exhausted but happy i get myself together to return to the US. on my last night in Asia i go to see a Chinese fortune teller.

Shenzhen, just north of Hong Kong, is the place where Foxconn has gotten publicity for the horrible working conditions in it's factories and that is where i land. it's dorm houses 500,000 migrant workers. talk about immense - the dorms alone houses more people than in most American towns. it is raining so it is not a good ferry day and instead i opt for the bus.


in line at the border crossing from China to Hong Kong i meet an American living in Shanghai. he is married to an Australian and they have two small children. he is doing some type of visa run. he gets pulled aside as we get to the immigration desk and i breeze past.
 
travelers get nervous at new border crossings. traveling independently we have to find the border, face the border guards, cross the nomans land inbetween, face new border guards and negotiate the gauntlet of potential scams all without the buffer of a packaged tour. we thrive on this. overland crossing of borders is like a rite of passage and the more remote the more esteem conferred on the traveling party.

when the American gets back on the bus he sits next to me and admits he is starved for some american talk. perfect. i hit him with questions and he talks nonstop for about 45 minutes giving me China 101 on the culture [or lack thereof], the education system [focused on rote memorization not critical thinking skills], healthcare [they take care of their sick], perception of westerners [not good] and on becoming a world power [he's happy to get paid in RMB]. lastly, i ask him if he thinks Chinese people will embrace western culture as they become a leading global power or if westerners will embrace Chinese culture. he thinks about this for a moment and responds that every major city in the world already has a China Town but there aren't any 'West Town' in Chinese cities.

there is a downpour that does not seem to want to end. two weeks ago in Hoi An I made a delivery of items i no longer need for homeless kids. a nalgene bottle, the black shirt Marti gave me, books and my umbrella. this storm is socked in and i have just crossed a boder, here's list of my immediately need to do. in the rain, go find a money changer or an ATM, get enough cash for lunch and an umbrella, sit someplace i can dry out and assess the area. i am up beat but no one enjoys dragging around bags looking for a hotel in the rain.
 
here in Shenzhen i see Starbucks for the first time since leaving Chang Mai, Thailand.

i do a good job

i only have a few days in China before i need to jump a flight to take me over towards Hong Kong. i feel the people are curious about Westerners and with the country moving away from isolation i am interested to see how the culture changes. there is a lot more English than i was expecting. a small girl about four years old walking next to me tells me ' i do a good job' with an emphatic hand pump. i smile because she is adorable and because this is a sterotype of China worker mentality.

the constant spitting i could do without but the one cultural difference that drives me crazy is that they are constantly telling you that you are wrong over stupid stuff.  in the hotel girl insists that she gave me the voucher for breakfast but i know she did not.  at the ticket counter in the airport they say the flight number i give them is not correct but when i get my boarding pass the flight number i gave them is printed on it. it is more than a language barrier and long term has to be debilitating.

i meet some high school kids from Oklahoma and ask them about the highlight of their trip. their eyes light up, they get really animated and tell me about how the teacher they are traveling with took them to a store where they could buy pirated dvds. also, they are excited to because Kunming has 3 KFCs. on the food i agree with them because it is all quite flavorless. i think how proud the parents will be and how glad they spent the money on a China trip when the kids tell them about the highlights.

having been warned repeatedly about the food in China i have brought my friend, the laughing cow, along with a stash of nuts and a few apples from Vietnam.  the cow is getting a lot of people through SE Asia.

i keep checking access to my blog hoping that China will magically give me access but they don't. when i was trying to get onto facebook in Vietnam i did a Google search on getting access and found that the best way was to set up a vpn. since i was not planning on staying very long i decided not to take the time to set it up. to facebook or not is a ongoing discussion among travelers. when you are traveling and every day you search out food in a new city, find a new place to sleep, if you are lucky work and talk alongside the locals and each experience is extraordinary the content you see posted on facebook becomes so irrelevant and meaningless that most travelers get disgusted with it.

