Drinking, Dumping, and Dieing in the Ganges

Hey there,

The morning after the bombings we trained to Varanasi. We were six hours away from experiencing the "craziest" place in all of India. Varanasi is located on the Ganges River and is one of the holiest cities in all of India. Ghats (stairways) line the river and are the main tourist attraction. There are three major types of ghats: bathing ghats, cloth washing ghats, and of course the burning ghats. Varanasi was really a perfect place to start our India adventure!!!

I felt like I was in a dream walking along the ghats. From our hostel we walked one minute towards the river. I was taking pictures when an Indian man started yelling at me to put my camera away. I quickly realized when I saw the fires that we were at one of the burning ghats. Indians from all over the country come to be burned in Varanasi. I watched the ritual for over an hour in amazement. 200-300 bodies are burned every day. 24 hours a day, sometimes even more...

While burning bodies aren't something you see everyday, this city gets even crazier. For those of you who enjoy some quality people watching Varanasi is the place to be. 100 meters away from the burning ghat, hundreds of Indians are bathing, drinking, and brushing their teeth in the river. This is the same water that workers are shoving human ashes into every second. All the sewage in the city flows directly into the water. Dead babies and lepers are sunk with stones in the middle of the water (because they can't be burned). And trash lines the entire perimeter of the river. I'm positive if I even stuck my toe in this water it would fall off within minutes. It's funny, because everyone uses lonely planet and shares the same facts from their reading. The most commonly quoted fact from the guidebook is as follows: "There are 1.5 million fecal coliforms per mL in the Ganges. The safe amount for bathing is 500 fecal coliforms per mL."

One of the easiest (and most creative) scams to fall for near the ghats is the "handshake." An Indian comes up to you and holds out his hand. When you grab his hand you are instantly put in an Iron grip and the tout starts massaging. It actually feels pretty nice, but soon after he will charge you for his service. It's pretty funny watching them go from tourist to tourist.

I've decided the time spent outside in Varanasi is directly proportional to the amount of strange stuff you see. For example, one afternoon we were hanging out at one of the ghats and a cow starts pissing all over a guys sandals for about a minute. Soon after, the man put his sandal back on without hesitation and continued his conversation with the man next to him... I think he may have actually been quite happy about his good luck.

After 3 days of walking around the ghats, eating street food, getting stomach aches, and seeing weird stuff we were ready to head to our next destination: Agra and the Taj!

More posts coming soon,
Sam

ENTER INDIA

Hey Everyone,

Our India adventure started on November 26th from the Sunali border. The ride to the border was a thrill in itself. We saw a bus that had rolled off the same cliff our driver raced around seconds before. Soon after, our tire blew out delaying us for an hour or so. Then we passed a smoking truck on its side. When we made finally made it to the border we ran into another minor problem. The one extra day in Pokara eating steak cost us $33 (for a 1-day expired visa) and an hour of hassle before the officers would let us leave their country.

The second we crossed the line from Nepal into India I knew there was something that I loved about the country. I'm just can't quite put in words what it is. Perhaps this feeling has something to with the non-stop chaos I'm so unaccustomed to. Cows roamed everywhere, horns honked without reason, people crowded the roads, beggars grabbed my arms, and the combination of incense and poop made me nauseous.

Instead of taking a car to the train station in Gorokpor like the typical westerner we opted to save a few dollars by taking the local bus for 3 hours. We counted 52 Indian people (and us) packed into the 26 person bus. I was crammed against the window on my left with Ari squeezed against me on the right. Ari had it worse... Not only did Ari get constantly elbowed in the head, but he had an obese Indian lady straddling his right thigh...

