March 13th and 14th we were in Halong Bay. We stayed the night on an old “pirate ship”. It was so far beyond awesome..

Embarking via a small boat to get us out to the big one:

Just outside my room’s door, looking towards stern (backwards) on starboard (right side):

Other ships setting out in the super sweet fog:

Saw a few of these bumboats selling their stuffs. I wanted to buy something just to say that I did but I’m cheap. lol :

Yeah, we were surrounded by awesome islets like this the entire time:

We went to “secret cave” and I left my camera on board because I thought “it’s just another cave, seen it.” but I was totally wrong. That was the COOLEST cave I’ve ever seen. ;_; Seriously, it was huge.. so so cool. Oh well, the others got pics.

Moored to the seabed (can you use that term for a bay’s floor?) that night:

Getting darker:

Small group of bumboats the next morning:

The taxi to school took a very scenic route to school (because they get paid by distance or time) but we got to see some interesting things and I had my camera on me so… *shrugs*

Ho Chi Minh tomb:

Then we went to class:

A bit of construction on one of the school buildings (they’re adding 2 floors!):

It’s really cool, actually; EVERYWHERE we’ve gone here in Vietnam there’s construction; new houses, new roads, new bridges, etc! I feel like it’s a ton of progress happening everywhere! If only they could get rid of the censorship from the government.. =\

Anyway, the second half of the day was a super awesome museum. En-route, chickens on a motorcycle:

One of these days I’ll have to get a picture of how much some people put on one of these bikes.. it’s insane. Seriously, a few chickens is a small amount.

Masks; like in Zelda! :D

Look at the detail in this carved boat thing!!:

Sweet Gecko Knife:

The bikes haven’t (as far as I’ve seen) got this loaded but close…

Weapons and stuff (like in Zelda!):

omg! Beedle’s ship shop from Zelda!!:

A whole bunch of different watercraft styles! So cool:

Sweet houses! These remind me of Zelda :D

Cool sword, like that one in Zelda!!:

Creepy mask; I like it! Oh and, btw, Zelda:

They had a handful of different kinds of houses, all very cool:

“Mythical Bird Garuda” (totally reminds me of Zelda!):

These are just like the people in Zelda Wind Waker! :D

A life-size one! SO COOL!

The faces and proportions remind me of Zelda but the ..uh ..actions, not so much. haha:

Blacksmith tools!

“Cool” is one way to understate this:

Oh, btw, Zelda.

Our second “class” today had us go around the city. I, in my usual fashion, forgot my camera. First we visited what was left of a prison the French built. The prisoners were treated barbarically there. It was really interesting to see it all though. I know the others were taking pics anyway. Just Google Image “Hanoi prison” and I’m sure you’ll find it if you want to see it. =)

Later though, Trang let me borrow her camera when we were walking around the city-

KFC:

This lake’s name translates to something involving returning a sword to the water. (where it came from). It’s an old story about a king who got a sword from a Tortoise in the water so he could use it to defeat intruders, the king then returned the sword to the tortoise after he fought them off. The story was better when my new friends told me it. haha:

Leads to the bridge on the lake that then goes to a temple on the island:

The name for this translates to something like “Pen that writes in the sky”:

Tortoise Island:

I don’t remmeber what this monument was for… but the display in the background is a countdown- 215 days until the city of Hanoi is 1000 years old!! Pretty awesome.

This is a huge indoor wholesale market:

The old city entrance where a guard would be standing post when beyond the gate were fields- like Zelda! :D

Also, the 3 walking in front of me ^ were all students walking with me. Their English is better than anyone I met in Thailand! ( no offense, Thais <3 )

Loaded with activities; more than a bit overwhelming- especially for just getting here- but in the end totally worth it. =)

We drove pretty far from Hanoi like 7 hours after we got here.. It was scheduled for us- none of us knew until we got here. o.o Oh well, go with the flow! =)

I didn’t take any pictures on Sat (the first day of the trip) when we went to Vietnam’s largest pagoda; but I’m sure the others did. (my bad!)

Anyway, Sunday-
Look at these mountains!! So cool:

We took a paddle boat through some mountain caves!

