Hanoi and Ha Long Bay

After one more day of complete relaxation on the beach in Ko Samui we were picked up from our hotel by Mr. Seen. It was pouring down rain outside and Mr. Seen was driving at about 100 Km/hour up and down hills, around curves, and through small lakes... Needless to say we were very happy to arrive at the airport in one piece! We spent one night in Bangkok and on our way out of the hotel we ran into an American man who was asking about our travels and when he asked why we were not going to Phuket I told him I did not enjoy it the last time I was there and felt no need to return. He then proclaimed "well that's because you're a girl." I felt like saying "well you're old and ugly" but I refrained and just smiled.

After our short flight we arrived in Hanoi to be completely amazed by the driving here in Vietnam. There are no lanes, no stop lights, no signs, and cows walking down the highway. It's completely crazy! They just all drive the same speed and honk at each other to let the other cars/motorcycles know where they are. Somehow it works out quite well. The other thing I love about Vietnam so far is how everyone sits on these tiny little stools. They are plastic and smaller than a little kids chair but people of all sizes sit on them around miniature tables and eat pho on the street. I've always loved miniature things and don't worry I've taken pictures. The first day we went to the floating temple on what they call a lake but is really more of a pond and then went to a water puppet show. It was interesting to say the least... The show had traditional Vietnamese music and the troop that performed had won all sorts of awards. I guess I'm glad that I saw it but I don't think I would ever want to see it again.

Yesterday we went to Ha Long Bay for an overnight cruise. Just in case you were wondering, the most important man in the world was on our bus from Hanoi to the bay. He was with his girlfriend and spent the entirety of the ride on one of his two cell phones (one was a blackberry and the other an iphone...completely necessary). We got to hear all about his houses in Thailand, how Jean Claude Van Dam, JC, was filming a movie at his beach house in Phuket, how he was trying to build a Ritz Carlton, but instead decided on a Hyatt Regency because the people weren't as difficult. Basically if you can think of anything to brag about, we already heard it. Oh and when he stood up, he was about 5'2". Anyway, the Ha-long people are pushing for the bay to become one of the seven wonders of the world and now I know why. The bay has all of these free standing rock islands that continue as far as you can see. The boat we were on, Indochina Sails II, had great food and the people on it were extremely friendly. We got to see a "traditional" floating fishing village which is just a one room house held up by styrofoam and connected to its neighbor. It looks very poor but many of the houses had televisions and stereo systems that run off of generators. They didn't even have lights, but they had TV.

In the afternoon Catherine and I kayaked through a "cave" and then climbed one of the islands that had a pagoda at the top. There were something like 423 steps and the guides informed us it was a hard hike but the view was worth it. It was nothing compared to the waterfall hike so we were fine, but they were right about the view. As far as you could see in every direction the bay continued and the rock formations were endless. I've never seen anything like it. I took 8 bajillion pictures and Catherine and I took some pretty awesome cheesy pics too.

This morning we went to see Surprise Cave and it was very interesting. It was on a different one of the rock islands and had three chambers. It was discovered in the early 1900's and the fisherman that found it were "surprised" when they saw it, hence the name Surprise Cave. It was pretty cool. Now were back in Hanoi and I saw St. Joseph's cathedral, it was the first Catholic church in Hanoi and I arrived just in time for the 6 o'clock mass so I just snapped some pictures and listened for a second to the father reciting prayers in Vietnamese. Definitely a different experience, but the church was pretty full which was unexpected. Then on my way to find the Hoa Lo prison (which is still a working prison and I didn't know that...) I witnessed a street fight. I'm don't know how it started but all of a sudden I looked over and one guy was beating the crap out of some poor guy with his motorcycle helmet while his friend kicked him in the face. The entire street froze and it took a good minute before anyone stepped in to help the guy being beat up. I think everyone involved was okay but it was weird to see such little people fighting. I finally got to the prison too late to tour it, but I realized it was a working prison when I saw a guy sitting in his window behind bars. I was so surprised that it still housed prisoners in the middle of city right next to one of the nicest hotels in Hanoi that I had to take a picture of the poor guy behind bars. I felt kind of bad, like I was mocking him, but in the end took the picture anyway. Now were back at our awesome hotel and we leave tomorrow for Nha Trang!

