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Asia Trip Recommendations

What should I bring on a trip to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, or Laos?:


1. Don't expect to get any sleep on night trains, busses, hostels etc. without a good pair of travel ear plugs and an eye mask.


2. A decent (but losable) digital camera and extra memory cards.


3. A good travel book will teach you about places you would otherwise never go. I recommend Lonely Planet's Southeast Asia on a Shoestring.


4. Many hostels and hotels don't provide very good security and items are often stolen from rooms. You should bring both a padlock to fit on a hotel door or locker as well as a few luggage locks.


5. You should NEVER let your passport out of site or you risk being stranded in the country for over a month waiting for a new one. A comfortable money belt will keep all of your cash and important documents safe at all times.


6. You will probably get sick within the first few weeks of your trip, and if you don't buy medecine before you go, you will likely spend a few hours searching for some foreign brand of overpriced pepto bismol.


7. Many of the hotel, hostel, and night train beds are disgusting, and you will definately be thankful if you have a sleep sheet.


8. If you plan on sleeping outside (or inside during rainy season), it may be a good idea investing in a mosquito net.


9. Hopefully you will not need a travel first aid kit, but if you did, wouldn't it be nice to have one?


10. You'll need a comfortable and adjustable travel back to carry all of your new stuff around. I recommend either Kelty or Marmot.



* Most health insurance plans don't cover travel outside the US. Travel insurance is inexpensive and very easy to get. I recommend World Nomads. You can save 6% on your policy by using this coupon code: STPJMS.

** Here is a link to some discounted airline tickets

*** Make sure to see a travel doctor to make sure you get all necessary immunizations based on the countries and areas you plan on visiting (typically a tetanus booster, yellow fever pills, malaria pills, typhoid, hepatitis, etc.).

Hong Kong

I finally got around to uploading my pictures from Hong Kong. I took over 1,200 photos during my trip and they all fit on my camera's memory card.

Hue, Halong Bay, & Hanoi. Hong Kong Here I Come!

Hue

The bus ride to Hue took us over the highest pass in Vietnam over the Haiphong mountain range. The former capital of Vietnam, Hue resembles an onion with a series of walls, moats, and markets expanding outward from its well defended center. Joel and I decided to rent a motorbike to make the 80km journey to Bach Ma National Park to go hiking. After serious negotiations, we settled on a ridiculously low price, and as a result got a very old (and dangerous) bike. The park was beautiful, and resembled a rain forest strewn over large pointed mountains. The journey went relatively well (given that the brakes only allowed you to gradually slow down rather than stop) until the return trip. About a kilometer from our hotel, I was trying to navigate a busy traffic circle when the front tire blew out and we skidded to a stop and had to pull the bike from the road. Some helpful Xe Om drivers unsuccessfully tried to repair the bike, and then gave us a ride back explaining that the bike was old and dangerous and should never have been rented out. After a healthy yelling match with the hotel owner who rented us the bike (and tried to charge an exorbitant amount extra). We got on another night train to Hanoi.

Halong Bay



I slept on the 3 hour bus ride to Halong City, but I awoke to an amazing panorama of large rock mountains (more than 300 total) jutting out of the water and morning fog. We visited a series of large cave formations, stopped for a swim and lunch, and slowly made our way to Cat Ba Island.


A few of us rented some motorbikes which were slightly more safe than the last ones, and we toured around the small island. We took a hiking trip to Cat Ba National Park and hiked to an observation tower on one of the peaks.

Hanoi

The next day we made our way back to Hanoi and walked around the markets and pagodas in the Old Quarter. Hanoi is very different from Saigon as there are significantly less motorbikes constantly threatening your life and making it hard to breathe. We had several 3,000 dong (US$0.18) glasses of locally brewed beer and went to a night club built into a boat that floats along the Saigon River. I got sick soon thereafter and spent most of the next two days in bed at the hostel. I flew to Hong Kong this morning, and will post the updates in a few days.

Nha Trang & Hoi An

Nha Trang

We took a plush night train from Saigon to Nha Trang and spent our first day exploring the surrounding islands and villages on our tour boat. I wanted to go snorkeling, but the recent rain had made the water extremely murky. I took my first mud bath at a local natural spring spa and took a swim in the ocean. That night as we were riding around, we found a huge music festival on the beach. We walked around for a while and played soccer with some locals at a nearby park.





Hoi An


We took another night train to Hoi An. Unlike the first trip, the train cars were old, dirty, and home to more than a few families of mice. Hoi An is a smaller city (~80,000) and was a nice change of pace. The city used to be a large textile trading port and is renouned for it's inexpensive and high quality custom-made clothing. After some hard negotiations, I got a few tailored shirts for US$12 each.



The second day we took our motorbike on a trip to "My Son" to see the cham ruins. After taking a detour through Da Nang in the pouring rain, we headed back up the coast to the Marble Mountains. The mountains held an amazing series of caves and solid stone carved icons.

