The Last Two Months

Cat Ba Island, just down the road from Cat Ba Eco-Lodge

Oh lawd am I behind on writing.  It's funny how each time I write, I'm reminded of how much I enjoy it and convince myself to write more often, yet it never happens.  My memory is shoddy, to say the least, so I can't recall many details of the past few trips...but I have the major stuff down...

Hanoi rooftops after the morning rain

Let's rewind to April.  I had a week off for spring break as did Rachal (my friend/roomate/co-worker from the Philippines, currently living in the UK), so we decided to meet up in Vietnam for the week.  It was a whirlwind trip, but so relaxing - exactly what I needed in the midst of a tough semester.  We met up in Hanoi and made the taxi-bus-bus-ferry-van-motorcycle-car journey to our little oasis in the middle of nowhere on Cat Ba Island.  This eco-lodge was outside of the city, wedged in between some mountains, and tucked away past the farmland.  We were able to ride bikes down the dirt path through the rice paddies and hike in the lush forests.  Unfortunately, the beach was a bit too far away for our liking, but all-in-all it was a really lovely place.  Once back in Hanoi, we indulged in lots of shopping, eating, and wandering through the back streets and alleyways.  There were beaucoup foreigners: backpackers, expats, children, seniors and everything else in between.  Travelling was easy, mostly everyone spoke English, and most places accepted US money...it was definitely traveler friendly.  For Southeast Asia, it was a tad on the expensive side (still really cheap compared to the West) but the hostels and restaurants were also much nicer than other places.  During the whole 8 days there, I only had to use one squatter and we only got hustled once...super awesome outcomes on both accounts, all things considered.

The weekend after I came back I took a weekend 'mental-health' trip (ie. shopping and great food) in Seoul, but I've already written about that so let's go ahead and skip it...

being herded with the crowds in Shanghai

Fast forward another week.  We had a 4-day weekend, so I decided last minute to take a short trip to Shanghai to shop and explore the city.  I had a lovely 24 hours of shopping and wandering before my passport and money were stolen and a week of helplessness ensued.  Due to it being a Sunday and the next two days being national holidays, I was unable to do anything about the situation at hand.  Luckily, my friend Inae from Korea recently moved to Shanghai and was there to comfort (and entertain) me for the rest of the week while I waited for the correct bureaus to open and process my new paperwork.  I checked out of my swag room at the YMCA and became the 6th roomie in Inae's apartment.  We ate lots of great food and walked around with the thousands of other people who apparently had the same idea.  Although the situation itself was far from ideal, I had a lovely time hanging out with friends and getting away from the yooj day-to-day in Qingdao.

Katie making her way up the Great Wall

 Fast forward about 3 weeks now, and I'm rolling out to Beijing for the Great Wall 10k.  Absolutely no training was done in preparation- I was going to rely purely on athletic abilities.  Well, I ain't as young as I once was, and I was forced to face that fact as I started the endless, vertical journey.  It was one of the toughest physical things I've ever done, but as tough as it was, I'm glad I did it.  It was a pretty cool way to see the iconic structure for the first time...

Needless to say the last few months have been chockablock full of trips and happenings. As the school year winds down, I'll be sticking around town to tie loose ends and let the ol' purse strings have a rest before heading off for summer vaca.

Malaysia with my best friends? Don't mind if I do....