Currently I am in the Hanoi Backpacker’s Hostel – the central headquarters of Hanoi for loud, young, beer-loving backpackers. I just got back from the tour of Halong Bay, which was lovely though now that I am back and comparing prices I realize that I seriously overpaid for the two-night trip. Was it worth it? Eh. I would have been fine going a more touristy route for a better price but what is done is done. At least I got some pictures.
I got back from the Halong Bay trip at 4:30 then immediately booked a four-stop bus ticket that will get me to Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang, and Ho Chi Minh City. The bus was supposed to leave at 5:30 pm and it is almost 6:30 now. Sometimes things run slow but other backpackers going to the same destination have already been taken. We will see how this goes.
In the meantime, I have been doing some thinking about my proposed itinerary. I was thinking I would go through Vietnam, north to south, then cross overland into Cambodia. From Cambodia I would cross into Laos, and being so near my beloved host family I want to hop over to Thailand to visit them. I see my host dad is reading this blog: I miss you too! Will be there soon!
All of the above travel will take about a month or so. Since tomorrow is the first of July, that itinerary will last until August. From Bangkok, where is a girl to go? I was thinking of flying into Myanmar and exploring there for a few weeks and then going to India for at least a month, followed by a couple weeks in Europe. But at this pace I need to make some decisions. Either hurry up (I am moving rather slow except for today’s impulsive bus ticket purchase) and get to it all or go at a comfortable pace and don’t get to as much. I am thinking the latter option is the more suitable of the two.
Since I already have a visa to India and know virtually nothing about Myanmar (except that it is recently opened and is a really hot destination now soon to be changed by tourism) I think I will follow the dream of going to India. I have been talking to other travelers (including a German couple on a yearlong Asian tour, three months of which they spent in India. Wow!) and am liking the idea. So now I think I will spend all of August in India volunteering at an orphanage before hopping over to Europe to bum around for a couple weeks before reporting to Oxford on September 24th. With a little research I have found some music festivals in Germany that are the weekend of September 7-9. We have a heading!
So that is what I am thinking. Three months and some odd days sure sounds like a long time, but when you are on the road it goes quickly. Decisions have to be made and choices, responsible or not, are followed through. Whew!
Okay signing off to check on where the hell my bus is. Just breath and smile and remember the Thai mai ben rai .
Where in the world is Kelly? 