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Southeast Asia

June - July 2019
Wandering through Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. Read more
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  • Sean PlamondonSoutheast Asia
    1
    Day 9

    Hoi An

    July 8, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 37 °C

    I decided to do a day trip to hoi an, since its to the south of da nang and i would be heading north the next day. I debated renting a scooter for the day but also figured i might have some beer. A Grab ride would have been 15 each way, which is pretty good, but with the help of my hotel i hired a driver and guide for the day for 50 dollars. I didnt expect my ride to be a scooter though! Lol

    Hoi an is a bit of a fairy tale city. Like right out of a disney movie. Cute narrow streets lined with old temples, shops and restaurants, and really pretty riverfront with old wooden boats moored, a huge market along the banks and chinese lanterns everywhere.

    After walking around taking in the sights, and having fun haggling with market vendors, i found a micro brewery right on the river bank so escaped the heat for a few hours in there.

    After that, i signed up for a vietnamese cooking class. No seriously, i did lol. Its one of the common things to do here apparently. It was myself, and two couples. One american and 3 aussies. We made our own bread, dumplings, spring rolls, some crazy rice paper rolls, pancake with meat on it, geez i foget the rest. It was a lot in two hours and we ate everything we made. After the first hour i was done. Super full, but also overheating in the kitchen of this restaurant. I stuck it out but i was really struggling. But really fun experience. Would definitely do again.

    And when the class was over, it was dark and all the chinese lanterns were lit everywhere. Amazing. My pictures dont pick up the colours properly... but it was gorgeous. I expected everyone on the streets to break out into song and dance at any moment. Took a 10 min boat ride on the river too and placed a paper lantern in the water that is supposed to grant a wish or prayer. Hokie, i know haha. Whole day today reminded me so much of the movie Tangled with all the lanterns and walking around the old city.

    Then back on the road with a 45 min scooter ride back to da nang and straight to bed. Best sleep I've had all trip.    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonSoutheast Asia
    1
    Day 10

    Hue

    July 9, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 38 °C

    Today i took my first public transportation that wasn't an airplane. Weird eh? Slow 3 hour 80km train that followed the coast but way up high in the mountainous jungle. Really striking views the whole ride. There was a multi generation family on all sides of me that i interacted with a bit but they didn't speak any english. But you could tell they enjoyed the efforts and were very happy with my attemps to play with their daughter who would hang around me and run away as soon as i looked at her. Too cute. I didnt realize my stop was pulling up and they were all over it trying to explain i need to get my backpack down and get off. Very sweet.

    Got to town later than i wanted but it worked out amazing. My hotel was central so i walked across the perfume river to the citadel in 20 mins from there. Sweet. Inside the citadel is the imperial palaces and inside the imperial palaces is the purple forbidden city (!!) What an awesome name. Absolutely forboden to everyone (!!!) .. who is not willing to spare $6. Otherwise not so forbidden Haha.

    Apparantly it took heavy damage from the american war. They dont call it the Vietnam war of course. But there are still a ton of amazing structures standing and/or being repaired. I'm dedicating all 6 pics to it this time. Would love to post 20.

    Also this area was the demilitarized zone which was home to the worst battles of the war (hamburger hill) and there's tons of military relics lying around. Some cool bars here like one (called DMZ) with an upsidedown helicopter for a ceiling fan. And another with artillary all over it as decor. There's also a big tunnel network you can tour where the civilians burrowed during the war. Wish i had time to see it. I talked to some travellers who did the Saigon ones and said it was something else. But back on the road tomorrow...    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonSoutheast Asia
    Day 11

    Tam Coc - Day 1

    July 10, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    The plan today was to get to ninh binh. But an Israeli guy i had beers with last night informed me i should be going to tam coc instead. Ninh Binh is the city, and tam coc is the nearby attraction.

    Its a 12 hour train ride from hue to ninh binh. Ugh. So i decided to fly past ninh binh to hanoi ($75), then bus two hours back to ninh binh instead. Brilliant :) Then caught a taxi to Tam Coc. Which brought my arrival time to 4pm.

    My hotel is gorgeous. I can't believe i only paid 20 for it. And the staff are ridiculously funny and nice.

    After working with them on some logistics for my next destination i set off to get some quick photos before the sun comes down and also before the dark rain clouds nearby became a reality.

    Hiked about 20 mins down a dirt road and the scenery is stunning. Huge rocks coming out of the ground straight up. And there's rice fields and small rivers all around them. Amazing. Tip of the iceberg for what i know is here. And then the rain came and wow did it ever come down. I ran back but i could have swam back and been equally as wet.

    The heavy rain didn't stop for several hours, so i grabbed a few beers and hung out in the lobby chatting with a parsian couple who sold everything and are wandering asia looking for a pretty place to settle and start up a business. Two of the staff joined us too.

