back in vietnam.

For our first full weekend in Vietnam, our group explored the beauty which is Halong Bay!

Early Saturday morning, we all hopped in a 24-passenger van and were off for the weekend.

farmers transplanting rice we passed on our way to the bay.

Overall, the trip was about a four hour drive, but with plenty of extra seats to spread out in, the drive wasn’t bad at all.  We made a stop in the middle of the drive to a huge tourist “pit stop” full with crowded buses and plenty of foreign travelers looking for a bathroom and a snack.

We arrived at the dock of Halong Bay at around noon and boarded our boat!

our boat!

Apparently Halong Bay is a very popular tourist destination, with most foreigners renting private boats to take them out to explore the bay for two days and a night, which is what we did.

Once onboard, we were fed a (roughly) 7-course seafood lunch.

Unfortunately, I am not a huge fan of seafood so I indulged more in the pork dish, rice, and crinkle-cut French fries!

After our delicious lunch, we all went to the upper deck to enjoy the view!

The water is so incredibly calm, it is almost kind of eerie.  With the style of our boat, combined with the fog and the nature of the water, it almost felt as though we were in a Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

The large rocks throughout the bay are beautiful, and it is truly mesmerizing how calm and slow moving the water is.

view from our deck.

Saturday was pretty cold, especially with the wind, so we were all a little freezing and huddling around with all of our possible layers on.  I tried reading for a while, but got super tired and opted for a nap instead.

I’m not sure how long I slept for (maybe between one and two hours), but when I woke up I felt as though I had just had an entire night’s sleep – it was really weird.

Once most of us had woken up from our post-lunch naps, it was just about time for our first stop in the bay – Hang Sung Sot cave!

We quickly found that since there are a lot of tourist boats constantly touring the bay, most of us usually end up at the different sights around the same time.

Our boat just pulls up to the dock at the cave, we hop off, tour the cave, and it picks us right back up at the exit.

a convenience store - halong bay style! this was right outside of the cave we visited.

also right outside of the cave.

The self-guided cave tour was really cool.  We all just sort of wandered through this ginormous cave together, along with a ton of other tourists – most of whom were European.

The cave was pretty incredible.  I have been in a cave before, but not one this massive and wide open.

It is so interesting to look at the different textures of the walls, ceilings, everything.

Erin and I remarked how we now need to watch a Discovery Channel special on how caves are actually formed.

After we had made it through the cave, it was back onto the boat and off to our next destination, which didn’t happen to be far.

The next stop was one of the massive Ha Long Bay rocks complete with 400-some steep steps for us to attempt to climb.  There was also a beach surrounding the large rock where some people were playing beach soccer, buying snacks, etc.  We didn’t have much time at this stop, so most of us immediately started out climbing the daunting stairs, which never seemed to end.

This was undoubtedly the most labor-intensive climb we’ve encountered on this trip so far, and all of us were completely out of breath once we finally reached the top.

All the heavy breathing and hard work was well worth it though, the view was beautiful.

Once we were all able to take a breather and collect ourselves, it was time to take pictures!

NOT a backdrop, i promise. haha  :]

Even though it was a rather frigid day, a few of us bravely decided we needed to take a dip in the bay while we had the opportunity.  So it was back down the massive rock, onto the boat to change into our suits, and into the chilly water!

Night was falling at this point, and we had really built the water up in our minds to probably being comparable to an ice bath, but thankfully it turned out to not be bad at all.

We all agreed the waterfall water in Laos was pretty cold (especially when you initially jump in), and the water in Halong Bay was about the same.

We needed to get back on the boat, so we only had time for a quick dip, but that wasn’t a problem – we were just happy to be able to say we went swimming in Vietnam!

After we had all boarded the boat again, we changed for dinner and started a game of hearts.

Dinner was similar to lunch, many more seafood dishes, along with a chicken dish and some vegetables.

Hands down, the best part of the meal (and some may argue the entire trip) was the dessert….GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!  Dessert was provided compliments of Pam Carstens, a business professor from Coe visiting over Spring Break.

Between the twelve of us, we split a box of tagalongs (peanut butter patties), shortbread, and thin mints.  Yum.

After our delicious dessert, we picked up our game of hearts again.  I ended up losing, but we played another game after and I redeemed myself!  I ended up winning the second time, and somehow shot the moon during the very first hand of the second game.

It was midnight by the time we finished our second game of hearts and everyone else had already gone to bed, so we decided to follow suit (no pun intended) as well.

After a full night’s sleep, we woke up for a “late” breakfast at 9am.  We had fried eggs, bread with butter and jam, and little slices of ham.

Once we had all eaten, our captain graciously anchored the boat in a section of water that was deep enough for swimming, and most importantly, jumping off the top deck of the boat!

