back home

Sorry I didn’t keep the blog going last week… I was pretty busy with plenty of traveling. After HK I headed back north towards South Korea for one last stop in Asia. I only stayed there two and a half days but I really enjoyed Seoul and definitely think I’ll go back at some point. After a long day of travel on Wednesday (via Tokyo on a red-eye) I arrived in the evening at the Lee&No Guesthouse and was greeted by a few other travelers that were about to head to dinner. After cleaning up quickly, we went to a local restaurant they’d spotted earlier in the day which was a do-it-yourself type of cooking (very popular in Korea apparently). Basically we ordered a huge plate of baby octopus and pork slices and placed it on a stove located in the middle of the table and let the whole thing cook (it was covered in some sort of fiery hell-broth too). When it was all nice and hot, we all started digging in. As seems to be the custom in Korea, we were given a whole slew of side dishes to go along with this and wrapped everything up in lettuce leaves . We also drank our fair share of beer and soju (the local rice wine), which caught the attention of the businessmen sitting next to us. One thing led to another, and before we knew it, we were drinking soju with them. It turned out to be quite the long evening – parts of which are rather blurry – but in the end we all agreed to meet the following evening for dinner.

Thursday I tried to walk off the soju induced hangover by visiting a few temples and palaces around Seoul. The city feels very similar to Tokyo, though people are much more relaxed and easy going. It’s a really nice place to visit and there really seems to be something for everyone – shopping, eating and sightseeing. Anyway, I was on cruise control most of the day just kind of walking around aimlessly and not feeling quite right until about dinner time. Of course I’d agreed to go to dinner again with everyone, though I was sincerely hoping it would be a bit tamer. We ended up getting Korean BBQ, which was fantastic (something about being able to cook it yourself makes it taste so much better!) and only had a few beers this time – I avoided the soju like the plague. Apparently the businessmen had all stayed out all night at a karaoke parlor after the previous night’s dinner and gone from there straight to work – some without changing… so they were all a bit tired too.

Friday – my last full day in Asia – I went to an art museum in the morning to stay cool and walked around some of the markets and shopping areas of Seoul. I really can’t imagine anyone not enjoying themselves here – it’s really a great place and the food is fantastic. That evening I met up with Cathy, another Kellogg student, for some traditional Korean food and tea. She showed me around town a bit and we talked about the now rapidly approaching start of the school year.

So that’s it. 62 days in Asia comes to an end. The flight back was somewhat long but unadventurous. Now I’m back in Boston preparing to move to Chicago within a couple days. So thanks to all of you for reading the blog – hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to Steve, Rob, Paul, Nicole, the Irish, Daniel, Gorka, Anita, Yoda, Haskell, Richard, Trinh, Viji, Vickna, Dipti, Cathy and all the other random people who joined me on trip. And thanks to all family and friends who emailed and chatted with me while I was on the other side of the world.

top 5

Everyone loves lists... so here's the top 5 sights from the trip

5. Shangri-La and Kyoto. In many ways these two locations couldn't be more different. However, I just couldn't bring myself to pick one over the other. Between Kyoto's temples, shrines and pagodas and the remote, almost mythical town of Shangri-La, it's a real tough call. Both are truly unique, though unfortunately I think Shangri-La will go the way of its southerly neighbor Lijiang and become quite the tourist trap within five years. Either way, when visiting either you really feel far from home and yet very at ease at the same time. Kyoto offers a history as rich as any other city on earth and Shangri-La a peaceful retreat from the craziness of the rest of China. Really two very magical places.

4. Tskiji Fish Market Last time I was in Tokyo, I missed this amazing fish market and was quite upset about it. Now I know I had good reason to be, but luckily this time I did not miss out on one of the greatest free shows on earth. The energy and commotion here truly something else - especially considering it's 6AM! Fish flying every which way, massive fresh and frozen tuna lined up in every direction and creatures you'll never see anywhere else. It's really a feast for the eyes and when you're done... well you have sushi restaurants all around you to satiate your newfound appetite for raw fish at 8AM.

