Halong Bay Birthday

Well, it's official. On June 17th, I turned the big 3-0. I'd like to think that as I write this I am a little wiser than I was 4 days ago but I doubt that's the case. :)

To celebrate the occasion, Meg and I decided to go to Halong Bay in Vietnam, a Unesco World Heritage Site. I've been itching to get out on the water and a cruise through beautiful Halong Bay sounded perfect.

We flew into Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, on Sunday morning and went straight to our hotel, located in the Old Quarter of the city. I never thought I'd experience traffic as insane as Bangkok or Jakarta but Hanoi is the winner, hands down. Particularly, the Old Quarter is a pedestrian's worst nightmare, with it's narrow, winding streets, the millions of motorbikes wizzing by makes crossing the road seem like an episode of Fear Factor (except Hanoi is much more dangerous). As if the sheer amount of traffic wasn't bad enough, there don't seem to be any traffic laws. Yes, there is the occasional street sign or, less frequently, traffic light, but no one obeys them. Heck, from what we observed, quite often people have difficulty agreeing which side of the road to drive on. It is a tangled mass of weaving traffic with relentless beeping to basically say "heads up, I'm coming through" - a fruitless activity considering everyone is doing the same. Yet, despite the madness, somehow the Vietnamese have it figured out.

We spent our first day in Hanoi exploring this insanity, making our way to Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son Temple, and exploring the numerous small shops throughout the Old Quarter. One thing we noticed right away was the aggressive way you're approached by street vendors. Whatever they're selling, they don't take no for an answer, following us for a block or two. And despite our polite refusals, they'd often walked away muttering under their breath and glaring. One woman selling bananas forced her traditional Vietnamese hat and goods onto Meg for a photo op - after which she demanded money, of course. By this time, we were looking forward to getting out of the city.

The next day, we were off to Halong Bay. We boarded a junk ship (meaning a ship of Chinese design, not a piece of crap boat) in Halong City and began our tour of the bay. There's little I can say to describe the splendor of the thousands of limestone karsts and islands. Words and pictures don't do them justice. We stopped at one of the islands to explore some caves and then went for a swim. My favorite part was when we dropped anchor for the evening and were jumping from the 3 story junk into the refreshing waters.





We awoke Tuesday morning with a spectacular view from our cabin. What a way to wake up on my 30th birthday! We spent the entire day kayaking and swimming. It was fantastic! That evening, we arrived at Cat Ba Island, where we stayed for 2 nights at Sunrise Resort. The surf on the beach was awesome and I spent most of my time bodysurfing. Meg gave it a shot but her bikini wasn't exactly built for it and she ended up mooning every Vietnamese on the beach. I was in tears with laughter as wave after wave kept knocking her over.





By Thursday afternoon, we were off to Hanoi once again. We dined at a gourmet Vietnamese restaurant called Wild Rice for supper. I love Vietnamese food and this place was a real treat. Our last day in Vietnam was spent exploring the city, sampling the local cuisine, and touring around in a rickshaw. We stopped by the Temple of Literature which was dedicated in honour of Confucius in 1070!

Halong Bay was definitely the highlight of the trip for us. While Hanoi is interesting, I think it can only be enjoyed in small doses, then it just gets overwhelming. We wish we could have seen more of the country-side, as the little we did see is gorgeous - perhaps a return trip is in order. :)

For more pictures of our trip, check them out here.

Chiang Mai Rescue

As Meg wrote in the last post, after being admitted to the Chiang Mai hospital upon coming down with a nasty bacterial infection, I flew in Wednesday morning to take care of her. Originally, the plan had been for me to fly in Friday night so we could spend Meg's birthday weekend in Chiang Mai. However, since she was incredibly sick and all alone, I went as soon as possible. After resting for a couple of days, she was released from the hospital but still not feeling particularly well so we decided to check into a hotel so she could rest further. Her birthday on Friday was a quiet one, with Meg venturing out just long enough for a birthday supper.

