The friendzone

I grew up with a lot of guys, so I have plenty of guy friends. I call them my brothers not my friends. Because for a guy and a a girl to be friends, well that’s just not that easy. I find my relationship with my bro’s easy. So I count myself as “one of the guys”. I like my girls, but I also think that guys are more easy going. Less drama, more fun, yep that’s what I like. But that less drama only counts when you’re just friends. And I guess that’s where it goes wrong.

My point is, the older you get the more people you meet, duh. But as a girl how can you decide if the guy just likes you as a friend or more? I mean, meeting someone in a club who’s buying you drinks and is calling you hot screams for “he wants more”. But you can also just have a nice co-worker, or a nice friend of a friend who you just hang out with?

So let’s say you meet a friend of a friend, you just chat a little bit on a birthday. You find out that you have the same interests, you both like action movies, asian food and hiphop music. You got some friends in common, you guys become facebook friends. You end up liking each-others pictures, which you could do if it was a fling, bro, friend, or ex. It’s hard to decide what that means. But than he sends you a private message, about this new movie coming out next week. Is he trying to ask you on a date, or does he just wanna hang out? Only one way to find out, so you guys end up going to the movie together. It’s a great movie, but you got a cinema pass, which you told him before, so even if he wanted to he couldn't pay for you. So the rule ‘if he pays it’s a date’ doesn't work. You didn't hold hands, or kissed in the cinema, but you never do that anyway. So again, what was this? The only way to find out is to keep on hanging out and just see where it goes. See where the flow brings you.

The danger in all of this is that you could end up just liking him as a friend or vice verse, because of course who doesn't fall in love with you? But if he’s in love with you, how are you going to continue the friendship? That’s gonna be hard, consider it a lost friendship.

I believe that a friendship is a good fundamental for a relationship. And no I don’t wanna date my ‘old friends’ but I would consider dating new friends. But it just sucks to ruin friendships, cause yes a friendship should just be a friendship.But hey you could also start a friendship with benefits, so you can stay there in that all mixed up got no clue on what the hell is going on situation!

Girls, good luck and have fun with your new friendships!

This song is soooo me!

I can totally relate to a lot of things. On one day I can listen to 20 songs and feel like I relate to at least 5 of them. Something about the past, something about the future, something about whatever. I guess I like the feeling of "aaaaah she feels the same way! She got cheated on as well yeaaah" or "omg she loves Vodka, so do I". 

So recently, and I dont know why I never heard about this girl before I foud out about "Lucy Spraggan". But hey better late than never! Cause this girl, hold on... She sings my mind!! With a few differences. Two of my favorite songs are the tourist and mountains. Probably cause they're a bit travel related ;-)

When I listen to the song mountains I feel like im on that mountain! "When an old lady comes and sits next to me

Says, "Next birthday I'll be 83

I fell in love with the world when I was 24

I've lived in Mexico, Columbia and Ecuador

Sat next to the Taj Mahal

While the sun was rising

Spent a year in Australia

Chasing the horizon

So take your guitar and do what you have to do."

She said, "I know what you're scared of.

I used to feel it too.

You're not scared of climbing mountains.

You're scared that you can't make them move.""

And here's a part of the tourist I just love:
"She said she hated tourists

But she wanted to travel the world.

Said the best things in life were free

And then worked all day to feed herself.

She said you never know what you got until it's gone

And she complained about the rain like she'd never seen the sun.

She said good things come to those who wait

And then she waited four hours for a cancelled train.

She said:

You try and catch me

I'll never stop running.

With a pound in my pocket and my life inside a bag.

You try and catch me

I know where I'm going

I'll be half way round the world before you even know I'm gone

She said I'm moving on." 

Just check out the album "join the club" and see if you can join the "omgggg this is so me-club". 

Five steps to put him in the friendzone

So you met this really fun guy, he´s goodlooking but not your type. But you do have a lot of fun and you don´t want that to stop. Lately he has been flirting with you because you’re hot and cute, well that happens. So what you need to do is put that guy in the friendzone. Five steps to get him there!

1. Tell him all about your ex. One of the rules of things you shouldn´t talk about when you´re into a guy is talking about your ex. Please tell this guy all about the mistakes your ex made, and since your friends, inform him about all you flaws. Don´t forget to tell him about the time that you cheated on your ex with his best friend, honesty about this subject is the key to a great friendship. And the key to a relationship without trust!

2. When you´re texting just say stuff like ´whats up dude´, never give him cozy names like ´babe´ or ´darling´. Funny things like ´monkey´ could be mistaken for flirting, so don´t go there either. Keep it in the friendzone.

3. There´s this cute guy at work, and you totally need advice from you new bff. So go ask for advice on how to handle the situation. Just don´t make it too obvious otherwise this move could be mistaken for ´making him jaelous´.

4. When you guys are hanging out show him texts ur getting from other guys, but again this could trigger him to hit on you more. So try to make it seem like u really happy with those texts. Just smile at your phone in the middle of a conversation, he’s gonna ask why are you smiling? Wait a bit and tell him “oh hihi nothing, *name cute guy* is just tasking me”. Put your shy face on while saying that.

