From Mingalaba to something I have yet to figure out how to say

So our week in Myanmar is over and we only have 3 more days in Vietnam and I am sooo behind on this post, but bear with me.

We left Chiang Mai Thailand to fly through Bangkok on our way to Yangon, Myanmar (or Rangoon, Burma, take your choice). Our hotel was in a fairly busy area and our trip is premised on going out, exploring, and not getting arrested unless absolutely necessary. After arriving in the late evening and getting supper though, I went to bed to rest up for the rest of the time there. The next day,we met the students of PCP or Pre Collegiate Prep (I think?) which is a "school" for students who want to go abroad for higher education and return to Burma to contribute back to their country. These are probably some of the most driven young people that I've met and they definitely will be a force to reckon with in the future. In the morning, we went to a Yum Yum Factory, which produces Ramen Noodles. I don't really remember at the moment all the places that we went in the chronological order, but I do remember going on a small outing to a glass blowing factory, walking around Rangon with the students, going to a department store, going to another department store, going to a market, and other amazing stuff. The exchange rate in Yangon is approximately 1040 kyat to 1 US dollar and the program provided a lot of the money here since there is no place to officially exchange currency. We did a couple of side trips too throughout the country, a 2 dayer in Inle Lake, a gorgeous wildlife/bird preserve on a lake with every building on stilts where we traveled by long boats to a blacksmith and silk weaving place, and to Bagan, another beautiful place where there was more of a village type feel where we went to tons of pagodas, a cruise on the river which had been suffering from drought for the past 3 years, a laquerware place, and something I am forgetting, probably more temples. One of the prettiest sights in Yangon was the Shwedagon Pagoda. Absolutely breathtaking, though one of the guys (Ben B) got his wallet stolen by a fake monk. That kind of sucked. We also ate at the place in Yangon that was essentially a huge boat thing that didn't move with people dressed up in traditional clothing from centuries ago and performances and an elephant thing? It was kind of weird, but that's okay. It was really sad saying goodbye to our friends here, but I'm sure I will see them again someday soon.

We had a one night/day in Bangkok where we went to a restaurant ran by an NGO and the restaurant was called Cabbages and Condoms. It was really...interesting? but tasteful and tasty (the food that is). We also went to Khao San Road in search of fisherman's pants that we had somehow missed earlier in the trip. We left in the afternoon to go to Hanoi.

So in Hanoi, we had some time to go meet people at Foreign Trade University, where we had our first real classroom type lecture. Our hotel in Hanoi is an early 20th century French hotel near the major lake in the middle of the city. We have also been to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum/house/etc, the War Museum, and a hub cap factory that I skipped out on since I wasn't feeling the greatest at the time. There's a little club/bar here called the Loop that a bunch of us went to and that was an...interesting experience again, haha. One of the things that really strikes me here is the Romanization of the language, which keeps tripping me up because I feel like I should know the signs, but I actually can't read them. Yeah. We also went on cyclo rides here which is a bike with a seat on the front of the bike.

Two days ago, we left for our loop around vietnam. We stayed in a village the first night and went tromping through the fields of mud with the rice paddies on either side. For the first time, the dogs looked healthy here, but they are all tied up everywhere too, which is kind of sad. Even sleeping in the village isn't that bad though; we have a pillow, bedding, and a 1 inch thick bumpy mattress pad, though it's still a mattress, and mosquito netting. It may possibly be more comfortable than all those nights my family made me sleep on the floor at reunions and cousin's houses, haha.

Yesterday, we stayed in a hotel in the Halong Bay inlet area for the night after driving a ridiculous amount of hours and consuming a ridiculous amount of snackfoods. Today, we are now in Catba, another part of Halong Bay and we got here by this big boat that was 2 layers. Lunch was full of faux meat since I can't take the sea creatures with the eyes staring at me and have temporarily become a vegetarian in this country. It's so incredible how many faux meat things that they can make here, but to each his own I guess. I'm currently sitting in an internet cafe after walking around a little through the city. It's little, a port city, and very beautiful. Anh, you were right, or at least your mom was right, when you told me Halong Bay is one of the most beautiful places in the world. I wasn't feeling up to it, but there was a small mountain/stair climb today as well as jumping off the boat into the middle of the bay where they docked our boat. It was a bit much for me.

We have one more day in Halong Bay before going back to Hanoi and one more day in Hanoi before going to Beijing where the "vacation" section of our program ends and the real work begins. It's a hard life trekking through SE Asia staying at 4 star hotels, but some program at Carleton has to do it, and I might as well be part of it, right?

I miss you all and am taking copious amounts of photos that will eventually be put up somewhere as soon as I find a computer and buy a card reader to get them off my camera since I didn't think to bring my cord. Also parents, I did buy electrical adapters at the airport in MSP that have been a lifesaver, so no worries there. I should probably post this before my time runs out though because that would suck. Have fun at Carleton and Iowa and Alaska and wherever else you are! I'll do the same here :D