When traveling to foreign countries, I think most people expecting things to be different than they are at home. We expect to see things and experience things that might be a little strange or surprising. This can be true just traveling to different parts of your own country. Well, I definitely saw some odd things in Southeast Asia, so I wanted to share some of them with you here. I took a few of the pictures with my iPhone so please forgive the quality.

I saw this sign when I was waiting in line to check in for my flight from Luang Prabang to Hanoi. I’m all for safety, especially when it comes to airlines, but somehow having this sign reminding Lao Airlines employees to make sure the aircraft adheres to proper weight and balance restrictions doesn’t instill a lot of confidence in the airline. Weight and balance is one of the first things pilots learn about when studying to get their license. While everyone needs reminders of the basics now and then, something like this might be more appropriate in an employee-only section of the airport.

Sorry this one is a little blurry. Amanda and I had a room in a hotel with a pool our last night in Indonesia, so we went for a swim before dinner. One our way back from the pool to our room, we noticed this odd sign. We were a bit confused since it’s only in Indonesia, but maybe it wouldn’t have been as entertaining if we knew what it said. Really, what’s going on here? The girl on the left is shocked or grossed out or something like that. The boy on the right seems to be laughing or cheering. And the man in the middle has a big red X on his crotch! WHY? Does that mean “don’t pee in the pool” or what? (If anyone reads Indonesian and can tell what this says despite the blurriness, I’d love to know what it says.)

Not much to this one. When I was in Vang Vieng with Jo, we went to dinner one night and she noticed the menu said Ala Crate instead of Ala Carte. It just made us laugh.

When Amanda and I showed up for our cooking class in Bali, this statue was one of the first things we saw. There are famous and not so famous peeing statues scattered all over Europe (to see a few click here or here or here) but I had never seen or heard of one that was a female peeing. You know, since we typically don’t pee standing up.

As if the female peeing statue wasn’t weird enough, just a few hours later on our way back to the guesthouse, we saw this statue. Is he trying to violate that ball? Or just practicing? Maybe this guy should hook up with the peeing woman above.

On our Bromo Volcano tour, we were picked up from our hotel in a jeep to get most of the way up the hill. After the sunrise, Amanda and I were waiting for our driver to round up the other passengers in our jeep, and we noticed this sticker on the front window of the jeep. I guess you can never be too cautious….

What odd things have you seen on your travels?

As I write this, I’m in Bora Bora gazing at the unrealistically beautiful ocean. The sun is shining but a few white puffy clouds shield me from its full harshness. A light breeze blows through my hair and bits of palm tree bark swirl around the deck and smack against my laptop. From my chair I can see dozens of the over-the-water bungalows Bora Bora is so famous for, countless palm trees, three boats, a few snorkelers, and a couple in a kayak. I hear people speaking in French, and a little bit of Tahitian. A few women have flowers in their hair, and almost everyone is in a bathing suit. I can smell a light scent of sunscreen and flowers I don’t know the names of.

Bora Bora

I’m in one of the most gorgeous places in the world.

But I don’t want to be here.

I used to get that excited feeling of disbelief whenever I landed somewhere new. That “I can’t believe I’m actually actually here!” feeling. But I lost that somewhere. I haven’t felt that feeling in months, despite all the new places I’ve been to in the past few months. Being here isn’t giving me the thrill I expected it to. I actually found myself thinking, I’d rather be in the Gili Islands, they were gorgeous too and I could have 10 dinners there for the price of one here. I could stay a month in a bungalow there for what it costs to stay one night here.

Gili Trawangan, Indonesia

Amanda said maybe I’ve seen too much. I think, to be more exact, that I’ve seen too much in too short a period of time. I think my brain has hit travel overload and can’t process any more of these extraordinary travel moments. I’m tired of the constant motion, I’m tired of living out of a backpack, I’m tired of always having to get used to new beds, and I’m tired of being away from Andy.

I don’t want to sound ungrateful. I’m so happy that I was able to make this trip happen and fulfill a dream I’ve held onto for years. I know there are many people who will never get the chance to travel in their lifetime to some of the places I’ve been to in the past four months. But I’m ready to go home. I’ve been ready to go home for a while, and it’s taking a lot of effort to try to appreciate where I am and what I’m doing right now.