5. Hook him up with a girl! Even better, hook him up with one of your girls. If he’s not picking up the other “go back to the friendzone signals” he will probably get it when ur hooking him up with ur bff. If not he’s a dumbass and you probably shouldn’t be friends with him anyway.

But before you put that cute-funny-guy-who-you-get-a-long-with-just-fine in te friendzone make sure that that’s what you wanna do. Friendships are a good base for a relationship, so you might wanna consider dating him anyway…  

I left my heart in many places

I´m blessed! I´m blessed for many reasons. One of those things is that I´ve had the opportunity to travel. It´s a privilege. Although I safed up the money myself, some people have other things in life they need to take care of, other than themselves. So yes, I feel lucky for having a chance to do my travel stuff.

While traveling I´ve been to amazing places. Some places were just absolute breathtaking beautiful. Some were maybe not the most beautiful, but became special because of the people I was with and the memories we created. Sometimes the food was just the best, or worst ever. Sometimes the vibe was just so chilled down. So yes, i´ve lost pieces of my heart in many places. 

I like to take you on a journey of a few of my favorite spots, this week i'll start with my first Asian crush. 



Boracay. Oh oh Boracay, I could write pages and pages about why I love Boracay so much. The Philippines was the first country I ever visited in South East Asia. I landed in Cebu City and catched a flight to paradise the next day. It took me five minutes to fall in love with Boracay. Beautiful white beaches, no dangerous traffic, live music everywhere, even better.. reggae music! A small chilled down island, with not to many resorts, some backpackers, cocktail bars, lounges, ´clubs´. 

The first night me and the girls got on Boracay we we´re sitting at BomBom bar. While I was enjoying my crocodile burger there was this amazing band playing. The night went on and the reggae music was surprising me. I was not expecting this at all. It simply blew my mind. And so did the rum. It ended up with some kind of chill session with the band. Sitting at this bar, which was actually on the beach, being surrounded by amazing (and talented) people. I couldn´t have wished for a better introduction to traveling South East Asia! The next few days were simply amazing. A few weeks later I went back to Boracay and it was still amazing. I can´t wait to go back there!

I stayed in a hostel named "frendz hostel' a basic place with shared huts, everything in the Philippines (well if ur on a budget) is really back to basic, but it's charming. The bar/lounge is realy social and this is the place that inspired me to go backpacking. I met a lot of backpackers there, some were alone some were not. I talked to a few people, some gave up their house and their job. Some just finished school, either way I was so amazed by all this cool stories about people traveling the world without cares. Could this be me?! I was with three girls from school, but this hostel was crazy social. So we ended up hanging out on the beach (frendz hostel has his own beach spot as well!) and going out with them as well. Borcacay is really small, and everybody ended up going to the same places anyway I think the names of the clubs were summerplace and epic (correct me if im wrong). The little clubs are filled with a mix of traveling people and locals, which is nice, I love a place with locals! The drinks are cheap as hell also. Oh and this is where I fell in love with San Miquel (light!) as well, guess it was the started of me getting used to beer.

Guess it's safe to say Boracay changed my life. I saw the beauty of Asia, met amazing people who inspired me (and i'm still in contact with a girl I met there, she's coming to the Netherlands in the summer, yaay!), found out how I love cheap drinks, my first tricicle ride. Yep, I love Boracay! 

Funny dorm stories

While backpacking I mostly stayed in dorms. Which was a lot of fun and caused some funny situations. I wrote this story for travelingsoutheastasia.com, but since it´s related to my travels I wanted to share it here as well. As I said on my Facebook page, if you think it´s about you... well it probably is!

Staying in dorms is in my opinion definitely a must if you’re traveling alone. I mean, you can get a luxury five star hotel with a nice king-size bed, a bathtub, a minibar, a tv, air-conditioning. Also you as a backpacker in that hotel will be able to: see some lovely young couples who are on a holiday, some old people who are still in love which can be cute or disgusting, some families (yes that kid is peeing in the swimming pool), and potentially see someone who you really fancy until you realize that person is on a honeymoon.

Or, what you can and should do, as a backpacker. Stay in a hostel. Which can be a hostel with a really good rating or a shitty hostel where every dollar, euro, baht or dong is too much to pay. Cause staying in hostels is fun! In the last four months I’ve stayed in some really nice and terrible hostels, I had great recommendations from other travellers or just checked the lovely internet. However, sometimes it’s not the place, it’s the people. And so I found out. I had some really funny moments in dorms, some of these things happened to myself and some to other people in the dorm, who I will not name. Here you go three funny random things that happened in dorms during my trip.

Sleeping in a 38 people dorm

Staying in a 38 people dorm in Koh Phangan during the full moon for new year’s sounds like the perfect place to have a well-deservedgood sleep right? As a preparation for new year I tried sleeping ‘early’, which was a challenge since the music was really loud and the door had this lovely bleep-bleep-bleep sound ‘every time it opened.

