The end

The motorbike trip went really well. We rode around Northern Vietnam for 6 days. During that time we only saw a handfull of Westerns and in most places we were the only people who spoke English. During the ride I saw some of the most beautiful sights on the entire trip. It was a great time and a good way to end the trip. Tomorrow I start flying home. Its going to take me at least 48 hours in airports and flights so it will be a long couple of days.

The trip turned out much different then I originally planned but thats how a good journey should be. I will miss meeting new people from different cultures everyday. There are many things I will miss about traveling, but this will not be my last journey abroad.

When I first started the trip I was a little nervous about being alone for 7 months. Looking back I realize I was rarely alone. Its crazy to think its over but this is the end. The trip flew by and now I am lucky enough to be able to return home to a great family.

The next step is home, so no more blog until next time.

Motorbike

We got to Hanoi this morning after a 17 hour bus ride. Tomorrow we are starting a 6 day motorbike ride into the country. There are 2 of us and we dont know exactly where we are going. Somewhere north into the country. We packed enough food and supplies for a few days but we will stop at some small towns along the way. Its my last trip so it should be good.

Da Lat and Nha Trang

I spent a few days in Da Lat. Its a nice area with a cooler climate then Saigon and Cambodia. My friend and I rented motor bikes and toured around the countryside. We also did a four and a half hour hike which felt great. After Da Lat we took a bus to Nha Trang. Its a nice beach town with cheap accomodation (5 USD for two of us), but we only spent two nights there. Last night we took the night bus to Hoi An. We havent seen much here yet because it was a little rainy this afternoon. Im sort of rushing to get to the top of Vietnam. I dont like traveling like that but I need to fly out in less then two weeks so I dont have a lot of time to spare. If everything goes as planned we will rent motor bikes for a week in the north near Sa Pa and tour the northern part of the country by ourselves. If that happens we will be able to get off the tourist path and see more of the countryside. It will be Vietnam's equivallent of Independence day over the next few days so it might make traveling harder and more expensive. Its always sort of a pain traveling on holidays because you have the normal amount of travelers plus local tourists trying to find busses and accomodation. Its been very beautiful here but the people are quite a bit different then the other countries Ive been to in SE Asia. So far its been a pretty enjoyable experience in Vietnam and it would be nice to have more time to really see the country and experience the culture.

Saigon

Ive been in Saigon for the better part of a week. The War Remnants Museum was informative and it gave a good perspective of the war from a non US standpoint. Then I went to the Cu Chi tunnels which were interesting as well. Yesterday we went to a waterpark in the city that was inexpensive and a lot of fun. Most of the people here have been friendly and its sort of surprising to me that being from the US doesn't effect their judgement of me. Its been a good time in this city but Im going to try to start heading north today. A friend I met in Cambodia doesn't want to get set bus tickets to the north so we are planning on going to the local bus station and getting on any bus that is headed that way. I have a little more then 2 weeks left which means I have to move quick, but I think I can see a lot of the country in that time.

Leaving Cambodia

I booked a bus ticket today from Kampot, Cambodia, to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) tomorrow. I have to be out of Cambodia by the 19th so that gives me one day to spare. The month Ive been in Cambodia has gone by really quickly. For the first time today I realized that I am nervous to go back to the States. People have told me that there is always a little bit of a culture shock when you go home after traveling for a while. When I went to New Zealand after 6 weeks in Latin America I felt some of that culture shock. Now Im going home after 3 months in South East Asia where everything is much different then in the US. Its a weird mix of being excited to see friends and family, sadness that its almost over, and nervousness about going back to an American life style. Its the first time in months that I have been nervous about the destination and its funny because the destination is home.

Sihanoukville

Yesterday I took the bus from the capital of Cambodia to a beach town called Sihanoukville. I left the orphanage a couple days ago. The kids all went to their homeland for the Khmer New Year, so classes are stopped until the 20th. It was a good time to leave because all the kids were gone and I have less then a week left before my Cambodian visa runs out. I dont really have any bad feelings towards the guy who was most likely corrupt. I really enjoyed being with the kids and helping them in any way I could. I am going to head to Viet Nam within the week and Im excited to see it because it is such a large part of US history.

