I Love Diving

I Just finished my first ever scuba dive here on whale island. It was amazing and everyone told me that I did great for a beginner. I am going to take the full course so that I can get PADI certified, which will involve a couple of dives over 5 days but then I can dive anywhere I want. The scenery is great here. Our beach bungalow is 10 feet from the shore with jungle right behind us. A storm is rolling in right now that is lighting up the sky brilliantly. This is living. I will get some pictures of whale island posted soon but until then i have some more that I can share from my past stuff so far. Again if its black and white its Charlie's. ENjoy.

Paradise and Blue Water

Whale Island
April 14, 2009
12:43 pm

SO three of us decided to leave Hue and skip Hoi An all together. We were jsut so damn tired of cities. There is only so many temples and buildings you can see. We wanted to dive and sit by the ocean. My mate Charlie is a certified dive instructor so he will be showing me the ropes and getting me started on diving in a couple hours. As for the trip here is was pretty long and intense. We left Hue at 2pm yesterday and took a shitty ass hot ad uncomfortable bus to Hoi An before we were able to switch to our sleeper bus for the 14 hour overnight trip to Nha trang. Charlie got sick and threw up on the side of the road while me and Kate laughed. After that one of the ladies on the bus started to dry heave into a plastic bag which was pretty disgusting but so funny that I actually almost pissed in my pants. After Nha Trang we took a two hour drive and a small boat ride to Whale Island.It is small and the only resort on the island. Absolutely Beautiful. In about a hour we will start wokring on getting me prepared for diving and then its into the water. Ill update you later on that and bring you some pictures.

More Pictures

Ill post more details about what I have been doing as soon as I get done with the 16 hour bus ride to Whale Island.

Pictures

Here are a few pictures so far from my journey. The Black and white ones are from my friend Charlie. Enjoy

If The Boats A Rockin.....

Hanoi
April 10, 2009
4:00pm

So we just made it back from Halong Bay. It was a great night. Halong Bay, which means descending dragon, is part of UNESCO's world heritage sites. It was pretty amazing. Basically it is this massive area that is filled with about 1600 limestone rocks that jet out of the water, some hundreds of feet. When we arrived at Halong bay we boarded our boat which would be our personal boat for the rest of the night. The upstairs area was a tiny dining room which served us breakfast lunch and dinner. Underneath that were our cabins with beds and full bathroom. We traveled into the bay and began to take in the beauty of our surroundings. As we ventured further and further in the bay we saw floating fishing villages and a creepy mist that blanketed the whole area. Our first stop was a cave that was in one of these rock formations. We climbed about a hundreds steps and explored. After that we jumped into our swim trunks and went kayaking through the area to this hidden bay that could only be accessed through a small cave. When we got there I hopped out of the boat and went swimming. The water was cool, the rocks were covered by lush greenery and jetted into the sky, and you could hear birds in the distance singing the day out. I was in heaven and totally at peace. When I do things like this, it just reminds me how amazing the world really is and how much our problems are really nothing. We create chaos in our lives and we jsut dont realize how simple it can be. This makes not ever want to stop traveling. Im sad that I have to go home in a few months and start working.

When we finally returned to the boat I decided that I was still in the swimming mood and began jumping and diving off of our boat while everyone else simply watched. They dont know what they missed. I had so much fun. For the rest of the night we ate and drank for hours. I love my group and I feel so lucky that I was able to meet these people who share my interests from all around the globe.

When morning came took the boat to this beach and swam for about an hour in the foggy bay. It was a perfect close to the trip. One thing I must add though is how touristy this place was. After seeing it I think it is a shame that this beautiful place may be at risk because of people like me.

For the rest of the day we are having some free time. We will go later on tonight and do some Karaoke. Tomorrow we check out of our hotel and leave Hanoi on the reunification express for a 12 hour train ride to Hue. Now we start making our way down Vietnam.

Here are some photos of Halong bay so you can get an idea of the place. They are not mine. I am working on getting mine together for this. My friend Charly on this trip is also a great photographer with an amazing camera. I will post some of his pics later. Peace

Does it hurt when I do this?