it's Saturday morning in the US so that means Skype time with my brother. i try to elicit some pity because i am down to my last few days before leaving for the US but this backfires and i get no sympathy.  we are talking about getting to Hong Kong from China i mumble something about expats, visa run and a free shuttle to the ferry.  in fact, i briefly read something on the internet but really have no idea what i am talking about and my own indifference to logistics shocks even me.

goodbye lonely planet

the hotel in Sapa makes me an early breakfast and walks me up to the car [there is road construction so there is not access to the hotel] they arranged to take me to the Vietnam border at Lao Cai. the border crossing is easy enough then the fun starts. i find the bus station but no chance they are taking dollars or want my leftover Vietnamese dong. no bank or atm that i can identify and i end up getting my fresh cash from a black marketer on the street corner. we haggle a bit and i know it isn't a good rate but i need 143 yuan FAST to get back to the station for the bus to Kunming or i will be waiting 4 hours for the next bus in a very hot, very dirty bus station.

this is a rarely used border crossing for westerners so i am thrilled to see a western couple and then i am approached by a girl from Taiwan who speaks mandarin. BINGO this is like hitting the lottery so i know all those extra prayers mom is says must be working. or maybe it's the lucky coin i got from the fortune teller. or the blessing from the shaman. or is it?

the bus makes a toilet stop and it is like nothing i have seen or smelt since i have been in SE Asia. i see this billboard and think i have seen nothing to indicate that todlers or even adults here use any type of container to relieve themselves.   you would think that i would be used to bad toilets by now but this is a whole new level. also, the girl next to me on the bus is vomiting alot but that i have become used to that for the most part.

during one of the bus stops [it is an 9 hour ride] the Taiwanese girl asks me if i know of a cheap hostel in Kunming. i am thinking that she wants to stay there so i say the other westerners have a good recommendation for a $3US hostel. she asks if i will follow them and i say no. then she says she is very concerned about my traveling without any of the local language because no one will speak English to me. i tell her i have been traveling for months and i am sure i will get by.

later sitting alone on the bus with my ipod the doubt starts to set in. my first day in china. what if i can't make anyone understand me? what if i can't find a hotel? what if something happens that i am not prepared for? what if there is a danger my mind can not even think of? what if? what if? when i get into Kunming i get around with zero problem. i am so pissed at myself. it makes me want to cry that i let some random traveler project her fears onto me after all this time.  i vow to never let this happen again whether i am traveling or not.

 

the ride from the border to Kunming takes us through the Stone Forest.  created 60 million years ago when the Himalayas shrugged, the 'forest' resembles a vast ghostly city looming out of the landscape. 

last stop vietnam

really rough morning. arrived at the train station with no warning at 4:30AM. touts banging on our door trying to sell us minivan tickets into Sapa. by the time we get into a hotel in Sapa it is 7AM.  i get online and several people skype me as i have been out of touch for about a week.  i am in a really bad mood.  i am in a remote area of Vietnam with only 3 days left on my visa and no good plan on how to get overland through China to Hong Kong in the time frame i need for my return flight to the US. i am very cranky that i have to leave and i warn everyone i am talking to of my bad mood.

Sapa is postcard beautiful. a lush valley surrounded by slopes of tiered rice paddies and small villages of ethnic minority hill tribes with rich cultural traditions completely different from the Vietnamese.

 it is an oasis in the chaos that is Vietnam and made even better because i spend a few days with a really great couple from Belfast who shared their train berth with me.  one day we hire bikes and a guide [to drive mine] and cruise around to caves, villages and a waterfall.  the Hmong women at the caves smell cash and swarm all over Nicky and Michael.  our guide is a wealth of information and we quiz him about the culture and customs of the tribes.  he warns the women of some tribe have magic herbs which can make a man fall in love with the women.     

fellow travelers are giving me a tough time about leaving for China without a lonely planet guide. in Cambodia and Vietnam there is a micro industry of copying books and selling them cheap. so you can get a lonely planet copy for $1US - $3US. i have a whole list of excuses for them like i am too cheap or it is too heavy [lp china is 3 inches thick] or Chinese border officials are quite likely to take away a LP China and they have good solutions for every excuse. the truth is i am tired of relying on LP. i want to see if i can run the gauntlet of scams and the language barrier on my own plus i have the words Nick had written down for me.

