NBA Trip With Arcadia Basketball Team

NBA Trip With Arcadia Basket Ball Team

by: Maya

     The coach on my girl's basketball team always has a trip with his players to go to an NBA game. The boys team came too. At 11:30am my dad and I left our house to walk to the school. It was a beautiful day outside. We made it to my school and saw some cars in the lot. First, my friend Savannah came. then my other two friends came, Camille and Aaliayh. more and more people came. Finally, our coach came and then a huge bus came. It was one of those big charter   buses. All the kids and their parents oohed and ahhed. Mr.Raven, our coach came to take a picture of the teams. Then we got on the bus. the seats were comfy and there were t.v.s on the walls. I sat next to my bff Aaliayh. They gave us Lunchables and a juice box. The ride to Detroit was very long and boring. We stopped at an aquarium to look at some creepy fish. Then we did some gymnastics outside. We got back on the bus and Mr.Raven said we were going to be stopping at something called "renaissance center". When we got there, there were a bunch of fancy cars, and it did't look like a place kids should be. We got dinner at Burger King. Then we drove to the stadium and got off the bus. We walked to the doors. There were guards like an airport would have. Walk-through metal detectors sat in front of us. 

TO FIND OUT THE CONCLUSION OF THIS and OTHER exciting stories... ask Maya to CONTINUE WRITING !!!!!!

Southeast Asia 2018: Route Map

Our 8-week route.

We began and ended in Bangkok and travelled counterclockwise.

Links to featured stops:

THAILAND

• Bangkok Arrival

CAMBODIA

• Siem Reap
• Angkor Wat
• Cambodian Beaches
• Kampot and Kep

VIETNAM

• Can Tho
• Ho Chi Minh City
• Nha Trang
• Danang
• Hoi An
• Phong Nha National Park
• Hanoi
• Ha Long Bay

LAOS

• Luang Prabang
• Vang Vieng
• Vientiane

THAILAND

• Bangkok Departure

Farewell BKK

     From Vientiane we took a cheap local bus (#14) to the Friendship Bridge border crossing over the Mekong into Thailand.  A 2nd bus carries you over the bridge in between checking out/in of customs.  The process was easier than we expected after not finding much guidebook reference to this (cheap) way.  The Nong Khai train station is an easy walk from the Bridge drop off.  Cheap, generic, train station pad thai was such a treat.  

Our last night train.
We sprung for first class to Bangkok, which was actually the nicest train accommodation we've had (minus the free meals on Amtrak).  

Note to self: remember to try pano to capture an image of a small room.  I think that would do the trick!

We arrived at Hua Lamphong Station at 6:00 am.  8 hours too early to check into our hotel.  So we left the bags and set our bearings back towards good old Wat Pho with a detour to the amulet market.  Jeff eventually gave up on finding the Thai translation of "Maitreya" Buddha (which isn't really a big thing here) so we left the trip without any large heavy statues.  Jeff had his final Wat Pho massage while the girls wandered once more around the grounds and dropped coins into the bowls behind The Reclining Buddha.  

THE BUDDHA IS STILL IN THE TREE.

     We had a free day to book one last tour or activity and were getting a little weary of research and planning at this point.  Jeff and I had toured the ancient capital of Ayutthaya in 2004 and decided to take the day trip again as a time filler.  With the kids, it is not worth a day, especially if you have already been to Angkor Wat. Even I was bored and regretted bringing the girls. If you do go - be prepared for temple dress-code etiquette.  So many Westerners rudely shrug off the covered shoulders requisite in favor of fashion and photogenic ambiance.  

Perhaps a floating market day trip would have been better than Ayutthaya. 

     We walked past Wat Ratchanatdaram several nights (and days) in search of dinner and ice cream.  One evening we thought we would try the pad thai pilgrimage to ThipSamai restaurant (LP rec) just south of this Wat, a mile walk from Khao San Road. When we arrived and saw the line down the block we knew it was not in our destiny.  However, we did happen upon an incredible fried chicken on a stick, a small joint famous for duck, and 3 scoops of ice cream for 30 baht ($1). 

