I spent January 18th - February 14th traveling through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is somewhat impossible to sum it all up here but here are some highlights:
- $2 Thai massages
- Riding elephants through jungles, feeding baby tigers milk, hugging baby monkeys
- Getting caught in a torrential down pour in a 50 year old wood boat with only a tiny tarp to shield us from the rain that felt like hail
- Going to one of the infamous half moon parties on the island of Koh Phangan in Thailand and getting painted with black light paint
- An epic private taxi ride from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, which included a stop at a rural Cambodian new years party and the most ridiculous driving I've ever experienced.
- Spending the biggest night of the Tet holiday (Vietnamese new year, lasts around two weeks) in Saigon and being able to (kind of) watch a fireworks show
- Overnight train from the Thai peninsula to Bangkok
- Spending 3 whole weeks with my favorite people in the cheapest, coolest places ever
After our trip around Southeast Asia we arrived in Hanoi on Valentines Day, which was a hilarious introduction to the city. We spent most of the night around Hoan Kiem lake (main lake in the city), watching couple after couple pass by holding hands and giggling and often donning valentines day balloons and other corny gifts. Lauren, Jenny and I must have looked lonely because a guy took pity on us and gave us two valentines day balloons, which, by the way, randomly said happy birthday on them . I was not handed one and a few minutes later he came running back to give me one as well, very cute.
The next day we were driven to our volunteer dormitory, which we were told was 17 km outside the city center. The drive took about 40 minutes because of the insane traffic in Hanoi. The traffic here is like nothing I've ever experienced, and honestly I don't think anyone could really understand it without physically seeing it themselves. Basically 90% of the vehicles on the roads here are motorbikes. They all wear colorful, bizarre helmets and a face mask because of all the dust on the road. And there are a billion of them. We decided the best way to describe how the motorbikes, few cars and taxis and roaring buses and trucks navigate the roads is probably 'organized chaos'. There is really only one rule, which is the smaller you are the less right of way you have. Thus trucks and buses rule the road and fly by, while motorbikes and cars are expected to dodge out of the way, and always seem to at the last second. Its a sea of motorbikes, being parted and shaped by anything bigger than them, as well as the occasion pothole or chicken coop that fell into the road. Roundabouts are also pretty incredible because everyone just merges, there is not a marked exit or entry point, all of sudden you're just in a swarming circle. Also vehicles have been known to drive the wrong way on the highway. Including a taxi while we were in it.
Crossing the road is also absurd, there are very few traffic lights, so as a pedestrian you are expected to slowly and steadily walk across the street, expecting all motorbikes to part around you while you are responsible for yielding to all cars. Its better to just look straight ahead, its not fun watching 50 motorbikes headed straight for you.
Alright back to our volunteer dorm. When we first arrived we were a little concerned, we were dropped off on a dirt road in front of an old and mostly abandoned metal factory, with not much else surrounding us. The actual dorm was filled with people, and we quickly settled in as we got to know all of our dorm mates. We all get along very well, most of the volunteers are girls around my age, so sometimes it does feel like camp, especially because we have bunk beds and mealtimes.
Our first week most people got to go see their volunteer placement, but my NGO was on-site at a few of the projects they sponsor, so I had the week off. The volunteer organization filled up our days with tours, including one to a silk village and to the museum of ethnology. The silk village was good for cheap silk but there wasnt much else to see. The museum was really interesting, it featured all the different types of houses and tools of ethnic groups in Vietnam, and had an outside area with replicas of the houses that we could walk through.
During the week we went out to dinner with a Vietnamese guy named Nam, who I was put in contact with by my friend Sam from Wisconsin who studied abroad in Vietnam. Nam is very nice and friendly and we met up with him during the weekend as well and were able to meet all of his friends.
Next blog post will cover my experiences at my NGO this week, which has been great! And very funny.
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