Back in 2005-2006 we maintained (loosely) a travel blog for our trips to Lithuania, Bangkok and Vietnam. The process of blogging proved to be more difficult and time consuming on the trip than we'd anticipated but reading the posts afterwards proved to be very enjoyable. Here's a snapshot of our blog posts from that time.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Not dead in Vietnam
Honestly, we're not dead. Really. An underwater earthquake outside Taipei knocked out virtually all of Vietnam's Internet access to the outside world pretty much as soon as we landed. We assume it's not our fault. We weren't in Bangkok for New Year's either.
We've only gotten access to Blogger today and we only have a couple more days left in the trip. Rest assured, we'll be posting stories and thoughts about the trip as well as pictures after we get back home.
Alive (and having fun) in Vietnam,
Colin & Rachael
Monday, December 25, 2006
Off to Hanoi
Waiting at the gate for our flight to Hanoi. We lined up a hotel in the old quarter, equidistant from the major market (three stories high we've heard) and the lake. It's a great spot for walking around and the hotel came recommended out of the Lonely Planet guide. We'll be three nights in Hanoi and then we'll see where we're off to next.
Our travel plans were reversed when we decided to fly back home through Hong Kong, so we're going north to south in Vietnam instead of south to north.
Apropos of nothing, we're sitting in a new terminal in Bangkok and it's spectacular, one of the best airports I've ever seen. It looks like it's from the future. After I post pictures when we get back, just wait for this location to appear in some big-budget summer film in the next year.
We'll talk to you all again from Hanoi, Vietnam!
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Massages, shopping, and people-watching fun...
I have to concur with Colin- the look on his therapist's face when she saw his feet was something.
I think I could easily get addicted to reflexology though- as much as that hurt (what ARE those things that go CRUNCH in your feet, anyway??) my feet feel great now, despite all the walking. Am definitely considering a round 2 this afternoon.
I had a depressing moment while shopping yesterday at a not-for-tourists market. All the women here wear these tailored cropped pants that look really comfy, so I bought a pair from one of the street vendors. Imagine my horror when she sized me as an XXXL(!!!). So we head back to the hotel and I'm feeling really conflicted. I know I'm a bit big, not just for me, but vs. the women here as well and I'm trying to rationalize that somehow. So I'm still feeling down, when we decide to use the pool. I'm thinking, "Wow, if I'm that big, I have no business wearing a bikini, now do I." So I decide to sit by the pool in the pants to keep from subjecting the other people at the hotel to my unimaginably large ass. And I put on the pants. And they're sooooo huge that they fall down below my hipbones so I'm doing the hip-hop baggy pant thing. Of course, I'm not done with it yet though. Now my head's going, "Well, you're no more than a Large, probably a Medium, so that's not too bad, right?" and then I want to know if I really looked that enormous or she was just really bad at guessing. But it made the pool much more fun. Definitely bringing my XXXL pants back as a souvenir though. Colin's got the biggest feet, and I apparently have what looks like the biggest white-girl ass in town.
Heading out to Vietnam tomorrow- starting in Hanoi, heading to Halong Bay, and then we'll see.
We'll do a little shopping this afternoon and check out some of the museums after we're done with the travel agent.
That good kind of hurt
Did you know that you can get a one hour foot massage here for $10? Did you know how many places your feet can hurt that you didn't even know about? Did you know that I, apparently, have the largest feet that my lady massaging my feet had ever seen? Did you know that you can "pop" your toes by pulling on them really hard?
These and other questions were answered for us yesterday. You don't think much about your feet and probably wonder just how good a foot massage can feel. I thought that too and proceeded to spend the next hour either hissing in pain or just feeling really good. Rachael must carry her tension in her feet because her feet just hurt afterwards. But's it's good that there's a "real" massage parlor just outside our hotel. There's one of those "other" massage parlors just next to it, though. That would be awkward.
We did some late-night market recon last night and bought a couple of things. We're rapidly adjusting to the time zone and have made travel arrangements to fly to Hanoi tomorrow. We'll have to check back on our hotel reservations in a couple of hours.
One more night in Bangkok and then we're off to Vietnam. Later!
Saturday, December 23, 2006
"We only have one..."
"We only have one..."
