Vietnam Beaches

The first beach was Mui Ne. It is a small white sand beach, about 4 hours north of HCMC. It is not very busy or popular because of the lack of amenities (massage parlours, night clubs, etc) and this is the reason that its the best place to relax. We were in Mui Ne for about 6 days, and only one day we actually left our beach-front hotel room. The days were spent reading in the hammock, swimming in the beach, reading on the beach, swimming inthe hammock, etc.

One day, we rented a motorbike and headed to the Fairy Stream and Red Sand Dunes. These are the 2 natural sightseeing places that Mui Ne is known for.
The Fairy Stream is a red sand stream that we hiked up with our local guides (3 kids). They were tons of fun, playing in the sand and water, and showing us whatever they could find.
The sand dunes were cool, but nothing really to do but look at them (like a mini-Sahara on the Vietnam coast). We paid some kids a couple of $ to let us use their plastic sleds and slide down the dunes. It was cool, but a bad idea because after we were not only incredibly hot, but also covered in red sand.

The next beach was Nha Trang. It is well known as the party beach in Vietnam, both with locals and foreigners. We went diving one day, the dive spots were pretty nice, good visibility and for $25 for 2 dives, is a BARGAIN! We also took a snorkeling trip one day which took us around the islands. Cool way to spend a day.
The funniest stories from Nha Trang are about guys (and girls) getting their stuff stolen. One group of four guys had four things stolen from them in one day.

The last town, which isn't really a beach town (but is within 10 min of a beach) is Hoi An. This is a cool riverside old french style village. The yellow colonial buildings look like something from a Van Goh painting. We planned on 3 days here, but ended up spending about 7. The beach is amazing as well, 30km of white sandy beach. We only spent 2 days on the beach though, because the town itself was so cool. We wasted most of the day sitting in a cafe, writing, reading or playing pool.

One sidetrip we took was to Mr. Phongs. He is an english speaker who takes people on tours of his small village about 15km out of town. It was probably the best tour we took. There were no other foreigners and when the locals saw us they were genuinely happy (and surprised). It was one of theonly places that people weren't trying to sell us stuff, they just wanted to interact with us. Great day. We hung out at a rice wine factory (house) and at his uncle's house (who is a decorated commie war veteran-Mr phong fought on the south side). We also got to go sit at a barbershop and hang out with old ladies on a tabacco farm.

HCMC

The land of the lost. This place used to be called Saigon, until the North took over, then it became Ho Chi Minh City, named after the leader who led the Vietcong.

The war memorial in town was powerful, I was embarassed to be from the US. It had all the letters from leaders around the world pleading for the US to leave Vietnam. It also had a display on Agent Orange and all the damage it had done during the war and since. There was a very cool room dedicated to the western journalists that died during the war. Definitely one of the most moving places I've been on this trip (or any trip).

We also visited the CuChi Tunnels (funny name I know). These are tunnels that people who were secretly in the vietcong, built and lived in for 26 years. They are so small, if you sit on your butt, your head almost touches the roof. They are so intricate, they have some at 3, 6, and 10mtrs. The ones at 10 mtrs go underwater when there is a high tide, so it would drown anyone not knowing. We crawled through the tunnels, it was creepy. We also saw tons of booby traps that were set for the G.Is as they are called. They are evil things, but necessary when peasants are fighting against a superpower.

The other trip we took was to the Mekong Delta. Here we cruised around in boats and canoes and saw the locals ad their way of live. It was a good day out of the city, but nothing too special.

HCMC is a modern Asian city, full of capitalists, despite being in a communist country. All Vietnam is a free-market society, but none practice capitalism more than the former Saigon.

Angkor Wat

The ancient civilization.

The empire lasted from around 11C- 14C. The buildings are more beautiful with more detail than anything built today.... and they are still standing after 600 years of abandonment.

We arrived at 5am to catch the sunrise. It was beautiful, and the pics were cool. We had the morning to ourselves to wander around and play. We spent the whole day there, fun day.

Walking around Angkor Wat is like going into a weird time warp. You can feel the presence of the ancient civilization, yet you are surrounded by tons of tourists who are there basically just to take pictures. We were lucky to have the place to ourselves in the morning, but when 10am hit, it was basically just another tourist trap, albeit an amazing one.