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I let this sit in my draft list for a few weeks before looking at it again. Amanda and I flew from Bora Bora back to Tahiti and then to Easter Island just minutes after I wrote the section above the break. Easter Island was absolutely amazing, and I did finally feel that wonder and awe again. (I’ll write about all of these places later, I promise.) I’m now in Atlanta visiting friends and family, a few days away from flying back to Europe to be back with Andy. For good this time. But I think what I wrote above still holds true. I think I saw too much in not enough time. Maybe fewer places in the same about of time would’ve been better. Maybe I would’ve appreciated certain places more if I hadn’t been missing Andy so desperately. Regardless, I have a different perspective on long term travel. It’s an amazing thing to experience, and so vastly different from a normal two or three week vacation. But the constant movement is not for me. I still want to see everything I possibly can in this world, but the experiences and places deserve time to truly be appreciated.

Do you think it’s possible to see too much?

When my time in Southeast Asia was over, I boarded a plane back to Germany for a much needed two week break in my round the world trip. I spent those two weeks mostly relaxing and spending time with Andy. We went to the Christmas markets where we enjoyed funnel cakes, glüwein, and something that translates to nun farts. Not a lot to report, but I had fun and recharged my mental batteries. It was also a good opportunity to readjust the contents of my backpack.

Since the trip back to Germany wasn’t planned ahead of time, I had to get back to Saigon to make my flight to Melbourne. I was in for an extremely long travel day. Or days really. Andy and I had our teary good-bye at the train station in Freiburg early in the morning, and I began my journey up to the Frankfurt airport. Once there, I checked into my flight on Etihad Airlines, where the ticket agent refused to let me take my luggage as carry-on. They have a strict weight limit for carry-on, and even though I was traveling light, my bags exceeded their 10kg requirement. I had three flights to make it to Saigon, so this made me a little nervous about my bag actually making it there, but there was nothing I could do about it.

My first two flights took me from Frankfurt to Abu Dahbi and then to Bangkok. In Bangkok, I had to check in again since I was switching airlines. The ticket agent asked for my Vietnam visa, which I did not have since I had no intention of leaving the airport. I don’t know why I didn’t think about it, but she pointed out that, without a visa, I wouldn’t be able to get to baggage claim. Normally while in transit, checked bags would automatically be transferred to the next flight, but I had two separate itineraries. A slight panic set in as she told me she would have to call someone to see about having my bag re-tagged so it would get to my fourth flight. I checked back with her a few times over the course of my four hour layover, in between naps on airport chairs, and eventually she assured me the bag would get on the flight to Melbourne. I feared I would never see my blue backpack again.

Due to my gold status with Delta, I thought I was going to have access to the Vietnam Airlines lounge, but I was wrong. I needed a first class ticket to get in. I had an eight hour layover to endure in an airport that was greatly lacking in things to do. I searched for a store selling ear buds since mine stopped working on the flight from Bangkok to Saigon, but no luck. I bought a soda, and the zipper on my purse broke off. Obviously things were not going well for me. Eventually I just napped on airport chairs, and I ate dinner with my free voucher from Vietnam Airlines.

When it was finally time to go to my gate, I was stopped by an employee doing bag checks before we were allowed into the gate area. He wouldn’t let me take my bottle of water, even though I obviously purchased it after going through security. I argued with him about it, which he did not appreciate. I believe his exact words were “please cooperate” so I walked away before I accidentally said anything I would regret. Water gone, I returned a little while later, had my bag searched while the lady next to me was allowed in with large wooden sticks that could definitely injure someone, and went downstairs to the gate area. There were duty free shops selling alcohol but no water. One of the employees told me the Australia government doesn’t allow passengers to bring liquids larger than 100ml onto a plane. I think perhaps they have misinterpreted the rule. (The duty free liquor was allowed only because it gets put in a sealed plastic bag.)

At this point, I broke down. I was exhausted, I was upset about not being allowed to bring water on an eight hour flight, and I ended up making an expensive call to Andy to make myself feel better. They ended up giving us a bottle of water on the flight, but my mental state was already too far gone.