MY FIRST NIGHT IN INDIA

When we arrived at Gorokpor train station that night, we were too pooped to try to find a night train to Varanasi, our first destination. Instead we stayed across the street at Hotel Elora (arguably the worst hotel of all time). I had to wear shoes inside our room, because the floor was so dirty. I woke up to the sounds of banging on doors in the middle of night. I didn't think much of the obnoxious sound and tried to go back to sleep. I was initially more concerned with the twenty fresh bug bites I had acquired in my sleep and the buzzing mosquitoes around my head. The rapping continued and kept moving closer and becoming louder. It was 1 am. Ari and I were now wide awake and turned on the TV. Every station had the same breaking news: Bombings in Bombay. Our minds started to churn a little bit and before we had time to put the puzzle pieces together the knocking started on our door... No voices, just knocking. I didn't even think to get up to get the door. With a hard knock our deadbolt popped out of place and the door swung open. There were several policeman and our hotel manager standing in the doorway. "Routine police check, go back to sleep." There were other tourists standing outside the door irritated and asking "what the problem is." We asked the manager if this check had to do with what we were seeing on TV and he answered "yes." The knocking continued for another 30 minutes, and eventually I managed to go back to sleep. Strange first night...

We made it to Annapurna Base Camp!

Hello Everyone,

We made it back from the 10 day Annapurna Sanctuary trek safe, sound, and a little out of breath... After spending over a month in SE Asia doing almost no physical activity walking uphill six hours a day was a very rude awakening to how out of shape I "was." I'm in a little better shape now, but I promise it won't last for long...

The combination of being overly excited about a new country and being silly young travelers put us in a vulnerable position upon arrival at "Hotel Encounter Nepal" in Kathmandu. Before we had even unpacked, we were talked into buying an all inclusive trekking package by Ram (Rambo) the hotel manager. The package was supposed to include an excellent guide, as much food as we could eat, and all our transportation from Kathmandu to India. Sounded great... In reality it included a drunk guide named Prem, one serving of food for each meal, and overpriced bus tickets. We failed to see through the generous helpings of Nepali tea, the perfect English and the dapper suit/tie combination of the hotel manager in Kathmandu...

When we started trekking it only took us moment to realize two things: that a guide was not at all necessary and that our guide was not so nice to say the least. Almost all youngsters were traveling without guides except us. After four days of trying to find some positive qualities in our guide, we gave up. He told us we were moving too slow, lied to us, and stole some of our budget. The straw that broke the camels back is when he told us "You are stupid babies who know nothing." No joke... He even told an American at our tea house that from Bates that he is a "cocky American for thinking you don't need a guide." Other guides, porters, and trekkers shared similar feelings about our guide and convinced us to go our separate ways from Prem. So we got up the courage to tell him the bad news. We were surprised by his response: "I was ready to tell you guys the same thing..." Haha. I guess everyone was happy.

NOTE: Nothing against getting a guide or a porter. Every other guide we met was super cool, funny, and smart. And the vast majority of Nepali people are super amazing. Prem is just a rare exception. Moral of the story: if you hire a trekking guide named Prem you should probably think twice.

Enough complaining. You know that Annapurna Sanctuary is really something special when you can have Prem as a guide and still have an amazing time trekking! We found two Israelis to travel the remainder of the trek, Shaul and Omri. (They're everywhere.) Standing at ABC surrounded by peaks over 8000 meters at 360 degrees was a humbling experience. There was only one activity that tops ABC and that is sitting in the tea houses eating a friend snickers spring roll. Mmmmhhh... As Ari always reminded me "the snicker roll is very good for trekkers. You have the right mix of fats, proteins, and carbs." With the snickers rolls fueling us down the mountain we had one thing on our mind: The Pokara Steak House.

We made it back to the steakhouse in time for happy hour! Free popcorn and coke. Nothing better after 10 days of hard trekking and sub-par food than a London steak, coke, and of course popcorn (which no none really wants, but its free). I think the steak house is the reason we're still in Pokara and have an expired visa. Tonight, I go back for the fourth night in a row!

We are off to Varanasi, India tomorrow morning, so we should really get to test out the travel skills we've acquired so far. And probably still get taken advantage of...

Take care, Sam

The Nepali Way

Namastae,

Our Royal Nepal flight was the best way to start a new adventure in a new country. The completely empty flight meant one thing: comfort while traveling (something I forgot shortly after the first overnight bus from Hanoi to Hue). Without wasting a second I jarred the armrests up, stretched across the three empty seats, and pressed play on a album guaranteed to put me to sleep: The Wall (disc 2). Welcome to Kathmandu!


The Nepali people are so genuine and welcoming. I'll add to this post and write more about my stay in Kathmandu when I get a chance. Need to get some sleep at the moment...

