Day 2: Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnamese motorbikes here aren’t loud, but several of them ripping through the streets in evenly-paced intervals, can equivocate a handful of Harleys.  A motor stampede. I awoke from my sleep because my cavernous room echoed thunderous vibrations. That’s what you get from a room with a front row seat of the main street. Otherwise, the view is pretty interesting.

My room? I’ve gotten used to it. Periodically during the night, I’d awake with an itch which sent me to my spritzer of (more…)

“Do you know that Vietnam is a Communist country?” my mom added before parting on Skype. Timing. She’s  like that. This is my second big solo trip to a developing country, she’s concerned for my safety and her method of care is to instill fear, rather than courage… at the last moment. Gotta love her. But overall, I’ve heard Vietnam is reasonably safe for female solo travelers so I’m not too worried.

Day 1:  Daegu to Ho Chi Minh City and my Less-than-Amazing Race
My morning call was… early, yet I was running late . This was the only time there was no taxi in (more…)

Tourists rest at a roadside cafe

For the female solo traveler, Vietnam shouldn’t be an intimidating or scary country to travel.  Though still developing, it’s no longer as ‘off-the-beaten path’ as one might like to romanticize; and while large, Vietnam strives to make transportation easy and cheap for the tourist. For every main attraction, you can bet there’s probably a budget tour for it, as tour operators are everywhere, vying for your business and ready to aid your travel needs.

Tours however, are not for everyone. Some travelers prefer for a more personal and off-off-road experience to (more…)

Do I look like a real Hanoian?

I’ve just returned from backpacking Vietnam, during summer monsoon season- what a wet, wet, wet and sweaty fun… I must have lost 10 pounds of water weight and my skin has a pimply glow (Daegu heat is a breeze in comparison)!  But it was all good- 9 days was definitely not enough to see Vietnam and all it offers in crazy motorcycle mayhem. Now I’m back in civilization, where a warm bath and a bed, without a silk liner woos me…

Check out Expacked’s Issue #84…

Major shout out to Expacked for including my blog “5 Reasons to Join your Expat Community when Living Abroad” in Issue #84 of its newsletters. It’s both, an honor and fortunate new discovery for me. Expacked is an (more…)

So I arrived in Pai (a hip little backpacker’s town north of Chiang Mai),  learned how to ride a motorbike and then quickly set off to explore the countryside. Wind in my face, embracing my newly earned motorist’s freedom and smelling the earthy countryside of “Thai green”, what I inevitably loved best about my drive  to the village… (more…)

Me, putting my EPIK color post-its to good use!

Tick-tock… Vietnam. I leave this Friday!  I’ll be launching solo again.  I don’t know what to expect or how things will play out, but this time I’m excited. I certainly have more of a positive outlook on solo travel than I did last year and I have Thailand to thank for such amazing and serendipitous experiences! But maybe Korea has something to do with it as well… (more…)

(continued from Solo Day-Tripping)

Small fishing boat dock in Haeundae

…Friday evening, I didn’t know if I was serious with myself about going to Busan for the weekend or even if I wanted to do it solo! 9:30a Saturday morning I woke up and realized- Yes, I was and so off I went! My sightseeing itinerary however, was a giant question mark…

Busan is the second largest city in Korea, lies approximately 1 hour outside of Daegu on the coast and is dubbed as its San Francisco, due to the fact it’s a port city possessing raw fish markets, bridges, beaches and the occasional hilly neighborhoods which resemble the compact residential style the Golden Gate City is known for. This was all I knew! So on the train over, my quick-sketch brain drew 3 main goals for my two-day trip: a) experience sleeping at a jjimjilbang; b) explore the Jalgachi Fish Market; c) take a walk along Haeundae Beach. What I experienced within this two day weekend was much much more… (more…)

Korea is a pretty safe country to travel if you’re a woman. But being a solo traveler – difficult and delightful can share the same coin. While I thoroughly enjoy relaxing into bonding with fellow EPIKers on group day trips as we weather the inevitable culture shock together; excursions alone while initially dreaded, gives me valuable time to explore, grow and reflect upon my new cultural surroundings at a relaxed pace. Plus, I get to take out the DSLR!

But… I don’t always gave ample time to research my cities.  If I’m doing a weekend or day trip, researching accommodations and train times are my only afforded concerns. Why? Take my recent 2-day weekend trip to Busan. I didn’t know if I was serious with myself about going to Busan for the weekend or doing it solo! 9:30a Saturday morning I woke up and realized I was and off I went! My sightseeing itinerary however, was a giant question mark…

Things to note about “day-tripping” as a solo traveler

1- She triumphs all the time
The heroine of my own travel story, every time I do something which I think may encounter self-hurdles, I hear a magical and triumphant “ding!”
(more…)

Spending a night on the wooden floor of a jjimjilbang. Photo: Grrrltraveler.

So you asked me for Part II of my Jjimjilbang experience and here it is… For all you travelers and expats looking to tour Korea on the cheap, a  friend once mentioned staying overnight at a jjimjilbang as a way to hurdle hostel and budget hotel costs (which may run anywhere from a low $18-40); since then, the jjimjilbang culture has been a phenomenon to me. In some senses a jjimjilbang, is as common as a gym with an open membership to those who wish to pay the 7,500W entrance. It is not an exclusive club but a public bath and board. Who comes to these? Everyone (more…)