i'll give it to you straight: i was scared of india. i've been talking to a lot of people about traveling and people talk about how exhausting india is. it's not a place you go and easily fall in love with, like thailand. india's full of rough people and it's hard to get around and the men constantly leer and you'll definitely get ripped off.
so why am i going here again? *sigh* but we'd bought the place tickets, gotten the visas, so we were going.
and now that i'm here...i think everyone was exaggerating. this city's been wonderful to us so far. sure, we've met some unscrupulous seller guys and sad, puppy-dog-eyed children have tugged on our arms and begged for money, but overall, this isn't the harsh country i thought it would be.
granted, we've only been in mumbai/bombay/i can't decide what to call it. it's a big international city and people act differently in cities like this; generally, everything should be up to international/western standards. so i'm doing india-lite version.
but really, we've met mostly wonderful people. there was kamul, who we met on the street and who wandered around town with us for a while, helped us get sim cards, and invited us to a party later (which we declined and he understood). our cab driver from the airport was really sweet, pointing out all the sights of the city and making sure we got into our hotel. there've been countless other interactions--you know, those brief moments you have with strangers, whether they're in a hotel/restaurant/park/whatever--that haven't been harsh or rude at all.
this isn't to say that the city is all calm and full of wonderful people, though. it's a bizarre, loud, DIRTY place. oh man, you guys, you should've seen my feet yesterday. we went to the washer place (where thousands of guys are literally just washing clothes in these concrete basins) and walked around, so my feet got wet and gross in there, then we went to chowpatty beach on the arabian sea (aka a trash can), and my feet got grosser there, so that by the time we got home to shower at the end of the day, my sandaled feet looked like they were wearing shoes.
people are selling the weirdest stuff here. peacock feathers seem to be popular with the vendors, as do incredibly oversized balloons. seriously, they're the size of a my-size barbie. yeah, i totally and completely wanna walk around this crowded city with a giant balloon.
ok maybe those things aren't THAT weird. with that intro (and in such a foreign place) you were prob expecting something like elephant heads or snake venom.
there are almost zero white people around here. i thought that since we were coming to such a huge place, we'd be mobbing around with white people all the time. instead, we've been pointing out white folks like they're some sort of novel attraction because we hardly ever see them.
there are, however, a zillion men. i've never seen so many men (and so few women) in my life. today maddy and i walked to this green space in the middle of the city, next to the university and high court, where a ton of people were playing cricket. it was maybe two, three football fields long, filled with hundreds of men playing cricket. we're pretty sure that we were the only women in the whole area, save for this one other white girl with her SO. i've never been so completely surrounded by so much testosterone.
last night we were offered the chance to go to some sort of grand event for presumably a bollywood thing. we would've gone except it was outside the city so we were supposed to go spend the night in this random place. no thank you.
now we're staying at the salvation army's red shield house. I KNOW. i feel so traveler-y. it's dirty and sort of run down, but maddy and i are loving it. we have our own room, our own bathroom, and free breakfast and lunch included in the room price. we eat in a canteen. it's just like school.
this afternoon we're gonna go up to the hanging gardens and jain temple. we're gonna take an old school cab. i swear they haven't updated their fleet since ford invented the car.
oh, and yesterday we took a ride on the train, too. the public transport in the city. when we first walked in to the station it was insane and we were like OH HELL NO THIS IS CRAZY AND SO MANY PEOPLE AND IN AN UNREADABLE LANGUAGE. but then we sat for a while, observed the ways of the people, and got more confident about it. we took a cab anyway (we were exactly sure where we were going), but on the way back hopped on the train. we were in a ladies-only car. it was awesome.
headed back upstairs to read and escape the sweaty afternoon heat. afternoon time is nap time.
p.s. kuala lumpur, malaysia, was pretty uneventful and not really worth mentioning.
10.10.10
6.10.10
i WAS gonna upload pictures...
then fbook wasn't working.
