Da Lat

Our first day in Da Lat might have been my favorite day abroad so far. We went canyoning as it’s called in Vietnam or canyoneering as it’s called in the States. For anyone who doesn’t know what this is, according to the company’s website, canyoning is navigating your way through a canyon. In this case, the canyon contains water and in some sections the topography requires ropes to navigate your way successfully. Other sections can be hiked or swam through. That’s the technical definition of what we did, but here’s it in a little more detail!

Our day started off by hopping in a van with another couple and four friendly guides. They took us to the adventure park that they operate out of, and here we learned about repelling and practiced the skills we would use.

Once we demonstrated the skills at a level of their approval, we hiked our way in to the canyon. As we were hiking, we got talking to the other couple, who turned out to be pretty similar to us. Simon and Julie, a couple from Scotland, were around our age and had also quit their jobs to come travel the world. Over exchanging a few stories of our travels and talking about our plans for where we would be going next, we quickly became friends.

Then as we were walking along and talking, we came to an abrupt stop. All of the sudden we were at the edge of a cliff, and that was our first challenge. This cliff was the easiest because it was the shortest and also it was dry. All of the other cliffs we repelled had rapidly flowing waterfalls going over them.

A few days earlier, the dam had been opened. So when I say rapidly flowing water, I mean there was so much water that we almost got swept away just crossing streams. The guides told us that this is the second most amount of water that they have ever seen here. The first was when they somehow added water or made the water current stronger for an episode of Man vs. Wild that was filmed in this location. Needless to say, the day was quite the adventure and even the simple tasks of crossing the stream became a challenge.

Once we all had repelled down the first cliff, we floated with the current to the next cliff. At this cliff (waterfall), we repelled about halfway down, until there was a drop off in the rock. When we got to that point, we let go of the rope we were holding on to and then soared across the stream on a zipline.

Here are some pictures from that.

For the third cliff (waterfall) that we repelled, we walked out in to the middle of the waterfall and then one by one we worked our way down the 75 foot cliff. The top part was the easiest because if you walked in just the right path, the water would flow on the sides of you and not straight in to your face.

The second part of the cliff was more challenging because here you basically couldn't do anything to keep the water from pounding you in the face. You were supposed to look at the guide down below for signals as to which way to move to try and avoid the water, but after getting water in my contacts I couldn’t see anything.

The cliff was very slippery and I slipped and fell as I was trying to hurry and work my way down. They had instructed us in what to do if we were to fall, and the main thing was to remain calm. Somehow I was able to do this and pull myself back up and get my footing again. I started repelling again, and then finally made it to the point where we were told to just let go and fall in to the water.

The waterfall pushed me out, and I was thrown a rope to be pulled over to the rocks. I came out of the water trembling, from not being able to breathe very well with all of the water pounding on my face, and proud that I had conquered this waterfall!

Here are some pictures of Brad and I both conquering this waterfall.

After the big waterfall, we swam and hiked a little ways until we came to a place to cliff jump. Here, we all jumped (pictured below), and then floated down the stream to the place that we stopped for lunch. We had a picnic lunch of sandwiches and fruit, and then hiked a little farther into the canyon to get to the fourth cliff.

The last cliff (waterfall) was named ‘the washing machine’ because during the repel, you go right into the waterfall where you can get spun around (like clothes in a washing machine). It starts out with you repelling right next to the waterfall, and then as you repel further down, you end up right underneath the water. The water pushes you down, twirls you around, and then finally pops you up a little further down the stream.

Here are some pictures from the washing machine.

The washing machine was the last challenge for the day, so after everyone had completed it, we started hiking out of the canyon. We got picked up once we reached the top, and then were driven back to our hotel.

Canyoning was such a thrill and Brad and I both loved the adventure! We definitely recommend if you’re ever in Da Lat, that you should try it!

_______________________________________________________________________

Just an FYI: the beginning of this post was written by Brad.

For our second day in Da Lat, I thought it was a brilliant idea that we should rent a motorbike. Let me start off with it is currently rainy season in Vietnam, which is why they were letting out so much water from the dam for the day before. Anyways, regardless of the weather, I ran down and rented a bike from the guy who runs the hotel. It started to sprinkle but I didn’t care because I was not driving and I had my trusty shield Brad to take all the rain. We will just say he wasn’t too pleased with this adventure, but he sucked it up and we carried on (what a trooper!!!)