Corruption

I met a girl yesterday who volunteered for an orphanage that the operator of mine used to work at. She said he was fired for being corrupt with money issues. I confronted the guy and he didnt give a good explanation. I left the orphanage after talking to him yesterday to stay in town for a couple nights and figure out what Im doing. I havent given him any money or anything, but I feel like he was using me. Another orphanage down the road from the one Im staying at is having a New Years party tomorrow that I said I would go to. Im going to stay in town for that, but Im not sure what to do next. Its a weird situation and Im not sure if I should continue staying there to try and fix it, move to another orphanage, or take some time off and maybe try and volunteer at another one in Viet Nam. The problem is I really like the kids, but I will have to leave in a week no matter what.

Orphanage continued

Yesterday we had a big Khmer (Cambodian) New Year celebration at the orphanage. It was a good time and I think the kids had fun. It was exhausting but it went smoothly. It raised awareness about the orphanage and gave travelers a chance to see the real Cambodia. Unfortunately Im not going to be able to stay here for a full month because my visa only lasts one month, so I will be here for 3 weeks. That means I have 9 or 10 days left before I have to leave. Its been one of the best experiences on my trip so far and changing my plane tickets to stay here was a definitely good decision.

Orphanage

Im going to stay at an orphanage for a month to teach English and coach soccer. The orphanage needs more organization for its classes and help in many other aspects. Im going to try and help as much as possible, but it is going to take a lot of work and thought. The website for the orphanage is http://www.campitchi.webs.com/. If anyone has any advice on how to teach English or ways of improving the orphanage please let me know. I dont know what Im doing so any advice would be helpful.

Next step

This morning I woke up with the intention of going to the Indian embassy and getting a visa in India for the next month. I forgot copies of my passport and pictures. They closed at 11am and I missed that. After I went to an orphanage and decided that was a good place to stay for a while. I changed my ticket to fly out of Hanoi on May 10th so I can stay at the orphanage for a month and check out Viet Nam for a couple weeks.

Angkor Wat and Siem Reip

Angkor Wat had amazing scenery. The little children living there and in Siem Reip are really hard to deny. Its the hardest thing in the world to tell a starving 6 year old girl that you cant help. I cant help everyone and it is really difficult to accept. I cant give every starving child on the street a meal and a safe place to sleep. It sounds cold but its the truth. This is not a place where one backpacker with almost no money can make a difference. Everyday there are starving children asking for a dollar or any amount that will allow them to eat. I want to help everyone of them but I cant. The messed up thing is that these people dont have welfare or any other system to help them. They survive off begging. It is one of the hardest and most tragic things Ive seen.

Cambodia

I didnt stay the night night Bangkok, instead I got on a bus to Cambodia. After 24 hours of traveling I got into Siem Reap, which is near Angkor Wat. Tomorrow I will go see the temples at Angkor Wat then probably catch a bus to Phnom Penh, which is the capital. Cambodia has a lot of brutal history dealing with genocide so I will probably see a lot of pretty disturbing things, like killing fields. I think that since Im here I should try to really see what happened instead of just passing through without taking it in. Its nice to be back in an area where Im seeing different types of things instead of just beaches and the ocean, although they were beautiful and nice. Im not really sure what to expect from this country but Im looking forward to the experience.

Back in Bangkok

Went to Koh Phi Phi off the west coast of southern Thailand. It was nice, but really touristy and the most expensive place Ive been to in Thailand. It took me 16 hours of traveling to get back to Bangkok and 700 Baht. I will probably stay in Bangkok for a night to get some rest before leaving. Cambodia is probably the next place Im going, but I dont have a ticket yet so anything is possible. There are some political issues going on in Bangkok now so I dont want to stay in the city too long.

