World Trip

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Category: Southeast Asia

  • Hoi An: Our Brief Jaunt into Central Vietnam

    Our hasty departure from Ha Long Bay meant that we made it to Hoi An just in time for their monthly Legendary Night. The Hoi An Legendary Night is a celebration timed with the full moon that  aims to transform Hoi An back in time. Electrical lights are turned off and colorful lanterns are used…

  • The Unparalled Ha Long Bay

    Ha Long Bay was one of the few places in Vietnam where I had some sense of what it might be like to be there. Glossy images of bright green karsts jutting out of crystal blue waters danced in my head like National Geographic spreads as we planned how to travel from Hanoi to Ha…

  • Hanoi

    From Sapa, we took the train to Hanoi, our first big city in a while. By the time we arrived there, we had been looking forward to getting back into an urban environment, and Hanoi did not disappoint at all. Unlike Bangkok, which really felt like a Western city with Asian details, Hanoi felt entirely…

  • Vietnam at last: Dien Bien Phu (briefly) and Sapa

    After being delayed for what seemed like forever, we crossed the border from Vietnam to Laos on the second of February. It was a great relief to finally be making some forward progress in our trip and we were excited to see the next country on our itinerary. We felt a little rushed since our…

  • On the road to Vietnam: Nong Kiaow, Muang Khua, and the border

    Even after deciding that our best course of action would be to head north to the border crossing near Muang Khua, we didn’t actually finalize that until early in the morning at the bus station on a hill above Sam Neua. We stood there with some new friends, backpacks sitting in the dust, and tried…

  • Sam Neua and Vieng Xai: Spiritual Center of Modern Laos

    Sam Neua was supposed to be our gateway to Vietnam but fate (and the Vietnamese New Year, aka Tet) had other plans. Knowing that Tet has the tendency to shut down Vietnam, we arrived in Sam Neua with four days to spare before the holiday actually started. We had four days instead of five because,…

  • Phonsavan’s Plain of Jars

    After a grueling 10 hour bus ride from Luang Prabang (complete with blaring Thai/Lao pop music, vomiting Laotians, and chickens), we arrived in Phonsavan. The main reason to visit Phonsavan is to see the Plain of Jars–thousands of gigantic, ancient jars scattered across many different large areas of land. There are over 90 sites of…

  • Luang Prabang, Laos: The Prettiest City You’ve Never Heard Of

    People have been periodically asking me what my favorite place has been that we have traveled to so far  and after over 150 days of traveling I think that I can truthfully say that it is this: Luang Prabang, Laos. I had never even heard of Luang Prabang until we got to Laos and read…

  • Entering Laos: Huay Xai, Luang Nam Tha, and Muang Sing

    We entered Laos on January 12th, 2014. It’s not a country that I ever expected to visit and I’m very glad that we did. It’s the least developed of the places that we’ve been to so far but it has some of the warmest and friendliest people that we’ve met so far. The country only…

  • Chiang Rai: Chiang Mai’s Nerdy Little Sister

    We almost didn’t go to Chiang Rai, which would have been a huge mistake as it is home to one of the coolest things you’ll see in all of Thailand: The White Temple (or as the Thais call it, Wat Rong Khun). Two American girls in our Bangkok cooking class happened to mention that it…