These are the terrifying words I hear coming from the gate agent in Tokyo. We're on standby from Tokyo to Bangkok and the gate is disturbingly full of aggressively eager passengers, just itching to get on the flight and take our seats.
You have to understand. We got business class from Chicago to Tokyo. Business Class. That's incredible and insane and should never happen. But it did and I figured out travel luck was exhausted. Maybe we could spend a couple days in Japan? It's a bit more expensive than Vietnam or Thailand but still...
"We only have one..."
"Seat in first class. The other is in economy. Which one of you wants to sit in first?"
That's a no-brainer. Rachael's never been to Asia, never been in business class and never been in first class. We're going for three out of three today. She gets to sit in the lap of luxury.
So we're in Bangkok now. The people are as eager as ever to help us spend our money. We checked into the hotel a night early rather than stay up all night and wandered the streets this morning. We came across what appeared to be a local street market that wound up going for many, many blocks. Lots of food and other vendors. Rachael took some really good pictures that we'll post when we get back.
We're off to find Rachael some comfortable walking shoes. Later.
Bangkok has landed!
Or, more accurately, we've landed in Bangkok!
The travel gods seem to be smiling on us; I think our last trip must have stored up a ton of travel goodwill credits on our behalf. We not only made it on the first flight out of Chicago we tried for, but we BOTH got business class. The flight was smooth and effortless, we landed early in Narita, and to top things off, I (because Colin's a selfless darling) got a first class seat from Narita to Bangkok and he camped out in economy.
Gotta say- it's a whole different experience travelling like that. The pods in United First are cozy as hell and I rolled off the plane at 12:00 AM ready to run around and check out the night life. Poor Colin though, not so much. He got the rough end of the economy stick. (Did I mention he's a sweetie for letting me have it?).
So we're setting up the rest of our trip at the travel agent, checking out the street markets, and generally having a lazy day. I predict foot massages and a pedicure in my future.
Merry Christmas to eveybody State-and-Europe side. I guess it's Christmas Eve, but you can't tell here. Mission accomplished! Holidays abandoned!
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
But before that, we're going on a weekend trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee for a friend's wedding.
Shakespeare Hotel - Vilnius, Lithuania
This was what greeted us when we checked into our room (the Trollope room!) in the Shakespeare Hotel. It was a sight for sore eyes after all the hostels we'd endured.
Friday, October 07, 2005
Devil brew
I started drinking coffee on this trip. I know how he feels. I also feel like my head's going to split open if I drink coffee for two days and stop on the third. When I drink coffee my heart rate increases, my fingertips go numb and I develop the social skills of a five-year-old.
I'd like to stop but Starbucks is everywhere.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Last night in Frankfurt
That evening we walked along the market strip on the way to Rama V, a Thai restaurant that Rachael remembered fondly from her last visit to Frankfurt. In the darkening early evening the entire market was even more magical. We ducked under a tent light by light bulbs strung in lines and drank more new wine from yet another winery. Surrounded by late-middle aged German women getting blitzed and doing shots, we appreciated how mellow and smooth this new wine was compared to the others. After enjoying the smokey-voiced women toasting each other and downing more shots and wine between cigarettes we head out to the restaurant.
Rama V is some of the best Thai food I've ever had, and that included my time in Thailand. Spectacular food and a beautiful decor made for a particularly enjoyable dinner. Honestly, this is a world-class Thai restaurant. If you've ever in Frankfurt check this place out. We'll post the address along with some of our favorite places on this trip in another post shortly.
It was kind of sad walking home because the market was closing up. We'd hoped to stay up until the early hours drinking with locals but it was not to be.
Long story short, we got up super early the next day, got to the airport and (miracles of miracles) got the first flight of the morning out of Frankfurt directly to Chicago. It was only coach but we finally had some good trip karma getting home.
I have to admit, it's nice to be home. But for all the difficulties we had on this trip it was the best time I've had on vacation in a really long time. Most of the time I would long for things at home when travelling but being with Rachael meant that I had what I most wanted there with me.
Photos
And, yes, I know that if I had a digital camera you wouldn't have to wait so long. I'll switch to digital as soon as I can afford a digital SLR with equivalent quality as my 35mm so let the donations begin! :-)