3. Tiger Leaping Gorge I had read some stuff about this trek before leaving home but hadn't planned on going since it was a bit out of the way. After the earthquake hit near Chengdu in May I had to change my plans around a bit and ended up spending more time in the Yunnan Proivince, giving me ample time to make it up to The Gorge and beyond. I was rewarded with a magical two-day trek through the clouds along the worlds tallest and narrowest gorge. It didn't hurt that along the way I met two great guys to hike it with and

2. Great Wall of China I did not expect to enjoy the Great Wall as much as I did. Most of the picture's I'd seen or filled with thousands of tourists climbing over what was a recent reconstruction of the wall... What I found however was completely the opposite. I took a tour to a slightly more remote location and was rewarded with a 10km hike up and down The Wall with just a few people from my tour group. This section had been rebuilt in parts, but enough was left unrestored to make it feel more authentic.

1. Ha Long Bay This one was really easy to pick. I had really high expectations for Vietnam and Ha Long Bay especially and it pretty much exceeded all of my expectations in every way imaginable. We were extremely lucky with the weather and made a great decision to stay an extra night in order to have a whole day of kayaking. In any event, this place is surreal and Haskell and I constantly remarked how unbelievable it was while we were there. I just flipped through the pictures Haskell and I took there and still have a hard time coming to grips with the scenery. Anyway, if there's one thing on this trip that I would unequivocally recommend to everyone, it's surely this one.

hong kong

note: I've uploaded pics from Penang, Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur below...

I'll be honest - I was starting to get a bit tired of big Asian cities - they were all starting to look pretty similar, with few surprises to be found. Then I got to Hong Kong. Now I have a new favorite city. This place is unbelievable and seems to get better each day. I feel like some cities -- Beijing comes to mind -- drain all your energy while others, like New York and Tokyo seem to do just the opposite. Hong Kong certainly falls into this latter category.

So I've spent my first couple days here exploring the different parts of the city. On Friday, my first full day here, I spent most of the day in Central and SoHo on Hong Kong island. This is basically the main business area and where you will find most of the expats and businessmen as well as some of the world’s most impressive sky scrapers. It's also home to an absurd number of fancy malls, hotels and restaurants. But unlike other cities of similar size, the streets here are narrow, varied and a pleasure to walk around. The setting is also amazing, with green hills out one side and Hong Kong Bay on the other. Great backdrops for an amazing skyline.

There aren't many "sights" in Hong Kong, but the city itself is really the main attraction. The most touristy thing to do however, is to climb to the top of Victoria Peak on the extremely steep tram and take in the view of the city and harbor. This is exactly what I did at the end of the day, taking in the sunset as the city comes alive with lights. A spectacular skyline.

Saturday, I walked around Wan Chai and Causeway Bay - also on Hong Kong Island. It's a main shopping destination and since I had nothing to buy, I simply enjoyed walking around and people watching. In the Evening I went to Kowloon, directly across from Hong Kong Island for dinner. I made a bee-line for the Temple Street night market, fully expecting to find some decent food there. The market itself was pretty boring, but sure enough I found a busy restaurant that seemed to specialize in garlic/chili crab, something Anthony Bourdain taught me is somewhat of a local specialty. And so I had myself two large crabs with massive amounts of garlic and chilies. This took me close to 40 minutes to work my way through. Though very messy, it was really quite the feast.

another week, another country

Well that's it for Malaysia. Once again didn't really have much in the way of internet access here, so I haven't posted any pictures and obviously this is my first post since I first arrived. I'll try not to make it too long, but I have a few days worth of travelling to blog about.

So after my mini-fiasco at the airport on Friday evening in Kuala Lumpur, I did eventually make it to Penang Island Saturday morning. I was greeted by Viji and Vickna - Ravi's sister and brother-in-law as well as their 3-year old daughter Brihnda. They whisked me away from the airport back to their lovely home just south of Georgetown, the main city on the island. After dropping off my bags, Vickna gave me a tour of Georgetown in his air-conditioned car. I haven't travelled this luxuriously in weeks! Georgetown is a very cosmopolitan city with an interesting mix of cultures - Malay, Chinese, Indian and British influences combining to create a quite the diverse city. The food is equally varied with plenty of hawker stands and restaurants to choose from. For lunch we stopped at a hawker stand near their house and had a few Chinese dishes from various vendors and then at dinner enjoyed a tasty meal at an Indian restaurant. Off to a good start.