Cambodia

This place is crazy!!!

Anything goes here. Guys driving on motobikes with AK-47's, 2$ prositutes, happy pizzas (cooked with weed)

We spent 2 weeks in this crazy place. It is definitely a land without rules or order.

Surprisingly though, it is a beautiful country despite the lack of rules or money.

The first week we spent on a beach called Sihanoukville. We had a nice little cabin on the beach and basically did nothing but relax.

Next was Phnom Penh, it is amazing. Beautiful riverside, a cool hippie-style lake area, and the city itself is full of parks and temples. We returned back here after Angkor Wat as well.

I don't know if I could recomend this place, but I'm sure that I'll never forget it.

Chiang Mai

The cultural capital of Thailand is Chiang Mai, up in the north near the Burma and Laos borders. It has universities, monks, temples, and jungle.

We spent 3 days in Bangkok getting visas organized and taking in the Bangkok nights. Khaosan rd is the travelers hub for all of southeast asia. You can get everything there. Good place to stop through, not a good place to stay.

We took a day trip to the floating market, women row around in rowboats and sell things, trinkets, food etc.

Chiang Mai is 13 hrs from Bangkok by night train. We were in 2nd class, it was nice, comfy and cheap. The seats turned into beds whenever you wanted to get some sleep.

The 1st day we walked around the city, then decided to get a tuk-tuk to show us around. They're small motorcycle carriage type cars. They're cheap and the driver acts as a tour guide. But you gotta watch out cuz they alsways want to take you to a 'shop', these vary from jewelry shops to tailors to hooker bars, they get a gift if they bring customers, either free gas or whisky.

We saw some temples and then saw a park area with a sign that said 'monkchat' there were monks hanging out with people. They called us over and we had a chat with a monk. Very cool, they are in the buddhist university and are practicing speaking other languages.

The next day we took a taxi to the 'longneck tribes' they are the women that have rings around their necks to stretch them out. It was strange to go pay to go into a village and stare and take pictures of the people, then leave. Interesting to see them but wouldn't recomend it to anyone.

That night Julie and I went to see Muai Thai fighting. Its the national sport, like kickboxing. We went to a local gym to see the fights. There were around 100 people, half foreigners and half locals who come to bet on the fights. Real fun to go and see.

The following morning was trekking. This is what most people come to Chiang Mai for. Basically, you get lost in the jungle for a few days. We went on a 3 day 2 night trek. 1st we rode on a bamboo raft down a river. The raft is not too sturdy and there are a few rapids. I fell in, but no problems. Then we headed into the jungle. We hiked about 3 hrs then came to a waterfall, swam and cleaned, then headed into a very small village for dinner and an early night in bed (there's no electricity in the village. Our bed was basically outside with a mosquito net, it poured all night but the straw roof kept me dry. In the morning we had breakfast, then hiked all day, and came to another waterfall in the afternoon. We showered there, then over to camp where we had a campfire, the sky was clear and the stars were out. The final day we came to our 4th waterfall, and then to an elephant camp. We took a ride on the elephants for a while, then a taxi back into town. Very cool to stay in the jungle for a few days (and it helps that we were fed like kings, great food!).











Craig headed back to Bangkok - as planned - and Julie and I went off to a Buddhist retreat in the hills. It was just for 24 hrs, and seemed cool. Again we were fed like kings and it was good to learn about Buddhism from the monks. There were 4 monks and 12 people, they taught us a lot and we did tons of meditating. A good way to spend a day.

After the culture in Chiang Mai, its off to bangkok, then to another quieter island, before cambodia. I got to get outta here quick cuz my visa has already expired, I just love it here too much, Thailand is great.

Advanced Diver

Ko Tao is for divers, and thats about it. Every hotel has a dive shop and gives you a cheap room while you are diving. If you aren't diving then you can stay (and pay more) but your not encouraged to stay. There are tons of beaches and islands to hang out at around the island, but I haven't met anyone thats here and not diving.

I got my Advanced Diver License, so now basically I can dive anywhere I want without a guide or instructor. It took 4 days to get the regular open water license and 5 dives to become advanced. We dove down to 30mtrs (25 yards?) the deepest a non dive master can go, we also did a night dive (a little scary...you can't see anything except what your flashlight shines on). I'm glad to get it over with, now I can jsut dive for fun whenever I want.