I’m not the kinda person who will tell people to shut up, because normally i’m a loud person myself. I fall asleep easily, so even in this not sleepy environment i managed to fell asleep, after approximately three hours. While I was sleeping like a baby, since the bed was actually comfy some drunk people came back to the dorm. The guy from the bed next to me, who I saw in the morning, with a chick in his bed, who I never talked to, decided to… poke me. Yes, he poked me and said: Hi! Such a nice guy, I was sleepdrunk and said hi back and turned myself. After a minute he poked me again and told me he was sorry for waking me up. Well I’m easy going so I told him it was fine, and told him to sleep well and turned myself again. I guess this was not really what he was looking for. “Drunk-guy-next-bed” decided to turn me, jump on me and ask me if we could have sex. I was sleepdrunk, which is not to be confused with being drunk. So I didn’t really understand if this was a dream, nightmare or real life. I stared at him and asked if it was ok if I just slept. Well this was ok, so he said. I turned myself, again. But I guess I should’ve asked if it was ok to sleep alone. Cause after I turned I felt something, someone… spooning me. Yes the “Drunk-guy-next-bed” was now “Drunk-guy-in-my-bed”. Well if he can poke me and ask stuff, so can I! So I poked him and asked if he could please leave me alone and hop over to his own bed. Nooooo, nooooo, can I please stay? Can we just cuddle? Well I do love cuddles, I really do, but not like this. So I said no, he said yes, I said no, he said yes. Well you get the idea. At this point I was really tired and he was not really planning on getting out of my bed so I told him, no cuddles, just sleep. I turned myself, for the final time… and woke up a bit later. AND HE REPEATED, can we please have sex?? Noooooooo we can’t dude! Well in the end he was drunk and tired as well so he fell asleep in my bed… yes I gave up. When I woke up he was holding me as well, really tight, I escaped my bed and went for breakfast. Afterwards I came back and jumped on him: CAN WE HAVE SEX?! He woke up and looked at me really weird. He had no memory of happened the night before and told me he was sorry. After that we had a normal conversation and actually got to know each other. He turned out to be a nice guy. Always a good way to meet people! But I did gave him the advice not to hit on girls like this anymore.

Getting seasick in a dorm

Sex in dorms is something that happens every once in a while. It’s something you can accept, or you can decide on getting really mad. Well like I said, i’m easy going. I don’t mind if it’s just for a bit I can just put my music in and ignore it. But when you’re feeling really sick, and you actually already have tears in your eyes it’s a little bit different. I hate to be a cockblock. So I figured when this guy in the bed above me, who I travelled with for a bit, and who was actually a really nice guy, came back in the dorm that I should just let him do his thing. I was annoyed because I really wanted to sleep since I felt like shit and would have 24 hours of solo traveling the next day. I thought well I can deal with this for a bit, I feel like shit anyway so who cares. So I putted in my earplugs with my music really loud. The hostel was really really nice, but unfortunately the beds were like most hostel bunk beds not really stable. So I was on the bottom and began to feel seasick. My bed was shaking like a rollercoaster, I love rollercoasters, but not like this. And even worse, I could hear the discussion about the sex. Everything was not really going as it should so they kept on tryin…tryin…. And then someone came in, put on the lights and laughed at them. So it stopped. At this point there were more people in the room. I fell back asleep and was happy. For a little bit. My bed was shaking again, people were laughing and everything but they didn’t care. At some point I managed to fall asleep. But the next day when I woke up the horror wasn’t over. The worst was yet to come. One, I guess, USED condom landed in my bed. When I stepped out of my bed there were a few (different flavours as well!) on the floor. There were some shorts in my bed as well. If I didn’t know any better I would have thought I had sex myself. Afterwards I told the guy that I was happy that he had safe sex, and that he should definitely continue on doing that. But just not when the girl in the bed under it feels like dying already.

Great wingwoman

As you read before I’m not exactly a cockblocker, i’m the opposite. I’m a great wingwoman! So I was hanging with some guys, just being the great wingwoman as I am I totally hooked this guy up with a girl. Kinda, I guess he had a good game himself as well. But as the evening was coming to an end this girl came to me, and asked me if she should hook up with him. Well hell yeah I responded. So she went back to him, they kissed a bit and that was it. But she came back and asked me if I was staying in the same dorm and if I would mind if she had sex there. Well this guy just started traveling so off course I didn’t wanna cockblock this great opportunity. So I told her it was fine cause I wasn’t planning on going home anytime soon (this was a lie I was done with the evening, but hey i’m nice). So  they left and I figured I could socialize a bit more in this club. I found this random guy and told him about my situation, he was a nice person to chat with for a bit. After 45 minutes we both thought that I could go to my dorm for some sleep. He assisted on walking me back. When we came in front of my hostel there was this really nice surprise. The newly-backpacking-couple didn’t even made it to the dorm! They were kissing on the street. All that waiting for nothing! I waited for a bit more, even watched a movie, made some snapchats for my friends. And got tired of it so went to the dorm. Nothing was going on there, so I was relieved, bedtime! Well off course this wasn’t true. My bed was in the corner, and my pillow was near to his (now their) pillow. As soon as I tried sleeping, they tried the opposite. Just my luck! I slept on the other side of my bed with my music really loud. Also the guy climbed to the bed on top of his to ask his mate for condoms. Classic night!

It’s all part of the experience

These stories might be a bit disturbing, if you’ve never stayed in a dorm before. For the people who already got some dorm experience I bet some of this stuff should sound completely normal. But for the people who read this and are not sure about dorms anymore… In the end even my weird experiences like the guy who woke me up, or waking up by people having sex, never made me not-wanna-stay-in-dorms. Dorms are funny and a great social place. It’s a nice place to meet people, mostly better during the day. And well, when you’re old you have something fun to tell the grandkids. Or well, maybe not the grandkids but at least you can look back at your travels and laugh!

