Hoi An

So I decided to stay in Hoi An for 3 Days and 3 Nights, it was really calm here and the locals were great so it was nice to take a chill break. Im basically just gonna read today ... my books massive and i would love to get rid of it haha. Ive met a lot of good people, and ive shook some ppl off as well, not every tourist you wanna be friends with, but the good thing is you can take off and leave whenever you want. Xmas shopping is done!  After a while i realized ...i havent picked anything up for myself but lucky me im in the cheapest place in asia at the moment where they make everything and anything you want. So i got a pair of winter boots made and some nice vietnamese pants. They slave all day to make you these things and the items turn out perfect, you cant help but feel almost guilty that they charge you next to nothing :(

When i thought the food couldnt get anybetter... it did. Hoi An has there own specialties, like white rose and  cam lau... white rose is shrimp and wonton crunchies wrapped in a nice rice paper and klooks like a rose and camlou is garlic nooodles with your choice of meat and vegetables and crunchy won ton on top as well. sooo delicious.

 I walked through the market yesterday where they catch all the fish and stufff... bad idea, the smell was horrific, the chopping of fish was brutal... and i even got to see freshly chopped mystery parts of a pig pass right under my nose. nice. I forgot to mention in my last blog.... when we were in no mans land... i passed by a food hawker... that had the head of a dog out... and skinned. not goooood. it was unmistakenly the head of a dog. But at least i dont eat it lol... its what they do hear... i mean i try to put it into perspective... you see these cattles.... fat pigs ...parts of rats... random chickens on the backs of bikes... but... they do this for themselves and there neighbours, they raise it and eat it... theres no steroids,... theres no mass production... theres no millions of animals trapped in tight spaces... they live off there own meat and there own land and share it within the villages, its just you see it here... im sure in north america if you saw the conveyor belt of a beef factory you wouldnt eat beef again... or how they cram millions of chickens into tight spaces... i had a chicken breast here... it had almost no meat on it... because they raised it, let it rome around for a yr oor whatever, then chopped its head off and ate it... when "we" eat chicken its all massive amounts of white and dark meat... not so natural. Just to justify asia, they know what there doing.... i couild deal withouit the dog though :S And im sure its not the most hygenic way of life, but we all eat the rest, cooked and delicious (not the dog or rat i mean)..only been sick once n briefly...the food is unreal and usually you see it getting cooked which is really old fashioned and beautiful, usually over a fire, very rarely in heeping amounts of oil.

Anyways hoi ans been great but tomorrow its time to take the 24 hour switch back horrifying and loud bus ride to northern vietnam - Ha Noi. Here ill stay one night and then take the 3 day junk through Halong Bay. After that... one more night in HaNoi then china for  8 days (THEN HOMMMME). Ill be staying in Yangshuo where theres some of the worlds most amazing limestone topography and then to the dragons backbone where there are incredible rice paddies that are apparently soo crazy that its hard to undertsand how the chinese  could possibly farm on these huge hills. Its supposed to be a really good trek.

Still terrified of uploading all my pictures to the internet, so for now ill just attach one or two.

Love you allll! I prollywont call home till just before Hong Kong to confirm my flight into toronto and figure out a ride, but ill try to get on the computer again for sure, most guest houses have the net, its just realllly slow and sometimes doesnt work.

Love n MIss yahs.

Motocycle diaries

Wooo! We made it to Nah Trang, Vietnam from Dalat by Motorcycle! Best experience ever, completely local and completely beautiful! After 4 days we are exhhhhausted, ive been travelling with a couple from Holland. We met in Dalat and met up with the "East riders". We have went all through the central highlands to the coast. The most exhilarating time of our lives im sure. Not only are the highlands absolutely beautiful...there is noooo tourists, so we got to see how they farm, how they really eat, how they sleep and live. All the beautiful children would always wave at us as we went by and the locals loved trying to talk to us! Our guides were hilarious and amazing, laughs for sure. We've eaten everything from Full on ducks thrown into a stew in front of us, from banana leaves with shrimp...pork skewers...chicken with bumpy skin from the hair being plucked...rice, rice. rice and more rice, rice vodka, saigon red and green (local beer), local tuna fish, fishy fish, unknown fish, silk worms, tofu, marigold, bamboo shoots and the list goes on!!! and we feel great...  but tired. The roads in central vietnam are NOT to be wrecken with... we have also had some terrrrifying experiences. Motorcyles are actually the safest means of travel (and by the thousands)...cuz the trucks are HORRIFYING>.. they pass us and other vehicles into on coming traffic, force you to be behind there unbelievable exhaust fumes and honk there horns like there is no tomorrow... there switch back roads are crazily tight and only pass eachother by the hairs of their mirrors.. we had some moments where we probably thought we were going to die... but alas this is how it is and we were with the best drivers known. Scooters and motocycles ,compared to north america, are BY FAR the safest. We did have long stretches though of beautiful hillsides and wildlife. The farming here is unreal, they are a century behind us, but hopefully they never get as far as our resource degrated countries... because the way they live is truly beautiful.