After a month on the islands of Malaysia and Thailand, and 7 days on Ko Tao, on to Bangkok and mainland Thailand.

Full Moon

I spent one week in Ko Lipe, which is a very quiet island without much to do. There were 4 of us that went together (craig and the 2 swiss). We got up around 12 and chilled in the hammock or on the beach until about 8, when it was time for dinner, then a few drinks at the beach bar and bed. Nothing accomplished except a lot of relaxin.

Ko Phangan was next. This beach has the Full Moon Party. It's a huge party every full moon. We got there 3 days early and the next 3 nights the amount of people multiplied exponentially. So many people...all in their 20's and mostly all westerners. There isn't much to do in Ko Phangan and almost all the people are here just for the party.

The days leading up to the party were great, the beach was full, but not to full, and everyone was looking forward to the party. The night of the party thousands of people came into town (just for the night) and the place was so packed if you lost your friends you'd probably not see them again for the night. We all had a good time, but nothing too crazy hapened.

We stayed on the island for another 2 days to rest and relax (Julie had just arrived the day before the party). The next beach is Ko Tao, the diving island.

Thai Stats

Transportation

Perhentians - Hat Yai

Boat: 1hr

Taxi: 1.5 hrs

cross border on foot

Minibus: 3.5hrs

$18

Hat Yai- Ko Lipe

Bus: 2hrs

Ferry: 4hrs

$12

Ko Lipe - Ko Phangan

Ferry: 3hrs

Bus: 6hrs

Ferry: 3hrs

$30

Ko Phangan - Ko Tao

Ferry: 2.5 hrs

free (with dive course)

Ko Tao -

Spending Money

Ko Lipe: $140

Ko Phangan: $220

Ko Tao:

Days:

Ko Lipe: 5

Ko Phangan: 7

Ko Tao: 6

Hut

Ko Lipe: $4 ($20)

Ko Phangan: $6 ($42)

Ko Tao: $3 ($18)

Beer

$1

Perhentian Islands

The Perhentian Islands are great!

We spent 7 days on the island, 5 of those days were hard work, waking up at 9 and diving all day til 5. But, I finally got my diving license The rest of the time was spent drinking and lounging around.

The typical day was waking up at 8.45, arriving late to the diving class, workinghard til 5, then having an afternoon nap or playing beach volleyball with the locals, dinner/movie at 8, drinking at 10.30, and bed. Great life!

We met some cool people on the island that became our lil social group, Chris from England (we met h im in Taman Negara) and Tom and J asmin (from Switzerland). Basically we did everything together (like a happy little family, haha). Its good to hang out with cool people in a nice place.

There are 2 islands, The Big Island and The Small Island. Both have white sandy beaches and clear water, really a perfect place to relax and hang out. The big island is more for couples and older people while the small island is a young crowd hangout. One great thing about the islands are there are no people bothering you to buy anything or do some activity, all the locals are living in the same huts as the tourists, eating at the same places and doing the same things so you dont have any problems.

I highly recomend this place for anyone looking for an island getaway, for diving, snorkeling or just relaxing on the beach, its beautiful.

Welcome to the Jungle

Taman Negara (National Park in Malay) is the worlds oldest rainforest because it never had an ice age. Its something like 135 million years old. There is just a small town inside the jungle, without much to do....except hike.

I came here by riverboat. It was a fun ride. 3 hours in a canoe. Luckily the boat had a roof over it, unfortunately the sun wasn't directly overhead, thus, my right leg and arm were burnt. After the 2nd hour the novelty wore off and I was seated on the lap of the girl next to me trying to hide from the sun (and I hadn't even talked to her yet).

When I arrived, the afternoon monsoon had just started and the town was dead. I was a little bummed out because I was alone in this small town with nothing to do. However, after the monsoon stopped and I went back to my dorm, there were 3 people that had just arrived in my room. 2 German girls and a dude from Holland. They had all just met on the bus on the way to the park. Finally I had friends. In the city, i had been doing all of the stuff alone, so it was good to talk to others.