The second day I spent exploring the town by foot. It's not very large so I got a good feel for the various neighborhoods and really enjoyed the different architectural styles - from British Colonial to ultra-modern - that sit side by side. I climbed to the top of the Komtar tower (by way of an elevator) to get a good view of the entire island and the mainland. One of the other things that I noticed while walking around was how much quieter it is here than in Viet Nam and China. Most people drive cars and few if any honk their horn as is all too common in those other countries. It was quite relaxing, but having gotten used to the honking also somewhat disconcerting.

The next day I took a ferry north to Langkawi Island located near the Thai/Malaysian border. It's a major tourist spot and has great beaches and resorts - think Martha's Vineyard for Malaysians hehe. However, instead of lounging on the beach I decided to rent a scooter for the day and make my way around the island. Having previously been taught the ways of the scooter by Haskell, I decided I was ready to tackle a bike on my own. The traffic was much lighter/calmer than in Viet Nam and the roads were all well paved so the only catch was that they drive on the left side of the road here! In the end though everything went well and I avoided on-coming traffic like a pro! Among the highlights from the 40-mile trip around the island were a run-in with a pack of wild monkeys and a little hike up to a nice waterfall. Plus, I actually used suntan lotion this time so I didn't toast like Haskell and I had at Ha Long Bay two weeks ealier (I'm still suffering).

So that was Penang/Langkawi. I've since spent the last two days in Kuala Lumpur. It's very similar to Singapore in that it's your standard big city with sky scrapers and traffic and it has the same ethnic mix as Penang and the rest of Malaysia. It's got a bit more grit than Singapore (not very hard) but like its southernly neighbor there's not much to do here besides eat and walk around in massive malls. This is not a bad thing, but as I've found out, there's only so much one person can eat each day, and with only a day and a half to explore the many cuisines on offer, trying to eat your way across town is kind of a pointless exercise. So Kuala Lumpur has been kindda boring, but I didn't really have high expectations and now I'm ready to move on to Hong Kong, which promises to be a good time. I'll be staying with Dipti, my roommate from Oakland, and her husband, so it'll be nice to see them again. I'll upload some pictures from my week in Malaysia when I get to Hong Kong and hopefully post a few more times while I'm there. 53 days down, 10 to go. Alright, Enjoy the 4th and see (most of) you soon!

saigon

edit: here's some text to go along with the pictures:

So before I forget everything... We arrived in Saigon on Tuesday evening with some members of the party still realing a bit from the previous night's festivities. Not missing a beat however, we went hunting for food after dropping off our stuff at the hotel. Since we were staying in the backpackers district, there was plenty to chose from, but we settled on another bowl of pho from a street vendor. It would end up being our last bowl of pho in Viet Nam, which is really quite sad now that I come to think of it.

The next day, we were quite set on actually doing some sight-seeing, but needed a good meal to start us off. So we stopped in for a bowl of Bun Bo Hue, the spicy beef soup from Hue. Following the Lonely Planet's advice, from there we made our way to the fine arts museum, which was a nice french colonial building (don't worry, we didn't actually go in!). Unfortunately, it started raining slightly soon thereafter, so we stopped for a cup of coffee which unfortunately did not really seem to make the rain go away. In any event, we continued on towards the reunification palace - headquarters of the south vietnamese government during the Vietnam/American war. Though the building itself was really quite hideous - straight out of the 50's/60's, the interior was quite interesting to visit, with everything from stately meeting rooms to a movie theatre and game room with billiards and a bar (fortunately for us not operational). It's also always fascinating to see buildings that were so central to the war.

From there we continued on to the War Remnants Musuem, which offered a fascinating, if slightly biased, view of the American (as it's called here) War. One exhibit in particular, which contained many photographs taken by reporters and photographers was particularly captivating. Other parts of the exhibit which showed the effects of napalm bombing and the use of agent orange were downright deppressing. Definitely worth seeing however. We finished the day at a fancy hotel, drinking Tigers beers on the rooftop with a nice view of the city all around us. That night Haskell started feeling slightly under the weather, with all the streetfood finally catchin up to him a bit. So after dinner we joined Trinh, whom I had met last time in Saigon, for a quick drink near our hotel. She had another American friend in town, and took us all up to a nice balcony on the 5th floor of a bar. Quite relaxing.

