Goodbye to Bangkok

I am currently sitting in an internet cafe in Bangkok, Southeast Asia’s hulking metropolis, watching through the window as the hot pink taxis, stuttering tuk tuks, and decrepit megabuses zoom through the maze of traffic.  It was exactly two months ago today that I stepped off my 27 and a half hour flight from New York and into this sticky Asian climate, uncertain about what this trip was going to bring.  In a way I knew that I would be sitting here now, writing how amazing it all was at the end.  And here I am.

I kept up with this blog better than I had originally expected (and more people read it than I originally expected), but I definitely did slack off this past month.  The speed of the tour that I was travelling with through Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos was incredibly fast, usually getting to a place in the afternoon, having one night and then leaving the next day.  Usually I would hate the idea to travel like that, but with these places it was perfect, giving just enough time to get a good idea of the area and allowing us to see so much so quickly.

Where I last left I was in Saigon which is almost a month ago at this point.   From Saigon we took an overnight train to Nha Trang where I taught the English and Australians I was with all of the wonderful American drinking games I have come to learn over the years.  Fuck the Dealer, Kings, Retarded Deer.  Made for an awesome night and was only topped off when I woke up at our destination, stretched out to begin getting my stuff together and smacked into a row of beer cans (oy). 

Nha trang itself was a gorgeous beach town and arriving there at sunrise when all the Vietnamese were stretching and moving around to get there early moring blood flowing made it only better.  The whole group decided to do a boat tour and I ended up running into two girls (Bobbie and Katie) who I had met at Spicy Thai in Chiang Mai.  The boat tour was incredible–led by a pompous Vietnamese man who went by the name of Mr. Binh.   We were lead to an area where we all jumped (off the top deck of the boat weeee) and did some snorkeling which was admiteddly much lamer than what had been at Koh Tao.  I started meeting tons of people on the boat and it felt just  like Thailand all over again.  Mr. Binh put on a crazy show with his band of Vietnamese musicians (literally).  At the conclusion of the boat concert a flaoting bar was thrown into the ocean and we were all told to jump in after it.  An elderly Vietnamese man wearing a coconut bra was our bartender (naturally) and we all proceeded to drink in our tubes in the middle of the ocean…what a blast it was.

Next place after that was Hoi An which was so much different than everywhere else we had been.  It had a Chinese feel to it and is notorious for making clothes.  You can literally go into any tailor and show them a picture of any type of clothing (dress, suit, blazer, shirts) and they were able to custom make it for you.  SWEET.  That night we were told by a man speeding by on his motorcylce to come to his bar where he would then give us free buckets.  So of course we went to it, a little place called Nam Bar and we actually did get our free buckets no strings attached.  The odd part about it was the bartender tried to trade me for my American Eagle hoodie (no deal) and then his friend tried trading me for my Pac Man shirt…I was flattered but did just want to keep my clothes.

The  next place we went to was Hue, which offered one of the best parts of my trip.  Our group went on a motorcyle tour of Hue and the surrounding countryside.   My guys name was Heel and was like an older, Vietnamese version of the Fonz. We went past all these magnificent temples through the countryside into the never-ending rice paddy fields and finally back into Hue through tiny winding claustrophic streets which the handlebars of the bikes barely fit through.

Next place was Halong Bay which while it was absolutely gorgeous was kind of a let down thanks to the ridiculous amount of fog that blocked our views…

After that was Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.  We left Halong Bay at 4 in the morning just to be able to make it to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum…where the actual body of “Uncle Ho” (as they call him) lays.  We went through a detector and even though I went off the guy let me pass.  I saw a sign that said no cameras and even though I still had one in my pocket didn’t think anything of it since I was already past the detectors.  Waiting in line was absolutely ridiculous.  If you smiled they yelled at you.  If you didn’t keep right up to the person in front of you they yelled at you. If you talked they yelled at you.  And if you didn’t keep your arms straight at your sides?  You guessed it, they yelled at you.  We got all the way through the meandering line of abuse and almost to the coffin when a guard came running over to me.  He began pointing furiously at my pocket and I realized that he had spotted the outline of my camera. Shit. I paused for a moment trying to think of how I could get rid of this outline without showing him my camera and realizing that I could not make the damn thing disappear, took it out.  The guard went absolutely nuts and began marching me back down the stairs.  Everyone in the line behind us looked at me as if I had just tried to plant a bomb on poor Mr. Minh.  I was brought into a tiny all white room that looked like a hospital and was filled with Vietnamese soldiers.  One of them grabbed my camera while the other brought me back outside and into the line.  I did get to see dead Uncle Ho which was awesome but then had to go back into the room where I was given my camera back. Awesome.  As I went to leave one of them grabbed my arm and yelled “You sign!” throwing this giant red book into my hands.  I looked at this book, tried to asked the soldier what it meant, but all he would say was “YOU SIGN!” louder and louder.  So I had to fill out my address and sign my name in the book, forever shunned in Vietnam for trying to bring a camera into the final resting place over their revered commie leader.