Ive seen scooters with at least 300 pounds of bananas on them.. others with 100 chickens... others with 3 children and two adults, some with rice... some with wood, god knows what but they make it happennn!!! We have come across cattlle blocking our way, to chickens chasing us - bulls pulling wagons - puppies at 1 dollar a piece to eat..theres just so many things and ihave hundreds of pics but itll be a while before they are up!

Oh and im sorry steve, but apparently now.. i have a pre-arranged marriage with a vietnamese guy about 19 yrs old hahhaa... when we would stop people thought we were just something else, so his mother was like ohhh your boyfriend isnt here.. my son very attractive, he likes you... come back and you marry! hahah. Ill have a pic to show you! hahahhaa.

So anyways im sure theres so many other stories i could tell u... one other is today we got pummeled by non stop rain.. but then as we neared the coast it cleare dup, its windy as hell but beautiful non the less.

Tomorrow we are hangin out on the beach and taking the night bus to Hoi An...staying there for two nights... then off to Halong Bay - northern vietnam...by december i will be in china!

I miss everyone, and ill see you SOOONNNN!

Love you all, hope the weather isnt too cold! cant wait... :S lol

Back in NAM

Hello all...there is sooo many things that have happened in the last 4 days now that I am on my own the adventure has truly begun! And quite an adventure that is. About four days ago I flew from Phuket Thailand back to Bangkok, and I definately do not like bangkok,  doesn't do thailand any justice what soever, so when i got there i got the cheapest room, about 4 dollars, and it wasn't worth a penny, slept in a room near the street and the shared bathroom was disguisting, lucky for my sleep sack i brought! But anyways, its not a big deal, the next morning at 6 am... got on a bus to Cambodia...the border was a pretty big hassle, they tried to rip you off left right and centre, so now you see why i brought my travelling books...cuz i think me and two others are the only ones who didnt get ripped off... we paid the 20 US for our Visas.. but at first they bring you to a dodgy little border house...and they say ohh its like 36 dollars for a visa on arrival... but its not true at all, then at the real border where you pay for your visa (20 US), they say okay... 20 US plus 100 Baht, which is only 3 dollars, but they are just going to slip it in their pocket, so i didnt pay that either, we just argued.. got our way and finally got across, it wasnt too  messy.

But the bus on the other side is where all the fun started, i met brazillians, australians and Germans on the bus that were headed to Siam Reap as well to see the temples of angkor, we all stayed together.. and cambodia IS SOOO HOT... so we managed to find a plase that was cheap and nice and had a swimming pool... we hung out for a day. Cambodia was a huge culture shock, because there are so many people that are amputees, missing legs, arms, scarred chests, mangled faces... its so sad, the war in the 1970's between americans, vietnam and cambodia, crippled the Khmer ppl of cambodia... its devastating to see, there are still landmines there today. One man had no arms and legs, and had a helper to push him around, its unreal, so you can see how many would have died due to these landmines, these people... you may or may not consider them lucky just to be alive. Probably the most heart crunching thing i have ever seen in my life, knowing that due to these peoples  past they are still reaping the havok of it today, unreal. I have a whole new outlook on this now.

the next day we went to the temples of angkor, one of the seven wonders of the world... the most amazing ruins ivee seen in my life. For those who have no idea, one of these temples... tomb raider was shot there... so if youve seen the movie you have a bit of an idea... but its nothing like being there, the temples are massive and up to 1000 yrs old... theres about 50 temples and enormous ones in between, i have magnificent pictures ill post soon, maybe tonight. We went for sunrise at 530 in the morning because angkor wat is stunning at that time.. the sun rises behind it and the temple reflects in the water (massive temple..more like an entire city), the shots are beautful. We spent 7 hours in Angkor, and only saw a fraction of the temples, their skill to build 1000 yrs ag blows your mind, its hard to understand... there were 5 km long walls... that had hand carved pictures that told a story of their bloody battles, the most beautiful thing ever and mind boggling as well! You will see soon, i cant explain enough.