The next day, Haskell headed off to the Cu-Chi tunnels on his own. I had visited the tunnels last time I'd been in Saigon and instead took care of financial aid and health care stuff for school - oh the joy! The Cu-Chi tunnels are a set of tunnels that the north Vietnamese resistance foces used to hide from the Americans and get very close (and under) some of their bases. You really get a sense of their determination when you realize that they lived in these tunnels for weeks and months at a time. It's well worth a visit if you're in town.

Friday was our last day in town, so we were both somewhat unmotivated to do a whole lot with the travelling we'd be doing later in the evening looming. So we headed on a leisurely walk towards Saigon's Chinatown. There wasn't much to see there because in the end it was all quite similar to the rest of Saigon. So after one last meal at a random little restaurant, we hopped on two motorbike taxis and made our way back towards the hotel were we seperated ways after another coffee. I was off to Malaysia while Haskell had a nearly 3-flight, 40 hour trip back to
Boston ahead of him.

My flight was rather uneventful other than the fact that when I arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Bank of America decided that an ATM withdrawal at the airport constituted a suspicious activity and decided to lock my account, leaving me without any cash. Of course not realizing this had happened, I tried every single ATM in the whole airport. Luckily I had 20 US dollars in my wallet and was able to make it to my hotel and make a $10 call to BoA to tell them what idiots they are. Needless to say, this all put me in quite the good mood. So anyway, now I'm in Penang staying with Ravi's family. Penang is a small but very developed island in northern Malaysia renowned for its good food. So far I've already eaten some Chinese and Indian specialties and will undoubtedly try more in the next couple days. Speaking of which, I'm starving so enough babbling, I'm off.

hue and hoi an

edit: pics and paragraphs added...

I've had limited internet access since the last post, so I haven't really been able to blog at all (obviously). However, Haskell and I have had a few good days in Hue and Hoi An. We found the city of Hue somewhat unremarkable, though we didn't do too much of the 'cultural' stuff, so maybe we missed a few things. The temps are pushing 100 every day and the humidity is equally oppressive, so doing much of anything during the day requires some significant motivation - which we obviously lack. However, we did manage to get out on Saturday afternoon for what turned out to be an adventurous ride on a scooter. I let Haskell do the driving since I wasn't quite ready to learn how to ride and deal with Vietnamese traffic all at once.

So we headed towards the beach, located about 15km north of Hue. We ended up driving through tiny little villages where just about everyone we passed seemed to be saying/shouting hello. It was actually quite fun. Adjacent to this particular beach (which is 50km long) are a series of cemeteries which you can ride through. After riding through these a little while, we found a quiet spot along the beach. Little did we know that we had been followed by a horde of 15 local kids who - from what we could tell - just wanted to play around with us. We had no idea what they were trying to tell us, but we all started having fun when they started showing off their break-dancing moves and we were snapping photos and showing them what they looked like. Quite funny.

We ended up not going in the water because of the crowd around us and instead decided to go back to another spot along the beach that we had passed and seemed more developed (with parking for the bike, food, etc...) Of course wouldn't you know it, about 10 minutes down the road we ran out of gas. Time for another adventure. So we walked around looking for anyone who could help, and quickly found a younger girl at a small store who had, what appeared to be, a single liter bottle of gasoline. After some confusing attempts at communication, we decided to poor this green liquid into the bike, not really knowing whether it was in fact gasoline. Of course to do that, you need to know where the gas tank is located - which we did not. With the help of another local who seemed thoroughly amused by our predicament, we eventually figured out it was under the seat and got the bike started again (this also was not easy since Haskell had run it completely dry - yes I fully blame him).

Eventually we got to the beach and took a quick dip in the warm water before making our way back to Hue. That evening we met up with someone I had met in Dali, China and happened to also be in town. We evenutally sucked about 5 or 6 other random people into our group and closed the bar down somewhere around 4:30am. Needless to say, the following day wasn't particularly productive either.