I leave trekking early tomorrow morning up to the Annapurna base camp. I'll be out of contact for 2 weeks, but should have some amazing pictures when I return.

Peace,
Sam

"3 Weeks, 1 Post"

Hello Hello,


I finally have a couple hours to reflect on the past few weeks. I've only updated you through Nha Trang. Right now I'm in Nepal. Between now and then I've been to Thailand and Cambodia. Very sorry to those of you who have been checking my blog daily (or bi-daily) for the past three weeks eagerly anticipating a new post, only to be continually disappointed...

It's nighttime here in Pokhara, Nepal and my mind keeps wandering due to a full day of busing from Kathmandu. I apologize in advance if I get too far off topic. I'll keep the twenty rupi coffee flowing for the next few hours to make up for lost time.

Here's my best attempt at sharing three weeks of my travels with you through a single post:

Saigon - My nighttime adventures remained minimal in the Westernized city of Saigon due to my unfortunate encounter with Escolar two day before. I managed to "wobble" out of the hotel room to see the two major attractions: The Vietnam war memorial, a breathtaking display of pictures that is a must see for even those who are not the museum type (like myself). We, also, toured the Cu-chi tunnels near Saigon that served of the Vietcong's station in the south. After only a two day stay in Saigon we were ready to move our way out the big city into the lush Mekong Delta.


Mekong Delta - The majority of our time in the delta was spent boating on the Mekong River. The experience can be best described by viewing my photos. Notice the floating markets, villages along the river, rice noodle plantations, and coconut candy factories. From the delta we boarded a little "slow-boat" to Cambodia! Unfortunately, I forgot my sea-sickness medicine at home.

GOODBYEEEEE VIETNAM! stupid joke for those who get it... We only planned to spend two weeks in Vietnam, which somehow turned into 4 weeks. I'm not sure how that happened. Actually, if I had to point blame, it would be towards billards and the beach. But, I feel like we did everything, went nearly everywhere, learned a great deal about the Vietnamese culture, and even picked up a bit of the language. Vietnam was an excellent place to start the first backpacking adventure of my life. And surely not the last...


Phenom Phen, Cambodia - Cambodia was a change of scene from Vietnam. Definitely a different culture due to its shocking history (of which I knew nothing before my travels). Between 1975-1979 the Khmer Rouge attempted to kill everyone in the country that could read or write with a goal of creating the perfect socialist nation of peasants. An estimated 2 million civilians were killed. Our first stop in Cambodia was the capital, Phenom Phen. Our one day in Phenom Phen was not enjoyable, but a day that will not be forgotten. We started at S-21 prison which has been turned into a museum. The barbed wire, cells, floor tiles, and torture devices have not been removed. After S-21 we made our way to on of the nearby killing fields which has only partially been cleaned up since the genocide. All the adults we spoke with had been directly affected by the Khmer Rough Revolution.



SMALL WORLD STORY: While waiting in line to by my tickets for S-21 I received a gentle tap on the shoulder. I turned around to shoo away the normal haggler. Due to our geographic location, the "haggler" spoke with a shaking uncertainty in her voice: "Did you go to Mercer Island?" What... Is this possible. Am I dreaming.... No way... Natasha? We hugged each other in shock. The "haggler" was Natasha L. a high school classmate. We had even volunteered together for the DARE program. I soon found out she's on a semester at sea program. It's a small world...



Seim Reap, Cambodia -It was nice to depart the depressing nature of Phenom Phen to Seim Reap, one of my favorite places so far. We found a great hotel with many fun young people and spent four nights. Much of our time was spent watching back to back episodes of The Wire. If you're look for a great place to chill on you're own Southeast Asia adventure, Seim Reap is "Sam's Pick"! Stay at the Garden Village Hostel... (and no, I don't get commission).


Bangkok - We spent two nights in Bangkok before jumping on Royal Nepal Airlines. Two nights on Koh San road is more than enough time to get a feel for the city... The street food is amazing! I ate Pad Thai and beef skews almost every meal and didn't get sick. Sam ran into one problem in Thailand. I'm very much attracted to Thai girls, but they were much more interested in my wallet than my super suave "game" and the sexy tailored shirts I had purchased in Hoi An. When I told Ari that some Thai girl really "likes me for me" he laughed and set me straight. Just kidding. That never happened...


