Live

Agra and we're done

2007-05-14T20:51:00.000-07:00

Ok so what, it's been how many months since i got back from India? But i hadn't finished this and i really wanted to eventually. So here we go. So Justina left me but really I left Justina as i caught the afternoon train to Agra from Delhi. It was a nice train ride and i just looked out the window and checked out the smokestack scenery. Of course some Indian guys came up and sat beside me and asked what country i was from. I offered some gum and an ear speaker and the time went by. It was a weird feeling being by myself and i realize how good i had it to have arrived in India meeting Justina at the airport who took me in and showed me the ropes. I owe her for that one. I was now(of course because i'm travelling alone) meeting many people who were just arriving and wow, i see how crazy it would be. Anyways, i met this couple from Slovenia(first slovenian person i believe that i had met) at the hotel and we agreed to meet at the taj and take a rickshaw around the next day. well the next day apparently they had left for a different hotel so i said aight i guess it's just me. Well then i met this guy and girl, older of course(another type of people i seem to meet travelling). I mistake this lady for being american, oops, she's from toronto. Oh well. 6am Taj time. wow now ok it is pretty amazing when you first see it and an hour later i realizedwhy i got up at 5:30am to get there. hordes of people started coming. many tour groups. i thought they always got up early. Well i go and get some lunch with the canadian teahcer and this english guy who has been almost everywhere in teh world. Already she is getting a little bit on my nerves and it was funny to think that if Justina was here, i wouldn't be with these people, well maybe the guy but not the girl. But hey, what could i care, that's what so good about travelling by yourself sometimes. Well we grabbed a rickshaw and headed to the fort which was cool and then to the baby taj, just going down in spectacularity by the place. So by this time it's pretty much time for me to get back to the train station so that i can catch a train back to delhi. Well of course i got stucked into going to this crazy expensive store by the driver so he could get some commission. Another thing that wouldn't have happened if Justina was there. But i thought, hey i had time, why not. Boy oh boy could i not afford what was in there. I mean it was increadible stuff, not one of those stores that has all the same stuff as the market but more expensive, but this stuff was pretty neat. these huge decorated porcelain, rugs, lots of things in gold. hey not a bad way to spend 20min. Well then he took me to the train station. well he tried to to much more but i didn't let him. So jumped on the train for unreserved ticket. I thought it was going to be crazy as you see some places, but hey i got a seat and was fine. met this group of 6 young kids (well they were 19 but i think i can call 19 year olds young kids now) they had done a bunch of volunteering and were now on the move. Ahh Scandanvians, just so friendly. well into delhi and got the hotel again, did some last minute shopping and yup, gotta get teh taxi at 5am. Well many hours later and many movies later i was back in vancouver and my trip of 4.5 months were over. well it was awesome and i hope to do something similar agian someday and i hope that everyone gets a chance to see what they want to see and go where they want to go. This world is a special place.

Goa

2007-04-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

Aaah well haven't written on here in a while. If you were here too you wouldn't have written anything either. The beach here is quite nice, i mean real nice, not just India nice. There are many restaurants to eat at, and so many activities which include: floating around on floaties, swimming, reading on the porch, reading in the sun on the lounge chairs, playing paddle ball, going for walks, playing chess with a guy from the hotel, eating food, buying stuff, internet and did i mention swimming. Well i know kinda scary but it's true, been living the life here and there is nothing to complain about here. a few weeks (well less than that) and its home time. Tomorrow is going to be our biggest day yet. we will be renting a scooter and driving the 2 hours to the Anjuna market and back. it could take us all day and it's pretty much guarunteed to be dangerous. It is real India afterall. well wish us luck.

Rishikesh

2007-04-08T00:10:00.000-07:00

our place is the one on the right on the river with all the construction going on

