Khon Kaen

Today is much better. I've settled into Khon Kaen (a university town) in a simple guesthouse with only three rooms run by an Englishman and his Thai wife. He's full of useful information and English books and newpapers. There's a nice cafe downstairs full of wooden tables and good-smelling food, which I'll be trying out tomorrow.

I'm delighted to be wearing a clean sundress. I don't know if I should broadcast this, but I'd been wearing the same outfit since Hue, Vietnam- the same pants, same two shirts, but different underwear. It was over 2 weeks in one outfit. Gross.

After a shower and washing my clothes, I walked to the Laos embassy and got my visa. The man at the consulate flipped through my passport for a while, giving strange looks to some of the visas (China, India, New Zealand, Vietnam, Cambodia) in my passport. Then he kept comparing my pictures. But the whole process still took less than ten minutes. The rest of the day I've spent walking around town. I found free wifi in the air-conditioned (praise the lord) mall. It's going to take a little adjustment to the weather here.

This weekend is an art festival at the University- I've heard good reviews, so I'll be sticking around at least four days before heading north to Nong Khai, a little town on the border with Laos, overlooking the Mekong River. Nong Khai was voted one of the best places in the world to have a second home by Modern Maturity magazine recently. Hmm, I don't know what to think about that. It must move slowly there for all those retired people in their walkers. Heheh. Just kidding, you retired folks! :)

Leaving Vietnam and sending Carrie away on the Jetplane

Here's my last post with Carrie in it. We both flew back to Bangkok yesterday and she kept flying onward to Seoul then to Portland via Seattle. A long schedule. I was sad to see her go. She's such good company. So easy-going and nice to everyone. It was fun to have someone to try new foods and see the sights with and laugh and be sarcastic at the stupid things. I couldn't help it and cried when she left (and a little bit today too). (See Molly, you're normal!) I wished that I was going back to Portland too when she was flying away. There is something about home. I could just imagine hopping on the Max lightrail and whirring through the city. But she went through security and I stayed. I'm ok. It's good to know that I have emotions, right? I'd imagine that it is normal to have homesickness at some point and I sort of guessed beforehand that this would happen.

So now I am headed toward Laos. Today in Ayuthaya. Settling back into solo travels. It will take a few days to transition back. I plan to lay low for a while and make some more definitive plans for the next 6 weeks in Asia and all that follows.

Final Vietnam Pictures:

The alley to our second guesthouse in Vietnam which was much more authentically "Hanoi." We had a balcony and all.

I don't know why they stamp numbers on the buildings. I have to look it up.

Carrie and me at the cafe where Catherine Deneuve took her morning coffee while filming Indochine. Great coffee in a simple environment.

The power kept going out all over Hanoi on our last night there- we had dinner at this cute place called "Little Hanoi" and at the end (luckily we were finished with our food) the power went out. It was going out all over Hanoi. I guess it's not uncommon, but it was the first time it happened to us there.

Final days with Carrie

I'm sitting on the balcony of our little $10 a night guesthouse, which is located down one of the small alleyways in Hanoi. Carrie and each have a single bed with a sky blue comforter and pillow. We've made a small mess of the room in our last days together, filling all the empty space with Chinese lanterns, Vietnamese coffee filters, made-to-order clothing, Keen sandals, a wine bottle and various other treasures.

I know that Carrie's getting ready mentally to be going home to Portland, as things are piling up that need to be addressed by her, so she'll be busy when she gets back. I'll be on another path.

We're flying back together to Bangkok on Tuesday. She'll continue on through Korea to Portland. I'll get off and jump on the rails overland through Northern Thailand to Laos. I don't really fancy getting into another border crossing like our Thailand-to-Cambodia adventure and the easiest crossing is the Friendship bridge from Nong Khai in Thailand with Vientiane in Laos, so I'm going to take my time getting there. After that, I'm not sure what'll be next.

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Carrie and I took a 3-day trip to Halong Bay, which included an overnight on the Imperial Junkboat (it was not junky) and hotel in Cat Ba city. It was all lovely. Cycling, kayaking, walking, a small village, caves, lunch on the beach with only 2 other tour members (there were four of us on the 3 day tour, an unusually small group) filled up our days there.

Insanity on the train, aka timer self photos in the window

This is what happens when you spend too much time on the rails.