From Laos to Bangkok

Hello Everyone!

So, I find myself back in Bangkok, Thailand and am finding it a bit surreal that I was here two months ago on the verge of beginning my SE Asia adventure. Now, I'm towards the end of my trip and marveling at how quickly time can fly by! While I'm feeling ready to come home and have even had my bouts of homesickness, I'm still excited for this last leg of my journey here in Thailand. I'll be picking my friend, Anne, up from the airport this evening and we'll be traveling together until I go and visit Amber in Geneva on Dec 9th. While I've learned so much about myself and life traveling solo and wouldn't trade that for anything, I'm definately excited to travel with a friend again!
Anyway, before I get ahead of myself, I need to fill you in about my time in Laos. Laos was one of my favorite countries I've visited during my travels. It has a unique and rugged beauty and a relaxed feel that I came to love. The country seems to be composed of these seemingly vertical limestone mountains that jut out of the ground every which way. They are often covered and surrounded by dense jungle and the wide open fields and gardens of the local people sustaining off the land. These mountains are also home to countless caves that wind themselves through the rock and contain gorgeous limestone formations that I had once only known through television. I went on a day trip with a group of Australians and a local guide to four of these caves when I was in Vang Vieng, Laos. One of the caves we must have walked into for 20 min with no end in sight! Once we were finally stopped by some shallow water, our guide had us turn off all our lights and you literally couldn't see your own hand in front of your face....it was that dark!! While this cave was more of a long corrider, we also visited more wide-open caves that contained beautiful limestone formations. In fact, some of the formations could be played like musical instruments as our guide demonstrated for us! The last cave that we visited was a water cave and we literally entered this particular one on intertubes guided by a rope. It wasn't a very big or impressive cave, but it was still fun to lug yourself through the water and explore this chasm in the earth. We spent the rest of the afternoon hiking through the countryside and local villages and tubing down the river to our starting point....Vang Vieng. It was an amazing experience peering up at these huge mountains covered in thick jungle foliage from the vantage point of a tube on the river! However, I have to say that the weather was a bit chilly and overcast that day. So, by the end, I couldn't think of anything but hot soup and tea! Anyway, the next day I rented a bicycle and spent the morning exploring the surrounding areas. While my bike felt like it weighed 500 pounds, the scenery was breathtaking and it was nice to set my own pace and be able to watch the occasional soccer match or observe the rice harvest in action. That afternoon, I took a long walk out into the countryside which was a welcomed escape from the tourist trap of Vang Vieng itself and a great opportunity to engage with the people and beautiful landscape.
After Vang Vieng, I went to Laos' old capital of Luang Prabang. It is an absolutely beautiful city that is build on a peninsula that juts out into the Mekong River. I had a lot of fun biking around the town and taking in the amazing river views. Also, every night, the main downtown street gets transformed into a seemingly endless night market with hundreds of vendors selling colorful and unique handicrafts. I definately had fun exploring! Also, one of the days, I went on a trek to visit some local villages and an incredible multi-tiered waterful with clear tourquise water. I even jumped in for a swim with some of the people from my group who I was trekking with! While the water was quite cold, the pools at the bottom of the falls were so clear and beautiful that it was definately worth it!
Unfortunately, I spent my last two days in Laos feeling sick. It was nothing serious and probably my body's way of telling me to slow down a bit! So, I took the opportunity to read a few novels and relax which wasn't so bad. :) Anyway, I'm feeling better now and am looking forward to starting my Thailand adventure! I'll keep you guys updated!

love and miss you all,

Rachel

PS: Happy Thanksgiving! I'm so sad that I'm missing my favorite holiday, but I think Anne and I are going to go out for a Thai vegan feast! So, I'll let you know how that goes! :)

Hello from Laos!

Hello Everyone!

