Law School Backpacking Trip: Southeast Asia

Summer 2018

This was one of my favorite trips ever and really solidified Southeast Asia as one of my favorite vacation areas. The summer before it actually happened, my friend, Morgaine (Mo), and I joked about doing a backpacking trip somewhere cool before having to "grow up." I had just finished my first year of law school and Mo was considering grad school, so we both were eager to travel while we still had the flexibility to do so. I threw out the idea of going to Southeast Asia as I had always wanted to visit that part of the world and had heard nothing but amazing things.

And so, per usual, the planning and budgeting began. Mo and I met at Panera every week as we mapped out our route and planned our itinerary. We decided to start in Manila, Philippines, where we spent just 3 days. Manila was... interesting. There was a shocking level of poverty and despair that prompted us to do more research about the sociopolitical climate and various cultural factors.

In addition to its own government being riddled with corruption (in many ways thanks to U.S. influence and meddling), apparently (from what I discerned online, so take my opinion with a grain of salt) the Filipino culture emphasizes personal spaces/individual cleanliness more so than communal areas or collective sanitation. It's important to note, however, that I/we chose to visit the busy capitol city; there are thousands of beautiful islands in the Philippines that are gorgeous, tropical, and "better-suited" for tourists' Instagram posts.

All this said, we did not regret experiencing the bustling city of Manila, but being catcalled from an ambulance with its sirens on was disturbing enough that we were ready to go once it was time to leave. Because we only saw a snippet of all that this country and the Filippino culture has to offer, I'd love to visit other parts next next time I visit!

From our somewhat rocky start in Manila, we headed next to Vietnam. We went first to Cat Ba Island, which required a journey (literally by plane, taxi, boat, and bus). The trek began with the rude awakening that the port where we had to catch our boat had recently re-located miles away from what appeared in our research, so when our taxi driver dropped us in the middle of a large, desolate operational shipping port, we were very confused, sweaty, and distraught.

Eventually, after some strained communication with a handful of folks playing cards at a nearby table, we "ordered" a taxi that arrived a little while later and took us to the correct port location, where we finally arrived by ferry and then bus at this quaint and adorable island just off of Ha Long Bay. There, we did a few daytime excursions (hiking, kayaking, boat-jumping, snorkeling) and lounged on the beautiful beaches where you can see the world-famous karsts (rock formations that just rise straight out of the water) and colorful fishing boats scattered about the bay. By night, we hung out with some locals and fellow travelers at one of the beach clubs just a bit outside of town, eventually hitching a ride by motorbike back downtown when we were ready to call it for the night.

Our Airbnb situation in Cat Ba was one of the coolest set ups I've ever had. There was a rooftop lounge and bar that overlooked the entire town/port area and the chillest of employees from all around the world. Our final day at Cat Ba Island included a very adorable encounter with a group of Vietnamese schoolchildren at the beach; the kids appeared to watch Mo and I as we lounged on the beach, swam, and took pictures.

After about 30 minutes, sweetly and curiously, they approached us, and we somehow orchestrated an entire "secret handshake" with them, even with a language barrier. When they had to leave, an endless amount of "bye byes" and excited waving ensued as they shuffled away from the beach, all of us beaming.

From Ha Long Bay / Cat Ba Island, we headed to Hanoi, Vietnam's capital city, where we met up with two of Morgaine's Vietnamese friends from undergrad. Although we originally thought we had booked our next leg of the trip as a visit to Hoi An (a small city rich in culture that also happens to be an anagram for Hanoi), we were pleasantly surprised because Hanoi was absolutely mesmerizing. It strikes this impressive balance between being a modern cosmopolitan while having a rich history.

We went to the world-famous "water puppet show," which was so cool and unique; we explored all around the city with the friends, visiting several Buddhist temples, and enjoying the local cuisine including street-prepared pho and Vietnamese coffees (as recommended by our local hosts).