THEN I FIXED IT. muahaha. take that, communism.
then i realize this janky computer doesn't have photo uploading software. while i could dl some on here (yeah, i can just dl software on a public comp, nbd), i'm tired and i have a super comfy bed upstairs and cable tv and i think there's an antm marathon on, so i'm taking all of this as i sign i should just give up.
but wait, i wanna tell you about sapa first. it was phenomenal. i took the overnight train from hanoi along with two other couples...one real sweet couple from england and this semi-weird, unmarried, old-but-acts-sorta-immature couple from australia. the woman was competitive and cheap, which means she ALWAYS asks how much you got stuff for and brags shamelessly when she got it for cheaper. not a fan. anyway, the train pulled in to lao cai in northern vietnam around 5 am.
everyone said (and by "everyone" i mean guidebooks and stuff) it'd be cold. it was so not cold. same temp as hanoi--warm, a little humid, nothing cool about it. liars.
but then we got in a van and drove an hour pretty much straight into a mountain range, and it got cold. YESSS this is what i was hoping for.
quick note about northern vietnam travel...from hanoi, there are two really popular short trips: sapa and halong bay. because i only had a week here and i wanted to explore hanoi for sure, i figured i only had time for one of these. sapa's mountainous and full of terraced rice fields, trees, and native villages; halong bay has big ol' limestone rocks jutting out of the ocean and boats you can sleep on. i've seen enough pretty stuff in the ocean, so i opted for the mountains.
as soon as i got out of the van and looked around at tiny sapa all buried away in the mountains, i knew i made the right choice. that day, at 9:30 am, i started out on a hike with a german girl and a local guide, lam, who was 18 and from a tribe a ways down the mountain.
btw, they advertise this as "trekking"...that's a misnomer. maybe it makes people happier if they call things like this a trek, but really, this was just a long walk in nature. the trail was well worn, there were always other people around, and we passed multiple cafes along the way.
actually, that kinda bugged me. on one hand, it was neat to walk through a few of the villages and see this simple way of life they lead, with these big fancy costumes that yes, they actually wear, and the way that rice permeates everything they do, and the simple homes they keep, and blah blah. but there were plenty of cafes serving us tourists cold beer, snacks, coke, anything we wanted so we'd be able to satisfy our high standard of living...meh. i just kind of feel bad when neat but personal, local ways of life become so geared toward tourists.
anyway, aside from that, i had a really awesome time on our walk. german girl margret and i had some great conversations, and lam started to really open up after a while (we hiked until 3 pm, after all...gives you some time for bonding). by the end she was bouncing up and down and inviting us to dinner at her house.
i went on one more walk through another village the next day, but it was maybe two miles, and we went so slow i think a baby could've beat us. the emphasis on that hike was def the tourism and shopping and crap.
i spent the rest of my time drinking too much strong vietnamese coffee, trying all of hte vietnamese beers, and generally reveling in the glory of cold weather. more than anything, this trip just made me excited for CHRISTMAS!
next stop: kuala lumpur, malaysia for one night (oct 7), where i'll once again meet up with my main bitch miss maddy armstrong. from there, on oct 8, we're off to MUMBAIIIII! expect a week of insanity.
THEN I FIXED IT. muahaha. take that, communism.
then i realize this janky computer doesn't have photo uploading software. while i could dl some on here (yeah, i can just dl software on a public comp, nbd), i'm tired and i have a super comfy bed upstairs and cable tv and i think there's an antm marathon on, so i'm taking all of this as i sign i should just give up.
but wait, i wanna tell you about sapa first. it was phenomenal. i took the overnight train from hanoi along with two other couples...one real sweet couple from england and this semi-weird, unmarried, old-but-acts-sorta-immature couple from australia. the woman was competitive and cheap, which means she ALWAYS asks how much you got stuff for and brags shamelessly when she got it for cheaper. not a fan. anyway, the train pulled in to lao cai in northern vietnam around 5 am.
everyone said (and by "everyone" i mean guidebooks and stuff) it'd be cold. it was so not cold. same temp as hanoi--warm, a little humid, nothing cool about it. liars.
but then we got in a van and drove an hour pretty much straight into a mountain range, and it got cold. YESSS this is what i was hoping for.
quick note about northern vietnam travel...from hanoi, there are two really popular short trips: sapa and halong bay. because i only had a week here and i wanted to explore hanoi for sure, i figured i only had time for one of these. sapa's mountainous and full of terraced rice fields, trees, and native villages; halong bay has big ol' limestone rocks jutting out of the ocean and boats you can sleep on. i've seen enough pretty stuff in the ocean, so i opted for the mountains.
as soon as i got out of the van and looked around at tiny sapa all buried away in the mountains, i knew i made the right choice. that day, at 9:30 am, i started out on a hike with a german girl and a local guide, lam, who was 18 and from a tribe a ways down the mountain.
btw, they advertise this as "trekking"...that's a misnomer. maybe it makes people happier if they call things like this a trek, but really, this was just a long walk in nature. the trail was well worn, there were always other people around, and we passed multiple cafes along the way.