After that we left Vietnam and headed into Laos which was absolutely gorgeous the second we crossed the border.  Postcard-like scenery of the mountains and fields which looked untouched since the beginning of time lead us all the way to Lachsao, the border town in the mountains where we stayed that night.  On the way back to our hotel from dinner we met a 17 year Laotian boy who wanted to practise his English.  After speaking for some time I asked him if he could go anywhere in the world- where would it be.  His answer. Good old New York City.  He then whipped out his cell phone and began to play Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind.”  Made me think how lucky I am to be from New York.  So many people around the world look at it as the place where they dream to go, while I am able to call it my home.  it was a nice feeling…

Ended up in Vang Vieng which is famous for tubing.  Basically, you buy a ring and get driven to a river that is littered with bars.  At these bars are countless travellers from all over the world  Tons of free alcohol.  And giant wooden planks (about 150 feet) that you actually trapeze off of into the river.  While I was terrified of it when I first got there, after one bucket I decided it was time.  Passing by the sign that said “Please buy a drinks before do rope swing” which I found incredibly funny.  I got to the top and had no time to think, therefore no freak out.  Without looking down I put both hands on the rope, let go, and began to soar through the sky toward the river, then back up again and then on the way down let go and flew into the water.  It felt so amazing and I was actually really proud of myself that I didn’t chicken out once I got to the top.  I also ran into Carly from Koh Tao, and Tim and Kris from Khao Sok which was real nice.  Once you are finished with one bar you go to the next (by tube) and float along the river until you decide on another one at which point a Laotian will throw you a rope and pull you in.  I had one of the best days of my entire life (even if it does get quite a bit fuzzy towards the end).  Somehow I did manage to loose my tube, my shoes, do a different rope swing which I barely remember, and spend all of my money.  I ended up sharing a tube with some girl using flip flops she stole for me as paddles. I got back to the hotel a complete mess and passed out from 7 to midnight.  Woke up incredibly confused and went out to the bars to try and find people.  As I was walking along the street people I did not know kept coming up to me and saying “Adam!” followed by something along the lines of “I can’t believe you did (insert something ridiculous)” It all felt so weird that I had completely blacked out and I was nervous anytime someone poked me on the shoulder that I would turn around and have absolutely no idea who they were.  The next night in Vang Vieng turned out to be just as epic as we met up with all our tubing friends and went out to The Bucket Bar.  Had the required Wonderwall singing section (hehe) and danced the night away-even managed to make Sophie’s nose bleed (SORRY)

After that was Luang Prabang which was an awesome town as well.  Took a trip out to some gorgeous waterfalls where we got to swim and hike up.  Saw a bear sanctuary. Woke up at 5 am to watch the monk processions.  And played in the fantastic night market.

The last few days of the tour consisted of 20 hours of floating in a slow boat down the Mekong and back into Thailand.  Had a couple of hours in Chiang Mai (felt good to be back with Chang) in which we went to the Mesa elephant camp where we got to watch elephants paint, play soccer, and throw darts (literally).  Made me feel kind of bad for them actually, but was definitely interesting to see.  Then took our final group night train back into Bangkok which was filled with Red Shirt protesters.  My final night in Bangkok turned out to be one of my craziest I had on the entire trip, stumbling back into my hotel at about 630 in the morning.  Got about an hours sleep and then ran around getting everything sorted and shipped home. And most sadly said goodbye to Sophie, Nina, and Danny.  I will really miss travelling with the group quite a bit, but that is a part of this whole deal. 

Note: I have since finished this in Penang, Malaysia where I just got off the 22 and a half hour train ride in which I met an English guy named Jeeves and an incredible Malay woman named Lille…

MORE TO COME