Project Complete :)

We woke up on the 21st to sunshine & warm weather! Combined with the end of the New Year celebrations, Viet Tri came to life on the streets. It's truly strange how comfortable we've gotten with life here. We cross the streets calmly inch-by-inch making eye contact with the dozens of mopeds flying at us, have the labyrinth of little streets in our neighborhood thoroughly memorized, do not blink at a passing bicycle covered in 20+ squacking chickens or think twice about cows... anywhere, & spend endless hours lounging & playing around with our new best friends- children who for the most part do not speak a word of our language. Yet, somehow it's challenging to actually step back & realize how different this situation really is.

baby Binh!

Nam!

Tinh!

We got the chance to be part of an exciting transition at the village which only takes place every few years. A new group of orphaned children from a Hmong Hilltribe village (21 total) were brought to SOS the other day. They do not understand Vietnamese & seemed so frightened the first day as they were led around by their new siblings that we thought it would take a decent amount of time until they were able to adapt. However, by only the second day we were spotting the new kids skipping around with smiles on their faces.

New Kids On The Block

Today was our last day in the village, so we put together a big American Field Day. We had an egg toss, running race, tug-of-war, limbo contest, potato sack race, & big scavenger hunt. Perhaps it was all the prizes we found, but the kids were more than eager to play & had a great time. The scavenger hunt was especially entertaining- watching the groups attacking the apple trees, scampering through their homes to get chopsticks & other knick knacks, & scouring the ground for the three live insects we stuck on the bottom of the list :) After the games, the 3 of us convinced our coordinator to let us stay behind to eat lunch with house #13 in order to get in a little last minute time. The new addition to their family, Lang, seemed happily at home sitting confidently in the big circle at lunch. We gave the mother a thank you letter that we'd attempted to translate into Vietnamese which they all got a kick out of. After a few hours of playing around, the kids walked us to the front gate to say goodbye. It was hard to walk away & a few of the kids ran up to the gate & waved the entire time we walked down the long stretch of dirt road back to our house.

Tomorrow we leave for Hanoi at 5am &, along with our whole group, we'll then get on a bus to Halong Bay for an overnight boat tour of the famous group of thousands of limestone islands. Happy to kiss those floor mats behind, however I think leaving the village today we all would have signed up for some extra time here.

With our favorite kids

"Hello!" "Xin Chao!"

Don't ask me how, but we officially feel at home here in this parallel universe. Lauren's birthday was certainly a unique year. We began at a center for abandoned babies, located within the disabled center at which several of the volunteers from our house spend their spare time. Within two small glassed in rooms a couple dozen babies spend their days on beds covered with grass mats. It's not the easiest environment, definitely nothing like the living conditions @ the SOS village, but the babies light up the second you get them in your arms & our time spent there feels truly important. We've been told that the center is just a temporary home as the babies await adoption- an optimistic thought.

Next, as Lauren taught feelings in English to her 8th graders, Jenny & I visited the kindergarten located right in the village. After class, we met up with Lauren & went to check out the school that all the kids in the village attend. We definitely stand out in Viet Tri. ALL the kids heading home on their bikes shouted "Hello!" & "How are you doing? I'm fine" giggling as we walked by all not- Vietnamese. From the school we head to our usual afternoon locale: house #13 to spend time with our favorite family. We put American music on the IPOD & played our daily games of shuttlecock (which is similar to hacky sack) & their crazy jump-rope game. Jenny & I had to keep Lauren out of the house so the other volunteers could set up her surprise party :)

house #13 w. Tinh, Hao, Linh, & Binh

in awe of bubbles

Around 6:30 we got back to the house where our new friends blindfolded Lauren & led her into our eating area where Korean birthday soup awaited her along with tons of balloons & a cake made from choco-pies (massive mallowmars). Happy Birthday was sung to her in English, then Korean, then Japanese, & finally Danish! After dinner we taught the group how to play American classics including flip-cup & kings. We also learned quite the entertaining variety of Korean games- it was a fun night bonding with all our housemates in celebration of Laur's 23rd!