So, I'm officially in the capital city of Laos after a 24 hour bus ride from Hanoi! While I can't say that I enjoyed the bus ride all that much, I am happy to be here! When I last wrote, I was headed to Sapa for some hiking. Sapa was absolutely beautiful. It's a town situated up in the mountains and surrounded by villages who have built their lives and livelihoods literally into the hillsides. My group was quite international with 2 Australians, 2 Dutch, 1 Malaysian, and myself! We began our hike walking through Sapa which offers some breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains and the vast valleys below. It was a bright and sunny day with not a cloud in the sky.....a perfect day for a hike! We descended into the mountain valley which took us through terraced rice paddies, indigo patches, and vegetable gardens. We also passed massive water buffalo munching away in the rice paddies! We passed through several villages where the Hmong people live (a minority people group living in this region of Vietnam). As we walked through the villages, there were countless chickens, ducks, puppies, piglets, and water buffalo to observe. We arrived at our "homestay" which to my disappointment was more like a simple hotel than a night with a family. It was still nice though. We walked down to the river and went for a very refreshing swim which felt so good after a long hike under the sun. That evening, I walked up this road heading into the hills and met many of the villagers along the way. It was away from where most of the tourists hang out....so I was able to have more authentic interactions with the people which was nice. Everyone was very friendly and the views as I walked up were beautiful as the sun began to set. The next morning was chilly and the fog so thick in some places that you felt like you were hiking through a cloud! While this limited the visibility, the cool weather was nice and it was kind of cool hiking through bamboo forests with all the fog. We also visited some more villages and got to take a peak into the lives of some of the people living there. All in all, it was a great experience. That evening, I was on the night train headed back to Hanoi where I spent the next day. I visited the Museum of Ethnography which was quite impressive and documented the great diversity that is present in Vietnam. It was really interesting to learn about all of the different cultures, languages, and ways of life that are dispersed within Vietnam. I was kind of sad to leave Vietnam....it really is an amazing country! But, I'm excited to discover Laos as well! I'll keep you updated on how that goes!

love and miss you all,

Rachel

Update from Vietnam!

Hello Everyone!

Please excuse my sporadic posts to my blog these days, but life seems to be moving faster than I can run! Vietnam is an amazing country and it has totally blown me away in ways that I never expected. After Ho Chi Minh City, I went on a three day moterbike tour with a company stationed out of Dalat which is in the central highlands of Vietnam. I traveled with a girl from Canada named Maggy who is a chef (we had much to talk about considering my passion for food!). It was an incredible trip and offered the chance to not only take in the breathtaking views, but discover a piece of the "real Vietnam" that most tourists don't see. We stopped at many places along the way...from massive waterfalls to small villages where I learned to use a well and had the opportunity to take a glimpse into people's homes and ways of life. I also got to visit a silk factory where I walked through the process from the silk worm to the final product. I even ate a silk worm...they taste like peanuts! I know...not a very vegan thing to do! Don't worry...I'm on the right path once more. :) There were many more stops and things I learned along the way which I don't have time to record at the moment, but I have them all documented for good stories upon my return! My journey ended at Nha Trang which offers a gorgeous coastline. From there, I took the bus (31 hours!!!) to Hanoi in the North of Vietnam. I spent a day exploring the city which is continually moving and offers some great "people-watching" opportunities! The next day I was off to Halong Bay where I went out on a boat and soaked in the amazing sights that it has to offer. Basically, there are hundreds of limestone islands that are jutting out of the water. It appears to be a mountain range in the middle of the sea and is really surreal! We also had the opportunity to visit some vast caves on these islands that contain amazing stalagtites that take on all kinds of shapes and structures. I had a hard time convincing myself that what I was seeing was real...it almost looked like a movie set. From there, we went further into the islands and had the opportunity to do a bit of kayaking and swimming! The water was so warm and it felt so good to swim after spending 4 + months in intense heat! :) I spent the night on the boat and was really blown away by the way that the early morning sun illuminated the islands and cast their reflections on the sea. Anyway, now I'm back in Hanoi and am taking the night train this evening to Sapa which is up in the mountains. There, I'll be doing some trekking and staying in a homestay with a Vietnamese family. I'll let you know how it goes!

love and miss you all,

Rachel

Ho Chi Minh City....

Hello from Vietnam!