Well we have now spent 5 nights in the yoga capital of the Universe, yes the Universe. I guess many of the people here are so entwined with themselves and the world around them, they can claim this. I'm not so convinced, but i'll take their word for it for now until a more suitable place is found. Rishikesh is a town that is spread out into many different smaller areas along the Ganges river. We thought we would try out this whole ashram yoga thing and walked over to the Swarg Ashram area to check it out. Now we got there a little late as the bus took all day, literally, 2 buses etc... So we got into one that was recommended in the book and didn't really like the vibe of the dude at the counter from the start. My shoulder has been bothering me as of late and i wasn't sure how much yoga i would be able to do. So we had the idea of trying out for a few days and if we didn't like it then go get a room at a hotel. (As all yoga classes and meals are included in the price). But the dude wasn't having any of that and wanted full payment for at least 3 nights. So we weren't having that and we got a room in a less than decent hotel. We woke up the next day to try and find further accommodation. We went back to the same place to try it for 3 nights but now the guy says that it's full (we weren't sure if it was true or that he was pissed off at us). So we walked to a couple of other places but they all had a really religious feel to them, which Justina and I really aren't into. So then after lunch we went to check out another one of the areas a couple of km's up the river from the Swarg Ashram, called Laxman Jhula. We knew right from the start that this was where we wanted to be. More for the foreigners looking for zen than Swarg Ashram which was for the Indians looking for zen. And hey, let's face it, different people have different views of what would help them in their zen searching. We found a very nice chill ashram called Sant Sewa with pay as you go yoga for beginners morning and night and not all the crazy rules that many of the other places had (ie no soap or no chess playing). So this is were we hung out for the next 4 nights and 5 days. We took a couple of yoga classes, had long meals, read and went for walks. The yoga was advertised for beginners but we soon found out that the Indian teachers had a different view of what beginner meant than some teachers back home. On our first day he had us doing the one leg balancing squat and the lotus or half lotus pose with a lean all the way back to the ground, both quite impossible for Justina and I. The second class he had us try the wheel pose and the swan pose, 2 more impossible ones than he even stumbled slightly when he was showing us. I think beginner for me means that it's ridiculously easy for you but i guess i'm wrong. Well it was an experience at least and as one guy said, you will leave having gained something. We enjoyed much of the good food here with the surrounding Israelis. (Would you feel a little weird if you were surrounded by Canadians or with all people from wherever your from at some restaurant in Rishikesh India? and not only the restaurant but the stores, the internet places. I myself would be freaked out but the Israelis don't seem to mind, they even like it.) Last night we walked back to the Swarg Ashram as although not where we wanted to stay, it has a really neat vibe to it. We encountered one of the sun going down/ceremony to the Ganges/ something we don't even know about, going on in front of the Ashram that we had first looked at. Lot's to do with fire and chants and the river and offerings and many other things that i don't understand but it was really cool to see nonetheless. Today we checked out of our hotel and are going to pass the day until catching our night bus ride out of here. take care everyone, and remember, Om sweet Om.

Shimla

2007-04-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

Ok so after another crummy overnight bus ride where neither of us got any sleep at all, we arrive in Shimla.(later to be named Shitla by us) Now this town was described as a nice typical hill station and the capital of honeymoons. Now again we are puzzled by India and Indians. Why anyone would want to come here for there honeymoon is beyound me. Really. We arrive in this town that is polluted due to the crappy buses and encircling mountains with the sewage drains running down most of the sides of the stairs you climb and the streets you walk down. I think that our mood didn't help but it's the same starting view that all the Indians get as well. So here is where the touts come in. No we don't need help, don't follow us, stop right there and don't move until i say so and then walk away. But no, no is never no to an Indian. He will follow until the end as we saw. So we walk up to the top of the hill and over to the YMCA because that must be a good option(and they don't give commisions). but as we have seen in India, YMCA doesn't mean cheap but still good, it actually means expensive and not as good. It's really weird really. How there you can get a crummy room with no bathroom for 400Rps but somewhere else get a slightly better room with a bathroom for 300Rps. So we continued walking and checked another hotel that was full. So we set the bags down and i was going to go to another hotel up the hill but the old man tout beat me there and so i wasn't prepared to pay extra because i had a walking companion. So i said i was going back down the hill. I return to where Justina is and thinking that he maybe is gone, i start back up the stairs in this cat and mouse game. Now there were 2 ways up the hill, i had the stairs between the houses way and the tout was on the trail going around way. The tout came back down and was asking the other touts if they had seen me which they said they hadn't. So as I was turning around the coner of the first stairs, i see the man start into a run. The kind of old man run where he has to kinda rev the engine before starting. Well i wasn't going to loose this race. I sprint up the stairs to where it meets the trail, seeing him just turn the corner. I get into the hotel a good 10 seconds and secure an acceptable room for the right price. My first race in India and i won, although he was an old man, but still probably even more determined than me. So Shimla maybe once was nice but now is no more. The room we stayed at really wasn't that good, and you were that into even taking a shower in the bathroom. We slept most of the first day and then went out to walk around. There are a few streets around the "hill" that were nice with the colonial country england style housing and the shops and many people doing exactly the same as us, just walking around. So this is the only picture that i really have of the place of the main square and so the only one you will get. We bought some books, walked up to the temple dedicated to the monkey god at the top of the hill and just strolled around. There just really wasn't much to the place that's all. So after 2 nights there we new that it was time to leave and so we got on another bus, yes, i know. But this one was all day, and we arrived in Rishikesh at around 6:30pm, saying that it will be our very last bus ride in this journey. Well it turns out that me might have to catch one to Delhi but at least it won't be a local bus.