The flight wasn’t so bad, although the interior of the plane was in desperate need of an upgrade. The bathroom mirror was held up with tape, and there was actually an ashtray in the bathroom. When was the last time smoking was even allowed on a plane? Vietnam Airlines is a decent enough airline to be part of SkyTeam so they’re totally safe, but I found details such as the bathroom ashtray highly amusing.

After four flights, two of which were overnight flights, and very little sleep, I finally arrived in Melbourne. And luckily so did my baggage. It took me 43 hours to get from our apartment in Freiburg to the hostel in Melbourne. I was almost delirious. However, this extreme exhaustion meant that I slept from 2pm to midnight, and then again from 4am to 8am, and I escaped jetlag. As much as I enjoyed that benefit, I hope to never be in transit for that long again. It was torture, but worth it to spend those two weeks with Andy.



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Usually when people hear I’m traveling around the world for five months, they assume it’s expensive and I must have lots of money to do it. But it’s actually a lot cheaper than you would think. I’m not the most budget minded traveler out there, but I did try to watch my spending and keep track of it as much as possible. Here’s a breakdown of what I spent in two months traveling through Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. All figures have been converted to US dollars, and I’ve only counted my portion of any shared rooms. (Also, this is my 100th post, so I thought it was appropriate that it be about numbers.)

Lodging: $766.25

I spent 50 nights in Southeast Asia, so this comes to an average of about $15.33 per night. And really, I could’ve done better. If I kick out the two nights Amanda and I stayed in Seminyak ($76 for two nights) and the two nights we stayed in Brunei ($69 for two nights), both of which were a splurge, the average for the remaining 46 nights drops to $13.51 per night. I only spent two nights in a dorm during my time in Southeast Asia. The rest of the time was either in hotels, guesthouses, or a private room at a hostel. More than half of the lodging included free wifi and some sort of free breakfast, ranging from toast to a full buffet or set menu. I stayed in many guesthouses that cost less than $10, or even $5, per person, and most of them were perfectly comfortable, clean and safe, and most were run by the friendliest people.

Gili Air, Indonesia - our bungalow

Flights: $820.39

I learned early that I don’t like overland travel. Sitting on a bus for more than a few hours is uncomfortable, exhausting, and tedious. So even though it is usually the cheapest way to travel, I ended up booking more flights than most long term travelers would. This number includes the following flights: Singapore to Bali; Yogyakarta, Indonesia to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia; Brunei to Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Siem Reap, Cambodia to Pakse, Laos; Pakse, Laos to Vientiane, Laos; Luang Prabang, Laos to Hanoi, Vietnam. This averages out to about $16.41 per day, although I’m not sure how useful a daily average is for flights. (I used Delta Skymiles to get my round the world ticket, so all I paid for that was $167.80 in taxes, which is not included in this total. It was 180,000 Skymiles for an economy round the world ticket with SkyTeam.)

almost empty plane to Pakse, Laos

Other transportation: $427.25

This is any mode of transportation besides airplanes. Taxis, tuk-tuks, metros, trams, buses, airport transfers, ferries, etc. This ranges from $1 tuk-tuks in Siem Reap to a $40 fast boat and mini van combo from the Gili Islands to Seminyak. Some of these are easy to negotiate, and I’m willing to bet someone with better negotiation skills could’ve gotten better prices on a few. I also got ripped off on my taxi from the Hanoi Airport, but I was running late to meet Victoria. Over 50 days, this averages out to $8.55 per day.

tuk tuk in Siem Reap

Activities: $307

Just like everything else in Southeast Asia, activities were usually inexpensive. In Singapore, I went to the Night Safari. In Indonesia, I went snorkeling, saw rice terraces, got a pedicure, took a cooking class, saw two dance shows, went on a volcano tour, and visited Borobudur. In Malaysia, I saw orangutans, proboscis monkeys, and a rain forest park. In Cambodia, I went to the Killing Fields and the Genocide Museum, took a cooking class, and explored Angkor Wat. In Laos, the only activity I paid for was tubing. In Vietnam, I went to the Museum of Literature and the Hoa Lo Prison Museum. I averaged $6.14 per day for activities.

