Live Love Laos

Another really delayed post.  I have been really busy with Thanksgiving and school work, but finally here is my time in Laos.

I think I can officially say that Laos is the undiscovered gem of Southeast Asia.  Laos is a small country that separates Thailand from Vietnam that was once a colony of France.  The third weekend of November, I traveled to Vang Vieng, Laos.  Flying into Laos is extremely expensive, so to save money, we crossed the border ourselves.  Thinking about my experience crossing the border in Cambodia made me nervous about doing it again, but now that we are more experienced travelers, crossing the border wasn't too bad, and we saved some money!

On Wednesday afternoon, myself and 5 other girls got onto a plane that would take us to Udon Thani, a small city in the northeast part of Thailand.  Wednesday night we stayed the night at the border of Thailand and Laos.  Arriving at our hotel (that we found on the internet 10 mins before arriving), we were hungry.  Across from our hotel was a small restaurant that was packed with people.  We walked up and one of the ladies pointed to a big spread of food and said, "Free, enjoy".  Not sure whether we could take the food, we stood around and another man who was European said "Go for the food, there is Thai food and farang food".  We all helped ourselves to a plate of food and fruit.  When we were about to leave, we asked how much we owed, and all the women who worked at the restaurant said it was free for the party.  Only in Thailand will people welcome you into their bar/restaurant when there is a party going on and let you eat 3 plates of free food.  We left full, happy, and with no idea of what the party was for.

On Thursday morning, we all woke up early and crossed the border to Laos.  After realizing I didn't bring photos and a long wait to get our visa, we finally crossed into Laos and began our journey to Vang Vieng.  Laos has extremely bad road infrastructure.  Almost all of the roads in Laos aren't paved.  This made our 4 hour van ride from the border an interesting experience.  The whole ride was really bumpy and rocky.  

Arriving in Vang Vieng, I felt like I was in a small, quiet village.  The roads were lined with restaurants and there were people biking the streets.  We settled into our AirBnb which were gorgeous bungalows.  The bungalows were off a dirt road and slightly out of the backpacker center of town.  You felt like you were in the middle of the forest, it was quiet and peaceful.  The owner of the bungalows, Nouth, turned out to be such a gem.  She helped us get around, cooked for us, and made sure we had fun.  

Arrivng on Thursday, we were exhausted from our day of travel, but still wanted to check out the town.  We walked around and sat in a restaurant and got some drinks.  We had heard from other Loyola students that all the bars in Vang Vieng play Friends, and sure enough, we walked into one of the many bars and they had Friends playing with Lao subtitles.  Hearing "I'll Be There For You" blasting from a TV felt like home.  That night we got dinner and went to some of the other bars in the town.  Vang Vieng is a small backpacker town that you can walk the entirety of in 10 mins.  

On Friday, we woke up and went to the Blue Lagoon.  The Blue Lagoon is one of the things that draw  people to Vang Vieng.  We got to swing into the lagoon, that was really cold, and we jumped off of a tree into the lagoon.  It was relaxing and stress free.  After the lagoon, we went into town to book our tubing.  Vang Vieng is known for tubing.  The group of us got on a sungtao that dropped us off at a bar where we started our bar/tubing crawl.  We hung out at the first bar and talked with some of the other people that were there.  Then it started to rain....pour rain.

We all got into our tubes and tubed down to the second bar in the pouring rain.  Mixed with being on the river, we all were freezing after arriving at the second bar.  We danced and got Beer Laos (the best beer I have had in Southeast Asia) and tried to stay dry.  We then floated down to the third and last bar.  We danced and drank some more.  The whole experience was really fun and everyone that goes to Vang Vieng goes tubing, so it was a must while we were there.

Finally arriving back in town, we were all starving.  Another thing that Vang Vieng is known for is baguette sandwiches.  All along the street, ladies are making sandwiches for $2.  We all immediately got one.  The bread is so fresh and they have real cheese...I think we all ate 5 of them over the course of 4 days.  Being a colony of France, the bread and cheese is pretty delicious in Laos.