The momentary energy from the coffee is draining, so I must say goodbye. Forgive me for the 3 weeks of a post less blog. If I caused anyone a near-fatal amounts of stress, I hope you feel a bit better.

Hope all is well,
Sam

Nha Trang: Tasty Escolar!!

Hi all,

Sorry for the delayed post. I've been traveling in the Mekong Delta on an organized tour so haven't had much internet time.

After Hoi An, we took yet another overnight train to Nha Trang, a beautiful beach town. More of the same. Nice hotels, good bars, beautiful beach, and some sunny days. We spent a full day at the local hot springs soaking in mud baths, mineral water and getting massages. One day we went on an island hopping tour. One day was dedicated to Vinpearl, the amusement park island. This town was so relaxing, we ended spending an entire week there. You can find the pictures under the Nah Trang section in a few days.

CAUTION: WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ IS INTENDED FOR ADULT AUDIENCES. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!!!

One Nha Trang memory will remain very vividly in my mind:

I've been very ill the past week along with two of my friends, Jo and Thomas. After some extensive internet research we have incontrovertibly diagnosed ourselves. Watch the puzzle pieces fit together!

For every town/city Lonely Planet chooses an inexpensive and tasty restaurant called "Our Pick." We always like to try one meal at this place, which is always delicious. The "pick" in Nha Trang was a fresh seafood place right off the beach. The owner was a friendly Vietnamese fellow who has been running the restaurant for 17 years. I hadn't ate any fish yet on my trip, but figured it would be a crime if i didn't eat the fresh fish at this famous restaurant. The owner insisted that we get the grilled fish. Within minutes a giant fish steak steamed before Jo, Thomas, and I. I had never seen any fish like this. It had the size and shape of a 22 pound Chinook salmon, but its skin looked like that of a ling cod, brown with orange spots.

While lifting the first the first bite into my mouth, I knew this fish was something special. I enjoyed the tuna-like texture and the unique taste. There was not butter on the fish or plate, but the fish tasted like butter throughout. I asked the waitress, what type of fish this was and she confidently told me "white-tuna" in broken English. I laughed to myself and thanked her for answering my question. I've had enough tuna to know that the fish I was enjoying was not tuna. Jo had a similar reaction to me and told us and the waitress that, "this is the best fish I've had on my trip." The food was so great, we went back the next day for lunch before heading to Saigon. I tried the steak slices, but Joe ordered the fish again. As soon as Joe finished, he went out side and joined the owner for a cigarette. The same question arose: "What type of fish is this?" The owner also insisted it was "White-Tuna" caught locally.

The next morning, let's just say I was having some very specific and unusual problems, which I do not wish to write. When I exited the bathroom, my roommates could tell by the look on my face I was a little worried. I explained an abridged description and they laughed. Joe wouldn't be laughing for long... Within minutes he exited the bathroom with a disappointed look. Soon after we found out Thomas suffered the same problem. When the problem did not fix itself after 3 days, the three of us became a bit worried. I started antibiotics.

We had computer access the next day, and entered our symptoms into the google tool bar, anxious for the results. Apparently many people have had this problem. Every problem resulted from a fish named Escolar. Look it up on wikipedia. The fish is illegal in many countries and has been deemed toxic. The fish descriptions and symptoms on wikipedia were identical to our experience. The fish is often referred to as "butter-fish" and passed as white-tuna in restaurants. The mystery is solved!

I don't understand how this restaurant can serve this fish over and over again. Escolar was "3 for 3" in making Tom, Joe, and I ill. By the way I'm back to normal and will no longer eat "white-tuna" on my trip.

More to come soon now,
Sam

Hoi An: A Town of 400 Tailors

What's up,

What an amazing time in Hoi An (the coast of central Vietnam)! After too much time scrunched into tiny sleeper bus compartments, it was time to relax.