Anywho, now we're in Hoi An which we've enjoyed a bit more then Hue - it's a small town with plenty of tourists. The other thing Hoi An has plenty of is tailors. And though neither of us had intended to have a suit made while on vacation, I now have two new custom made suits which are being shipped back home. Haskell also broke down and had one made. The prices are obviously quite reasonable and having a suit made to my measurements was actually quite fun. We also did some more beach-bumming and met up with a few more people - including another admitted Kellogg student - last night for another night of fun around town. Though I did not stay out quite as late as Haskell, at least I still have my shoes and have not sworn off alcohol for today.

So... the last few days have been tiring, not particularly productive in terms of sightseeing, but immensely fun. Tonight we are headed to Saigon for our last stop in Viet Nam. I'll try to upload some pictures when I get there as the computers here are slow as molasses. Alright, time to go wake Haskell up for a game of pool.

ha long bay

edit: second set of pictures added below.

Haskell and I have just arrived in central Viet Nam in the old city of Hue after our three day boat trip through Ha Long Bay. Simply put, Ha Long Bay was one of the most stunning things either of us has ever seen. Though it was raining when we arrived on the boat on Wednesday, the sun was shining bright Thursday and Friday, resulting in incredible sunsets and some serious sun burns. After the first of many copious meals, we took a walk through a very large cave in one of the limestone formations and then went kayaking for an hour or so nearby. Since it wasn't raining too hard, this was actually quite fun and when we returned everyone went for a swim around the boat. Eventually, after diving off the boat for a solid hour, we reluctantly came back on board to be fed once again. We spent the night drinking Tiger Beer (our now undisputed favorite south-east Asian beer), learning about German Techno and playing cards with a German couple. We awoke Thursday to bright sunshine and while most of the passengers on our boat were headed back to the mainland (they were doing a 2-day cruise), Haskell and I were joined by a Dutch couple and a German family for a full day of kayaking and boating (on a smaller boat). Though we had wavered between the 2-day and 3-day cruise, by the end of the day, everyone agreed that the extra day was very worthwhile. After a 2-hour kayak journey through the bay, we reached a quiet part of the bay away from the crowds. There we swam in and out of caves, kayaked through bat filled tunnels - into enclosed lagoons and explored some very dark caves on foot. Eventually, we slowly cruised back towards the big boat, charring our skin to a lobster like color in the process. All in all, an amazing day! The third and final day was simply a cruise on the bigger boat through the bay and one last meal on before hopping back on a bus for Ha Noi. So anyway, onto the pictures - mine are maily from day 1 and 3 as we only took Haskell's camera on the kayak trip on day 2. His are the second set of pictures below (apparently, mostly of me :P).

smoked dog

Here's a little post for you foodies and dog lovers out there. Haskell and I began our day bit early and rather poorly yesterday by watching the Celtics lose game 5 of the finals. Of course this was a great opportunity to enjoy some sticky rice with grilled pork and start drinking tiger beer at 8AM, both of which I obviously highly recommend. The rest of the day was spent walking round Ha Noi's Old Quarter, enjoying all the sights and smells. After a quick bowl of pho ga and some more wandering, we went to a water puppet show, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like - puppets frolicking in water for 45 minutes. Wonderful. Afterwards we slowly made our way to Highway 4 for our "fancy meal" ($20 for two, including beers drinks :P), which ended up being a bunch of appetizers and beer - this is not a bad thing. In case the post title didn't tip you off, among other things, we had some smoked dog meat. Basically it tasted like ham - since it was smoked - and wasn't really weird in any way. Woof Woof. We also had some catfish rolls, spicy lime beef jerky and some chayote greens. All quite good, as were the Saigon and LaRue beers :) Our thirst not quite fully quenched yet, we finished our night at a Bia Hoi (draught beer) establishment, drinking 40 cent beers on 6" stools on the sidewalk. Nice.

Today we made our way towards Hoa Lo prison, which had been used as a prison during both the French Colonial period and the (American) Vietnam War. Very interesting and well put together exhibts which among many other things included John McCain's uniform which he had been captured in. Afterwards we went to Army Museum, with a variety of weapons and vehicles which had been used and captured during the many wars Viet Nam has been involved in the last 100 years and beyond. In between all this we ate more pho (of course), took a few rides on the back of xe om's (motorcycles), walked around the history museum and Ho Chi minh Mausoleum and stopped at a french cafe for coffee and cake. Not a bad day - and not quite done yet.