    I was asking the staff about a good restaurant nearby and they invited me into their lunch room to eat with them the food they had thrown together. Some rice, chicken wings, egg and some leafy green stuff. Simple but good. And free :) Very sweet of them. Then stayed up chatting with them for hours to close out my night.

    Very anxious for tomorrow and praying i dont get a monsoon again.    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonSoutheast Asia
    Day 13

    Tam Coc - Day 2

    July 12, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    As per the hotel managers recommendation i took a taxi to trang an and got into a small boat with two spaniards from madrid (Nacho and Jose) for a 3 hour tour of the towering rock formations jetting straight out of the water. We meandered slowly around the monolithes, and through 9 caves that went right through the giant rocks. Also stopped at a few buddhist temples built right into the sides of the rock.

    Easily the most beautiful thing ive ever seen and experienced. When you look at the pics, picture them surrounding you and much higher as the camera seems to flatten them out. Surprisingly the rower for each boat was female. Who needs a gym membership when you get paid to row people all day! These girls were in amazing shape.

    I caught a taxi with nacho and jose back to Tam Coc where we caught another boat to take us up another river with similar formations for 1.5 hours and 3 more caves. Equally beautiful and amazing. Our rower here was male and he only used his feet! Hard to picture eh? At the far end of the river, was a small floating market where we bought some beer, fruit and nuts for the ride back as this boat ride backtracks instead of a big loop like the first one. So i made myself more comfortable lying down, feet over the edge, sipping my beer as i floated slowly through paradise.

    Jose spotted a can floating in the river so i scooped it out as we went by. Then i noticed something else in the river and pointed to it for our rower to steer that way with his talented feet :) It was a rice paddy hat, so i fished it out and wore it the rest of the day. I love it, even the pink chin strap haha.

    After that the guys wanted to find some big pagoda, but i was starving and they opted to come follow my nose to a nearby restaurant where we had a huge feast and many a beer as well (shocking, i know). Shame they were heading south while i headed north as they were good fun to spend time with. So we parted ways with each others contact info.

    Back to the hotel to chill in the pool and sift through my 500 pics taken on the boat rides today. Might have had a beer too.. perhaps :) Later around 9, the hotel manager "Ha" took me on a tour of Tam Coc's sleepy nightlife scene and most notably she showed me a bus bar where the roof of a working bus was turned into a lounge. Pretty cool. Fantastic finish to a picture perfect day.

    I can only post 6 pics but google Tam Coc and Trang An to see more.    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonSoutheast Asia
    Day 14

    Halong Bay

    July 13, 2019 ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Today i am off to halong bay. Transportation there was supposed to be easy. Anything but. Booked a grab taxi which i was told would take 2 hours so i left at 8:30 and needed to be at cruise port by 12 sharp. 1/4 of the way there my driver realizes his address given is in hanoi for some halong bay company. So me and him and grab company had a bit of a disagreement on the new price which now jumped from $50 to $100. 30 mins later we were back on the road but time was becoming an issue.

    Arrived at cruise port terminal at 12. Ran in and the person i talked to said I'm at the wrong terminal. Got her to call my ship and they said i had 15 mins to get there. I asked how long it would take to drive there and they said 15 mins lol. I ran out found a taxi stand and all the drivers were perplexed on the address i handed them. One seemed to have an idea so off we went. Arrived at 12:30 and luckily they held up the boat for me. Phew.

    As soon as i got on the boat i was adopted by a british family to join them for lunch which was nice. Also met a nice couple from san diego who just got married in thailand and another person from NYC.

    When i booked this cruise, i had no idea how luxurious it would be. My room is huge and gorgeously decorated. I even have jacuzzi tub. There are menus on the tables for each meal but you don't pick what you want - they just bring you everything on it. Impossible to eat every dish they bring and sooo good. There are only 24 passengers, but 30+ staff so the service was awesome. And they had all our names memorized.

    The rock formations are very similar to what i saw in Tam Coc, but being in the ocean made them all the more striking. Shortly after lunch we dropped anchor and kayaked around some of the giant rocks. The water was incredibly warm just like in da nang. Amazing. Followed by supper under the stars and an early night as everything shut down around 10. Its impossible to put into words how beautiful halong bay is, but lets just say it held up to my lofty expectations as the trip's highlight (so far).    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonSoutheast Asia
    Day 14

    Hanoi - Day 1

    July 13, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 35 °C

    In the morning, our ship docked at one of the karst islands for us to hike up it and into a cave near the top and spend a bit of time on sandy beach at bottom. From there we zigzagged thru dragon back rocks unti we reached the port again around 11am. I fully intend to return some day and do that again and a longer cruise too.. wow!