Hanoi
April 9, 2009
7:00am

YES! I am so sore right now. The trek from the last three days wore me out but it was absolutely amazing. One of the best things that I have ever done. When we set out we had to drive for about 5 hours to get to our beginning spot. The drive was beautiful. The country side and topography is unlike anything that I have ever seen. It is very lush and tropical. The trek on the first day was only about 2 hours so not too bad, although it was uphill for most of the journey and climbing up the side of a mountain is not easy at times. When we arrived at our first village for the homestay we came into a large valley. This village was very basic and not very affluent but it was just fine with me. We spent about 2 hours exploring the village and take pictures before we had dinner. After dinner was homemade rice wine over a fire. A very nice evening.

The second day was the tough one. After having breakfast we set our for our 5 or 6 hour trek. All of today was downhill so I didnt think it was going to be so bad. It turns out that it also included going down the side of a mountain that had to handrail, hundreds of feet drops, and a path that was littered with the most slick rocks I have ever seen. This path as Sid our leader pointed out is where people get hurt and break bones. Lucky me that I happened to have the worst traction on my shoes out of the group. After falling on my ass several times and developing some nice bleeds over my body, our cook cut me some bamboo walking stick and proceeded to walk behind me holding the back of my backpack to stop me from falling. It felt a little embarassing but it was also funny as shit. This lastest the whole of the 1000 meter decent. But after a long struggle we did in fact make it down and the rest of the walk was like a dream. We proceeded to walk through small villages, through rice paddys, into towering bamboo forests, and meet with local children who would sing us songs along our journey. Let me say that the scenery was absolutely BREATHTAKING. We where of the large tourist tracks and in the middle of true Vietnam. I canèt put it into words how amazing it was so whenever I have the chance to upload some pictures I will post them and let them tell my story for me.

That night was met with a traditional meal including bamboo, which was not very good but not horrible. After that our whole group and the local family that we were staying with proceeded to indulge in the rice wine again, which tastes different in every village because it is homemade. To make a long story short, everyone got very drunk last night and four people proceeded to get sick. I was one of those four people. Not one of my proudest moments but we have such a great group and we all laughed it off and just enjoyed the fact that we were having fun. Just to note that the rice wine is good stuff and goes down smooth so it was hard not to drink just a bit more. Thank God I slept it off last night. I feel much better.

Today should be another very fun day. We are leaving in an hour and a half for Halong Bay. When we get there we will kayak around and explore the scenery. After that we have a private boat in the bay that we will eat dinner on, swim, and sleep for the night. I am going to make sure that I sleep on deck underneath the stars. I cant wait. Tomorrow we will go to a small deserted island and spend some time on the beach and swim before heading back to Hanoi for one more night before we start the next part of our trip. Ill post again tomorrow. Peace

No ones hands up these asses.

Hanoi
April 6, 2009
7:41 am


I went to the water puppet show last night, which is world famous. I really enjoyed the music and creativity of what they do. They create some pretty amazing things. I am leaving in an hour to go on a hill tribe trek and stay in villages with locals so I will not be posting for about three days but will be sure to do so as soon as I get back. Peace.

Where My Ho's At?

Hanoi
April 5, 2009
3:00pm


So I went this after noon to see the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. I was intending to go in and see "Uncle Ho's" actual preserved body but they close it at 11:00am everyday. Not much for the working hours. Instead me and some people from the group went to the Ho Chi Minh Museum right next to it. I have to say that I was not impressed. For a museum dedicated to straight up propaganda, it fell short. It was funny at times to see how much the Vietnamese build this guy up to be God-like and it was also a bit strange to see how popular this is with the local people. They actually do like this guy. Other than that we went and saw some monestary in the middle of town and had some lunch. Im going to relax for a bit and then go an get a Vietnamese message at 5pm. Its a proper message though and not in whore house in case you are wondering. hopefully the waterpuppets will be fun tonight. I am really looking forward that.

Bia Ha Noi - The Local Hanoi Beer

Hungry?

