I will admit I went into Guatemala with some trepidation. Travel Wiki kept saying how there were 40 murders every week, and all of the armed crime was going on, and the violence. I was almost tempted not to get off the ship but I am glad that I did.
On our first day we went to the volcanic sand beach but we were horribly ripped off by the cab, so that did not help my impression of Guatemala. But the second day helped revise my opinion. We went to Antigua which is a beautiful village and the colors were very spiffy. But the coolest part was that we hiked Pacaya Volcano to see lava. It was far harder than the Great Wall and I am suprised that I made it. There were these boys with horses who kept trying to tempt me but I did not have any money since my credit card did not work. But when we got to the lava at the top, there was a whole river and we could see it flowing. I got to stand less than a foot away from it and it was very hot and it was glowing. Then we had to rush back to get to the ship before it got dark.
Then our third day was very relaxed we hung out at the restaurant that we kept going to and my friends had helped bartend. So the manager made us a free four course lunch with lobster and it was delicious! We also got free drinks.
I really liked Guatemala and I would not mind coming back, it was the people, who really made the place for me (the one's who were not trying to rip me off).
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
HAWAII
Hawaii was a very refreshing port. It was very nice to have a break from sailing and to get some real food! All I did was pretty much hang out on Waikiki and talked on my cell phone. It was very nice talking to people from home and I am looking forward to seeing them.
We ran into these two guys who were holding parrots and my friend Ashley and I got to hold them! They even cuddled with you, they were very cute. Then we had our portraits done that look very cool. Besides eating those are the highlights. I didn't really want to leave, but the show must go on and getting closer to going home.
We ran into these two guys who were holding parrots and my friend Ashley and I got to hold them! They even cuddled with you, they were very cute. Then we had our portraits done that look very cool. Besides eating those are the highlights. I didn't really want to leave, but the show must go on and getting closer to going home.
JAPAN
I am really sorry that it has taken me so long to update my blog but I had a really hard time finding an internet cafe or free wifi. But at least I am catching up before my trip is over!
So Japan was amazing and by far one of of my favorite countries that I have visited. It was extremely beautiful and clean. There were cherry blossoms everywhere and tulips as well! Everybody was so nice, and they tried very hard to help you even if they couldn't understand you, I would have gotten way more lost with out them. But I spoke a little which was helpful.
Our first day we stayed in Kobe which was the quietest city that I have ever been too. We ate amazing food, all of the food that I ate in Japan was fantastic and I would have eaten more but everything was very pricey and my money seemed to disapear very quickly.
Then my friends Sarah and Becky and I did an epic journey. We left a little late but we made it to Kyoto which was the prettiest city we went to. Then after we saw the castle and temples which were wonderful. We went over to Nara, however we got there pretty late and there was no place to stay.
However a woman named Yoko, who worked at the travel agency invited us to her home. So we got to have a spontaneous homestay! It was amazing Yoko and her husband Hiroshi were so nice and we got to spend time with her friend Reiko. Yoko cooked us a feast of amazing food, and it was like being home again with home cooked food at a table and it reminded me of my home.
Then we continued our journey and wandered Nara and fed the deer, which were very funny because they were always trying to steal food. I could have watched them all day. Then we went to Osaka to catch the overnight bus to Tokyo, and it was a cool city I wish I had more than a couple of hours there.
We did not get much sleep and we wandered a little around Tokyo but we were too tired. Also there was not enough time for Mt. Fuji. I will have to do those areas the next time I come to Japan. Then we went to Yokohama and met the ship and sailed our 9 day stretch.
So Japan was amazing and by far one of of my favorite countries that I have visited. It was extremely beautiful and clean. There were cherry blossoms everywhere and tulips as well! Everybody was so nice, and they tried very hard to help you even if they couldn't understand you, I would have gotten way more lost with out them. But I spoke a little which was helpful.
Our first day we stayed in Kobe which was the quietest city that I have ever been too. We ate amazing food, all of the food that I ate in Japan was fantastic and I would have eaten more but everything was very pricey and my money seemed to disapear very quickly.
Then my friends Sarah and Becky and I did an epic journey. We left a little late but we made it to Kyoto which was the prettiest city we went to. Then after we saw the castle and temples which were wonderful. We went over to Nara, however we got there pretty late and there was no place to stay.