It's a Rough Life

We arrived in Ko Samui yesterday morning after a much more pleasant ride on a Catamaran from Ko Tao. When we got off of the Catamaran though we got in this PACKED mini-van with 9 peoples bags and 9 people plus the driver. Catherine and I were in the very back seat and the seats were leaned forward because of the bags, so the ride was a tad awkward because my face was in between the people in front of me. I had to talk to them because I was literally like breathing down their necks... It was really funny. We got to our resort and it is right on the beach with a pool and is much nicer than our hotel on Ko Tao. Yesterday was rough to say the least. We layed out, ran from a humongous bumble bee, got an oil massage on the beach and ate an awesome dinner overlooking the ocean. Top notch. I did however have a good showing on the beach midday when I was taking a walk. I was looking out at the ocean and SLAMMED my toe into an enormous piece of coral on the beach. It started bleeding a little and then the whole top of my toe started turning blue and swelling up. I was still trying to play it off and was walking away like nothing happened but after about 7 steps I had to limp all the way back to hotel where I doctored it with some awesome white atheltic tape which made my toe look like a light bulb. Basically I look really cool.

Today we woke up and decided to climb the Nu Muang waterfall. It was beautiful! We had read that the climb was a little difficult but I think that may have been a bit of an understatement... I'm exhausted from the climb but it was totally worth it (although it was a little rough on the toe). About half way up this Thai boy named Bom decided to lead us the rest of the way and swim with us in the pool when we got to the top. He was like a monkey, it was crazy. He was climbing up these really slippery rocks wearing flip flops. I was wearing running shoes and I was sliding all over the place. It was definitely a rewarding hike and I almost walked straight into the biggest spider I've ever seen along the path. We have a billion pictures but I forgot my camera cord at home so everyone will just have to wait to see them!

SCUBA

We flew out of Bangkok yesterday and arrived in Ko Samui at 8 am, 5 hours before we were supposed to board our boat to Ko Tao. So we had five hours to kill in a place where things don't open until 10. So we walked along the beach until 10 and then drank at a beach bar until 1 when the boat was ready to board. I think I amused the waitstaff with my endless questions that went unanswered because they had no idea what I was saying. The boat trip was absolutely hilarious because the full moon party had just ended and we picked up a bunch of people from Ko Phangnan. We ended up on boat at twice its capacity of people and no air conditioning. People were laying down in the aisles and everyone was sweating. Alot. All I could do was laugh.

Today I woke up at like 6 in the morning and decided since I was in the "SCUBA capital of the world" it would be a sin not to dive while I was here. So I anxiously sat around the room until 7 when I came downstairs in my pajamas and tried to explain to the lady at the front that I wanted to scuba dive TODAY. Not tomorrow and that I didn't dive yesterday. So she woke up the dive master that apparently lives across the street and I signed up (with a very groggy brazilian man that didn't speak english either) for the 8 am dive. I then convinced Catherine to come so she could snorkel the same sights. It was amazing! We did two dives, the first was Mango Bay but I only stayed down for 40 minutes because my right ear began aching. But after a bit of a rest I was ready for the next dive at Japanese Garden. This dive was absolutely beautiful and we were able to see eels, starfish, sea urchins, porcupine fish, a school of baracudas, and more fish and coral than I could ever name. The colors were so brilliant. To say the least, I had an awesome time. We also met some really awesome sisters from Ireland and the cutest couple from Australia. We all had lunch together and then walked to this private beach that was stunning. We had a great day today!

Bangkok

After 30 long hours of traveling, we made it to Bangkok! Well actually I can't complain too much, I pretty much slept the whole time. I love you Ambien. We made it here without any hitches really. We made all our flights, only had one screaming baby from Austin to LA, and it was pretty much smooth sailing from there. We met two awesome guys on our flight that are spending a year in Chiang Mai and told them we would meet them in a month when we were in the north of Thailand. I suprisingly have no jet lag, I think sleeping on the plane saved me the pain although I can't say the same for Catherine. We went to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho today, only took one tuk tuk and it didn't even kidnap us. It took us straight to where we wanted to go and I don't even think we paid too much. We've been very lucky so far. We set up the rest of our week in Thailand this morning. We fly out really early tomorrow morning to Ko Tao for two nights. I'm super excited about Ko Tao because the scuba diving is supposed to be amazing. We had street food for lunch, awesome Pad Thai, although I'm not sure I will be able to convince Catherine and her friend into street food too many more times...something about not being able to read the menu makes them uncomfortable I think.

Airports

Here's the deal guys.  We leave tomorrow and will be in planes/airports forever.  I'm not going to be able to remember when I wasn't on a plane.  I mean what if she were still bowing?  Anyway we finally arrive in Bangkok late on the 19th.  Yall know how bad I am at keeping up with things so hopefully I will actually keep up with this so you know what's up with our trip!