On Saturday, some of us wanted to go zip lining and to a cave.    The two instructors who went zip lining with us were awesome and it was a really fun experience, and fairly cheap.  I have never been zip lining, so saying that I zip lined in the jungle of Vang Vieng, Laos was an experience that I wanted to have.   We then went into "The Golden Cave" that was right near the blue lagoon.  The cave was spectacular.  Maggie put it perfectly saying "you feel like you are on a different planet".  Inside the cave there is a golden reclining buddha hence the name of the cave.

Saturday afternoon, some of the girls left to go to the boarder.  Myself and 2 other girls stayed in Vang Vieng and went biking.  We rented bikes for $2 and went out to explore.  However, the seat on the bike was super hard and the roads being made of rock and stones made our crotches ache after 5 minutes.  However, we got to take in the gorgeous limestone mountains that surround all of Vang Vieng.

On Saturday night, Kristy and I got dinner and a free drink and then went to a bar where they were serving free, all you could drink whiskey drinks from 8-9.  We walked in and found out that one of the mixer options was lemonade.  Excited to see something other then Coke, I ordered it.  The bartender then pulled out a bottle of Sprite.  Only in Southeast Asia would they advertise a Whiskey-Sprite as a Whiskey-Lemonade.  I had to laugh....

All in all, we got a lot of free food and drinks on our trip to Laos.  On Sunday,  we woke up early, got a sandwich and began our 12 hour journey back to Bangkok.

Laos began as a trip that was going to be annoying crossing the border, and a busy, activity packed 4 days.  In the end, it turned out to be relaxing, go with the flow, hang out and eat delicious food all weekend.  Vang Vieng is a backpacker heaven, but it felt quiet and small.  Being a backpacker in Vang Vieng didn't feel like you were being harassed and asked to buy things and spend money.  Vang Vieng is more of a backpacker getaway then a tourist mecca.  Vang Vieng is the better Siem Reap.

Going someplace like Vang Vieng you meet so many backpackers that have no cares.  We got to meet a group of guys from Ireland, two girls who met nannying in New York who are from Germany, and countless Canadians.

Sitting here thinking about how I have 14 days left before Hong Kong, I reflect and think about how I wish I had 3 more weeks in Laos alone.

If/When I come back to Southeast Asia, Laos will be one place that I will get myself to go back to.

Dreaming of drunk tubing and French baguette sandwiches in 90 degree December Bangkok,
xoxo
Kate

48 hours in....Singapore

This post is really delayed, but I am finally posting it even though I wrote it more then a week ago.

I just got back from spending legit, 48 hours in Singapore.  The trip was super short, and I surprisingly think I wanted more time to explore.  Singapore is super small, and there isn't much to do there, but with Prianka by our side, there was plenty for us to do to fill our time.

On Friday morning, Carissa, Kristy, and I got on a plane to Singapore.  We knew that the trip was going to be slightly relaxing since Singapore is known to be extremely safe, Westernized, and easy to get around since the national language is English.  All of these factors make Singapore a relatively easy place to go to after spending 4 months in Thailand, and all over Southeast Asia.

While everyone else was going to Bali, we were going to Singapore.  We arrived, and hoped onto the MRT.  The MRT is the BTS of Singapore.  It is really inexpensive, and the four different lines go everywhere in the country.  We took the MRT to our neighborhood and our hostel.  After arriving and settling into our bunkbeds, we met up with Prianka and walked around the 3 malls right near our hostel.  Just like Bangkok, there are malls everywhere in Singapore (and all of them are really fancy).  We grabbed lunch and got on the MRT and went to the Promenade.  The promenade is the area right near the Marina.  We got to see the "Merlion" which is the national symbol of Singapore.  We alos got a view of the Marina Bay Sands hotel, and the Singapore Flyer.  Walking around the promenade it started to rain.

We headed back to our hostel to get ready for our night.  A week before I left for Singapore, I found out that I had an interview for an internship on Friday morning in Baltimore.  That meant I had an interview on Friday night in Singapore.  With limited time to do things, we went to the Singapore Flyer on Friday night and then had plans to get a nice dinner, but with limited time we were forced to have a quick dinner near our hostel.