By the way the sleeping buses make ZERO sense (but they're much cheaper than the trains) for the following reasons:

1. All the buses leave at around 6pm and get in at 5am. Why not leave three hours later and get in at 8am?

2. They all play Vietnamese soap operas late into the night. You can't turn off the speakers above you're head which are blaring the yelling of the Vietnamese girlfriend at her boyfriend. My Bose headphones turn paper thin, when matched against the piercing bus speakers. And you thought nails on a chalkboard was bad...

3. The back seat of the bus is so bumpy, you wake up every ten minutes because your head hits something.

4. Worst of all! Music videos of the Vietnamese pop (a more obnoxious Backstreet Boys) start playing at 5 in the morning. Unbelievable... Inconceivable...

Moving on... Our first three days followed a similar schedule. We started our day early with a cup of sweet Vietnamese coffee. The coffee with condensed milk is unique to Vietnam and will be most missed most after we leave for our next country. After talking for close to an hour we make our way to the beach via motorbike. I picked up a photocopied book on the way for 3 dollars: High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. I've seen the movie but the book is much funnier. I laugh to myself consistently which draws strange looks. I enjoy music and so I find it hilarious how them main character related every slice of his life to a song or artist. My reading on the beach is broken up every few minutes by locals of all types selling you their goods. Lighters, cards, fake cigarettes, paintings, unknown foods, sunglasses, and who knows what else. One vendor that always manages to sucker us into buying is the fresh fruit lady. Nothing like a cold pineapple or mango on the beach. I took a pineapple photo shoot shown below:

Each night pool, pool, and more pool at the Treat Treat Cafe. My game is steadily improving and the constant laughter of foreigners, locals, and friends, is slowly deteriorating. Ari is having a little more trouble, because instead of playing pool he would rather discuss philosophy as shown in the picture below. In this photo, Ari explains the difference between moral truth and moral relativism to an interested English lad who performed on the British American Idol, X-Factor. Oh Ari.......

Our last day in Hoi An was different, and much less relaxing than the previous 3 days. Hoi An is most famous for their 400 tailors who supposedly make incredible suits for a very cheap price. I figured that I was in a great place to buy my first suit! Not only would my suit be inexpensive, but it would be a special keepsake for my travels. I can't begin to understand how women find shopping desirable. Trying to choose a tailor was easily the most stressful part of my trip to date. After looking at only about 5 tailors of the 400 tailors in Hoi An, we hesitantly chose to go with a group of ladies that were the most friendly to us: Lana Tailors. We thought the major decision process was over. Not at all... What type of material, what material design, what suit style, how many buttons, what type of pockets, what color lining, what color hemming, matching vest, matching overcoat, where we wanted the seams, how many flaps. Man oh man... The picture to the right is what I got. I think you can click on it for better quality. Who knows if this is the suit I ordered, but I like it. Grey, with pink pinstriped, and rust lining:

I'm currently in the beach town of Nha Trang. More details coming soon...

Take care,

Sam

Typhoon Hue

Hi everyone,

Our morning bus layover in Hue was unbelievable. I thought I knew "rain" living in Seattle. Clearly not... Check out the photos below. I'm in the middle of the street and the water is entirely covering my feet. Even the locals were outside shooting pictures, so I don't believe this happens often. Despite the intense rain, we still managed make our way to the citadel (the main attraction in Hue). Hue was the capital of Vietnam until about 50 years ago.

Best,

Sam

Trekkk to Sapa

Hi all,

Last Sunday night Ari and I boarded the sleeper train to Sapa in Northern Vietnam with three of our new friends: Orin, Gil, and Joe

Orin - A goofy Israeli with a PHD in mathematics. Everyday, he tells us four or five "riddles" from his infinate riddle database. We even caught him reading a riddle book last night before bed. He is known to say very politically incorrect comments (a lot like Borat), that often recieve a lot of grief from locals. My favorite "approprioate" riddle Orin told is as follows: There are 100 buttons in a line. Every button is turned off to start. There are 100 dwarfs lined up to jump on the buttons. The first dwarf jumps on every button. The second dward jumps on every other button. The third dwarf jumps on every third button. And so on... all the way to the hundredth dwarf. Which buttons are turned on after all 100 of the dwarfs jump? There is a very simple answer if you approach the problem in the right way!

Gil - Another Israeli who we met at Yom Kippur services, is a computer programmer. He is a super intelligent guy currently working on the software patches for the iPhone.