actually, that kinda bugged me. on one hand, it was neat to walk through a few of the villages and see this simple way of life they lead, with these big fancy costumes that yes, they actually wear, and the way that rice permeates everything they do, and the simple homes they keep, and blah blah. but there were plenty of cafes serving us tourists cold beer, snacks, coke, anything we wanted so we'd be able to satisfy our high standard of living...meh. i just kind of feel bad when neat but personal, local ways of life become so geared toward tourists.
anyway, aside from that, i had a really awesome time on our walk. german girl margret and i had some great conversations, and lam started to really open up after a while (we hiked until 3 pm, after all...gives you some time for bonding). by the end she was bouncing up and down and inviting us to dinner at her house.
i went on one more walk through another village the next day, but it was maybe two miles, and we went so slow i think a baby could've beat us. the emphasis on that hike was def the tourism and shopping and crap.
i spent the rest of my time drinking too much strong vietnamese coffee, trying all of hte vietnamese beers, and generally reveling in the glory of cold weather. more than anything, this trip just made me excited for CHRISTMAS!
next stop: kuala lumpur, malaysia for one night (oct 7), where i'll once again meet up with my main bitch miss maddy armstrong. from there, on oct 8, we're off to MUMBAIIIII! expect a week of insanity.
3.10.10
enough of this city stuff
hanoi, you're a bustling beauty right now. you're filled with insanity and more people than you should hold. i'm loving it, but i need a break.
going up to sapa until the 6th. see you soon, you little ball of energy.
going up to sapa until the 6th. see you soon, you little ball of energy.
1.10.10
VIETNAMMMMMMM IN YOUR FACE!
excuse me for a minute but...HOLY SHIT. hanoi is nuts.
vietnam didn't welcome me with open arms. when i went to apply for my visa, i had to pay $25--specifically in USD. i only had $16 USD (maybe i brought this for show and tell? i dunno, that was 11 months ago version of nicki), but i figured lots of people would have this problem so the airport prob had an exchange place right next to the visa window.
NOT. two people ahead of me were short on cash, too. when they asked the visa guys what to do, they sort of shrugged like, "welp, guess you're SOL. no vietnam for you." lucky for them, two canadians with extra cash were standing nearby. when my name was called, i went up to the window and asked if i could use thai baht. sure, they said, for 1000 baht. that's a $5 rip off, but i didn't have a choice.
already, vietnam? really? you couldn't make this easy, could you?
i got my bag--one of the last three on the thingy--and proceeded to the exit. first, to get some vietnamese dong. this is money. it's a hilarious name for currency and it will never NOT be hilarious. anyway, i got over four million dong and told the exchange guy they had crazy money. he laughed. i walked away and this guy walked up to me offering me a taxi. yeah, i'm going to the old quarter, where friggin everyone goes, you can take me there? i dunno...but he was really nice, and because i've been living in thailand for a year i'm used to nice people being genuinely nice. so i said ok, let's go.
he and his pal took me upstairs. i waited outside a door by what looked like the exit ramp from the airport. the main guy went outside to get his friend. all of a sudden his pal grabbed my bag and was like "LET'S GO!" and rushed outside. main guy hopped in a taxi and a guard type figure started blowing his whistle and pointing angrily at us. main guy got out and the taxi drove off.
BAD SITUATION, NICKI. stupid. of course this is a scam. i told the guys i forgot, i wanted to get a sim card, i'm gonna go downstairs and get one. "they're twice the price here..." i heard them say as i dashed off. idiot nicki. this is NOT the southeast asia you know.
so i go downstairs to ask the information girl about a taxi. she says i should prob call my hotel first to make a reservation cuz there's this big celebration going on and there might not be room. i'd read it's hanoi's 1000th birthday or something, but i didn't think it'd be a big deal allllll year long.
NOT. super nice information girl and i spent an hour trying to find a hotel with an open room. she must've called at least 10 different places for me. sweet, sweet girl. finally we found one that was semi-affordable (free breakfast/internet/tv though!) and in a good location and had a room.
by this time it was almost 6 pm. i'd arrived two hours ago. as i got into the cab with the driver who spoke basically zero english (and i absolutely zero vietnamese), i was starting to think hanoi was a mistake. this city is too fucking crazy, especially by myself, and it's already been hard and expensive and maybe i should just look for the next cheap flight out of here. i was stupid for coming here alone.
but then i got to the hotel. and it's a sweet room with cable tv. so i sat down for a minute, wrote in my diary, literally screamed a bit to let out some frustration and shock, and calmed down.