The Singapore Flyer was super cool.  One of the most recognizable things in Singapore is the flyer.  Getting to ride it and see the whole city at night was really fun.  One of the things that Prianka kept telling us was how different Singapore looks and feel at night compared to during the day.  The lights in the city make the entire city look different and so pretty.  Getting to experience the whole city at night was really fun.

We then went to a burger place for dinner where I got some of the best burgers I have had in Southeast Asia. They were delicious and the perfect dinner before my two hour interview.

Saturday, we woke up early and decided to go to Universal Studios Singapore.  Though this really wasn't my idea, I went along for the ride (literally and metaphorically).  It turned out to be a ton of fun.  What made it so nice was that it is really small.  You weren't super overwhelmed by so many rides and different parks.  We were able to get on a bunch of rides and have a ton fun.

We then headed to the hostel to get ready for our night out.  We headed to the Gardens by the Bay to see the light show that takes place every night there.  The light show was really unique.  The experience was almost like watching a firework show.  They played Disney music, and synced the lights with the music.  Another thing that makes the light show so nice is that it is completely free!  After the show, we headed to Marina Bay Sands.  Marina Bay Sands is owned by the Sands Las Vegas hotel company.  The hotel is more of a complex of upscale restaurants, bars, and shops.  The hotel is architecturally so unbelievably cool and modern.  The hotel is made up of three towers that are connected at the top by a boat.  Part of the boat is the infinity pool that you can't access unless you are a guest of the hotel and C'est La Vie, the rooftop bar.  We all went up to C'est La Vie and took photos of the view.  C'est La Vie feels exclusive.  Everyone is wealthy and attractive.  The drinks start at $20 Singapore Dollars.  Nothing is cheap in Singapore, alcohol being at the top of that list.

We then headed to Clarke Quay to get dinner and then go out.  Clarke Quay is similar to Asiatique in Bangkok or the Inner Harbor in Baltimore.  It is a grouping of restaurants, shops, bars, and clubs right on the water.  We got delicious Mexican food and then went to a shot bar that Prinaka's friend had told her about.  All of us tried a bunch of different types of shots.  I got a Singapore Sling shot (I thought I needed to try it since I was in Singapore!).  From there we went to a club.  The club reminded me of a Bangkok club, but the Singaporeans were spending money like I have never seen.  Bottle service was everywhere!!!

The music was loud an we danced the night away.  It was a lot of fun and people in Singapore love to party so it added to how fun it was.

Sunday we had to get up and go to the airport to get our flight back to Bangkok.  The trip was short, but getting to see Singapore with Prianka who has been there for 4 months made it all worth it.  So shoutout to Prianka for putting her school work on hold and showing us an awesome time in a super small and modern country.

My Laos blog is on its way!!!

Love from what feels like 91 degrees Bangkok!
Kate

VolcaNO

These past two weekends have been all about Bangkok.  Last weekend was Halloween which meant all out craziness for us American college students here in Thailand.  Still exhausted from our 3 weeks of travel, we were all excited to spend time in Bangkok.  On mischief night AKA October 30th, me and some friends decided to go to Siam Paragon to try and see Straight Outta Compton.  We ended up not being able to see the movie and ended up at Scout's Guide to Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse.  The movie was pretty awful and stupid, but it was relevant to Halloween and super cheap for a really nice theatre.  The movie cost $5, and the seats were more comfortable then any American theatre.  That night a big group of us decided to watch The Babadook since the next day was Halloween.  We were all fairly petrified especially since we all think C Building is haunted.

The next day was Halloween and we hung out.  The weather was gorgeous.  It was super sunny and 95 degrees in Bangkok.  Wanting to enjoy the day and relax, we decided to go down the street to a hotel and sit by the pool.  It was so relaxing and bizarre to be tanning on Halloween.

