Bali Baby!

Hey hey hey...

Can't even be sure where we left off last. Somewhere mid Vietnam...

We spent our last 4 days in Vietnam between very relaxed resort/party beach town Nha Trang and absolutely hectic Ho Chi Mihn. Highlights were: spa day, the meal we splurged on for $10 and still haven't stopped talking about, amazing fresh rolls, and the Vietnam war site tour.

Lowlights were: rats near our hostel (I've grown a deep fear), my fair skinned travel partners burning to a crisp, accidenty staying on the street filled with "cafe's" which were really brothels, and the shooting rang that someone for some reason thought was appropriate for the war tour.

All in all we massively fell in love with Vietnam. A perfect balance of culture shock/few tourists and yet lots to do and general feelings of safety and friendliness.

We now have made it to Bali for some very new exciting things. Brigid and Kath spent the last 2 days surfing in the Nusa islands while I met Tara in Kuta (my friend joining us for the Bali portion of our trip). We all have now reunited in Ubud. Very cool small city which most of Eat Pray Love was filmed in. The people here are possibly the friendliest yet! This town is what I'm calling Yogaville because its extremely cultural with many temples and vegan/organic/hip folks just chillin out doing yoga. We caught a famous Balinese dance show tonight, which ended with a man walking on fire.....

Next up is Gili Islands...where they say snorkeling and scuba diving is the best in the world (known for sea turtles). We're all ready to lay on a beach for a week!!

Lots of love. Hugs

Sar

1 country to go...

Gooooooood morning (from) Vietnam!

....actually it's not morning here at all but we've seen that phrase everywhere we've been here as per Robin Williams movie on the Vietnam war.

We're really enjoying our rather hectic journey through this country. Hanoi was a little nutty-I never was able to cross the street without screaming for dear life. LOTS of good shopping- very artistic things, however a bit more expensive than anywhere else we've visited yet. Brigid and I could be hired by Lonely Planet to report on fresh rolls since we've ordered them at every single restaurant. And yet- we still haven't found ANY that taste like the ones from Viet Thai! We're not giving up though.

The scenery here is lovely (as I sit looking out the train window). Very green and...flat! Maybe I am shaping up to be a prairie girl at heart. Poor McNutt caught the killer bug Leach and I have endured, with a side of fever, just before we were off to Halong Bay. Kathryn and I took a day trip on a fancy pants boat (strangely, called a "junk boat") and got to kayak and hike through a few tunnels. Super stunning limestone rocks.

The people are very friendly here, especially the women. We have just left from an old small town named Hoi Ann, definitely a highlight for all of us. We splurged a bit on a hotel that cost $20 each per night and were treated like absolute royalty. The women running the hotel hugged us numerous times and always called us by name. The breakfasts were amazing- Kathryn got her favorite cheese and I doubled my weight in banana/mango/pineapple pancakes. The town was very traditional Vietnamese and had dress/suit shops everywhere. We spent our day biking along the river and getting fitted for our custom made dresses, pants, and blazers! Brigid finished her day with a cooking class while Kathryn and I took in the very authentic Vietnamese experience of lining up for the premiere of Twilight. The subtitles made it cultural enough.

Off we head to Nha Trang, beach town of Vietnam and a sneak peak of what Bali will be like (a lot of sun and siestas). We're in peak rain time for this area of Vietnam so I'm willing to bet our beach day will be spent at the spa...either way, no complaints.

Hugs and kisses to my mamma & puppies...and anyone who wants them.

Sar

Ps- we're serious celebrities here. Especially my blonde/red headed travel companions. Every day someone either asks for a picture or just starts taking pictures of us. They like to touch our arms or faces too- really strange. It's somewhat less than comfortable when 5 people stare at you for a 10 hour train trip...but we just laugh back.

We've been busy!

Greetings from a bus in Cambodia, also known as the bumpiest bus ride of my life. Back to where I left off in the last post, we took a ferry to Ko Phi Phi to spend a couple days there. There are no cars on the island. The tiny streets are lined with stores, restaurants and stalls, and filled with bicycles and tourists. On our first day there we wanted to find a quiet beach away from the bustling central one. We ended up at Monkey Beach. We thought it couldn’t really be full of monkeys, but on the boat ride over the memory finally stirred that I had been told not to go to the island if I wanted to stay rabies-free. Turns out there are monkeys wandering all around the beach. Not cute ones either. One came over, opened a plastic bag we had brought and grabbed my throat lozenges. After that I assumed role of monkey guard as the others swam, basically holding all of our bags. So much for a relaxing afternoon at the beach! Looking back however the whole scene was very funny.

The next day Kathryn’s condition got worse and she unfortunately had to spend the day in bed. Sarah and I went on a boat tour of the surrounding islands. We went snorkeling and kayaking at a few different beaches. The highlight was without a doubt our stop at Maya Bay, where The Beach is set. It is a stunning sight to see. The clear turquoise waters, tree-covered cliffs and the vivid colours of the fish paired with a refreshing rainfall left us with big grins as we floated around in the warm water. Upon return, Sarah and I braved the increasingly powerful rain from the front of the ship, letting it pour down on us. By the time we made it back to our hostel, the streets were completely flooded. I can’t remember ever feeling more soaked to my core, yet it was an invigorating experience.

