Tuesday Travel Tips

This is my first official "Tuesday Travel Tips" post! I thought it'd be nice to share some things I've learned first hand over my travels in Europe and Asia. I do have my Backpacking Tips page as well, so be sure to check that out, too!

My first tip, DO NOT BUY SOUVENIRS FROM CHILDREN!

I saw this child when I was visiting Sapa, Vietnam. It is very common in high tourist areas in South East Asia to use children as sympathy tokens to get money from tourists. This was a cool rainy night and as you see this child is tired, he is halfway asleep, hunched over sitting in a styrofoam box holding an umbrella sitting in front of his souvenirs. The moms are actually close by just watching, waiting to swoop in when tourists approach the child. This child should be sleeping comfortably, at home preparing himself for school the next day. The sad part is, he probably won't even go to school the next day, he'll be back in the street doing the same thing tomorrow. The only way to stop this is to stop buying souvenirs from children.

Choosing to Stop Traveling (For Now)

This year I made a BIG decision. I decided to give up my successful 10 year career in banking to go travel the world. I was lucky, I found two other girls willing to do the same, willing to give up everything to go on this journey together. This type opportunity was once in a lifetime, and was one I could NOT refuse.

So off we go. Thailand for a month. Vietnam for three weeks. Cambodia for a few days. Bali for a month. My life is just SO awesome, right?! I just have it so good, right? I am just SOOOO lucky!!

Don't be so quick to judge. It's quite easy to assume other's situations are amazing, great, terrible, etc. But looking from the outside in, it's merely your illusion of how you assume their life is based on your reality. Just because someone is traveling the world doesn't mean they're the happiest person in the world and have it the best, and just because someone is poor and has dirty clothes doesn't mean they're unhappy or have it the worst, either.  I think studies have been done that have proven those with less are actually, happier.

Don't get me wrong, I am very blessed, and am very lucky to have traveled to all the places I have traveled to. But as of now, I think I'm over it. For the longest time I think I was searching. For what I didn't know exactly, but I just knew going to these exotic places would help round out, or fill in rather, all the gaps I was feeling inside, right?  That these places had the answer!  Little did I know these places helped ME find the answer.

The answer is not anywhere "out there."  I had to learn that I had the power, for everything.  For success, happiness, for love, strength, courage, all of this lies within me, within you, too.  Sometimes you have to get to a point of total confusion and delusion to realize that YOU are the only one who has the power to change your life.  

If you are unhappy about something, change it, or change your perspective on it. If something or someone stresses you out, stop doing it or stop hanging around them. If you hate your job, stop complaining about it and get anther one, or change your perspective on it.

Changing your perspective, challenging yourself, and stepping outside your box breaks down barriers allowing new energies to form and grow.  And that's what changes your life!  

We all have this capability within us, and the answer is not far, not in a far away land or in a new designer purse or new pair of boots.  The answer is not even a foot away, the answer is YOU.

Will I ever travel again?  Damn right!  But my intention will be different.  Sharing life with my family and friends is what I've learned brings value and happiness to me in my life.  And traveling with them will only be the icing on the cake!  :)

Hoi An, Vietnam

We heard Hoi An, Vietnam was a cute little beach town. After spending 6 weeks overland in Thailand and Vietnam, a BEACH sounded amazing. We got a taste of the water spending a night in Halong Bay, but just one night doesn't cut it. A week on the beach was just what we needed!!!

The above picture was our first view of the beach upon walking out of the path from our hostel. We ate lunch and laid out here for a couple days.  It was so peaceful.

Actually, that's all we did all week!  Breakfast, beach, lunch at beach, lay out more, dinner at beach, sleep, repeat!  This beach, An Bang, was glorious.  Quaint enough to be able to relax, and quiet in parts. However there was a stretch of restaurants with TONS of chairs smashed together where you could hang out with more people, if you are in to that kind of thing.  ;)  

It's quite funny, the workers of the restaurants come out as you are walking down the beach and approach you to lay out on THEIR chairs.  They will be lined up every 20 feet saying "Come lay out in my chairs, free chair just eat at my restaurant!"  As they are saying that, you hear the next one 10 chairs down saying "My chair is better, it's better down here!"  I mean really?  These folks have to have a love/hate relationship with each other!  So literally you just choose the chairs that are most appealing to you and sit.  It's quite awesome, all you have to do is order a $1 beer or $3 spring rolls and you are set for the day!!!