Macleod Ganj

2007-03-31T00:35:00.000-07:00

So we woke up to a very neat place. There are trees here and the views are quite remarkable and there are really cool little shops and cafes' all over the tiny streets. It is the home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in Exile. It is also a little bit of Tibet in Nepal with it's hygiene standards and friendly people. Although you do get reminded still that you are in India as well. But we didn't plan too much, just enjoyed our surrounding and general vibe of the place. There are many Tibetan crafts, clothes and fabrics around, and is just amazing what a difference the people can make in a place. We went to the many tiny cafes and "retaurants" tucked away in little corners and just walked around the area. went to the Tibetan museum where the atrocities of the Chinese in Tibet are chronicled. It is amazing how these people can still have such a positive view on things after everything that has been done to them. Truly amazing. We also did the pilgrimage circuit around the Dalai Lama's residence. The path was adorned with prayer flags and tablets and prayer wheels. We went to a movie in one of the movie "theatres" which were really cute little places where seats from old buses where lined up in front of a large screen TV and a new release was shown with the whole camcorder in the movie theatre in full effect. It's funny, kinda like wathcing an old western movie how's the screen is scratchy. But as with most places you can't stay forever and at some point you need to leave and get on another crappy bus, which is exactly what we had to do. I have had some comments about me being a little grumpy but that's just what the bus rides here do to you. And it could be tolerable, until those things about India come into play and sometimes it becomes too much. (ie. the drunk guys on the bus or the touts following you when you get off the bus even though you tell them specifically not to follow you many times). But that is the reality with travelling and i don't mean to sound grumpy because it takes a lot to bring us down but just so little get us back up again. Off to Shimla, the honeymoon capital of India and former summer residence of the british raj.

Delhi-Amritsar

2007-03-29T22:18:00.000-07:00

So we are now in Macleod Ganj after leaving the Thailand paradise/scam for India once more. It was quite the journey. When we went to pick up our plane tickets, we were informed that the plane had been delayed and instead of leaving at 3:45am, it was going to leave at 5:45am. Sweet! So we kept the room for the night but really only got one hour sleep before getting in our taxi at 3am. We arrived in Delhi in the morning and began to tackle India once more. We were able to secure the last 2 tourists seats on the train to Amritsar and headed to the train station. Now all that i had heard about Delhi was that it was stinky and gross and busy and stinky. Well after all the build up it actually wasn't that bad, although I learned that the big part of the grossness was the fact that there were cows everywhere but this time they had all disapeared. So we walked down the Main bazaar street got some food and a new bag and headed to the train station for our 4:30pm train. Now this was the Shantabdi express, one of the few "luxury express" trains that this country have and the lowest class is pretty much first class A/C seating with full meals and all. We were being served some kind of food, snakcs, soup, meals, fairly frequently and the ride went by quite fast. We arrived in Amritsar in the dark and tried to start walking the direction that we thought would lead us to a guest house. But soon we were informed by a rickshaw that we were actually going in the complete opposite direction. So we hope on the rickshaw and return to the guest house area near the station and fight off the many touts on the empty streets before we found a guest house to our liking and price range.
The day, as we hadn't slept for 2 days, that's exactly what we did, sleeping until pretty much 4pm in the evening. We got up and decided to head to the Golden Temple area to check it out at least. We got some food, which proved to be quite difficult and went to the regional tourist office inside the complex. Here we were lectured on why we wouldn't spend the night in the free dorms and eat the free food. Well we must be rich he claimed, that would be the only reason. Yes, i'm a freaking millionaire, that's why i splurged for the $5 each room.
The next day we got up, had some breakfast and headed to temple. Now this is again a trully remarkable complex, with lots of gold and marble and expensive things. And so many people who are very dedicated. The line up to get into the temple was ridiculously long, it probably would have taken 3 hours to get through, at least. So we strolled around the edge and fought off the many people who wanted to take pictures with us. That night we had told to meet a rickshaw driver to take us to Attari for the changing of the guards ceremony, but after waiting for 15min, we joined a shared taxi instead because we didn't want to miss the show. (We learned later that he had waited for 2 hours, but i made it clear to him that we were in clear view in the meeting area and we are the ones that should be found, we are white remember?) Anyways, this "ceremony" was pretty much a big Indian pep rally with chants of "Hindustan!" and other lound cheers. There was also impromtu dacing to Bollywood hits (what would an Indian pep rally be without it). Now i didn't really see what was going on at the actually border because the Indians couldn't keep still for even 2 minutes and would jump again, all trying to see. The guards would come over and tell people to sit but the Indians just can't help themselves and stand up one minute later.
After getting back to Amritsar, we checked out this free eating hall and the chapati machine that makes the thousands of chapatis needed. It was a constant flow of people coming in, eating, leaving and then a new group would enter. Quite the system.
The next day we began our wonderful journey to Macleod Ganj-Dharamsala on the bus. First a 4 hour bus ride to Pathenkot and then another 4-5 hour bus ride to Dharamsala. To top it all off, i had paid for my breakfast and then had to leave it because the bus was leaving and just before we get to Dharamsala a group of drunk Indians get on and made fun of the whiteys for a good while, even while Justina was sick on the bus. I should have yelled at them and gotten really mad but I was really tired and just wanted to get there. But i still should have yelled at them. I need to work on that. Well we got to Macleod Ganj by taxi and soon found a very nice room at a hostel up a large flight of stairs. I went to get some dinner and left Justina in bed as she was sick. Then, you guessed it, we slept.