Angkor Wat at sunrise

Visas: $125

Unfortunately a lot of countries charge for entry visas, and some need to be obtained ahead of time especially if crossing land borders. Indonesia charged a $25 fee for their visa on arrival. Cambodia was $20 for visa on arrival. Laos was $35 for visa on arrival. The visa on arrival process is very easy for these countries. You have to arrive by air at certain airports (check the embassy websites for more info) and you just fill out a form and pay the fee at the airport. Be sure to bring passport sized photos (two for each to be safe) for Cambodia and Laos. Vietnam requires that you apply for a visa ahead of time. If you’re traveling by land, you need to know what date you will be arriving and complete the visa process ahead of time. However, if you’re traveling by air and arriving at certain airports, you can apply online for $20 (I used a site called My Vietnam Visa which was really quick and simple, but there are others) and tell them the earliest you will arrive. So for example, if you tell them you will arrive November 1, you can still book your flight for November 3, but you will still have to leave the country within 30 days if you have a 30 day visa. Then once you arrive at the airport, it’s another $25 to complete the visa process, so it cost me a total of $45 for my Vietnam visa. I needed a passport photo here too. Also be aware that some countries also charge departure taxes at certain airports. Sometimes this is included in the price of your flight, but sometimes it isn’t. When Amanda and I flew out of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, I think it was 100,000 Rupiah, which is about US$12, but don’t quote me on that. We didn’t have enough Rupiah left, paid in US dollars and got Singapore dollars back as change for some reason. (Visa charges were current as of late 2011 for US citizens. Some charges vary depending on country of citizenship.)

Food and other miscellaneous items: $1500?

Here’s where I didn’t do so well at keeping track of expenses. Eating is something you do two or three times a day, and it’s easy to lose track of what you spend quickly. So I had to work backwards, knowing what my bank balance was when I started and knowing what I spent on everything else. Hopefully I did my math correctly. This category averages out to $30 a day. That’s all meals and snacks, random bottles of water or soda, ice cream stops on hot days, alcohol, bug spray, sunscreen, after sun gel, shampoo, toothpaste, contact solution, souvenirs, postcards and stamps. (Even if a handful of my postcards never made it to their recipients.) Again, this is an area that can definitely be done for less if you’re more careful about eating cheaply and not splurging as much.

fruity cocktails and a pizza on Gili Trawangan

In 50 days in Southeast Asia I spent a total of $3,945.89, which is an average of $78.92 per day. Or $62.51 per day if you subtract what I spent on flights. Most people who travel extensively through Southeast Asia would probably say this is outrageously high. If you travel slower than I did, travel overland more than I did, and seek out even cheaper lodging and food, you can definitely get by on half or even less than half of what I spent. There were days in Siem Reap when I spent $3 on dinner, including a beer. There were days in Laos I spent $3 a night for my half of a twin room. The hotel I stayed at in Siem Reap was $18 a night for a single room, and the hotel I stayed at in Hanoi was $10 a night for a single. Both were nice enough my mom would approve, and included good breakfasts and wifi. So it’s definitely possible to travel comfortably without a lot of money, and you can do it without sharing a hostel dorm room with eight other people.

So when are you buying your plane ticket to Southeast Asia? If you’ve already traveled through Southeast Asia, what was your daily average?

I spent about two months in Southeast Asia, and I tried to photograph my food. But I often forgot. My friend Val is great at taking pictures of everything she eats and drinks, but I think I got a good overview of what I ate during my time in Southeast Asia. Some of these pictures were taken on my iPhone so they might not be the best quality but I figured it was better than nothing. Enjoy!

some kind of noodle pork vegetable soup

Ok so the picture is a bit blurry, but I used my iPhone and it’s probably fitting that it’s blurry because this was my first meal in Singapore so I was jetlagged. The pork was a little tasteless, but the noodles and broth were really good.

Bali breakfast

Our guesthouse in Bali had a great breakfast menu, included in the price of our room! One day I got rice, another day I got noodles, and it came with either fruit or fruit juice. Yum. Although I didn’t like the prawn crackers, they were kind of like eating styrofoam.

in Bali, the most amazing dessert ever

I forgot to take a picture of the Balinese paella I had for dinner, but this dessert was so amazing I couldn’t for get to capture it. It was warmed bananas and pineapples in coconut milk and rum with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Soooo delicious!