But no worries, it was completely safe.  :]

We were all a little nervous at first, especially because we had to step up on a little ledge in order to actually jump into the water below, and wanted to be careful no one slipped and fell.

I somehow ended up being the person ordered to go first, and after collecting my courage, and belting out my lungs on the way down, I plunged into the freezing water below.  Even though it was daytime (and we could almost make out the sun behind all of the cloud cover) the water was somehow colder than from our brief swim the night before.  The water was also incredibly salty…wow!

We were able to jump and swim for probably about a good thirty to forty-five minutes, and it was so much fun.

me jumping!

group jump!  :D

Some of the people with us were able to get some pretty incredibly pictures of us jumping too, which was really neat.

I felt super salty afterwards, but it was definitely worth it.

After our early morning swim, we all met with Drexler to discuss our latest read, The Quiet American.

It was a lot of fun having class on the boat surrounded by the beautiful scenery of Halong Bay.

By the time we finished class, we were nearing shore, which meant the end of our boat ride.

We watched with dreaded anticipation as we neared the dock and all of the other boats loading and unloading passengers.

Once back onshore, we reloaded our 24-passenger van and headed back towards Hanoi.

We spent the rest of the afternoon driving through the Vietnam countryside, stopping at the same major tourist “pit stop” for a bathroom break and lunch.

tall, skinny house which is a signature of where we were in vietnam. we saw this particular one on the drive back to hanoi.

Sunday evening was quiet, as we had a rather eventful and exciting weekend.  Halong Bay was definitely worth seeing; I had a wonderful time there!

contrast.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

After reviewing my last blog post with just pictures I quickly realized that some elaboration was needed.

Recently, we have been doing and seeing so much that I haven’t had a lot of time to type up (and post) all that has been taking place, and therefore have started posting picture blogs from time to time.

Although looking through the last couple of pictures I posted of our time in Cambodia, I began to feel as though they were portraying a very surface, one-dimensional image of our some of our encounters here and decided I need to explain some of what we’ve been seeing.

First of all, Cambodia is a wonderful country.  It is very beautiful and the people are incredibly friendly.

In my experience though, Cambodia has shown the most contrast of all of the places we’ve visited thus far.

As soon as we left the airport and were driving to our hotel, I was instantly blown away by the sheer number of Lexus SUVs.  I am not exaggerating when I say that they are everywhere.  I have also noticed a high number of Range Rovers and Hummers littering the streets.

On the other hand though, Cambodia is stricken with people in need.

First arriving in Phnom Penh proved to be an adjustment for myself and my group as we were surrounded by people in dire need as soon as we stepped foot outside of our hotel.

There are individuals who are missing limbs due to landmines, disheveled mothers holding naked children asking for money on the side of the street, and children without shoes running up and down the streets either trying to sell things to tourists or simply asking for money and food.

The children here sell just about everything: books, bracelets, and at Angkor Wat they also sold wooden flutes, refrigerator magnets, bottled water, sliced pineapple, packs of postcards, decorative mobiles, grass bracelets and so forth.

This situation has proven to be a catch-22.

On one hand you always hear about how it’s bad to give money to children begging on the street because there is usually a “big guy” behind them who gets all of the money and who is only extorting the children.  We’ve also heard people here say not to buy from the children on the street because their parents don’t let them go to school so they can sell and earn money.

But when there’s a young face in front of you pleading for help, and only one dollar is standing between you and them, what are you to do?

I wish I could give each person in need who approaches me money, but what if my dollar is doing more harm than good?  Also, I only have so much money to give.

I feel as though my group would agree that Cambodia has presented a definite moral dilemma for us all.

And while it would be easy to simply not present such matters and only discuss the happier topics, that would only be telling half of the story.

Unfortunately, I do not know what the answer is. 

I wish that I could help all of the individuals – young and old – we encounter here on a daily basis.  But I guess for now, I will have to be satisfied with the little assistance I can provide and would hope that those reading this would take the time to realize that these issues are out there, and if nothing else, we should strive to be grateful for all of the gifts life continues to offer us each and every day.

some things i saw today.

grass ring with accompanying flower. [so this one was actually yesterday, but who's keeping track?]

group shot of our grass rings!

the nice young man who sold us all our lovely rings.

pineapple and rice lunch!

the pineapple served as a fancy dish for my yummy beef!

the wonderful view from our lunch spot.

more of the lunchtime view.

eager children selling us sliced pineapple.

something i saw today.

saw this posted in a bathroom today! some friendly instructions, just in case you weren't sure how to use it...

sukhothai, thailand.

While this may have happened over a month ago, here is my account of our trip to the ancient Thai city of Sukhothai.  Better late than never, right?!  :]

On the morning of Friday February 18^th, we packed all of our worldy belongings up, loaded into vans and departed our beloved Mountain View guesthouse.