On the very last day we packed in as many new modes of transportaion as we could!  First step, figure out how to get from Wat Ratchanatdaram area pier to a major shopping market (Pratanum). It turned out to be easy and cheap to use the klong boats through the canals.  After shopping we returned via the BTS SkyTrain, then the Orange Flag Chao Phraya river taxi back up to the Khao San Neighborhood.  

Keep it classy, Khao San!

     We had read before our trip about efforts to clean up the city and reduce the prevalence of street hawkers.  I believe they were enforcing a street-food-ban on Mondays, which is a day we didn't encounter at the front of the trip.  However, in August they tightened the screws on street vendors and intended to bar sidewalk-blockers every day outside the hours of 6pm-midnight.  On Sunday morning as we waited for our Ayutthaya bus we witnessed a troupe of sweepers in yellow "I love Khao San Road" tees giving the famous thoroughfare a good scrub down, complete with a crew of firehoses.  On Monday morning we noted the absence of our banana sticky rice and juice breakfast street vendors.  We had to pay retail prices for pre-packaged fruit in an actual shop!  Obviously there is not a lot of support for this prohibition from tourists or local entrepreneurs.  

Our last stop - one more fruit shake for the road.  We left the hotel at 11:30pm on Monday night.  Our flight was at 2:30am on Tuesday.  We arrived in Kalamazoo at 6:40pm on Tuesday evening.

SO LONG ASIA!  

ลาก่อน Thailand! 

lea hai Cambodia!

tam biet Vietnam!

la kon Laos!

And THANK YOU!

Kap Koon Ka

Arkoun

Cam On

Cop Jai

Vientiane

     

     Having toured the culturally significant Luang Prabang and the natural wonders of Vang Vieng first, we were starting to wonder if we had saved too many days for the reportedly boring Vientiane.  Most travellers just use it for its airport and have implied the Lao Capital doesn't have much to offer.  By the time we got there, it had EXACTLY what we wanted: SUNNY weather and a bit more metropolitan-ity that we surprisingly craved.  

     As our major thought of the day revolves around our next meal, we were relieved to be back in the land of many options!  The night market fired up down our street every night and a variety of street food could be had a reasonable prices.  

     We also indulged in some non-local fare as a refreshing diversion from noodle soup. One night we had Italian pasta and pizza.  Another night we hit up Trip Advisor for Indian and found this highly recommended spot (pictured below).  Our meal at Jamil Zahid was good and so inexpensive! Old Jamil, himself, attentively serves all guests and asked the kids to pick "American" music from his ipod (although we preferred a Punjabi soundtrack rather than subject the entire dining room to more Despacito re-mixes). However, in the end it seems that his attentiveness borders on phishing for reviews and social media participation. Before we were even back to the hotel, he had posted 3 pics and a video of our family on his FB and Youtube. His YT channel is filled with hundreds of awkward clips of guests wondering why he is taking a video of them eating while he says "I love (insert your country name here)." It's a little creepy.

We rented bikes for $1.20 each and toured the major landmarks of the city.  It is actually quite handsome with loads of temples intermixed with colonial architecture.  

Rolling on the River.... Mekong

One top tourist attraction is the "Buddha Park" outside town.  It is filled with religious and fantastical sculptures and appears to be a work in progress.  The photo above shows one of its weird climbable monuments viewed from ground level, entrance, and from the top.

Another sketchy climbable monument at the Buddha Park.  

Little Buddha

The highlight of Vientiane (for the girls) was the public swimming pool.  Maya was so impressed with its size and diving platforms.  It was about $2 each and fairly quiet before 4pm.  In the late afternoon it was filled with locals and swim classes.  

Vang Vieng

     Our next stop was Vang Vieng.  Due to recent flooding, landslides, and the major news event of week being a deadly dam break in southern Laos, there was a buzz about which road was passable from Luang Prabang.  There is an Old Road and a New Road.  The new one is faster but was rumored to be washed out or currently not in use.  So we booked our mini-van transport and figured we were in for a long ride.  