From Hanoi, we headed to Siem Reap, Cambodia, the capital city and home of the largest religious landmark in the entire world: the Angkorian Civilization. We only spent four days in Siem Reap, but it was plenty of time to explore most of the park by tuk-tuk (a SE Asia staple-- motorbike taxis). Within the park's expansive grounds, there are thousands of temples, most notably, Angkor Wat, all of which we reveled in as we explored the civilization by tuk-tuk and on foot; we saw monkeys, took pictures, and really just appreciated all of the detailed carvings on the walls of the ruins. It's an incredibly powerful spiritual experience, and super humbling to see Monks traversing the grounds amongst the tourists.

We learned more about the Cambodian Genocide during our time in Siam Reap, as well, which I had never really learned about in school. The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, detained and murdered millions of its own people-- essentially eliminating anyone who challenged the Communist Regime. It's an extremely dark and sensitive point in Cambodia's history, and something its population still grapples with today as there are countless sociopolitical and psychological implications from the genocide that still linger.

So after what was an extremely spiritual and eye-opening experience in Cambodia, we headed to Vientiane, Laos, another capital city. In Laos, we joined our volunteering group for a "Culture Week" Ambassadorial program there. Laos is another place whose history I had never really learned about in school, especially regarding the terribly horrific and very disturbing actions taken by the United States there.

As side effects of the Vietnam War and the Democratic World's desperate struggle to contain Communism during the 1960s, the U.S. dropped hundreds of millions of cluster bombs (aka "bombies") all over Laos; at first, the bombings were "targeted" at Northern Vietnamese troops occupying certain areas.

But then this "Secret War" (dubbed that since Laos had been named a neutral zone at the Geneva Convention and because the U.S. President was authorizing the bombings without Congressional approval) devolved to include bombings of random Laotian villages, indiscriminately. On one of the days of our visit, we hiked to some of the mountainous caves where thousands of people sheltered from these bombings, as our Laotian tour guide detailed the harmful and terrifying period in the country's not-so-distant past.

The bombies continue to be a problem. To this day. Many embedded into Laos' rich soil of its rural countrysides so much so that when farmers attempt to till new land or children playing on farms encounter them, the bombies explode, spraying shrapnel and oftentimes maiming anyone nearby.

President Obama was the first U.S. Official to not only recognize these horrific war crimes, but to issue a public apology. Alongside many international organizations and non-profit groups, the U.S. has pledged some financial and personnel assistance for the de-bombing efforts, but it's not enough, in my opinion. There's one main road in Laos that connects the capital with the countryside. Yes, one. Because the bombies are scattered throughout the country, Laotian infrastructure and and its people continue to live in fear, even today.

Throughout the rest of our week in Vientiane, we visited temples, made flower crowns and offerings, took Laotian language courses, played badminton with other volunteers, ate traditional Laotian cuisine, and read more about the resilient people of this beautiful country. So to say we "enjoyed" our time in Laos would be misplaced; we learned, we grew, we explored, we donated, we offered our condolences, we grieved, and we were grateful for the opportunity to do so.

So, after our week volunteering in Laos, we headed to Thailand, our last country on the itinerary. We visited Bangkok, of course, to round out our capital city tour of sorts, where we met up with my mom who flew to join us for the final two weeks of this six week journey.

After a couple of days in Bangkok exploring the day markets and navigating this massive metropolis on foot and by public transportation, we took a bus to Pranchuap Khiri Khan, a small fishing village in the narrow part of Thailand's peninsula region.

We spent a week volunteering there, doing a variety of projects for fishing village conservation and maritime preservation, including the sawing of PVC pipes, the pouring of concrete bases, and the assembling of these coral reef stands; a small group of us would eventually scuba dive down to place these make-shift coral reef stands on the ocean floor in an effort to re-establish a thriving ecosystem. As we dove, we saw first-hand how the old projects had grown into vibrant and massive coral reefs, which was thrilling for me, as I've always loved the ocean, and could see that our small contribution would eventually aggregate into a meaningful and beautiful coral reef community.