However a woman named Yoko, who worked at the travel agency invited us to her home. So we got to have a spontaneous homestay! It was amazing Yoko and her husband Hiroshi were so nice and we got to spend time with her friend Reiko. Yoko cooked us a feast of amazing food, and it was like being home again with home cooked food at a table and it reminded me of my home.
Then we continued our journey and wandered Nara and fed the deer, which were very funny because they were always trying to steal food. I could have watched them all day. Then we went to Osaka to catch the overnight bus to Tokyo, and it was a cool city I wish I had more than a couple of hours there.
We did not get much sleep and we wandered a little around Tokyo but we were too tired. Also there was not enough time for Mt. Fuji. I will have to do those areas the next time I come to Japan. Then we went to Yokohama and met the ship and sailed our 9 day stretch.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
China
So I had a really good time China and I had a really good time. Hong Kong was nice it was very western and lots of flashing lights. Then I went on my university trip to Peiking university and it was very good. We walked around the city with them and had a fun party where we played lots of games. I even went to a karaoke bar where we rented it for 3 hours and got free food and drinks.
But we saw everything in Beijing. I went to the Bird's nest and the cube, then we went to the Ming Tombs. Our entire bus bought these panda hats and we were bus panda. Then we climbed the great wall and it was different than I expected. First of all I did not realize that there were so many stairs I nearly died trying to climb it since some steps were tiny and others were huge but I made it the top and escaped death.
After that we went to the Forbidden City and it was huge, we had little tape cassetes which were nice because it could tell where we were. But there were sooo many tourists. Then we saw the summer palace which was very pretty
Also the food was...interesting....I didn't really know what I was eating and some things were pretty spicey. But the funny thing was that they always served french fries. Also it was very funny because everyone wanted to take pictures of me because I was so tall they all found it very funny. Also the shopping was insanely cheap and I bought a lot stuff. I will write about Japan later but so far it is really fun.
But we saw everything in Beijing. I went to the Bird's nest and the cube, then we went to the Ming Tombs. Our entire bus bought these panda hats and we were bus panda. Then we climbed the great wall and it was different than I expected. First of all I did not realize that there were so many stairs I nearly died trying to climb it since some steps were tiny and others were huge but I made it the top and escaped death.
After that we went to the Forbidden City and it was huge, we had little tape cassetes which were nice because it could tell where we were. But there were sooo many tourists. Then we saw the summer palace which was very pretty
Also the food was...interesting....I didn't really know what I was eating and some things were pretty spicey. But the funny thing was that they always served french fries. Also it was very funny because everyone wanted to take pictures of me because I was so tall they all found it very funny. Also the shopping was insanely cheap and I bought a lot stuff. I will write about Japan later but so far it is really fun.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Vietnam
So I had two days in Vietnam and I thought it wasn't too bad. It was extremly hot and some people were very rude but I met a lot of nice people as well, so I thought it was a pretty good place. I didn't do a whole lot.
I went to the Mekong Delta independently and our guide was very nice, he kept calling us his beautiful ladies or his tourists. We sailed the river and sampled food. I even bought some honey because it was very good. Then we had the best coconut carmael and peanuts and I don't even like coconut. It was a lot of fun.
Then today I did some serious DVD shopping. I bought alot and all under 5o dollars. I got a cartoon pack of disney movies that had around 100 movies on 12 disks for 17 dollars. Then I got Dexter, The Tudors, 30 Rock, Supernatural, Torchwood, and Weeds . Then I got 12 different movies so I am very excited to watch them all. I need to get a new DVD case now. But it was very nice and I had a good time.
I went to the Mekong Delta independently and our guide was very nice, he kept calling us his beautiful ladies or his tourists. We sailed the river and sampled food. I even bought some honey because it was very good. Then we had the best coconut carmael and peanuts and I don't even like coconut. It was a lot of fun.
Then today I did some serious DVD shopping. I bought alot and all under 5o dollars. I got a cartoon pack of disney movies that had around 100 movies on 12 disks for 17 dollars. Then I got Dexter, The Tudors, 30 Rock, Supernatural, Torchwood, and Weeds . Then I got 12 different movies so I am very excited to watch them all. I need to get a new DVD case now. But it was very nice and I had a good time.
Cambodia
While I was in Vietnam I took a trip to Cambodia and it was a lot of fun although it was very intense. First all I was there for three days and everyday we had a flight. I saw the national museum and we played soccer with the local kids. Then we checked into our very nice hotel that had excellent food.
