a title that never fits

I stole that from Jovanna I think, or maybe Krystal? Either way, I have realized that I named my blog the lonlieness of a long distance traveler in haste. As I mentioned in the last blog I made friends everywhere I went the first few days of my "solo" trip, and I made even more friends the last few days.

So I decided to stay in Hue the next full day and went on a motorbike tour, run by the bar I was quickly becoming a regular at. When I arrived the next morning to begin the tour, there were 6 other people there. Two couples and two girls traveling together. Great I thought to myself, I have been meeting all these people and its come to an end, as often people who travel in pairs have no desire to talk to others. Well of course, leave it to me and my gregarious personality to make them all talk to me, even if they didn't want to!! One of the couples was from San Fransisco, which is great, because I now have a good contact there, when I move! The other couple was from Denmark and I wound up having lunch, a self guided city tour, dinner and drinks with them, and another German guy the rest of the day. We honestly talked, the four of us for like 8 hours straight! It was great! I also ran into Paul and his two sisters from the day before and made tentative plans to hang out, although they quickly got into a fight with the tourist agency, and I did not hold my breath for seeing them later on.

Oh yeah, the city tour was pretty great too! We saw some pagodas, the tomb of an old emperor(the city I was in served as the Vietnamese capitol for much of the 18th and 19th century!), how incense was made, impacts of the "American war", and some picturesque places. We also had a pretty bad experience, with the girl from San Fransisco. While on the motorbike, her and her driver swerved to avoid a crazy dog and wound up skidding on the ground. She got pretty scraped up, but I didn't think much of it. That was until she had like a mini seizure and blacked out for a few minutes. We saw them later on in the night though, and she was doing just fine! Its funny, because the entire time I was so worried that something horrible was going to happen, by allowing someone else to drive me around the city on a motorbike. Yet, after I saw the worst of what could happen, I realized it really wasn't that bad. I often allow that fear to stop me from doing most things, and while I do not wish to have my body scraped up, if it happens sometimes, and I get to enjoy my life more, I think I prefer the scrapes, to the fear.

Although the foursome wanted to go out longer, and wanted me to stay the next day, I knew I was tired, and wanted to head back to the hotel. When I told them I was taking the morning bus to Hoi An so I could explore that town, before taking the night bus back to Nha Trang, they were genuinly upset. They said they were going to hire a Vietnamese person, and paste a picture of my face on the Vietnamese, so they can feel like I'm still there. It was really sweet. Either way, I wanted to explore Hoi An, and so I did.

While Hoi An does not have the cultural/historical attributes, it does have one unique thing; its numerous tailor shops. Essentially each of the many stores in town have skeins and skeins of fabric (such as silks, cotton, suade, khaki etc.) and samples of clothes as well as books and books of styles. As I have mentioned, most clothes in South East Asia does not fit me, because the people in this entire side of the world is about half the size of a westerner, so when I had the opportunity, I took it. I have Nicole's wedding to go to as soon as I got back and thought it would be great to have an Asian style dress that fits me perfectly. Unfortnately, to get a proper fitting, you were supposed to stay in town for a few days, to go for fittings and ensure everything was ok. I was there for 5 hours, ordered 2 dresses, a tank top and a pair of pink silk sandels. The town, which is known most for its peaceful and laid back lifestyle, was the most stressful 5 hours I have had while in South East Asia. Somehow, as it always seems to though, it worked out, and I have some great new clothes, that might just need a little more work done on them by my mother.

The bus ride back to Nha trang, from 6:30pm until 7am was definately not the dream that the ride up was. I saw with a woman from the Czech Republic who wouldn't sit with this one girl because "she was too big", although I was certainly bigger then this girl was. She then decided to wear a wool blanket and turn the A/C off, and take up most of her seat and mine. She was not a big lady by any means, but she just really spread herself out. I had to repeatedly ask her to move over, so the handle was not making a permenant mark in my hip. It was dreadful.

Overall, I had an absolutely great time! I was really nervous about going alone, as I said, and I found that I was hardly ever alone! At the same time though, I had no expectations, and did not hold anything to high standards, and therefore enjoyed everything for what it was. Although I am still not a fan of the complete transient nature of traveling, I think I could see myself doing it through Europe for two months, as long as I have people to see every couple spots. It was great to do something that I was terrified to do, and not only "get through it" but I really enjoyed myself!!!

I can't believe my two months in South East Asia are almost coming to a close. I have had the time of my life here and don't know how I can say goodbye, but at the same time, I'm so happy to go home and do all the great things that I have planned. I feel like I have gained so much confidence and a new sense of life and fun here, and I can't wait to spread it to the rest of my life.

Knowing that I am leaving soon, I am devoting the rest of this week to touring around Nha trang to its fullest potential, including finally seeing a waterfall!!