Tomorrow we head to Ha Long Bay for a three-day boat cruise which promises to include plenty of fun adventures on kayaks and lots of sea food. Very much looking forward to that. Anyways, here are the pictures from the last two days - enjoy!

ha noi

First of all, Happy Father's Day dad :) While I wait for Haskell to arrive tonight I thought I'd upload a few pictures from my first couple days in Ha Noi and jot down a few thoughts on the city. I'm not sure why this country has such an effect on me, but I really really enjoy it here. Normally I hate hot, humid, oven-like weather - which is certainly an apt description of the weather here. Add to that constant harrassment from the moto-drivers and street venders, who constantly call out at you (and sometimes physically grab you) trying to get you to hop on their bike or buy whatever crap they're selling, and I can see how someone would hate it here. And although I often get the urge to punch the moto drivers, I usually just keep walking, look ahead and inevetably start smiling again.

No matter where you go, the streets are buzzing with activity from before sunrise to well after sunset with people wheeling and dealing - and most importantly eating. There's food everywhere! At every street corner and everywhere in between, someone is selling something for you to eat. Of course I have no idea what most of it is, but that hasn't stopped me so far. For example... yesterday at around dinner time, the skies absolutely opened up. Torrential rain. I guess that's why they call it the "rainy season." So there I was standing at some random street corner under an awning, without an umbrella or rain coat - hardly surprising, right dad? Of course, there also happened to be a lady serving bowls of beef pho (soup) straight out of a big cauldron. Around her, a group of maybe two dozen patrons happily slurping down their "fast-food" on tiny little 6" stools. So of course, I hunkered down and ordered myself a bowl, joining everyone else in a quick meal. By the time I was done the rain had conveniently passed.

Today I had some sticky rice with what seemed to be chicken for lunch and a bowl of pho with with I gathered were duck innards for dinner. I honestly couldn't figure out what half the innards were in my soup.. duck blood? duck intestines? I have no clue... but I'm thinking that's probably a good thing - though make no mistake, it was quite tasty. Now I'm thinking I need to go get more street food, just cause I can't help it. Oops nevermind - the skies just opened up again - maybe I'll go later. For now, enjoy the pics, I'll try to get more food pictures up in the next couple days for you foodies out there :)

headed south

Haven't posted in a few days because I haven't done a whole heck of a lot besides simply been enjoying the cool mountain air in Sapa. After the crazy bus ride there, I basically slept and relaxed on Tuesday and Wednesday - occasionally walking around town, eating food and reading. By Wednesday evening I'd made my way around the entire town about six times, knew all the internet cafes and their hourly rates and had tried most of the restaurants. So I was hoping to do some trekking come Thursday and explore the surrounding villages and take in some of the stunning landscapes. Unfortunately, the skies decided to open up overnight and it rained pretty much all day Thursday. Thus, I spent yet another day wandering around the town being attacked by the ethnic minority girls trying to sell me purses, necklaces and marijuana among other things. I did take the opportunity to plan out some of the details for my flights to Malaysia and Hong Kong and take care of some school stuff, so Thursday wasn't completely wasted. When I awoke Friday, it was still raining and I anticipated another day of boredom. Fortunately, the skies cleared up and I was able to take a short walk to the nearby Cat Cat Village, which is a small ethnic minority village a few kms below Sapa. It wasn't the long trek I'd originally hoped to do, but with an evening train to catch, I didn't want to go to far either... Along the way, I met Alex, another french traveler who was headed in the same direction and so decided to tag along with him. Like I said earlier, the scenery around these parts is really something else. The mountainsides are covered with rice paddy terraces which transform the mountains into something resembling a detailed topo-map (I don't think I'll ever not be an engineer at heart...) So now I'm in Ha Noi, the capital, having taken an overnight train to get here (arriving at approximately 4:45AM?!!?) The train was infinitely more comfortable than the bus ride to Sapa despite the early arrival time and accordingly I slept relatively well. It's good to be back in a big city too - though it sure is humid and hot here - even early in the morning. Alright, time to go explore and get my bearings before Haskell gets here tomorrow.