Photoshop makes the world a better place

Ever since I was like this 11 year old (or something) girl I liked playing with Photoshop. Well at first I started messing around with paint shop pro and after that I guess Adobe Photoshop 2 and 3 or something. However, I found out on this magical thing called the internet about the great things you can do with Photoshop! Brush skin smoother, make the sky more blue, change your eye colors, and more of that kind of stuff. For a while I got so ‘addicted’ on it I even attempted on online challenges. Like making the best Hilary Duff (pre weird slutty period) banner or doing the best retouch on a famous person. I found out all the amazing stuff you could do with Photoshop! But it took me a while to make the find out that the models in advertisements mostly are retouched as well.

Of course i’m not this 11 year old girl anymore. Although I wouldn't mind, but let’s not go there. Anyway, I think it’s safe to say that 90% of the people know that Photoshop is being used a lot. And you can have the discussion about it like how it's a good thing, you shouldn’t care (that’s me), or how it’s a bad reflection of reality and not good for children etc. Well go ahead and have that discussion. I just wanna have some fun with all the bad Photoshop crap people have been putting up lately.

I think even as a 11 (or well lets not get cocky, 12) year old girl I would have noticed that there was something not really done/ready in the following examples.

1. At Target someone got over excited on this whole thigh cap hype.

2. I’m guessing Adam Levine his ribs weren't pretty enough for this picture.

3. I strongly believe that this person is the owner of a belly button, but please correct me if I’m wrong.

4. It’s always nice to hold hands.

5. This kid has really short legs or he’s a young magician.

Please keep the bad stuff coming, I don't mind! Oh and shoutout to all those girls who are giving themselves bigger buts, smaller waists and stuff like that for more likes on Instagram. They might wanna spend that time in the gym but hey I'm not gonna complain ;-) 

When I grow up I wanna be a....

Some people just know it all. They grow up and just know that they want to be. Like `when I grow up I want to be......´ a firemen, nurse or a mom of 10 children. When I was a kid I found out I wasn't one of those kids. I was a dreamer and I had plenty of ideas for my future self.

18 years ago I wanted to travel the world and/or be the host of a travel program;

15 years ago I wanted to be a pre-school teacher and a musical star but I realized singing wasn't my talent;

10 years ago I wanted to be a high-school history teacher, and be a cheerleader while studying for it;

9 years ago I wanted to be a lawyer;

8 years ago I wanted to be a psychologist;

6 years ago I wanted to be a lifestyle designer, graphic designer, game designer. You name it i just wanted to design stuff get my creativity out there;

5 years ago I wanted to be a communication professional as in creating commercials. The plan was to finish my study as quick as possible, get a career and a house afterwards;

4 years ago I wanted to be a editor of a fashion magazine;

3 years ago I wanted to be a social media specialist but my dream still was to be a editor of a fashion magazine, also I wanted to live together with my boyfriend at the time. My dream was to study abroad but I decided that I rather stayed with my boyfriend;

2 years ago I was still dreaming about being a editor but got more focused on reality, any job at a (online) lifestyle thing would have been what I wanted. I wanted to do something different, and I did. I ended up doing the minor International Aid and Development instead of the minors PR or branding. I went to do volunteer work in the Philippines which turned out to be one of the best things I've ever done. Which I didn't even knew before. After that I wanted to do a internship in the Philippines, got one but got scared because I was in a complicated relationship;

1 year ago I wanted to have a job in the lifestyle PR scene. I also still got a desire to travel the world. I finally got rid of all my fears. And decided to safe up money for my next trip, more volunteer work, traveling around I didn't had a plan I just knew I wanted to be out there living the life while not having a serious job.

While graduating and getting my bachelor degree I got scared. I lost my purpose. As you can see at "5 years ago" my original plan was to get a career a house and "be serious" after I would get my degree. While being at that point in life I didn't feel like actually being ready for that. And why the hell would I do something against my will? It took me a while to realize that I'm the one who puts direction in my own life. Just that most people choose to get serious after their study doesn't mean that I had to... So I started traveling with the idea "I probably get bored of traveling and get serious when I go back home". Not happening. Plenty of time of that after my next trip!

Right now?

I'm a dreamer and for now that's all I wanna do. At this moment my ideal job would be a payed blogger, but one with freedom. So I can decide what I do, when I do it and how I do it. Because freedom is what I cherish the most right now. My desire to travel is definitely stronger than the desire to follow a ´boring career-path´ and settle down. 

But as you've probably seen by now, I change my mind quit often so let's make this list again in five days years..

Back in reality after 4 months

I’ve been back home for 24 days now. While I was away I wasn’t looking forward to coming home at all. People were asking me why. Well at that time I mostly answered “because there’s nothing there”. With nothing I just meant that I didn’t had a job to look forward to or some other serious stuff, like a house or a boyfriend. But well off course I did had things to look forward to. I have great friends, who support me no matter what kind of weird person I sometimes (well maybe even half the time) can be. Also I have a loving family and a house to call home.