That night the teachers threw a Halloween party/pregame.  My parents read this so I am going to leave out some details of the night, but we all went a little wild and crazy.  All of us got really into finding a good costume.  By 9:30 all 38 of us were drunk.  We then ventured to a local club, RCA.  In line to get into the mobbed club, it started down pouring.  Drunk and soaking wet, I was back on campus at 1AM (a fairly early night for us).  Waking up, I realized that my phone was gone.  So for the past week, I haven't had a phone....

All of us woke up the next morning, not knowing what happened, hungover, and many of us without a phone (it wasn't just me who lost their phone).  A group of us went to BKK Bagel, a bagel shop that has NY style bagels.  They aren't anything like Noah's, but it was a cure for the hangover.  We hung out and recounted the night.  Carissa and I decided to relax the day away and saw Straight Outta Compton, so yes, I saw two movies in one weekend.

A normal school week started though we were all getting excited about leaving for Bali that Thursday, and getting to miss class.  Tuesday night was spent booking hostels and looking at volcano treks and surfing lessons we were going to do while we were there.

A group of 15 people were leaving on Wednesday morning for Bali.  We woke up to find out that their 6AM flight was delayed and then cancelled.  A volcano in Bali had erupted and the volcanic ash had caused the airport to close.  Not knowing what the status of our flight was going to be, all of us were just kept waiting.  These are the hiccups in study abroad travel....a volcanic eruption stops you from flying.

The next 2 days were spent getting emails about our flight getting rescheduled, delayed, then cancelled.  On Friday, all of us knew that it wasn't worth it to go since the flight alone is 4 hours, and we wanted at least 3 full days there.  We had the option to reschedule the flight or get a credit.  With such limited time left, I was able to request the credit and will most likely use it to go to Laos and maybe an island.

Knowing that we were staying in Bangkok, we all decided to go explore the city.  On Friday, we woke up late (sleeping in was a requirement this weekend) and went to the Jim Thompson House.  Jim Thompson was an American who came to Thailand in the 50s and helped the Thai Silk industry become successful again.  Jim Thompson went to Malaysia to visit a friend in 1967, and never came back.  Still to this day, no one knows where he is.

His home that he built in Bangkok is now a museum.  The house is built right along the Klong (the sewer river), and it is made almost entirely of teak wood.  The house is absolutely gorgeous, and built within a ton of trees.  Jim Thompson collected a lot of Thai and Southeast Asian art and pottery that is still in the house and on display.  It was interesting to hear about his life, and to see how an American became so influential in Thai culture and history.

We then headed to the Chao Phraya River where we went to Asiatique Market.  To get to Asiatique, you get on a boat that drops you off at the market.  Pulling up, Asiatique looks like a boardwalk on the Jersey shore.  There are lights all along the waterfront and tons of restaurants and shops.  The most recognizable feature of the market is the huge ferris wheel in the middle of the market.  We walked all over and shopped.  We got a burger for dinner and then rode the ferris wheel (we had to extend our day of being a tourist..)  We got back to campus completely exhausted and we knew we wanted to do more on Saturday.

Saturday I woke up and went to JJ Market.  JJ Market is a famous market in Bangkok and in Thailand because it is the largest market in Thailand.  I think I saw 1/4 of the whole market and I was there for 3 hours.  It is absolutely huge.  Everything you could think of, you can buy at JJ. After walking around and shopping tons, we got on the BTS and went to Ekkamai.  This weekend there was a popup market at Ekkamai.  We got Mac n' Cheese Burgers for dinner from one of the food trucks there.  That night, we all went out to one of the clubs in Bangkok and danced.

Sunday, I woke up and had to do homework (I am a student...)

This weekend that started out as a 5 day trip to Bali, turned into a weekend of Bangkok.  I got to see things and do things that I wanted to do before I left.  A lot of peoples parents are here visiting, so keeping busy and seeing things kept my mind off of being homesick while everyones parents came.

This coming weekend, Kristy, Carissa, I are traveling to Singapore.  We are going to see our friend Prianka, and we are all really pumped.  The weekends are passing quickly and our time here is going super quick.  We are just trying to take in all in.

