... Duo Xiao Qyan?

"Duo Xiao Qyan" (pronounced something like Dwoah Sheyow Chi-yen) may be my new favorite 

 phrase. Asking "how much does it cost?" is super handy but I can only count from one through five 

right now so understanding the response is kind of tricky. Neil has been teaching us a bunch of common phrases and rewards Anna and me with excessive high fives every time we say them correctly. It's pretty hilarious and feels good to finally be in a culture so foreign that getting around with English is actually impossible. This is our second day in Shenzhen, China and I've only seen one other white person. I find this extremely refreshing and really like how far off the backpacker trail we've gotten. 

Shenzhen is quite the city - lots of shopping, tiny, adorable Chinese girls in sky-high heels, even more sky-high buildings, and some really great street food. We spent our first day with Neil wandering around his neighborhood and bought some traditional Chinese dresses (called "qiopos") which we plan on wearing for Anna's birthday tomorrow - we're bringing in her 25th year with "the most Chinese birthday ever" which should include dinner at an all you can eat/drink sushi and saki place (kind of Japanese but whatever) followed by karaoke and clubs. 

We recuperated for a few hours with some Game of Thrones (Anna and I hadn't seen it before - might be dangerously hooked now) then played Cards Against Humanity with some of Neil's American friends and grabbed street food and beers in a dirty/crowded/awesome alley. The food was great but we realized the main issue with hanging out there was the lack of bathrooms. For the guys this was no problem since they just snuck off behind cars or in dark alleys but that proved a bit tougher for the girls. We made it work.

So happy to see Neil and get a peek into his life here - more to come!

... Pink Eye and Choco Pies?

I'm currently sitting in a child's seat in a packed mini bus filled with 25 people heading back to Hanoi from Halong Bay... It's hot. Since we only had a week to see Vietnam, Anna and I decided to book guided tours for both Sapa and Halong Bay and managed to squeeze quite a lot into a week. 

Sapa was absolutely beautiful - the air was crisp and it felt like autumn for the first time (we're both currently dreaming of Halloween and pumpkin pie). Rolling rice terraces and green hills were an incredible backdrop and the city felt romantic and slightly European. Afte two days of trekking around with a guide, a few other older couples, and a group of local Vietnamese women who pressured us to buy handmade goods (I caved and did), we relaxed in the nicest hotel room we've had the whole trip. We were especially excited about this nicer place after spending the night before on a sleeper train battling pink eye. The pink eye battle continues but I'm trying not to let it affect the experience too much. However, I think people may be suspicious since I never remove my sunglasses. Ever. 

After another night train back to Hanoi, I slept in the tourist office for a few hours (we got in at 5am) and we grabbed "Pho" (pronounced "Fa") our new favorite Vietnamese noodle soup dish. Anna and I then took a 5 hour bus ride to Halong Bay and spent the next three days on a boat and got a chance to see some cool caves, do a bit of hiking, swimming, biking and kayaking. The bike around Kapa (the biggest island near Halong Bay) was one of my favorite activities - It was such a good way to explore and feel active and alive. We met some great couples including a retired 55 year old Canadian pair who were biking around all of Southeast Asia together and a younger American couple with a great sense of humor who we shared lots of meals and laughs with. 

All in all our time in Vietnam was a nice change of pace. Anna and I went to bed around 9pm most nights and got up around 6am... We're blaming all the excess sleep on trying to recover from this pink eye. Hoping it'll go away soon! We fly to Hong Kong tomorrow night and I can't wait to see my bro - it's been over a year and I have no idea what to expect. He might be living in a closet or a palace... I hear he has a working TV with HBO at his place but who knows, I'm trying not to get too excited about the prospect of getting to watch some Homeland. Fingers crossed though.

Current music: Ben Rector and Wilco

Current mood: Inexplicably tired

Current favorite food: Pho, Choco Pies and Custas (the last two are over-processed Vietnamese treats. Neither are actually good but I can't stop eating them).

A few pictures...

Beautiful Sapa

The view from our hotel balcony

Trekking

Water buffaloes 

The ladies I ended up buying from

Pearl farm in Halong Bay - I had no idea how they were implanted in the oysters

Some of the 1,869 "islands" in Halong Bay

Our boat

Kayaking!

Biking on Kapa

Beautiful sunsets never get old...

... No shoes for a week?

I'm struggling right now because I honestly don't know where to start when it comes to our last week in Koh Rong, Cambodia. There aren't words to describe how amazing that island is or how much this past week has changed me and my whole attitude towards travel. 

When I first arrived with Anna and Taylor, I was fighting a cold and feeling so beat up from all the traveling. I sat outside our little bungalow the first morning looking out at the ocean and could barely enjoy its beauty because I was so wrapped up in my head. I felt far removed and frustrated at my inability to let go of some things and just live in the moment. I said something to Taylor about it and she told me to run and jump in the ocean - when you're swimming in the sea, it's pretty hard to not feel present and alive. So I jumped in and made a pact with myself to just let go. 