     Surprise!  The driver did take the New Road.  The route begins at about 1000ft and tops off at a pass near 6200ft. In America you rarely see road incline warnings of more than 6%, however here we saw 9, 10, and 12% grade steepness.  As we ascended, the clouds took visibility down to a semi-truck length ahead.  Some areas of the road were indeed washed out, but our tenacious driver pressed on with little hesitation as to how to delicately encounter each detour or obstacle.  Once Genna was alarmed to discover that the road had become the river (pictured above) and Jeff noticed pavement buckling and sections eroded into the abyss.  Map geeks can check out a segment of the route on GoogleEarth at 19º23'07"N 102º08'46"E.  I later noted that our Embassy regular advises travellers NOT use this road.  Thank goodness we snagged the front seats, this is not a trip for weak stomachs!

     Once we were safely on flat ground in the valley into Vang Vieng we passed a presumably fatal motorbike accident.  2 fallen bikes on the shoulder and 2 bodies in the road... the responding ambulance was headed out as we entered town.

Vang Vieng is known as an adventure hub in the region.  You can kayak, river tube (booze optional), and go climbing, caving, and ORVing.  However, due to the aforementioned incessant rain and the heavy river volume we were not feeling water sports this week.  The girls amused themselves with umbrellas, banana pancakes, and a rental pool at a nearby hotel.

We did some walking throughout town and explored Tham Chang Cave and its blue spring.  Had some fishy papaya salad, terrible BBQ/hotpot, and many fruit shakes.  Did some shopping on the night walking streets and witnessed a sky lantern launch.  

Laos = "Land of a Million Elephants"

     Our most positive experience in Laos was visiting the Vang Vieng Elephant Sanctuary.  It is about an hour drive south of town near the vast Nam Ngum Reservoir.  The Sanctuary pays the wages of work elephants so they and their mahouts can live here.  This is presently their best financial strategy, as opposed to buying the animals outright.  They currently have 12 and hope to increase the population via rescue and local-wild-mix-breeeding. The experience begins with hiking a kilometer through the stream, lakeshore, and jungle until you encounter a pair or so of pachyderms.  I admit some apprehension as 2 large girls trundled towards our family. Since they know you are each carrying a bucket of bananas, they promptly join your party and delicately extract their snack from your paws.  It didn't take Maya long to get with the program and tackled the task of treat-time. Genna was a little unsure and hung back a bit.
     When our baskets were empty our leader announce that "We go swim with them now", as if it was up to the elephants to decide their daily schedule.  They do advertise that visitors are here more as volunteers rather than guests to be entertained. We learned that elephant's spines are not meant to carry loads and other excursions that offer rides are inhumane (not hard to guess).  Also, while elephants can live to 100 years, those that experience an existence of hard labor have greatly shortened lifespans.  There is some spoiling involved in these tour visits, but they attempt to rotate animals so none of them become accustomed to daily sweet fruit treats or too much human contact.  I wonder how that notion, combined with their hope for wild interbreeding will effect the program.  If it becomes unsafe for tourists to visit an increasingly wild stock of elephants, they may stop coming and thus decrease the sanctuary's revenue.

"We Swim Now!"  But don't dilly dally (Maya and Genna!!!). These elephants decide when they are done and are not made to entertain you.  Maya got a short chance to splash in their bath before these ladies decided it was time to move on to the next mud-hole to reapply their sunblock and bug repellant. 

After the mud bath we all go back to base camp for BBQ lunch for us and chopped pineapple for them.
Genna finally warmed up to her new friends.

     Nam Ngum Reservoir is the largest lake in the country and is dotted with islands and surrounded by jungle, mountains, and villages.  After the joyful afternoon we had with the elephants the icing on the cake was that a bit of blue sky was peeking through and our return trip up the mountain offered some fabulous views.  The rainy season couldn't beat us down today!

Luang Prabang

An ominous introduction to Laos.