We take off from town to our destination, the Pongour Waterfalls, which are 43 kilometers away. This is roughly 20 miles away on a scooter topping out at 40 kph or 20 mph. So if you do the math, it took an hour to get there, sprinkling the whole way (love you Brad aka shield). 

The weather would not be our only challenge for the day. Even though, in Vietnam, they drive on the same side of the road as us, their driving style is nothing I have ever experienced before. There are no rules to the roads, and any lane could be used for either direction. Even as passenger, it was terrifying. Man, I’m so lucky to have my own personal chauffeur, Brad!

Okay, okay, Brad’s no longer allowed to write this post.

Anyways, when we finally reach the waterfall, we park the scooter and hike down to the bottom of it. Here we climb out on to the rocks and take some pictures. Take a look for yourself.

When we had finished admiring the view, we got back on the scooter and rode the hour back to town. It sprinkled for a little bit, and then right as we were getting back, it started to rain harder. We were going to ride the scooter straight to lunch, but the “navigator” (myself) had Brad driving all over town because roundabouts are pretty tricky. We ended up deciding to return the scooter and just walk to find something to eat.

We wandered in to a traditional Vietnamese BBQ, in which they cook the food for you right at your table. The guy taking our order asked if we wanted, beef, pork, chicken, or seafood, and seconds after deciding on beef and pork, a platter of raw meat was set on our table. The raw meat sat on our table for a bit, and we weren’t sure what was going on, but after about five minutes, they brought over a hot plate and cooked it for us. We had some fried rice with it and a Siagon Special beer. All in all, a pretty tasty meal!

After dinner, we went back and crawled in bed, exhausted from the past two days adventures.

_______________________________________________________________________

On our last day in Da Lat, we spent the morning at the Truc Lam Pagoda. This is another Buddhist temple, but it is situated up in the mountains. To get to it, we had to take a cable car from in town. Here is a picture of Brad loving mornings and one of our view during the ride.

When we got up to the temple, Brad was wearing shorts, so he couldn’t go in to all of the different parts. I quickly went around and read the information and took some pictures, while he waited patiently.

While I was taking pictures, I got talking to a monk who has lived up there since 1995. He studies everyday and has not left the plot of land that the temple is on since the day he moved up there. (That seems pretty crazy to me, to not leave one place for over 20 years!)

The monk also explained to me about different parts of the temple and how this specific temple tries to recreate the spirit of Zen Buddhism that ruled Vietnam back in the 1200 – 1300s. All of the flower gardens at this temple are what makes it that spirit of Zen Buddhism. It was nice being able to talk to him, as we have been to many temples, but thanks to this monk and his willingness to talk to me, this is the one I learned the most about.

Here are a few pictures from of the temple.

After I got done taking some pictures, I went to find Brad and we headed back to the cable car. We rode it for 15 minutes across the valley, and then came to the other side. Here we got out and then walked back to our hotel.

We fly out this afternoon, so after grabbing some lunch on our walk back to the hotel, we got a cab to the airport. We then got checked in, went through security, and then flew back to Ho Chi Minh.

We got in late and got check in to our hotel around 9:00 pm. We then went out and grabbed one last Vietnamese dinner, and came back and headed to bed. We have an early morning bus tomorrow, so make sure to keep reading to see where we go next!

Ho Chi Minh

Immediately when we got out of the doors at the airport, we were in love. Over the course of a week, Ho Chi Minh became one of my favorite cities. The people were so friendly and made us feel welcomed throughout our entire time, and we’re already thinking of when we can come back!

_______________________________________________________________________

On our first day in the city, we arrived in the afternoon to a friendly man standing there with our name on a sign. We really like staying at these airbnb places because they always go above and beyond to make our stay great. The owner of the apartment we were staying at for the week, sent a driver to pick us up, and then met us at the apartment. He showed us how to work everything, gave us a few recommendations of things to do, and then gave us his number to contact him if we needed anything.

We had a lovely apartment right downtown in District 1, and with this location, we could walk everywhere! It was perfect! We loved that we were in a residential neighborhood with lots of local street food, but then if we walked a little ways, we could eat at a Hard Rock Café or similar places, if we wanted something different. Basically we loved the location of the apartment, we loved the food, we loved the city, and we love Vietnam! (This is just a warning letting you know how much I’m going to ramble about our love for Vietnam in this post.)

Anyways, back to our day-to-day adventures. So the first day we arrived and got all situated in the apartment, and then headed out for some dinner. We were nervous that some of the not as nice looking restaurants might only have a menu in Vietnamese and then we would have no idea what to order, but we decided to try one of these restaurants anyways. We walked in to one and to our surprise, the menu was in both Vietnamese and English, and the woman who waited on us spoke basically perfect English!

