Where did days 17-30 go? Well, sitting in the “draft” box of this blog.

Well I admit I’ve been slacking!

I started this post on May 3rd, so you see I’ve been procrastinating.

My intention was to journal each day or leg of my travels through SE Asia, however, 2 weeks have past since my last post and I am now back in Thailand.  So where did I leave off?  Oh yes- Saigon,Vietnam.

Petronas Towers- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Rainforest B & B- the most charming place I’ve stayed in SE Asia

A short flight across the Gulf of Thailand from HCMC to KL and an even longer shuttle ride from the KL Airport into the city.  The KL Airport really seemed that it was in the middle of nowhere among several palm trees.  Upon arriving into the city, I was dropped off at KL Central which is the transportation hub for both buses and the entire KL train system.  I took a monorail to a stop close to my B&B and hopped off into the sweltering heat with my fully loaded backpack ready to find my destination.  Luckily, it wasn’t far and I was able to check-in early.  The Rainforest B&B was by far the best place I’ve stayed in my travels thus far.  It was so charming and centrally located to almost everything, I highly recommend it to anyone heading to KL and wanting  budget friendly accommodations.

Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, is a bustling metropolis.  I’d venture to say the New York of SE Asia with soaring skyscrapers, a shoppers paradise, pockets of cultural neighborhoods and FANTASTIC food!  OMG, I did love the food.  I could have ate my way through the country easily.  I spent 5 days in KL and loved every minute of it.  Venturing to the amazing Petronas Towers, spending an afternoon shopping at the mall, watched my first English movie, (The OZ) since I’ve been away from the US, wandered around the Central Market, enjoyed several great meals and daily afternoon thunderstorms.  I will definitely return for another visit or two when I’m not on a backpacker budget and can really shop.

After my days in KL ended I returned back to KL Central to hop on a night/sleeper train headed north to Penang, Malaysia.  The train departed at 22:00 hrs and I quickly crawled into my lower berth bed to attempt getting some sleep.  We would arrive at our destination at 06:30 the following morning, so I set my alarm to ensure that I wouldn’t miss my stop.  Well, really there was no need to do that since I hardly slept.  The several stops and constant rocking combined with the notion that I could easily roll  right out of bed made it difficult to relax and fall asleep.  Nevertheless, a couple of quick snoozes and several hours of my IPod  later, I was exiting the train at Butterworth, Malaysia.

British Colonial Beauty

Firehouse- Penang, Malaysia

I’m still standing after all these years.

Butterworth is on the mainland and my destination was Penang, a small island across the harbor.  I exited the train station, walked to the jetty and boarded a ferry at 7am for Penang.  Penang is one of the most charming, British influenced towns I have ever stepped foot in.  I fell in love with the quaint streets, colorful architecture, Indian infused foods and friendly people.  I spent four lovely days in Penang before I boarded my overnight train to Bangkok.  Just a mere 22 hour train ride and I’d be back in Thailand and then another 6 hour bus ride until I would be home.  So after almost 30 hours of travel, I returned home to Kamphaeng Phet so that I could begin teaching the following week.

Saigon & then some

After a lovely stay at the beach it was time to return to Saigon for a few days. The capital city of Vietnam and a bustling metropolis with travelers from all over the world. I stayed in District 1, which is basically the hotspot for travelers and convenient to basically everything you could want to see. I ventured to the infamous Ben Than Market, strolled through the streets, visited the Reunification Palace, stopped at a couple pagodas, temples, had lunch at the famous “Lunch Lady” (a recommendation from Mr. Anthony Bourdain) and took a day trip up the Mekong Delta.

Wanna get dirty?

Sometimes you gotta get dirty to feel good!

While in Nha Trang I decided to visit a popular spa that was known for their mineral mud baths. Outside the city, up in the tropical hills I found a relaxing ritual that everyone should try at least once. The resort had several package deals for which you could partake in and I chose the most common one. A multi step process which included a soak in a mineral mud tub (either privately or in a group), a thorough rinse, a soak in a hot mineral pool, and an unlimited amount of time sitting under the waterfall or enjoying one of the many pools.

