mama napor on the scene

my sister, lindsay, has been to vietnam twice and whenever she would talk about it, my mom would always look sad. she really wanted to come here, but my father had no interest. when i was making my plans, i asked her if she would join me in vietnam for a week or two. she jumped at the opportunity and i was lucky to have her here for the past 8 days. she left this morning. coffee this am was not as fun.

we met in ho chi minh city and stayed for 4 days. she took great care of me as i let go of my crutches and started to walk on my own. we also went to the mekong delta, hanoi and halong bay. we ate like queens, stayed at some fancy hotels and spent the night on a boat.

this photo is in the mekong detla. my mom and an elephant ear fish that the waitress made into spring rolls with rice paper, pineapple and cucumber. how cute is my mom?
pringles, anyone?
halong bay overnight cruise. there's over 3,000 mountains in the water here.


'tis the season of the lotus flower

floating markets. they tie what they are selling on the top of the bamboo stick. most of the people live on the boat, which is also their store. this one is selling watermelon. you also see yams, coconut, fish and other tropical fruit.

typical vietnamese architecture

14 hours in KL - on crutches

the way that around-the-world tickets work (for those of you asking me how i'm managing to do this trip) is that you pick a direction, east or west, and then have up to a year to make 15 stops along the way around the globe. usually this is done through many airlines that are partnered with each other, such as star alliance. it is really cheap when you compare it to the cost of a round-trip ticket to asia or australia. i got mine through STA, b/c i'm going to be a student again soon. if you're interested, i recommend it! anyway, sometimes you have to fly through certain cities, for example i had to fly through kuala lumpur to get to vietnam from bali. so i decided to spend the night and see some of the sights.

i had no idea what to expect. my knowledge of malaysia was pretty much nil and i had the added stress of being on crutches and painkillers that make me a little loopy. i have to say that i was so pleasantly surprised by the beauty of this city, the friendliness of all the people and how easy it was to get around. i stayed at an airport hotel and hired a driver - a great guy by the name of seelan who used to work in boston - to take me to all the sights in the morning. there was no way i could walk or get on a bus. my leg was not bending. 4 hours of a personal driver/tour guide cost me $100.

it is one of the most architecurally impressive places i've ever seen. here you can see their "twin" petronas towers (the headquarters of the national petroleum company). the country of malaysia is doing pretty well for itself, thanks to their oil.


this pink mosque is in puduraya, just outside the city, where all the government buildings are located. they've all been built in the past 10 years. i'm afraid my photo doesn't do this building justice (my crutches were limiting my photographic skills). it is the largest mosque in the world and jaw-droppingly beautiful.

trouble in paradise

my first day in bali was wonderful. i sat on the beach, went swimming in the ocean and decided to take a surfing lesson because the beach where i was (kuta) is known for being one of the best beaches in the world to learn how to surf.

bali is mostly hindu and they put these offerings out all over the place, usually on the ground.

this is the pool at my hotel. i paid a whopping $40 a night for one of the nicest places i've ever stayed.

check out my bathroom, altar and all.

now look at my left ankle compared to the right. something very wrong there.

me laying in bed, on the phone with my traveler's insurance because of a fall i took on the surfboard. the doctor thought i tore my acl and told me to stay in bed for 5 days. so i didn't get to see as much of bali as i would have liked, but luckily my hotel was relaxing and the staff were incredibly helpful.

and don't worry, i'm still smiling. i didn't tear my acl. just a sprain, i think & hope. i've been on crutches for about a week and am moving very slowly. i'm also growing rather fond of balinese pain killers.

sydney

originally i wasn't even planning to go to australia on this trip, figuring that the continent deserved it's own vacation sometime in my future. when booking my around-the-world-ticket, however, i realized that i had to fly through sydney to get from new zealand to bali. so, i decided to stay for 2 nights and check it out.

then, the one and only angela mirra revealed that she had a fabulous family friend my age who lived there and was willing to put me up in his spare bedroom for my short stay. robbie, angela's friend, was definitely the host with the most: picking me up from the airport, taking me to brunch, taking me sailing on his boat with all his mates, dinner at his parent's house and offering me a beautiful home, right on the water.

the guy in the first photo with me is paulie, robbie's cousin/roommate/best friend. these guys were fun!

some common sights in nz

new zealand:
18 days
14 cities/towns
20 buses
4 boats
4 hitched rides
3 airplanes
100,000,000,000,000 sheep

i leave this lovely country the day after tomorrow and could write pages and pages about the things i've seen, people i've met and experiences i've had, which, to my dismay do not include bungy jumping or sheering sheep. but rather than bore you with stories and spend time at this computer, i'll simply share some of my photographs. i hope you enjoy looking at them as much as i enjoyed taking them. i think they provide a good glimpse to the way i've spent the last 18 days.

kiwi (dried, fresh or chocolatized)
rainbows & sheep
waterfalls & more rainbows










cows & glaciers (each one of those "ice picks" is about 10 stories high)









sand dunes
seals
cliffs, rock formations & ocean
(note how little the bus looks)

this is called a "flat white"

it's something between a cappucino & late

i have one just about every day

delicioustown

first kayaking experience

while up in abel tasman, i decided to do what the area is known for, sea kayaking. normally they don't let first-timers out alone, but the guy in charge was cool and he just pushed me out to see for a few hours. the way back was not easy, going against the tide. but i managed to not fall over. my shoulders still hurt. it was well worth it though.
dara, i have a newfound respect for you.

i'm in love

after 2 weeks of sharing hostel dorm rooms with random strangers including promiscious 17-year-old german girls, 3 professional american triatheletes, a german dude who is bicycling his way around new zealand for 4 months and a slew of other characters, i thought it was about time to splurge on a private hotel room. the woman who took over my job at iin used to live in new zealand and recommended this eco-friendly lodge in the middle of abel tasman national park. it's about a 3 hour bus ride from the city of nelson and then you have to take a water taxi for an hour and a half just to get there. once you're there, it's incredible: totally remote, an organic restaurant, luxurious rooms, numerous private hikes, exclusive beaches, etc. etc. i was in heaven. props to suzanne boothby!

the view from my fancy hotel
my own private beach and happy home to the location of my first unassisted yogic headstand

split apple rock










can you tell where the ocean ends and the sky begins?

help i'm stuck in the lord of the rings movie set

so... new zealand. i started off in auckland, which is on the north island. cool city, but not too much to do or see, so i went to the town of rotorua. this place smells like rotten eggs. that's because of the natural geysers. i spent a day sitting in the thermal baths. just me and about 100 japanese tourists. then i went to mt. tongariro, known to most people as "mordor's mt. doom." there's a famous one day hike over the volcano that i was signed up for, but due to the wind and rain, they cancelled it. bummer. but you've all seen the movie and don't need my dinky photos anyway.

from there i went to wellington, the capital city which was a lot of fun. i met a bunch of american triatheletes who were there for a competition and met some people who will probably be in the olympics. they made me feel lazy.

i hopped on the ferry to the south island (which is where people said the best places were) and spent 3 days in a "city" called nelson. they call it a city, but it's the size of my hometown of westfield new jersey, so i don't really consider it a city. i did some wine tours, hiking, hot yoga and ate healthy food there. it was good to have a place to call home for 3 days. i'm trying to convince my uncle rob to move here, so i'll have a place to come visit. it's a fun town with tons to do and a decent american expat population. i'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

view from one of the nelson hikes; nelson is surrounded by mountains on 3 sides and water on the 4th.



view from ferry between north & south islands












wellington, capital of new zealand