Another Phi Phi highlight was the discovery of coconut donuts. Basically shredded coconut surrounded by a bit of dough, they are a true dream. I’ve been on a search to find them again as I can’t stop thinking about the one I had. Our last night in Thailand was spent in Phuket at an airport guesthouse so we could catch our early flight to Cambodia. I felt sad to leave the country, but also excited to keep moving on with our travels.

The staring we have become accustomed to started on our plane to Cambodia. The people around us spent much of their time looking our way. There are far fewer tourists here, so we get paid much more attention. I have found that the people here smile more and are very attentive, but they stare and laugh at us more, too.

We spent three nights in Phnom Penh. The city is very dusty and polluted. On the tuk tuk ride out to the Killing Fields of the Khmer Rouge regime we could hardly breathe because of all the dirt and exhaust around us. The Killing Fields were incredibly sad. Each visitor gets a headset that explains what happened in the county and happened in each area. The stupa erected in memory of the victims houses hundreds of skulls. It was a chilling sight to see. We also went to the museum S 21, an old school turned into a headquarters/ prison for the Khmer Rouge. They kept documentation of the prisoners, with pictures of each victim. These photos now line the walls of the museum. Some faces showed despair, defiance, or anger, but there were also many smiles. Pol Pot ruled for the second half of the 1970s, so it’s hard to take in that it all happened not very long ago.

Back at our hostel, we saw a giant beetle-like creature in the street. I know this is coming from a girl that freaks out around maple bugs, but you’ll have to trust me that this bug was in a league of its own. A group of locals also joined us in checking it out on the street. A five -year-old wearing flip flops wearing flops flops twice as big as her feet fearlessly stomped on it, though it kept crawling. The three of us huddled together watching, until a woman picked it up and threw it at us. We screamed, and bolted into our hostel causing quite the scene. Once the hostel workers found out the bug scared us, they loved to tease too. We all joked about it later and had a great laugh, but it was scarring.

The next day we went for a meal on the riverfront. As the sun set, a group of about 30 people were doing aerobics along the quay. I paid my dollar and joined in while Sarah an Kathryn laughed at me and took photos. I looked entirely ridiculous but had a great time.
We only have 3 days left in Cambodia and then we’re off to Vietnam.

I hope all is well at home!
Much love,
Brig xo

From Brig

Hello from Krabi town!
We have been moving quite slowly the past few days from a mix of Haad Rin beach party antics and tummy bugs. Since I last wrote, we spent another night in Chiang Mai and explored some of the temples there. Because we went late in the evening we had the temples to ourselves for a truly peaceful experience. We also caught some sort of news cast being filmed outside of one of them. In the background there were a number of monks sitting up on a ledge surrounded by candles. Sarah and I surely made it onto the shot as we walked out of the temple and accidentally into plain view of the camera.
Next, we were off to Koh Phangan to experience the a whole new world of partying. Haad Rin beach is home to the Full For the next couple days we lay low, taking full advantage of the free movies playing at the bungalows as we nursed our poor tummies back to health. The fact that our room only had a fan made it unbearable to be in the room during the day. We will never take air conditioning for granted again! My mother would be proud to know I managed to get the mosquitoes net up using an old nail in the wall and the curtains. Though my makeshift sewing ventures have been unsuccessful thus far, the net actually stayed up.
Yesterday we took a boat and bus to Krabi town. Actually, make that two buses, a boat, and two shared taxis. We are learning quickly that transportation here is rarely what you are told it will be. For example, on this journey our bus stopped, we were told to get into shared taxis, taken to a restaurant, and then put on another bus. The number of times we have looked at each other and the people around to see if anyone knows where we are actually being taken is growing quickly.
It was a rainy day here so unfortunately we weren’t able to make it to the beach today. Sarah and I did however get another oil massage. While mine was relaxing, Sarah’s involved intense stretching. I would look over to a small Thai woman sitting on her, bending her leg back. We also explored the night market, deciding to be adventurous and try out new foods that we had no idea what they really were. There was only one item we had to throw out of this street food because we didn’t like it. We’ve also found the best grilled cheese we’ve ever had at a restaurant here–the ultimate comfort food in my books. Many of the restaurants here have lengthy menus, with American food, Italian food, and then a full Thai section. I find it overwhelming to choose between the noodles, curries, fried rice and soups, and wide selection of coffee and fruit shakes because I want to eat it all! The same goes for shopping…my Thai pant collection is growing quickly.
We’re heading to Ko Phi Phi to tomorrow for more beach time and hopefully snorkeling. I haven’t taken many pictures with my camera since we’ve been in the islands but I’ve included some iPhone ones.
Sending much love!
Brig xo