• Laos

    Central Laos (Vientiane and Vang Vieng)

    May 26, 2014 - By 

    Our flight out of KL on May 15 was bright and early, which put us in Vientiane, Laos by around 9:00am. We were the first people in the visa-upon-arrival line, and $35, a full page sticker, a stamp, and 10 minutes later, we were at baggage claim! Laos, People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) is appropriately dubbed Laos, Please Don’t Rush. Life for locals and travelers is laid back, which I think is due to the intense heat. Already at 5:30am, the temperature straddles between 85º-90ºF and quickly soars to 105º-110ºF by afternoon. Even a meager breeze from the Mekong hardly helps.…

  • Malaysia

    Quick Kuala Lumpur

    May 16, 2014 - By 

    With less than a day and a half in Kuala Lumpur (KL), we crammed as much as possible into this strange metropolis where east meets west. A part of me felt like I was back home in San Francisco as we scurried through fancy malls with high-end brands, rode on packed trains and monorails, and gazed at the bright lights in intersections, absorbing the hustle and bustle of a thriving capital. And yet between all the first-world modern features, alcohol is scarce and expensive (relative to its Southeast Asian neighbors) and pork cannot be found because of its religious ties to Islam.…

  • Malaysia

    Semporna

    May 12, 2014 - By 

    The funny thing is Malaysia was not a planned destination for our SE Asia trip. The truth to why we even came to Malaysia is kind of sad – AirAsia had a sale for $30 1-way plane tickets from Kuala Lumpur (KL) to Laos, and that was way cheaper than a $200 flight from Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City to Laos. It also sounded more appealing than a 20+ hour bus ride from Vietnam to Laos. I asked Chris, “Hey, wanna go to KL?” “Sure!” Why not, right? We didn’t have anything else planned. I purchased tickets from Hanoi to…

  • Vietnam

    Cat Ba Island – Our Final Vietnam Days

    May 7, 2014 - By 

    After Phong Nha, we spent a couple days back in Hanoi to hang out with friends. I even had an old Vietnamese American friend from high school visiting Hanoi at the same time, so we made time to hang out too. It’s always fun hanging out with friends from back home in a foreign country. I even bought an entire outfit to go out in – a hat, shirt, and pants, all for a total of $9 (no bargaining needed)! For the next 3 days, we spent our final days of Vietnam on Cát Bà Island, the largest and only inhabited…

  • Vietnam

    Phong Nha

    May 4, 2014 - By 

    Our train from Đồng Hới to Hanoi was scheduled to depart at 7:30pm so we had the entire day of May 1st to spend in Phong Nha. Our single day in Phong Nha ended up being way more entertaining than we expected…definitely many #onlyinvietnam moments. The story goes below… Ever since I arrived at the hotel the week prior, I had the urge to go for an open water swim in the river along our hotel. Now I finally had the chance. Not long after 8am I changed into shorts and a swim top, put on my flip flops, grabbed my…

  • Vietnam

    Hang En and Hang Son Doong

    May 3, 2014 - By 

    *Note: For an amazing set of Hang Sơn Đoòng photos, please check out my photographer friend Kiwi Chris’ photo album here. My story goes below: We left Đông Hà on Thursday, April 24 via local train to Đồng Hới for our Phong Nha transfer. They were sold out of the hard seats with air conditioning, so we had to take the shittiest seats possible – the hard seats with fans. It was a hot, sweltering day, but with the windows ajar and the fans at work, it was barely tolerable. If you think BART or Caltrain sucks, think again. Most locals brought straw mats…

  • Vietnam

    Dong Ha, Quang Tri Province (The REAL Vietnam)

    April 24, 2014 - By 

    When I told my mom I was going to Đồng Hới, Quảng Trị, she puzzledly asked me why I was going there. Travel sites also warned that there was nothing to do there. Tripadvisor hardly had any information on lodging and places to eat, and I read that no one there spoke English. There are no tourists, not even Vietnamese tourists. No tourists, no English! To me, that meant it was going to be the real Vietnam. Quảng Trị Province is merely a center where tour buses simply pass through to historic war sites such as the DMZ, marine bases and lookouts, camps, trails, and the famous Vịnh Mốc tunnels.…

  • Vietnam

    Hue

    April 22, 2014 - By 

    The train route from Huế to Đà Nẵng is well known for having beautiful scenery with the endless coast to the east and lush, hilly jungles to the west, so we chose the ~2.5 hour train ride over the bus. For Vietnamese-Americans like myself, Huế is famous for its food. And DAMN Huế food is GOOD, specifically 3 dishes: Bánh bèo (steamed rice cakes topped with dried shrimp, fried shallots, and a crunchy pork rind, served with fish sauce). This was the most amazing bánh bèo I’ve ever had, since we went to the restaurant most locals go to get bánh bèo: Bún bò (better than…

  • Vietnam

    Da Nang

    April 20, 2014 - By 

    Hội An to Đà Nẵng is only about 30 km away, so we decided to pass on the $10-$25 transportation options from travel agencies and opted for the local public bus instead, which was less than $1 USD/person! Score! Although local buses may rip off foreigners (we fortunately did not get ripped off during our trip), I found that service on Vietnamese local buses far exceeds SFMTA’s bus services. There are 3 people who work on the bus: 2 who periodically take turns driving, and 1 who hangs partially out of the bus asking pedestrians if they need to get on (whether or…

  • Vietnam

    Silk and Ruins

    April 17, 2014 - By 

    Two excursions we made while in Hoi An were a trip to the Silk Village (which was only 1 km away) and the Hindu ruins of Mỹ Sơn (43 km away). The Silk Village shed light on how silk worms are farmed and how silk is traditionally made. Since the Silk Village was only 1 km away, I found a local, dirt path near our hotel that led us to the village. The path led us through an abundance of rice fields. Standing still and listening to the young grains of rice swaying in the wind was quite pleasant: Silk worms!!! So cute.…