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This life is imperfect and beautiful

👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻

Straight Sluggin 🐌 (at Phi Phi Islands)

Bliss 🙌🏼 (at Koh Tao, The Rock )

Connect

Thailand here I come!! I arrived in Bangkok after less than 24 hours in Ho Chi Minh city. I decided to cut that stop short not because of the city; what I saw was wonderful, but because I had an opportunity to meet a new friend again in Bangkok for a few nights. Nick ( motorbike guy if you remember him from earlier) actually lives in Vietnam now after 1 year of travelling, and works in a hostel in Sapa. He was on a visa renewal run out of the country so a visit worked out perfectly. Traveling forces you to meet so many beautiful souls and let’s you get to know people at a crazy accelerated rate. We are all raw out here; simply us, with no one to impress or put on a show for. With that rawness you fall in love with who people are so quickly and it’s so hard to say goodbye when you go; inevitably, in separate ways.

Da Lat

Next stop da lat! Back to the hustle and bustle. We arrived in da lat after a 20 hour bus journey 💀. When we arrived we found out that the destinations main attraction, canyoning, had just been closed by the government that day. We were all over tired and disappointed not knowing what to do. To cope we grabbed some beers and went to the nearest karaoke bar. With a crate of beers and unlimited time we danced and sang all night long. The following morning I got up bright and early to do a waterfall tour which included some of da let's other main attractions such as: weasel poo coffee, a cricket farm where we ate crickets, a silk factory where we say the full process of silk being made ( and ate silk larvae), and finally chicken village which is a massive chicken statue that goes along with a lovely folk tale. The chicken represents a time when minority's were not allowed to marry and families made it very difficult for those who wanted to, kind of a Romero and Juliet deal but with a chicken mixed it. The waterfalls were breath taking and the other activities were really informative and interesting as well. Although da lat at first seemed like a dead end because of the canyoning, we ended up having an amazing day. It's easy to get wrapped up in checking activities and places off your list without fully exploring them and I'm hoping that I learn to slow down and find more hidden, off beat treasures in the places I visit.

Home Is Where Your Passport Is

Hoi An, ❤️❤️❤️❤️ words cannot explain. This is also a fairly new tourist destination. A small city who's centre is on either side of a river and stretches to the coast where for the first time all trip I felt like I caught my breath. We made the amazing decision to stay at a home stay out of the main town on the beach called under the coconut tree. This magical hostel was somewhere I would have stayed forever. It is entirely made of bamboo and has a hippie, open layout. The dorms don't have doors and you can even pay less for a bunk completely outside. The showers are outdoor, and it being monsoon season, my average shower was accompanied by rain sneaking in. It was a 2 minute walk to the white sand beach which was quiet most of the time and had beer service (the dream). We originally planned on staying 2 nights in hoi an and needed up spending 4; the first place we have actually committed to staying for any significant time. Our first day we were greeted by a celebration of a Vietnamese holiday. They were celebrating half year and a local hero to my understanding. All the hotel tenants were ushered to a big family style table and presented with a feast and bottomless beer to celebrate; all for free! What I've learned in Vietnam is that people here can't wait to make you feel welcome and help you find your way. Yeah I've had a few negative experiences, as you do in every country; but mostly I've seen the good and generous souls in Vietnam. That night we ventured into town where we window shopped and went to a rooftop bar for food and... buckets. By chance we ran into the same group of friends from phang nha who had just arrived after biking down from hue. Jenay and Mary had a crazy night of motorbike gangs and who knows what while I spend a little more time with the phang nha gang. The next day we did some more serious shopping and quickly realized that where we wanted to be was the beach and the chill vibe of under the coconut. Our plan was to leave after 3 nights but we put off booking the bus with sub-conscious (probably conscious) plans of missing the bus haha. The next day at breakfast (1pm still counts as breakfast right??) we pretended that our hope came true and ignored the fact that there was room on the bus and booked another night. We spent the day in the ocean and listening to music on the beach. We couldn't be bothered to do another night at the bars so we posted up at a beach restaurant eating fresh seafood and drinking wine. Hoi an was a beautiful place to get stuck and I was I could have been there for longer. I'm sure I'll be back one day to soak up more of its kindhearted people and positive vibe.

