Mt. Whitney:
- 14,494 ft. (highest summit in the contiguous United States)
- 22 miles
- 6,100 ft elevation gain
Asia Trip - Day 21 (Tuesday, August 23, 2011)
Didn't take a single picture this day. Sad that the trip was ending.
Spent the day packing and the rest of the day down at the beach in Stanley. Stanley is definitely my favorite place in Hong Kong and the only place I'd live if I moved here.
On the plane, I sat next to Susan Ortwein, the assistant head coach of the Stanford women's water polo team. Picture taken from the Stanford website. The 2011 World University Games were going on in Shenzhen, China, while we were there. We just happened to be sitting on the plane with the entire men's and women's water polo team. Women's won 2nd place and men's won 4th place. She apologized to me that the kids were all 21-years-old and so they didn't know how to handle their alcohol. A lot of them had tried to drink as much as possible to celebrate their last night of the trip before boarding the plane. On the plane, before take-off, the other coach on the plane kept yelling at the players to "shut-up" and that they were "embarrassing America". The girl sitting behind me threw up on the floor. During the flight, the other coach came over to tell Susan that one of the players was sneaking into first class and stealing alcohol. Good way to end the trip.
Arrived back in LAX around 11:30 pm (Tuesday, August 23, 2011).
Trip summary:
- July 23, 2011 to August 23, 2011
- Planes: 11
- Overnight trains: 2
- Boat rides: 7
- Countries: 3
- Miles logged: unknown
Back to work Wednesday, August 24, 2011, at 9am..
Already back into the same routine. Feels like I never left.
Next adventure, Mt. Whitney, September 19-22nd!
Spent the day packing and the rest of the day down at the beach in Stanley. Stanley is definitely my favorite place in Hong Kong and the only place I'd live if I moved here.
On the plane, I sat next to Susan Ortwein, the assistant head coach of the Stanford women's water polo team. Picture taken from the Stanford website. The 2011 World University Games were going on in Shenzhen, China, while we were there. We just happened to be sitting on the plane with the entire men's and women's water polo team. Women's won 2nd place and men's won 4th place. She apologized to me that the kids were all 21-years-old and so they didn't know how to handle their alcohol. A lot of them had tried to drink as much as possible to celebrate their last night of the trip before boarding the plane. On the plane, before take-off, the other coach on the plane kept yelling at the players to "shut-up" and that they were "embarrassing America". The girl sitting behind me threw up on the floor. During the flight, the other coach came over to tell Susan that one of the players was sneaking into first class and stealing alcohol. Good way to end the trip. Arrived back in LAX around 11:30 pm (Tuesday, August 23, 2011).
Trip summary:
- July 23, 2011 to August 23, 2011
- Planes: 11
- Overnight trains: 2
- Boat rides: 7
- Countries: 3
- Miles logged: unknown
Back to work Wednesday, August 24, 2011, at 9am..
Already back into the same routine. Feels like I never left.
Next adventure, Mt. Whitney, September 19-22nd!
Asia Trip - Day 20 (Monday, August 22, 2011)
Took the JumboJet ferry from Hong Kong to Macau early in the morning. From the dock, there are a lot of free casino buses so you can get to the city without a taxi.
Largo de São Domingos
Street near Largo de São Domingos. The signs are in Chinese and Portuguese.
You can see a casino in the background.
Ruins of St. Paul's Catholic Church.
St. Dominic's Catholic Church.
Streets of Macau at night.
View while walking on the pier to the TurboJet ferry to return to Hong Kong. This was around 12am.
The heat in Macau was unbearable so we went to several casinos in between. I didn't take any pictures of them, though. Macau has changed a lot since the last time I came in 2007. The city has really cleaned up. We went to the Venetian and it's definitely starting to feel a bit more Vegas-like inside the hotels. However, Macao is still so different than Vegas, it's hard to compare the two.
Asia Trip - Day 19 (Sunday, August 21, 2011)
Flew back to Hong Kong from Hanoi, Vietnam. Took the bus back into the city. Ate dim sum.
Then, my favorite thing, we go straight to the Aberdeen seafood market to buy food for dinner while still dragging our luggage around.
After getting everything we needed for dinner that night, we took the minibus back into Stanley where we've been staying while in Hong Kong.
As dinner was being prepared, I walked down to one of the beaches in Stanley and walked back to the house when it was ready.