Senggigi breakfast

Before our ride picked us up to go to the Gili Islands, Amanda and I had breakfast in Senggigi. Mine was scrambled eggs, toast, and this oddly cut chicken sausage. My brain knows what sausage should taste like, and non-pork substitutes never seem to taste right.

fruity cocktails and a pizza on Gili Trawangan

The Gili Islands were so laid back, we didn’t do much besides relax. We enjoyed some fruity cocktails at a couple different cafes while admiring the ocean, and ate this wonderful pizza. They called it Hawaiian, but it had chicken instead of ham since Indonesia is mostly Muslim, and the peppers were a nice added bonus.

my lunch on Gili Air

My lunch on Gili Air was rice with vegetables and chicken in some kind of spicy sauce. Not too spicy, perfect. And I had an amazing pineapple, banana, and coconut rum drink.

pineapple pancakes

Pineapple pancakes for breakfast before we left Gili Air. Tasty, but not my favorite breakfast food.

drinks at Potato Head in Seminyak, Bali

On our second visit to Bali, we went to Potato Head in Seminyak and had the most wonderful dinner and drinks. I had the best Bloody Mary (ok two of them) ever and a yummy piña colada.

dinner at Potato Head in Seminyak, Bali

Ok, this is totally not an Asian dish, and it’s only chicken and mashed potatoes, but it was damn good chicken and mashed potatoes!

squid at the Kota Kinabalu night market

After seeing all the crazy fish at the Kota Kinabalu night market, Amanda and I tried some grilled squid for dinner.

Brunei sweet and sour chicken

Brunei’s version of sweet and sour chicken was some of the best I’ve ever had. They certainly like their food in this tiny country.

Brunei fish and chips

I wanted some western food, so I ordered fish and chips for lunch one day in Brunei. It came with the obligatory rice you get with almost everything in Asia and some tasty semi-pickled vegetables. I really liked the artistic display.

Brunei Ambuyat

This was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever eaten. Ambuyat is a traditional Brunei dish so we had to try it, plus we were just curious about that gooey stuff. But wow was it bad.

Phnom Penh chicken fried rice

This is another iPhone picture, sorry it’s a little out of focus. This was some really good chicken fried rice I had in Phnom Penh. I tried one of those tiny chilis with it, and even a small slice with no seeds was really hot.

Vang Vieng schnitzel

Yes, I found schnitzel on a menu in Vang Vieng, Laos. I was already sitting in a westernized restaurant with “Friends” on the big screen, so why not go all out and order schnitzel for dinner? It was a little over-breaded and just not the same as what you’d get in Germany, but it was decent enough and it made me laugh.

Don’t forget all the interesting food I ate during the cooking classes I took in Bali and Phnom Penh!

Unfortunately I didn’t take anymore food pictures after Vang Vieng. My stomach was being a little sensitive, so I mostly ate western food or chicken fried rice for my remaining two weeks in Southeast Asia, though I really wanted to try some of the more interesting food in Hanoi. Someday I’ll get back there and try more. For now, I hope you enjoyed these pictures!

Also, I was recently interviewed on No Place To Be. Please check it out here!

While in Hanoi, the one thing I knew I had to see was the Hao Lo Prison, which was nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton. It’s where American prisoners of war were held during the Vietnam War. I will admit, I don’t know too much about the Vietnam War. Growing up, it seemed history class always made it to about the early 1900′s, maybe World War I, before the school year ended. And then we started over the next year. So I only remember learning about the Vietnam War one year, and I don’t really remember much about it.

The first section of the museum was about the period of time prior to the Americans going to Vietnam, when the Vietnamese imprisoned by the French. It told of torture, unsanitary conditions, a lack of food, and sickness suffered by those held captive. I certainly had never learned about this part of history. It was hard to take, hard to read about how the prisoners went through. Though it wasn’t exactly a full history lesson, and I’d be interested in reading about the French side of things.