After being home I just realized I was mostly scared. Scared of going back into reality. When people said to me you’ll have a reality check when you get home I just laughed. But really, being home after nearly 4 months of absolute freedom it's a reality check indeed.

First of all there was the obvious problem, which I knew I would have even before I started traveling. I was totally broke as soon as I got home. I did safe up money for returning home, but while traveling I figured I rather had a fun time with it in Asia than safe it for being at home. Well, I don’t do regrets but I must say it was not really smart. Lucky as I was my friends hooked me up with a job. When they asked when I could start I just said well as soon as possible. BAM, reality was hitting me in the face again. Working? Really? I’ve quitted my last job in a clothing store in the beginning of October. So working was something I wasn’t really used to anymore. During traveling I also said, I don’t care what kind of job I get, I just need to get some money asap when I’m home. Well, I was truly grateful for the job. But I started as a call agent. Which is not a bad thing, don’t get me wrong. But yeah, another reality check. I’ve got a bachelor degree in communication. And I actually worked as a callagent when I was 16 and didn’t even had a single degree. So it made me think, what am I doing? Is this living the dream? I told myself I was just working because I needed the money. But after a few days I actually found out I had nice co-workers and I enjoyed my time there. It’s not all about living your dreams, sometimes you have to make a few stops on your way.

I believe in karma and serendipity. Good things will come to you when you least expect it. And you will also get what you give, which can be a good or a bad thing. Trust me my life has some ups but some pretty deep downs. But all of the sudden my life is pretty up. While I was enjoying my new career path and made some peace with it this new thing came on my path. A job opportunity at the same company, but this time actually a job in communication. And wait a second, isn’t that what I studied? Indeed it is.

While traveling I said I would take any job. But with any job I meant all the jobs in the world as long as it wasn’t a serious job. Well I did took the job. I’ll see where it takes me. I may sound a bit dreamy, and well.. I am. But everything happens for a reason and for now I’m just embracing this opportunity and see how it goes.

The life lesson in this story? Not everything always goes as planned. Sometimes you got to take risks and sometimes you just need to let go of your plans and go with the flow. Setting a goal is fine and great. I still have my goals/dreams. But the road to reaching them might be a bit different than you imagined. I'm not saying you should give up on dreams for every nice other thing that bumps into your way. But sometimes changing your path could be a good thing. Well at least I hope so. I'm not sure where my path will bring me, but as long I'm happy I think i'm doing a pretty good job following my dreams.

Eliza

Ps. I'm not even sure myself why I wrote this in English. I just started writing my thoughts and for some reason they came up in English.

Pps. I still owe you guys a blog about the last part of my trip. I actually wrote half of it. It's still coming ;-)

Australia day en Chinees nieuwjaar.... In Vietnam.

Zoals ik in mn laatste blog al aangaf loop/liep ik een beetje achter met mn blog. Inmiddels is dit alleen maar meer. Maar omdat ik weet dat mensen het leuk vinden om te lezen en ik het ook leuk vind om te schrijven, vervolg ik een beeeeetje verlaat toch maar m'n verhaal.

Hoi, Hoi An

Na mn nacht in Hué nam ik de bus naar Hoi An. Ik was met drie jongens, maar het was een en al chaos dus we eindigde in verschillende bussen. Hadden nog geen accomodatie geboekt dus of we elkaar weer zouden vinden? Gelukkig ontmoette ik in de bus twee meisjes uit Australie. De bus was super relaxed. Het was een slaap-bus, zoals de vorige keer, alleen was het dag. Dus super veel comfortabele ruimte en zelfs wifi. Applausje voor de bussen in Vietnam! Na vier/vijf uur kwamen we aan in het centrum van Vietnam. Een aantal mensen hadden me de tip gegeven om naar Sunflower hotel (ja hotel niet hostel) te gaan. Volgens internet leek dit vol te zitten, maar eerder in mn trip merkte ik al dat hostelworld niet altijd even up to date is, dus besloten we het er maar op te wagen. Ze hadden gelukkig plek voor ons drie, in verschillende dorms maar dat maakte niet uit. Een twee sterren hotel met dorms een zwembad en een -dat bleek de volgende ochtend- geweldig 'gratis' ontbijt buffet met alles er op en er aan. Wie naar Hoi An gaat moet zeker weten naar Sunflower! 

Anyway, na dat gereis hadden we honger. We wandelden naar het oude gedeelte van de stad en waren even stil, wat zag het er mooi uit! Alles was verlicht met lampionnen en de Franse invloed was goed te zien in de stijl van alle architectuur. Wat een schattig stadje! We besloten onzelf te verwennen met verse vis van de bbq op een boot op de rivier met uitzicht op alle lichtjes. 

Van een meisje die ik eerder in mn reis had ontmoet had ik allemaal tips gekregen. Aangezien we geen idee hadden wat te doen besloten we de tips te volgen. Zo eindigde we in de backpackers bar, waar verassend genoeg, drank spelletjes spelende engelse en australische backpackers te vinden waren. Verder was er een tafelvoetbal, waar ik dacht heel goed in te zijn maar wat tegen viel, slechte muziek, een gezellige vibe en 2 for 1 drankjes. Alle ingredienten voor een goede avond dus. 