     While this photo was taken in the daylight a few days later, this represents our initiation to Laos.  From Hanoi, we opted to fly to Luang Prabang in lieu of the 24-hour cramped bus ride through the mountains.  We arrived in a storm severe enough that the pilot opted to delay our landing a bit.  A few days back in Hanoi, we were getting suspicious of our hotel booking as we had not had any confirmation.  When we arrived, in the dark, at 9:00pm, in the rain, we encountered the contents of the hotel unpacked onto the sidewalk and no one around to communicate with.  Smartly we booked a back-up guesthouse (in a less ideal, farther location) and was able to find someone to explain to the cab driver to take us there instead.  That turned out to be the worst accommodation of the trip.  The "Family Room" turned out to be a jabbingly springy twin bed and a slightly less uncomfortable king.  At the hour we arrived, we had no choice but to accept and crash for the night.  As awkward as it was to fit 3 to the king, I think the short stick was the person who had the evil, pokey, twin bed - so we ended up rotating through that it for our 4 nights here.  For the price, we could have given in and gotten an extra room, but somehow we just got resolved to the situation.  

This photo summarizes the comfort level of the room.  WHY IS THERE A LAMP PAINTED ON THE WALL AND NO REAL LAMP!!!!!!!

     Poor Luang Prabang, and Laos in general, is going down as "hard to recommend" in our book.  I am sure it is exquisite in the dry season, but we were so tired of going out in the rain, mist or at least 100% cloud cover EVERYDAY that we couldn't give it a fair shake.  We never woke up early to observe the Monk's alms collecting ritual.  We didn't walk up Mt Phousi or tour the Royal Palace.  We discovered that the food was almost double the cost as Vietnam.  The people were not unfriendly, but were just more reserved.  The night market stall sellers don't even call out to you.  Sounds positive, but it was weird.  After 6 weeks on the road we were admitting that the trip was probably 2 weeks too long.  

The highlight for the girls was playing with this baby while Papa booked a tour with her mother in their storefront tour office/living room/smoothie stall.

The night before a 2-part day trip I fell ill, so I sat the morning out while Jeff soldiered on with the girls to Pak Ou cave up the Mekong River.  I was able to meet them after lunch to finish the day's outing to Kuang Si Falls.  These are picturesque blue springs and delightfully terraced waterfalls... in the dry season.  In late July they are flowing torrentially and muddy.  

Despite the color, the falls were impressive.
The park grounds also house an interesting exhibit of protected Asiatic Black bears.  

Another day Jeff and Maya made an excursion across the Mekong by boat ferry and explored a Buddha cave, escorted by this young guide (below).

     While they were there, Genna and I visited a village school run by Big Brother Mouse.  Genna was the youngest volunteer that day amongst a large group of British Highschoolers, some German backpackers, and a single Aussie retiree.  Genna enjoyed practicing flashcards with the youngest students and playing board games with the young adults.  The program was great (for us) but a regular parade of volun-tourists has to be rather disruptive to the classroom routine.  The school has another component where you can meet older students in town to just chat and practice English.

Ha Long Bay

     One of our biggest splurges of the trip was an overnight trip on Ha Long Bay.  The general reviews for these cruises is that regardless of what you pay, you may get the bait and switch when you arrive and not end up in the accommodations you expected after the 4 hour bus ride from Hanoi.  However, we can report that we were pleased with the level of luxury aboard the Bellezza. Mind you, less than 24 hours are spent aboard.  Upon tendering to the ship you are greeted with welcome refreshments, a 9 course lunch, and posh cabins as the boat heads out through the famous karsts (but not really too far).  We were in the supposed less-touristy end of the Bay where only 30 cruise boats troll the waters.  However, they are generally all on the same itinerary.  After a bit, we got to our overnight anchorage where we were ferried off for an afternoon of kayaking and beach time (it rained).  When we returned to the Bellezza, the cove was full of the other night trippers.  We did enjoy spotting some large, yellow, stringy jellyfish off the top deck.  

Our host used the phrase "Sunset Party" at least a dozen times to ensure we were present for the top deck cocktail hour.  By a stroke of excellent fortune, after weeks of grey clouds and rain, the sky opened up and provided the most brilliant sunset of our entire 8 weeks. The girls got to hang out with some other kids for a change from London, Ireland, and Americans (currently expats in Riyadh).  The Garcia teens were, in fact, the only other American children we encountered on the entire trip.  The boat had room to host 5 families and we got to know them in a laid-back setting, rather than a "party boat" which is common in this racket.