There’s even traffic jams on the water! lol Many ways to get here, only one way to continue, hence bottle-neck traffic jam:

There were temples on top of a few mountains. Apparently there was one that was 700 steps to get to. The boat I was on skipped that (though I totally would have gone up had I known the chance was there) but another group walked up. They were disappointed because the thing at the top was small. lol

At the jam:

We were there for a long while but I thought it was cool :P

Bamboo guides in the water to keep a course of sorts for the boat paddlers:

We had to duck like hardcore in the first cave. This is the exit from the next cave but we had the option to go around the low part this time. lol:

When it’s dark the camera has a really long exposure time so when you move forward it blurs kinda neat like. But it’s a bit of a pain since it’s hard to stay steady.. not that it would matter since we’re moving. :P

back at the start of the boat trip:

Some bus ride time later we got to a catholic church. Most of Vietnam isn’t very religious. The next largest slice of the pie chart is Buddhist, then there’s Catholics.

This particular area is loaded with churches though; I was told about 90% of the people around there were Catholic.

Along with my attraction to hoodies and possibly for the same psychological reasons that only a professional can explain, I’m also quite fond of the face masks so many wear in SE Asia… I’d say, in the city, it’s about 30% have one on.

Considering how bumpy the ride was and that we were moving at all, this is a really clear picture of a very large graveyard we passed:

A traffic jam that went 30km! We turned around and took a “longer” way and got back to Hanoi and in bed around 10pm. Next morning was off to school!

I’d take a pic of the uni map but I left it back in Thailand =P

They have little shops scattered throughout campus:

Stairs/elevators just in there. We’re up on 7th:

Big Lizard! :D

ATMs, Cafeteria, Grocery store, gift shop, etc:

Stepping into that cafeteria (there is more than one; the campus is huge):

The line of bikes is left of what’s to the left of the above:

Made it to Vietnam! Chiang Mai to Bangkok (1hr), Bangkok to Hanoi, Vietnam (1hr 35min). Distance between Chiang Mai and Hanoi via plane: about 1hr. Oh well! :P

6.5 quake just hit Sumutra which is directly south of Thailand/Vietnam. They’re getting a bit close..

On the plane to Vietnam I had the seat next to me open. Arm rest up, a bit of osmosis, and I was good to go!

Initial impression of Vietnam though… “Uh… so how long ‘till we get to go back to Thailand?”

And yeah, the traffic here is exactly like walking/pushing through in a crowded hallway, except, you know, it’s massive machines that will kill you.

I saw two motorcycles collide- quick on the brakes, rear-end style. They drove off without giving it a second thought.

Expert levels of frogger have nothing on this.

DAD: I got a bunch of pictures of parts of the school campus. Will upload when I have a chance. =)

YOU, READING THIS: <3 you! :3

Note: I don’t know specifics or how accurate this is, I’m just repeating what I’ve read.

Happening in/around Thailand now:
*Former Prime Minister was charged in court (for corruption, I think?) last weekish. He said that he’d fight it ‘till the end. His supporters (Red Shirts) are causing a bunch of hell, bombing banks/ATMs in Bangkok. They’re planning to mobilize a bunch of vehicles and people in protest too. Mostly in Bangkok. Not exactly the best way to get sympathy or show that you were innocent… And isn’t your karma like totally fucked now too? =\ Also, 53 people were “marked on their forehead” who were against him.

*The Dalai Lama’s sister (and her husband) was refused visa to Thailand because Thailand doesn’t want to get involved with the politics of it involving China. (Unlike the US who accepted the Dalai Lama at the white house.)
History of it involves the DL speaking out against China (his previous residence, before going to India) about getting the sovereignty of some part of China. So China has a grudge against him. (which seems somewhat legit to me, but I obviously don’t know both sides or much detail..)

*500,000 workers in Thailand from Burma, Laos, and Cambodia are being deported from Thailand because of the 1.3 million, these people didn’t do some sort of registration that Thailand required and put a deadline on.

