San Fran photos

San Fran starred

Photos of Ho Chi Minh...again

HCMC starred

Hanoi/Halong Bay photos

From Hanoi/Halong Starred

Ko Phi Phi photos

Ko Phi Phi starred

Siem Reap photos

Siem Reap starred

Bangkok photos

Its hard to condense a week in Bangkok into a manageable number of photos. I'm only posting a quarter of what I took!

Take a look:

Bangkok Starred

Ho Chi Minh, Manila, Hong Kong, San Francisco

Four cities in the last four days, not counting flight times, is one crazy way to end a month of travel and a summer in Asia. Its been great and I wouldn't have traded it for anything.

Here are some things I've learned during my summer:

1. Anything you eat might make you sick -- be sure to only eat things that are delicious. This way, if you do end up in the bathroom for an extended period of time you won't be regretting that subpar sandwich.


2. No matter how many motorbikes you see, you will always see another carrying something crazy (ie: a family of five, a refridgerator, a wooden front door, a mirror, etc)


3. Nothing feels better than a cold shower in the middle of the afternoon.


4. Everyone will stare at you for being tall and white.


5. A 50 cent beer tastes better than a $5.00 beer. Going back to NYC prices is going to be tough.

And the highlights:

1. Cruise on Halong Bay


2. Skybar in Bangkok


3. Bamboo hut on the beach with Kaitlin


4. Countless mango smoothies


5. Vietnamese street food

Hanoi

I made it to Hanoi after a quick stopover in Singapore. I had one afternoon to explore the tiny city/state/nation and it rained. I motivated myself to take a short boat tour, but otherwise I hungout, read, and watched the world go by. Its been a bit of a struggle to come back to reality after quickly getting used to beach time.

Hanoi, in the north of Vietnam, is much different than Ho Chi Minh in the south. It is noticably smaller and more wealthy, but lacking the good street food I loved about Ho Chi Minh. I'm missing pork buns and bahn mi sandwiches!

After spending one day in Hanoi, and wandering around the city, I headed out of the city on a tour of Halong Bay. The bay, arguably one of the most beautiful places in the world, is filled with thousands of limestone islands. We stayed overnight on a boat and even got to kayak for about an hour in the bay! The day trip was simply incredible.

I'm off to Ho Chi Minh (again) tonight to spend my last few days there before heading stateside. I can't believe my summer is already almost over -- I'm at the same time excited to see everyone and dreading leaving!

Ko Phi Phi

Kaitlin and I just arrived in Singapore after spending 3 nice days relaxing on an isolated beach in the south of Thailand. We stayed in a spartan bamboo hut (read: just a bed, bathroom, and balcony) overlooking the sea.

While we were in Ko Phi Phi, we snorkeled (and saw a ton of fish), relaxed, napped on the beach, and came away with pretty minor sunburn. All in all a great way to spend my birthday (25!) and get in some relaxation time halfway through my month of traveling in Asia.

We're in Singapore tonight. I already love it. We're on a street on the water lined with brew pubs and I can't wait to explore.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Cambodia has been incredible. I've seen and explore ancient temples, biked in the sun and rain, had amazing food, and met amazing people. The pace of life is slow, comfortable, and peaceful. Which is a nice statement to be able to make in a country that has a history like Cambodia does.

Cambodia is the poorest country and most undeveloped I've traveled to. Kaitlin and I took the government bus from Bangkok to Cambodia and then a taxi from the boarder to the hostel, the only way to move on from the border (I think to help people make money from tourism because its more than a bus would be). It was just within the last 10 years that the roads between Bangkok and Siem Reap were completely paved.

We've also experience at least one scam. Crossing the border we were initially taken to the wrong border crossing area -- but being the smart prepared travelers we are, we recognized it right away. There are also a number of people begging and selling things out on the main street with bars and near the temples. More than one child has broken my heart asking for change or food during my short time here.

On our journey to Siem Reap from the border, we just saw miles and miles of fields. Occasionally there would be a little village, but for the most part, just fields.

The Riel, local currency, is so devalued, the US dollar is the unofficial currency and accepted everywhere -- even the ATMs give out US Dollars. Everything is also very cheap. Kaitlin and I went out to dinner with another girl from our hostel -- we all left stuffed and enjoyed a beer over dinner for a mere $9.

And the temples, oh my god, absolutely amazing. My pictures (which will come but probably not until September!) probably don't do them justice, but they are by far one of the most impressive things I've ever seen.

We also (I'm sorry, I feel a bit like I'm rambling on and on at this point) visited a silk farm. It was so impressive. I never realized just how much human touch is put into making silk. Humans do every step of the process from feeding the worms to pulling the cocoons, to weaving and dyeing the silk.