Die avond uit was gezellig maar schreeuwde de dag erna om ontspanning. Gelukkig had mijn hotel een zwembad en relaxen bij het zwembad in de zon was dan ook perfect. In mijn dorm had ik een jongen uit het exotische Hawaii leren kennen en een jongen uit het vreemde rare koude Nederland. Samen met hun en wat andere mensen ging ik savonds weer de stad in. Het typische gerecht voor Hoi An is Cau Lac. Hoi An staat bekend om het geweldige eten. Dit is een heel

simpel gerecht maar erg lekker. Te beschrijven als noodles, beef en een klein beetje soort van soep, maar dan net wat anders. Van dit lokale gerecht genoten wii ook weer op een boot op de rivier terwijl we geserveerd werden door een meisje van 8.

 Omdat de backpackers bar de dag ervoor zo gezellig was wilde ik daar weer heen. Ik begon me al aardig thuis te voelen want ik zag dezelfde mensen als de dag ervoor. Ook waren mn verloren australie vrienden uit Hué er! Later die avond gingen we naar 'why not bar' hier is het mogelijk om voor 100.000 dong ($5) all you can drink te doen. Zolang je maar zorgt dat je je glas bewaard kan je zoveel lokale (walgelijke) rum, whisky of vodka drinken als je maar wilt. De bar was packed, de muziek was dankzij iemands telefoon top en ook dit was een geweldige avond. De dag erop besloot ik dat het tijd was voor wat actie. Behalve lekker eten staat Hoi An bekend om het goedkoop/goed maken van kleding op maat. Zo laten jongens hier pakken maken en meisjes.... Van alles en nog wat. Met mijn lengte niet helemaal gemiddelde lichaam heb ik wel eens problemen met het vinden van goed passende kleding. Wat me niet uit maakt want ik hou van oversized. Maar een oversized nette jumpsuit is 't toch niet helemaal. Ik besloot dus een jumpsuit te laten maken. Op aanraden van mensen uit mn hostel ging ik naar de tailor 'The Ocean'. Ik had een aantal plaatjes van internet bij me. Ik wist precies wat ik wilde. De bovenkant van dit plaatje, de achterkant van dit, dit van dit...... Er werkte super aardige mensen en nadat mn maten waren opgenomen (die me lichtelijk depressief maakte) was het afwachten. De volgende dag kan ik terug komen om te kijken of het goed was. Als lunch had ik aan bah mi broodje, het typische broodje wat op elke hoek van de straat te krijgen is. Dit kan met kip, varken, ei of kaas (la vache kiri), voor tussen de 15.000 en 25.000 dong. Een geweldige snack. Voor de Rotterdammers in de buurt van de bibliotheek zit "boquette" hier zijn zulke heerlijke boquetts te vinden, ook verkopen ze er bubble tea (almond met tapioca is een aanrader!). 

In de avond was het hele hostel bij de bar bij het zwembad te vinden, een en al gezelligheid. Ik durf het bijna niet te zeggen maar we speelde weer kings cup, wat vrij lastig was met zo'n grote groep. We begonnen de avond met 2 tafels en eindigde met 10 tafels. Het hotel wilde ons graag weg hebben rond een uur of 11, ze sloten de bar, maar er was een goedkope shop naast het hotel. Dus een half uur later deden ze het licht maar uit, toen dit ook niet werkte besloten ze de 'schreeuw tegen de backpackers'-techniek toe te passen, die prima werkte. Met z'n alle gingen we achterop motors naar Volcano bar. Die wonderbaarlijk nog goedkoper was dan Why Not Bar. Hier kon je voor 50.000 dong het all you can drink gedoe doen. De muziek was super slecht. Maar hoe langer je op reis bent hoe meer gewend je daaraan raakt. Het was dan ook weer een geweldige avond. 

Koh Phangan reunie!

De volgende ochtend was ik helemaal enthousiast. Want twee meisjes die ik met oud&nieuw had leren kennen kwamen naar Hoi An! Een mini reunie, altijd leuk. Ze kwamen aan net toen ik naar het geweldige all you can eat ontbijt buffet liep, goede timing. Na ons zelf te hebben volgepropt en te hebben bijgekletst huurden we met nog twee meisjes fietsen. We fietsen naar het oude gedeelte, ze gingen los op het laten maken van dingen. Een meisje liet 4 jurkjes, een broek, een jas en een blouse maken, haha! Daarna naar het strand gefietst want het was een warme dag. Dit was de eerste keer dat ik weer op een zonnig strand was, aangezien ik zowat bevroor op het strand in Hue, wat voelde dat goed. Het rondfietsen was ook super leuk want Hoi An is een schattige plaatsje en langs rijstvelden en alles fietsen is weer eens wat anders dan mijn standaard fietstocht langs de Maas in rdam.

