Thailand I (Bangkok)

Thinking back on my time last semester, I'm extremely disappointed that I didn't finish blogging about the rest of my trips.  I've decided that I'll still post some pictures and comments, even though it's been a few months.

John, Matt, and I went to Thailand in November.  We only had about 4 days, so we decided to fly into Bangkok and stay there a few nights before taking the train up to Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand, and spend a few nights there before returning to Hong Kong via Bangkok.

Some highlights:
Food!  Street-side vendors selling everything from fresh fruit to Pad Thai--it was all cheap and it was all delicious.

 Fresh fruit, cut on the spot into a delicious fruit salad

Another side of Hong Kong

Hong Kong is mostly known for its high rises, bustling nightlife, and delicious dim sum, so I thought it would be worthwhile to make a quick post about the beautiful green landscapes that can be found here!

Yesterday, John, Matt, David and I took a quick MTR ride up to Tai Po Market to go hike some waterfalls that we had heard about from other students.  The bus ride from the MTR stop over to our destination proved to be rather difficult as nobody seemed to know these mysterious waterfalls that we were talking about and we had no real description of where we were supposed to go besides a bus number and a vague "20 minute ride" description.  After some random wanderings and a combination of Mandarin speaking and interpretive gesturing, some road workers pointed us in the right direction and we found our path.

The climbing wasn't easy and rather long, especially with the heat, but the trees gave a lot of shade and once we reached our destination, the waterfall pools provided the much-needed cooling off.  There is a lower fall, the main fall, and an upper fall--all are absolutely gorgeous and a lot of fun on a warm day.  Take a peek after the jump!

The Peak

I guess it's about time I post about Hong Kong itself, hm?

There's probably no better place to start than Victoria Peak, the highest point on Hong Kong island at 552m (thanks, Wikipedia!).  I had been there back in September on a trip organized by the university for us exchange students, but that trip was on a hot sunny day and we were told that the view is even more stunning at night.  Read more after the jump...

Made a friend up on the Peak

Halloween

I can't believe it's November already--that means I only have a month and a half left here...yikes!  The high of 32C today really doesn't help convince me it's November either...

Yesterday was Halloween, and Hong Kong definitely celebrates.  The most famous bar and nightlife district here is Lan Kwai Fong, which spans a few blocks in the middle of Hong Kong island.  I had heard lots of rumors about the LKF Halloween celebrations, but once we got there, I realized that I had no idea what I had gotten myself into...find out more after the jump!

A sign pointing the way in case you didn't trust the crowds pouring in a particular direction.  Police was regulating pedestrian traffic all night.

Vietnam II (Cu Chi tunnels & Ho Chi Minh)

After returning from our bike tour thoroughly soaked and exhausted, we met up with everyone else again and did a bunch of eating and walking around the city--past the Reunification Palace and through local markets, all while trying not to get hit by the thousands of mopeds on the street.  Literally everyone seemed to have one.  There were lots of hole-in-the-wall restaurants with chairs and tables on the street; we had some great Pho at one of these at 3am before we left for the airport at 3:45am on Monday morning.

Hole-in-the-wall restaurant with a mix of tourists and locals

The Irish boys (Chris and Rob) playing with their food