse, Laos. Most people would probably go overland, but I was already sick of long bus trips, and the visa on arrival just seemed like an easier option for me. When I booked the flight, there was a morning and an afternoon option. Always one to sleep in, I chose the afternoon flight. It turns out most people take the morning flight because it continues on, whereas the afternoon flight does not. So I ended up being one of two passengers. It was one of the oddest flights ever. Luckily the other passenger was an interesting traveler from Australia, so I enjoyed talking to him for our one hour flight. The taxi drivers at the Pakse Airport joked that we must be rich to have our own personal plane take us there. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: 4000 Islands, Don Dett, Don Khon, Laos, round the world, solo travel
I was recently tagged by Jaime of Breakaway Backpacker to participate in “My Travel ABC’s” which is an alphabetical summary of my travels. I hope you enjoy learning a little more about me! Also, I hope everyone’s having a great holiday!
A – Age you went on your first international trip:
When I was 13 my parents took me and my friend Kristen to Vermont, and we drove across the border into Canada for lunch one day. So technically that was my first time being outside of the United States. However, the first time I took an international trip that lasted longer than two hours was when I was 14. I had a great English teacher in middle school who organized 10 day tours to Europe. I went three years in a row, and the first one was to London, Paris, Nice, and Geneva. I was definitely hooked.
Tags: round the world, solo travel, travel addiction, travel pictures
The main draw for Siem Reap is Angkor Wat, one of the most famous and spectacular temples in the world. I paid US$40 for a three day pass (one day and one week passes are also available), got up early to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat, and spent the rest of my three days exploring the several of the temples. But I also had a great time relaxing and hanging out with Michael, Holger, and Victoria. Michael is another blogger who I know through Twitter and finally met in June at TBEX in Vancouver. Holger is a professional photographer and a good friend of Michael’s. Victoria is from the States, was working in Hanoi, Vietnam for about a year, and just happened to be staying at the same hotel as us when she took a quick break from work to visit Siem Reap. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Angkor Wat, Cambodia, round the world, Siem Reap, travel pictures
One of the sights I was most excited about seeing on my trip was Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Angkor Wat is really just one temple in a huge complex of temples, but it’s the most famous one. So after spending a few days in Phnom Penh, I booked a mini van shuttle to Siem Reap and booked a room at Mother Home Guesthouse for a few nights. (This turned out to be one of the best places I’ve stayed on my entire trip, and it was nice hotel at hostel prices.) The temple complex is one of those places where I just couldn’t stop taking pictures, so I thought I’d share some of them with you here.
Tags: Angkor Wat, Cambodia, round the world, Siem Reap, travel pictures
After taking a cooking class in Bali, I decided it might be fun to try another one in Phnom Penh. I searched online and picked a school that had lots of great reviews, and the only negative thing anyone had to say was that there were too many people in the class. So I filled out the online form, paid the fee, and arranged for a tuk-tuk driver to take me the day after I went to the Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The tuk-tuk driver didn’t show up, so I had to get someone else to take me. I should’ve taken this as an omen, because when I arrived at the restaurant I was told I was the only person who had signed up for that day. I assumed they would try to reschedule me or refund my money. But no, they said we’d still have the class. Just me and the instructor. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Cambodia, cooking class, Phnom Penh, round the world, solo travel, travel pictures
After an emotional visit to the Killing Fields, I had my tuk-tuk driver take me back into the city to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. This former school was used by the Khmer Rouge to imprison, torture and kill Cambodians. They took pictures and kept records of each person who was brought here, and as a remembrance, many of the pictures are displaced. Walking through the museum was more painful than the killing fields because I could look into the faces of the victims. There were still blood stains on the floor. But the thing that’s so striking about these pictures is how many of the victims were smiling or smirking, staying brave and defiant in the face of cruelty and almost certain death. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Cambodia, Phnom Penh, round the world, travel, Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
Killing Fields - Phnom Penh
Aside from one day alone in Singapore, I had spent three weeks with Amanda. But after our time in Brunei, it was time for her to fly home and for me to fly to Cambodia. I needed a little down time, so I literally did not leave the hostel my first day there. I spent the day in the hostel’s restaurant enjoying the wifi and catching up on my blog, emails, reading other people’s blogs, sorting pictures. (By the way, I stayed at the Mad Monkey, and they have the nicest staff ever!) My plan for the next day was the Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, not exactly a barrel of laughs, but two places so important to Cambodia’s not so distant past. I won’t go into great detail about the history, but if you don’t know much about it and want to read more, please click here for more information. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Cambodia, killing fields, Phnom Penh, round the world, travel
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