 Na ons opgefrist te hebben kon ik eindelijk gaan kijken hoe mn jumpsuit eruit zag. Die zag er prima uit, alleen erin komen was bijna onmogelijk, omdat er alleen een rits aan de zijkant was. Ook had ik om een gedeeltelijk open achterkant gevraagd en die was er niet. De veranderingen besproken en ik mocht de volgende dag weer terug komen. Het zag er in ieder geval al mooi uit dus ik had er vertrouwen in. In de avond met een groepje uit eten gegaan en daarna weer gesocialized bij het hostel en...... Weer naar de allyoucandrink bar gegaan. Want ik moest mn Koh Phangan vriendinnetjes natuurlijk laten zien hoe geweldig, en vooral goedkoop, het nachtleven daar was. Het was als vanouds een geweldige avond. Een helaas iets te late-geweldige avond bleek de volgende dag. Ik had een kookcursus geboekt voor 8 uur smorgens, maar slaagde erin 3 wekkers te negeren en daardoor de cursus te negeren. Het was m'n laatste dag in Hoi An, had mijn bus naar Nha Trang al geboekt dus dat was balen. Helemaal een baaldag was het niet want het zonnetje scheen en ik kon relaxen bij het zwembad. Waar een idioot van 3 hoog van t balkon t helemaal-niet-zo-diepe zwembad in sprong, wtf. Mn jumpsuit was perfect aangepast. Hij zit wat strak, maar aangezien ik zoveel ben aangekomen wilde ik mn op-maat-gemaakte-jumpsuit niet op mn ik-ben-op-reis-maat maar op mn hopelijk-toekomstige-maat. De jumpsuit kostte me ongeveer $35. Wat een prima prijs is natuurlijk! Tegen het einde an de middag moes ik afscheid nemen van alle geweldige mensen die ik had leren kennen en stapte ik op de bus naar Nha Trang. 

Australia day in het Russische Nha Trang

Het nachtleven van Hoi An had me zo moe gemaakt dat ik zeker voor negen uur in de bus geslapen heb. Vroeg in de ochtend kwam ik aan in Nha Trang. Ik was gewaarschuwd dat het er stikte van de Russen. Maaaaaar het was Australia Day en behalve Russen waren er ook super veel ozzies. Met een groepje uit mn hostel (Mojzo Inn - aanrader!!) ging ik rond 11.00 naar de booze cruise bar. Waar Australia day al in volle gang was. Wat ze precies op die dag vieren is me ontgaan. Maar het deed me denken aan koniginnedag. Mensen zijn verkleed, dragen de vlag en drinken bier. Je bierblikje tape je vast aan je andere bierblikjes en deze stapel/staf probeer je langer te maken dan je zelf bent. Er is een top 100 countdown qua muziek, wat ook een heel ding leek te zijn. Ik vergat deze dag dat ik in Vietnam was -zag geen enkele Rus- en had een geweldige dag en nacht. Deze dag heeft mijn drang om naar Australie te willen alleen nog maar groter gemaakt. Zoveel leuke mensen weer leren kennen. Ongeveer 90% van de mensen kwamen uit Australie. En ook mn maatjes uit Hué kwam ik weer tegen. Ook een Nederlandse jongen die goed de weg kwijt was. Zo had hij zn oor door iemand in de bar met een neuspiercing laten piercen. Ja het was een interessante dag. 

Omdat ik op Australia Day praktisch gezien eigenlijk niks van de stad had meegekregen besloot ik de volgende dag iets te moeten doen. Maar niet te actief. Een van de dingen waar Nha Trang bekend om staat is de spa's met modderbaden. Met een groepje van vier jongens ging ik hier naar toe om te relaxen. Het modderbad was warm maar op een goede manier. Erna kon je een douche nemen in de meest bizarre douches. Ik snap nu waarom het water in douches vanuit een douchekop naar beneden komt. Want er waren douches waarbij het watrr naar boven spoot of van de zijkanten kwam, niet al te handig, wel erg grappig. Er waren meerdere mineralen zwembaden, bijna geen mensen, wel zon. En zo waren we een dagje zoet. Hierna voelde mijn huid zijdezacht aan. Het scheen ook goed te zijn voor huidziektes zoals eczeem (dat heb ik) dus het was helemaal fijn. Dit was denk ik het schoonste en friste wat ik me in heel deze reis gevoeld heb! In de avond lekker gegeten en vroeg naar bed te gaan.

Tot rust komen in Dalat

In verband met chinees nieuwjaar was alles drukker en duurder dan normaal. Vooraf was ik van plan naar Mui Ne te gaan, maar alles bleek volledig volgeboekt te zijn. Dus nam ik met 2 jongens en een meisje de bus naar Dalat. Een rustig stadje, waar je veel meer van de lokale bevolking mee kreeg. Hoe Nha Trang super druk was, met menukaarten die in t Russisch waren, waren er in Dalat nauwelijks toeristen te vinden. We bezochten het 'crazy house' dit huis staat in de top 10 van rare huizen in de wereld. Diegene die het ontworpen heeft leeft er nog steeds, een gedeelte is nu te bezoeken en een gedeelte is zelfs een hotel. Het is geinspireerd op Alice in Wonderland. Als je er rondloopt denk je ook inderdaad, wtf? Waarom zou je een beren-kamer in je huis willen? Of allemaal gekke onhandige trappetjes en bruggetjes, maar hey why not? Op de fotos is het niet al te goed te zien, maar het is een bezoek waard. Ook heb je een goed uitzicht over de stad.