The next day we went for a hike in the jungle. 1st we came to a canopy bridge. Its the worlds longest.... After that we decided to hike up to the furthest point allowed without a guide. Very stupid idea. It was about 2hrs stright uphill, then the climb down was stright downhill. We were using the roots of trees as our ladder. After 3 hrs we were all so tired and hoping to find the end. After 4hrs we finally did. We found a little hut on the river that sold fruit milkshakes and bottles of water. After rehydrating ourselves, it was to bed for a well-deserved nap!

The 2nd day, I went rafting in a wooden boat. The rapids were fun, then we got dropped off in a calm area of the river and swam. When I got off the boat I stood on the sand, then sunk to my waist. It was quicksand, but luckily you don't sink below the waist. We swam around for a lil while, then back on some more rapids. In the afternoon, I did nothing. Craig finally caught up with me at night, and he brought aclohol. The town is dry (alcohol is not common in Malaysia since its a Muslim country) except one place that sells beer ($8 a bottle) so this was a great present. After a few drinks and dinner, we went on a night safari. We didn't see any of the leopards or tigers that were advertised, but we had fun riding around in the jungle in the back of an open jeep.

The 3rd day I took Craig into the jungle and did the canopy walk again. There was no way I was going to do the entire hike, so I hung out and waited for the bus out of town at 7pm, and off to the Perhentians (after an 18 hr evening/morning of travelling)

I enjoyed the jungle, but am ready for the beach. Next up...Perehentian Islands and some scubadiving lessons!

Malaysia Stats

Transportation

Singapore-KL
Bus: 7hrs
$18

KL - Taman Negara
Bus: 4hrs
Riverboat: 3hrs
$20

Taman Negara - Perhentian Islds.

Bus: 2 hrs

Train: 6 hrs

Taxi: 30 min

Boat: 1 hour

$15

Spending Money
KL: $60
Taman Negara: $120
Perhentian Islds.: $180

Days
KL: 3
Taman Negara: 3
Perehentian Islds.: 7

Hostel
KL: $7 ($21)
Taman Negara: $3/7 ($13)
Perhentians Islds.: $6 ($42)

Food
Average
about $4 a meal

Beer
expensive
about $6 a beer
(Taman Negara: $8 a beer)

Kuala Lumpur

I didn't know much before coming here, and had no idea what to expect. Well....it's a big Asian city. It has scyscrapers scattered around the city, including the Twin Towers-built in 1999 was the tallest building in the world, and KL Tower (which I went up). the town is nicknamed the 'garden city'. If you look over the city you can see fields of green. There are several large parks and even a nature reserve in the middle of the city.


I also went to the Batu Caves. It's a Hindu worshipping area. It's really cool. There is a huge Buddha (tallest standing Buddha- I know, ridiculous stat) set in front of a cliff, inside are limestone caves. You have to climb up a bunch of steps to get inside. Inside there are Hindu shrines all throughout the caves and its also a monkey playground. In February, every year, Hindus pierce themselves and hang shrines from the piercing and walk up and into the caves, sounds real strange, but would be cool to see.

This place has tons of cheap knock-off and pirated shit. I bought a North Face bag for $3, it would cost aout $60, and a bunch of dvds that aren't out yet (capote, king kong, brokeback etc.) for $2 a piece. I wanted to buy tons more- they have shoes (Nike, Adidas, DC) clothes, sunglasses, and it all looks and feels real- but Im travelling and can't carry too much, oh well, I'll be in Bangkok soon.

Malaysia is a muslim country, so in KL it's very common to see woman in scarves. At first I was nervous talking to them, cuz I didnt want to break any cultural rules, but all that I've encountered have been extremely friendly with tons of personality (much more than the men).

Okay, that's all I know about KL. Next up is Taman Negara National Park for some outdoor actvities (jungle safari, rafting, canopy, etc)

Singapore Pics

Me leaving Tokyo

Downtown Singapore

Boat Quay

Parliament

Rules

Praying to the Big Face

Hindu Ceiling

About Singapore

This town is really beautiful, I wasn't expecting it to be much, but I really like it. It's true that there are lots of rules and regulations, but none that bothered me (true that if I lived here it would be a different story). The country is extremely safe, with pickpocketing being the only threat, but not much of one.