Maya was bummed that swimming was discouraged at this beach at Fairy Cave.  The warning was due to jellyfish, which are common in these waters.  So is trash.  It was disappointing to see a disgusting amount of plastic caught up in the current.  For all the pride they have in this Unesco-Wonder-of-the-World, they don't make a lot of effort to preserve it. 

Genna was almost as interested in fishing as the Irish Boys.  They shared their table scraps with her so she could try bacon, bread, and apple bait.  What was scheduled as a night-time-only squid fishing event was carried over to the morning as we trolled back to the dock.  None were successful.

Part of the 2nd lunch was do-it-yourself, billed as a "cooking class" where you get to make fresh spring rolls and observe the chef carving produce garnishes.  All of the meals were multi-course and generously portioned.  Even the Carrolls had a hard time finishing everything that was offered.  If we could make a suggestion it would be less QUANTITY and more QUALITY.  The food was not bad, but some of it was a little blah.

Hanoi

We paired up with a couple of ladies (IRE and AUS) from our cave excursions who were going our way from The Phong Nha Farmstay to Dong Hoi to catch the night train on to Hanoi.  This time on the "SOFT BERTH" sleepers.  It was a step up in comfort and privacy with a 4 bunk cabin to ourselves.


Hanoi is a lovely city.  We stayed at the Golden Land Hotel in the Old Quarter.  The streets were busy and shared by pedestrians and traffic as the sidewalks were used for motorbike parking.  The architecture was great and the narrow frontages and mysterious alleys were intriguing.  We should have ventured out of Old Town more.  Just a few blocks away the streets were wider and offered less touristy dining options and cheaper ice cream! 

There was a lot of shopping to be found in the Old Quarter of Hanoi.  The girls' favorite shops were a stationary store and this man who carved personalized wooden stamps.  Jeff got several Communist Propaganda posters.

(Wow, these photos are horrible, we'll never be invited to instagram).

     In our last city in Vietnam we took a "Street Food Tour" (itinerary pictured above).  It would have made more sense to do this within the first week of arriving in a country to familiarize ourselves with the various specialties we could have kept our eye out for... for the LAST 4 WEEKS!  The tour was enjoyable, but not exactly "street" as all stops were in sit-down restaurants.  My favorite new item tried was Banh Cuon, which is a steamed rice crepe that wraps sautéd mushrooms and pork.  Reminded me of a peirogi.   

     Genna cozied up to our young-guide Sunny.  As they linked arms to share an umbrella and cross streets, Genna chatted to her about home and school life.  Genna did a great job of making pleasant conversation with many new people we met and the locals were eager to pinch her baby cheeks and learn more about her. 

     We also enjoyed Egg Coffee on the tour and several other times.   There are many "famous" Bun Cha (top right photo) places in Hanoi.  It is OK to order just 2 portions for a family of 4.  There are so many components to this meal and it arrives in generous amounts.  It is often a place with a set menu, so you just sit down and they bring the spread to you.

This was more like it - street food on the street.  We had many Bahn Mi throughout Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos.  Some better than others with variations in lightness of baguette and quality of filling.  Some of the best were in Kampot, Cambodia and HoiAn Vietnam.  The saucier the better (IMO).





More war memorabilia in the Hanoi Hilton.  The interpretation is skewed to show the torture endured by the Vietnamese at the hands of the French in contrast to the comfort provided to the American POWs held here.  Perhaps we should read John McCain's memoir to compare perspectives.  Again Maya and Genna were turned off by the horrors of mankind's gruesome tendencies.






Most days' forecast 😓
For some reason we didn't buy an umbrella until Laos.

Jeff took a GRAB (motorbike taxi) on a solo excursion.  

Turtles at the food market.

     There was a "Craft Village" across the street from the Temple of Literature.  It was fairly dead this morning, but the girls wandered around and decided to try (the least culturally relevant activity) acrylic painting on canvas.  Other booths offered kite making, lantern painting, calligraphy, pottery, etc.  Regardless, it was an enjoyable break for them before we were off to another boring attraction: the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.  

     We also enjoyed the Water Puppet theatre one evening. We don't typically fawn over tourist-trap venues like this, but the water puppets were actually really cool. They could probably sell tickets to a behind-the-scenes access or at least an interpretive museum to explain the magic.