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My Love for Laos Restored by Looms and Rice
A month ago, I read about Living Land Farm in a Lonely Planet Guidebook and immediately clocked it as something I wanted to do. I’d been looking forward to it for several weeks and it lived up to my expectations. At Living Land Farm I learned how to... Grow, harvest, and prepare RICE.
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Laid-Back Laos Loses My Vote
July 7-July 11 Backpackers love Laos. Usually, when I ask them why, they say things like “it’s less touristic.” (Side note: I’ve noticed that Europeans and Asians speaking English often use the world “touristic” instead of touristy. It sounds weird, but I think it’s still grammatically correct.) Another version of the same thing that I’ve heard it “it’s more authentic.” I understand the push for authenticity, to see how people really live. But, at the same time, I argue that tourism is such an important industry in South East Asia that “touristy” places are authentic. Anyway, most of the backpackers I talked to told me they loved Laos. And when…
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A Sloppy, Sweaty Trek in Sapa, Vietnam
The drive into Sapa was a cavalcade of buses. And, despite the many switchbacks, they were vying to be first, passing in the shortest of lanes so that often the bus being passed and the vehicle coming from the other direction had to slam on the brakes so the impatient driver could shoot through the gap.
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High Heat and Home Visits in Hanoi, Vietnam
In Hanoi, I walked. And I sweated. Walking at all meant wiping my upper lip, wiping my forehead, feeling water prickle at my hairline, feeling sweat stick my shirt to my back, running down my neck and into the collar of my shirt.
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Trekking a Trio of Deadly Volcanoes in East Java
May 13-May 20 Ijen I’m cold. I’m in Indonesia and I’m cold. Shivering. Shivering, on an island that is about 8 degrees of latitude away from the equator. To be fair, I am about 6,000 feet above sea level and it is 2:30 am. Why, you might be wondering, am I awake at 2:30am? I wonder this as well, in many moments. I woke up at 11:45pm, after getting to my hostel at 10:30pm (yes, 1-ish hour of sleep only). But the adrenaline–and the cold–are doing their job. I’m at the base of Mount Ijen, an active volcano in East Java, Indonesia. An active volcano I’m about to climb. Hopefully.…
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Peace, Love, and Turtles – Gili Air, Indonesia
Beneath my feet, beneath the planks of the dock, it is the brightest turquoise. A pale sandy beach runs in each direction and the most perfect shades of blue stretching away. To my right is the large island of Lombok with green hills and mountains. To the left is Gili Meno and Gili T.
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Beginning in Bali: The Start of My Asia Travels
When I arrived in Bali, the heat and humidity fell over me like a bag of bowling balls. Waiting for my driver in the Arrivals hall was like standing in the dryer room at my mom’s laundromat while also taking a hot shower—sweat rolled down my face but there was nothing to wipe it with because my arm was encased in a layer of dampness and my t-shirt was, already, in a moist and sticky state.
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Embracing Surrealism: Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef
For as long as I can remember, my parents have spoken of the Great Barrier Reef as a thing of dreams, as a wonderland so breathtaking that it feels imaginary.
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World of Waterfalls in Blue Mountains National Park
The fog was so low and heavy that I felt as though I were in a snow globe that started and ended at the ends of the block. Church spires rose like phantoms, trees were mere shadows. I could hardly get a feel for the town of Katoomba, much less what lay beyond.
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A Quarter of a Century Old in Sydney, Australia
I cried when the plane left New Zealand, but in the air, as I crossed the Tasman Sea, I regained my sense of exploration and landed in Sydney, Australia with the wide eyes and the eager heart of an adventurer.