Most people can speak English very well and those that can't can at least communicate somethings. The signs and anouncements are all basically in English. The national language is Malay and the biggest percentage of the population speaks Mandarin as a 1st language, but as a whole if you speak English here you're ok.

The population is very diverse and as a whole it looks like all people co-exist well together (this is really just a guess since I haven't been here long). Most of the people are Chinese, and there is also a large Indian population, S.E. Asians and westerners are also common. I never got stared at for being a foreigner like I have in some other countries.

The architecture of the city is almost as diverse as the population. The old buildings (church, government buildings and some hotels) have Colonial European architecture, downtown is very modern and has many beautiful, large, unique skyscrapers, also there are many Chinese-style buildings throughout the city (but very clean, unlike in China). The town also has various religious buildings that stand out. Basically the city looks like it was built in the past 15 years, even the old buildings look completely new. Its amazing.

The food is great and cheap (unfortunately the beer isn't). There are tons of vegetarian restaurants all over the city, I really like the food here.

The laws are strict, no smoking in public (cigarettes are expensive about $7 US), no chewing gum, no eating or drinking in public (except in restaurants of course).

Singapore Places and Pics

Favorites

Boat Quay

Clarke Quay

Sri M.... Hindu Temple

Downtown

Catholic Church

European Architecture

Food

Singapore Stats

Transportation

Tokyo- Singapore

6.5 hrs

$250

Spending Money

about $200

Days / Nights

3

Hostel

Summer Tavern

(Boat Quay)

$17 a night ($51)

Food

Delicious!!!

about $4 a meal

Beer

Expensive!!!

about $6 a beer

(and I paid $20 for a 'Singapore Sling' at Raffles Hotel!)

Languages

English (singlish)

Malay

Mandarin

Indian?

Bye Bye Japan

So, I finally left Japan.

The last week was very hectic, but pretty fun.

I took off for a few days and headed to Kyoto. I had always wanted to take a train journey, so I decided to take the local train (9 hrs) instead of the quick shinkansen - bullet train (2 hrs). The train ride was much easier than I expected. I got to relax, film, and read a book. I had to change trains 4 times, and each time I was at the beginning of the train line, so it was easy to get a seat.
Once in Kyoto, I rented a bike and cruised around my favorite city for a couple days. I was very happy to get there alone finally. It was my 5th time there but always with people, thus doing the tourist things. This time I could just relax and enjoy this city. I love Kyoto, and hope to be back many more times in the future.

I came back to Tokyo and then headed off to Hakone with Julie. Hakone is a mtn town near Mt. Fuji. It is about 75 miles outside of Tokyo and a great getaway. The most popular thing to do in Hakone is onsen (hot springs). We took two days to hang out around the town and just enjoy being in the mountains and away from Tokyo. There is a big lake that we cruised around on, and lots of small villages to walk around. We also got very lucky to stay where we did. Fuji Hakone Guesthouse is a Japanese style place but, cheap and basically the Gaijin (foreigner) place to stay in Hakone. Because it was geared towards westerners, they allowed people to reserve onsen and use it privately; japanese style is for men to use 1 and women another. It was a great 2 days.

The next day Julie and I decided to do a tourist tour of Tokyo. We planned out all the cheesy, funny, usual etc. tourist attractions and tried to do them all in one day. However, while we were blessed with great weather in Hakone, we had definitely picked the wrong day for this tour. It was miserable, cold, windy and rainy.
We woke up at 4 am and caught the 1st train to Tsukiji. Its the worlds largest fish market, and its best to get there early. We did and spent a couple of hours wandering around. It was fun, interesting and gross. Next we headed into a family restaurant to get warm and have breakfast. By the time we finished we headed to Ebisu Beer Museum. It opened at 10 and we arrived as it opened. We toured it in 5 minutes, then started drinking. We tried all the beers the y had, then ordered another before braving the weather again. Around noon, we went through Meiji Shrine. It is a park, leading to the most famous shrine in Tokyo. We got so wet and after the long walk back to the station and a cup f coffee, we debated whether to quit or not. At the coffee shop we took a nap and pressed on to an arcade, then to the other side of town for Asakusa. This is a tiny row of souvenir shops that lead to another shrine. Its the most popular place for tourists. The weather let up and we were feeling a little better. Now it was evening. Akihabara was next. Its 'nerd central', filled with maid cafe's (where girls dressed as maids serve the men saying things like "how can I help you master"), manga stores (japanese comics - usually dirty comics), and tech toys. This place is cool and unusual and we spent more time than expected wandering around this unique corner of Tokyo. It was around 10 after dinner and the weather was again our enemy. We realized that we really couldn't continue after 17 hrs on the go. It was an interesting day, wish we could've done it in better weather.