Then, my favorite thing, we go straight to the Aberdeen seafood market to buy food for dinner while still dragging our luggage around.
Took a 25 cents (U.S. dollars) ferry to get to the Aberdeen seafood market. Love the public transportation in Hong Kong. Efficient.
View from the ferry.
Inside the Aberdeen seafood market.
All kinds of clams and mussels.
More clams.
Aberdeen seafood market.
Aberdeen seafood market.
After getting everything we needed for dinner that night, we took the minibus back into Stanley where we've been staying while in Hong Kong.
As dinner was being prepared, I walked down to one of the beaches in Stanley and walked back to the house when it was ready.
At one of the beaches in Stanley until dinner was ready.
Favorite dinner of the trip. Home-cooked goodness. Not everything fit on the table so not all the dishes are shown.
Asia Trip - Day 18 (Saturday, August 20, 2011)
Vietnam
1. Drove from Ha Long Bay to Hanoi
2. Hanoi Opera House
3. Hoa Lo Prison Museum
4. Tran Quoc Pagoda
5. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
6. Ho Chi Minh Complex
7. Hanoi Temple of Literature
8. Hanoi Old Quarters
1. Drove from Ha Long Bay to Hanoi
2. Hanoi Opera House
3. Hoa Lo Prison Museum
4. Tran Quoc Pagoda
5. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
6. Ho Chi Minh Complex
7. Hanoi Temple of Literature
8. Hanoi Old Quarters
Good morning. View of Ha Long Bay from our hotel room. Finally see some sun. It was rainy and cloudy the other days.
Hanoi Opera House
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
Ho Chi Minh Complex
Hanoi Temple of Literature
Hanoi - Old quarters
Hanoi Old Quarters - Traffic jam at an intersection. No traffic rules.
Hanoi Old Quarters - Utility pole
Hanoi Old Quarters - Ate some pho here.
Hanoi Old Quarters
Some light rays outside where we were eating dinner.
Asia Trip - Day 17 (Friday, August 19, 2011)
Vietnam - Ha Long Bay
On-board our junk boat.
Cruising through Ha Long Bay.
Stopped at a floating village to buy some seafood for lunch.
Selling fruit.
Colorful.
Limestone islets.
Sampans.
The iconic "kissing rocks" or "kissing cocks".
Preparing lunch on the junk boat.
Thien Cung Grotto - Caves in the limestone islands of Ha Long Bay.
Thien Cung Grotto.
Thien Cung Grotto - View of the entrance of the cave.
More cruising around Ha Long Bay.
View of Ha Long Bay near our hotel, right after watching the water puppet show..
Walking around Bai Chay (Ha Long City) at night.
Ha Long Bay Night Market.
We started a crowd in the street because he tried to jip us. Told us it was $1.10/sandwich (American dollars). We gave him a $5 and he gave us $1 back. We decided not to buy it from him if he was going to rip us off. So he said we stole his money and followed us down the street.
Playing Chinese chess in the streets.
Asia Trip - Day 16 (Thursday, August 18, 2011)
Vietnam
1. Drove from Hanoi to Ninh Binh Province
2. Bich Dong Pagodas
3. Tam Coc ("Ha Long Bay on land") - Rode on a sampan
4. Drove from Ninh Binh Province to Ha Long Bay
Bich Dong Pagodas
1. Drove from Hanoi to Ninh Binh Province
2. Bich Dong Pagodas
3. Tam Coc ("Ha Long Bay on land") - Rode on a sampan
4. Drove from Ninh Binh Province to Ha Long Bay
Bich Dong Pagodas
Entrance.
Durian tree!
Durian.
Bich Dong Pagoda - Temple
Behind the temple. There are a series of caves and stairs to get to different temples.
Outside the entrance of Bich Dong Pagodas.
Lunch
It was pouring rain at the end of lunch. She was sitting there watching the rain.
Tam Coc ("Ha Long Bay on land")
Me and the bro waiting to get on our sampan. It wasn't raining as hard anymore, but we kept the rain poncho on and my giraffe umbrella just in case.
The area to board the sampans.
Tam Coc: Going down the Hoang Long river in our sampan.
Tam Coc: View from our sampan going down the river. The mountains are formed from limestone.
Tam Coc means three caves. This is one of them we went through.
They alternate, rowing between their hands and their feet.
Tam Coc: Going down the river.
After this we drove from Tam Coc to Ha Long Bay.
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