Today Lauren & I were on mom duty, cooked & cleaned for a good straight 12 hours. The other volunteers requested American food again so lunch was scrambled eggs, homefries, toast, & bacon, then scampi pasta with sausage & garlic bread for dinner - another successful long day :)

Good Morning Vietnam

Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

(Happy New Year!)


We arrived in Vietnam smack dab in the middle of their second New Year celebration of 2008- this time for the lunar New Year... so long year of the golden pig & welcome all to the year of the Rat! Tet, as it's called in these parts, is a BIG deal- everyone heads home for about a weeks length in order to celebrate with their families. Similar to our big holidays, except that they offer their meal to their deceased ancestors before feasting themselves. Flowers & traditional red & gold decorations are sold on every street corner to help the Vietnamese people to welcome the freshness of a New Year.

We spent our first two days in the capital city of Hanoi: the city of peace. CRAZINESS. Mopeds zipping left & right, constant useless honking, rarely a word of English spoken by the vendors that crowd every street, & just a general air of chaos circling the busy smoke-filled streets. Our very first night we found ourselves curbside, on little plastic stools, getting lessons on what exactly to do with a boiling hot pot & plate after plate of meat, shrimp, clams, & vegetables provided to us. The Vietnamese definitely know how to eat... & we are definitely not in Thailand anymore.

On the morning of the 13th we took a dizzying cab ride slightly out of the city to the remote office of Volunteers for Peace Vietnam to meet up with the other 16 volunteers that we'd be cohabiting with for the preceding two weeks. We all piled into a mini bus that took us to our new home in Viet Tri City, a couple hours ride through rice fields away from the capital. 3 Americans, 5 Japanese, 10 Koreans, 2 Danish, & one remarkably energetic Vietnamese coordinator living on top of each other in one small house. We sleep on floor mats, share 2 bathrooms, & trade off cooking/cleaning responsibilities. Did I mention it's freezing here? A local told us yesterday that he's fairly sure it hasn't been this cold in 40 years. You'd think after all the temples we've visited we'd have a little good luck! Besides the initial shock of the shift from vacation to basic living, we're actually having a great time. Every morning we walk down increasingly familiar dirt roads to the SOS Children's Village- home to 150+ orphans who live 10-12 in one of fifteen homes, each with their own live-in 24/7 mother. The homes are comfortable, the neighborhood clean & completely safe for the kids to roam, & everyone interacts as if just one massive happy family. When not playing Vietnamese games or just hanging around with the people, we teach English in groups to classrooms of children ranging from 1st grade to 11th, each with varying levels of both skill & interest. My group spends Saturday afternoons teaching the 16 year olds who were impressively eager to disentangle the intricacies of our upside-down complicated language. Several children since the opening of the village 10 years ago have already graduated from the high school school & moved on to universities, colleges, & vocational programs. We're truly enjoying being a part of such a hopeful community.

Nam!

I'd say the most challenging part of the program so far was mine & Jenny's cooking day. Everyday 3 people stay home to cook & clean from 7am-7pm- breakfast, lunch, & dinner for nearly 20 people. We managed to find likely the only packs of bacon in a 30 mile radius to make BLTs for lunch... while dinner proved to be more challenging. We'd considered trying to make some kind of breaded chicken only to realize in the midst of the busting local market with Vietnamese women pushing hunks of raw meat in our faces that in order to make chicken we'd have to follow through with the task of legit hacking off it's legs & neck! Instead we opted to make pasta bolognese that actually turned out great. Not the kind of food our fellow volunteers are used to, but the speed of their chopsticks seemed to indicate our success!

Today was our first day away from the village. Dubbed "Vietnamese Day," we all head to a nearby market after a 7 am noodle soup breakfast. We split off into groups for a scavenger-hunt style search for spring roll ingredients. We then went to the beautiful countryside home of Hua, a Vietnamese volunteer who has been spending a good deal of time with our group, to make the rolls. They came out beyond perfectly & after we all sat in a big circle on the floor enjoying our homemade feast, singing any song we could think of that everyone knew, & drinking authentic rice wine. In a few minutes we'll head back to the house to finish the day off with a Vietnamese movie. Tam Biet!