Sunday, March 12th was my 'farewell party'. Around 5, 10 of us headed to an izakaya (japanese bar/restaurant). We drank for a couple of hours, then headed to the main party at Pure (where I worked for a few months). The party was both for me and for the completion of the movie 'Nightwalker' which I had helped out on. About 75 people showed up and we had a great time. It was very cool to have a going away party like that. We partied till around 1, then home.

I quickly headed to sleep and then up again at 5. A couple of my students took me to play golf (my first time in Japan). The course was nice and the clubhouse RIDICULOUS, it looked like what you'd expect at only the very best course, with more staff than players, however, it is the regular style in Japan. I enjoyed the day, although a bit hungover from the night before.

My time in Japan is up. Next......

The Trip

The trip will start March 16th in Singapore for 3 days. Craig will meet me in Malaysia we`ll travel together for a few weeks. After Malaysia, we'll head up to Thailand. I'll be in Bangkok around the end of April to mee t Julie. We'll travel for about a month through Thailand, Laos (maybe), Cambodia, and southern Vietnam. When she leaves I'll go north up through Vietnam and into the southwest of China where Ryan's planning on meeting me. We'll try to make it to Beijing in the end of June. I'll take the Siberian Railway from Beijing through Mongolia and end in Russia (either Moscow or St. P). The end of the trip will be through Eastern Europe (Poland, Czech, Austria) and finally to France. I should be done around mid-August, and then......................................

Details of the Trip

Time:

170 days

Continents:

2

Countries:

12-15

Travelling Partners:

3

Money:

$5000

Plane tickets:

2; Japan to Singapore and Europe to LA

(Maybe 1 more in Southeast Asia)

The Route

This is basically what I`m planning. It`s a pretty obvious path to follow through the countries. This isn`t a strict route, just a guide to keep myself on pace and not get too far off track.

Singapore:
arrive in Singapore, hang out a few days, and take a train to Malaysia.

Malaysia:
a few days in Kuala Lumpur, then up to Tahan National Forest for some hiking, then up to the northeast for some relaxing and scuba diving on the islands off Khota Bharu. Finally to the northwest to Penang and enter Thailand by bus.

Thailand:
go to Ko Phi Phi for some more diving and relaxing, then across the land to the east and by boat to Ko Samui and Ko Phanang (I hope I time it right for the Full Moon Party). Back to land by boat and then up to Bangkok for a short break. Up to Chiang Mai for some jungle treks in northwest of Thailand. Back through Bangkok and into Cambodia by boat.

Cambodia:
enter at Sihanoukville (Cambodia`s beach resort), to Phnom Pen and then up river to Angkor Wat (old civilization similar to Machu Pichu in Peru or Pyramids in Egypt). Back to Phnom Pen and taking a bus down to south Vietnam.

Vietnam:
hang out around Ho Chi Minh and the Mekong Delta, up to Nha Trang (good beach area) then continue up north to Hanoi. Destination next...China (through the northwest of Vietnam).

China:
check out the southwest. Start up in Kunming and then up to Chengdu, Chonqing and across the Yangtze to Wuhan, then Shanghai and up to Beijing. After a trip to see Mao, take the Siberian Rail to Mongolia.

Mongolia:
Stop in at Ulan Bator and take a side trip to stay in a ger (nomadic camp). Back on the Sib Rail and enter Russia.

Russia:
Stop just past the border at Irkutsk, take a side trip to nearby Lake Baikal (deepest lake in the world), then back on the Rail to Moscow. Hang out with Lenin and off to St Petersburg.

Europe:
not exaclty decided, hopefully to Poland, Hungary, Czech and Austria, then trough Germany to Netherlands and France.

Map of Asia

Map of Malaysia

Map of Thailand

Map of Laos

Map of Cambodia

Map of Vietnam

Map of China

Map of Russia

Map of Europe