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Motorcycle ride in the rain
A few of us are riding up to the caves tomorrow, why don’t you hop on the back and tag along? Suggests James. He had jumped into the conversation I was having with Louisa about malaria pills. James, from Edmonton, studies birds, and had applied for a masters program at a university in Holland. Half Thai with long shaggy hair, he talks a bit like a surfer/street kid. Later, when I ask him if the caves impressed him, he says “yah, they’re dec”. So I tagged along on the back of James motorbike. We rode up to the Phong Nha caves with two Kiwi boys, Max and Oscar. We meet…
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Cave Explorers
It was pitch black. The only light to illuminate anything was coming from our headlamps. We had walked quite far into the Dark Cave and had reached the edge of a pond/lake. This is as far as we can go, I thought. But I was wrong. The two Dutch guys and Leland, the American started to wade into the pond and swim, with only their headlights to shine the way. I looked at the Vietnamese guide who had sold us the tickets to the Dark Cave…”are you going in too?” I ask. Not going to be a good sign if the local refuses to swim in this lake in this…
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The local bus to Phong Nha
Go to the North Bus Station, find the red bus with the sign that says “Phu Vuc”, rego plate 73L9790. It leaves at 10:30am. You pay the driver 80,000 – 120,000 VND depending on his mood. Those were the directions from the owners of the farmstay I was heading to. Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park was were I was headed. Recently opened up to tourists, the park has a series of massive caves and I wanted to check them out. I also wanted to get away from the busy cities for a while and see rural Vietnam. Where was the North bus stop and what if the bus…
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Oasis of expats
Bike rental for 20,000 dong, I head out for Cua Dai beach. It’s stinking hot. From Cua Dai, I head for An Bang beach. By the time I get there, I’m more than ready for a drink. At the end of the road is a cute bar/restaurant with day beds, lawn chairs, and a view of the sea. Coconut drink in hand, I claim a day bed with cover and chill out. It’s paradise…I could stay here all day. Great people watching as well. I eavesdrop on a conversation between an older couple and a French man. The French guy has been living in Vietnam for 20 years. They have…
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Stepping back in time
Full of well preserved old architecture from a different era, Hoi An is a cute little town by the river. I can’t stop taking photos here…everything is beautiful and charming. At night, the town becomes a village of lanterns.
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Strangers in a cab
The lady at the info desk at Danang airport draws an “x” for me on the map where the bus stop is, beside the park. It’s 1km away and I can walk there she says. Catch the yellow bus to Hoi An…it comes often. So I start walking with my big backpack. It’s hot and there are few people walking outside at all. A Xe Om driver follows me, trying to get me to ride on his bike. No thanks…I’ll just walk. Except it’s hot…really hot and after walking to the end of the street and with no park or bus stop in sight, I start to think catching a…
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Ho Chi Minh – through a local’s lens
Picked up by Uncle Paul, Grand Uncle and Grand Auntie at the HCM airport, I’m ushered into the air conditioned van and driven through the city to Uncle Paul’s home. It’s chaotic, 10/15 motorbikes to every car. Bangkok was not this crazy. And there is absolutely no regard for traffic rules, yet somehow it all works. Rules appear to be: go and even if there isn’t enough room or time, go anyway and stop only when u must to avoid hitting anything/anyone. Driving is done on the right side of the road. Uncle Paul’s driving is amazing — he weaves through the traffic, honking, squeezing through, and pushing his way through the…
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Hot, spicy, and sour
Hungry and very eager to try some authentic Thai food on my first night in Bangkok, I asked the front desk where I could get some street food. I thought I might as well dive right in and start prepping my stomach right away. I wandered for 15 minutes and get to a busy area with lots of street vendors and street stalls selling all sorts of junk — including pink plastic dildos. Unfortunately I didn’t whip out my camera fast enough to get a photo before the vendor stopped me. Choices galore, I had no idea what each vendor was offering and wanted to try a bit of everything! Finally…
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10 days to go…
The 10 day count down begins…in 10 days time I will be in Bangkok — exotic, tropical, busy, chaotic, and wonderfully foreign. So the first post of my 3 month adventure starts. Below is a rough mapping of my “trail”. I’m starting off in Bangkok, doing a quick stop in Siem Reap and Ankor, before doing a thorough exploration of Vietnam. Then it’s off to stylish Stockholm to meet up with my brother and onwards to trendy Copenhagen. Budapest follows next as an intro to Central Europe before we spend a leisurely two weeks sailing the Croatian coast. Unable to resist a stop to my favourite European country…