Before hitting the open road, we stopped at UNISERV (our new place of residence), a hostel on campus of Chiang Mai University and dropped off whatever we could not live without for the weekend.

The next three days would consist of a lot of driving and a lot of temple hopping.

Thankfully, I don’t get carsick easily and don’t even mind long car rides, rather I sort of enjoy them.

Time to simply relax, listen to music, sleep, etc.

The first Wat we visited on our tour of Sukhothai was called Pratartlampangluang.

It was very beautiful.  Although as soon as we emerged from the vans, we realized that it felt like Thailand had really turned up the heat and we were now inside of a very warm oven.

I kept having to remind myself that it is only February, just wait until we dive headfirst into April!

a Thai money tree.

shh...nap time! [note: the warm weather must have put the old man and the dog right to sleep]

After the first Wat, it was back into the vans for some more driving!

Also, I say vans because it wasn’t just the 11 of us on Asia Term visiting Sukhothai, we also brought along some of our teachers from CMU, which ended up being a fun addition.

our view from where we ate lunch.

an old television re-purposed as a fishy tank!

After more driving, we took a break for lunch.  We ate at a nice, open-air restaurant facing a big pond with lily pads and flowers galore!  We ate wonderful food, complimented by a great view.

Later in the afternoon we stopped at our first historical park, Sri Satchanalai (a World Heritage site since 1991), which was full of ancient ruins.  The park was definitely a neat place, especially knowing the various buildings were hundreds and hundreds of years old.  

what used to be elephant statues.

Buddha.

This park was also surrounded with trees full of bright, orange flowers which were in full bloom.  Apparently some refer to this certain tree as the flame of the forest; they definitely made the scenery even more beautiful.

the flame of the forest.

After sweating what was probably equivalent to our body weights’ in sweat, it was back to the vans to cool off and we were on our way to our hotel for the night.

That evening was pretty low-key; we all cooled off in the pool for a bit, ate a great buffet dinner (they actually had POTATOES!  It was absolutely wonderful :D) and played a game of hearts before bed.

The next morning we did a bike tour of the actual city of Sukhothai, which ended up being a lot of fun.

We started our day early, before it got too incredibly hot.

me on my pretty pink bike!

an action shot.

The first place we biked to was a temple called Wat Sri Chum, and it was without a doubt my favorite Wat so far on this trip.

While it may not have housed any Buddha statues in glimmering gold, something about this Buddha image really set it apart.

Approaching the Buddha image is incredible because his head and eyes are peering out at onlookers between two large, stone walls.

a smaller Buddha image next door to the large one.

The Buddha looks so peaceful, and it is fascinating to wonder about what it must have been like (Thailand, the people, etc.) whenever this statue was originally constructed.

We were also informed that people used to be allowed to climb up and explore this humongous Buddha, but unfortunately that is no longer the case.

One other aspect which makes this Buddha so beautiful is that his right hand, which is in the Subduing Mara pose, is painted gold.  It is truly stunning.

Seeing this Buddha was even more of a treat, because I had just sent off a postcard stateside with a beautiful (and large) gold Buddha hand with flowers besides it, and here I was seeing this statue in real life!  It was a wonderful, unexpected surprise.

After Wat Sri Chum, and a quick break for ice cream (it was already warming up!), we hopped back on our bicycles and pedaled to the Sukhothai Historical Park (also a World Heritage site since 1991).

The bikes were especially nice as it was very hot in Sukhothai, and only got hotter as the day progressed.

At one point, I was literally pedaling myself in circles (as others stopped to take pictures of a political statue) just to create some air flow.  It was pretty sad to think that this is only February…I cannot imagine the treat we will be in for come APRIL!  :O haha.

Anyways, Sukhothai Historical Park was simply beautiful.  The ruins were incredible, and there were so many of them!  Being on bike was a smart way to get around here, as there was so much to see, and it provided a nice breeze as well as quick transportation to and from.

After the historical park, we all met back up at the bike shop, turned in our bikes, and departed for the hotel.

We all showered off (which felt SO nice!) and ate lunch before checking out and leaving to go to Phitsanulok.

On the way, we stopped at a Thai Folk Museum, which housed various objects and artifacts found and used in the traditional Thai way of life.

a friendly greeter at the Thai Folk Museum.  :]

The museum was full of fascinating objects, and it was very nice to be out of the sun and heat for a little bit.

After the folk museum, we checked into our new hotel and had some free time before dinner.

Erin and I opted for a much needed nap, and some downtime in the A/C accompanied by some bad English television.  Our hotel in Phitsanulok, called Topland, was extremely nice.  The beds were super comfortable as well.  :]

That evening we all gathered for a group dinner at the Flying Vegetables Restaurant.

As the name might imply, there actually are f-l-y-i-n-g vegetables there.