During the other days of our time in this small town, we planted mangrove trees, together with a huge field trip group of Thai schoolchildren, and went on several daytime excursions where we snorkeled, jumped from boats, swam in crystal blue waters, and admired the beautiful marine life of the Gulf of Thailand.

After our week volunteering in Pranchuap Khiri Khan, we headed south to Koh Lanta Yai, a beautiful island across the Gulf of Thailand. Koh Lanta Yai was fantastic (besides the fact that I got crippling food poisoning and had to skip one of our adventures); our Airbnb there even perfect because it was a wooden house literally stilted above the water at high tide, but above the mud flats at low tide. We rented motorbikes to explore the island, which was an easy, affordable, and fairly safe way to explore the many hidden viewpoints of the island; so, for these reasons, I'd highly recommend.

One afternoon at one of the most gorgeous national parks, we parked our motorbikes near the beach and went for a dip. Having turned our backs for no more than 30 seconds, we noticed that monkeys were closing in on my mom who opted to sit on the beach with our stuff, including our backpack full of food. Although the monkeys seem fairly small and harmless, albeit food-driven, do not try to reason with them, as they can be quite aggressive, especially if taunted. After a couple of fearful shrieks, mom tossed them the sandwich and some other snacks from our backpack, which kept them at bay while we collected our belongings and left.

From Koh Lanta Yai, we headed to the Phi Phi Islands, Thailand for our penultimate stop on this six week journey. This tiny but mighty party island, which had almost been obliterated by an earthquake, was one of the funnest places I've been in my life. We booze cruised, and met the most absurd group of people which included three young engineers from Canada, a group of wild Irish girls, a sweet, fairly reserved couple from India, one solo traveler from Texas, and two dudes from Philly. Phi Phi is like the Las Vegas of Southeast Asia, meaning three days here is just enough, three nights here is plenty, and be sure to hydrate at every opportunity.

Because of a last-minute change of plans, Mo and I stopped in Phuket for a night before heading to Bangkok to fly back to the U.S.; although we hadn't originally planned to visit Phuket, we enjoyed our time here and ended up rounding out the trip with an accidental couples massage, walking the main drag amongst the bustling nightlife, and enjoying fresh sushi from one of the day markets. Once we got to Bangkok, we met up with my cousin and her friend as their SE Asia trip was ironically just beginning, and we were delighted to share a meal or two with them before our departure.

We were sad to leave but so incredibly grateful for an enriching, fascinating, immersive trip. Plus, the food was some of the yummiest in the world, and the locals were incredible--everyone was friendly and helpful, but sincere and non-intrusive. And it goes without saying that we experienced some of the most beautiful, fascinating, haunting, gorgeous, colorful, historical, disturbing, and unbelievable sights ever having visited temples, cliffs, historical ruins, amputee museums, and the list goes on.

All in all, this was one of my favorite trips because the views, people, food, and cultural experiences all blew me away. I felt like I was not only acclimating myself with the local expectations, but I had researched and learned a ton about new (to me) but deeply important topics. Powering through the heat, taking every mode of transportation imaginable (and I mean this literally), and navigating the tough language barriers at times, Mo and I (and my mom once she joined us) had an incredible journey that stretched five countries, nine cities, 45 days, and countless memories.

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To Do or Not To Do?

Absolutely. Yes. Yes. Yes. It's not for the faint of heart, as infrastructure, language barriers, and miscellaneous logistics can be daunting, but if you're up for adventure, amazing food, cool sights, and kind-hearted locals, then these are the places for you. Staying hydrated there is super important because you don't really even realize just how powerful the sun is. So stay hydrated, be adaptable to plan changes, and be open to new experiences...the usual tips for traveling to far-off places. All that said, it's super cheap once you get there, and is one of the easiest places to actually stay within budget so that's a huge bonus for any money-conscious traveler!

Before going, do your research, of course, because there are various VISA and immunization requirements that you've got to take care of before arriving; also be prepared with apps on your phone to translate key phrases and confirm currency exchanges. No matter what, you will not be disappointed, as it's a region of the world whose geography, history, and culture cannot be cherished enough.

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