this is what traveling is. it's hard. it's being stuck in a situation you can't find an easy way out of. it's being wildly uncomfortable. it's not knowing what to do.
it's figuring it all out anyway.
i decided i couldn't take the wussy way out and stay in my hotel room all night. after all, i had to eat. so i went out of my room and turned left. i didn't see anything and the traffic was crazy and i was terrified of getting lost, so i turned around. whatever, i'll go hungry.
no, nicki, don't so that. i went the other way instead and came across this HUGE shopping street, peds only. hundreds and hundreds of shops, thousands of people. there were kids, babies, teenagers, grandparents, locals, tourists, sellers, buyers, EVERYONE. i smiled a gigantic grin. yes, this is insane, but you're not gonna die. i walked down the street about half a mile and i don't think i stopped smiling the whole time. i got a kebab (OH MY GOD it was good) and some ice cream. as i was walking back toward my hotel, fireworks started going off. everyone started screaming and running toward them.
instead of going straight back, i followed the crowd. there are literally thousands of people out right now, watching fireworks, shopping, eating, doing god knows what for this celebration. i stood at an intersection filled with cars, motorbikes, and tons of people (everyone was right--traffic in this city is something else) and just laughed at it all. a few people caught me and laughed with/at me.
hanoi, you're a tough one, but i think i'm gonna love you.
vietnam didn't welcome me with open arms. when i went to apply for my visa, i had to pay $25--specifically in USD. i only had $16 USD (maybe i brought this for show and tell? i dunno, that was 11 months ago version of nicki), but i figured lots of people would have this problem so the airport prob had an exchange place right next to the visa window.
NOT. two people ahead of me were short on cash, too. when they asked the visa guys what to do, they sort of shrugged like, "welp, guess you're SOL. no vietnam for you." lucky for them, two canadians with extra cash were standing nearby. when my name was called, i went up to the window and asked if i could use thai baht. sure, they said, for 1000 baht. that's a $5 rip off, but i didn't have a choice.
already, vietnam? really? you couldn't make this easy, could you?
i got my bag--one of the last three on the thingy--and proceeded to the exit. first, to get some vietnamese dong. this is money. it's a hilarious name for currency and it will never NOT be hilarious. anyway, i got over four million dong and told the exchange guy they had crazy money. he laughed. i walked away and this guy walked up to me offering me a taxi. yeah, i'm going to the old quarter, where friggin everyone goes, you can take me there? i dunno...but he was really nice, and because i've been living in thailand for a year i'm used to nice people being genuinely nice. so i said ok, let's go.
he and his pal took me upstairs. i waited outside a door by what looked like the exit ramp from the airport. the main guy went outside to get his friend. all of a sudden his pal grabbed my bag and was like "LET'S GO!" and rushed outside. main guy hopped in a taxi and a guard type figure started blowing his whistle and pointing angrily at us. main guy got out and the taxi drove off.
BAD SITUATION, NICKI. stupid. of course this is a scam. i told the guys i forgot, i wanted to get a sim card, i'm gonna go downstairs and get one. "they're twice the price here..." i heard them say as i dashed off. idiot nicki. this is NOT the southeast asia you know.
so i go downstairs to ask the information girl about a taxi. she says i should prob call my hotel first to make a reservation cuz there's this big celebration going on and there might not be room. i'd read it's hanoi's 1000th birthday or something, but i didn't think it'd be a big deal allllll year long.
NOT. super nice information girl and i spent an hour trying to find a hotel with an open room. she must've called at least 10 different places for me. sweet, sweet girl. finally we found one that was semi-affordable (free breakfast/internet/tv though!) and in a good location and had a room.
by this time it was almost 6 pm. i'd arrived two hours ago. as i got into the cab with the driver who spoke basically zero english (and i absolutely zero vietnamese), i was starting to think hanoi was a mistake. this city is too fucking crazy, especially by myself, and it's already been hard and expensive and maybe i should just look for the next cheap flight out of here. i was stupid for coming here alone.
but then i got to the hotel. and it's a sweet room with cable tv. so i sat down for a minute, wrote in my diary, literally screamed a bit to let out some frustration and shock, and calmed down.
this is what traveling is. it's hard. it's being stuck in a situation you can't find an easy way out of. it's being wildly uncomfortable. it's not knowing what to do.
it's figuring it all out anyway.
i decided i couldn't take the wussy way out and stay in my hotel room all night. after all, i had to eat. so i went out of my room and turned left. i didn't see anything and the traffic was crazy and i was terrified of getting lost, so i turned around. whatever, i'll go hungry.