Fighting crime in the kok

2007-03-22T23:21:00.000-07:00

Ok so as the cops here don't really do anything and just sit on their buts collecting slush money we decided to take things into our own hands and fight some crime. the deal was that on our bus ride from Suratthani to Bangkok there were dudes in the luggage compartment going through peoples bags, stealing things. This is fairly common here but we let our guard down just enough to get taken advantage of. so instead of checking our bags right when we got off the bus like our spidey sense was telling us to do, we continued on to the guest house before discovering what had happened. There are many excuses you can think of, it was 5am, we were tired, but really we should have been more carefull and we could have done something right then and there. But alas that's not how things panned out. So we had been talking with this NZ/Can couple and saw them in the morning in a frantic as well. they had discovered what had happened before going to sleep and had started all the processes when things are stolen from you. They had taken $200US cash off us and the souvenir money that we had had on us from Burma, Singapore and NZ, along with $50 worth in Indian rupees. They are very dumb, i mean they took maybe 40 cents worth of useless Burmese money, pretty much the thing we are most pissed off about. The NZ/Can couple had $50US stolen but they had found there back up cash card and had somehow had drained all $3000 out of the account. so we were pissed off but they were really stressed out. so we went to cancel the credit card that they had taken from Justinas pack and then started the process of cops/finding the company. We went the cop station that is close by and they told us that only the tourist police can help us. We found out later that they only reason for this is they are the only ones who can speak english. Well that was very far away and we hadn't figured out the bus company name for sure or had no evidence of the bus plates or anything. so we went to the place that sold us the boat tickets but were informed that it wasn't them and only had buses of certain colour etc... But they were quite concerned and told us to go to where the buses will be leaving for Suratthani at 6pm and maybe you will spot the bus. ok then we will do that. Tried to get some beers but they don't sell beer t 7-11 between 2-5pm. why? i have no idea. anyways the day rolls on, we grab a few beers and head over to where all the buses pick up the tourists. We spend our time warning the various people but aren't very positive on the chances of seeing our bus again. Just as we were about to give up, here it comes rolling along. I recognised the dude and pointed to him as he pulls up to pick up more tourists. So of course in hindsight we should have gone and got a cop right away but we were a)so surprised that the bus actually came and b)all focused on getting photos of the workers and the bus. We warned all the people getting on the bus, some of which took there bags back and on board with them. Then by the time we try and get the cops, the bus has started to drive off. We should have just stood right in front of the bus to not let it move but the driver was threatening us with a pole and all the workers were all freaked out and on they mobiles, probably telling the people that the operation is off for the night. But they knew that they were in trouble/guilty and that's why they were so mad. So Nadine is on the back of the scooter with the cop as they chase after the bus and Shawn and I go up to these worker to talk to them. I ask them what company they work for and such, Shawn takes a photo of them and they freak out. the one guy goes after Shawn, he throws me the camera and they tussle a bit. the other guy was trying to pry his friend away and then changes tactics and clocks shawn right in the head. So shawn walks/runs off, i follow him, still in awe of what just happened and the dudes are still walking after us mad as hell. We then meet up with Justina and head to the police station where Nadine comes back and let's us know that they couldn't find the bus. So a tourist cop comes and we get all the photos printed out. We then have to take a taxi for 30min to the actual tourist police office where we can get our police report translated into thai, pretty much the only thing they do. Of course in the end, the cops will do very little. We would have to go back to Suratthani to those cops for them to do something and the Tourist police might send some people undercover later but that's about it. Even though we have all these photos they are still useless. They were more concerned about the violence than about the robbery. The one cop was asking us over and over again why we didn't arrest the attacker and beat him up. Well isn't that what you guys should do as cops? Sweet. Well theres the story of fighting crime in Bangkok. Although there is no chance of ever getting some money back, i hope that they can maybe do something to that company and maybe they will be freaked out for a while so that they don't steal from more unsuspecting tourists. And it sure gave us wake up call that's for sure. I will always be checking my bag when i get off the bus, it doesn't matter where you are.

