Cao Bang is Jurassic Park. It's like the geography of Thailand beaches, but instead of rock formations bursting off of flat ocean water, they're bursting off of flat, bright green grassland and rice fields. Our homestay was located in a little village called Khuoi Ky (pronounced Koh-eye Kee). The home was made of stone, two hundred years old, with wooden floors inside. It had a lovely outdoor stone patio and was surrounded by 5 or 6 other stone homes in the village. A small pathway made of cobbled stone ran between the homes and led to a small bridge which crossed over a river. On the other side of the river there was a dirt road which led to the...
Although the town is small and relatively random, there is one thing that drew me in about Bac Ha and once I’d learned of it, I couldn’t turn back: The Bac Ha Market. People come from all over Vietnam, both locals and tourists (mostly locals) to visit Bac Ha Market which happens only on Sundays. Gets set up the night before and broken down on Sunday evening. You know I luvvv a market, so this was a must. I told Alex I was getting up at 7am to get there when it starts. When I got to the market they were selling harem-ish style pants with embroidery from local tribeswomen. I tried on a bunch of pairs to find the right...
Aaand we're LIVE! Um, wow, making this website has been one of the most torturous and also liberating things I've ever done. So much freedom to create, so many options for customization. If you know me, you know I'm sweating every font and header style and color. Let's treat this site as permanently in beta because we can be sure I'm going to be finagling with things ongoing. I'm writing from Ned's Cafe in the South Yarra neighborhood of Melbourne, Australia. I've been in Australia for one week and will be traveling from here until the money runs out. I expect that'll be in 2-3 months but it depends on where I go. When I did my India/Nepal trip, my intention was...
