Halong Bay, Vietnam

No need to explain in words how fantastic this place is...

Hello Lady Motorbike?

Ah...Hanoi. This is a fantastic city with a ton of charm. I woke up early this morning and started my day at a very quaint french cafe overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake located in the Old Quarter of the city. As this was once a french colony (Indochine) there are many colonial style buildings in that part of the city. After my hour of bliss in the cafe, I set out to explore the city and proceeded to spend the larger part of the day either dodging motorbike traffic (basically to cross anywhere you need to walk out in traffic, hold your breath, and pray that the hordes of motorbikes will part like the red sea) or dodging requests to get a ride on said motorbike. After exploring the Old Quarter ad well as the Temple of Literature, I checked out the traditional water puppetry show, which I loved.

A full day in Hanoi has been interesting and action-packed, however I'm ready to venture out of here and made arrangements to do so. Tomorrow I leave for Halong Bay (which is something I'm most excited about) to sail and overnight upon a junk boat. I'll then come back to Hanoi for 3 hours and then proceed to leave for the mountains of northern Vietnam in Sapa where I'll have a few days hiking there. Once I get back to Hanoi from Sapa, I catch a flight out to Vientiane, Laos and I'm out of here. I like Vietnam so far and know I'll love it once I get out of this frenetic paced city.

Hanoi

Flying into Hanoi was gorgeous! From the airplane I had amazing views of the rice paddies, punctuated by the people working them in their conical shaped hats, meandering streams, and lush mountains to the north. I thought Hanoi must be this wonderfully idyllic place. I had a driver pick me up from the airport and within about five minutes on the freeway my first impression went flying out the window. I got into the car to discover my twenty-something, Vietnamese driver has a penchant for really loud techno music which made getting into the city almost a surreal experience as we whizzed by hordes of people on scooters (sometimes riding by twos or threes, and often schlepping along miscellaneous things such as cages full of chickens, pigs, or construction materials). I did arrive at my hostel safely. I managed to pick a very colorful place to stay, a veritable backpacker central complete with a packed rooftop bar that serves up some very cheap (and horrid tasting) beer which I'm drinking only because I'm dying of thirst (I'm sure there's bottled water around here somewhere, but beer is much easier to find).

In the two hours I've been in Vietnam so far, I'm thinking that I will like it. I was a bit indifferent about China. It's a nice place with interesting things to look at, but it didn't rock my world, so to speak, (except for the Great Wall) and hopefully Vietnam will be a bit more spectacular. Speaking about worlds getting rocked, I managed to miss the typhoon that hit the region by about a day. Should be nothing but blue skies for me!

Great Wall, Awesome Day

I went for a hike upon the Great Wall and it was phenomenal! I was part of a small group of some very cool people (6 total- 2 Israelis, 2 Germans, 1 Brit, 1 Me) and we took on the less touristy and more challenging part of the wall from Jinshanling to Simati. This was also the oldest part of the wall, built during the Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644). The stairs up to the towers were unbelievably steep and the terrain precarious (so much so that I managed to come back from it with a scraped up and pretty nasty looking knee). Awesome...Awesome day overall! I'm not sure anything else that I will be doing in China will be able to top this.

Beijing, First Impressions

My initial impression of Beijing was that it is a sprawling metropolis where the pollution is palpable. Seriously, my lungs are burning. However, the city also has some amazing charm and character within that I discovered in the city's hutong (tiny alleyways that run throughout). These areas, which are under threat of being demolished left and right, are where some people in the city live and work. Walking along you'll find them hanging out talking, playing games, eating and just living out their daily lives. Strolling through the hutong has been my favorite part thus far.

I've also checked out the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven Park (photo) which are both truly impressive sights. It's a small miracle (in light of Mao's impact on China and his desire to turn the Chinese into "a blank sheet of paper") that such wondrous historical sites still remain. Equally impressive was the Peking duck I had today. After a few days of eating nothing but a mango, Snickers bar, and water I was famished. I went to a restaurant yesterday in an attempt to eat an actual meal. I didn't realize that the chicken dish I ordered was to consist of all the other parts of the chicken (liver, heart and whatever else) and not the actual chicken meat that I'm accustomed to. In an attempt to keep an open mind, I tried a bite. However, one bite was enough and I despondently left the restaurant.

Tomorrow, I'm off to hike the great wall. It's a four hour trek along the least touristy spots (so I'm told). I went to the convenience store to pick up some fuel. I have no idea what it is that I bought. The only things I recognized in the store were Snickers and Oreos, which I didn't want. So I bought a package of nuts (?) that claim to be "very good test", "fashion mirror" whatever the hell that means.

Perfect Ending in Hong Kong

My time in Hong Kong ended with a bang! I met up with a couple of people I'm acquainted with there (Expats from the states and Australia) and they took me to a popular and very posh haunt called Sevva bar which had an amazing view of the harbor, cityscape, and laser show that the city puts on every night. We then made our way to Lan Kwai Fong and Soho ( yeah, they too have their version of the infamous city section) where the streets merged with the interiors of the bars and people were getting wild and having fun. The night ended at this funky, hidden bar (the type of place where a password and a secret knock is required) that resembled a french inspired bordello (like something out of a toulouse-lautrec painting) where luscious strawberry daiquiris in glasses coated in dark chocolate cocoa are served up. This is a side of Hong Kong I am sure I would have missed out on if it weren't for Michelle and Jeff. It was the perfect way to end the Hong Kong portion of the trip, in spite of the immense hangover (nothing the fresh air in Beijing can't help me though)!

Hong Kong

I just got to Hong Kong yesterday. I settled a bit in my very budget conscious accommodations (in order to pull of three months, I've gotta live on the cheap), located amidst the hustle and bustle of Nathan Road in Kawloon, just across from Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong reminds me a lot of New York City but with a different set of characters. I think this will prove to be a good starting point for me as it's clearly foreign to me in the general sense but has lots of touches of home, somewhat to my dismay (i.e. Starbucks and McDonalds are ubiquitous).

My body is a bit confused by the time change. Last night I turned in at 18:00 because I was completely wiped out. After dozing off, I woke up and looked at my watch and saw that it was 11:00. Well, for some reason I thought, "oh, time to get up. I slept in pretty late." Unbeknownst to me, my watch settings reverted back to North American setting vs. military. So I proceeded to shower and get ready for the day and, as I was walking out, I caught a glimpse of the moon and thought "what the hell am I doing" and proceeded back to bed. Other than that little mishap, things are great.

Today I checked out the Wong Tai Sin Temple, which is a lovely combination of a Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. Off now to Lantau Island to check on the largest statue of Buddha but, before that, my tummy is growling and could use some dim sum.

Perspective

It's T minus 59 hours until I take off and, for the very first time, I am experiencing a tinge of anxiousness about leaving. This is no brief getaway. I will be gone for three whole months. I started questioning whether perhaps I'm being a bit brazen. Couldn't I have seen enough in, say, three weeks? Shouldn't I be back home working, contributing to my 401(K) and advancing my career instead of globetrotting? Yeah, probably. However, as a very wise person pointed out to me, I have the rest of my life to be responsible. Life is so very short. I feel like I'm constantly being reminded of this. Not to be too macabre, but I could get hit by a car tomorrow or find out I have some inoperable brain tumor and have three months to live. The point is, I do have the rest of my life to be responsible. I've heard it said that, in the end, what people regret most is not what they've done, but rather what they didn't do. In the grand scheme of things, three months is nothing and it would be irresponsible for me not to recognize that.