wordsmakesentences

New Years Eve Eve and New Years Eve

Posted on Jan 3, 2016 by

I finished up my 2015 year in Vietnam and Thailand, on NYEE and NYE, respectively😄

In Hanoi, I had just gotten back from my cruise in Halong Bay, and I took some time to walk around the city at night and check stuff out.

Happy New Year 2016 in Vietnamese!

Happy New Year 2016 in Vietnamese!

lights @ park

lights @ park

st joseph's cathedral

st joseph’s cathedral – oldest church in Hanoi

neon

neon

neon

neon

setting up NYE stage:)

setting up NYE stage:)

cool buildings

cool buildings

turtle tower @ night

turtle tower @ night

cool buildings

cool buildings

This is what the traffic looks like in Hanoi – they make the sidewalk another lane of traffic for motorbikes! As someone told me, “It’s not my fault that they use the sidewalk for everything except walking!”  Haaa!

One of ‘the’ things that Hanoi is known for is it’s Water Puppet Theaters. There is the ‘official’ one in particular, called Thang Long Theater, and I tried to get a last minute ticket to the show. It worked, and I got in! $5. It was………. Weird. It’s from a tradition that dates back to the 11th Century, when workers would be in the rice fields and get bored, so do impromptu puppet shows. It was in Vietnamese, which was fine and not what made it weird… It was just Weird. I couldn’t get many pictures because we weren’t supposed to be taking any, so I was sneaking. This is the best I got:

water puppets

water puppets

water puppets

water puppets

voice actors😂

voice actors😂

On New Years Eve, I took a flight to Bangkok. A friend of mine from college (hi Katie😘) just moved to Korea, and she happened to be in town, traveling in Thailand and Cambodia. Two of her friends who live in the states met up with her, so I went to dinner and to see the fireworks with them.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

dinner

dinner

figuring out which train stop to use

figuring out which train stop to use😂

It was really fun! We DID see the fireworks. It was just from a vantage point that had a few obstructions😳 But it didn’t matter because I had a really great time catching up with Katie and meeting her awesome friends, Lizzy & Anna!

fireworks!

fireworks!

fireworks

fireworks

traffic!

traffic!

upset cab driver

our upset cab driver

where we were stuck

traffic we were stuck in!

I’m now in Bangkok, exploring. I really love it. It’s a huge city, so much to do and see, and it’s so pretty!

Next up: More Bangkok

Caves, Kayaks, & Cruisin’

Posted on Dec 30, 2015 by

I’m in the beautiful, mysterious, iconic Halong Bay in Vietnam.
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These islands are known as ‘tower karsts’. They’re made of limestone, and there are over 1,600 of them in the area.
My boat – the Starlight:)
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The cruise boat, the food, and the guide are all really great. My room (and JACUZZI tub!):
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The water for the tub isn’t super hot, but the strong jets still feel really good.
There are 1,600 islands, so you can cruise on a boat for hours and hours and not see them all. This is some of the scenery I saw:
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On the first day, we got on another boat and went to the Halong Bay’s biggest cave. What a great surprise.. this place was amaaazing!
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It was a hike up to the top, and I just loved seeing inside the cave… the lighting made everything glow and colorful. The rooms were much bigger than I thought they would be – enormous! View from the island the cave is on:
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After the cave tour, I went back to my room, and I opened my window in my room (which, by the way, definitely opens wide enough to easily fall out). When I did, this lady on a boat below my window is yelling at me to buy stuff.
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I wanted chocolate, so I negotiated her down to three Snickers for $5 (yeah, what a rip-off). While this was happening, I took a picture of her. So, she hoisted up the Snickers in her basket, and I put the viet-dong equivalent of $5 in and sent it back. Then she starts yelling at me: “Lady! Lady! $5!” She wanted me to pay her five dollars more because I took a picture of her. I told her No and tried to ignore her. She stayed there, though, yelling: “Lady! It’s me! It’s me!”. After I close my window, I can still hear her yelling “It’s me! It’s me!” And then she was hitting my window with her stick! I was afraid she was going to complain to the boat staff and have me deported! She finally stopped when my neighbors rescued me and bought something else from her! And one of the Snickers was crap, by the way (old and looked like dust). What a bitch!
her stick and basket!

her stick and basket!

boat retail

boat retail

After a night in the this amazing room, went on another boat the next morning to go sea kayaking. We went through/under four different islands and kayaked around a lot more – a few hours. I also saw someone capsize their kayak when I was taking the video😂
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Then we went to a pearl farm. Interesting to see this in the middle of nowhere, but we went there because they wanted us to buy stuff of course. I didn’t buy anything, but I would’ve bought chocolate if they had it😁
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Next up: Bangkok for New Years!

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Stephanie

travel addict, lover of the universe

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