Joe - He grew up as a othodox Yeshiva boy in Brooklyn. Now he is no longer religious. Jo graduated from Law school, and will be working in the New York DA office when he returns to the states.

As the five of us were dropped in Sapa, we were bombarded by a pack of 15-20 locals trying to take us to their hotel. The pushing and yelling caused me to grab my shoes hanging from my backpack. Unfortunantly, I didn't think to put my hands in my pocket. After the commontion settled down, I reached in my pocket grab my camera, but it was GONE... Lesson learned, don't leave the hand string dangling out of your pocket. Totally my fault. I lost my Halong bay and rock climbing pictures, but have replaced the camera, so more pictures to come soon!

The day after we arrived we rented motorcycles for the day to ride through the hills. I was very apprehensive about the whole motorcycle process, but am glad I overcame my fear to aquire a new skill. Ari took pictures of the beautiful hills, so I'll borrow those to upload.

Sapa was very relaxing relative to the big city of Hanoi. During the day we would play card games, read, play chess, play GO (A traditional Vietnamese game like Connect Four), and eat delicous food. The food in Sapa was the best yet. I almost always get a bowl of Pho with my meal which is good everywhere and about $1. Every night we would play pool and darts. Within minutes of arrival to the bar, the Sapa tribal girls (not Vietnames) would waddle in the door and challenge us to a game of pool. No big deal, we told ourselves the first time. Our confidence deteriated within minutes as Ko-Pih-Pih sunk the eight ball in one-handed and giggled at our 5 balls on the table. The first night with these girls was quite the sureal experience. Not only was their English flawless, but they picked up bits and pieces of every language from tourists. She knew some of our crew was Israeli so whenver we would take too long to shoot she would shout "Yala" (casual Hebrew for hurry up.) That really took my Israeli friends off guard. The tribal girls hate Orin because he tells them, "Why do you girls not go to school... Stop playing pool, and go to school..." They're response is as follows with a witty smirk, "Talk to the hand, cause the face don't listen." Very strange...

We took another sleeper train back to Hanoi this morning which arrived at 4:30am. We had to say goodbye to Orin and Gil this morning as they headed separate ways. Ari, Joe, and I just bought a 4 stop open bus ticket down South. Us three take off at 6:30pm tonight. First stop Hue!

Best,
Sam

Vodka Hanoi: Our Halong Bay Adventure

Sorry its been a while,

So I'm dancing the "Soldier Boy" in a swimsuit at 1am on a boat surrounded by 1969 little islands. That sentence describes the first night on our Halong Bay adventure! At that moment, I was having a hard time grasping the fact that, my brother and friends were heading to a long day of school.


Let's go back in time... After spending a couple days in Hanoi, we were definitely ready to leave the crowded and dirty city for a first real adventure. We were tired of getting offered photocopied books and opium from the same Vietnamese guy twice a day every day. By the way, crossing the street in Vietnam will be by far the most dangerous activity of my trip. There are no stoplights or rules, so to safely cross the street you must walk in a consistent and predictable motion, hoping that the bikes and buses will swerve away from you. They will normally avoid you, but you still must be very attentive... Unfortunately, there are 31 motorcycle fatalities in Vietnam daily.

After hearing the Irish girls speak so highly of their Halong Bay trip with the Backpackers Hostel, we figured we couldn't go wrong. Without hesitation, we booked a ticket, and were off to Halong Bay in the morning (One of the "1000 places to see before you die"). We would soon find out that this 3 day trip really is everything its made out to be and worth every penny.

The first day, was spent cruising while meeting our "soon to be" friends for the remainder of the trip. Before dinner, we went on a kayaking safari and swimming in and around the caves in the bay. Dinner was great and we spent the remainder of the night drinking, dancing, and swimming in 90 degree weather. Not too bad...

The second day, marked my favorite day of the trip so far. We went rock climbing with a huge African-American guy, Slo, who looked identical to the guy in gladiator. We climbed on the beaches of the uninhabited Halong Islands. Slo free climbed rock after rock without shoes and without a helmet.