By Saturday, our friends Tui and Bryan were both in town and had rented a car. Since Meg was still recovering and there was no way she'd be able to do the adventure tour we'd originally planned, the four of us decided to drive around and check out a few sites. We drove southwest for an hour to the small town of Chom Throng where we had a peaceful lunch beside a beautiful lake. From there we began the long climb through the mountains until we reached the summit of Doi Inthanon which is the highest point in Thailand, at 2565m above sea level. Thankfully, we were able to drive to the very top - no walking was required. :)



This time of year, a mist blankets the mountains so we couldn't see much of the surrounding area but the jungle was amazing! We got some great pictures which you can check out here.



By Sunday, Meg was feeling much better so we decided to head to a temple located on a mountain near Chiang Mai, called Doi Suthep. The drive to the summit was spectacular, with great views of the city but once at the top it was difficult to see much through the mist. The last leg to the top involved a 300 step climb - and no, I did not carry Meg. :)



So, despite Meg's unexpected illness, we still managed to enjoy ourselves in Chiang Mai and Meg had a great birthday. We flew back to Bangkok on Sunday evening and Meg is almost completely recovered.

Sick in Chiang Mai

As many of you heard, Sean and I had this last week planned out perfectly. First, I would spend 8 days in the Northern cities of Nan, Lampang and Chiang Mai helping out with a Phu Phiang tour. Then Sean would meet me in Chiang Mai on Friday night, June 6 (my birthday!) and we would have a fun and relaxing weekend complete with an elephant riding/mountain biking/river rafting adventure!

But the plans changed halfway through my trip when I became violently ill in Lampang! I stayed in bed all morning while the group went to an elephant conservation center, hoping I'd be feeling better after some rest and some Advil. The first few days of the tour had been intense and I was in desperate need of sleep. But by noon it was clear that this wasn't just lack of sleep - I could hardly stand up, couldn't eat anything, and could hardly bear to stand out in the heat while waiting for the driver to come back and pick me up. The plan was to at least get me to Chiang Mai where the facilities are much more modern, so that I could settle down, rest some more and see how I was feeling. A few people felt that I should rush off to the hospital, but I was convinced I just had the flu.

An hour by van (the longest hour of my life) and we were in Chiang Mai. Shortly after, my fellow travelers made me realize that I really needed to see a doctor. So off I went to the hospital. The gravity of the situation hit me when the doctor looked concerned and told me that I would need to be tested for Malaria and Dengue Fever! That's when I got scared!!!!

While waiting for the test results to come back, I had to be collected by a nurse and put into a bed because I was shaking so badly - they wrapped me in blankets and tried to keep me warm while I waited :) Thankfully, an hour later I got good news - not Malaria and not Dengue Fever. Whew! Just a nasty bacterial infection in my blood stream. Hey, after thinking about Malaria anything would have sounded better ;)

Unfortunately the doctor felt that I should be admitted, hooked up to an IV, and watched for a few days. Not sure if I would have had the same treatment in Canada, but I felt horrible and didn't put up a fight. They wheeled me up to my room and hooked me up (possibly the most painful thing EVER!). Of course, this whole time I had been calling Sean with updates. It was getting late by now and we were trying to work out what to do - he already had a non-refundable ticket booked for Friday. But thankfully, he managed to get on a plane at 6am to come and rescue me! I'd never even been in a Canadian hospital before, let alone all by myself in a Thai hospital!

Late the second day I really started to feel better and thankfully, they discharged me the following day. Two days and nights in a hospital with nothing to do and an IV to drag around everywhere was not fun. The good news was I was getting better and there were no major problems. The bad news? No elephant riding/mountain biking/river rafting adventure :(

Of course, in all the madness Sean still managed to find a photo opportunity! Here's me on the second day when I was feeling much better (the hospital was set up with wireless Internet everywhere! Yay for that!).


In the end it was a scary experience but all is well and good now. I still had a wonderful birthday and was happy to spend a few relaxing days in Chiang Mai :) More stories from our weekend to come...