We had a nice dinner of spring rolls for an appetizer, phó (noodle soup) for the main entrée, and a Vietnamese take on crème brule for dessert. It was all delicious, and Brad and I both agreed that we wished we would have been eating more noodles all semester, instead of the rice we ate everyday in Thailand. Oh well, we’re getting to enjoy the noodles now!

By the time we got done eating, it was already getting late, so we headed back to the apartment to get some sleep.

_______________________________________________________________________

The next day in Vietnam, we got up and got ready for the day, and then headed out for something to eat. A place called Buds caught my eye (probably because it was actually an ice cream parlor that also served a little food), and we stopped here to have a bowl of phó.

The lunch was good, and when we were finished, we decided we better wait on getting ice cream. We said we would come back after we visited the War Remnants Museum, and that’s exactly what we did.

We got to the museum and took our time reading everything and looking around. Outside, there were tanks and airplanes that were used during the war. Then inside the museum, there were many different exhibits and rooms that each had their own theme. One of the rooms was all about the chemical Agent Orange that America sprayed during the war. It showed pictures of what it did to the land, and then also what it did to the people.

It was so saddening to see the numbers about how many people were affected by this chemical. Agent Orange not only affected the people who got infected by it when it was sprayed, but it also caused many birth defects in their children, grandchildren, and even some great grandchildren. With each generation, fewer babies are affected by it, but 40 years after the war ended, some children are still paying the price for America’s use of this chemical.

There were other rooms in the museum, such as one about propaganda and one about photographers trying to capture the war. But the room that had pictures and stories of those affected by Agent Orange, stood out the most.

Now, I’m not one who typically enjoys museums, but this one was a museum that I’m glad I took the time to read and learn about everything in it. It was interesting learning about it in a place where it actually happened, and seeing it through a different point of view. For example, the museum referred to the war as the War of American Aggression, where in America we call it the Vietnam War. The museum also focused on how it affected the Vietnamese people, a side of the war that I had not learned about before.

Here are just a few pictures from in the museum.

After the museum, as I said above, we went back to Buds for some ice cream. It was my half birthday that day, and I know that isn’t celebrated by most people, but for as long as I can remember, I’ve been getting cards or texts telling me happy half birthday. Therefore, I should probably celebrate it! So to do this, Brad and I got delicious ice cream sundaes (pictured below).

We had spent the entire afternoon at the museum, so after we were done there and done with the ice cream, all of the tourist things we wanted to do were closing for the day. So we headed back to the apartment to relax a little before heading to dinner. We went out to Hard Rock Café to have a burger, since we haven’t had a burger with real beef since we left America. Needless to say, I don’t think a burger has ever tasted so good! Then, after every crumb was eaten, we headed back to the apartment to head to bed.

_______________________________________________________________________

The next day in Ho Chi Minh, we went to Vietnam’s version of the Notre Dame Cathedral. In Vietnam, 60% of the population is Buddhist, 30% is Catholic, and the last 10% is a mix of Hindu, Muslim, and their own religion Cao Dai. So since 30% of the people are Catholic, it only makes sense that there would be some beautiful cathedrals around. Here is a picture of the cathedral below.

When we went inside Notre Dame, beautiful stained glass windows surrounded us. Here’s a picture for you to see for yourself.

Once we were done looking at the cathedral, we walked across the street to a historic post office (pictured below). This post office is still a functioning post office, but also is a tourist attraction. I know if I lived in Vietnam, I would definitely go to a different post office, to avoid all of the tourists, but surprisingly many locals were there simply going about there day to day life.

While we were there, a group of high school students asked us if they could interview us for a project they were doing. They asked us where we were from, what we liked and disliked in the city, and then had us fill out a survey. The survey asked about employee and boss relations and how they work together. As I was filling mine in, I asked them about these topics. I learned that in Vietnam, the boss makes the decisions and the employee’s ideas are not valued.

During our conversation, we got talking about school, and the differences between school here in Vietnam and school in Thailand. In Thailand, the students will always be passed no matter what. This was something that I found to be a struggle while teaching. I mean I only had kindergarteners, but some of my friends who taught older kids had to deal with the kids not even trying. They could just sit there and do nothing and they would get passed.

