HK, Vietnam Part I

WOW WOW WOW!!!

So i thought HK rocked my world- which it totally did- but Vietnam- wow!!!

Last day HK---um---oh- park, market, turquoise ass-length wig, muslims, tai chi, rosemary, tsing tao, 7 eleven...


Okay, nam. Started in the worst mood- sprung into the best. THE PEOPLE HERE ARE AMAZING!!!! Polite, beautiful, fans of coffee, colorful, boat people, etc...

Day one- wandering, war museum, crazy night club. It is so amazing to see this place through my fresh eyes and yet know what it meant to so many people. I'm in the Mekong Delta now and I can't imagine fighting a war in a worse place. Think mud, poison, brush, everywhere. I can't really believe the nation has changed so much in so little time. Even hearing I'm from the US, they are still so amazing.

Last night I met Yom- I am the first foreigner he has ever talked to, but that night we went out with a motor cycle gang of six vietnamese + me and molly. He brought his english professors kids- a 9 and 13 year old- and the plumpest vietnamese kids I've seen at that.

I have just met so many amazing people by biking around this nation- they are interested. Hello! Who is this girl? She's big- but she's dressed like and Indian. Her shoes!?! Hello! The energy is so positive.

Also- today I saw an angel. There is little doubt in my mind she is an enlightened being. Clad in yellow, I looked up to see her in a fish market- barefoot- standing and starting straight at me. She approached some women who merely gave her the food she pointed to. A nun? She took my breath away.

much love from Can Tho....

Hong Kong

Ahoy! Have I even written about Japan? No? Well fast forward.

HONK KONG.

It could take days…ayechiwawa. So we missed docking in China because of a typhoon. I’d say 90 percent of the boat went into the mainland anyhow, but not me. No worries- free Tibet eh?

HK day one: alleyways, flowers, meeting dozens of interesting people with Forest, getting in a random lady’s junk(small boat house), HK Park and aviary, not seeing SAS people for a long time, Victoria’s Peak for sunset and night time lights, the walk down, drinking health tonic, going far too far on the bus b/c we were too tired to walk- then having to walk twice as far to get back, sleeping….best meditation of my life

HK day two: big ass Buddha- more like a theme park however, nature, dim sum, bus, looking forever for restaurants, foot massage, shoddy hostel

HK day three: hiking to top of Lantau Peak- highest on the island w/ views of all the islands around, getting sunburned, the camera breaking, finding my water bottle again, getting down to a random beach town, scoring a suit and sarong for cheap, playing in the beach at sunset, ferry back, irish pub hopping and meeting random Brits, seeing everyone again

HK day four: well that will have to wait for tomorrow.

Japan was splendid. Very modern, very fashionable, very full of ancient and remarkable temples and wildlife. Also had-literally- the very best meal of my life. (Unagi, noodle soup, pickled vegetable, and matcha/bean dessert- with green tea of course)

Jolly Shandy!!!

Oahu and malaria meds

Heads up kids. It’s A3 on ship- that’s September who knows for you.

Hawaii: solamente una dia!! Que triste.

The plan to go hang gliding falls through night one: the wind is wrong. Plans switch to run around the island with Amy, Halle, and others and try to find a hiking spot via sticking our thumbs out on the road. About twenty minutes before docking: Rebecca informs me there is room on the skydiving ran. Okay! So we head there- a van stuffed with 17 kids who feel the need to scream and throw out the rock sign, peace sign, or for some-the shocker, every few minutes as if we are already in the air. The wait time is insane. Get there around nine- fly up in the plane around one- need to wait for the shuttle and don’t get back to the ship until around 4.

The jump: So I’m suited up w/ Ashi. We’re in the plane with three other pairs- the plane door stays open sometimes so our ears adjust. Five more minutes. One more mile. They start jumping and I’m the last. I come up to the edge- but my arms are wrapped around myself so that in effect, I don’t jump at all, but rather am shoved along by my instructor. We rock back one, two, and three times we’re out. Instinct closed my ears for the first second as we fell and tumbled out. The free fall lasts about a minute and was honestly much scarier than I imagined. The ride up was spectacular- I was pumped- but when you get to that door- it’s like ‘oh shit’. On the way up I said- ‘no worries- don’t worry laura- you’re a bird’- and I know I am. Regardless, being at that doorway- the wind starts to hit your face- oh god. You’re falling so fast- I think around 120 mph- and it’s hard to breathe. After a bit though, the shoot opens and you’re floating- not falling- floating/soaring. I told Ashi to get me to a cloud. We hovered there for about a minute, with the crystal blue water beneath us and the low, lush mountains of Oahu if front of that. It wasn’t that we went into the cloud, but we hovered there while it moved toward us. Amazing. “Okay- now touch your cloud!!!” Whee!! I put my arms out and thought of all the times I would pretend to be a plane or a bird when on land/as a kid. You know- when you hold them out and go “vroom!!!” -Except I got to do it in the clouds.

That night was also pretty fun- didn’t get to the beach b/c we were trying to book tickets for our trip in China. Ended up having some drinks outside the boat with one of my professors (can’t take liquor onboard).

All in all, good times for a day.

Also – I’ve determined one highly avoidable cause of major problems in my traveling career: antimalarials. Doxycycline screwed me up, so the doc gives me a lariam. I’m waking up all night, and realized today that I’ve been feeling randomly really bummed out- which is insane!!!! And what does lariam do? Makes you depressed and gives you night terrors. Note to fellow travelers: wear bug spray, sack the drugs. Why make your body mad sick when it isn’t?

Pictures later? Maybe post-Japan.

At sea

Greetings from a big boat- or ship as they will have me call it. This is day what? It’s A2 for classes- and that’s about all I know. The ship itself is quite an unexpected experience. It is perhaps the most opulent place I will ever live; amazingly kind Philippino people make our beds, fold our stray clothes, and bring us coffee and tea at every meal. Everyone I talk to feels rather out of place being served- I know they get paid well and such- but it is so incredibly odd.

My chica Amy also brought up the awesome point that while we are on the ocean, we’re still so removed. This ship is huge- nine stories maybe- and from the top deck you are so far away. Last night the ocean was amazing. The whole experience of being out here perfectly demonstrates the limits of language; I have no words for the color of the ocean. I can’t really describe how the moonlight reflects on that vast body of water, hitting only parts that aren’t obscured by clouds and sending a shimmer through the waves. I can’t do it justice. It is ghostly- my image last night made me recall the scene in Interview with the Vampire: Claudia and Louie are sailing to Europe and around, and as the pass sea through sea, Claudia does sketches of the ocean. They are dark, there is moon, clouds, and depth- and most importantly a type of fog. There is a feeling in that scene- I’ve caught it before on the river in New Orleans- seeing how the lights from the bridge reflect down and make that area slightly different from all the others. So that is how I feel- like I’m in some sort of painting, and as if I should describe everything in older English like novels I’ve read.
To return to the far away point, however, even though the ocean is all around and we can’t see land, we’re still not in it. Imagine being in a schooner or smaller vessel- the ocean would own you. You would feel that vastness and be lost in it. We can try to reach it from up here, but it’s hard.

The people on the boat are pretty sweet. I was nervous about being lost in a maze of rich people – and rich isn’t the right word—but if you know me maybe you know what I’m talking about. And they are here, but so are others.

Hawaii is next (tomorrow)!! Whee.