It was such a turning point in the trip. From there things just got better and better and the new friends, conversations, and experiences started pouring in. Yogi teachers, Australian party girls, non-profit adventurers, German boys, and some awesome local Cambodians who welcomed us with open arms, Angkor beers and always a joint (we found out later that Koh Rong is also dubbed "stoner island") - these new friends made Koh Rong into a place that felt like home. There was no better feeling than waking up in the morning to the sound of waves, walking barefoot to my favorite bar down the beach, Monkey Island, and stopping to chat with all these new friendly faces along the way. I savored those conversations and people, and despite the almost constant rain, I made the best of just living in the present - something easier said than done for me.

The rest of the week was filled with lounging on the beach, drinking at Monkey Island and Coco's, losing in a pretty epic beer pong tournament (a disgrace for us Americans - it came down to one cup in the semifinals), hanging out with our local Cambodian friends Linda, Stoner (aka Stona aka Boner aka Bunna - no one knows his real name), Pier, and Ti, and becoming a little family unit by sharing a bungalow with Claus and Sander from Germany, hiking and swimming to a remote part of the island and spending a day naked on the beach, gnocchi at a little Italian joint called La Mami, lots of red wine and booze buckets, a boat out to Koh Rong 2 (another island with maybe 3 tourists staying on it) with our guide Davy where he caught some squid and we immediately ate them for lunch, and some down time reading in a hammock. Apologies for the biggest run-on sentence ever.

So basically the week in Koh Rong was fantastic and I'm honestly thinking about skipping Australia at the end of the trip and going to work at a bar for a few weeks there instead. Some locals were telling us that a lot of the island has recently been bought up and theyre building resorts and an airport pretty soon. I know that kind of thing is bound to happen but it makes me sad that this little gem of a place will never be the same in a year or two. I guess all you can do is appreciate it for what it is at the moment.

Anna and I left yesterday on a pretty amusing ferry ride and spent 15 hours on busses from Sihanoukville to Ho Chi Minh City where we realized flying north to Hanoi was the only travel option (busses would take 2 days). So we'll fly into Hanoi tomorrow and check out Halong Bay and Sapa. Kind of bummed we don't have more time in Vietnam because of our flight to China but we're making the best if it! 

Current ailments: Pink eye, a couple blisters, 3 giant bruises, a leg rash, sunburn and a lingering cold

Current mood: Happy regardless 

Current book: Shantaram

A few photos...

Beautiful view from our bungalow

Anna on our boat trip - Davy got the squid from a passing fishing boat and we ate it for lunch

Beautiful rainy day on Koh Rong 2 - a more remote island

Our bungalow family minus Anna

The most beautiful place in the world

Amusing ferry ride with some new and old friends

The answer to what happens when you don't wear shoes for a week - cuts, bruises, and some new rash. All worth it.

... An island had a secret?

I'm currently sitting on my bungalow's front porch early in the morning looking right past the sandy white beach out into the ocean while a guy is practicing his guitar next door. It's peaceful and beautiful with barely any other tourists here. We're all starting to think Koh Rong is the hidden gem of Cambodia  - a small island with so much untouched beauty that it sort of makes you think you were the first to discover it.

The scary thing is, everyone on the island is whispering about this big secret that happened a few days ago. Apparently a 55 year old American woman was hiking across the island and went missing. A search party went out to look for her and found her in the jungle with ripped clothes and slashed wrists. All the signs pointed to rape and murder that was trying to be covered up as a suicide. People are saying the body was already burned and the Cambodians here are trying to cover it up because they don't want the story to get out to the public and affect the tourism here. Who knows what parts are true and what are false, but I decided against doing a hike alone this morning. Just to be safe.

Anyway - Koh Rong is still gorgeous and we're excited to be here for a few days especially after being in some of the bigger cities for a week. After a few days in Siem Reap and visiting Angkor Wat, Anna and I headed to Phnom Penh to see the Killing Fields. We did an audio tour and were shocked at how many of the remains were being stored. Bones and fragments were piled up in glass cases all around the site -  none looked to be preserved in any way. Apparently when it rains, many bones surface to the top of the wet ground and the groundskeepers have to go around and pick them up. It was extremely sad and impactful. I just finished reading "First they killed my father" which talks about the genocide from the perspective of a five year old who experienced it. Definitely recommend it to learn more about all that went on under the rule of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge when somewhere around 3 million Cambodians were killed.

On a lighter note, Cambodians are extremely sweet and hospitable and this island really is gorgeous. I'm fighting a cold (of course) but am happy to be here and praying a lot for Ellis and my friends and family back home. Miss them all a lot but am trying to enjoy every moment while I'm here.

A few photos...

Apparently this isn't just an American thing?

The Killing Fields in Phnom Penh

Shocking storage of remains

Our Tuk Tuk ride - Phnom Penh was so polluted but our driver was a sweetheart and pulled over to buy us masks to wear

Hilarious yogi-friends we met on the ferry over from Sihanoukville to Koh Rong

Our cute bungalow right on the beach in Koh Rong!

Baby on a boat! We made eye contact for a long time.

My view this morning before some brief rain...