Road Trippin' USA

View of the Chicago River

Just when the weather is starting to get hot in Chicago, I'm making plans to leave.  After spending the last 6 weeks here, I am now starting to look ahead to my plans to travel around my own country.  One week from Thursday, I'll be packing up my car again, this time I'll be traveling with my sister for part of my trip. (It seems each of my immediate family members has made it into my travel plans this year.) 

My trip will start and end in Chicago and I will fit in as many people and places as I possibly can in the 6 weeks in between. This trip will be very different from my other travels since I'll be spending so much time visiting people, but I already have some fun plans and places on the agenda, and I'm armed once again with a Lonely Planet to help get me to the places I may not have seen before. The travel bug is biting once again...

Books to be thankful for:
- Game of Thrones novels (I breezed through the first 3 and am now on the 4th), even better than the new HBO series
- The Hunger Games trilogy (I read this entire trilogy in just a few days) Love it!

Home, Sweet Home

Kansas City airport

Well, I made it home.  After radio silence through Communist China (I didn't have access to Facebook or Blogger), I've arrived in the States and started my adjustment back to life in America.  My Mom and I flew into Kansas City last Thursday and after a long day on the plane (longest Cinco de Mayo of my life) we landed at MCI under a double rainbow...literally we came in after a storm and were treated to a couple rainbows and a beautiful sunset.  It was a nice way to come home.

The Great Wall

China was an incredible country.  More progressive than the rest of Asia it was a bit easier for me to adjust, however, fewer people spoke English in China than in any of the others countries we visited.  We worked our way north from Guilin to Xi'an to Beijing, stopping to visit the major sites along the way.  We ended our trip at the Great Wall of China outside of Beijing.  It really is an amazing wall.

Now I'm on my way up to Chicago, stopping to visit people along the way.  I'll need to do some temp work and save some money to more of the United States.  I hope to spend the second half of the summer visiting people I haven't seen in awhile and enjoying my own country.  I look forward to my potential travels and the idea of finding a new job (which sounds daunting) is actually a bit exciting too. I can still feel the pull of New Zealand and there is actually a bit of homesickness as I am reminded of different things throughout my day.  But I suppose my life of "Living Like a Kiwi" has ended...or maybe it's just beginning....

Good Morning Vietnam!

After so many night trains I've had several opportunities to see Vietnam in the early morning.  The last few we were in Sapa, which is up in the mountains of Northern Vietnam (near the Chinese border).  The rice fields and mountains were amazing.  The first morning we arrived it was very foggy and unfortunately it didn't clear much as the day went on.  However, it didn't detract from the scenery, in fact it may have actually added to it's magical feel.  We weren't here in time for the rice planting or harvesting but the fields were filled with water in preparation.  Next month the fields will be planted with their only crop of rice for the year.  The families will depend on it to survive over the next 12 months.

It was incredible to see how the communities lived and interacted with the tourists that were everywhere.  This is the first area we've visited where the communities and culture still seemed to be similar to the way it's always been, with the exception of the little tribal ladies that doubled the size of our trekking group.  They followed us on our 10km walk so that they could offer us their wares at the end.  It was difficult to say "no" after you have bonded with them all day.  (Well, hard to say no if you aren't a cold-hearted person without any money like me).

Mom and "Black Shadow" with the gift

On the train ride back from Sapa we were in a berth with two men from China (one was from an area near Tibet and the other was Mongolian).  They were both in Sapa as part of a Unicef program for minority Chinese.  They were lovely people and the man from the Tibetan area was apparently known for a few movies as well as for his calligraphy and art.  After a short discussion he offered us a gift of a book on himself and his work as well as a piece of his artwork.  It's so nice when the simplest gifts are the ones that mean the most at the end of the trip.  It also made the snoring that night from the Mongolian man a bit easier to take (it was so loud that I could still hear it through my earplugs and over the sound of the train - I slept very little).

We are in Hanoi today and then we take another night train into China tonight.  I'm hoping we have quieter companions this time.  As we prepare for the trip I'm starting to realize all of the changes that I will have to adjust to when we leave Vietnam.  For instance, I don't expect to be able to access my google account or Facebook and I'm not sure if I will have access to my blog or Skype either.  It could be an interesting visit.

A Taste of the High Life

I've just finished a 2 night/3 day cruise on Halong Bay and between this and Hoi An, I'm getting a bit spoiled in Asia (of course there are always things to bring me back to reality).

Enjoying China Beach, Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi An, Vietnam sits just south of the DMZ in Vietnam and near Danang.  The small French influenced city has become quite the tourist spot particularly for their tailors.  Each street in the village center is lined with tailors and shoe shops galore, in fact it was harder to find a place to eat than find a place to have clothes or shoes custom made.

With only two nights planned for Hoi An, and full backpacks, we weren't going to have anything made...or at least that was the plan.  But the shops are just too tempting and the fabrics and designs just too alluring. I've never had anything made for me personally and I've always found it nearly impossible to find dresses.  The seeds started sprouting in my mind.  My mom decided to have "just a look" at some of the options in their catalogue.  Pretty soon we were shopping at every tailor for the right combination of price, fabric and design capabilities.  For two people that hadn't planned on getting anything done we were failing miserably.

Mom getting measured

And once we found a place we liked (we walked all over and then settled on the one in our own hotel), my mom's order kept expanding.  Even as she was getting measured she was debating a pair of pants (which became two when she tried on the finished product the following day).  In the end my mom had two pairs of pants, two skirts, two blouses and a pair of shoes made for her.  I had three dresses made for me.  It was so much fun it's probably best that we didn't plan more time in Hoi An.

We arrived in Hanoi the following day (after another night train), and immediately booked our trips in the area.  A 3 day/2 night trip to Halong Bay, a 3 night/2 day trip to Sapa in the mountains, and our overnight train to China.  We've just returned from the first trip to Halong Bay and our spoiling continued.  The scenery was gorgeous and it only rained a bit while we were kayaking into lagoons and wet anyway so the weather was just about right. 

Marguerite, our Junk Boat

The junk boat that we were put on was on it's maiden voyage so we could still smell the lacquer on the wood.  Everything was beautiful.  There were 8 of us on a boat that slept 15, which meant we had lots of space too.  The only downside came when we had to switch boats after the first night so our boat could go back and get licensed.  It meant spending the day with four of us cramped onto a small boat with some semblance of a sundeck (but the motor had to be cranked by hand to start it).  Our tour guide was great and very knowledgeable about the area and Vietnam customs and beliefs.  We booked with ODC Travel and I would definitely recommend them to anyone else interested in going.  It was a wonderful way to spend a few relaxing nights in Vietnam.

Looking into our room

View of Halong Bay at sunset

Only a few weeks left now before I return home.  If I'm honest, I'm as apprehensive as excited about it ending.  I spent most of my time on the boat desperately trying to work out how I'm going to spend the next few months (of course I was also determining just what food I want most when I get back).