Philippines

The Philippines was the final stop for my travels. I flew from Ho Chi Minh to Manila to Puerto Princessa and almost didn't make the flight---long horror story but it ended working out after tears and frustration.  I met a friend, Dan, in PP and we headed to Port Barton by motorbike right when I arrived. I had never driven a motorbike before, and we were driving HOURS north. The road leading to Port Barton (about 25km) was all rocky and muddy and even normal cars didn't drive on it very often.  We realized it was almost sunset so we raced as quickly as possible over this treacherous road until we hit the ocean. When we finally arrived I couldn't believe I was still alive and hadn't crashed my bike. Luckily we took a few days of R&R before riding again.

We stayed in Port Barton for 2 nights. The first night we wandered onto an outdoor dance party with Filipinos of all ages. The parents were drinking rum and the children were all dancing on a basketball court. We joined in both activities for a while.

The following day we met a couple who were going to a deserted island, all but for some tents for 'luxury camping'. We decided to go as well. It was a 30 minute boat ride away, and when we got there it was better than we ever could have imagined. There were 6 tents, each with their own bonfire pit that the staff lit every night, 3 meals served each day (which were amazing), a bed inside each tent, free kayaks, fishing equipment, snorkel gear, and a volleyball net. We were in heaven. We thought we might end up staying for a few days, but the second day we were there we got word of a monstrous typhoon heading to Palawan. The owner, his wife, and the other guests decided we all needed to leave if we wanted to like, not die.

Unfortunately we left and ended up back in Port Barton before the storm hit. Dan and I decided we should start heading back down to Puerto Princessa since it was on the opposite coast that was getting hit by the typhoon. On the ride down, we got a little adventurous so we stopped at these old little bungalows along the coast in a rural fishing village. We really were craving fresh fish so we walked down to the village with a case full of beers and offered to pay some guys $3 to take us out fishing for an hour. 3 guys took us out in this tiny fishing boat as the the sun was setting, and it was honestly the most gorgeous sunset I have seen in my entire life. We ended up only catching a couple fish that were too small to eat, but the experience was wonderful!

On the walk back to out bungalow, we stopped at a small 'restaurant' which seemed more like eating at a friends house. Then we got back exhausted from along day of driving and fishing and slept for only a few hours.
In the early morning, we heard rain pounding on the rooftop. The typhoon had arrived. We were both flying out the next day so we knew we had to make it down to PP to get to the airport. We both wore ponchos, rain pounding on us the whole way back.

When we arrived in Puerto Princessa, the rain had ceased and we rewarded ourselves with drinks and a very nice seafood dinner. We met some people Dan had met and had a drink with them.

The next day was a long journey to my next stop in the Philippines.

Vietnam- Where I ate a lot of weird shit

In Hanoi, I went to a snake village and did weird things

Snake blood with rice wine

Snake bile with rice wine

Bottoms up

Biting the snake heart out and swallowing it whole

My turn

Balut (duck embryo) in Ho Chi Minh

I was supposed to go home, but...

After Thailand I was planning on returning home mostly because of my money running out, but on a whim I decided to continue on. I hopped on an overnight bus from Bangkok to Vientiane, Laos. On the bus I met Henry who had also just finished teaching in Korea. Then I met Suzanne, a dutch girl who I ended up traveling with for a few weeks.

Vientiane
When we finally arrived in Vientiane, we were all still tired from the long bus ride, so we booked into our hostel, ate breakfast, and napped. The funny thing about Laos is that the bars there close at about 12am. So what do a bunch of backpackers do after this happens? Bowling. So, even after these bars close, people can still go drinking/playing at the bowling alley, which they do no doubt. Nightly. The first night we walked along the river, ate dinner, sent off little flower boats for good luck, went bowling, and ate/drank with Laos people in the street. Oh what a wonderful 1st day in Laos, and it was only a preview of what was to come. The only other 'interesting' thing I did in Vientiane was watch a 19 year old Aussie guy almost kill himself. Note video evidence below----

Veng Viang
After 2 days in Vientiane, Henry, Suzanne, and I decided to head to Veng Viang. I fell in love with this city. It sits right along some mountains and a river and has the most spectacular views. I ended up staying here 2 days longer than planned (total of 5) because I enjoyed being here so much. It is a quaint city with restaurants and bars everywhere. Almost every single restaurant has a big screen tv that plays either reruns of Friends or Family Guy every hour they are open, so if you are not partaking in the daytime activities, you will be at one of these places enjoying a drink and some American television  This town is basically dedicated to tourists and tourists do mainly 1 thing here- party. The ultimate party is the tubing down the river. You rent a tube and a jeep takes you to the start off point. From here, everyone (our group was 62 people) hops in their tube and floats down. This takes up pretty much the whole day. Many people bring beer, however there are many bars along the way. The Laos people throw ropes out and you have to catch them so they can pull you up to their bar. Our first bar had a basketball goal, beerpong tables, and a big mat where everyone sat and played games. Each time you buy a drink you get a bracelet. There are also places that sell mushroom shakes and other such things. By the end of this journey down the river, everyone is inebriated and somehow must navigate back to the tube shop to return the tubes. Later in the night you can hear people complaining drunkenly that they didn't get their deposit back because they were too late to return their tubes. And so on.

Veng Viang does not have a bowling alley, so when the main bars close at midnight  a secret bar opens for another hour or so. Also when I was there people were hosting secret bonfires by the river, but while i was there some people got into trouble.

Another place to visit in Veng Viang is the Blue Lagoon. It has this beautiful clear-blue water that is wonerfully refreshing after a long night out. There there is a rope swing and a tree to jump from. There is also a little cafe and a volleyball net. Most people spend the entire day here to recover from their hangovers.

