Hoi An, Vietnam

 Hoi An was a picture perfect postcard. It was everything you would expect an UNESCO World Heritage, small Asian town would be. It is set a few kilometers east of the ocean and is surrounded by rice fields. All the homes and shops are old protected buildings and the river separates the town with old bridges and gas lamps. It was quite peaceful and beautiful. It also was a complete change of pace to the busy HCMC.

Hoi An became one of my favorite cities I've visited whilst travelling. Hoi An was just what everyone needed after a few days of waking up early and site seeing. Just being in Hoi An was sightseeing as the entire Old Quarter is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The first day we went to Reaching Out, which is a coffee and tea house in the Old Quarter that is run by deaf Vietnamese. It is a place that employs the hearing impaired and is a way for them to work and have a good quality of life. Needless to say the place was peaceful, but we also were served traditional coffee and cookies. It was super relaxing.

our coffee tasting

The food in Hoi An was also excellent. We went to so many different restaurants to try many different types of food. Everything was excellent and my friends, who are not vegetarian, loved everything they ordered as well. In Hoi An we found beer for 4000 VND which was only $0.18/glass!!! At night we would spend most of our time bar hopping asking for “fresh beer” which is the equivalent to a home brew. It was great!

roof top dining

One day we rented bikes and rode to the beach through the paddy and rice fields. It really was so beautiful we had to get off our bikes a few times to take photographs, which of course won’t even be able to depict correctly how amazing it was. The ocean was not the prettiest, but it was still fun jumping in the waves and sleeping on the beach. Again, the theme of Hoi An, was that it was so peaceful! The beach had hardly anyone around except the four of us; it was great.

on the way to the beach

Ironically, the one night out we had in Vietnam was little Hoi An. We found some random bar to play pool in and they let my husband dj for the night; his dream came true! It was hilarious as an old couple clearly lived upstairs and let their son have a bar down stairs as we saw his parents come up and down a few times! Later in the night someone on a motorbike told us that there was a club in Hoi An, so the four of us hopped onto motorbike taxis and away we went! Well, it probably was the deadest club we had ever seen. As it was near 3 am we didn't feel guilty leaving after a few drinks, as what did we expect in a sleepy town?

DJ Vision !

So basically, Hoi An has everything you would want while travelling to Asia. Beautiful scenery, a beach, cheap beer, world renown food, and if you want to go out you can! It really was a beautiful place and one of my favorite places I've been to on my travels. 

having fun in town !

Siem Reap, Cambodia _ 29 March - 3 April 2014

Siem Reap is the kind of place that reminds you why you go backpacking; to see the world. It is not nearly as developed as chaotic Kuala Lumpur or touristy like the backpacker party epicenters of Thailand. It is simply just Siem Reap, home to the ancient temples of Angkor Wat. The pace here is slow (probably due to the 38 C/104 F weather) and everything seems to just be a little behind.

super sweaty from hiking around in the heat !

The sunsets and the sunrises at the famous Angkor Wat are truly inspiring with the colors of reds and oranges. I was fortunate enough to spend my 26^th birthday in Siem Reap. We woke up at 4am to head to Angkor Wat and watch the sunrise. It was so beautiful. This temple is thousands of years old and to be there in 2014 on my 26^th birthday made me realize how lucky I was. I couldn't ask for a better present to myself than to just be there. The Angkor Wat temples are a UNESCO world heritage site and were constructed between the 9^th and 15^th centuries. The famous ones are Bayon and also Ta Prohm, where the movie Tomb Raider was filmed.

celebrating my birthday watching the sunrise over Angkor Wat

What really stood out to me was the spirit and kindness of the Khmer people. It was not too long ago that war ravaged the country under the hands of the Khmer Rouge. It wasn't until the late 1990s that the country was able to start to rebuild from the destruction of the wars. However, even though the war is over and Cambodia can start to flourish, the people are effected everyday by old landmines and UXO’s.

Children who are not even old enough to remember the war are still injured due to the undetected landmines. It truly is so sad. Yet, Khmer hospitality and kindness is mind blowing. Most people in the country are old enough to remember the war, but still have such an unbreakable spirit.

Meas and I ! Meas took us everywhere in his Tuk Tuk

We went to the landmine museum, which also is a home to children who were injured due to landmines or UXO’s & it is an NGO. We learned so much on how this is still affecting the country. (Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos still are facing this problem). The head of the Landmine Museum and School, Aki Ra, was a child soldier himself. Now his goal is to clear Cambodia of all remaining landmines. In 2010 he was named as a CNN hero for his work and was awarded in the top 10. He and his team have estimated that they have cleared 50,000 mines or so, but the government still believes that there are still 3 million to 5 million mines still undiscovered. That is how severe this problem is.

It is truly inspiring to know what the people have gone through, yet they are so welcoming. Just walking down Pub Street or the Night Markets, everyone is smiling and saying hello wanting to practice their English or sell you something. It was an eye opening experience. Siem Reap was a cute little town filled with history. I couldn't ask for a more inspirational place to be during my birthday and to remind me why I travel.

sunset at Angkor Wat

night market

Koh Lanta, 14 -18 March 2014

views from the National Park

After our crazy adventure in Koh Phi Phi and Maya bay, we decided to spend some time in Koh Lanta. It was the polar opposite of Phi Phi. Super chilled out, relaxing place. We just lazed around and relaxed, ate, and drank. It was great after our overnight lack of sleep on Maya Bay and Phi Phi.

sunset, 2 min walk from our guesthouse

We met up with our Canadian friends we met in Maya Bay and formed a little “biker gang”. It actually was sooo much fun riding our little MoPeds around the island. We went to the National Park and did the hike in it. This was sort of a sweaty disaster, but we made it. We also hiked to the waterfall, which was not really a waterfall due to the dry season. Again, it was still super fun. We went to the bat cave and saw a few bats, scary !!!

our bike gang !

super sweaty during our hike !

After our sweaty day of hiking and adventuring, we went to Brett & Emma’s hotel as they had a pool. (thanks Brett and Emma!!) We had a few drinks before heading to a huge dinner at “Same, Same, but different”. It was a nice little restaurant on the beach. I have had better Thai food, but the view couldn't be beat. I actually loved Koh Lanta. It was a great place to just take a break, roam around on a scooter bike, and just have a fun relaxing time !!

view from our table at Same Same, but Different