So after a day of getting the mudiiest dirtiest skin ive had in my life and being in the hottest possible sun, we headed back to the hotel, swam, and got tickets for the next day. The australians ive met, there a good lot, pretty hilarious, they know how to have a good time and are a good chat as well. So we hopped on a bus together and made our way to Saigon Vietnam (Southern Tip), it took 12 hours, and on the bus we met moooore aussies, who are amazing (Cheers to Courtney and Ben), so we all got dropped off in the backpacking centre and found a cheap place, 6 dollars a piece, which is reallly clean, nice, has free unlimited breakfast and a fast internet connection (which seems not to happen anywhere else in asia). The second we got here, checked in... i already fell in love with vietnamese ppl, there polite, dont hassle you, and help you with anything. This city is enormous and the traffic is insane, but its got a hidden beauty. So naturally we all went out, bought 5 bottles of Vodka at 2 dollars a piece, bought coke to go with it...another 50 cents, went to a restaurant and finished all the alcohol and ate amazing vietnamese food. I ate a chilli by accident... my whole face was crying, i almost threw up... you have NO IDEA... my mates rannn to the store... bought me milk (AND im lactose intolerant), but i was in sooo much pain i drank the whole thing of milk, had snot running down my face and balling like a baby. So i got over it... drank some strangers water ... then 5 second later, BEN ATE A CHILLI!>.... it was sooo much worse when you thought it couldnt get any worse at all.... he was crying as welll... dripping from the face and drank the same ppls water.. then lochy (aussie) went and bought him milk as well! hahahaha... soo funny. Fair to say we had a great night! 2 of the guys wallets got lost, courtney had to get walked home and lochy and i lasted till 430 am. Woke up and had free unreal breakfast! CHEERS! hahaha.

So today, im booking my open bus ticket to Dalat, which is about 7 hours up the coast, which isnt far its just travel is reallly slow here, courtney and ben said they really liked it, so ill got there 4 two days then to the beach town of Nah Trang, supposed to amazing and fun. the open ticket lets me hop on and off the bus wheneever  i want all throughout vietnam and its only 25 dollars, so its a steal.

No problems yet, im feelin alright, in good company and already love vietnam.

Safe to say i do miss my friends, family and my boyfriend, i think of you all everyday. I finally met some canadians last night and they made me miss home, i will be meeting up with them in Nah trang, so thats great as well, i dont think ill ever be alone, its too easy.

Ill repeat for my grandparents and mom, gma and papa... haha i will not be alone! i know you worry but things are fine, i love you!

holly.

The Last Leg

Oi! So im in Phuket right now, its the very tip of souther thailand, the last couple days we have went to ko (meaning island) phi phi, ko phi phi ley, bamboo island, muslim island, phuket and a lot of smaller surrounding islands. The snorkelling was pretty amazing, i didnt see... but the other guys saw a humongous jelly fish... we all saw some baby ones, and some amazing looking fish, poisonous sea anemones and a lot of cool corals. We've travelled by all sorts of different means, the best is the traditional thai longtail boat when your only with the locals, no tourists and tons of sacks of fresh pineapple and watermelo! Proper way to travel for sure, we've all got a lot of colour thats for sure, the sun here is scorching hot, but luckily we are surrounded by beautiful ocean!! The last week we have been travelling and staying in some places that had no communications so no getting in touch. The prawns here are so fresh and the seafood is flowing everyday! caught fresh!

I took my first motorcycle ride yesterday! sooo fun! got to see the country side the way you should, jen scott would be proud!! ive been eating pineapple like its going out of style, no canadian knows how good pineappe is until youve been to Thailand!!! speaking of canadians... theres been some americans lurking around... let me tell you they love to pick fights! very argumentative... ive just kept my mouth shut, but they've been getting on some ppls nerves for sure.