The second section was about the Americans imprisoned by the Vietnamese. The story suddenly changed. Instead of reading about tortured prisoners, I was reading about American prisoners playing checkers and cards, eating hearty meals, laughing and in general having a grand ole time. I’m paraphrasing a little, but one of the signs said that despite poor economic times in Vietnam, American POW’s were given better food and living conditions than the Vietnamese were getting. Even without knowing as much about the Vietnam War as I should know, I’m willing to bet Vietnam, or any country really, would not provide BETTER conditions for prisoners that its own citizens were receiving. It just doesn’t make sense.

Lots of people have opinions about the Vietnam War and whether or not the Americans should’ve been there at all. It was odd just being in Vietnam knowing my country participated in such a controversial war there a few decades ago. Visiting the Hao Lo Prison Museum was even more strange. I never expected the signs to read “the Vietnamese tortured the Americans” but I also didn’t expect to read that the prisoners were having FUN. After this visit, I’m very interested in learning more about this period of history.

Want to see more pictures from Hanoi? Check them out on my Facebook page: Vietnam

My flight from Luang Prabang to Hanoi was already booked when I made my final decision to go home for two weeks, and I was looking forward to hanging out with Victoria, who I met in Siem Reap a few weeks earlier. I wanted to enjoy as much of Hanoi as I could, even though my heart wasn’t quite in it. After a delayed flight and spending way too much on transport from the airport, I arrived at my hotel in desperate need of a shower. Victoria was already waiting for me in the lobby, practicing her Vietnamese with the employees. Her motorbike was parked out front, but luckily when I rushed back from my shower, she said we were taking a taxi to meet her friends on Chicken Street.

chicken feet, Hanoi, Vietnam

I don’t think the official name of the street is Chicken Street, but this is apparently what everyone calls it, and for good reason. While you can certainly get other types of meat here, chicken is the most prominent. Little tables are set up on the side of the road for eating and socializing while the food is cooked nearby on a grill. No one at our table ordered chicken feet, but we did see a group of guys eating them a few feet away, and the cook always had a few on the grill.

I spent a lot of time just wandering around the city. I usually like cities, and Hanoi was no exception. It was also a welcomed change of pace after spending so much time in calm Laos and Cambodia. I loved Hoan Kiem Lake, which was right near the Old Quarter where I spent most of my time. One day while walking by the lake, I looked across the street and saw a huge Playboy bunny logo. It turns out it was a trendy clothing store.

Hanoi has a legend about a turtle returning a sword to its divine owner in Hoan Kiem Lake. As a result, there seemed to be turtles in various forms all over the city. I saw turtle statues and live turtles swimming in the fish pond at the Temple of Literature. There is a temple on a small island in the lake that has a turtle statue of a giant species that is said to still live in the lake, though to the best of my knowledge no one has seen any.

Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi, Vietnam

turtle, Temple of Literature, Hanoi, Vietnam

turtle statue, Temple of Literature, Hanoi, Vietnam

Temple of Literature, Hanoi, Vietnam

I usually love cities, and Hanoi was no exception. It’s full of energy, lots to look out when you’re walking around, interesting people to talk to on every corner. Laos was very relaxing and laid back, but I love how alive cities like Hanoi are. I didn’t get to see everything, and I decided not to make a trip out to Halong Bay, so I will be back with Andy another time.

Want to see more pictures from Hanoi? Check them out on my Facebook page: Vietnam

I’ll be honest, Luang Prabang didn’t really do it for me. It’s one of the highlights of any visit to Laos, and I did like the city, but I didn’t fall in love with it like most people seem to. Maybe five days wasn’t enough time. Maybe I had such high expectations because everyone else seemed to love this city, and I had built it up too much in my head. Maybe I was burnt out on temples. Maybe I was just burnt out in general and aching to be back home with Andy.