*The quakes in Chile did send tsunami’s to Japan but they did not reach here. However, there was just a 6.4 quake in southern Taiwan. No tsunami warnings yet but looking geographically, Vietnam could get hit mostly in the south. (I’ll be going to Vietnam tomorrow but I’m not worried since we’ll be north and far enough inland.)

*Thailand is expanding the no-smoking zones to pretty much anything public within the next 4 months. I haven’t seen many smokers at all anyway though.

In completely unrelated news, I got a new hat (because I had one just like it in a dream so I went and got one). You like? Oh, also I have a tan line where my watch sits hehe :P

Dad; I’ll get pics of the school and some Thai people for you this week! =) <3 ya!

this was last week, sorry I took so long to post!

we ate lunch here:

All super old; older than the US by far! like 1200’s old!

elephant towel!

we rented bikes and rode around the ancient-ness:

“Don’t look backwards!!!” lol

Ginormous Buddha:

smaller structure right to the right of the big one

The 3 tower things (jay-dee) represent 3 hindu gods:

Ah-chan Riean sharing his wealth of knowledge with everyone =)

outside my window in Sukhothai:

outside my window in Phitsanuluk, that pool is on the 4th floor:

Our plane:

Finally got a window seat! I thought I couldn’t see the propeller at all, but then when I pointed the camera out the window, I saw it in the LCD, it was neat. :P

Technically, the camera should have been off… :P

HA! I like this one:

Same temple a bit later, from the ground:

We went to a play/dance thing that night; it was really cool. The next day, sat, went to a waterfall and swam:

“Do Not Swimming Area”:

You can climb to the top of the water fall, cross and come down the other side. It was awesome, way fun to climb!:

I didn’t get much of a view, or find the path to cross.. but uh, maybe the others did? lol
Anyway, I apparently didn’t get any pictures of the area you can swim in… I know they did, and a video of me jumping off of a waterfall into the water. When they post ‘em, I’ll re-post. :)

That was all one temple.. Next is one used in the 1400’s for some Buddhist gathering.

Then a quick stop to look at a Chinese graveyard.

And one more temple, with tunnels too:

And a Gigantic Spider, the body is like 3 of my thumbs. In the picture it’s towards the top, against the tree. The body is black and yellow and has a bit of red on it’s head:

Warning: If you plan on traveling out of the country DO NOT USE US Bank.

Worst international customer support EVER.

Saw a whole bunch of elephants playing harmonicas yesterday.
Seriously. lol
It was crazy.
They painted some pretty cool pictures and kicked a ball around too. There’s pics on the other’s blogs; I didn’t bring the camera again.

And this has nothing to do with Thailand other than it happened here, in Chiang Mai: Today I saw Dr. Horrible for the first time. So completely AWESOME.
Seriously Loved it. hahah =P
I mean like it’s on my desktop wallpaper now. Yeah. lol

It never rains in Chiang Mai this time of year. From Nov to May, there is supposed to be no rain at all. As soon as we got here and saw where we were staying though, I wished it would rain so I could see it and feel it because I love the rain. …Tonight there was a large thunderstorm which I stood out in, barefoot with the rain pouring down as the thunder cracked. I smiled the entire time. Life is awesome.

Started going to school at Chiang Mai University taking a 2hr/day Thai Language class. Tomorrow we have language in the morning then some talk about a Rice God in the afternoon. Dunno what that’s about. *shrugs*

At the guest house before school

Hallway on 7th floor where our class is. Totally reminds me of Mirror’s Edge. haha

To the left of the previous picture, looking down 7 stories.

View from the window on 7th floor. Looking west.

Jacquie outside of the building we have class in.

After class today in the University’s ..gift shop.. thing.?

Just outside the building again. Drexler there straight ahead.

Oh, a couple days ago we went to Doi Suthep temple ontop of that mountain. I did the awesome thing of forgetting my camera. These pics are from Alex B.

a small taste of the stairs we had to climb to the top. Fun fun! :D

This pic is from Emilee:

Such a cool view from up there. I’d love to see it at night.

And this is a fruit we ate called “ngok” in Thai.. I have no idea what the English name is. It’s pretty tasty though! (pic from Emilee)