If you are ever visiting An Bang Beach, I highly recommend staying at our hostel, Under The Coconut Tree.  It was recommended to us and we were not let down.  This hostel/hotel actually has individual rooms as well, if dorm/hostel style living doesn't suit you.  However I highly recommend the dorms for single travelers or those traveling with friends.  It's a GREAT way to meet other travelers, and at $6 a night that's an amazing way to save money and feel like you are back in college again.  ;)  There are lockers under the bed, and mosquito nets.  It's quite perfect.  

You walk out of the back of the hostel and you are on the beach. It was amazing.

We are quite sad to be leaving today, but it is time. We are off to Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat, the oldest religious monument in the world!


Stay tuned! :)

Halong Bay!!!

How lucky I am to get to experience this majestic place, Halong Bay, Vietnam.

On our tour of Vietnam, this was a 'must see' for us. The thought of being surrounded by grassy limestone mountains while laying out on top of a small cruise ship just sounded darn good to me.

Halong Bay, YES, it is just as pretty as you would think it would be. We did a one night cruise through Paloma tours. They were amazing. They were the utmost professional, caring, kind and fun!

The boat was exquisite. Dark hardwood floors throughout, impeccable table settings, TONS of food. When I first stepped on the boat (note this is my very FIRST cruise) I said man look at these dark hardwoods looking like The Titanic! Eeekkk! We didn't need for a thing. Well, wi-fi, but it was actually nice to have a break from that! ;) We were able to drown ourselves in the surrounding sea of tranquil beauty. With full bellies and no where to go, we were gladly trapped in paradise.

I highly recommend seeing Halong Bay if you get the chance. I would also recommend staying more than one night on the boat if you can, although it can get quite pricey, ~$100 per person/per night. There are a lot of excursion opportunities actually, like visiting a local fishing village, pearl farm, caves, and more, which are included! Wish we could have stayed longer!

Sapa, Vietnam

Sapa, Vietnam is a cute little mountain town in Northwest Vietnam. To get to Sapa you need to fly into Hanoi and either take an overnight bus or train to La Cai, then another 1 hour bus ride to Sapa.

When we arrived in Sapa it was POURING down raining! It was actually quite refreshing being that we hadn't showered in a day or so throughout all of our plane, train and bus travels. We were now in the mountains of Vietnam, and it was much cooler, thankfully.

One thing to forewarn you about in Sapa, as soon as you step off the bus you will be approached by a mob of local tribal women trying to sell you handbags and jewelry. It is serious. They are polite and most have decent English. They will ask you your name and where you're from. They make small talk asking how long you will be in town, etc. But after a while you realize they've been following you and talking to you for over 30 minutes! If you try to step into a store to lose them, HA, not happening. They will quietly wait outside for you and will latch back on ever so quickly. Even if you go to lunch, they will wait. These were our girls. Mine was Zoe, second from the right.

Our girls followed us around all day until we finally broke down and bought something from them. Then they were on their way! Sheeeesh!!! But it's not over yet, if there is another tribal lady NEAR you when you make your purchase she will latch herself onto you and say "Buy from me BUY FROM MEEEEEE!!!!" I felt so sorry for this lady, below. She had the cutest little baby with her so after 15 minutes of her begging I finally broke down and bought something and then she disappeared.

After a couple of days of being stalked and bothered you had to get more firm with these ladies. We learned if you didn't look at them or respond to them they would pass. We hated to be less than friendly, but they come on STRONG, ALL DAY LONG, and it gets old very fast.

So the real reason we were in Sapa was to volunteer teaching English to orphaned and underprivileged children! We found this opportunity through helpx. A man named Peter started the Sapa Hope Center where he houses, feeds and gives free English lessons to children living in the hills of Sapa. Most of these kids do not go to school or do not have access to schools, so they come here. Some kinds walk for over an hour, alone, to get here. It was such an eye opening experience.