i desperately need to know as this trip comes to an end that i have pushed myself outside my comfort zone and been open to experiences that come along instead of manufacturing them or relying on the experience of a LP writer.

throughout this trip i have used my instincts to guide me and it has served me well so i think i can rely on this to get me to Hong Kong. although when it's 1AM and i am still trying to book a flight from Kunming to Shenzhen i am cussing China before i even get there. i end up paying an extra $50US to book via Expedia because the websites for the Chinese airlines don't take credit cards. i am still pissed about the inflated price of Chinese visas for Americans and so if i hadn't paid for the visa i would skip China.

limestone and liquor

one reason i always wanted to visit Vietnam was Halong Bay.  so i have been looking forward to this location for the whole of my trip.  i'm the first on the mini bus when it comes around to pick up guests and the next stop is at the hotel where my friends from dinner the night before are staying. i see them coming out and wave hello.

the bus on the 3.5 hour ride to Halong Bay to get the Junk makes a stop at the obligatory ceramic factory and while there i am happy to run into the two young European girls from Hue. they have had an equally bad night bus to Hanoi and said a rock was thrown at their bus shattering the glass and cutting someone's eye quite badly. this explains why there are so many blown out windows on the buses. they have joined up with a large group of young westerners for the Halong Bay trip so i hope their trip will improve with the added buffer.

the port is chaotic but our guide is orderly so we get onto the tender and out to our boat with a minimum of hassle and we are off to the tour the bay. the first day we cruise around, climb through some caves, kayak around some of the formations and chat with some of the other tourists and travelers on the boat.

the second day we move away from the other boats and into a private cove where we kayak around the formations and through caves. we take our time, enjoy the isolation and magic of the area jumping off the boat to cool off when we get too hot. happy hour and dinner and i tumble tired and happy into bed. this has been a wonderful tour in part because the boat is great and in part because this group of people is tons of fun. Halong Bay has been the highlight of Vietnam.

two of the couples from the boat are heading to Sapa on the night train.  i really want to go to Sapa but know should be heading instead up to China from Hanoi. the couple from the UK solve my dilemma when they offer me a bed in their sleeper so i am off to Sapa.

i also meet two Americans one of which is fluent in Chinese languages. i ask him and he agrees to write me out a list of words that i can use in China as i plan to do it without a travel guide.

oh Ho

i arrived on the night bus from Hue. it was the worst of the bus rides i think because this driver was really bad. there are two drivers for the night bus and when we get pulled over by the 'traffic wardens' there is a quick change of drivers so i suspect one may not be correctly licensed. you know when you are getting close to the end of the trip when the drivers let the hotel touts onto the bus. the bus stop is again some random intersection surrounded by taxi and hotel touts. there are two good ways to deal with them. the first is let all the other westerners get off first then sneak around the back. the second is to jump off first and move quickly down the street because they are mostly too lazy to follow you and wait for an easier target behind you.

i find a cafe in the old quarter and leave my bag for a couple of hours while i explore Hanoi, look for a hotel and book a trip to Halong Bay for the next day. i beeline it to the mausoleum where the body of Ho Chi Minh is on display. he is a national hero similar to Che. this is a must do in Hanoi because the whole experience is surreal. first off, i am really lucky because Uncle Ho's body is here. for two months every year [October and November] he is shipped off to Russia for 'maintenance'. the list of rules about walking through the mausoleum is long and strictly enforced. i see the guards pulling random visitors from the line and making them empty their pockets and they are not kind. this is after a TSA style security check where all electronics must be checked at a desk. i just avoid all eye contact and walk as slowly as possible [the guards push you if you stop or walk too slowly or put your hands in your pockets or talk or laugh] so i can enjoy the air conditioning. mostly i just feel sorry for the guy who lived a humble life and is now pumped full of something and left on display. 

as i leave the museum at the complex i'm approached by this tiny Vietnamese woman who asks me to help her with her English.  we talk for about 10 minutes and she has a gazzillion questions for me and i wait for a product pitch but it never comes.  other travelers have similar stories and it makes for a great experience and an opportunity to ask questions about the culture and their families.  i ask about the disparity in response to Westerners and she tells me the people are cranky because it is so hot but i'm not buying it.