Well, I just got back from Singapore which means this post is really delayed, but it is ok....

My adventures in Singapore will be up soon.

Love from 12 hours around the world,
Kate

Pics or It Didn't Happen (Part 2)

This is Bang-Pa In.  The former Summer Royal Palace.  This was our first stop on our way to Chiang Mai.

The palace was absolutely gorgeous, do you expect anything else from the Royal Family of Thailand??

The architecture was stunning.  Also, it was really sunny and gorgeous outside that made it feel like it was the summer, not the middle of October. 

The palace is heavily inspired by Chinese architecture.

This is the front door to the palace.

Just more Bang-Pa In.

This is the pool at the resort we stayed at in Sukhothai.  It was a nice treat before the trek, and FK paid for it.  

SUKHOTHAI!!!

Sukhothai Historical Park.  

Sukhothai is one of the ancient kingdoms of Thailand.  Sukhothai Kingdom was in power in the 13th and 14th centuries. 

There I am!!!

These ruins are gorgeous.  The US isn't old enough to have anything close to this.

Coming to Southeast Asia to study abroad means going to see ruins like this to experience history and culture not museums.

Biking around, this is all I saw for miles.

It was gorgeous.

My bike.  It was really old and rickety and orange.

Prove that I rode.  This is the entrance to the park.

To get to Wat Doi Suthep you have to climb up all these stairs.  

Wat Doi Suthep!!!  It looks a little like the Shwedagon Pagoda.

There I am!  Lots of other people in the picture....typical.

After walking around Doi Suthep, we went to a jade factory and store.  The jade was stunning.  The most expensive jade is Imperial Jade which is darker green in color.  The rings that had Imperial Jade stones in them were absolutely gorgeous. 

We then went to the umbrella factory.  It was an interesting stop along our days journey.

We got to see women making these.

This is Julius.  Another rickety and old bike.  This one was in Chiang Mai.  

The Fern Forest Cafe was adorable.  This was the outside garden seating area.  You felt like you were in the middle of a forest.  

My apple pie a la mode!!!  Happy Fall from 90 degree Thailand.

We saw a Muay Thai fight the night before we left for the trek.  This is a really bad photo.....it was an interesting night to say the least, but it was a ton of fun.

The family, my trek group!  We spent 3 days in the jungle together.

I was joking that this is making my Christmas card.  "Kate takes the jungles of Thailand"  Our trek guide Sammy took this of me.

Our friendly pets at the first village we stayed in.

Oh La La!!  He was one of our trek guides.  Featured above is Oh La La making us shot glasses out of bamboo.  

It isn't a Thailand trek without elephants. 

I made it to the top of the mountain.  This was after I took my last bucket shower of the trek and after I walked uphill for 4km straight.

The local kids in the village were so cute.  They were fascinated by our phone cameras and selfies.

I woke up to this.  Those are clouds formed below me.

The sunrise.  This marked my last day on the trek and in the jungles of Northern Thailand.

Me in the jungle loving life.  The trek was an absolutely unforgettable experience.  

The whole trek experience is unlike anything that can be explained in words.  These are just a few of the photos from the whole 8 days.

Disclaimer:  Halloween got the best of my phone AKA I have no photos from Halloween and I lost my phone.  I am going to get a camera, but for right now, these are the last photos I have.

Love

xoxo

Kate

Pics or it Didn't Happen (Part 1)

PHO!!!!  Pho is a traditional Vietnamese dish.  You can find it literally everywhere in Hanoi and for $3 or less.  You have to eat it with a spoon and chopsticks, there is just no other way to eat it.  

This is the outside of Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi.  The sign is in French because Vietnam was a French Colony.  

This is John McCains suit.  They have a whole display about John McCain and his role in the Vietnam War and his time at Hoa Lo.

The streets of Hanoi.  I took this sitting on a teeny tiny plastic stool while drinking Saigon Beer.  This  street corner is jam packed with locals and tourists drinking beer and eating snacks.  PSA:  Asians love Minions...

The streets of Hanoi.