In Vietnam, the students are actually held accountable for their learning. I think that’s why so many of them can speak English so well. The Vietnamese students agreed that they all are proud to be able to speak English, and they love to practice speaking it with people like us!

Then after we finished the survey they asked to take a picture, and here’s that picture.

After finishing up with the students, we got stopped by another group of students. These ones were selling key chains to help pay for school, so of course we bought one. I hope the cute little duck key chain can help that girl further her education.

By the time we had finished looking around down by Notre Dame and the historic post office, it was already time for dinner. Our evening was a typical one, consisting of us eating phó and then making our way back to the apartment for bed.

______________________________________________________________________________

The next day in Ho Chi Minh was a busy one. We woke up and walked down by the river. Here we went inside the Bitexco Financial Tower, which has an observation deck to look out over the city. We had heard there was a café a floor higher in the building, so instead of going to the observation deck, we took the elevator up to the 50^th floor and enjoyed a latte with a view. Here are some pictures from that.

It’s crazy how big the city is, but with its layout of the districts, it doesn’t feel so big. Seriously, it’s like the perfect city! (Sorry, I warned you this post was going to be me rambling on about our love for Vietnam.)

After leaving the tower, we stumbled upon the Ho Chi Minh City museum. We went in to find a museum filled with a mix of everything Vietnamese. They had a room about their currency and how is has evolved into what they use today. There was also a room about the war and a room about the daily life of people living in the Cu Chi tunnels. The first picture below is of a small portion of the layout of the tunnels. The second one is of a stove in the tunnels. They would build a fire in the half circle part and then put a pot over it. The smoke from the fire would then go up and come out at multiple different locations, so the American soldiers could not use the smoke to track where they are.

When we left the museum, we went to Independence Palace, the building where the war ended. We explored the many grand rooms that were used by ambassadors and cabinet members during the war. 

Here's some pictures from Independence Palace.

Finally, our last stop for the day was the Saigon Opera House. We took some pictures of the outside and then bought some tickets to a ballet inside of it on Saturday. We’re excited to see the ballet about Vietnamese culture, and after we go on Saturday I’ll make sure to write about how it was.

For dinner this evening, we went in to one of the stalls at the Ben Thanh Market and enjoyed some noodles and a Tiger beer. We love to people watch, and when it started raining, it was crazy to see how efficiently everyone worked together to get the tarps up to keep us dry. There was a hustle and bustle of people trying to stay dry while still buying or selling goods, and once it stopped raining, we went out and joined in with the crowd. We ended up getting a few souvenirs for friends and family, and a nice set of chopsticks for ourselves. There was a lot of things we liked, but we can’t get too much since we have to carry it around with us until we come home.

By the time we left the market, it was close to 10:00 pm and we were exhausted from our long day. We got back to the apartment and quickly fell asleep.

_______________________________________________________________________

For one of our final days in Ho Chi Minh, we signed up for a day tour to see a few things that we weren’t able to get to easily.

The tour started out by picking us up and driving out of the city, towards the border of Cambodia. Here we were to see a Cao Dai temple. Caodaism is a religion in Vietnam that is a mixture of Catholicism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. It was established as a religion in the 1920s and over the last 100 years the religion has grown. Today about 5 million people in Vietnam practice this religion.

While we were at the temple, we were able to witness a typical Caodaism worship service. It started with the men walking out on one side and the women walking out on the other. They then sat in groups, which we later found out have to do with how long they have been practicing the faith. The group that sits at the back has been practicing Caodaism from this being their first day to 10 years. The group in front of them was people who have been practicing for 10 – 20 years. Each group represented 10 years of practice, and as you got further towards the statue in the front, the longer you had been practicing the religion.

Here are a few pictures of the way they sit and the temple.

During the service, we were able to observe from above. We stood next to the musicians who played music and sang as they worshiped. The worship service happens three times a day, and last about an hour. We stayed only for a bit of the service and then made our way outside to take a picture of the outside. Here's that picture.

Once we were done exploring the temple, we loaded back on the bus with the other 5 people in our tour group, and we headed to a place called handicapped handicrafts. Here we toured a facility in which people who were handicapped from Agent Orange or the war were making artwork. These people might not be able to have employment because of their disabilities, but this company finds a task for each of them to do. They might do anything from crushing eggshells, carefully placing those egg shells in a design, painting, or buffing and shining the artwork.

It was amazing to see how these people worked together to make the most beautiful artwork, and we couldn’t help but purchase a few pieces. I’d post a picture of the artwork, but it’s all wrapped up and packed, so you’ll have to wait until we get home and I hang it up. Then maybe I’ll post a picture.