there are no tuk-tuks in Vietnam but the taxis are metered so it is not required to negotiate the cost up front. however, when i grab a taxi from the mausoleum complex i get a block and see the taxi driver has started the meter at 100,000 dong [$5] instead of 10,000 [50 cents] and i tell him to reset it or pull over. this doesn't end well for him. i get out against his protests and i am in front of the Dutch embassy. the guards don't speak English but i gesture wildly and the taxi leaves. i hope all fraudulent taxi drivers burn in hell for all eternity.  really. 

lunch at KOTO [know one teach one]. i am such a sucker for these NGO's that are doing such great work to get the kids off the street. again the food is fantastic and staff eager to create a good experience for the patrons. this one holds the distinction that Bill Clinton has been a visitor.

there is a feeling among some travelers that the lonely planet writers are fear mongers because the guides are constantly warning about all the ways you will get scammed.  after the bad taxi i become frozen by the fear of being ripped off and it makes for a bad afternoon of hunting Hanoi in the heat of the afternoon for a decent hotel and tour office to book a trip to Halong Bay.  hang in there with me for just a minute as the day turns out quite good. 

i get my admin [that's what we call our travel booking, laundry, blogging, email, skype or other chores] done and head over the Tamarind Cafe for dinner.  here i have dinner with two Australians and two Kiwis and we laugh and swap travel stories late into the evening.  the Australians are also booked for a Halong Bay trip and it sounds like we may be on the same boat but there are so many boats that we can't be sure.  off to bed for a good night sleep with just a little bit of trepidation about the quality of the boat and tour of Halong Bay.

my short lived love affair with Vietnam has ended in Hue.  every day i wake up and say today is a new day and i must give Vietnam a good chance but here is the first time i feel like i really want to go back to the US.  it is a wildly huge pendulum swing between the people who are interested in westerners and the indifference and offensiveness of others.   i take an early bus to Hue and spend a very hot.. 98 degrees afternoon visiting the Imperial City.  it is huge - like 2 kilometers by 2 kilometers - i walk the whole city and end up 'off the beaten track'.  i am clearly not in a good area and there are no taxis because they are only outside the imperial city.  no one speaks English but asking for a taxi works and along the way they keep pointing me in the direction that i need to go.  after the 1000 year old ruins of the Khmer Empire in Cambodia the imperial city is unimpressive.  mostly it has been bombed to bits [that is quite the theme here] and not so lovingly restored if at all.   when i do get to a taxi i ask to go to one of the best hotels in Hue the Saigon Hotel so i can get a salad and a glass of wine.  i find 5 star prices but poorly executed western food.

the tombs outside the city are good and i get an early motorbike hoping to miss the crowds but they have the same idea.  in Cambodia the ruins rise from the forest in a majestic way that takes your breath away when you see them.  here in Hue i keep looking for some elegant remnantt of the Nhgyen dynasty but find only a shadow of some former glory.  if you have been to asia or seen video of the aggressive motocyclists then you can imagine what my day was like.   this is the only motorcycle i have hired so far that i did not like - i guess i should have known when he put on the gloves.  travelers are polarized on Hue and i vote this is a good spot to skip.

i plan to take the night bus to Hanoi and two younger europeans girls at my hotel are planning the same so we share a taxi which drops us at the side of the road and we wait with a bunch of locals.  we are travel chatting and they are trying to get quickly to Laos.  i tell them it's quite different and they perk up immediately.  they also have not enjoyed Vietnam and i am relieved to hear i am not the only one.  when the bus pulls up i get on because i just have a daypack but the girls wait to store their packs underneath and don't get a seat!!  so again i am sitting on bus waving goodbye to fellow travelers screwed by the bus agents.  such is SE Asia but DON'T feel sorry for me because i could easily travel by plane between the locations here.  it costs a tiny bit more to fly, is faster and more comfortable, but i choose to do Vietnam overland. 