That night, we spent on Cat Pah Island. We played some soccer with the locals who play every day all over the country at exactly 5:00am and 5:00pm. After soccer and dinner, pool and darts at "The Good Bar". My skill in both pool and darts is embarrassing, but should improve throughout the trip, as we play every night.

The next day, we took a bus back to Hanoi.

It wasn't easy to squeeze four full days into one blog post. Hope I wasn't too brief. I need to keep getting caught up with the posts. Now that I'm actually back to civilization, the blog posts should be coming almost daily. Pictures to come soon too!

Miss you all,
Sam

Your meal will be 30,000 dong (Less than 2 dollars)!

After a tedious couple days of travel, we are finally at our first destination: Hanoi, Vietnam.


With absolutely no track of time, I've been wide awake since 5:00am this morning. Ari and I tried to save a little money by spending the night at the Bangkok airport, instead staying at a nearby hotel for the night. Not such a great idea. Fluorescent lights and airport benches made sleeping slightly difficult. After deciding sleeping was hopeless, Ari and I started playing tackle football with his pillow. The Vietnamese workers thought we were pretty ridiculous. As a result by the time our last flight to Hanoi came around, we had only about 2 more hours of sleep under our belt, after 12 hours at the airport.


I'm not sure why, but I've been eating like a cow. About 5 or 6 large meals a day. All the flights serve food and my new trip mantra "Never turn down free food." Soooo, after all the airplane dinners, I still get tempted at every airport restaurant we walk by and have to get a few pieces of sushi or some curry. Ari is convinced it is the Thai girls that always giggle when we walk by and make fun of us in Thai. Pretty frustrating and there's nothing that we can stop them.



Taxi! You want cheap taxi! As expected we were instantly bombarded with taxis after stepping foot in the Hanoi airport. Instead of riding with the sketchy taxi kids, we hopped on a shared van to the old city with some other tourist that were on our plane. They looked as confused as us, so we still weren't 100% sure about this decision. I think we got the fasted van drider in Hanoi. He loved honking for no reason. About 45 minutes into the rollercoaster ride the van lurched to a stop and a Vietnamese boy squeezed into the van next to me. "I am your new driver. Please give me your money now." Along with the rest of the suspicious tourists, we reluctantly handed him the 3 dollars worth of Vietnamese notes, hoping we were not being taking advantage of. Miraculously we were dropped off in the old city of Hanoi about 5 minutes later and pointed in the right direction to the Hanoi Backpackers hotel. "Only 5 minute walk" the new driver assured us.


Even with our handy lonely planet map, finding the hotel took another 20 minutes. The streets are named, but there are no visible street signs. We would just ask tourists and locals every few steps where to go in hopes of staying in the right direction. On our way to the hostel a young boy started talking to us. The conversation went as follows:



"You want books? Travel book, Vietnam War Stories, Key Phrase, etc, etc. No thanks. Do you want maps? Not interested. Do you want marijuana? No thanks. Do you want Opium?" We laughed and walked away. The progression from guidebooks to opium in a matter of seconds was pretty funny.


Our hostel was a palace amongst the nearby hotels ran by locals. Hanoi Backpacker's hostel is run by Australians and has many young tourist willing to provide good travel advice. It was very expensive relatively ($9 a night), but we figured it was worth the extra money to get off to the right start. They even have their own free Internet cafe and rooftop bar. Everyone I've met so far is really nice and they can't wait to share their cool travel stories. We couldn't have chose a better hotel to start at.



After a refreshing shower, I walked down to the main TV room to find that Ari had already made friends with a Texas dude and a couple girls from Ireland. The Irish girls had been in Vietnam a while so they provided many tips to send our trip in the right direction. We went to dinner with them and enjoyed discussing our many cultural differences and how they perceive Americans. They have real funny accents and expressions (actually much different than in Boondock Saints. Hollywood...) It's really quite easy to make friends in this type of environment. Our two new friends took off that night on a sleeper train. Meeting cool people and saying bye, knowing you will never see them again, seems like it will be one of the harder parts of our trip.



I better get off the computer and go wake up Ari. Tonight we head off to Yom Kippur services at "Big Man Beer." Ari contacted the Israeli consulate who was able to point us in the right direction for some Hanoi Judaism. Should be interesting...