    Around noon, we were put on luxury vans for our commute to Hanoi. Leather lazy boy type seats and wifi for the 3 hour ride. In my van was a really sweet family of 4 from Holland who i chatted with the entire ride. I was actually sad to say bye to them as we arrived at my hotel first, but its been that kind of trip. Everyone i meet is awesome.

    Checked into hotel and set off to find Pasteur Street brewery 3 blocks away. After a quick pint, walking back with a grumbling tummy, i spotted a pho restaurant with a lineup out the door and down the street, so i got in line of course :) I was seated at a long community type table and was again lucky to have english speaking locals all around me.

    After a lot of chatter, one offered to show me around the old quarter and off we went. Cruised around the night market for a bit, then went to a water puppet theatre performance. Whats that? Heck if i know lol.. what a strange experience haha. There's a pool of water in a theatre and people playing instruments on both right and left sides plus doing voices of puppets that swim around in the water. Very cute. 9/10 for creativity? Some old friends from banff would be particularly interested in attending this thing while on their favourite flavour of illicit goodies i think.

    Then we jammed ourselves through ridiculous crowds on some narrow streets that were littered with tiny tables and tiny stools and a string of endless pubs and eateries as far as you could see. Hanoi has a lot more intimacy and character than ho chi minh city but you really pay for it when everyone wants to be in the happening spots.

    I will share one last humourous moment that i should probably keep to myself. We ducked indoors to a lounge to escape the heat (even at night, its ridiculous). They had these huge sliding glass doors to get in and out. After a pint, I asked where the toilets were and it was across the street. Like a bird, i waltzed straight into a pane of glass in full stride like i thought i could walk through walls and bounced back. Two staff ran to me making an even bigger spectacle of my stupidity lol. Nothing damaged but my pride heh. Will see how else i can embarrass myself tomorrow.    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonSoutheast Asia
    Day 15

    Hanoi - Day 2

    July 14, 2019 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    This morning i found the international post office, lugged my large souvenirs there, paid waaaaay more than i wanted to send them home. And then found a market and bought two more of the same thing lol !! Boy i really hope the receivers of these particular items like them as much as i do cuz its been challenging dragging them all over this country.

    After that i did a bit of a pub crawl. Went to legend beer garden. Then pasteur brewery. Then new gentry beer house.

    Then i had hilarious fun at the famous train street of hanoi where the train cuts right through a pile of buildings. They have tons of tables and chairs set up against the tracks and as the train approaches, waiters come running out, yanking tables and chairs out from under you and everyone scrambles against a nearby wall. Its not as dangerous as it sounds because it comes in pretty slow but still alarming at first even though you know its coming.

    Went back to the night market, and found a spot higher up to watch them set up and later found an awesome side street spot to watch the world pass by while i sipped on beers relecting on the crazy fun this vietnam trip has been. If things work out tomorrow i will be in Laos by the end of the day so really enjoyed having a quiet day to leisurely walk around and take in some final views.    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonSoutheast Asia
    1
    Day 16

    Muang Khua (Laos)

    July 15, 2019 in Laos ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Well today certainly was interesting. Flew from Hanoi to the far northwest reaches of vietnam to Dien Bien Phu. Next bus wasn't until the morning but I wanted to be on a boat in Laos down the river Nam Ou tomorrow morning so splurged on a taxi to the Laos border for $25. Now the fun begins..

    My taxi can't cross the border because he didn't have required permits for it. But this is a really remote crossing point and there's no transportation on other side. Plus the lady who does the Laos visas left work for the day as she was apparently drunk. Or perhaps i got a poor translation.. dunno. Either way i have two problems to solve. There was a small place renting rooms on viet side so i know i wont be sleeping on the side of road at least.

    The vietnamese exit guards managed to contact someone in laos who would drive me all the way to muang khua for 100 dollars. Total rip off and would eat most of my american money. But i brought it for getting out of a bind and this qualified. Waited 90 mins for that guy to finally show up. Then he somehow knew where the drunk laos visa lady was and went to get her. In the meantime, my viet taxi guy stuck around the entire 90 mins for some reason. I told him he could go because i had accomodations right there if i needed them but he stuck around anyways. Bored? Entertained? I dunno. He was really nice though as he stopped a number of times during drive to show me some pretty spots for pictures. Ah vietnam, i will miss you.

    When visa lady showed up, boy was she in a foul mood. Berated me for showing up so late at the border (5:30pm lol). My visa cost me another 40 US and she charged me another 10 for making her work overtime. And she was ridiculously picky about which bills she would accept. They had to be in pristine shape. She rejected almost all the ones i handed her but fortunately there were a few to her liking and my visa got processed. She didnt seem to know how to talk to me without yelling. See you later, dragon lady.

