Vietnam

Vietnam, what a beautiful country. Even after 2 weeks of constant dong jokes (the Vietnamese currency that is...) I love it.

Our first stop was down south in Ho Chi Minh. To say it is a busy city with beehive traffic is an understatement. It wasn't easy being such an obvious tourist/bate at the famous Ben Thrang Market. I sweated a lot that day. Slightly because 10 sales people were yelling at me to buy their stuff at the same time, and slightly because it was 40 degrees celcius.  I, however, had a great time as I got to spend some quality time with my girl Courtney and my Japanese babes before we all traveled separate ways.

With a few new adventurers joining our crew, we jumped on sleeper trains and traveled from city to city up the coast. From Ho Chi Minh - Nha Trang - Hoi An - Halong Bay to Hanoi. Despite some of my friends' gross encounters with bed bugs on the trains I must say I have loved this form of transportation. Bed and beer while getting from A to B. Recipe for success! We even had a big B-day celebration one night, which adds cake and balloons to that list.

My favorite coastal city was without a doubt Hoi An. What a beauty! We rented bicycles a cycled around the city for hours. The country side around the city is untouched and beautiful. Farmers manually watering their crops and buffaloes working in the rice fields. And the city itself is tiny and colorful, and you get the most amazing adrenaline rush and feeling of freedom from cycling alongside the lovely locals in the Vietnamese traffic. There were a lot of tailors around, and I decided to design my own dress at YALY. It turned out beautifully - a peachy red chiffon dress with full length and open back. Now I just need to be invited to a gala!

We finished off our Vietnam trip with three days in the capital, Hanoi. Seven million people and five million motorbikes. However, I found it a lot more relaxing than Ho Chi Minh. We went to our final war museum, Hanoi Hilton (where Americans were imprisoned), and of course a temple or two before walking around the city, enjoying people watching and looking at all the beautiful sights that surrounded us. Pruny old faces, artists, people carrying so much on their bike you can't actually see the bike etc... And if you go to Hanoi, make sure you eat at Quan An Ngon - AMAZING food! After a few fun nights in the big city, I once again had to separate with some of my new friends, my Chicago girls, Diane and Kris. Now I'm in gorgeous Laos, where I'll roam around for another week, so there are more grand adventures to come.

Hope life is good wherever you are!

Lots of love,
Sweaty Hippie

//Merete

From Bangkok to Cambodia to Vietnam

Too much has gone down on the travelling road since I last blogged. I started my trip in Bangkok, the chaotic and boiling hot Capitol of Thailand. There, I quickly met two good looking bros, Tom and Espen, who took me under their wings. Pool chill and nights in the backpacker district, Khao San. Happy days and awesome fun! 

After Bangkok I met up with a fun group of backpackers from all over the world, some whom I'll be travelling with for a little while. First destination was Siem Reap in Cambodia. First off we visited a school in the slum area. Unfortunately the sex market is a very common thing for the girls to get into, as it enables them to keep their families alive. This school, offering great education and medical aid, therefore made such a huge difference which was great to see. And it was mainly funded by Rotary (yay!). In one of the classrooms they all got up and sang happy birthday to me, then my fellow travelling buddies surprised me with a delicious cake and a card! I was so surprised that I teared up, damnit. 

The next day we went to Angkor Wat the old Hindu temples. I can however not enlighten you much on the temples as there was a tiny retriever puppy present, Bobo, which resulted in a very distracted Mellie. We also went to jungely temple ruins where Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie was filmed, resulting in my childhood wannabe Lara Croft dream being officially ticked off!

A few days later, in the Cambodian Capitol Phnom Penh, we went to the genocide museum and killing fields. It is almost incomprehensible. As late as 1975-79 three million Cambodians (out of 7 mill at the time) where butchered under the regime of Pol Pot, who had gone to Europe and been inspired by communism and tried to enforce it in Cambodia by killing the educated. It was an exhausting day, with a lot of impressions, so Courtney, Rob, Mike, our crazy guide Pooky and I celebrated being alive that night at the local bar. 

After the Capitol visit, the coastal city Sihanoukville was lined up next. The city itself looked a bit shabby and crowded, so Courtney, Rob and I got on a boat and found a little paradise island, Bamboo Island, and chilled out all day long, eating barracuda and soaking up some sun. Beautiful. And I'm so tan!!

Now I'm in Vietnam, where I'll travel up the coast for a few weeks. The other day we stayed in a little village, and it was brilliant! Mix of Forrest Gump and the Junglebook! Life is good. 

Stay hydrated and happy!  

Until next time, 

Merete/Mellie