When everyone was done looking around and purchasing any artwork they might want, we got back on the bus and headed to lunch. For lunch we had a traditional Vietnamese lunch in which we all passed around huge amounts of food until they were gone.

Then after lunch we headed to the Cu Chi tunnels. Here we got to explore some of the immense system of tunnels that were used by the Viet Cong during the war. The tunnels were very small, so we only got to see the first layer of the underground system. The tunnel system has three levels, in which the people lived. There were rooms dug out and they were all connected via tunnels.

Here’s a model of what the rooms and tunnel connection looks like.

The tunnel system was not only for people to live in, but also was used as hiding spots during combat. The Viet Cong could pop up and shoot at the soldiers and then go back down and hide. The American troops could not follow them in to the tunnel because they were so small that they couldn’t turn around to come out. If they went in, they would have to crawl all the way until they reached a room, and here there would be Viet Cong ready to fight them.

The tunnels were also used to pass communication and supplies from one place to another. There were also hospitals in some of the rooms underground. The tunnels were very valuable to the Viet Cong during the war, and they were able to keep control of them throughout the entire war.

Here’s a picture of me in the small hole that the Viet Cong would use to come in and out of the tunnels.

After exploring the tunnel system, Brad and I both got to shoot an AK47. Here’s Brad doing that.

Our time exploring the Cu Chi tunnels came to an end, and then we headed back to the bus to face rush hour traffic. After about two hours in traffic, we got dropped back off at the place we were staying. From here we went and grabbed dinner and then called it a night.

________________________________________________________________________________

On our last day in the city, we slept in and then relaxed a little because being on the go all the time is starting to get tiring. We walked down and grabbed a bowl of noodles for lunch and then came back and packed everything up, in order to be ready to fly the next day.

We got all dressed up and then went to Hard Rock Café to have a drink and appetizers before we headed to the Opera House.

We arrived early in order to get a tour of the Opera House and then after the tour, it was time for the ballet to start.

Here’s a picture of the Opera House and one us from before the show.

The ballet was about the life of people working in the rice paddies of Vietnam. It started with them planting and ended with the harvest. I know that doesn’t sound that exciting, but the show was done really well and the dancers did a great job, making it a great experience!

The ballet was a great way to end our time in Ho Chi Minh, the city we love so much. We’re off to the mountains of Vietnam next, so be sure to keep reading to hear about our time there.

Agra

We walked to the train station, and ended up getting there a little over an hour early, which was okay because we would rather be early than late. We then went through the security at the train station and then made our way to the platform. We sat there and waited, and then when the train came it was on time and clearly marked as to which car we were in and which seat we were supposed to sit in. Everything went very smoothly!

When we got to our stop, we got off and walked out of the train station. Here we found a pre-pay taxi booth, which allowed us to pay the standard rate and not get ripped off! As the taxi driver was taking us to our hotel, we were making small talk (aka him trying to convince us to hire him to take us around for the time while we are there), and during our conversation we found out the Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays. We had planned to go see it the next day (which was a Friday), but since that wasn’t an option, we had to quick get checked in to our hotel and then head to see the Taj Mahal that afternoon. (Saturday we are training back, so we couldn’t see it that day either)

As quick as we could, we got checked in to the hotel, and then walked down the street towards the Taj Mahal. Here a man approached us and asked if we wanted a personal tour. Now typically I wouldn’t go for something like this, but he said he could get us in right away without having to stand in the long line at the entrance, and since we were in a rush to see it all before it closed, we decided to hire him.

Now the guide wanted to charge 2000 INR for the tour, which would have been fine because $30 isn’t too bad for a personal tour, but we only had 982 INR left. We explained this to him, and somehow he went for it, allowing us to get the tour for less than half the price! (Mom I promise I wasn’t left stranded in India with no money after this tour, we just had to go take more out of the ATM after the tour)

The tour began with the guide telling us about the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. This emperor commissioned for the Taj Mahal to be built for the tomb of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

The emperor had four wives before Mahal, and each of them could not bear him any children. For that reason, he kept remarrying. Then when he married his 5^th wife (Mahal), she had 14 children (7 of which died during birth). Mahal died during childbirth of the 14^th child, and at that time, she made the emperor promise to never marry again and to build a building to remember her. Because of this promise between Mahal and her husband, the Taj Mahal was then built.

Here are some pictures of it from a few different views.