Luang Prabang
We rode a few hours to LP and arrived at night. We had no idea where to stay but we traveled with 4 Scottish people we met in VV, so we all decided to ride together to the same hotel. Luckily, it turned to be right near our favorite bar, Utopia. That's until we learned the staff were thieves, but nevertheless, we were close to pretty much everything. Most people adore this city, and I have the same sentiment. It is a little larger the Veng Viang, but much less 'party' and much more 'crafty'. Every night there is a flea market down the main strip. I really loved eating all-you-can-pile-on-a-plate for a dollar and drinking beers and then  meandering through the street goodies. There were also 2 waterfalls that you could swim in only a few km outside of the town as well as a Buddhist temple on a very steep hill you could view the sunset from. It was quite lovely, all of it. I spent almost a good week here, as well as my 27th birthday.


Phonsavan
I was sad to leave my Dutch friend and the Scots behind, but there was one more city I wanted to see before my journey to Vietnam. I had heard about the Plain of Jars from some other travelers, and I decided I wanted to see more of Laos before departing. My last stop was Phonsavan. This town was unlike any other town in Laos I had seen. It was much less 'touristy', and I walked along the streets most days not seeing another foreigner. This was exactly what I needed after 2 straight weeks of being with 'white' people. The only thing here for tourists to really see is the Plain of Jars. And it is exactly what it sounds like. There are hundreds of jars in 3 different sites, and to this day no one knows what purpose they served. It is still a mystery.

Although I wasn't expecting to go to Laos, it was everything I wanted and more. I cannot wait to return and see more of this lovely country.

Singapore

The most expensive SE Asian country by far, but also the cleanest. We only spent one night and 2 days here (luckily, since the hostel was $20/night). We went to the casino, ate indian food, and explored Chinatown. But, c'mon, no durian allowed on the metro?

Thailand

Thailand wasn't at all what I expected. After traveling to Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, I was ready to see what Thailand was all about, especially because most backpackers rave about it.

First we went to Ao Nang, a small beach town, for only a day. I though the beach was lovely but the town was practically empty. A bit boring, but extremely cheap. However I did have Pad Thai that tasted much like dog food...

Next we went to Koh Phi Phi, and island off the western coast. It was very nice, but just covered with backpackers looking to get smashed. We went on a boat trip with cliff jumping and snorkeling and kayaking another day, but apart from that we found this place pretty much boring after 5 days. Also, this was one the the more expensive places we went to.

Then we were off to Bangkok. Oh Bangkok, my "home away from home" as I joked about with many travelers. It seems people keep coming back but not because they want to. It is the hub of all travel in Thailand and getting off to Laos. This place is absolutely nuts. Granted, I did stay around and go to Khao San Road most of the time. Khao San is where all of the foreigners stay and hang out. The street is lined with bars, massage places, shops, and hotels. The party never stops. Other than this, we went to a temple or four, Chinatown, and took the 'free' tuk-tuks all over town to the jewelry emporium and suit-making shops.

After a couple days in Bangkok, we gladly headed off to Chiang Mai. This was actually a great stop after the expensive Phi Phi and Bangkok. Here we went elephant trekking and bamboo rafting. We went to the tiger sanctuary and pet the adults and babies. Also we went to a ladyboy show, which is a MUST.

From Chiang Mai we proceeded north to Pai, my favorite place in Thailand. It is so small, quaint, and laid back. Oh Pai, I still think about this lovely place. We got our own hut facing the river for $5 per person each night.

Our last stop in Thailand was all the way back down south to Koh Phangan for the full Moon Party. We don't need to go into details here, lets just say this time was filled with buckets on the beach and dancing for hours.

So all in all, Thailand was definitely fun-filled, however not  exactly what I wanted. I was looking for more culture, but instead I got backpackers everywhere I turned.

Tana Toraja Funeral Ceremony

What to say about Flores?

Flores was a gorgeous island, with drives throughout the mountainous and beach-side terrain that make you fall in love instantly. Problems that I had with this lovely island were the people of Flores. They weren't overly rude and I was never scared/worried on the island, but this is the place where I couldn't walk 2 steps without hearing a "hello Mrs." "hello Mr." etc. (yes, they called me mister quite a lot, which of course is funny at first, but after the 500th time, it's just old).

Our main reason for visiting Flores was to see Kelimutu. It is located on the other side of the island from where we got dropped off, so it was a little journey to get there.

The first stop was Luaban Bajo (where our Komodo cruise dropped us off). I only spent a night here, but the cafe's were the nicest on the island with outstanding views of the ocean.

Next was the best 4 hour car ride to Ruteng. If you have the opportunity to visit Ruteng, don't. Or only go for the car ride. It was alright to walk around for an hour or so, but it was somewhat dirty and the calls...again...annoying.

Then it was off to Ende, which was a "big" city also just for the night.

The highlight of the trip was going to Moni.  A 30 minute motorbike ride out of Moni is Kelimutu National Park with 3 colored crater lakes. This made the 2 other nights in a big city all worth while.







That day in Moni was spent riding on motorbikes through the rice fields and bathing in a natural hot spring.

We stayed at Bingtang Guesthouse in Moni. This was a small but quaint hotel in the cutest little village town. Our hotel was only $5pp and included breakfast. After enjoying the first night with the locals/singing with the band/playing cards/drinking Arak, the following morning were were off to the park at a good 4:30am to catch the sunrise.

Kelimutu was phenomenal, and the walk back down wasn't so horrible either. We found the waterfall and passed another local village alone the way.

After that, we spent 2 nights in Maumere. One night in the city, and one on the beach.

Overall, Flores is wonderful to drive through and seeing Kelimutu was worth all the cat calls.