Hurricane Sandy

   This post won't be very long, but I just wanted to write this to send out my love to all of you who have been affected by Hurricane Sandy. I have been watching this storm since Saturday or Sunday, and have just helplessly watched as it moved over our little state. I knew the storm would hit home hard, but last night when I began to see photos of all the damage, particularly to the Jersey Shore, I just lost it. 
    I grew up going to the shore every summer, and spending time at our house in Seacrest or family members' cottages in Ocean Beach. Seeing these places that are so close to my heart being destroyed is so, so heartbreaking. I know it is most important that everyone is okay, but I can't help but mourn the losses the shore community is facing right now.

This is a link showing the damage in Ocean Beach. The video ends just a few houses down from where my old shore house is. Hopefully the damage won't be too bad, but you can see that some houses were just completely wiped out....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRAdgh9VH0o&feature=youtu.be

Trip to Chiang Mai!

Hello everyone!
     Time to write another quick blog post before heading out to a new trip! I just got into Bangkok this morning from an overnight bus back from Chiang Mai (located in Northern Thailand). My entire study abroad group (all 40 of us) piled into a bus on October 9th to begin our Chiang Mai trip. Our first stop was in Sukhothai, a former capital and kingdom of Thailand. We stayed there overnight and toured the ruins before heading out the next morning to finish the drive up to Chiang Mai. One of our first stops in Chiang Mai was at the Doi Suthep temple, which sits on top of a mountain and has a great overlook of the city. 

Sukhothai 

Sukhothai

 Steps up to Doi Suthep

Steps down from Doi Suthep 

Outside of the temple 

Doi Suthep 

At the Chiang Mai umbrella factory!

     The second part of our trip involved a four day trek through the mountains of Chiang Mai. Our group of 40 was broken up into three smaller groups. My group consisted of me, 14 other students, one adult leader and two Thai guides. Each group took different routes to visit and stay with three different hilltribes in the mountains. Our group was called Karen because the Karen tribe was the first place we visited. The trek was pretty intense, but it ended up being one of my favorite trips so far and I had an amazing time!!

    One of the best parts of the trip was that I GOT TO RIDE AN ELEPHANT!!! For those of you who don't know, elephants are absolutely 100% my favorite animals of all time and I've been waiting for the opportunity to ride one. We got to take the elephants into the second village we stayed in, and it was absolutely incredible (although a little scary since I rode on the neck)!

     This trip to Chiang Mai really signifies the beginning of the end of my study abroad experience. As hard as it is to believe, I only have about three and a half weeks left in Southeast Asia. I will be spending the next ten days in Malaysia and Indonesia, then I will have one last week in Bangkok before moving onto Hong Kong for a week prior to going back to America! I have very mixed feelings about this right now. I'm very excited to come home and see everyone and everything I've missed so much for the past six months, but at the same time I know that I am going to miss Thailand!! It's a very strange feeling. For now, I'm just enjoying what I'm experiencing and I'll deal with what's ahead when it comes!

Look for another update around Halloween! :)

Youtube Channel!

Hi everyone!
    I was talking to a friend of mine recently about our blogs, and she told me about a great idea that I thought I'd try. In order to keep all the videos I've taken on this trip in one place and accessible for my friends and family to watch, I've made a Youtube account! I'm in the process of adding all the videos I've taken, so click on the link below to watch some!

Here is a link to my youtube account:
http://www.youtube.com/user/emkayylove?feature=mhee 

Thanks, Andrea, for the great idea! :)

Good Moooooorning Vietnam!

Hello everyone! Unfortunately this has to be a quick post because I just got back from Vietnam this morning and am heading down south to the islands tonight!

So Vietnam was AMAZING. 

A lot happened in the week Lauren and I were there. We started off in Hanoi on Tuesday, our first day, and we just walked around all day seeing museums and looking at the sights. We saw such a large part of the city that day, and it was especially nice because all we needed was a map and our sense of direction!

That first night, we hopped on a sleeper train to head up to Sapa (near the Chinese border). We arrived early in the morning on Wednesday, and got in a van to head up to Sapa form the train station. Unfortunately, it had been monsooning really badly there for awhile, and before we reached the top of the mountain, there were several landslides and we were stuck. Lauren and I decided to take matters into our own hands and climbed over the landslide to then get a ride up to the main town at the top of the mountain. 

After climbing through the landslide 

     So once we got to Sapa, we arranged our trekking tour through the mountains. This trek involved two days of hiking through the mountains of Sapa and Lao Chai, with a one night homestay in a local village. Our tour guide was a 22 year old H'mong woman named Ker (pronounced Kuh). She helped guide us through treacherous mud puddles and saved us from falling off hills of rice paddies more than a few times. While on the trek, I saw some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen in my whole life, and the pictures just cannot do it justice.

Ker, the H'mong woman who 

was our tour guide through the mountains 

Other H'mong women who helped us on the trail

View while trekking 

 View from our homestay

     Once we returned to Hanoi from Sapa, we did a day trip to Halong Bay, which is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. We got to go out on boats and check out the rock formations of the bay up close, which was just amazing.

Here are some pictures:

 Halong Bay

In Hanoi 

Sorry this was such a rushed post! I hope I'll have more time to post more pictures when I come back from the islands :)