Monday, October 28, 2013

Epic Adventure Day 8: OUCH! That was expensive!!

On Oct 8th I woke up and snagged the free breakfast offered at the hostel. There was a French guy in my room and we had talked about going to the nearby waterfalls that day. He snagged a songtaew and negotiated 75000kip and we were off. I knew that was a bit expensive, because a group had gone the day before and only paid about 30000kip each, but I figured splitting 75k wasn't that much more, so whatever.

We rode in the back of the songtaew along the bumpy road for about 45 minutes to the waterfall place. We each paid the 20000kip entrance fee and headed into the park to explore. We quickly came upon the small
bear rescue they have. Cutest little bears ever, some were probably only as tall as me.



As we continued through the park we found many waterfalls and pools for taking a dip.





We continued up up up on what was a somewhat challenging trail, especially considering I was still fighting that stupid cold. In the end it was worth it. At the top you could walk though a large pool and stand right at the top of a giant waterfall and look down. 





After enjoying the view and snapping some pics we headed back down for a swim.

It was clearly marked which pools you could swim in and which you couldn't. We saw one with a rope swing on the way up and that's where the French guy wanted to go. We didn't last too long swimming as the water was quite cold.

When we arrived back at the hostel I  discovered I should never let a Frenchman do my negotiating as the 75,000kip was actually PER PERSON!!! Ridiculous!! Too hungry to care, I headed out to find lunch. A delicious sandwich on baguette bread with a mango smoothie. Sandwiches aren't really a thing in Thailand so when I saw chicken, bacon, cheese and avocado on the side of the street for just a couple bucks, I was all over it. So good.

A bit later the hostel owner called me a songtaew and I headed to the airport. There I found a Laos flag for Uncle Ralphy and discovered that playing cards with famous things on them, aren't really a thing here. Sorry dad!

I ended up chatting with an guy from the US who had been working in Thailand for a while and was now traveling. As we walked to the plane I had to snap a pic because I've never actually been on this type of plane before....




I was a bit nervous arriving in Vietnam as I had applied for Visa on Arrival. Until recently you had apply for a Vietnam visa in advance which for me would have meant going to Bangkok waiting and doing whatever paperwork etc was necessary, leaving my passport with the Vietnam embassy and making the journey back to Bangkok a few days later to pick it up... Assuming it was approved.

Recently Visa on Arrival has been made available for people flying into Vietnam via HaNoi or Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). You fill out an online form and pay about a $15-20 USD fee. The company submits your info to immigration and in about 2-3 business days emails you a letter that you present on arrival, pay he visa fee and they give you your visa there. Much more convenient, but if I've learned anything in travelling, it's don't trust that these things will work until they actually do.

Lucky for me, everything went very smoothly. There was a window marked Visa on Arrival and I presented my letter, passport and of course an additional passport photo (they really love having photos of people in this part of the world) and a few minutes later my passport had a new giant sticker and stamp.

My friend Matteo had arranged for a driver to pick me up at the airport and pretty soon I was off the his apartment. En route, I discovered that while in Thailand a moto is considered a family vehicle (I've seen 5 people on one), in Vietnam, it's a moving company...






Matteo lives with his girlfriend Rachael (yes those are nicknames and it's funnier if you knew their actual names) and when I arrived he came down to meet me.

There was a bit of confusion and the guard seemed VERY angry and didn't want to let me in. Rachael, who speaks a bit more Vietnamese than Matteo came down to try to figure out what was going on. Eventually we got everything sorted out, but later discovered that the guard didn't think Rachael was home... And Matteo was bringing some random girl up to the apartment. Pretty funny.

We had a few drinks and chatted about life since we'd last seen each other (when Matteo and I were both working at a language center in Costa Rica) and then called it a night.

Pricey day!!: 183,000kip + 500baht + 215USD ~ $254.59 (includes visa and "on arrival" service, flight to Laos, most expensive flag I've ever bought Uncle Ralphy, grossly overpriced songtaew to the waterfalls, and a fairly pricey cab ride from the airport.... OUCH!!)

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