china beach

when i am sitting in a bus or a plane every time i look at my watch it is about two minutes from the last time i looked. when i am sitting on the beach every time i check my watch thirty or forty minutes have gone by. why does time go faster on the beach?


finally i have found a spot in Vietnam that i like. Hoi An is a smaller city with a historic old town that is well preserved and easily explored by bike. the beach is a 15 minute bike ride away. it is another UNESCO site that has been flooded with money. i am wandering the town and stumble across a restaurant called the Secret Garden and when i go for dinner the next night it is a little slice of heaven. i have become a bit wary of the food since i left Thailand and find myself eating more fried stuff instead of fresh local produce and my body is feeling the effects of a greasy diet. Ricardo, an expat and one of the owners, makes a recommendation to me on a local dish they prepare fresh and then invites me to see how it is prepared. wine glass in hand i sit down for a mini Vietnamese cooking class.

i get up at 5AM to go to My Son which is a 1000 year old ruin.  there isn't a tour bus in site and i really enjoy wandering around.  later i met a partner of Bazar, a restaurant in Hoi An, Fredrico who is an arechologist working on the site.  he told me it's quite dangerous to wander around the ruins because of the UXO.  i think it woud be quite ironic given all the concerns about my safety from family and friends if i ended up getting blown up by an american bomb.

here in Hoi An i find quite a few NGOs operating restaurants and shops and i appreciate the opportunity to give back in a responsible way. at a place called Streets the manager asks me how he can better market the restaurant and i give him marketing 101 on social media.

everyone who knows me well knows i can hike for 8 hours non stop but put me in a shopping mall and in 10 minutes i am exhausted and my feet hurt. so it has come as a great surprise that i have really enjoyed having clothes made here. i hope they turn out well.  i give up on going to the shop where there is no air conditioning and the lights are only on half the time.  instead i invite my tailor to my hotel where i usually have both lights and ac.

i meet so many wonderful people here and every day and night is filled with fun. several months ago they started planned power outages so every other day the power is out across town. talk about inconvenient! most hotels compensate by using generators but cut a/c and other services.   the place i am staying has a pool so it quite nice to cool off there. when asked the reason, the finger is being pointed to the northern friend [China] who is controlling the water flow on the river where power is generated. did i just blog about how China was going to do this exact thing in Laos?

night bus in Vietnam

i get booted off the first bus because it was overbooked.  i have the seat already so i make them pay me $5US and they put me on another bus a half hour later.  it seems there is all this yelling and conflict constantly between the Vietnamese.  once the bus is moving i wrap myself up in a sarong and go to sleep.  because of the bus change i end up at the wrong spot in Nha Trang.  i take a cab over the travel agency and tell them to pay for the cab.  they don't want to [and it's only a $1US] but i do not back down and they take care of it.  i leave my bag in storage there for the day and head to the beach.

i arrange for a boat trip out to the islands a bit of snorkeling.  the masks are really bad but i love to snorkel and so i jump in even though there are jet skis and boats zipping along and a thin coating of gas covering the whole area.  it is the high season for Vietnamese travelers because the kids are just out of school.  the whole day has a very carnival like atmosphere. 

it reminds me of the boardwalks on the beach in New Jersey. the boat is mostly Vietnamese and when the boat stops for swiming the few westerners strip down to swimsuits in 2 seconds flat and jump in. the Vietnamese don't go swiming and they remain covered from head to toe in clothes.  after the third stop the motion catches up with them and like a wave across the whole boat they all start vomiting.  meanwhile the crew transforms the table into a platform for thier boy band - complete with guitar, drums and front man.  let's just say i do not think they would make it past Simon on American Idol.

i only have the one day here as i am getting another night bus to Hoi An in the evening.  what i have seen of Nha Trang is not impressive and i hope there is more to Vietnam than the dissappointment it has been thus far.

i am on the open tour bus which means i can jump on/off the bus at any location and it is $36US from Saigon to Hanoi which sounds like a deal to me.  it works out to just over .50US per hour.  i booked with TM Brother, however, every time i am asked by a local which ticket i am on they screw up thier faces terribly and say Sinh Cafe is the best open bus ticket.  thanks lonely planet!!