2007-03-22T22:23:00.000-07:00

ok, well again it's been a long time but we are now in Bangkok and getting ready to fly to Delhi in a few days. Our time on Koh Phagnan was quite enjoyable and let us relax and do whatever we please. But of course when things like that goes on, time goes by very fast. We stayed in a little beach bungalo which was just what we were looking for and got right in to the island life style. Went through a couple of books and tried not to stress out too much. It's tough to know what to write about when so little was accomplished. But we took some scooter rides which were always interesting. the whole thing with the foot brake is kinda tough, especially when your bike sucks and can't get up many hills so when it doesn't quite make it you really need to brake and put your feet down. But then of course the whole foot brake thing really complicates things like that. We tried to get to Haad Rin one day, the location of the full moon party but were seriously thwarted by the hilly terrain and our weakness in bike. But one thing that was sweet was that i got to make use of my waterproof camera! was excited and it is very fun but the visibility where we were snorkling just wasn't quite good enough so you really couldn't quite get those photos that they advertise on the pentax website. but the photos show it all. That's really about all i can think of, still a little slow from all the lounging around. I know, it sounds tough but someone'd got to do it.

Koh Phagnan

2007-03-19T02:52:00.000-07:00

Oh how easy it is to do very little. Just a quick note letting people know that we are in fact still alive and kicking in Thailand. We have spent a week now in Koh Phagnan and have been chilling out the whole time. After arriving to find out that the bay that we wanted to stay at was a little too secluded as the road there was near impassable with 2 people on the bike. So we drove around the island a bit that first day until we found a suitable shack in Ao Mae Haad beach on the north west corner. We have a hammock, and a fan and a deck that is the most ghetto deck of all the huts but we like it that way. Finished some books, been scooting around and partying with the english and one canadian neighbors. We did say happy St.Pats day, a German guy reminded us of that fact. We got a frisbee and also did some snorkiling. Last night we went to the "Blackmoon Party" which was interesting. Well we went there at about 1am totally sober as we had taken a nap and we also had to scoot there a fair distance. So arriving at 1am totally sober at a rave can be interesting. People sometimes think that they are just so smooth, sometimes more so the more drunk they become. But we know the truth, hehe. They had advertised trance but for the 3 hours that we were threre, it mostly drum and bass and a little too fast for me by the end. But hey you can't say we didn't try. No pics, too expensive and it would just be me or Justina in different chilled out poses. We will be heading back to the Kok in a couple days to tackle the place before our flight to India on the 25th. Take care all.

Bangkok-Koh Tao

2007-03-13T03:35:00.000-07:00

So ok, it has been a while yes and i was actually half way through this one when the comp crashed on me so now i will try again. We are now in Koh Tao, having just finished our diving courses and now will be leaving for Koh Phagnan tomorrow to find a nice beach to chill at before it's back to Bangkok for our flight to Delhi on the 25th.
So we arrrived in Bangkok and just enjoyed the easiness of thailand. Got our haircuts and such to get ready for the beach, spent a lot of time on the internet, did some shopping and some tourist watching that is probably some of the best anywhere. There are many internet places here but they are all very expensive, way too expensive. I mean more expenisve than in the middle of nowhere Burma, how is that possible? Anyways, we caught a night bus to Chumphon and from there the boat took us to Koh Tao. Not much to say about the trip, just that it was awesome. I mean actual aricon, lots of room, doesn't break down, just great stuff really.
Anyways we arrive in Koh Tao and get right into the course. They get us into the classroom for some crappy instructional vids (i think that almost all instructional vids are bad, the whole making learning fun so hard) followed by some "quizzes". The next day we got into the pool after some more vids for our first breaths underwater. I think it came a lot easier than i thought it would that's for sure. The next morning we took our "final exam" and then headed on the boat inthe afternoon for our first 2 real dives. We had to do some skills as in taking the mask on and off, practising sharing air and such but other than that we just cruised around. Now i don't know if it's my male instinct but i think that one reason that i have enjoyed this diving this is that the whole idea of it is to cruise slow and check stuff out. That's all i really need to enjoy myself. Plus the stuff that we check out is pretty cool and such that we don't get to see very often but still, i like the whole chill vibe of it.
Well the next day we woke up early to hit the boat at 7:15am for the last 2 of our dives. And of course the video had to come along because they gotta get the whole package for ya. (Didn't get it, the video was really cool but for $80, i think that i can spend my money better).