It’s hard to put into words the experience, but here’s a synopsis. The mud bath was incredible! Silky and luxurious are not usually words I would use to describe mud, but in this instance I will. The combination of minerals and mud create a buoyancy that allows you to float. In fact, it’s difficult to sink so you find yourself relaxing naturally. You’re supposed to only be in the tub for about 15 minutes, however, the attendant let me stay for almost an hour. After a long rinse, I made my way to the mineral pool which I would describe as a natural hot spring. I didn’t sit too long since it was already close to 100 degrees outside and I didn’t feel much like sitting in boiling water. But, I did spend the rest of the afternoon by the pool enjoying their famous pesto, pine nut spaghetti.

Mission of relaxation….
Accomplished and with renewed, silky skin.

Snapshots of Nha Trang

Days 13-16 in Nha Trang, Vietnam

After a couple hours of sleep it was time to hop on the afternoon train. I was headed North to the beach town of Nha Trang. I boarded the train, settled into my soft seat and turned on my iPod for the next 7.5 hours. I knew the estimated time of arrival, however, considering my last weeks travels I wasn’t holding my breath. There were a couple other foreigners traveling to the same location, but we each were told different arrival times. The Vietnamese women next to me said I had a long ways to go, the one in the front said just a couple more stops and another behind said not this one, but the next. I didn’t really want to make the mistake of getting off in the middle of nowhere or pass by my stop, so we all waited. Questioning each approaching stop, wondering if this was the one? The announcements were only made in Vietnamese and we couldn’t read the name of each train station, until finally we approached what we thought was our station. My suspicions were correct, I was greeted with a glowing red neon sign announcing, NHA TRANG.

Nha Trang is a charming beach town nestled in a small cove and surrounded by many small islands. Each time I find myself near the beach I realize it’s MY place. For some its the mountains, others the desert, but for me it’s the lapping of the waves, the sea salt air and the sand between my toes. I’ll post some photos soon, write about my Mud Bath & catch up my remaining days now that I’m back in HCM city.

Day 12- 16+ hours of bus travel

Departure day from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh a mere 4 hr bus ride and a short stopover before hopping the bus to Vietnam. It’s the New Year Holiday weekend in Cambodia, so it can be expected that “normal” travel times will NOT be happening.

The estimated time for travel to Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam is approximately 6 hours. Well I had no idea what I would be in for when I hopped on the bus. About an hour and half into our journey we came to a dead stop! We were surrounded by motorbikes, vans exceeding capacity in not only the amount of passengers but luggage precariously strapped to the opened hatch, and several people on foot. As time ticked away and the afternoon rolled into evening we all started to realize that this bus ride was going to take a bit longer than anticipated. We were all waiting in several traffic “lanes” to approach the ferry dock. After 4 hours passed and we moved only a few meters, the bus/tour guide announced that the ferry dock would be closing in about 10 minutes. He spoke with one of the local policemen and made some sort of deal to get us into the “fast” lane. Well lets just call it what is was…. Good ‘ole fashion bribery! Everyone on the bus agreed to fork over $1 to expedite our journey. It didn’t exactly speed things up, but the ferry did continue to run and we eventually crossed. Had we not had our packs, we could have swam across quicker.

Now that we had crossed, the next hurdle was getting to the Cambodia/Vietnam border before it’s closing time of 10pm. Well, it was already 9:40pm and we had a good 1.5 hours to go, so lets just say this bus ride was just not shaping up to well. What do we do? Sleep at the border? Cross our fingers that they decide to stay open, so we can pass? We reached the border at midnight, the gates closed and looking very bleak. Our guide hopped out with our passports (all 50 of them) and ran to the guard house where he successfully got our exit stamps. Next stop, Vietnam entry crossing at which point he again ran in with passports in hand to get approval for entry. After I’m sure money $$$ exchanged hands, he returned and we were all asked to exit the bus with our baggage so that we could proceed through the security checkpoint and have our bags scanned. At which point our passports were returned and we could be on our merry way. Ho Chi Min City was still another 2 hours away, but at least we wouldn’t have to sleep on the bus until the border reopened the following morning.

We arrived in HCM City at 2:30am, and I’ve never been happier to find a hotel and get some sleep.
As I continue to travel I realize that the only thing I have control over is my patience & my willingness to go with the flow. It’s all in a 16 hour travel day 🙂