Na het wilde Hoi An en Nha Trang waren we het er allemaal over eens dat we gewoon lekker naar bed wilden in de avond. De volgende dag gingen we (op zoek) naar de Elephant Waterfall. Ik zeg op zoek omdat het 'maar' 30km uit de stad was, we scooters hadden, maar er toch 2 a 3 uur over deden. De kaart die we kregen was nutteloos, verkeersborden waren er niet echt en de mensen spraken nauwelijks Engels. In mn lonely planet ontdekte ik dat de waterval in een bepaald dorpje bleek te liggen. Toen we (ik zat achterop) op een hobbelig weggetje in de bergen (met adembenemend uitzicht) reden maakte een vrouw met een horde koeien gebaren van niet deze kant op. Toen ik haar de naam van het dorpje liet lezen legde ze met gebaren de weg uit. We kwamen uit bij de aaaaallller eerste weg die we hadden geprobeerd. We kwamen nog wat verdwaalde touristen tegen en besloten 't er maar weer op te wagen. Het verdwaald zijn was zo erg nog niet, want ik genoot achterop de scooter van het uitzicht. De bergen waren prachtig en ik zag de grappigste dingen voorbij komen. In Vietnam vind men dat je alles op een scooter kan vervoeren. Zo zag ik drie mensen op een scooter + boom voorbij flitsen, maar ook talloze scooters met hokken met levende kippen, dode vastgebonden kippen, ladders, babies zonder helm, bonken hout... Noem het maar op.

Ik keek m'n ogen uit en de weg was zanderig en hobbelig dus ook was ik blij dat ik niet zelf reed, na mn ervaring me bergen en zand in Koh Tao. Na iets van 2-3 uur waren we er dan eindelijk, de waterval. Wat weer een hele rotsbeklimming-missie op flipflops was. Een van de jongens met wie ik was gleed uit en landde pijnlijk op zn pols die al twee maal gebroken was, auw! Hij kwam er met wat wondjes en pijn van af gelukkig. De waterval was mooi maar het water was helaas te koud/wild om te zwemmen. De weg terug verliep een stuk makkelijker dan de heen weg. In de avond keken we een film in het guesthouse, jaja we hadden een tv met een engels talig film kanaal. 

Chinese nieuwjaar in Ho Chi Minh

Het hele land stond op zn kop. Chinees nieuwjaar is hot and happening. In de middag kwamen we aan in Ho Chi Minh, ook wel bekend als Saigon. Op aanraden van meerdere backpackers het 'Saigon inn Vietnam' hostel geboekt. Een uitstekende keus. Want het hostel had een rooftopbar waar die avond een feestje was met een dj én een uitstekend uitzicht over de stad en dus ook een goed uitzicht over het vuurwerk. Andere mensen moesten zelfs betalen om naar dit feestje te kunnen. In mn dorm waren ook andere gezellige mensen dus we hadden een leuke groep, ook kwamen een aantal mensen die we in Nha Trang hadden ontmoet de jaarwisseling met ons vieren. Het was een compleet andere jaarwisseling dan die op Koh Phangan, aangezien dat op t strand was en dit in een grote stad. Na 00.00 gingen we naar een club om het feestje nog even door te zetten. Ja dit was ook weer een geslaagde jaarwisseling, welkom in het jaar van het paard! 

Ondertussen was ik uitgefeest. De dagen hierna stonden in het teken van geschiedenis. Zo bezocht ik het war museum wat een goed beeld over de oorlog tussen Amerika en Vietnam geeft. Veel foto's, die indrukwekkend en confronterend waren om te zien. Ook veel informatie (een halve verdieping) over agent orange. Ik had geen idee hoeveel schade dat aangericht had. Dit museum is zeker een bezoek waard. Ook heb ik de Cu Chi tunnels bezocht. Wat niet de beste tijd van het jaar bleek te zijn, normaal doe je de tour met ongeveer 15 mensen, nu met wel 60. Hier waren de vallen te zien die er gebruikt waren in de oorlog. En kon je door tunnels kruipen waar in die tijd serieus mensen geleefd hebben. Tien minuten in zo'n tunnel is serieus al genoeg om te beseffen wat een ellende die mensen door staan hebben. De tourguide, Jackie, die zelf ook meegevochten had in de oorlog zat vol met verhalen. Na de tour kon je op een schietbaan schieten. Dat heb ik altid al willen doen dus schoot ik hier badass een AK-47. Wat lastiger bleek dan ik dacht, nee ik ben nog niet klaar om uitgezonden te worden.

Ook ging in Ho Chi Minh voor het eerst in maaden naar de bioscoop. Een bioscoop volgens Westerse standaard! Het was er luxer dan pathe schouwburg (mn vaste stekkie) en ik keek naar een slechte 3d film, i-frankenstein. Ik droeg een jurkje en de airco stond zo hard dat mn haar rondvloog alsof ik een fotoshoot had. Maar ik had heerlijke popcorn en was al al lang blij met de slechte film. 

Vietnam was een fijn land! Ik heb genoten van het eten, de natuur, de mensen, de geweldige hostels, het chinese nieuwjaar, australia day, het bizarre verkeer. Maar het werd tijd om aan het laaste gedeelte van m'n reis te beginnen, terug naar het zonnige Thailand!

Die update houden jullie nog even van me tegemoet, aangezien ik as we speak nog bezig ben met Thailand 3.0