Koh Phangan

Got to Koh Phangan a few days ago after getting certified for open water diving in Koh Tao. Its less touristy here then I would have expected. The beach where they have the full moon party is touristy, but the rest of the island is nice. Tonight there is a black moon party and we will probably check it out. Its a lot smaller then the full moon party, which is good because I dont know if I could handle a party with 10,000 people. Tomorrow we will probably head to Krabi for a couple days. My friend has to be in Bangkok for a flight on the 20th and I will probably head north then. I am most likely going to head to Cambodia after that and then back to Bangkok for my flight on April 6th. Southern Thailand is really nice and a good place to be, but its more for vacationing then traveling. I want to see more of the culture aspects of south east Asia and go places that are a little obscure. Im not really sure where exactly I will be in a week, but thats one of my favorite parts about traveling. Plans change all the time and I never really know which way Im going untill I get there.

Koh Tao

Im in Koh Tao now. Its an island in southern Thailand. I met up with my friend from CU in Bangkok and we took the bus here. We are geting certified in scuba diving here. It is the cheapest place in the world to get certified. We had our first dive today that was only about 3 meters. We do two dives tomorrow and then two the next day and after a test we will be certified. After that I will be able to rent gear anywhere in the world and dive up to 18 meters. Its pretty nice here and scuba diving is pretty cool so far.

Vien Viang Laos

When I was in South America I heard about this river in Laos. I have a few days in Laos so I checked it out. It is full of travelers and not much local culture at all. I got here last night and saw it a little. Now Im sort of torn between what to do. Its a beautiful place but its not really traveling, its more just partying with other travelers. I think I will get a bike and check out the town for the day then head out tomorrow. I have some friends in Nong Kai,Thailand, and I might meet up with them for one more day. That means I wont get to see any of the real Laos, which sucks. If I dont head to Bangkok I wont be able to see one of my friends from Colorado. Figuring out what to do doesnt seem like it would be a difficult decision, but it sort of is. I also got the free 2 month visa for Thailand but it is a single entry visa, so if I leave I will only be able to return 14 days before my flight.

Nong Kai

I met some guys who were skateboarding yesterday and we went out and had a pretty good night at the bars, so I decided to stick around Thailand another day. Im on the boarder now so I will probably be in Laos around this time tomorrow. Hanging out with the locals is one of my favorite parts about traveling. We went to a Thai reggae type place which I would have never seen if I hadnt gone with those guys. Even though there was a bit of a language barrier we all got along well. Sometimes meeting good people can change your outlook on an entire area and I think this is my favorite town in Thailand so far. Not because there is a ton of stuff to do but because there are some cool people here.

Change of Plans

My plans change all the time and by the time I post this something will probably be different. I didnt make it to Mae Sariang because the bus was broken and I would have had to wait about 6 hours to catch the next 'economy' bus. Instead I spent 11 hours on a bus to Chiang Rai. Even though it doesnt look very far it took that long. When I got to Chiang Rai I waited at the bus station for an hour to get a ride to the city by a local bus (pickup with seats in the bed). It cost 10 Baht to get to the city instead of paying a Tuk Tuk 80. Today I found out that the water is too low in the Mekong River so I cant take a slow boat south. The buses in Laos are pretty unreliable from what I hear so Im going to stay in Thailand and make my way to the Laos Capital boarder crossing from this side. Although things dont always work out like I plan it usually turns out pretty good.
One note about traveling: When I first started and saw an American I thought that I must be in the wrong place because they were there too. Now when I see an American I think that we are both in the right place. There are not many Americans traveling compared to other countries. Most people I talk to have only met a handful of Americans including me. While Ive been traveling I have met tons of Europeans, Israelis, Canadians, and Argentinians (not in Argentina). So far I have run into less then 20 Americans and that is a generous estimate.