I don't know how to describe the diving much but it's a really good sensation. And which each dive it gets better because you learn to control yourself so much more to just float around. And of course i would like to take pics but don't have any of those. We had thought of getting a disposable but it wasn't guarenteed, especially if we went down to 18m or even 30m. Wel after passing the first course we decided that we liked it so much that we wanted to do the advanced too. After that we can go pretty much anywhere and do almost anything, including our own dives and dives at night as well as certified to 30m. So we took one day off, which was spent sleeping and reading and beaching and we were right back into the boat. The first day we did 3 dives, the first one being a naturalist cruise. The next we attempeted to navigate with our compasses. Now this proved to be more difficult than you think. Firstly, there are currents everywhere that try to take you off course. And then on top of that you measure distance by the number of kicks you do. So as you can see, it is for sure no accurate science. But we tried. After those two dives, we went ashore to get some water and food and were right back on for our night dive. Now that was really cool. It was cool for one because you couldn't look everywhere, only really where your flashlight was pointed so you tended to notice the little things that you don't see during the day. And plus the fact that is was dark with phosfluorescence, it just made for a very interesting atmosphere. We returned tired and hungry and after dinner i decided to make a phone call to my bank to inquire why my card wasn't working. I soon found out that someone in the lower mainland has been using my identity somehow and has drained my account over the past few months with transactions throughout the lower mainland. Kinda shitty but i hope the fact that i have been away the whole time will make the insurance process a lot easier. But it will take a while. Some people are just so mean.

Anyways, the next day which is today was another early wake up call and we loaded up the boat for our last 2 dives. The first one we went down to 30m. At this depth, you can have symptoms of nitrogen narcosis which is pretty much drunken elation and the reason that many people do really deep dives and never come back. Just because they are having such a good time and forget everything else. Well we didn't get anything like that but it was a little different down ther with a heavily clouded thermocline. One last dive of cruising around checking out the fish which inclueded some very feisty rightfully named Trigger fish. These fish are quite territorial and can take a pretty good chunk out of you. We also saw another cute family of Thailand style Nemos as well.

Well that's all for now, we really haven't been up to too much other than that. We didn't see sharks or turtles or anything like that but i have found a something new that i enjoy quite a bit that's for sure. And I am very glad to have done it now as I can do more diving around the world wherever i go next, whenever that is. I hope all is well where ever you are in the world and send me some emails with updates.

Yangon

2007-03-04T22:35:00.000-08:00

ok well not much to say about yangon, we pretty much went back there because a)that's how we fly out of here to bangkok and b) we had to see the Shwedagon Paya, pretty much the one must see in Burma, along with Bagan. I think that it's something like Disneyland meets Vegas with all the flashing lights around and many different Buddah caracters and animals around. Tried to sneak in but we were caught quickly and had to pay the $5 fee to get in. Oh well it's pretty amazing place. But for me way too much, i mean these countries are soo poor and yet they devot so much of their time and money, soooo much money, the top is decorated with a 76ct diamond and 2000 other diamonds(even though it's so high up so one can see it). It seems like a huge wast, i mean think if all the time and money spent on religions was donated to feeding people and maybe making a road or two, how much better off this country would be. And that goes for anywhere really. I know religion gives some people hope but i think that there is a limit. And what's so good about hope that is no doubt false, can you really think that giving money to this dragon head will solve your problems? Well maybe i'm just a big pessimist. and another thing is a monk shows us around and chews his betel and then asks for a "donation" at the end. Pretty much a scam. And we asked him why women aren't aloowed in some places of the temple and he says straight out that Buddha believed that women were far less than men in the world. So even buddha isn't perfect.

We are now in Bangkok and after planning we have arranged to leave tomorrow night for Koh Tao to start our diving course and hit the beaqch after those 4 days. it's gonna be fun, i'm quite excited. And Thailand is just sooo easy, it's sweet.

Inle lake

2007-03-04T03:04:00.000-08:00

Well the next day we heard that is was a good idea to take the boat to all the sights. The spanegian pair had said that it was their best day in all on Burma. So we booked the boat to take us out at 8:30am. As we went out to breakfast however there was another couple just about to leave on a boat of their own. It would've been a little helpful if the hotel would have maybe let us know that and we could have gone with them. Oh well, at breakfast we grabbed this socks and sandals japanese guy so it was a little less expensive. The day was spent in these comfy seat visiting the many sites around the village. We first checked out the floating "market" which used to be a market. I've seen it on an old picture postcard so i know it's true but by we have come here too late and now it is really just a big souvenir boat mob. We then visited the village of Indein with it's close packed actient, yup you guessed it STUPAS. It was pretty neat though as most of them were left to whatever state that weather and time has transformed them into. We then had some lunch and visited the most sacred temple in the Shan state with their famous 4 buddha images that since being covered with so much gold leaf have now tranformed into egg images but you get the idea. From there we visited the factories for the cigars as well as for boats and and another for silver jewerly. On the way back to town we were able to catch the sunset before returning to our hotel. Another nice dinner and we were back to bed for a sleep after the long day.