So tonight, we went to a cabaret show... cabaret shows here are comprised of what they call "ladyboys"....we might say at home transexuals, but here that would be errogant...cuz here it is totally accepted and everywhere, because of there views and religions they do not judge, care, turn an eye or question, it is truly amazing and i much enjoy supporting them in their tourism industry! Here no one judges, and i think everyone should learn from that! you would never see a fight with a homophobe and a thai "lady"here... it would be out of the question! Anyways it was fun! But speaking of tourism as well... i also went to a gibbon rehabilitation centre today, they do a proper job of rescuing them from ppl who have gunned down the females for the babies.... and raised the baby gibbons for tourist attraction on the side of the road...re-taught them howto live in the wild and have released many successful gibbon families back into their natural habitat!!! it was really unique, and these gibbons are so agile and amazing looking, for those who dont know what a gibbon is, you might just call it a monkey, but they are so much lankier and neat and different then all the rest, look it up, they are truly unique, there was a beautiful waterfall there as well!

Anyways, so tomorrow i think we are all just going to relax on the beach since its so amazing here, then go out tomorrow night hard, since the brits are leaving, and amazing brits they are, i find myself talking like them like crazy ahha! after that im all alone off to cambodia with the people i will meet on the way i hope! haha... right now theres some conflicts with thailand and cambodia, nothing to do with guns or anything... but they may close the border, if so im gonna unfortunately have to skip the temples of angkor and fly to vietnam, but you gotta do what you gotta do... its not closes yet, so we will see.. its only 2 days from now so hopefully itll stay open!

Ill let you know when i get there!

Talk to the mom and grandparents and boyfriend tonight, so for the rest of you love you lots and will keep in touch!!

love yah all... hollz. xoxoxox

sick sick sick

We're heading back down south now to bangkok then to Krabi... going to finally see some beaches and ocean water in the sun and out of the jungle.

I dont know who ate what... but 5 people are reallly sick on the trip... its just me and the aussie who arent sick (means a lot coming from the one with the worst stomach problems ever lol). Everyones been in and out of the washroom, and feeling super uneasy, its unfortunate because its ridiculously hot today and today is a strictly travel day, we've come from chian rai to chiang mai by bus and tonight we are taking an overnight train... i hope it subsides, no one can really figure out what would have been the one thing maybe everyone had? it might just be bad luck and perfect timing for everyone of them to get sick :( hope everyone gets better... :S at least we know its strictly gastrointestinal i think... definately from something in some kind of food... should go by decently quick.

Cheers!

Lisu and Akha Village Hillside Trek - Northern Thailand

Hey guys! I just had a pretty cultural experience up in the hills of northern thailand! We started in Chiang Rai, which is a pretty decent sized place way up north of thailand. Near chiang rai there was a small village, which we got to stay at the local teachers house for the night before trekking. He had a beautiful home and family. They cooked us some beautiful food and had fresh passion fruit... and if you wanted, worms that came from the cocunut trees... i didnt partake. but the fruit was awesome. His school kids played music for us with the most amazing instruments and tried to teach us some thai after.

The next morning we hopped in the back of a farm truck to our starting point on the trail. From there we hiked up up up... through the jungle and had lunch at a beautiful waterfall. Once the sweltering hike of only 10 km ended... we came to our beautiful village hut overlooking one of the best sights ive seen in a while. From there we took a look around the village and had a nice homemade dinner all together on our deck. That night, to support the local women who have taken massage courses to learn a little bit of extra income... i got my first thai massage and it was amazing... a whole 5 dollars for an hour... !

The next day was soooo much better once we had a pretty easy 10 km hike to the next village of akha where we stayed directly with the locals, you can see on my facebook all the kids everywhere!! they loved us and we loved hauling them around on our backs. This village wass so unique.. u could see Burma in the furthest mountains and beautiful flowers and mud and straw huts. Again we had a great dinner then got to spend all our free time monkeying around with the beautiful akha children. Whats really unique about the akha is that they have the most beautiful costumes in thailand... there traditional dress is the most extravagant! absolutely beautiful, it taked them one whole yr to make ONE! imagine.. and i dont even know how to hem my own pants.