This is the entrance of the Temple of Learning.  This was the first university in Vietnam back in the 1070s, that's why it looks like I am in China.

Shoutout to the fisheye lens from Aunt Melissa.  The Temple was beautiful.  Since we went in the late afternoon there weren't that many people there which made the experience a lot more enjoyable. 

The university was started around Confucius.  There are lots of Confucius statues all around the Temple.  I don't know much about Confucius or the beliefs around him, but it was really fascinating seeing a completely different type of worship

BAHN MI.  This was my sandwich that was my breakfast one morning.  We sat on the side of the road and ate it while it POURED rain.

Traditional wedding outfits of Vietnamese people.  This was at the Vietnamese Women's Museum.  

Vietnamese women carry their babies like a backpack.  

I obviously was fascinated by the fashion exhibit.  

My bed in the overnight train!!!!  Just thought it would be fun to document this lol.  It was really hard and the blanket was like a potato sack, but it was about the experience.

The start of our two day trek in Sapa.  We got to trek with the local women who were kind and helped us through the trek.

This is one of the women who trekked part of the first day with us. 

The pictures just don't do it justice.  The rice terraces make Sapa famous, and a place tourists want to travel to.

Just observing nature.

Water buffalo are everywhere.  They are really valuable for the farmers in Sapa since they can do a lot of the work for the farmers.  

One of the Red Dao women.  You can tell she is part of the Red Dao tribe because of the red turbin/wrap on her head.  The women carry goods and crops in these woven basket backpacks.

The group!!!  Kristen, Amanda, and Me!!  It was really cold and slightly rainy.  We were really poorly prepared for the weather.  I had to buy two coats....

I just had to share this.  The Red Dao women are known for their herbal medicine remedies.  This is me in a herbal tea bath.  You can literally see the steam coming off of it...It was BOILING hot, but felt and smelled really nice.

Just enjoying life.  Shoutout to my backpack!!!  That thing is fabulous.

LAMB!!!  Lamb was our trek guide.  She was so knowledgable and kind.  Here she is standing in front of a bucket of indigo dye.  The Vietnamese women dye fabrics indigo, and make the traditional costumes from that fabric.

The kids in the village were absolutely amazing.  Seeing how they are growing up was fascinating.

This women made our 6 course dinner, and let us all stay in her home.  She was amazing.   She is holding her grandson who was adorable.

So much green scenery.

It was unreal.

Just proving we were there.

We just missed the big rice harvesting season.  The rice terraces were empty when we were there.  All of the rice had been harvested about 3 weeks earlier.

This girl made me laugh.  I was going to give her a high five.  I also really like her outfit...

YANGON, MYANMAR!!!  I made it.

The buildings and infrastructure in the city was crazy.

Taking in the architecture in the city.

The entrance to the Schwedagon Pagoda!

Walking into the pagoda was breathtaking. 

There I am!!  Of course I am in another rented skirt.

Places like this just don't exist in the US or anywhere in the world other then SE Asia.  Seeing places like this is why you come to SE Asia as an American.

So much golddddd

Taking it all in.

The group!!!!  All of our skirts (longyi) made the Burmese people laugh.  I think seeing Westerners in their traditional outfit was funny to them, but they also thought we looked beautiful.  The whole experience was unique.

The intense gold of the pagoda made the sky look purple at night.  The pagoda looks even more opulent at night.  

The big white tower is the National Monument in downtown Yangon.

This is the big public park in the center of the city.  The big white building is the City Hall.  The architecture looked very Spanish.  The building was beautiful and really old.

I couldn't get over the sky.  Coming from cold, rainy Vietnam, Myanmar was really hot.  The sun was really intense.  Also those are two of the most modern buildings in the city.

The streets were filled with fruit.  SO MANY PEOPLE AND FRUIT.  I spent my 2 days in Yangon basically walking the streets and taking in the culture.  It was unlike any of the other places I have traveled to in SE Asia.  

All of these experiences feel like they were months and months ago.  In actuality, they were 3 weeks ago.

Happy Mischief Night from Thailand.

This is just a snapshot.  

Love

xoxo