    All the people at the border kept asking why was i crossing there lol. It was really perplexing to them why i didnt fly in somewhere and went to the trouble of this remote land crossing. The answer to me was obvious. It was absolutely gorgeous. High up in the mountains and deep in the jungle, the scenery was breathtaking. Back in vietnam, in dien bien phu, it was flat but you could see the wall of mountains towards laos in the distance... much like calgary towards the rockies.

    Fortunately i had just enough viet dong to pay my driver and salvaged my US dollars, and very thankfully. I made an error and showed up in Laos without any of their currency (Kip) and all the ATMs were out of order or locked up for the night. I arrived in muang khua in the dark after 8pm and found two guesthouses. One had A/C, no wifi and would not accept dollars. The other no A/C, wifi yes, and 10 dollars was good for them as payment. Easy choice.

    Found a place for food, and some beer that won't win any creative naming awards (beerlao), and i was thoroughly enjoying things falling into place and laughing about today's challenges. The restaurant lady was really nice and her cute daughter and i played as the restaurant lady shut things down. Early night for me.    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonSoutheast Asia
    Day 17

    Nong Khiaw - Day 1

    July 16, 2019 in Laos ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    Today taking a 5 hour boat down the Nam Ou river to Nong Khiaw. Got money out of the ATM first thing yay! Then wandered around the village interacting with locals. Everyone here is so smiley and happy when i say hi - its very infectious. There's chickens and roosters all over the streets haha.. i love it. Something big was going on at the temple so checked that out for a bit. Everyone was carrying some sort of gold or silver urn with them. And there was a constant parade of women carrying big platters of food in and out of the temple. Blessing the food? Apparently today is Buddha day, the biggest of the month. So, happy buddha day to everyone reading this!

    Boat ride was awesome. Motoring down the river past rural laos villages, winding through towering mountains. Regularly passing by fishermen and water buffalo taking a bath in the river. The journey was as great as the destination. Everything is so lush and jungly. But hot! I was really hoping for a bit of a break of the heat in the mountains... but i think its worse with the much higher humidity. I booked a nice cabin right on the river with a cute deck in front. See pic :)

    Chilled for a few hours by the river on my deck, then found a restaurant with amazing views of the river and surrounding mountains. Not much happening for nightlife so will likely be another early night. Which is good because i want to try one of the high mountain hiking trails tomorrow and best to do early.    Read more

  • Sean PlamondonSoutheast Asia
    13
    Day 18

    Nong Khiaw - Day 2

    July 17, 2019 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Meant to get up at 6 to hike one of the nearby towering mountains. The valley is so narrow, its really hard to get a good picture because everything is so close and straight up. Anyways didnt get rolling until 7:30 and it was getting hot fast.

    On my way to the trail i passed by a buddhist temple gated area. I asked a monk if i could walk in and take some pics. He smiled and agreed but i could see all of them keeping a very close eye on me while they swept the grounds. So i snapped a bunch of quick pics before they went kung fu panda on me with their brooms.

    Walking down the same dirt road a bit further, side stepping all the roosters and chickens, 3 lao kids spotted me and sprinted towards me wanting high fives all around. I whipped out the phone and they immediately huddled up and struck a pose. Too cute.

    The trail was closed but told a nearby barkeep my problem and he ran down the road to get the gatekeeper to let me in. Then up and up through the dense jungle canopy. It was so dense, i didn't see daylight until i reached the top which was great for not being in the sun but very bad for mosquitos (malaria pills in action) and ridiculous humidity. Everything was wet even without any rain and 40C temps. Didnt see any wildlife except lizards and a massive centipede that wrapped its body around a sizeable tree branch. Yuck.

    I was being really careful to not touch any vegetation, learning from Orlis' wisdom in Colombia and watch out for holes, but they were everywhere... in trees and all the rocks and ground. And with the trail pitch being 60 to 70 degrees steep, i had to grab onto anything i could and with very tricky footwork.

    I was about 80% up, and pulled my hand back from a branch i used for support and a black bug about half the size of my palm had attached itself to it. I let out a girly scream and flicked it off but not before it bit me or stabbed me.. i dunno, i had one puncture spot. So i stood there for 5 mins waiting to see if it would swell up and also trying to decide if i should abort and rush back down the mountain or continue to the top. I got to the summit, took in the view for 30 mins and sadly didn't develop any superhero abilities to spray webs from my wrists, so i walked back down.

    Spent the afternoon lazily hanging by the river jumping in and out of the water. A river boat was drifting slowly in front of my hotel so i dove in and climbed aboard haha. Arrrrrr, i be a pirate!

    Early bus ride tomorrow to Luang Prabang so not anticipating adding anything else to this entry in this sleepy town but who knows where dinner will lead....

    EDIT: Wow was i wrong. As i walked home i strolled past a lao party and joined them. It was like the wedding all over again! Soooo fun.    Read more

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