Your soul mate can be your best friend

I'm lucky. So is Stephaney. (yeah yeah, same name) We've known each other for 20 years. We went to different high schools, different colleges, different countries, yet...our friendship is still strong. This is what I needed, all of my travels were with people I met, but I never spent it with someone I knew well and cared for.

I met up with her in Saigon (South Vietnam). I emailed her to meet me at the hotel I picked. I knew she would arrive around 11pm, I was an excited little puppy and couldn't wait in the room, I had to stand outside of the hotel to wait for her. Numerous of taxis went by and I saw a taxi pull over near me but I saw within the tinted windows there was a group inside the car...Stephaney can't be in that car I thought, but who do I see come out? Stephaney looking confused. It's HER!

First day in Saigon, we went to the history museum, reunification palace, and met up with my friend Margie whom is a volunteer that I always wanted to meet. That night we went on a night bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. On the bus Stephaney was whining about her Vietnam visa, she said she made a mistake by getting a single entry on her visa, so...that means she had to get a new visa after we're done with Cambodia, back to Vietnam. Sooooo...that means she only used 1 day on her visa...I couldn't help but chuckle (hence my bad luck with visas). In the morning we reached Chau Doc and from there we took a speed boat along the Mekong River (I think we slept the whole way). Arrived in Phnom Penh in the afternoon and looked for a cheap room to sleep in. We visited the national museum and per my request we went to the Killing Fields. I had to know more about the history of Cambodia. I learned a lot and I also felt a 'fullfillment' when I visited it. This is the 2nd time being in Cambodia for me and it was special. I was happy to be back and sharing this experience with someone I loved. Stephaney got to see my happiness being in Cambodia.

Took a day trip to Sihanoukville, 5 hours away from Phnom Penh, we got there in the afternoon and went straight to Serendipity beach, we got bombarded by sellers of bracelets, keychains, crab, fruit, necklaces, and threaders. Stephaney got her bottom legs threaded (hair pulled off (don't kill me Stephaney for mentioning this)) and I got 2 free bracelets from little girls. I think Stephaney and I took 50 improv photos of us jumping in the air catching the timer on her camera. I was surprised how tired we were after the 30th shot. Later in the evening caught a sleeper bus back to Phnom Penh, Steph's first time on a sleeper bus!

Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Next day was a bus to Siem Reap (my favorite place in the WORLD). When we got into our hotel we arranged a horse-back ride around the village. That was fun cause it was Steph's first time on a real horse, I liked mine because she was wild and crazy and tried bucking me off whenever we trotted, her name was Madonna. Temple day was great, the weather wasn't too bad. Last time I was in Siem Reap 3 years ago it was HOT. Thankfully it was cloudy. Stephaney said Angkor Wat was amazing, and I said "Yeah, it's OLD," touching one of the ruins with my finger. We had great posed photos around the ruins (America's Next Top Model Style). We also donated blood at the Jayavarman Children's Hospital, I donated blood there 3 years ago and had to do it again, I convinced Stephaney that it was safe and she did it with me. She isn't evil after all.

Ta Phrom temple, Cambodia

Arguement #1: On our way out of Angkhor Wat, Stephaney stopped by a stall that sold paintings. She asked how much a 30x10 painting was and the girl thought for a while and said "Thirty-hundred thousand dong," I knew she meant 300,000D ($15), so I corrected her English and said "You mean...three hundred thousand." Stephaney yelled at me "STEPHANIE!" and giving me a look to shut the fuck up, as if I was telling the woman we did want to buy it for 300,000D. I yelled back at Stephaney "I'm CORRECTING her English!" Stephaney tried to get away with 30,000D ($1.50), but either way if she did get it for 30,000D I would feel bad and be honest and say that we can't rip this girl off cause she's ignorant. I left cause Stephaney annoyed me and after 10 minutes I came back to the same painting stall and I see 10 locals surrounding her...what did Stephaney get herself into now?

Arguement #2: Stephaney was on holiday, she can spend whatever amount she wanted and had a good job back in Cali, so it didn't matter how much she spent. For me...I'm a total traveler-budget-on-a-shoe-string. We understood each others views but it was difficult to accept them. It was hard for her to bargain something that was $5 more than it should be, because it didn't matter to her, and it was hard for me to accept a $350 plane ticket from Siem Reap to Danang, Vietnam. I know Stephaney had a tight schedule and didn't want to waste time traveling for 2 days when we can get there in 2 hours. I was upset cause I didn't want her to spend that much money and also to pay for me, cause I would feel so guilty. She was annoyed because I should have been more appreciative that she would pay for me. We both had to adjust and we ended up meeting in the middle. We took a night bus to Saigon (slept on chairs that didn't recline in the BACK seat of the bus) and take a flight from Saigon to Danang. She saved about $600 and we got to Hoi An, Vietnam the same day. We were both happy with the outcome.

