Vietnam and Thailand

The past several months have been amazing. I went to Hanoi, Vietnam in March and traveled all over the southern and main parts of Thailand. I got to spend quality time with two of my favorite people in the world, Scott Keene, whom I met in Tokyo about 2 years ago and A'lan Abruzzo, who is a friend from the States. A'lan and I go waaaayyyy back to the days when the HiBall Lounge was still serving drinks, Spencers was in full swing and lindy hop was dressed in fringe. Scott and I must have known each other in a previous life, that's the only way I can explain how our quirky friendship could've developed so quickly. In any case, to have spent time with these two in foreign lands has been an absolute treat. The most valuable lesson I learned in Thailand, however, is never to trust airport staff with valuables. Sadly...after 100's of pictures, my camera was stolen from my bag. Let me expain. I took 1 medium backpack to Thailand and a purse. That's it. The idea was to be able to have it with me at all times and not have to check anything at the gate. On the way out of Bangkok to Tokyo, I was informed that my "liquid" tube of toothpaste was too big. I had been up all night, it was 4am and the whole conversation seemed absurd to me. But for some reason, I was really attached to my American Crest...Japanese toothpastes don't have flouride in them, which still boggles my mind, and when you stock up on things like toothpaste for months at a time...you don't often feel like parting with them. In my tired stupor, I checked my backpack to comply with the liquid regulations. But Why oh WHY didn't I take my camera out of my bag. Why oh why didn't I lock my bag back up again...4am thinking. In any case. It could've been worse. I have LEARNED MY LESSON and thank goodness it wasn't a longer trip. I have every intention of going back to Thailand...so...okay...I don't have shots from this trip. But I WILL have shots of another.

The memories I have are amazing. Scott and I spent all of our days in Hanoi. We took a boat along Halong Bay, which is a world heritage site and simply beautiful. There are huge limestone formations and cliffs that will take your breath away. A'lan and I saw more of the same, but on a stunningly gorgeous sunny day on a fisherman's motorboat. In both countries, breakfast was my favorite meal of the day. There is nothing like rice soup with pork, cilantro and other spices to make you feel hydrated and alive first thing in the morning. Vietnamese coffee was BY FAR superiour however. I think Thailand takes the prize for the worst coffee ever. A'lan and I stayed at a muslim fishing village on stilts in the middle of the water. I expected the experience to be, well, a bit like camping, but it wasn't at all. There was a huge marketplace, which was completely unexpected, we had tea and banana crepes with the local fishermen. It was just amazing to put ourselves in the middle of this tiny community who welcomed us so graciously. We walked around the docks, took a look at the school they had there, cringed at the kids selling postcards featuring the devestation from the tsunami, and watched the sunrise over limestone cliffs. It was an experience I'll always have in my mind when I think about Thailand.

My trip to Vietnam was a bit shorter. Scott and I went to a water puppet show, we wandered about the art galleries and local markets, took walks around the lake, spotted the last tortoise of its kind (!!!!), saw Ho Chi Minh who has been preserved in a glass case (I think that's the first corpse I've ever seen), we spent our nights drinking red wine at a local jazz club (I seem to find them in every country), a couple of bars run by ex-pats. We got together with a couple of Couch Surfing friends (check out couchsurfing.com, it's oh so very cool), Kori and Chad. Great conversation. I take pride in being the first to point out to a Texan man that he's a feminist. Even though he chuckled, he took it as a compliment and that's a step in the right direction. (Check out a blog called Feminist Allies to find more thoughts about feminist men out there in the world.) All in all, the trip was a perfect balance of touristy stops, relaxation, wandering about, good food and plenty of conversation.

I think I'll have to leave it at that for now. There are sooo many things to add to my trip to Thailand. The muslim fishing villiage was just one of the many highlights. Off the top of my head: we went to Koh Samui and stayed at the most luxurious spot I've ever been (and for only $30 US a night), we rode scooters to the butterfly museum, ate seafood on the beach (meaning our toes were in the sand...I'm talking ON the beach), went snorkeling at Koh Tao (incredible), took a ferry to the mainland, spent a few days in a rainforest where our hotel room was literally built in the trees, co-habitated with a bat and a frog, got drenched in the rain every afternoon at 1pm without fail, ran into a watt for shelter, drank lots of coconut juice from the fruit itself, met a crazy ex-pat named Richard who was high all the time, saw wild monkeys, listened to thai karaoke on a bus, crawled around in beautiful caves, floated in the ocean, got ripped off by cab drivers, went to the red-light district just to see what it was like (something about ping pong balls??), watched live traditional thai dances while having dinner, ate from street vendors, bought more artwork, had the most amazing thai massages every night, hailed the tut tuts, bought pearls, saw a face in a tree, rode scooters around the ruins, saw the lying buddah, got a little Watted out, paid too much for the train there, but got local prices on the way back, and of course...went to a muslim fishing villiage. Whew! What a great trip. I can't wait to do it allll again!! Wanna go??