Crazy Adventures in the Life of a Redhead

It is so hard to start this entry. In fact, I have been delaying it for quite some time. Why is it so hard to write about this past week? For a couple of reasons: you see, I have done half of the country of Vietnam in one week, and I saw so many things and made so many comparisons that it is difficult to condense all into one blog. I am going to try and I am also going to try to be as logical as possible in my organization of this particular entry. I will go by the cities I have visited, which would make for a clear rubric on how to dissect my Vietnam travels. Ho Chi Minh City On my Facebook profile I said that I am going to Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City, depending on whether you want to side with the French colonialists or the communists. Basically, Vietnam has been overrun by other powers: the Chinese for 1,000 years, the French for one hundred years and now the Communists, although I am not sure if that can be considered in the same category as the other two. I suppose it depends on th...

I was sad to leave Chiang Mai and to leave the people I had met there, but also the prospect of seeing new places and venturing into new territory thrilled me as it always does, fueling my wanderlust, which seems to increase rather than decrease in intensity as I travel. My next destination was Sukhothai, which is the site of the most ancient Thai capital of the 13th and 14th centuries. After getting onto the bus, I noticed that another farang—the Thai word for foreigner that encapsulates anyone who is not Thai and most generally those who are white—get on the same bus, so I figured we would be able to share a tuk tuk into town, you know save some money and some time. (I have developed a very sensitive white radar, assuming that when I see white skin that the person is also a backpacker and friendly. Most of the time this is the case, and I have yet to have a bad experience with a white traveler.) Turns out he ended up being a really great British guy and going in the same direction as...

There seems to be an abundance of “t” words with which I can make alliterations for my time here in Thailand. It gives me an endless supply of happiness to be able to make pretty titles. I know, that’s a little strange, but when you are traveling alone and trying to recount your travels to others, these simple things make the difference. I am having a marvelous time, particularly here in the North because I have met so many people with whom I have much in common and have thoroughly enjoyed my experiences with them. I have a lot to recount since it has been a very full and very exhilarating week. I decided that I would make the blog week Saturday to Friday, which seems to be the orientation of my experiences here in Thailand. Maybe it will change when I get to Vietnam, which is my next destination. Jeph and Apol and the Hope House (www.hopebeyondthemountain.org) I think one of the most unique aspects of this leg of the Thailand journey is the fact that I had so many contacts in Chiang M...

Bangkok I arrived back to Bangkok on Sunday morning in the wee hours of the morning when the sun was barely beginning its ascent into the sky. Fearing I would have no way of getting home, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Bangkok rises early and its public transportation system along with it. I had the exact fare that I needed to get back to Paige’s house and not a cent more. No, I actually had a surplus of 3 Baht when I arrived at Paige’s place, which equals about 10 cents. Talk about awesome planning in the money department. I hope I don’t get that close again, but it certainly teaches you what is necessity and what is frivolity. It reminds me of my mom’s and my trip and how we also ran out of money at the end. I hope two times will be enough to teach me. After a night of cramped sleeping space, I fell onto her comfortable couch for a little snooze before beginning the day. We went out to find some breakfast on the streets and settled on a little vendor close to her place. I ha...

I have so many things that I could write but since I am short on time, I will stick to the essentials! For some reason, I find it much more difficult to keep entries short because I enjoy curving around every nook and cranny and sharing the things that I am seeing and feeling. Oh, well, this entry is only the first of four, so I am sure that at the end of this short series of entries, you will have a very good idea of what I experienced in the beautiful country of Thailand. Arriving late into Bangkok, my friend from Fort, Paige, met me, which was a welcome sight. There is nothing worse than arriving in a new place only to find yourself alone and lost. I was so happy to see her, and it was fun to start talking about the things I planned to see on my short yet sufficient trip through Thailand. Since I arrived around midnight, I was “forced” to stay in Bangkok one day, giving me enough time to orient myself around the city a little although I must say there is so much going on in this cit...