Arrived in Danang and took a taxi to Hoi An, Vietnam. We both loved it! It was a charming, cute, old town. Also Stephaney found a sweet hotel for $25 that had a pool, a bath tub (I haven't had a bath in over a year), with robes, and a balcony. I told her I felt like Cinderella, a poor girl that hasn't had any luxuries. She then looked in the closet and gasped, I said "Are there robes in there?" she responded "Yes, so now we can feel like REAL princesses!" AND we had a mosquito net around our huge bed with a mattress that was at least 7 inches thick! It was the softest bed I slept in so long.

Hoi An, Vietnam

We shopped and shopped, took a couple bicycles and rode to the nearest beach and relaxed. After we rode our bikes around the town, almost crashed into 3 motorcyclists, ate, drank, and explored. That night we reminisced about everything: unforgettable embarassing stories and funny moments. Next morning we woke up at 3:30am to catch out 4:45 am train from Danang to Hanoi, Vietnam (Stephaney was flying out of). Duration was 15 hours. Stephaney slept most of the way and I didn't, I always had a hard time sleeping on buses and trains.

Yes, I made a u-turn and Stephaney waited to take the perfect shot while I gaze.

I almost LOST MY BEST FRIEND. Seriously. All the bathrooms on the train were padlocked. So we had to get off the train and use the station bathrooms. Stephaney missed the last stop and waited for the next. We stopped at Vinh and she got off first to use the bathroom while I watched our belongings in the cabin. An old man came into our cabin and his berth was on top, he sat down and we had a weak Vietnamese conversation. At that moment I felt the train move, I looked out the window, and we were moving. The train was leaving the station! I freaked out and ran to the exit door and told the lady conductor that my friend got off to use the bathroom and wasn't back. We were in coach 12 and I ran through the hallways, pushed people out of my way to Coach 5 (the conductor wouldn't let me continue on) to see if Stephaney might have hopped on from the back of the train. I saw no black girl. I moped back to my cabin and the conductor asked if I saw her, I said no and sat down on the berth and conjured up ways how Stephaney could survive: She had her purse on her so she had money, she had a Vietnamese phrase book so she knew how to get around, she had my cell number to tell me she was okay. Another conductor walked by our cabin and the lady conductor told him what happened, he looked unconcerned and looked to his right, and pointed. The lady conductor screamed in delight and Stephaney walked in. Turns out that while Stephaney was passing by the train to the station, people were yelling at her to get back on the train because it was moving. Apparently she managed to get on the last coach of the train while it was moving, picked one of the locked doors and used the bathroom in one of the coaches that I might have passed by when looking for her.

Later on a boy came into our cabin and had the other top berth. His English was good and was translating between us and the old man. The old man told the boy something and the boy laughed. The boy said "He says that you both lost each other, but he could see the bond between your friendship because she was so scared, like an older sister." We were all laughing.

There was one special moment on the train before losing her: We passed by a rain storm, I could barely see outside of the window, and I could make out the mountains, valleys, and rivers. Stephaney was sleeping across of me, she was dead asleep. I crouched with my knees up to my chest and gazed out the window. Even though I couldn't completely see outside I knew it was still beautiful out there. I was thinking: When will I ever see her again? When will I share this experience with someone? Why would I go back to the States when I can have this adventure over and over? Why would I leave a country this beautiful? When will this be over? It was a good train journey.

Stephaney officially admitted that she likes Hanoi, better than Saigon, HA! Best way to explain the difference between Hanoi and Saigon, is San Francisco, CA (Hanoi) and Los Angeles, CA (Saigon). I'll always love L.A., but I love Hanoi. The past 2 weeks went by so fast. We didn't waste any time at all and made sure we did everything we could. I told her that I haven't drank beer and ate so much food in a long time. AND, she conformed me to buy a $5 fake Louis Vuitton wallet and to ride on a cyclo in Hanoi. Couple of the things that I vowed myself to never buy or do.

This has been the best trip I had by far and I have never laughed so much in a long time. Bon temps. I'm very thankful for Stephaney as a friend and her visiting me. I'm sure in the future we will share our stories about this trip and all the funny random moments.