By the way, I just set up a Picasa web album and updated a few pictures. Click on the picture on the top left of the page to see them. I think it should work. Let me know if it doesn't.



Email me, and I'll get back to you with the best stories! Also, share some cool places to go, if you've been anywhere I'm going. Thanks.

samfranklin08@comcast.net



Miss you guys,

Sam

Leaving on a JET PLANE....

I picked Ari up from the airport yesterday.  Last night, my parents took us to the Met for some delicious steaks.  Had my last good sleep.  Took my last last warm shower this morning.  We head to the airport in about an hour for the beginning of this long anticipated adventure.  Wow!

We spend the night in Bangkok.  

Then, we head to Hanoi the next day.

Some good stories and pictures to come in the next few days...........

I'll miss all you guys and gals.  Especially you Mom!  Thanks for letting me go,

Sam

??? Frequently Asked Questions ???

Here are some of the questions I'm often asked:

1. Q: How did you decide to do this?

A: This trip is not something that I have planned to do since I was a little baby. In fact, I had already sent in my deposit to WashU, and requested a non-smoking roommate who's five-word personality summary matched my own. But, while dosing in and out of sleep on the way to play lacrosse at Bainbridge Island, MI's biggest rival, my phone rang. Ari Rubin, a friend of mine from Chicago, was on the phone and said that his school's acceptance form encouraged students to take a year off before attending. This conversation would send me in an entirely different direction than the future I had envisioned all four years of high school. When I got home later that evening I sent a letter to WashU's dean of admissions to see if they defer enrollment. The dean was encouraging and said deferment would not be a problem! My dad was super cool with the idea. My mom on the other hand... Now just seemed like a good time to go. A whole year without worries another time in my life may be hard to come by because of one or more of the following: jobs, major, schoolwork, family, some lucky girl, and who knows what else might come up.

2. Q: How are you paying for the trip?

A: I've earned all the money for my first trip this summer by pressure washing and pizza delivery.

Pressure washing - I knock on random houses and convince them that their driveway, patio, or deck looks terrible with all the moss and that pressure washing is a must. Twenty five percent of people believe me. So, every two weeks I go on a door-to-door spree to get several jobs to keep me busy while I'm not delivering pizza.

Pizza Delivery - Chris Black got me this job. Who would have guessed it? Only kidding, I love you Chris. I've been delivering pizza for Sahara pizza (one block from my house) all summer. Its a super chill job and my boss is 18. I just read the paper in the sun and occasionally deliver a pizza while listening to book tapes. Those of you who know me well know I love "reading" book tapes. The best lifelong skill pizza delivery has gained me is the art of friendly small talk for one purpose only: getting good tips!

Now I'm saving up for a second adventure when I get back!

3. Q: Are you going back to school?

A: I'm pretty sure I am. At least I don't need to reapply next year. That should help.

4. Q: What are you doing after you get back in February?

A: Either going on a second trip or work on a business idea I have (more info later). I want to go to South America.

5. Q: Where are you staying?

A: Zero Idea. Hopefully there are hostels everywhere we go.

6. Q: What are you taking with you?

A: Packing list coming soon... I'm taking a 35L backpack and myself...

Itinerary

My tickets just arrived!

October 5th - Seattle to Hanoi, Vietnam

November 10th - Bangkok, Thailand to Katmandu, Nepal

December 17th - Mumbai, India to Prague, Czech Republic

February 10th - Casablanca, Morocco to Chicago

Aruba, jamaica ooo I wanna take you

Welcome to my first blog post.

I will be going to Washington University in St. Louis in August 2009.

Between now and then I will be working, traveling, designing a website, reading, hanging out with my high school friends before they take off to college, meeting new friends, and delivering a lot a lot of pizzas.

In less than two months, on October 6th, I will take off on almost a 5-month adventure with my friend Ari Rubin.  He lives in Chicago.  Our dads were college roommates and travelled for a year together.  We're keeping up the tradition.

Our trip starts in Hanoi, Vietnam and take us to Thailand, Nepal, India, Prague, Spain, and Morocco. Maybe some others if we get distracted.

I'll post a more detailed itinerary when my tickets arrive.

Stay in touch,

Sam Franklin