Our crazy leader w. his rice wine

Loveable Laos

Don't let the title fool you. We did fall for Thailand's unspoiled & largely undiscovered neighbor- but definitely not for its transportation system. Laos' French beginnings are alive on its tranquil streets where wats, open air markets, & bakeries peacefully coexist. However, we didn’t arrive in Luang Prabang until 36 hours after leaving Chiang Rai.

Turns out the "slow boat" was quite accurately titled. Its alternative, "the speed boat," is known to kill off at least one helmet-wearing tourist per year as it zips down the mighty Mekong River… so we decided to go with the safer version. Along with 50+ others, we settled along the inside walls of a long wooden boat & traveled inch-by-inch down the Mekong River which serves as the border to most of Thailand & Laos. The 7 hour ride went by surprisingly fast. We stopped for the night in Pakbeng, a tiny riverside town that seemed to exist exclusively for the overnight pit stoppers. We were warned that curfew in Pakbeng was strictly at 10pm, but didn't realize that every last light in the town would legit go out. At least we had a flashlight & the shut-off put an end to the serenade of techno coming from our Argentinian neighbors from the other side of our torturously thin walls. In the darkest of darkness, we received a different sort of serenade from outside our windowless windows. Roosters competing one cocka-doodle-doo after another, meowing cats, chirping cicadas & some kind of rodent desperately clawing its way through our ceiling made it a bit hard to rest up. Needless to say, the 9 hour ride that brought us the rest of the way to Luang Prabang the next day did not go quite as smoothly. This time we were forced to make our nest beside the roaring engine in a tiny packed back room. The view made it all worthwhile. We drifted through dense jungles lined with white sandy banks, passed grazing water buffalos, groups of waving children & small villages. We finally reached L.P. as the sun was setting.

long. slow. boat.

day 1


day 2

The country was utterly relaxing compared to Thailand. After 2 hours of backpacked searching, we found a perfection of a hotel room complete with a sunroom balcony through tall glass french doors. The food in Laos was wonderfully different, & we took full advantage of both the laid back vibe & absurdly cheap living. Drifting through one of the hilltop wats, we made friends with a 17 year old monk who willingly answered our questions & even opened the padlock on a 200 year old temple for us to peek inside.

w. our beloved smoothie-bags

On our last day we woke up at 5 am in order to experience the monks’ daily alms route. Known as Tak Bat in Laos, every morning the monks from each town’s (ban’s) temples (wats) split into 3 groups and walk silently in a line through the city collecting fruit, balls of sticky rice, teeny bananas, & other offerings in individually carried golden pots from kneeling lay people. The food collected can be eaten by the monks until 12 noon when they must fast until after Tak Bat & before noon the following day. It was a remarkable sight- some of the monks at the end of the line were barely 9 years old.

Awaiting Monks

That evening we took an 11 hour overnight bus from L.P. that got us to the city’s capital, Vientiane, at 5am. The bus could not have been less challenging. From the very back of the bus we bounced constantly & watched as the front end zig-zagged back & forth down narrow roads. It was dark, so we couldn’t really tell, but we think we must have been making our way through some serious mountains. S-curve warning after hard U-turn sign we finally made our way to the completely shut down capital. A couple hours later the sun came up & a coffee shop finally opened its doors. We ate & cleaned up bum-style in the bathrooms before finding this internet café. Now we have a good 5 hours to explore before taking another jumbo (a tuk tuk with a harley attached @ the front) to the airport. Next stop: Hanoi, Vietnam where we’ll start a volunteer program at the SOS Children’s Village, home to about 150 orphans & also our home for the next two weeks. After a solid month of planning & plotting every last meal, excursion, & resting place, it will be interesting to be a part of something out of our control. We’re also looking forward to temporarily leaving our nomad ways behind & spending two solid weeks getting to know the people & area... & not touching our backpacks!

