Wooow so much happened since I last wrote!! Chiang Mai ended up being my favorite place in Thailand, and as much as we tried we just couldn't leave! I think we ended up staying 8 or 9 days in total? In addition to the cooking class and elephant training. we did a 2 day/1 night "trek" (jungle hike) and stayed in a bamboo hut with 7 other people who we ended up getting really close with. 4 of the Irish guys went and a girl from Wales, one from England, and one from Denmark. The crew was amazing and we had more fun than I could have thought.
We had 2 guides, one of which was the most hard core mountain man I have ever met in my life. He was leading us around in full camo, was carrying around a musket, barely spoke english, and was probably like 60 years old but could make anything out of bamboo. He even sewed up one girls backpack when it broke with bamboo thread he made on the spot. Talk about a badass.
While we were hiking there on the first day one of the Thai guides asked if we wanted to have them buy a pig from the local town and have a pig roast for dinner. I laughed; obviously they were joking, doesn't it take days to cook a pig or something like that?
No, they certainly were not joking. We were busy chopping and cooking the rest of dinner at camp when they brough a LIVE pig, our very own Wilbur, in a cloth sack and with him slung over mountain man's shoulder asked who wanted to kill it. Montana and I stayed inside and plugged our ears but could still hear the squeals of Wilbur as Gerry from Ireland knocked his head in with a wooden plank. And here's the shocker... me, Maggie Fitzgerald, ex-vegan and vegetarian, ate some of it. And it was frickin' amazing. I know I'm being graphic and gross here, but the point is, this is how people in Thailand live and have lived for centuries. As much as I wanted to cry when I heard this whole thing going down, I had to realize that people up in the hills of Thailand don't have the luxury of running to costco and getting enough perfectly-packages, somewhat guilt-free pork to feed a village. And once we Westerners picked off the good meat, some men and women from the village came over and ate the rest. I mean everything. Waste not!
The next day we had a pretty hard hike, but swam in a waterfall and went bamboo rafting, which is basically standing on long narrow flat rafts made of bamboo and having water fights. Like my brother said, much of my time in Thailand was basically a big water fight. And that's why it was awesome!
After that we stayed in Chiang Mai for a couple more days, fully intending to leave each morning we woke up and just not being able to leave our new friends and amazingly cheap and nice hotel. When we finally left, we went to Sukothai for a day, rented bikes and rode around seeing the ruins of the ancient city, it's many temples and Buddha statues. It was good but a bit lonely; there wasn't really anyone staying at our hotel. So we decided after that to head straight for the backpacker's heart of Bangkok, Khao San road. This place was insane, I mean people everywhere, food vendors, hawkers, beggers, at every hour of the day or night. People drinking cheap wiskey (Sang Som) out of plastic buckets, a la full moon party, all hours of the day. We, however, spend much time by our hotel's rooftop pool to avoid the chaos (though it was a bit chaotic up there too, as many other people had the same idea). The first night we ran into two of the girls we met in Chiang Mai and spend much of the rest of our time in Bangkok hanging out with them, which was soooo good, especially after being so sad to leave them in Chiang Mai!
That's a weird, bittersweet thing about travelling: Some of my favorite memories have been making new friends from all over the world, and some of my saddest times have been leaving a group of people and being on your own again. When you're travelling, I feel like friendships form so much faster and stronger than in "real life." Backpackers have similar mindsets, and I would say in general are extrememly outgoing and willing to step out of their comfort zones. Also, so many people are travelling on their own that everyone is constantly trying to meet people. Therefore, you form bonds in a matter of days with people from all corners of the world, and when you leave them it's so easy to say "I'll be coming to [insert country here] soon and we will get together!!!" Then you are facebook friends, tag each other in photos to remember the good times, but in reality it's highly unlikely you will ever see these people again. It's not being cynical, it's being realistic. So it's important to just take what you can from the friendships you form and try to learn as much as you can about yourself and other people in the process. Or at least that's how I'm looking at it now.
Leaving Bangkok was weird; I'd only been in Thailand for a little over 3 weeks but it felt like sooo much longer. It's definitiely one of my favorite countries I have ever been to, and I know that I will be back someday... hopefully sooner rather than later!
Yesterday morning we flew into Hanoi, Vietnam early early. One word to describe Hanoi and my experience with Vietnam so far in general: Hectic. No one really speaks English, and don't even get me started on the driving. I though Italian drivers were dangerous until I went to Guatemala; I though Guatemalans were reckless until I went to Thailand; and I though Thai drivers were mad until I came to Vietnam. It literally took me 30 minutes to cross a street this morning. THIRTY MINUTES. That was a bad moment. Followed by a good moment: Finally reaching the Vietnamese Fine Art Museum, where I was virtually all alone among some really breathtaking artwork (the laquer paintings were my favorite; you don't see a lot of that in the West and it's quite beautiful). Followed by more bad moments: being heckled by motorbike taxi drivers my entire walk back. Followed by good moments: sitting and having an amazing Vietnamese coffee (rich coffee with condensed sweetened milk added; heavennnnnn!) overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake with the beautiful Ngoc Son Temple on an island in the middle.
Also, I have never been to a place where I am so much of a spectacle to the local people. In Thailand being white and blonde didn't feel weird because everywhere I went people were so used to tourists. In Hanoi, there are backpackers, sure, but not even a fraction of the amount you see in major Thai cities. My blonde hair makes me stick out like a sore thumb. Children stare like crazy. I was in the airport reading a book minding my own busines and did not even notice a man come sit next to me while his friend took a photo of us until after it happened. I was creeped out until I realized that I'm just plain weird looking to thse people.
Today when I was walking around I had several Vietnamese women smile hugely and say "welcome to Vietnam!!!" Well, they only say that because I'm putting on the facade that I am from Canada. I know, I know, it's stupid, but you should see the looks Montana and I have gotten from travellers when we say we are Americans travelling in Vietnam. It's like a "ohhhh, awkward for you" pained expression on their faces. I've had plenty of Americans tell me they never had trouble with the Vietnamese people while travelling here, a few even said that they were told "don't worry, we don't hate you!" But I've also had an Australian say he was harassed badly in Vietnam for being from Oz, since they occipied Vietnam during the war. If Australians are harassed, I can't help but wonder how some people still feel about Americans. And honestly, who can blame them? I am only going to be in Ho Chi Minh city for about 8 hours, but the one thing I realy want to see is the war remnents museum. I was never properly taught about the Vietnam war in school, I don't know if that's my experience or the experience of most Americans of my generation. I have heard the museum is hugely biased, as one would expect, but I am trying to educate myself about what really went down.
I'm reading a book right now called "Last Night I Dreamed of Peace," which is the actual diary of a young Vietnamese woman who was a medic in the field during the war, and died when her clinic was bombed by American troops. It's one of the best selling books in Vietnam, and has been called the nation's "Diary of Anne Frank." It's powerful stuff, that's for sure; I can only stomach a little bit at a time so I probably won't even finish before I leave.
Tomorrow we are going to do a 2 day/1 night cruise on Halong Bay. I've heard of people who have done it and loved it. We get to swim, cave kayak, look at the beautiful scenery, and it's pretty much just backpackers our age who go which will be fun. After that, it's half a day in Ho Chi Minh City, then on my way home!!! I am getting excited to go home, but am certainly going to make the best of my last days here. Hopfully will get another chance to update before I head home! Maybe during one of my 2 massive layovers, ughhh......
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