Hanoi
April 5, 2009
7:30am

Wandered the streets close to my hotel. "One Hour, One Hour, One Hour!" A local man yells on a bike with lounge seating attached. "No THanks" I say although being in something instead of walking maybe safer for me at this point with the motorcycles and bikes flying past me. With hardly any street lights or stop signs, I have already gotten hit today. Crossing the street rests on a wish and a prayer.
Hanoi is a vibrant city that is a visual overload to the senses. Everything is constantly moving and standing still does not seem to be an option. The mixing of the old and the new are apparent throughout the city. Temples, cars, bicycles with overflowing plants and herbs, thatched hats.

Food

I have been trying to eat a lot of local food while I am here. Mostly noodles so far. I really love it though because everything is so cheap. For lunch yesterday I had a huge bowl of Pho noodles and 2 local beers for about $5 USD. When I went to the outdoor market I was hit by the new and strange. I saw roasted dog, live huge toads, cages of Gigantic rabbits (that looked delicious I might say), eggs I have never seen, slugs, snakes, ect. It was an intense scene that I am going to go back to today. I may venture and try the dog.

I am going to see Ho chi Min's Mausoleum today and later see the water puppets which I hear is a favorite among the locals. Ill do this with some of the people that I met in my group, which numbers 12. We have a good mix from Aussie, UK, Sweden, and Nepal. I have to say though that I am a bit jealous of many of them. For the most part they are all on long trips like I am but most of them are a lot longer than the 3 months that I am doing. One girl is on an eight month trip. I knew that I didnt plan enough! damn.

O Well

Is that $2,700,000 Dong In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Happy To See Me

Hanoi, Vietnam
April 4, 2009
7:30 am

Traveling can suck sometimes, especially when you have to be on planes for 24 hours straight with no sleep. I pushed through and despite the rank smell from the guy I had to sit next to on my last 4 1/2 hour flight, I finally arrived in Hanoi. I was smart enough to book ahead with my hotel at the Hong Ngoc 2 for a taxi. Despite not being able to communicate with my driver (remember a nod and a smile goes a long way) it was a great trip in. Surprisingly the city is incredibly dark at night. I went past miles of housing with not so much of a speck of light except for the small row of red light whore houses that I saw right outside the airport. Incredibly, people actually turn off the electricity at night here. I was only afforded the luxory of light in my hotel room, the TV and A/C had been turned off for the night. So far I am finding that Vietnamese people are very nice and am looking forward to venturing out after I have breakfast. I also feel pretty safe here as well (this may be because I am a lot taller and larger than most of the small Vietnamese people).
And so my trip begins. In a couple of days me and my group will be going on a hill tribe trek to meet up and stay the night with some of the tribes. This should put me out of communication for about 3 or 4 days but I will be sure to have some rich tales to post when I do. Until then, I will still post tomorrow and tell about my trek through the center of town.
Peace

Pre-Trip Run Down

Well its finally here. I am double checking everything right now and making sure that my pack it all loaded up. Im gonna go to bed here in about 2 hours and will wake up at 4:30 in the morning so that I can make it to Newark airport on time. To be frank, Im a little nervous and a bit anxious about whats to come. I fly to Washington D.C first and then fly out with Korean airlines to Seoul, South Korea. Thats a 14 hour trip. I will transfer there one more time and head to Hanoi, Vietnam from there. All in all it will be about 26 hours traveling. Because of this I won't post for a few days but you can be sure I will get something up as soon as I can. Wish me luck!

Countdown

BEERCATION ITINERARY!

It's out! This is our Beercation Itinerary. I think its gonna be an awesome trip. I can't wait till it starts. Thanks to Matt for putting this together. Some nice work. For a full listing of the Top 50 US Breweries go to the BeerAdvocate.

T-Shirt design for Beercation 2009.

When I get back to the US in June, Beercation starts. It will be a beer adventure on the likes that no one has ever seen. A tour of America's greatest Breweries including my all time favorite beer Fattire in Fort Collins, Colorado. We are thinking of making shirts for the occation. Here is what we have for a design so far.

My Vietnam and Cambodian Visa