The Travel Bug

Kathryn. 24. I've caught the travel bug! Follow me on my world adventures!

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I’m officially a Contiki affiliate! Click the link up top to check out some super cool tours, some even have major discounts!

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This is the coat I got made in Hoi An! It turned out so well I’m so pleased!

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I updated my scratch map! And as my friend pointed out I only have two more continents left to visit!

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32 Countries

Here's an updated list of countries I've been fortunate enough to visit!

USA

Mexico

Costa Rica

Panama

Bahamas

St. Vincent

Barbados

Ecuador

Peru

Argentina

Brazil

Australia

England

Norway

Sweden

Finland

Denmark

Netherlands

Germany

France

Italy

Vatican City

Greece

Turkey

Croatia

Malta

Estonia

Russia

Thailand

Laos

Cambodia

Vietnam

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Hanoi, Vietnam September 8 3:27 PM

Yesterday we drove a few hours north to Ha Long Bay for an overnight cruise. It is a world heritage site and one of the natural wonders of the world. They are a bunch of limestone formations throughout the bay of varying shapes and sizes. Ha Long means descending dragons because the Vietnamese believed dragons were sent down from the gods to help them fight against Chinese invasions. The dragons spit out jewels and jade which formed into rocks to stop those invading the country. The dragons then decided to live in the bay. 

The cruise was really nice our boat was just for us and had a top deck with lounge chairs. It wasn't super sunny so the colours weren't out in full force but it was still really pretty. We got to go kayaking and then to a beach where we climbed up to a pagoda look out point. Then we just hung out on the boat in the bay for the night. The beds were the comfiest we've had all trip! This morning we got to go check out one of the limestone caves. It was huge and had a lot of different looking formations. We then drove back to the town and took the bus back to Hanoi. 

Tonight is our last night dinner. As much as I feel like I've been gone for ages I can't believe the tour is over and I have to go back to real life! I leave tomorrow morning and have a long 22 hours of travel to get home. This trip has been well worth it though! 

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Hanoi

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Hanoi, Vietnam September 6 11:37 PM

This morning we flew to Hanoi which is now the capital city of Vietnam. Our first stop was the parliament building and Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum. It was closed for the afternoon so we didn't get to go inside but the area surrounding looked cool because it was still decorated from National Day last week. After lunch we went to the temple of literature. This is a temple of Confucius and was the first national university in Vietnam. It looked very Chinese. 

After some down time at the hotel we went for a bit of a walk through the old quarter where we're staying. This was where merchants first settled and originally you shopped by street. There was a street for silk, one for silver, etc. We got to see a Catholic cathedral which was built when the French colonized the country. It was subject to protests later on since it was built on the site of a former Buddhist temple. It has only reopened relatively recently. We also got to see a temple that houses an embalmed turtle that is the subject of a Vietnamese myth where a 250 kg turtle took a warriors sword. They never found the sword but found the turtle and it is housed in the temple! We then went for dinner and beers on the street. Hanoi is terrifying to walk around in because there isn't sidewalks you can really walk on and there are a lot of motorcycles here as well. In the market area everyone sits on low plastic stools and chairs. We sat out for a bit because beer was $0.25! 

Tomorrow we go to Ha Long Bay for an overnight cruise. I'm really excited!

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Hue

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Hue, Vietnam September 6 12:22 AM

We bussed to Hue with a couple look out stops along the coastline which were gorgeous. I wish I didn't sleep most of the bus trip because the scenery I did see was amazing! When we got to the city we went for lunch before taking cyclos to the citadel. Cyclos are bikes with comfy chairs on the front, it was a really relaxing ride! Hue was the former imperial capital of Vietnam. What is left of the citadel houses part of the Imperial Palace and Forbidden a City where the king lived in the 1800s. Not much is left after the war. The citadel was used by the Vietcong soldiers to hold Hue against the U.S. and southern Vietnmese troops. A lot of the buildings are restored but may have some original foundations.

Next we went to the Thien Mu Pagoda which is a Buddhist temple built on a hill. It's seven stories tall and very different from the other temples we've seen. Everything we saw today had Chinese influence which I wasn't aware of before coming here! This temple also houses the car that the Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc drove to Saigon to protest the catholic governments policies against Buddhism. He burned himself alive without making a sound in the middle of a busy intersection. His heart didn't burn and is housed at a temple in Saigon.

We went swimming and to a karaoke bar tonight. Tomorrow we fly to Hanoi!

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My mediocre photography skills don't do Hoi An at night any justice

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My Son temples

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Hoi An, Vietnam September 4 6:41 PM

Last night we went to a cooking class which was fun but not as good as the Thai one. This one was more of a demonstration rather than us cooking everything ourselves. It was delicious though! We walked around for a but because Hoi An is beautiful at night. There are colourful lanterns on every building as well as decorations on the water that light up. There are also people selling floating lanterns you can make a wish on and it is cool to watch them float down the river. 

This morning we went to the My Son temples which was about an hour away. They are ruins of Hindu temples built by the Champa people. Initially they were built out of wood in the 2nd century but they burnt down in the 5th and rebuilt in brick in the 7th century. These temples were mostly for Shiva but have elements of Rama and Vishnu as well. Only upper class people were allowed to worship at these temples. There were a few bombs and craters from the Vietnam war. This temple is similar to Angkor Wat in that no one knows how it was built because there is no mortar holding the bricks together but they have lasted for so long. In between viewing some of the ruins we got to watch some traditional Hindu/Champa dances which were really cool!

This afternoon we got more Bahn Mi and then went for fittings at the tailor. I'm super excited about my clothes but they won't arrive at the hotel until tonight! We are going for more traditional food and then tomorrow we go to Hue. 

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Night time in Hoi An

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Hoi An city tour

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Hoi An, Vietnam September 3 5:24 PM

We had an early morning today to fly to Hoi An. When we got here we went for Bahn Mi which is like a Vietnamese sub. It was a little spicy but really good. This afternoon we got bikes and went to the historic part of the city. Hoi An is an old merchant trading town. It's been protected since 1999 as a UNESCO world heritage site. Many cultures came here to trade and wound up staying. Mostly Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese. We saw the Japanese covered bridge which has Japanese and Chinese elements. Then we went to a merchant house that has been around for at least 200 years and has had 7 generations of the same family living there. Next we went to the tailors where you could get anything you wanted made to fit and we pick them up tomorrow. I'm getting a dress and a vest made, hopefully they turn out!

Tonight we're going to a Vietnamese cooking class!