September 27th. Wow. It has been one month since I got back from my summer vacay. The only good thing about that is that I am a month closer to my next big holiday in January! I can't believe a month passed so quick (wait, who am I kidding, of course I believe that-where has this year gone!?). It was extremely hard to write this blog. I struggled and tried a few times, and then I just gave up because I was over it and decided to enjoy my weekends living life versus writing about it. So, here I am again, hoping the words will come to share about my amazing summer vacation and how traveling solo was the best decision I have made in a long time (again, I make a lot of great decisions ;) but this one was really great!). My vacation was everything I wanted it to be & for that I am so happy :) People sometimes ask me 'how do you travel alone' and I really feel like I should ask them 'how do you not?' I recommend everyone do it, at least once.
**I did decide to bullet out the best part of each day as a highlight for those of you that enjoy light reading and pictures only ;) and then summarized each place I went below.
Vietbodipore 2014 daily highlights:
Day 1: Seeing Asia & getting a new stamp in the passport + Bubble baths in 5 star hotels
Day 3: The day boat to the less touristy Lan Ha Bay
Day 4: Dinner with my new (amazing!) friends Liel & Galit. Went to the Purple Cherry-one of Hanoi's best restaurants!
Day 5: Making a new friend in my hotel lobby. Denise & I had so much in common it was crazy-she also worked for the AHA! Enjoyed the less crowded streets (thank you rain!) and heard all about her 9 months of traveling!
Day 6: Nice hotels with KING SIZE BEDS-seriously AMAZING
Day 7: Riding an elephant. Yes you read that correctly.
Day 8: Witnessing the most incredible sunrise I have EVER seen at Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Day 9: Catching up with friends after 7 years (and feeling like no time had passed-the best feeling ever!)
Day 10: Lazy morning cappuccino and babyccinos with the cutest little ones, bubbles and laughter with the adults!
Day 11: The best sushi I have had since leaving the USA-so delish!!!
Day 13: My flight home chasing the sunrise and seeing it from my window seat. Also, the weather was soooo much nicer in Daegu than when I left a few weeks before!
Hanoi, Vietnam
I arrived to Hanoi on Friday and the first thing I can say is this-I was in shock at how poor it was (felt like I was in TJ, Mexico) AND the #motorcyclemafia. No joke-motorcycles EVERYWHERE. It was out of control. There weren't sidewalks to walk on so you had to share the street with them. I wasn't even worried about my bag being stolen from me, I was concerned about being run over (you laugh, but those of you that have been to Hanoi totally understand!). Granted, by the end of my trip I just walked into the street with confidence and didn't even give it a 2nd thought. Clearly I am still alive to tell my tale-so word of advice-be aggressive :)
I had arranged the cab driver through my hotel and I am so thankful I did. When I got to my hotel (great rec Samantha!) I was in shock. The service was amazing & the room (and bed) was awesome-I was in heaven!! I explored that afternoon and booked my cruise for Halong Bay (which was leaving the next morning at 8 am). When I got picked up for the cruise Saturday morning I met Galit-she was also in the same cab as me. We instantly clicked. She had been traveling for months, and we would soon be meeting up with her friend Liel. Both girls are awesome and I am so glad I met them through this trip!
The group for our cruise was small-thank goodness-about 25 people total. And it wasn't a party boat (thank goodness again-it was my fear that I was going to get stuck with a bunch of 20 year olds on a booze cruise...been there, done that!). So here are the basics-the boat had 3 decks, I had my own room with a 'double' bed...two twins pushed together isn't a double in my opinion BUT it was nice to stretch out! The deck/roof of the boat was great-we all spent a lot of time up there. First thing we did was eat lunch-my table consisted of the Swiss couple (Nina & Patrick-they were awesome) and two very entertaining Italian men. Meal time was a lot of fun! We explored some cave that afternoon-which we all found a tad boring and were ready for the beach and some swimming-and then FINALLY went to the beach to swim. It was early evening-right before sunset-and so pretty out! We saw a gorgeous sunset that night with hints of pink (see pics below). The next day was sooooo rad-those of us that stayed 2 nights on the boat took a day boat to another smaller, less touristy bay (Lan Ha Bay) and kayaked around, swam in the middle of the ocean, visited a floating pearl farm & just relaxed in the warm sun. Y'all know how much I LOVE laying out so I was in heaven-plus our view was out of control GORGEOUS so it felt like you were in heaven too! The next day we all headed back to 'shore' and drove back to Hanoi. Galit, Liel and I went to a yummy dinner at one of the best restaurants in Hanoi-I got an Australian rib-eye. I felt a smidge bad BUT figured I have been living in Asia for 6 months (at the time) so steak was a nice break from rice ;) I met another American girl at my hotel (also from CA and had lived in Dallas AND worked for the American Heart Association-small world, right?!) and we hung out on Tuesday before I headed out for Cambodia. I already knew I loved traveling by myself BUT meeting these wonderful women confirmed it. Had I been with friends I might not have met them (or I might have...we all know I am quite social!). I look forward to running into all of them again in this great, big world!