Then the next day I went to the genocide museum which was a highschool that the Kmer Rouge used to torture the intellectuals. It was very sad you could see the graves of the last 13 victims in the front and then there were rooms with a bed, then they would show a huge graphic photograph of the aftermatho of the victims in the beds. Then we went to the killing fields were the majority of the victims died. There was a shrine that had a ton of skulls and it wasn't even a fraction of the victims, then near the back were the mass graves were you could still fragments of bones on the surface of the ground we even found a tooth. It was very intense and then they showed the tree where children were beaten. Since it was their mission to eradicate the intellectuals they killed all of the children as well and they would throw babies in the air and spear them on their bayonets. Our tour guide was 4 years old when this was happening and his father was a professor, so they had to migrate to the country and his little sister died of fever as well as his grandparents and aunt and uncle. Then he was forced to live in camp of only children and he said they were treated like animals. I am glad that I went to the Killing Fields even if it was hard we have to learn how to face our past.
Then we went to the royal palace which was pretty it was just like the Grand Palace in Bangkok. But it was soooooooooo hot in Cambodia it was dreadfull. Then we flew to Angkor Wat and watched the sunset. It was very cool, we had to have a temple pass which they regularly checked. But the temple was so intricate and it must have been crazy when it was first made. Then we went back and I made sure I went to bed early cause we had to leave by 5 to go the sunrise at Angkor Wat. But first we went to a very good dinner where we watched Cambodian Dancing and it was very cute we even took pictures with dancers, after the Japanese tourists swarmed the dancers.
I managed to drag myself out of bed and we went over there. It was dark when we got there and there was a suprising number of tourists but the sunrise was very nice and relaxing we even saw the water lillies open as well. Then for the rest of the day we went to see the rest of the temples. But let me tell you it was over a 100 degrees and humid and I have never sweated so much in my life. I drank a ton of water but never went to the bathroom. We saw all of the buddah face statues and all of the temples with the tree roots wrapped around them. It was very neat and it was fun to pretend that you discovered them and we kept singing the Indiana Jones theme song. Overall I really liked Cambodia and I thought it was a lot of fun and I hope that they will be able to recover again.
Then the next day I went to the genocide museum which was a highschool that the Kmer Rouge used to torture the intellectuals. It was very sad you could see the graves of the last 13 victims in the front and then there were rooms with a bed, then they would show a huge graphic photograph of the aftermatho of the victims in the beds. Then we went to the killing fields were the majority of the victims died. There was a shrine that had a ton of skulls and it wasn't even a fraction of the victims, then near the back were the mass graves were you could still fragments of bones on the surface of the ground we even found a tooth. It was very intense and then they showed the tree where children were beaten. Since it was their mission to eradicate the intellectuals they killed all of the children as well and they would throw babies in the air and spear them on their bayonets. Our tour guide was 4 years old when this was happening and his father was a professor, so they had to migrate to the country and his little sister died of fever as well as his grandparents and aunt and uncle. Then he was forced to live in camp of only children and he said they were treated like animals. I am glad that I went to the Killing Fields even if it was hard we have to learn how to face our past.
Then we went to the royal palace which was pretty it was just like the Grand Palace in Bangkok. But it was soooooooooo hot in Cambodia it was dreadfull. Then we flew to Angkor Wat and watched the sunset. It was very cool, we had to have a temple pass which they regularly checked. But the temple was so intricate and it must have been crazy when it was first made. Then we went back and I made sure I went to bed early cause we had to leave by 5 to go the sunrise at Angkor Wat. But first we went to a very good dinner where we watched Cambodian Dancing and it was very cute we even took pictures with dancers, after the Japanese tourists swarmed the dancers.
I managed to drag myself out of bed and we went over there. It was dark when we got there and there was a suprising number of tourists but the sunrise was very nice and relaxing we even saw the water lillies open as well. Then for the rest of the day we went to see the rest of the temples. But let me tell you it was over a 100 degrees and humid and I have never sweated so much in my life. I drank a ton of water but never went to the bathroom. We saw all of the buddah face statues and all of the temples with the tree roots wrapped around them. It was very neat and it was fun to pretend that you discovered them and we kept singing the Indiana Jones theme song. Overall I really liked Cambodia and I thought it was a lot of fun and I hope that they will be able to recover again.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
THAILAND
I was going to do a post earlier but I accidentally switched the computer so it wrote everything in Chinese so I decided to do it later. So far Thailand has been a lot of fun and it is a very cool place. On my first day I went to a Elephant village where retired elephant workers go to. I got to ride them twice once by myself with the elephant master bareback! I was afraid that I was going to slide off! Then I rode it again on a seat with my friend Kirsten and our elephant master made us grass grasshoppers. It was a lot of fun, but very warm.