We stayed in a really basic hut with chickens and the sound of pigs. The pigs and the main rooster had me up at 6! after we hiked allllllll the way down today (the third day) we came to chiang rai which we will stay the next two days. Its pretty hard here because now that we are so north no one really speaks english and all the signs here are in Thai or Lanna... it took me an hour and half to find this internet cafe.. and no.. i did not find a laundry place... so my group is gonna have to deal with three days of elbow greese. IT IS SO HOT HERE. the luxury of being up in the mountains is we got our first breezes ever! and cool nights... now back on the ground.. its gotta be 30 degrees.

I think tonight we all wanted to finally go get some cool ones and see a "ladyboy" show (and there are lots of ladyboys in thailand)... these are meant to be fun.. i dont want my grandparents thinking we're going to see a tranny strip show hahaha. this isnt the case, all in good fun but i think i am way to tired... and a little frustrated with having to figure out chiang rai with a really crappy map! I can just imagine what chinas going to be like.. grrrrr!
Well i love and miss you all! ill try calling some of you this weekend.

Grama, grampa, mom, cousins, steve and family, miss you and love you all! will talk soon! this weekend ill be heading to southern thailand, which is a whole new ball game.. so ill let you know as im on my way!

love yasss!

River Kwai to Chiang Mai

WOW! today was amazing... at first i thought going for an elephant ride was not all that great because they are bread just to make stupid tourists have a laugh and are not happy... but... this isnt true, we were about 45 minutes into the jungle from chiang mai and got to ride amazing elephants who have abundant water to drink... lots of food in the surrounding area and have a beautiful habitat to live in. These elephants are happy... humans are no weight at all on them and there completely free to rome around and be happy, whereas in places like africa there whole life may be dedicated to finding water in far places and trying to be free from poachers... so besides being 20 feet off the ground and going up steep hills... my thai partner asked if i wanted to ride the head where he was... and its probably the funnest thing ive ever done ever!!! it was so amazing... and the elephants know when you have bananas so we bought a bunch of bunches... and he would fling his trunk right into our laps... open his "nose" breathe and spit all over you until you gave them bananas... amazing... and yes we got soaked with elephant snot and mud and couldnt have been happier! lol. Chiang Mai is so beautiful in the surrounding area, its quite amazing.. in a day or two im going on a three day trek to the hillsides to see a very small village where there will be no other tourists and home cooked meals from a family... im so glad to see the backside of thailand.. although, still very much in the developing stages.. it is beautiful, the people make it more beautiful then it really is within the exhaust and garbage filled places.

Once doen the trek i will post more pictures.

Sawatt dee ka!

Bye Bye Bangkok

Allo Loves. Its been an eventful week I must say. Am Happy to have left the mayhem that is bangkok. There are soooo many people in bangkok and wayyy to many tourists so I was pleased to leave. I got to hang out with Jen plenty... im not sure if she made it back to Canada or not? If someone knows let me know haha. Oh Jen.

Anyways, so I left Bankok I guess only yesterday and took a fairly short bus ride to the city Kanchannaburri. It is a much slower pace then bangkok.. but compared to home it is still hectic. The country side though is unbelievable!! This is the thailand i came to see. Our guest house is lovely and is right beside a farm... with a rooster that roosts allllllllll morning and some other crazy animals that i dont see... just hear haha. There is also no tourists where we are so thats lovely. The food is still amazing and cheap.. havent eaten anything to crazy but i did stumble across some scorpions and crickets that me and some italianos ate... "when in rome".

Today we went to Erawan falls... CHECK IT OUT! absolutely breathtaking 7 tiered elephant waterfall.. with nice monkeys and beautiful water... on this blog thing it is a bit difficult to post pictures one after the other so im uploading them all to facebook to get them off my card and in a safe place! My friend Vicki and I have been touring together... shes from England, ive met quite a few people from england i must say. Also... germany, switzerland, morrocco, australia and the list goes on. The thai people are very niceeee in a lot of ways and a lot can speak broken english which helps. There very beautiful people with humble families. Tomorrow i will be floating down the Kwai River on a barge for 24 hours.. should be amaaazing.. but its sooo HOT here , i hope we dont die of heat exhaustion on the barge... we will be swimming in areas.. .but from what i understand theres lizards and big fish and all kinds of crazies in the water... how do you know if you dont try? lol.

