Yep, that’s right, we did actually have visitors-2 friends flew all the way over to Asia from America to see us! Okay, so maybe they also flew over to do some traveling too, but we were still excited. We took advantage of the visit to accompany them on some of our first “holiday travels” around Asia as well. Sad to say that we have been here about 6 months already, and are just now traveling outside of Vietnam, but now that we have found a trustworthy Ginger-sitter there are no more excuses!
So, Meghann and Matt flew into Bangkok, Thailand and the next day Clayton and I flew there to meet them for our first weekend adventure-we were off to SE Thailand, to Railay Beach, a secluded spot famous for its limestone walls and rock climbing. After spending the afternoon navigating our way around Bangkok (and 2 hours inside an unappealing coffee shop to wait out the rain), we had our first round of excitement! Trying to squeeze all the sights we could into a few hours that first afternoon, we misjudged the intensity of Bangkok rush hour traffic and nearly missed our train out of the city. Oops. After a 45 minute taxi ride (that covered an entire 4.5 km) with a driver who clearly had no qualms about tweezing out errant facial hairs or blatantly picking his nose as we sat in traffic, we opted for the skytrain > skytrain > subway > train station route for the final leg. However, I don’t recommend it with 4 people and 6 bags during the middle of rush hour, and I’m pretty sure we took out a smaller Asian (or 2 or 3) cramming our way into the cars and running like fools from connection to connection. Let’s just say the LARGE bottle of Singha beer waiting for us on the train was consumed with much appreciation!
We had opted for the cheaper route via train, then bus/shuttle to our destination thinking that it would be fun and exciting to book “1st” class overnight tickets on a train (and save a nights worth of hotel fees, so thrifty are we). I was a bit disappointed by the lack of luster awaiting us, but my expectations for a 1st class $60 fare was on the low end as well. The train was comfortable enough with its private booth, a sink (ooh), surprisingly tasty food, and let’s not forget about the abundance of singha beers, which made the trip that much more fun! It was all long forgotten when we arrived at our picturesque destination via boat (the only way to get there) and had pad thai overlooking the ocean framed by immense walls of limestone, jungle and the occasional climber. We filled our 2 days there with an overcrowded tour to islands around the area (involving the repeated phrase by the tour guide “stand by your cameras”…can we say tourist trap?), a few snorkeling stops, beach lounging, hiking and eating. Did I mention the eating? We had a few things to check off the list…eat pad thai in Thailand, get a Thai massage, drink Singha beer, swim in Thai waters without getting stung by a jellyfish-check, check, check, check (thank goodness check).
On day 3 we were sad to say good bye to the little oasis of Thailand beauty. I would say that the way back was equally as exciting, but the glamour of Thailand’s 1st class train service had worn off in the first hour of our initial ride over and we had plenty of time with the rest of our connections to lollygag around and have one more Starbucks in Bangkok before returning to the drought of American coffee chains-HCMC later that evening. I think the only interesting part was the fact that we actually added on an additional mode of transportation-which we didn’t think was even possible. Tractor > boat > shuttle van > bus > train > subway > skytrain > skytrain > airplane > car. Whew… The addition was the tractor to boat service-way more exciting than wading through the water to hop on the boat!
From there Meghann and Matt flew to Chang Mai where elephant rides through the jungle and scenic Buddhist shrines awash in sunsets awaited them. Then onto THE most exciting part of the trip for them…to Ho Chi Minh City! Just kidding, but they did sacrifice a couple of days to spend here, see HCMC, and allow us to spoil them as our first formal visitors. Then the following weekend we all took a quick flight north to Hoi An, a city in Vietnam popular for its “old town” world heritage site with traditional, preserved Chinese assembly halls and wealthy bygone merchants homes lined with colorful Chinese lanterns and store after store after shop after shop of tailors. Hoi An is also well known for its plethora of tailoring shops ready to custom make clothing to your hearts content-all still in the original buildings and homes making each and every tailor selling the latest fashions still look historical and unique.
We immediately set out to see the preserved buildings and assembly halls, not intending on landing in a tailor shop as our primary target. However the air-conditioned oasis of Yaly Couture beckoned us forward and we walked out 2 suits and 2 dresses later… Much refreshed, we continued on our sight seeing way, then later in the day took refuge in the hotel spa while the rain poured down, leaving us a much cooler walk to a great dinner. The next day was filled with suit and dress fittings, a dusty bike ride to the beach, a lounge and swim and more great food for dinner. We were all sad to say good-bye to Hoi An, but left with some great custom creations, good memories and satisfied bellies.
That same day we said our good-byes to Meghann and Matt as well, they had one last adventure through Cambodia on their itinerary, then it was back to the states for them and the end of our entertaining. We hope to do more of it in the future though-we have our guest room all ready ;) Who is next??
(To see more pictures of our trip, click on the new slideshow to the right!0
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