Peace out Thailand

We left the islands reluctantly & checked ourselves into the On On hotel in bustling Phuket, the same spot Leo's character in the Beach stayed; it was a classically beautiful building- high ceilings & the same sino-portuguese style that is found throughout Phuket... but the walls were indeed paper thin & a good night's sleep was a gamble. We spent our second day on a tour of Phang gna bay. Most famous for it's towering limestone formations that jut randomly out of the water and it's surrounding mangrove forests, Phang gna was breathtaking. After visiting another monkey-swarmed cave wat, a longtail boat took us through murky jellyfish filled waters & around the stacks to see James Bond island & for a heavenly seafood lunch in the Muslim village of Panyi which is built entirely upon stilts.


The next day we left paradise behind & flew way North to the cool summer breezes of Chiang Mai. The city, whose old center is built within the walls of a giant moat, operates at a relaxed pace despite it's size. We visited a few of the well-known wats, one located deep in the woods. We became smitten with the practice of the wats up North to hang proverbs from the trees written in both Thai & English. Examining a set at Wat Phra Sing alongside a group of novice 14/15 year old monks, I was asked to read aloud a quote on appreciating the buddhist dharma to the giggling orange group. We also decided to check out a massage program operated by the local female low-security prison. The inmates are taught Thai massage and allowed to work through the program in order to save money for once they're released. I now firmly believe criminals give the best rub-downs. We finished our visit off at the intense night bazaar: endless blocks of souvenirs to be bargained for- we're officially pros. 600 Baht? What about 150? :)

We head East today to Chiang Rai where we initially planned to go on an overnight jungle trek into the Hilltribes. After spending some time at the Hilltribe museum, we decided against the trek for a couple reasons. First, the message in the museum is that curiosity is killing the culture of these once primitive tribes who are now becoming focused on & purely driven by tourism. Some tribes are actually started by entrepreneurs & are a complete farce set up to please tourists looking for a freak show of long-necked women. We also realized we're a bit pressed for time. We have to get through Laos, into Vietnam, & to Hanoi for our Volunteers for Peace program by February 12th, & apparently that's not a simple task. So tomorrow we head early to the border town of Chiang Khlong where we'll cross between old Siam & Indo-China on a little boat to Hua Xin where we will then cross immigration & get a Visa into Laos, take a couple 6-9 hour slow boat rides down the Mekong River, & stop to spend one night in some random town called Pakbeng before reaching Luang Prabang. Wish us luck, check back*

Jenny & her friend @ the market

Black Magic Women

To unwind, western-style, on our last night on Ko Phangan we bought a bootleg version of 'The Beach' and watched it sprawled out in our open bungalow lobby as geckos shimmied above our heads.

Something that came out of Leo's narration struck a chord; traveling in Thailand during the tourist high season, it's frustrating to sometimes feel like we're caught up in a sea of tourists floating from one popular destination to the next (literally- on the ferries, it's ALL backpackers). It's the unique experiences that you have traveling, ones that you know are all your own, which really sink in. In the past week we fell onto that road less traveled & had the time of our lives.

We arrived in unsavory Krabi town after a ferry/bus combo once the sun had gone down. Eager to ditch our backpacks, we found the sleaziest guesthouse we've stayed in for very few ฿ (this made sense once we realized that it was a whorehouse in the morning's light). Krabi province is known to be the most beautiful province in Thailand: the stereotypical Thai paradise complete with massive limestone stacks, bathtub clear waters, endless tropical fish, mangrove forests, etc. etc. Krabi town, was none of this. We wanted out, but first we decided to check out their viewpoint temple. We've been made told, while awkwardly climbing steep uneven stairs at numerous wats, that stairs are meant to symbolically represent the difficulty of reaching higher levels of existence. point . taken . We climbed 1,237 stairs to the vision of a massive golden buddah and an amazing outlook of the islands we'd soon fall in love with. 1,237 stairs. There were markers of how far we'd climbed just so we always knew how few we'd actually conquered. Even the monkeys refused to climb past stair 500. But atleast we had a memorable experience while in Krabi town. The rest of the temple was relatively engaging- swarms of spirited monkeys, elaborate cave shrines, cliff walls with tiny rooms built into them that served as modest homes to the monks, & our first view of the massive trees that frequent this area. We marked our territory on one of the fallen giants

