#meredithallen

greek mythology x bandom

part 1

zeus - mark hoppus

hera - lynz

poseidon - machine gun kelly (welcome to bandom btw you lil emo)

demeter - meredith allen

ares - mikey way

athena - megan fox (did anyone else adore her in bloody valentine)

apollo - patrick stump

artemis - sarah urie

hephaestus - travie mccoy

Meredith Allen | Computer Science | Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Hi everyone! It’s been a crazy busy week as I spent the weekend in Chiang Mai, Thailand, flew back to Hong Kong to take my linear algebra exam, and now I am in Hanoi, Vietnam. I’m very jet lagged, but also having the time of my life! I thought I’d share my itinerary and recommend that every study abroad student take advantage of side trips.

Friday

We arrive at our hostel early afternoon on Friday and immediately went out to explore the Old City. We saw more Buddhist temples (aka wats) than I could even count and then got dinner on our way back. I had the classic pad thai and it was delicious!

A wat in the Old City of Chiang Mai, Thailand

Saturday

The next day we travelled to Doi Inthanon National Park. It was about an hour and a half from the city and our first stop was to a huge waterfall. From there we hiked for 2 hours through the jungle to a Thai village. At the village we visited the textiles and coffee shops. I even bought a handmade Thai scarf as a souvenir. Then we had a traditional Thai lunch and went to the King and Queen pagoda at the top of the mountain. Finally, to end the day we got body scrubs at a spa near our hostel.

View from our hike through Doi Inthanon National Park

Sunday

By far my favorite day of the trip we went to the Elephant Jungle Sancutary. It was AMAZING! As you may know, elephant riding is actually very harmful for the animal and that sort of tourism causes extreme pain and abuse. This sactuary does not practice elephant riding, but instead you learn how to feed them, take a mud bath with them, and then rinse off in the river. It was such a cool experience!

Sunday night we had dinner with a few other Michigan students who were in the area. After we went to the Sunday Night Bazzar. This market was unlike anything I had ever seen before. It went on forever we literally could not find the end even after walking for 2 hours. Each stall was different and had local goods and crafts.

Me at the Elephant Jungle Santuary

Monday

For our last day, we went hiking up Doi Supeth and saw two more Buddhist temples. The 4+ mile hike was extremely difficult with most of the path directly vertical, but the view from the top was breathtaking. Also, the hike was so serene and quiet and didn’t feel as touristy as other activities we did.

The view from the top of Doi Supeth

Meredith Allen | Computer Science | Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

My latest hike was the iconic Dragon’s Back. Almost every website and travel blog I read about hiking in Hong Kong said this hike was a must. Several of my friends for the exchange program had also gone and said it was beautiful! So on Saturday a group of five of us set out for the hike. We took the No. 9 bus from Shau Kei Wan MTR station and it dropped us off at the beginning of the hike. 

Map of Dragon’s Back Hike | Shek O County Park

For the first 1-2 miles you are actually on the “dragon’s back” or exposed mountain ridge. It is basically straight stairs for the first part with a few spots to stop, take pictures, and feel the ocean breeze. I was sweating so much on this part because there is barely any tree cover. I would recommend lots of sunscreen and water especially because we went on one of the hottest days of the summer. It was not the hardest hike I’ve been on here, but I think the weather made it a lot more difficult. 

View from Dragon’s Back

Once you hike down the last peak, it is basically flat for almost 3 miles. There is lots of shade and some small waterfalls. We brought sandwiches for lunch and sat by one of the falls to eat. We continued hiking for another hour and then arrived a Big Wave Bay. It was very busy because of the weekend, but we found some rocks to put our stuff down and go in the ocean. It felt so nice after the hike! 

Sign pointing towards Big Wave Bay

Anyway, that’s it for my latest hike in Hong Kong. I’m headed to Thailand on Friday, so stay tuned for updates!