Anyways things are good...we are about to head to a night market to pick up some some food for our breakfasts...vicki and i are trying to live off of 200 Baht or less a day... like seven dollars... its not that hard ..crazy hey? You can get a full on Songthaew...a truck with benches in the back to super far distances for 150 baht per person... amazing how little they work for and no complaints.

Ill be in touch soon.... and be calling the family in the next day or so! I love you all.

SA WAT DEE KA!

So... after 24 hours and 4 countries later... im in bangkok. 11 hours ahead of Ontario and fighting the tiredness. Its very humid here... but, what better way to cool off then have a Leo beer with JEN! The second i got out of my taxi at the hotel jen was waiting with open arms... immediately she dragged me out into the back alleys of Kho San Road. When i say back alleys... i mean back alleys... with rats... local food hawkers... and wondrous odours. I met some amazingly friendly thai people in the weirdest bar setting ive ever been in last night, but the beer is cheap and way better then at home and great company. Today its about 25 degrees and the streets are swarmed with Songthaews and Tuk Tuks and some ridiculous looking tourists... i may be included. The food is gastronomic and the hawkers are everywhere... i dont know what they cook... but i think everything and anything goes by the looks of things. This place is amazing, i havent seen much yet.. i thought id write a post to let my family know im here and everythings gonna be great. I am going to go to some Wats today and i think jen wants to bring me to a beach.

Another comment... when i was briefly in tokyo.. and im sure its the same here in places.. the technology blew me away, in the washroom... theres three different kinds of toilets... a squat toilet...a "normal" toilet and a somewhere in betweenie... so beside these toilets, theres buttons... u can choose to get an asss wash... u can choose to get a perfume type substance sprayed on your bottom... or you can also choose to play a toilet flushing sound to muffle whateverr sound you make on the toilet.. i think there was another one that just played japanese music as well... then when you get up the toilet miraculously pulls away the paper toilet seat cover and automatically flushes.. very interesting. The technologically updated squat toilet i honestly didnt get it... so i avoided it..like the canadian i am... the back alley squats on the other hand are a bit more "nomadic"...

Miss Vicki Bell..... im almost glad you didnt come cuz your wallet would be more broken then you could have ever imagined... things here are sooo cheap... i wish i would have come naked and never bought a backpack back home... everything is amazing... the vendors are everywhere you look, its insane.

I dont know whats in store until sunday when i head north... but i dont have much to say right now... ill take some pictures of some temples and whatever craziness i come along.

Im safe and feeling fine! i miss you all already.

Its 11 hours ahead... so for my family... ull always miss my messages or ill be on here when your sleeping... i will call in the next couple days to say high.. its cheap for a minute so ill giver ago.

Pre-Departure

7 Days before the journey begins. In 24 hours I will be with my humble family in Havelock, Ontario, getting and giving a lot of love before I depart from Toronto until Christmas. On Friday my beautiful and generous friends on Ambrose street had a swell little going away party and I got to say hi and bye to everyone :) Thanks to them with much love and for my boyfriend for coming down for our last weekend and seeing me off.

The last two days have been a bit bumpy... a nnumber 7 earthquake has rippled through the phillipines killing many people under the collapsed rubble of old buildings. The earthquake and seasonal variations, along with two devastating and approaching hurricanes, has ripped through the Phillipines and flooded many parts of Vietnam and Cambodia - two of the countries I am visiting. The death toll has reached about 50-60 in the northern countries, mainly from flooding and drowning. This made me very paranoid, but after research into previous years the typhoon season repeats the flooding every year and mainly to the same spots in central vietnam, i will be catching the tail end of this season and after looking at the local pictures... even in the floods everyone pushes through, the markets still run, the transportation still manages, and ppl keep their spirits. So I am just hoping it is all subsided and calm by then, and if not... I will be smart and skip the country. No worries , I will stay tuned and be very inquisitive:)

The first leg of the journey will be a circuit of northern and southern thailand, where there is no weather advisories at the moment and everything is calm, my next post will be in 10 days or so when I have something real to tell yoU!