I'm currently in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) which is a city of 8 million that is literally pulsating with energy...in fact...it's almost palpable. It also contains more moterbikes than I ever thought possible. It's like an icon here. There is something about the energy of this city that I absolutely love. The people are outgoing and friendly, the food is diverse and fantastic, and there is color everywhere. The first evening I arrived, I met up with my Swiss friend I met in Kratie and explored a festival that was going on in a nearby park. The trees were completely illuminated in sparkling white and blue led lights and there were various performances going on from traditional dances and songs to tacky American karaoke (Santana I believe) to awesome performances by two guys on stilts dressed up as dragons! There were also countless food stalls selling everything from pho to sugarcane juice. There was also a Vietnamese version of a pinata which was really amusing until the person who was blindfolded, dizzy, and yielding a big stick started heading for the crowd instead of the target! :)
The next day, I headed off to the War Remnants Museum which documents the atrocities committed against the Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War. Most of the documentation is done through photography. Many of the photographs were taken by men and women who died while completing their work for the sake of presenting the true face of war to humanity. The pictures were horrific yet powerful and I walked out of that museum ashamed to call myself an American in many ways. We learn about the Vietnam War in school from a distance and are aware of the great public outcry and antiwar sentiment that was present. However, I don't remember learning about the atrocities we committed against innocent civilians; particularly women and children. Nor do I remember any discussion of our widespread use of chemical agents that has left generations of Vietnamese families plagued by serious birth defects and paralyzing abnormalities. War is such an ugly part of humanity. It is difficult to believe that we as humans are capable of such evil, hate, and senseless killing. Anyway, needless to say, it was a powerful experience that has left me deep in thought. Today, I went to the Cu Chi tunnels which are an extensive underground tunnel system used by the Vietnamese during the war. During the tour, we got to climb inside the tunnels which are so small that even I had a difficult time moving through them! There are portions of the tunnels which are completely dark and if you're claustrophobic....a complete nightmare! It's amazing to me that the Vietnamese would spend entire days down in these tunnels! I also learned a bit about the tactics used against the Americans during the war....again war is an ugly thing.

Vietnam seems to be completely different than Cambodia. It is much more "high-paced" and it took some getting used to after being in laid-back Cambodia for a month! I really enjoyed my time in Cambodia and in many ways in helped me put a face to the people I had previously spent so much time learning about. However, in many ways it also left me with new questions and areas for thought and research. On my last day in Cambodia, I visited the Killing fields which are located approximately 15 km outside of Phnom Penh. As you first walk through the entrance, you see a giant pagoda. As you approach it, you realize it is full of human skulls that stare back at you; communicating the sense of horror that this place represents. There is also a museum documenting the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge. As you walk through the Killing Fields themselves, you find yourself walking along a narrow trail surrounded by large holes in the ground. These holes are mass graves that have been uncovered. The largest mass grave contained 450 bodies. There was also a mass grave full of the bodies of women and children. I found myself returning to the hundreds of photographs on display at the S-21 genocide museum; photographs of men, women, and children. Some stared back at you with raw fear while others looked defiant and angry. Regardless, though, they all represented a face of someone who suffered and died under the Khmer Rouge and whose bodies were callously thrown into the mass graves at the Killing Fields. I could honestly go on for pages about what I've seen and experienced at these sights, but I'll spare you the horror and give myself more time to really think through these experiences. Again, the true face of war is not what you see on television. The true face of war would depict average civilians, women, and children and the harm that has come to them.
Aside from these experiences, I also visited the Royal Palace and National Museum in Phnom Penh. These were beautiful and impressive sites showing the rich history and culture of the Cambodian people. I also spent a day at the Royal University of Phnom Penh which was arranged by my thesis adviser from college. I had the opportunity of attending a conference held by the psychology students in recognition of World Mental Health day. I even had my own interpreter as the presentations were given in Khmer. Afterwards, I had lunch and spent time with some of the directors and professors in the department which was really interesting. Finally, I got to sit in on a masters student's class which was covering counseling techniques used with clients suffering from PTSD. It was really cool to get to interact with the students and professors in this setting. I was also really impressed with the work the department is doing within the community. It is the first and only psychology department in the whole of Cambodia and is actively educating and training up mental health professionals who are beginning to meet the huge mental health needs within the country.
I also had the opportunity to see the beginnings of a huge boat racing festival that takes place along the Mekong River in Phnom Penh annually. People come from all over Cambodia and the world to take part in and/or observe the races. The boats are extremely long, lavishly decorated, and contain approximately 50-80 people who must all row simultaneously and furiously if they are to have a chance at winning. It was really an impressive and unique sight!
Alright, that's all I have time for at the moment, but I'll keep you updated on my travels in Vietnam! Love and miss you all!
~Rachel