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Wow-I LOVE Cambodia (and have a shirt that can also tell you I love it!). I had heard AMAZING things about Cambodia from my SIL and my friend Krista and they both were spot on. I didn't want to leave-at all. I have looked into teaching there. I even looked into flights there from Busan (of course I did) and can't wait to go again. Zach pointed me in the right direction for my hotel-it was ridiculously fabulous-I didn't want to leave there either! The people in Cambodia are so happy, so friendly & always smiling! I want to just say right now to anyone who is looking into a trip to Asia that you MUST go to Cambodia (although all 3 places I went were super!). Siem Reap is known for the ancient ruins, most famous for Angkor Wat. I took one day to see the 'short' circuit of the ruins/temples-about 7 I think (and that was enough for me-I have also NEVER EVER sweat so much in my life as I did that day!!! Let's not talk about it haha). Visiting all the temples was really cool though-I got some great pics and got to explore. I went back to Angkor Wat for sunrise and it was the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen-the picture below is pretty but seeing it live was something else. For those of you that have the chance to get to Siem Reap I would recommend the sunrise for sure. Apparently I was lucky to 'get' a sunrise though-and for that I am thankful! Getting up that early and not getting a sunrise would probably have made me cry ;)
Let's see what else-oh well massages are cheapppppp in Cambodia so I got 2. Hey, it was my vacation after all! Oh, and I rode an elephant, no biggie ;) ACTUALLY it was awesome-I got to ride it by myself after hiking up to one of the temples (I took my elephant-his name was Tiny btw-down the mountain). It was a great way to end the day!
My hotel also had a pretty sick pool so one day I just lounged there...and that is what vacation means to me!
Last stop-Singapore!
I flew to Singapore and got to see my friends, Amanda & Oliver, and meet their two ADORABLE daughters, Charlotte & Sofia. Ending my trip seeing friends was magical. I hadn't seen Oli & Amanda in 7 years (we couldn't believe it had been that long!) but they are the kind of friends where you don't feel like that much time has passed. And those are the best kind of friends to have!! They were such amazing hosts-they spoiled me! We stayed up late chatting, woke up to Oli making coffee for the adults and babyccinos for the kiddos (too cute, I know!), walked around famous Orchard Street-I was shocked at all the 'American' stores. Went to a yummy Michelin rated lunch, had a dance party (well the girls danced-we watched and laughed!), enjoyed their pool-yes I like to relax on vacays, had DELICIOUS sushi-I have dreams of that sushi Amanda!!!, and then I explored Singapore on my own one day. Oh let me also say that Singapore is all about the expats-I mean, not only do they speak English BUT I honestly felt like I was in New York, Chicago or San Francisco-it just had that 'city' feel to it. A highlight (other than the fun catch up sesh with my friends) for me was going and eating a SALAD at Celeste's...great rec Amanda. I should've got a salad 'to-go' my last day to bring back with me! I sooooo miss salads. So yeah, other than eating a delish salad I went to the famous Raffles Hotel and had their famous Singapore Sling, then I walked around and checked out the Asian Civilizations Museum (I wasn't there long...) and then made my way to Marina Bay Sands to do a little gambling-I had fun and was up playing some blackjack with 2 Chinese women-they were hardcore betting though! After that little gambling sesh I made my way across the street to the actual Marina Bay Sands hotel and went to the top to enjoy a view of the city. And, while at the top, I enjoyed a glass of bubbly. How often do you get to be on top of the world like that? I felt like bubbly was the appropriate and obvious option!
After I got back from my trip I had a case of the post holiday blues. But, school started a few days later and it was really fun hearing all my students yell 'hi Erin teacher' to me as they were walking down the hallway. I only had to teach 5 days (the first week of school) and then it was Korea's version of Thanksgiving (Chuseok) so we had a 5 day weekend. That is what I am talking about-if only every weekend was 5 days... can someone tell me where to sign up for THAT job?! ;)
For Chuseok I headed to Jeju Island-solo-the parentals were supposed to be out here with me but due to my dad's surgery that didn't happen. I decided to include my Jeju trip on this blog because it goes with my title...I did go to Jeju solo...and loved every minute of it! I had friends that were also in Jeju for the holiday but I really was okay relaxing at the Hyatt hotel with the private beach, pools & bungalows! Also, the view from my balcony was breathtaking-a wonderful way to wake up every morning! Jeju was incredible-my sister-in-law taught there and she was 100% right when she said it is the Hawaii of South Korea. It was paradise! You can probably guess that I took full advantage of that pool and the beach. I also DID see some sights :) She had suggested I go to Oedolgae Rock which is a famous rock/cliff area on the southern side of Jeju. Well, it was quite busy since it was the Korean holiday and everyone had off but I braved the crowds and walked along the paths and got some great pics. My SIL had mentioned she used to swim in the pools there (the natural pools from high tides) and I was so confused because the one area I was walking along was HIGH above the ocean...I was texting with my brother HOW do I get down there?! and he said 'Figure it out! Live life! Find a way! And that is just what I did ;) Swimming in those pools was so refreshing-I love the ocean! It is so good for the soul-this quote couldn't be more accurate: The cure for anything is salt water-sweat, tears, or the sea.
I am going to end with something that has been on my mind this past month:
You only get one life. Live it~
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