The next day was our journey to Yangon which was supposed to take 18 hours. But of course that didn't go that way. We first had to take the pick up truck bus thing to the larger town of Shwenyaung. And there we had to argue with the dude as he wanted more money from epopel to leave right away but the foreigners held out and when we threatened to go and share a taxi then they said yes. Of course from there the bus was maybe 1.5 hours late and we were told that we weren't on the first bus but the second one. Fine, 2 stops later we are told that we are supposed to be on the first one not the second one. Well ok then, i can see how this is going. Of course the first bus was not as nice and we soon learned was in much better condition. Broke down once, got fixed enough to carry on and then broke down for good. Not sure what was going on as they probably told the people in Burmese. So by this time it's 3am and we are told that it will be a 5 hour wait for the next bus to come get us. Sweet. Ok so it wasn't 5 hours but a bunch of hours anyways and the next bus was so much worse than the one we had. they pretty much commendeered a local bus, kicked most of the people off it and loaded us on. Another many many hours and we finally arrive in Yangon. 18 hours? More like 26. But that's Myanmar for ya. And for those of you who think that all this complaining is because i'm grumpy and not having a good time then your totally wrong. This is part of it and it's fun telling people the stories. See Laura's comment.

Kalaw

2007-03-02T22:24:00.000-08:00

So after that terrible bus ride we got up around noon to check out the town. Went for some lunch and booked our 2 day trek to Inle lake before walking around the town and such. After a break back at the hotel we went back to the same restaurant for dinner as it was good and then to bed for a good amount of rest before our 2 day trek starting the next day. It was recommended to us by a few people to do the trek from Kalaw to Inle lake, staying one night in a monastary or with a family. As the trek usually takes 2 nights and 3 days, we took a shortcut by taking a taxi past all the hard mountain stuff and started at a town called Lamine where there was a noviciation ceremony happening. We left with one guide Thun thi and our cook Disa. We caught the taxi at 8:30 and arrived at the village about an hour later. We later learned that the last time they had this ceremony in this particular village was 22 years ago. There are many factors that determine if it possible for them to have the ceremony but the major one is they have to have a very successful harvest as they have to feed the many hundreds of people that come from surrounding villages and pay for the rented costumes and all the festivities, the catering guys, the tents, the stage, the band. It all seems trivial stuff but for a village that survives mostly on sustinance farming, this is huge. So we were clearly lucky to be part of it any part of it. We took some pictures that we will send to the family that invited us in for food and tea and such friendly hospitality. We did a tour of the village where many others tried to invite us into their homes and passed the procession of the kids becoming novice monks riding on the shoulders of the men in full costume dancing as the band follows them behind. As the last time they had a ceremony in the village was 22 years ago, there were around 150 kinds becoming novices as well as full fledged monks. Some did both in the span of the 3 day ceremony as you have to do one before you get to the other. There were groups of caterers who made huge pots of pork and fish curry and so much rice. The food was actually really really good, some of the best authentic burmese food that i have had here so far. It was very interesting to see how they cooked for all these people for the 3 day ceremony. Well we finally had to continue on even though we were very invited to stay for the night. It would have been quite the experience but again there is only so much time in this country so we continued on. The trek was quite nice that first day, there was a good breeze going on and the slope fairly easy going. We arrived in the village where we were staying after around 4-5 hours hiking. As we arrived, we learned that they had just finished building a new house for this one family and were having the house warming party/ceremony that night. Wow how our timing is sweet. They of course invited us and everyone carried some of their stuff into the house and all sat down in our segregated rooms. Men and women of course but Justina got to stay in the men group. We all sat down and they served tea and sugary sticky rice and fermented tea leaves and cigars were offered to all. We stayed for a while and took some picks that we will send there too. We then dropped our stuff off and walked around the town where we were showed how they de-husk the rice and the monastary of the village where another group of trekkers were staying. We then returned to family home where Diza cooked us up an amazing meal, some more of the best food that we have had in Buma and then hung out drank tea and helped the lady of the house crack peanut shells to get the seeds that they will use to plant more peanuts. We could hear the neighbours making pop sticky rice and the boys came over to our house to visit the 14 year old daughter and they had a fire outside the house and probably talked huge village gossip while shelling peanuts. But unfortunately we couldn't understand any of it, but i'm sure it was good. It is amazing though how much energy it takes just to feed your family, the work seems to never really stops ever.