...& then we hopped a longtail boat to Railay.

on the doorstep of paradise

Railay, an isthmus North of Krabi town, is a nirvana like nothing we could have imagined. The rambling town rests along the edges of gorgeous towering limestone stacks lushly covered in palms. The two main beaches have sand the honest-to-god texture of baby powder & truly turquoise waters- there are no cars- not a tuk tuk, nor a bicycle, it is a land of bare feet. Dubbed "Rastafari Railay" by those who call it home, this rock climbers' haven is the ultimate laid back beach destination. Even the trees have their long thin vines twisted into unruly dreadlocks. We checked ourselves into rapala bungalows, a village of little huts located 58 steps up into the side of the cliffs. Nearly immediately, on the very first night, we met the people who would make it torturous for us to pull ourselves away come time to continue our travels.

We joined the group at a blacklit oceanside patio, added ourselves to their circle on floor pillows around a little wicker table, & found ourselves in a beyond intense game of JENGA. We'd stumbled upon a local hangout on the less touristy sunrise side of the isthmus... & thus stumbled upon the locals. Folk oversees a coffee shop, which also specializes in dreadlock repair... & is his home- the smile cannot be wiped off his face, he is dripping in reggae pride, & he actually quotes Bob Marley periodically- when the vibe hits him, of course. There's also Nat, Sun, Pon, Max, Ciao, Jack (who we renamed due to his striking resemblence to Cpt. Jack Sparrow- what with the eyeliner, kitschy pirate-like jewelry, & long beaded braids), & numerous other memorable local Rasta Thais who made our visit truly unique. Along with a set of nomadic rock climbing Brits who were on their 10th day in Railay (despite intentions to stay for just one night), we truly made Railay home.

tree dreads

Viewpoint hike- halfway to the lagoon

Sunset & Sunrise Beaches

the lagoon

We jumped off rocks, climbed (like legitimately up & down ropes) to a lagoon cradled in the middle of the southern stacks, & watched our friends straight scale sides of cliffs like spider monkeys- sans ropes. Sunset was always an event on the west side: the locals take full advantage of this time to show off their insane talents in volleyball, soccer, frisbee, & takraw (kinda like hackey sack with a bigger woven rattan ball) beachside as the restaurants put out grass mats & candles for observers. The whole isthmus shifts their focus in unison, everyone slows down to appreciate the end of the day in paradise. After regrouping in the cool night breeze, we religiously ate authentic cuisine on a picnic table next door to Folk's shop, lounged on floor pillows watching local (& sometimes 10 yr old) fire dancers, & joined in with the tambourine when a group of the boys put on an amazing jam session in our honor. We changed our ticket to leave 3 times. "Phi Phi is so busy, Railay has friendship" they would chant every time we got close to leaving... we legit broke into rounds of cheering "RAILAY" nightly in our starry-eyed bliss.

We did finally leave. Although the end of this story could easily have been "& so we opened a small business & lived happily ever after." Folk woke up at 8:30 the day we swore we had to be on our way & he walked us reluctantly to sunset beach. "Keep your smiles with you always time" he actually said as he pushed our longtail out to sea.

Folk :)

Thai Reggae

our thrice altered ticket to Phi Phi

We're on Phi Phi island now. Other tourists no longer look at us like we're suspiciously exotic for being in the constant company of rastas, & I think we may have fallen back onto that traveled road. But we had a great day. We joined a tour around the islands where the 2004 tsunami hit hardest, and our boat stopped at several beaches (including Maya Bay where "The Beach" was filmed), & gave us time to snorkel/kayak/swim in to explore a little. In the clearest waters we've seen, stripy little tropical fish surrounded us as we swam over intricate coral reefs. We climbed another absurd set of gradually inclining stairs this evening to the local viewpoint for a memorable glowing sunset.

sunset @ Phi Phi Don

*happy & so tan I've genuinely mistaken Jenny for a local more than once.