When we arrived in Sapa we stayed at the associated Sapa Backpackers hostel. Our contact Peter was no where to be found when we arrived so we walked around, etc. It was actually nice to finally shower and have a free day to rest up before our first day with the kids.

What we did not realize when we arrived was that the Hope Center was over 5km (3-4 miles) away from where we were staying. When we finally found Peter he said that some people walk it (ummmm) but others rent motor bikes. Getting to the Hope Center was a big issue because we were not prepared to walk 4 miles each way for a 1 hour lesson, and we are inexperienced motorbike drivers. Ok so taxis were our last option....

The first two days we volunteered we grabbed taxis, thankfully.  It took us about our 5th or 6th taxi driver to finally take us because they either didn't want to take us, or claimed they didn't know where the center was. We later realized they price gouged us, which was not cool. We informed Peter but unfortunately he did not help us coordinate or arrange travel for the additional days. When you have quit your job and decided to backpack overseas, and are staying in places that are $3 a night, paying for unexpected transportation that is over $5 a day starts to eat into your budget. I know most of my family and friends back home are reading this and are probably thinking, "Elizabeth, five dollars!" If we would have known going into this about the location disparity we could have planned appropriately. Hailing cabs to/from was tough, especially with the language barrier. It was actually sad to see that locals were completely taking advantage of tourists. You would think they want people to come back, right? It seemed that most taxis would rather lay in their cars and nap than take us 4 miles down the road and back. Frustrating!

We did make it work the first two days.  We talked our way into a cab and back, overpaid, but we were able to teach the children.  It was such a wonderful experience, teaching that is!  

I will never forget seeing the "whites" in these kids' eyes when they were looking back at my whiteboard trying to spell certain colors I had written out for them to practice.  They were eager and excited to learn. These kids did not have to be here but they were.  They were kind, curious and genuine.  

Our third day we actually went to the grocery store to buy prizes for kids. We were researching lesson plans and wanted to make the biggest impact we could on these children with the little time that we had. Unfortunately day three we were unable to get a taxi because they either were charging us extremely ridiculous rates or did not know where the center was. Such a shame. We attempted to start walking the 3-4 miles but we realized by the time we got there it would be too late, and we would have to turn back around. The two days we volunteered were amazing and we wish we could have helped more. Oh well. :(

I know the Sapa Hope Center is new and unable to arrange transport at this time. Just FYI for any future volunteers interested in helping. Be either experienced or eager to ride a motor bike in crazy traffic, or be prepared to pay a taxi twice your hotel bill each day to get to the center. Sapa Backpackers offers you a bed for $3 a night if you are volunteering. A taxi to and from the center each day will cost you about $6 a day. 

Since teaching was done with we had the rest of our time to relax. Each morning we would wake up and go eat breakfast. Vietnamese coffee is so amazing!!!!!!! I don't know what it is about it, whether it's the actual coffee beans, the way they brew it, I'm not sure. Or it could be the carnation condensed milk they use, but the taste is exceptional. Better than Starbucks!!

We enjoyed our coffee and breakfast each morning and then we were off to explore.  We spent most of our free days finding a nice viewpoint to sit at where we could read, write and relax.

A lot of times when you travel you are so busy packing in excursions and sightseeing trips you never get a chance to really relax and enjoy your surroundings.  But not us - we had a few days of complete relaxation. :)  

Their version of a banana split:

Sapa, Vietnam is a cute little town.  It is away from the bustling streets of Hanoi, tucked away in cool deep mountains.  If you're in Vietnam and you're looking for hiking, trekking, or just to visit a place to check out with amazing views, I highly recommend Sapa.  Just be prepared to be pestered, a little.  :)

When in Rome....

Or in Sapa, Vietnam....

Man, exhaust is hard out here in these streets of Vietnam. SO many motorbikes, trucks, cars, etc. A lot of locals wear these so I thought WHY NOT. I should protect my lungs. :)

I love looking crazy. Yes!  :)