no, nicki, don't so that. i went the other way instead and came across this HUGE shopping street, peds only. hundreds and hundreds of shops, thousands of people. there were kids, babies, teenagers, grandparents, locals, tourists, sellers, buyers, EVERYONE. i smiled a gigantic grin. yes, this is insane, but you're not gonna die. i walked down the street about half a mile and i don't think i stopped smiling the whole time. i got a kebab (OH MY GOD it was good) and some ice cream. as i was walking back toward my hotel, fireworks started going off. everyone started screaming and running toward them.
instead of going straight back, i followed the crowd. there are literally thousands of people out right now, watching fireworks, shopping, eating, doing god knows what for this celebration. i stood at an intersection filled with cars, motorbikes, and tons of people (everyone was right--traffic in this city is something else) and just laughed at it all. a few people caught me and laughed with/at me.
hanoi, you're a tough one, but i think i'm gonna love you.
30.9.10
the lao lao experience
i decided i'm only gonna drink local alcohol from now until this trip's over. i've been drinking beerlao all week, which has been delicious and wonderful (and the only dark beer i've had since oct 2009), but i'd had yet to try lao lao. it's this bootleg rice whiskey made only in laos and everybody talks about how crazy it is.
so of course i had to try it. btw, no, i don't let traveling alone stop me from drinking. i think ordering one drink as a solo person lets off this "i'm such a strong and confident individual" vibe. slash maybe i'm just telling myself that because i like drinking and i don't want people to call me an alcoholic.
i sat down for a late lunch today and flipped to the drinks menu. there were four drinks called "lao cocktails," none of them with flavors but instead given colors. when the waitress came over, i asked her if the drinks had lao lao in them.
"yeah, you don't like lao lao?"
"no, no, i do! i want it."
"oh, ok!"
i ordered the green one. two minutes later she brought me this kelly green drink with a lime squeezed in it. i took a sip and HOLY CRAP THAT'S STRONG. the first couple sips went down hard but i got used to it. my rice noodle soup came and i enjoyed my meal slowly. i could feel the lao lao right away, and it hit way harder than alcohol usually does. when i stood up, i REALLY felt it.
oh my god, i thought. i'm really, bizarrely intoxicated. i paid the woman and walked down the street, reveling in this new sort of feeling. i was hyper-aware of my body and i felt a little like i was floating or something. IT WAS INSANE, YOU GUYS. i've been drunk once or twice before so i know what it normally feels like but this was somehow different. man. i went back and took a shower then got some coffee to shake the feeling. now i'm all sober, no headache or anything. man.
i probably shouldn't write stuff like this on the internet. ohhhh well, my dreams of becoming president were dashed when fbook came out with photo sharing.
tomorrow i'm flying to hanoi (!!!), and i'll be there until the 7th. fbook is blocked there (communism!); no word on if blogger/twitter/gmail are, too. i may or may not be out of internet reach. please try to do your best without me.
so of course i had to try it. btw, no, i don't let traveling alone stop me from drinking. i think ordering one drink as a solo person lets off this "i'm such a strong and confident individual" vibe. slash maybe i'm just telling myself that because i like drinking and i don't want people to call me an alcoholic.
i sat down for a late lunch today and flipped to the drinks menu. there were four drinks called "lao cocktails," none of them with flavors but instead given colors. when the waitress came over, i asked her if the drinks had lao lao in them.
"yeah, you don't like lao lao?"
"no, no, i do! i want it."
"oh, ok!"
i ordered the green one. two minutes later she brought me this kelly green drink with a lime squeezed in it. i took a sip and HOLY CRAP THAT'S STRONG. the first couple sips went down hard but i got used to it. my rice noodle soup came and i enjoyed my meal slowly. i could feel the lao lao right away, and it hit way harder than alcohol usually does. when i stood up, i REALLY felt it.
oh my god, i thought. i'm really, bizarrely intoxicated. i paid the woman and walked down the street, reveling in this new sort of feeling. i was hyper-aware of my body and i felt a little like i was floating or something. IT WAS INSANE, YOU GUYS. i've been drunk once or twice before so i know what it normally feels like but this was somehow different. man. i went back and took a shower then got some coffee to shake the feeling. now i'm all sober, no headache or anything. man.
i probably shouldn't write stuff like this on the internet. ohhhh well, my dreams of becoming president were dashed when fbook came out with photo sharing.
tomorrow i'm flying to hanoi (!!!), and i'll be there until the 7th. fbook is blocked there (communism!); no word on if blogger/twitter/gmail are, too. i may or may not be out of internet reach. please try to do your best without me.