Overall, and as I said before, Cambodia's great. Its coming together and stepping out on its own. Next stop Ko Phi Phi and I cannot wait.

And onto Cambodia

The past week has flown by. I've thoroughly explored Bangkok, met up with Kaitlin, walked across the Thai-Cambodian border, and safely made it into the next country.

Tonight Kaitlin and I are enjoying $1 beers, going to see the sunset over a temple, and exploring Siem Reap.

Everything has been wonderful so far.

And go!

The last few days have been a whirlwind of good-byes, dinners, sparkly nail polish, and a pool party. It's bitter sweet leaving Manila, but I'm off to Bangkok today to start a month of traveling! I'll visit Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. It's going to be so fun!

Two days

That's all I have left in the office.

I can't believe 10 weeks went so fast.

Boracay

Another island paradise...life is so hard sometimes. Boracay has been voted one of the top beaches in the world, and to be honest, my photos barely do it justice. Think turquoise blue waters and fine white sand beaches that don't get hot in the sun. I had the best weather (sunny with a light wind). I miss it already!

To get there I took a flight then a short boat ride. This is on the dock getting onto the boat.

And this is White Beach on Boracay Island, where I stayed

I enjoyed many mango shakes.

Every drop of them.

This was what my hostel looked like. It was super clean -- no bugs! -- and filled with the best people.

Manila Skyline

Just part of it, but its so beautiful! The green space in the foreground is the American Cemetery.

Smokey Mountain

Smokey Mountain is a large garbage dump in Manila. It is also home to roughly 30,000 people squatting on the dump. Whether or not trash is still actively dumped into the area is debated. It has been operational for more than 40 years and has been know to randomly catch fire, killing numerous people, and earning its name.

The people living there are there for work. They sort through the garbage looking for anything they can scavenge and resell. There are also schools, day cares, clinics, etc, that make it more like a normal neighborhood. There are a lot of NGOs and companies working together to make life better in this area. Some have tried moving people to a different location, just to find that a few months later, new squatter communities spring up.

Incredibly shocking, repulsive, and heart-breaking to see, especially since all the people we met were so welcoming and friendly. Everyone in the pictures below has lived in Smokey Mountain their entire life.

This is all garbage. And apparently this is much, much better than it was.

This is the Field of Dreams, a flattened section of the dump where the kids play organized sports.

Goverment housing built roughly 10 years ago. There are about 20-30 buildings like this in Smokey Mountain, each with about 120 units. Each unit houses one family (Mom, Dad, Kids, Wives, Husbands, Grandchildren, Nieces, Nephews, etc)

Cute school children in front of the school we visited.

Three of the women who showed us around and welcomed us to Smokey Mountain. They were so friendly, happy, and smiley.

Look, I'm on the NYU Wagner Today Blog!

Check me out: http://wagner.nyu.edu/students/blog/2011/07/laura-parewski-new-perspectives-from-manilla.html

Hong Kong 4, plus one other thing

I finished my trip people watching over a couple beers at a restaurant on the patio. All in all it was a great trip.

And now, the other thing: I had to get more pages in my passport today. Exciting, very. Nerdy, yes.

Hong Kong 3

More from atop the peak.

And look, there's me, but please excuse my squinting. It was that fake bright out where it's cloudy but you still need sunglasses...you know what I'm talking about, its just hard to explain :)

To get up, I mentioned I took a tram. Once we go off the tram, we still went up so many escalators.

I decided to walk down, a good idea at the time, because it was beautiful. But, the hour long hike killed my muscles. I could barely walk Monday morning!

Hey, look, it's me again!

Hong Kong 2

I stayed on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong (a 3 minute ferry ride off the main island). This was a statue near the pier I thought was amazing.

And here's a typical street in Kowloon. Its like a poorer, dirtier (with cheaper, yet safe housing!) version of Hong Kong.

As I was wandering, I passed a street food stall that had easily 20 people waiting for a waffle type thing. Of course I got one. And it was delicious. Each of the little bubbles was crispy on the outside and half way hollow and delicious.

I watched the sun go down and the lights come on from the Kowloon side (looking at the Hong Kong skyline -- the NYC part of the city). So beautiful!!

The next morning, I got up early and walked around a park near my hostel.

And saw a shrine.

Then headed back over to the main island of Hong Kong.

I wandered a bit more until I found the tram station to head up Victoria Peak, the tallest peak in Hong Kong (the station is across the street to the right).

And here's the view from the top.

Completely breath-taking.