Vietnam

We left Phnom Penh, Cambodia at 7:00am to catch our bus to Saigon. The 6 hour trip was dotted with stops for ferry crossings, borders, and bathrooms. Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is extremely congested. With 8,000,000 residents and 5,000,000 motorbikes, driving across town can take anywhere from 1-3 hours. The first few days I spent touring around the city and visiting relatives. We spent the last day touring around the Mekong delta visiting coconut candy factories on remote islands, floating down canals in gondola-style harvesting boats, and drinking cobra blood.



We took the night train to Nha Trang...

All Over Cambodia

The second day in Siem Reap, Cambodia we hired a boat to see the floating village. The entire village (including farm animals) live on stilted huts over water during more than 10 months of the year. The city is situated in a tributary of the Tonle Sap. We had a delicious lunch in one of the floating restaurants and went for a quick swim in the lake.



The following morning we took a bus to Kampong Cham. After renting bikes and taking a ferry across the Mekong River to an island, we rode to a local school to visit the children and bring pencils and toothbrushes. That afternoon we drove through Phnom Penh to a small village near Chambok. We had a traditional meal prepared by some of the local villagers and ate the tarantulas that we bought in the market. I got very little sleep as we stayed in the huts on straw mats with some of the famlies.



The morning drive to Sihanoukville was short and the beaches are amazing. We took a boat trip to the local islands to snorkel and fish in the Gulf of Thailand.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

The border crossing into Cambodia took a few hours. Two makeshift tent cities flank the gates on either side of the buffer zone which is strewn with large casinos (gambling is illegal in both Thailand and Cambodia). The 6 hour journey from the border to Siem Reap took us bouncing down an unpaved highway through rice paddies and small villages of stilted huts.



Siem Reap sits on the doorstep of the Ankgor temple complexes and is relatively touristy. We woke up early to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat, and spent the rest of the day touring some of the other temples. We would periodically stop at markets along the way and try some different foods (I had fresh coconut milk, snails, ants, frog, and snake all in one day). The temples were awesome. Unlike the wats in Bangkok, each one is different and more interesting than the last. Indiana Jones and the Tomb Raider movies were filmed here, so there are a large number of visitors, but our guide takes us to some of the more hidden areas.

Krabi & Ao Nang

I flew to Krabi with Mark and Brian to see the beach and eat some seafood. We stayed in a bungalow for 100 baht (US$3) in Krabi and then Ao Nang. I ate some delicious fish, swam with an elephant, and went snorkeling off of the Ko Phi Phi islands.



I left my camera cord in an internet cafe. I wont be able to upload pictures for a few days, but I will post some updates and stories when I do.

Bangkok, Thailand

The trip was long; but two flights, 3.5 feature-length movies, 3 in-flight meals, 1 magazine, and 3 bottles of water later and I am in Thailand.

As it started to set in that I was going to a foreign country where I did not know anyone or speak the language, I was seated next to two Thai girls returning home from an 8-month study abroad in Florida. Kate and Summer (below) were able to give me a 14 hour cram session of common cultural fopahs, recommended places to visit, and advice on how not to get scammed.


The Bangkok airport was a chaotic mix of international travelers, and the line for customs was over 50 yards long. Luckily, I was able to follow my new travel partners through the Thai national line and exit the airport in only 10 minutes.



Bangkok seems to have been developed randomly with dangerously busy main streets connected by sois that stretch out like spider legs and weave haphazardly through endless seas of tent markets and street vendors. The quickest and cheapest (~30 baht/US$1) way to avoid the winding and congested streets is to use the skytrain.



One of the first stops on the sky train is Siam Paragon. A 10-floor super-mall, it has 7 department stores, 270+ retailers, a 15 screen movie Imax theater, fitness center, aquarium, concert gallery, karaoke center, and bowling alley.


Loi Kathrong festival (coming soon).


Eating insects:


Video

Itinerary: Bangkok to Hong Kong

Nov. 4 : Denver

Nov. 5-11 : San Francisco

Nov. 12-18: Bangkok

Nov. 19-20: Siem Reap

Nov. 21 : Angkor Wat

Nov. 22 : Kompong Cham

Nov. 23 : Takeo

Nov. 24-26: Sihanoukville

Nov. 27-28: Phnom Penh

Nov. 29- 2 : Ho Chi Minh City

Dec. 3-4 : Nha Trang

Dec. 5-7 : Hoi An

Dec. 8-10 : Hue

Dec. 11 : Hanoi

Dec. 12 : Halong Bay

Dec. 13-14: Hanoi

Dec. 15-16: China TBD

Dec. 17-19: Hong Kong

Dec. 20-22: San Francisco

Dec. 22-28: St. Louis

Dec. 29 : Denver