29.9.10
a hammock and a promise to a book
i bought "the sorrow of war" before i left thailand. it's a northern vietnamese's personal story on the war in vietnam. it's incredibly heartbreaking and humanizing and shows the bloody, gruesome, these-things-tear-your-soul-apart side of war. it was banned in vietnam when it first came out. i promised the book i would finish it before i got to 'nam (friday, oct. 1).
i'm on don det right now. i was only gonna stay here for two nights, but i have a hammock on my balcony over (literally over) the mekong river and that promise i made to my still-unfinished book...so i'm staying for three. i love trips in southeast asia.
this is one of the most phenomenal places i've ever been. i wanna bring all over you here and show you the hot chocolate-colored waters, the rice paddies so green leprechauns would be jealous, the irrawaddy dolphins, the quiet, unassuming buffalo, the adorable piglets, the adorable chicks, the adorable ducklings, the adorable combo of curious ducks and chickens. the sunsets and sunrises here are unreal. for the last two days i've been biking across don det and don khon, another island just a few kilometers down the way and across a bridge.
someday, when i'm rich, i'm taking you all on a trip here. all you need are a few tshirts, a couple pairs of shorts, and a few promises to some books.
i'm on don det right now. i was only gonna stay here for two nights, but i have a hammock on my balcony over (literally over) the mekong river and that promise i made to my still-unfinished book...so i'm staying for three. i love trips in southeast asia.
this is one of the most phenomenal places i've ever been. i wanna bring all over you here and show you the hot chocolate-colored waters, the rice paddies so green leprechauns would be jealous, the irrawaddy dolphins, the quiet, unassuming buffalo, the adorable piglets, the adorable chicks, the adorable ducklings, the adorable combo of curious ducks and chickens. the sunsets and sunrises here are unreal. for the last two days i've been biking across don det and don khon, another island just a few kilometers down the way and across a bridge.
someday, when i'm rich, i'm taking you all on a trip here. all you need are a few tshirts, a couple pairs of shorts, and a few promises to some books.
26.9.10
four different kinds of transportation
if you're my friend on fbook (and you have the privilege of seeing my statuses...muahaha) then this'll look familiar: a car, a van, a BTS ride, a taxi, a bus, four hours of waiting, another bus, and a tuk tuk ride later, I'M IN LAOS, BABY!
cars, metros, buses, and tuk tuks, oh my! i left suphan yesterday around 5:30 pm and after all of the switching transportation and border crossing shenanigans, i got to pakse around noon. checked into my room--plain but perfect--took a shower, and pretty much immediately went to lunch. chicken laap, sticky rice, and beer laos. i was sitting in this corner restaurant in this quiet little town and i couldn't figure out how life could get much better.
then i did: i could be doing this on an island in si phan don. so i'm going there tomorrow :-D it's just two and a half hours away, plus a ferry ride. nbd. but then i'll be tehre for three, potentially four days of waking up early (i like the mornings, ok?), drinking coffee, riding bikes through rice paddies, taking naps on hammocks, eating bread/rice/CARBS I LOVE CARBS, and drinking beer laos. the beer isn't even particularly delicious, but it's just something about it that makes it so great...maybe it's cuz there are advertisements everywhere, maybe it's cuz i'm in a communist country right now and this is the beer of the land...uh oh. maybe i shouldn't be mentioning that in a post from a laos computer. 55. oops.
cars, metros, buses, and tuk tuks, oh my! i left suphan yesterday around 5:30 pm and after all of the switching transportation and border crossing shenanigans, i got to pakse around noon. checked into my room--plain but perfect--took a shower, and pretty much immediately went to lunch. chicken laap, sticky rice, and beer laos. i was sitting in this corner restaurant in this quiet little town and i couldn't figure out how life could get much better.
then i did: i could be doing this on an island in si phan don. so i'm going there tomorrow :-D it's just two and a half hours away, plus a ferry ride. nbd. but then i'll be tehre for three, potentially four days of waking up early (i like the mornings, ok?), drinking coffee, riding bikes through rice paddies, taking naps on hammocks, eating bread/rice/CARBS I LOVE CARBS, and drinking beer laos. the beer isn't even particularly delicious, but it's just something about it that makes it so great...maybe it's cuz there are advertisements everywhere, maybe it's cuz i'm in a communist country right now and this is the beer of the land...uh oh. maybe i shouldn't be mentioning that in a post from a laos computer. 55. oops.
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