How it works is sometime during your meal, people gather around this old, tall metal trailer-like thing which now acts as an elevated stage.  There is an expert chef stationed below at his outside kitchen station where he whips up some buttery stir-fry morning glory (a vegetable, which is basically leafy greens).  Usually a crowd gathers below, and when there are enough people around, some of the restaurant workers start banging on drums, clapping, etc.  It is a lot of fun to watch.  Once the vegetables are cooked, the chef signals with a huge flame, turns around (so his back is facing the person catching) and thrusts the morning glory from his frying pan into the lid of a trashcan (hopefully).

Everyone we watched did wonderful, and didn’t drop a single bite.

Luckily, three of us – Erin, Aaron, and I – were given the opportunity to actually catch some of the vegetables ourselves!

In order to prepare you for the art of vegetable catching, they arm you with a large, slippery apron and a metal trash can lid (which I am sure was properly sanitized :] ).

I had the honor of going first and was lucky enough to receive a tricky throw, an over the shoulder number, which I expertly caught in my trashcan lid ;]

I was so nervous standing up there, not knowing whether I would be actually catch them or not!  Thankfully, I succeeded and as a reward, they present your table with the flying morning glory you just caught.  This was a very unique and enjoyable experience; I am very glad I was able to be a part of it.

right after the big catch!

my proud trophy!

The next day, Sunday, we had a delicious buffet breakfast at Topland and were off on our way back to Chiang Mai.

Our first stop was at Wat Yai.

As soon as we started walking around we saw three trucks pull up with young men in the back surrounded by their families, flowers, and colorful umbrellas – they were in the process of going through the official ceremony to become a monk!

young men in the process of becoming official monks.

I had not seen this before, and even though we only caught a glimpse, it was still pretty exciting.

Wat Yai is regarded by some as being the most exquisite temple in all of Thailand due to its large, gold Buddha.  I’m not sure whether I would go that far, but it was definitely nicely decorated (very ornate), and was overflowing with excited visitors.

a whole row of Buddhas.

the infamous main, gold Buddha.

another Thai money (Baht) tree.

There were more colorful money trees inside, which are always fun to look at.

Although, my favorite part of this Wat was having our fortunes told!  There is a little wooden cup which gets passed around and it has all of these wooden sticks inside, each with a different number written on it.  To get your fortune told, you are supposed to shake the wooden cup until only one wooden stick falls out and whichever number is on it is the fortune you go and get.  They have a large wooden box divided into smaller boxes, one for each number and corresponding fortune.

Also, if you shake the wooden cup and more than one stick falls out at the same time, you are supposed to put them all back in and try again.

On my first try, one wooden stick fell and it was #1.

all of the various fortunes!

Incredibly, I lucked out and got a rather good fortune!  It is written in Thai, but one of the teachers on the trip with us was busy translating everyone’s fortune, and she told me it was a very good fortune which said I would be happy, find a good partner, would get any wish I hoped to come true, and would get well should I fall ill.

I was elated to get this fortune, because apparently if you draw a bad fortune, you are supposed to put it back in its box and try again.  Guess you don’t want to take the bad fortune with you and have something more come of it!

After our stop at Wat Yai, we drove for a while and stopped for lunch – Thailand style, at a roadside stand.  I (again) lucked out and got one of two remaining chicken and rice dishes.

my yummy iced Ovaltine.

Afterwards, I enjoyed a delicious iced Ovaltine, another trademark of Thailand (along with iced Milos), or at least in my experience :]

That afternoon, we stopped at our last Wat of the Coe-CMU Trip to Sukhothai & Phitsanulok 2011, Wat Pratat Haripoonchai in Lampoon.   

Buddha footprints!  :D

Thankfully it was well into late afternoon and was already cooling off.

This Wat was beautiful, like all the others, and surprisingly had a ton of Buddha images! (haha just kidding) But in all seriousness, the Wat was quite pretty and provided many exceptional photo opportunities. 

Also, right across the street was the “O-TOP bridge.”  O-TOP is an organization in Thailand which allows villages to specialize in a certain handicraft, food item, etc. in which to produce and opportunities to get their products out to the public and sold for a fair amount.

So pretty much if you are buying an O-TOP scarf, shoes, etc. you know your money is not only going to procure an attractive souvenir, but it is also going to a good cause.

There are different places where O-TOP products are available, and this bridge just happens to be one such place, as it houses all O-TOP sellers.  I bought a nice pair of purple fisherman pants (which are quite popular here, not to mention breezy) and a couple of gifts for people back home.

After our last stop, we only had about a half an hour before we were back in the lovely Chiang Mai.

We officially switched from our beloved guesthouse to a hostel that night, and the change was rough on most of us as we were pretty used to our previous accommodations and surroundings.  Eventually though, we adjusted and everything was just fine living in a new part of town, off of Nimmanhaemin Street.