Then the next day I went to the Tiger zoo which was more depressing. They were not very nice to their animals and used a lot of uneccesary force. The tigers were afraid of their trainers and were forced to jump through rings of fire and the crocodiles were sedated and were dragged by their tales and their eyes were poked. The only highlight was that I got to hold a baby tiger and to feed him milk! It was very sweet and the cub was very soft, I didn't want to let go of it, and the time holding them was way too short.
Then the rest of the time I have been in Bangkok, I went to my first hostel and I think that it is very nice. There is a very pretty courtyard with a koi pond and is surrouned by plumeria trees. And it is only 300 bot a night so it less than 10 dollars and it is very cool and the showers have only cold water but it is very refreshing. Also it is right next to Khoi San Road which is the backbackers place in Bangkok, so it is very international and very trendy. It has been extremly hot in Bangkok and I am pretty sure that I have never sweated so much in my entire life, it is 97 degrees plus humidity, I had to buy tank tops.
Besides hanging out at Khoi San I have been doing some culturual things. I went to Grand Palace which was very interesting. It was 350 bot for non thais and I thought it was pretty over priced for 5o more I could have gotten a guide but me and Kirsten were trying to save money. The buildings were extremly beautiful and ornate, the details were crazy, but I didn't really know anything about the buildings. But it was good even though I think it was overpriced. What I thought was way cooler was the reclining buddha and it was only 50 bot. It was the biggest statue of Buddah or anything that I have ever seen. To do a decent comparasion for everyone to picture the scale of the statue is the Statue of Liberty reclining on the ground in a temple. That is what it was like, it was crazy.
But besides those things all Kirsten and I have been shopping the streets because there are a lot of cool things to see, but we have been eating a ton of street food! It is all so good and its very cheap and knock on wood I have not gotten sick yet. But it is all deliscious I have gotten pad tai, fried noodles, bbq sticks, corn on the cob, mango and sticky rice, and these very good pancake things that I get with sugar and condensed milk. I have been resiting the DVDs because I am trying to hold out for Vietnam. Those are the highlights so far and I will try to update soon!
Then the next day I went to the Tiger zoo which was more depressing. They were not very nice to their animals and used a lot of uneccesary force. The tigers were afraid of their trainers and were forced to jump through rings of fire and the crocodiles were sedated and were dragged by their tales and their eyes were poked. The only highlight was that I got to hold a baby tiger and to feed him milk! It was very sweet and the cub was very soft, I didn't want to let go of it, and the time holding them was way too short.
Then the rest of the time I have been in Bangkok, I went to my first hostel and I think that it is very nice. There is a very pretty courtyard with a koi pond and is surrouned by plumeria trees. And it is only 300 bot a night so it less than 10 dollars and it is very cool and the showers have only cold water but it is very refreshing. Also it is right next to Khoi San Road which is the backbackers place in Bangkok, so it is very international and very trendy. It has been extremly hot in Bangkok and I am pretty sure that I have never sweated so much in my entire life, it is 97 degrees plus humidity, I had to buy tank tops.
Besides hanging out at Khoi San I have been doing some culturual things. I went to Grand Palace which was very interesting. It was 350 bot for non thais and I thought it was pretty over priced for 5o more I could have gotten a guide but me and Kirsten were trying to save money. The buildings were extremly beautiful and ornate, the details were crazy, but I didn't really know anything about the buildings. But it was good even though I think it was overpriced. What I thought was way cooler was the reclining buddha and it was only 50 bot. It was the biggest statue of Buddah or anything that I have ever seen. To do a decent comparasion for everyone to picture the scale of the statue is the Statue of Liberty reclining on the ground in a temple. That is what it was like, it was crazy.
But besides those things all Kirsten and I have been shopping the streets because there are a lot of cool things to see, but we have been eating a ton of street food! It is all so good and its very cheap and knock on wood I have not gotten sick yet. But it is all deliscious I have gotten pad tai, fried noodles, bbq sticks, corn on the cob, mango and sticky rice, and these very good pancake things that I get with sugar and condensed milk. I have been resiting the DVDs because I am trying to hold out for Vietnam. Those are the highlights so far and I will try to update soon!
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