The bus ride from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang was amazingly beautiful and more scary than any theme park thrill ride. The mountainous journey involved twisting narrow roads that clung to the edge of a cliff with usually nothing to prevent a vehicle (like our bus) from tumbling down the side should the vehicle take a turn too quickly, swerve to avoid oncoming traffic, or just glance away from the road. A girl sitting behind me and Jo actually screamed a few times because she thought for sure we were a breath away from deforesting a few hundred meters of rural Laos with our bus. How ever frightening the trip was, the views were stunning. I gazed out the window for hours at the deep valleys and tree-covered mountains that could’ve been a Bob Ross painting. If you’re wondering why I don’t have any pictures here to show you how pretty it was, please see above. It’s hard enough to take pictures in a moving vehicle under normal circumstances, but when the roads are so windy you often end up traveling south when your destination is north, it’s really not worth even taking the camera out of the bag.

When we arrived in Luang Prabang in one piece, Jo and I got a room from a guesthouse owner who came to meet the bus, and then we had dinner with a guy we met on the bus. The next day we found a better, cleaner guesthouse which included WiFi and a shower that could be pointed away from the toilet. Finally we started to explore the city. Temples were everywhere, but as I mentioned, I was getting a little tired of seeing temples after weeks of traveling through temple-littered Southeast Asia. We walked through the night market a few times, which was interesting and enjoyable since no one harassed us to buy anything. We tried many different local restaurants for dinners but usually stuck to JoMa cafe for lunches. After traveling for weeks, it’s comforting to have a little western food, and bonus that they have free WiFi.

It was during this time that I decided to book a flight home to see Andy for two weeks. I couldn’t pull myself out of my funk and I felt like I was wasting my time on the road when I so clearly wanted to be somewhere else. Somehow I found an affordable ticket just eight days out leaving from Hanoi. After about a week of hanging out with Jo in Laos, I boarded my flight to Hanoi and she spent a few more days in Luang Prabang. Maybe I’ll have to go back some day and have a Laos do-over so I can appreciate the country when I’m in a better state of mind.

Want to see more pictures of Vientiane,Vang Vieng, and Luang Prabang? Check them out on my Facebook page: Laos

Vang Vieng, Laos

Vang Vieng is a town between Vientiane, the capital of Laos, and Luang Prabang, the culturally rich city most people come to Laos to see. Vang Vieng is known amongst backpackers for one thing: tubing. Sounds harmless, but it’s not just tubing down a river. It’s tubing down a river while stopping at makeshift bars that cling to the river’s shores. Those bars not only sell alcoholic drinks, but often mushrooms, weed, or who knows what other drugs. I’ve actually heard of a few that give you a free joint with the purchase of an alcoholic drink. Yeah, ’cause that sounds like a good idea. They also have rope swings and other things to jump off of into the river. People who are drunk and high and jumping into a not-so-deep river is not a good combination. The only other thing I’ve ever heard about this town is that you can watch episodes of “Friends” in almost any bar or restaurant. Now that’s culture. Finding nothing appealing about this town, I swore I wouldn’t go there. After taking a shuttle back to Pakse from the 4,000 Islands, I had a few hours to kill before my flight to Vientiane. I wandered around to look for food and ended up hanging out with three backpackers I met on the street, one from Australia, one from Scotland, one from England. The three guys had met a few weeks earlier and had been traveling together ever since, and they made for entertaining dining companions for a late lunch. Finally I had to leave and found a tuk-tuk to take me to the airport. Unfortunately when I got to the airport, they told me the flight was delayed. Short delays aren’t so bad, especially in normal airports, but this turned into a four and a half hour delay. Aside from that, the Pakse airport is barely even an airport. There’s one check-in desk, one gate, one security screening conveyor belt, and one run-down restaurant.

I set up my laptop in the restaurant, opened a document (you didn’t think there was WiFi there, did you?) and started writing to pass the time. Since I was sitting in a folding chair at a folding table, “restaurant” might be a bit strong of a word. As I sat there writing, I saw something out of the corner of my eye quickly darting by. I almost jumped out of my chair when I realized it was a rat. Or maybe a mouse. It was too quick for me to know for sure. But three or four of them kept running back and forth the whole time I was in there. I’m very glad I never thought to eat in that restaurant. Finally we boarded and I spent the hour flight talking to a 65 year old Italian-Canadian who had recently married a much younger Lao woman. I arrived in Vientiane hungry and exhausted just after midnight, and I was miserable.

