We arrived in Hanoi in the evening and made our way to the hostel which was located in the old part of town. We hit the hay as we were still getting over being sick, and then it was an early 8 a.m. start. I was immediately overwhelmed by all of the traffic once we stepped out the door. There were hundreds of motorbikes and it seemed like there were no driving rules at all! To cross the street, you slowly walk out and try to have faith that everyone will swerve around you and you won't end up on the ground. It can be quite an exhilarating experience if you're used to cars stopping for pedestrians like they do in Granada. We decided to walk around for a while and explore as there was so much to see on the streets. There were countless vendors selling anything and everything. It was very cool to people watch. Eventually we found a small cafe and I managed to order a sandwich (I love sandwiches) for the first time since leaving the states! It was an exciting moment. When we woke up the next day it was a bit rainy. Our first stop was a small restaurant for lunch (noodles and soup!) before walking around a bit more. I found some really great postcards which was nice and we all managed to find some jackets for our next stop. Afterwards we visited the Women's Museum which was very interesting. I highly recommend going if you are ever in the area! There was a lot of history and information on different cultures throughout Vietnam. My favorite exhibit explained how women were vital in the efforts of the war. I had no idea that there were battalions made up entirely of women who would carry out sneak attack missions. It was fascinating. Hanoi was a really great city to start our journey out in. While it was incredibly busy and hustling, there was a good sense of history and culture that I appreciated experiencing. Most everyone was very friendly and I loved simply walking around and exploring. It is pretty touristy so you can either be very comfortable while traveling here or make an effort to go out of your comfort zone and experience new things. Entirely up to you!
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I was pretty excited to be on vacation once finals finished. My flatmate Meghan and I had planned to spend a few nights in Madrid before each flying out. We packed up and left early in the morning (as in 6 a.m. impressive I know) and hopped on the 5 hour bus ride to the capital. It was really nice to be able to spend some time together before taking off. We visited the Prado Museum that holds a lot of artwork of very famous spanish painters such as Goya and Velazquez. We visited a christmas market and walked around in plazas packed with people. We even got to visit the royal palace! I was very happy to spend my last days of the year in Spain with someone who had had such a positive influence on my experience abroad. I left Madrid on the 20th. I had a smooth flight and my only layover was an hour in Doha, Qatar. I transferred airports in Bangkok and finally arrived in Yangon, Myanmar 30 hours after I had left Madrid. It was so nice to see my Mom waiting for me outside of customs after such a long trip! The first day was spent exploring around the neighborhood and downtown. We got to go on a tour put on by the heritage society that was wonderful. Our tour guide showed us around downtown mostly and went into depth about how it has changed over the years with the beginning of colonization and through the dictatorship. I can't say much for the four days that follow because I ended up getting sick. At first I thought it was just food poisoning or something like that, but I ended up having to go to the clinic on Christmas eve and get an IV line put in which wasn't much fun. Luckily my friend Anna from the states had arrived by that time and she got to go an explore a bit and tell me all about it. After a few days we did manage to get out for a bit and take the local train through the city. I was happy to be feeling better because by that time we were getting ready for our trip to Vietnam that was in two days. Unfortunately then both Anna and my mom fell ill and we were a very sorry household indeed. Thankfully we managed to pull ourselves together by Sunday afternoon and make it to the airport in time for our flight and landed in Hanoi on the 27th without anyone vomiting (huge success!).
(Meghan if you are reading this, the title is a testament to how much I miss you)
Hope everyone's holidays were great and you all enjoyed spending time with your loved ones! I was very fortunate to be able to travel around Southeast Asia with some of my favorite people. Posting anything was near impossible as the only times we had wifi were when we checked into our hostels at night so for the lack of updates I apologize! Right now I am back in Yangon, Myanmar, staying at my Mom's and will be here for about a week and a half. I have a ton of posts coming your way and plan to have them up rather soon, so keep your eyes peeled! Upcoming Posts:
Anyways, hugs to everyone and cheers to 2016! |
Amani P.Last fall I took off for a year abroad. Now I'm back in the states, trying to figure out this crazy thing we call life! Archives
February 2017
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