Not leaving Thailand quite yet

When I went to the local bus station there were only 2 bus routes and neither went towards Laos. So I took a bus to Mae Hong Son, which is in north eastern Thailand. Im glad I did because this is much less touristy and a really nice place. Tomorrow Im going to catch a bus to Ma Sa Riang (about 4 hours south). After that Im going to catch a bus to Chaing Mai (second biggest city in Thailand) then to Chaing Rai. From there Im probably going to cross into Laos and take a boat down the Mekong River to the capital of Laos. I heard that you can get a free visa stamp in the capital that allows you to stay in Thailand for 2 months without having to leave. I dont plan on staying here that long because I want to check out other countries, but its nice to have the option. Most of this probably doesnt mean much to anyone reading who doesnt have a map of Thailand in front of them, so sorry about that. I dont think that the majority of people that come to Thailand take this path but it seems pretty cool.

Pai

Im in Pai now. Its a little village in northern Thailand with a bunch of activites like rafting and treking to do. Its really nice, but everyone knows it so there are a lot of travelers here. I got a bungalow for 100 Baht a night (about 3 dollars). Tomorrow I think Im going to head to Laos for a couple weeks. I need to meet a friend in Bangkok in 13 days. I wanted to do Viet Nam, but I dont want to rush it so I will probably stay in Laos. Because of immigrations I can only be in Thailand for 2 weeks at a time once I leave so after meeting my friend I will probably go to Cambodia to at least get my passport stamped. All is good.

Chaing Mai

The morning I decided I was going to head north to Chaing Mai I met someone going the same way. Next thing I knew we were in Chaing Mai and she was signed up for a medetation at a big buddist temple here. I decided to give the medetation thing a try and did it for 5 days. They were 5 of the hardest days in my life. You could only talk to the teacher once a day and not talk to any of the other meditators. No reading, music, tv, internet, or any other form of entertainment. We ate twice a day at 7am and 11am and we were not allowed to eat later then that. We also woke up at 5am to start meditating. After doing this I realized that medetation is not really my thing. It was cool to learn about the buddist culture and I have a lot more respect for monks now, but I dont think I will ever do it again for that long. That being said, I did figure out what I wanted to while being there. So all in all it was a good experience, but it was I much harder task then I originally thought.

Thailand

Flew into Bangkok last night. Today Im going to try and catch a train or bus to Chiang Mai in the North. There are some temples and cultural stuff like that to check out up there so it should be interesting. I might even do a meditation thing because it seems like a cool experience.

Leaving NZ

I am flying to Australia this afternoon. Im staying in Sydney for 3 nights then I fly to Bangkok. I had to book a ticket to Singapore for 30 days after I arrive in Thailand. After traveling for a little while I have realized that its always great and exciting to see new places, but the people I meet are what really changes me. Everyday I meet new people, most of whom I will never see again, and that is the best part about traveling. Its a little depressing knowing I will never see most of these people again, but its still great to socialize with people from all over the world. Some of the people I have the most in common with are from places completely foreign to me.

Skipping Australia

Im not going to stay in Australia as long as I had planned on. Its pretty expensive because of the exchange rate, so Im going to go to Thailand sooner. That means almost 2 months in South East Asia! Im pretty excited again. I will be able to see a lot more then I would have been able to see in Aus.

Heading North

Im catching a night bus from Wellington to Auckland. Im going to try and see the Bay of Islands and any other nice areas near the city. I fly to Oz on the 11th, so NZ is almost done. I put a bunch of pictures on facebook for friends who didnt have cameras along the way, so if you want to see some of the places Ive been check it out there.

Leaving the south island

Just drove up the west coast of the south island. It was beautiful, and we got to see two glaciers. About to leave the English boys (Tom and Toad). Its been good working but Im ready to be on the move and see more of the country. I will probably catch the ferry to the north island tomorrow or the day after.

Finishing work

I have one more week at Akarua Vineyard. Im going to head back up to Auckland after that for a flight on Feb 11. I will probably go up the west coast of the south island to Nelson then take the ferry to the north island. Two and a half months in NZ have gone by quick. Im more then half done the trip and getting excited to move on and see more of the world. I heard the west coast is one of the most beautiful places in NZ, so I should have some good pictures in the next few weeks.