Around the Taj Mahal, there is a wall with four gates. There are also four gates, one in each direction (north, south, east, west). Each of these gates are to remember one of the first four wives.

Here are some pictures of the gates.

Then after exploring every part of the Taj Mahal, and getting the best pictures of it thanks to our guide (really, hiring him was the best choice because he took a million pictures of Brad and I together, which we never get since one of us is always taking the picture), we went to a few shops right outside of the gates. Here there were many souvenir shops, and we were taken in the one where the same family line that did the stone artwork for the Taj Mahal, now makes stone artwork for souvenirs. The man told us all about where all of the stones come from, and showed us how the light disperses through the different stones. We loved all of the work, and told him we would be back once we went to the ATM to get more money.

Here's what that stone artwork looks like in the Taj Mahal.

Then true to our word, we set out to get cash and went back and bought some really cool coasters. We thought it would be nice to have something we would always use and that’s how we decided on coasters.

We went back and had some dinner at the garden restaurant at our hotel and then headed to bed.

_______________________________________________________________________

On the second day in Agra, we woke up with no plan of what to do. After breakfast, we got ready and then headed out to explore the city. To our surprise, when we walked out of the doors of our hotel, there weren’t a thousand tuk-tuk drivers asking us if we needed a ride. The shops all around the hotel were also closed, so the streets were pretty quiet.

The first thing we stumbled upon during our adventure was a nice park. It was rather large, and as we strolled through it, we found that there were many monkeys all around. Below is a picture of one of the dozen monkeys we saw.

We stopped and had some lunch after finishing exploring the park, and then kept just walking through the town. The town away from the Taj Mahal was still busy, and here we found a huge cow within the mix of all the scooters and cars. Now, since we are in India, we have grown used to seeing cows all around (even in the streets), but I have never seen a cow this big. Check it out for yourself.

It is crazy how everyone’s daily lives are a mix of the hustle and bustle of the city while still having all of the agriculture around. I like just observing their lives, and to do this, we found the cutest rooftop restaurant for dinner. Up here we could watch the sunset over the Taj Mahal, while still being able to look down on what was going on around us.

It was a great day taking a break from the touristy things and exploring more of the Indian culture.

_______________________________________________________________________

On our final day in Agra, we went to another rooftop restaurant to have breakfast before we headed to the train station.

Here's a picture of our lovely breakfast view.

To get to the train station, we were trying to find a taxi, so we would be able to put our big backpacks into the trunk. We thought getting in a tuk-tuk with all of our stuff would not work, but since we couldn’t seem to get a taxi, we finally settled on getting in an electric tuk-tuk. Now these have a little more room, but they also don’t drive very fast. We were kind of in a hurry, and we were getting worried that we wouldn’t make it in time because we were moving at a snails pace. Really, I might have been able to walk faster.

Our worries of being late then turned into panic when the tuk-tuk got a flat tire. The driver said, oh don’t worry I just have to call for someone to bring me a new tire, then change it, and we can be on our way. We told him this would not work, so he flagged down a different tuk-tuk for us to get in to finish out our ride to the train station. The tuk-tuk that stopped to let us in already had two passengers, but somehow four of us, luggage, and a driver all crammed in. Seriously, it was tighter than a clown car in there!

We then got to the train station and went through security and headed to our platform. We waited for our train, which was delayed about an hour, and then finally got on and were on our way back to Delhi. We weren’t exactly sure which stop to get off at, as they were not announcing them or anything, but thankfully a nice Indian man asked us where we were going. He told us he would let us know when it was our stop, and thanks to him, everything went smoothly.

From the train station, we got in a cab and headed to the hotel by the airport that we were staying at for the night. Here, we got all checked in and then headed out to find something to eat. We decided on a café close by, and while we were in there we started to get the weirdest vibe.

When we came in, there were three ladies (who looked particularly manly) sitting at a table. Then another group of ladies who looked the same way came in. During our time here, we saw many different ladies come in and out of the café. They all knew each other and were just hanging out, so we’re thinking we might have been at one of the hang out places for lady-boys in that area. Anyways, it made for an interesting people watching experience.

_______________________________________________________________________

Today we ended up sitting in the airport for about 12 hours because we had to check out of our hotel by noon and then our flight wasn’t until 11:00 pm. We had all of our baggage and didn’t know what to do with it, so we decided on simply going to the airport early and just sitting there reading our books all day.

After waiting around for what seemed like an eternity, we got to check-in, go through security, and then get on our way to….

Keep reading these to see what’s next!