kind of all I saw in Vientiane, Laos since I was only there for about 12 hours

I wasn’t expecting much from my hotel, but in my current state of mind it seemed more awful that it really was. I woke up the next morning desperate to not be alone, and luckily I met Jo from Australia at breakfast. She was traveling by herself for a few weeks, and we decided to go to a cafe for some better food than what the hotel provided. I quickly learned that she was around my age and had booked herself on a bus that afternoon to go to Vang Vieng. “I might float down the river in a tube, but I plan on doing it sober. I just want to break up the trip from here to Luang Prabang.” Perfect. I couldn’t take being on my own, and I quickly asked if she wanted some company. Suddenly I was booking a bus ticket to the one place I had no intention of visiting.

Vang Vieng, Laos

It turns out Vang Vieng is set in some really gorgeous mountains. I think some people actually do go there for hiking, rock climbing, and other outdoorsy stuff, but you don’t hear about that. What I had heard about the cafes playing “Friends” was totally true. You could actually pick a restaurant based on which season you wanted to watch instead of what you wanted to eat. Jo and I did go tubing, completely sober, and it was gorgeous. We got our tubes at 11:30am which meant we beat the crowds of people aiming to get drunk. Later that day, we talked to people who were only a half hour behind us, and they told us stories of girls drunk and high on mushrooms passing out in the river. People actually die here sometimes due to this kind of stupidity, but no one that day that I heard.

does this look safe to you?

tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos

Tubing turned out to be incredibly relaxing. The dinner with a string of “Friends” ended up being oddly comforting. For a couple days at least, I was feeling like myself again.

almost empty plane to Pakse, Laos

After seeing Angkor Wat and spending six fun nights in Siem Reap, I went to the airport to fly to Pakse, Laos. Most people would probably go overland, but I was already sick of long bus trips, and the visa on arrival just seemed like an easier option for me. When I booked the flight, there was a morning and an afternoon option. Always one to sleep in, I chose the afternoon flight. It turns out most people take the morning flight because it continues on, whereas the afternoon flight does not. So I ended up being one of two passengers. It was one of the oddest flights ever. Luckily the other passenger was an interesting traveler from Australia, so I enjoyed talking to him for our one hour flight. The taxi drivers at the Pakse Airport joked that we must be rich to have our own personal plane take us there.

view from my bungalow of the Mekong River, 4000 Islands, Laos

the Carebears curtains & Snoopy blanket in my bungalow

My only reason for flying into Pakse in southern Laos was to get to the 4,000 Islands, which are in the Mekong River. It’s more remote than northern Laos and supposed to be beautiful. The most popular are Don Khon and Don Det. I decided to go to Don Khon because it’s known as the quieter of the two, and I wasn’t up for a party island. It turns out even the party island of Don Det is still really relaxed and laid back. I ended up hanging out with a lot of couples and people traveling in pairs, so maybe Don Det would’ve been better for meeting other solo travelers, but who knows. I didn’t do too much while I was there. You can take a boat trip to see the rare and almost extinct Irrawaddy dolphins, but the couple staying in the bungalow next to me said it was a huge letdown, so I didn’t bother. I spent most of my time reading, catching up on my blog, walking around the island, watching the river flow, and thinking. Lots of thinking.

this little girl was so excited to see her picture on my camera

As gorgeous as it was there, it’s when I really started feeling lonely. It’s when I started asking myself why I was on this trip. Traveling by myself was great when I was single, but now with Andy waiting for me at home, it wasn’t so much fun anymore. I wanted to be traveling with him, not on my own. I relaxed during the day and had dinner almost every night with other travelers I met on the island, oddly almost all from Switzerland, and it was definitely enjoyable, but it wasn’t enough to pull me out of my funk. It was the start of my trying to like Laos since everyone speaks so highly of this serene country, but I never did really absorb as much as I had hoped. As nice as the relaxing atmosphere was, I probably needed more action to keep my mind off of missing Andy. But I tried to make the best of my four days in the 4,000 Islands and took lots of pictures of one of my favorite things, the sunset.

Mekong sunset, 4000 Islands

Mekong sunset, 4000 Islands

Want to see more pictures from the 4000 Islands? Check them out on my Facebook page: Laos