Phang Nha - Hidden Paradise

It’s been a while since writing and I’m overwhelmed with how many amazing things have happened. I’ll start from where I left off though! So we went from ha long bay to phang nha where there is a national park. This is a new tourist destination which has only been receiving backpackers for 4 years. We arrived on the bus at 5 in the morning 🔫. We couldn’t check in until noon and both Jenay and weren’t feeling well so we napped by the pool and on pretty much every surface we could find. I got a chance to FaceTime my beautiful sister which was amazing. It’s easy to get busy while you’re away and forget how much you miss the people at home. I love you Julie and can’t wait to get you a hug. We finally checked in and ended up sleeping for most of the day while most of the hostel tenants went on a motorbike exhibition to the caves. There are about 3 caves within the national park that tourists go to which is the main attraction of phang nha. That night we all hung out at the hostel enjoying their buy one get one free drink specials (totally helped migraine). The next day I used my charm to convince a new friend to take me on a tour of the national park. I jumped on the back of his motor bike and we sped off to do the one hour loop of the park. There were lots of opportunities to take pictures but I didn’t; some things are so beautiful that I find it almost disrespectful to try to use an iPhone to capture it. The vast jungle reminded me of Jurassic Park. Sitting on the back of a motorbike, putting full trust in another person and letting myself be purely open to the beauty was defiantly a highlight. That night Nick (the motor bike driver) taught me that I like gin and tonics in preparation for our 4:30am bus to hoi an. Although I didn’t see the caves, I saw so much beauty that day in this new tourist stop that I truly feel fulfilled for going.

So Asia time is a special thing to get used up. You wake up ready for your 4:30 am bus. Mentally prepared to cuddle right back into the sleeper bus bed. Alas - bus doesn’t come until 8:30. Woooooo! It’s crazy that in Canada if that happened I would throw a fit, speak to manager and probably demand my money back, but while travelling, I just shrug my shoulders and take a nap on the bus station floor. I am dedicated to taking some of this take life as it comes, stress free thinking home with me. It’s difficult but if i can let go of the stupid little bumps in life’s road, I know I would be so much happier. These are the things you learn about yourself travelling; the things you learn you need to work on. This isn’t easy and relaxing but it’s meaningful and as cheesy as it sounds; travel helps you be the best version of yourself.

Wild and free 🐚 (at Halong Bay, Vietnam)

Highlight - Sa Pa

Sapa, rice fields, and villages. The last two days have been magical and eye opening. From our 8 am arrival in sa pa, northern Vietnam I knew this tour was going to be a highlight. We were greeted by a couple dozen lovely village women who were selling goods as well as trying to find tourists to do treks with. Because we had already booked the tour we had to turn down mama T and her promise of happy water and dancing. We ended up finding out arranged tour guide who's name was Nha. She is a 19 year old villager from the rice fields of sapa. Her village has a population of around 2600 and is one of many similar communities in the area. Talking with this lovely young and ambitious women pulled at our hearts. Jenay, Mary and I connected with her passion for independence and self confidence. In her village women usually marry between 16 and 18, taking on the role of home keeper to their husbands families. They are expected to cook, clean, care for the family, sew, help with the rice fields, and much much more. Nha wants to stay single so that she can continue to get an education and create a new life for herself. This is a value that I think all young girls- no matter where you are from are beginning to feel more and more. We trekked in the thick and slippery mud all day- slipping and falling on our ass's over and over; all the while loving life and smiling all the way. After a muddy journey we finally arrived at our home stay. The family seemed to be a mother and father with 4 lovely and playful children. Upstairs in the treehouse like area, were lines of beds with mosquito nets ready for our tired bodies. Before bed though we had an amazing feast prepared by the family ( we tried to help but I think caused more mess), had a couple beers, drank some happy water with Nha (rice wine), learned the Vietnamese cheers, and eventually crawled up to our beds. We leave for ha long bay tonight and I can't hold in my excitement!!

#wanderlust #blog http://wanderlustejk.tumblr.com/ (at Ha Long Bay, Vietnam)

#blog #wanderlust

Bliss

UPDATE! So this is bliss. Today we are taking a 7 hour bumpy as hell bus from Luang Prabang to vang vienne but I am the happiest I've been in a long time. Luang Prabang was amazing. It was a lazy, sleepy, and beautiful city that was crawling with new friends. We stayed at koustavan guest house which is where a lot of cool people stay! We met two Brazilian guys you we are now going to vang with as well as tons of other great friends. That is the coolest part of this trip: meeting 100s of like minded, funny, and good souled travellers from all the world. With our new friends we saw waterfalls, ate at a street market buffet, cycled around the river, playing a few to many games of socialbles, and may or may not have had too much abthense, #ooops. Tonight we plan on vegging out at friends bar to mentally and physically prepare for tubing tomorrow. On the 10th we are flying to Hanoi, Vietnam for the next part of our adventure.

Day 2

We are heading to Laos now on a night train! The sleeper trains are around 12 hours and are actually quite comfortable. Yesterday we spent the day in Bangkok and had a true non-tour experience. We are fresh mango for breakfast, street food for lunch, and got lost for a couple hours. I'm so proud of us for doing this and we are already meeting so many amazing people! I can't believe we are only on day two!!

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