The next morning we woke at 7am and some nice hot breakfast before heading out on the road for the day. This day was a little hotter but we trudged along at a steady pace and arrived at the village at the edge of Inle lake. From here we had a boat meet us for the 1.5 hour ride to Nyaungshwe, the town where all the guesthouses are. It was a gorgeous boat ride through all these floating gardens which is pretty much earth that is connected to bamboo poles. We secured a room and said farewell to our great guide and cook. Went out for dinner of course a little later than we had planned and caught then end of things in town. But we did run into the Norwegian and spanish pair that we had met in Ngwe Hsaung and chatted with them for a while. The next day we looked forward to a full day of boating.

Mandalay

2007-03-02T05:03:00.000-08:00

Ok well it's been another bit of a stretch between blogs again but that's how it works here. It could be similar in Thailand but it will be more because of the chilling on beaches and less internet access problems. But we are back in Yangon now with 2 nights and a day left before we fly out to Bangkok on the 4th. So Mandalay was an interesting place and it would have been very nice to spend a week there as there are many one day or a few days trips that you can make up and down the river to many villages and such but of course, we only have so much time here and so we must only see what we can. (It would have been also nice as we would have travelled by boat which we learn how great that is more and more with every bus ride.) Well that first day we walked around a bunch, and of course after spending 3 hours of internet at one place walk by another for 1/3 of the price. Ahhh, sweet. We bought some local market fruit, tried in vain to find this travel agent that no longer existed and entered this posh supermarket with lots of chocolate, like real chocolate as everything here is only chocolate flavoured and they have no good chocolate. I know it's scary but true. We should have gone for the cadbury but we could get twice as much for the malaysia stuff at the same price. Got greedy and paid for it in quality. After a break back at out hotel we emerged a little too late for most of the restaurants. well i think it was maybe 8:30pm but everything here just closes soooo early. You can't even get a bottle of water here after 10pm. Anyways, on the way to the street chappathi stands (some of the only food available at this "late" hour), a trishaw approached us, his name was Jo-Jo and he suggested that he take us around to all the sights for the day. We agreed that it would be a good idea and so we agreed on a price and a time to meet and went on to our street dinner. Its amazing sometimes how small and young the kids here look and yet how old they can act. At many of the street stalls and such, that get most of their business, employ young kids, mostly around early teens but sometimes as young as 9. But this one 9 year old that was serving us acted as if he was in his thirties and running the show. It was great but kinda too bad as these kids need to grow up so fast.
The next morning after breakfast, we met Jo-Jo outside at 9:30am and we headed out to see the sights. As we hadn't bought the $10 Mandalay archeological zone ticket (fancy word for govt tourist tax), Jo-Jo took us to all the sights that didn't need to ticket and knew how to get around it when possible. It seems after talking to some other trishaw drivers as well as they kinda respected the fact that we didn't buy the ticket. We saw quite the amazing temple with this huge Buddha statue that was stolen/sent, i don't know which one, from far away, i think even northern India. It was carried over mountains and floated down rivers before arriving to a place where Buddha himself it was to stay. The people here think it is quite special and the smoothness is no more as it has been covered many times over with gold leaf. And of course women aren't allowed to get close to the Buddha or touch it, ahh religions and their discrimination. We then saw a very old monastary and a gold leaf factory. There we witnessed true back breaking labour where these guys pound on huge stacks of leaves all day long, each leaf has gone through 3 stages and a tolta of 6-7 hours of pounding. Had some oily lunch and back to the hotel to rest. On the way to Mandalay hill for a lookout of the city we stopped at this amazing place where there were hundreds of large tablets with each of them having their own payas. Then the hill was neat but couldn't get all the way to the top as we needed a ticket but that's aight, we got the idea. Had some Nepali food dinner and then went to see the famous Moustache Brothers show. Well they were famous around the country but then banned by the govt and 2 out of 3 of them were in jail for 7 years, so now they just cater to their tourist and have a little show out of their house. And it is true, just as the one brother says many times in his elmur fudd accent, it is a "toowist twap". Oh well it was interesting. After the show, yes Jo-Jo was still with us, he insisted he stayed, we cycled home and gave him a little extra which he was thrilled. They relaly don't make much those guys, he says he pays $5 rent a month, $5 school for his kid a month and then there is all the rest still. And sometimes he gets no customers some days so he actually loses money because he pays rent per day on his trishaw. On top of this he has to deal with the police who harass them sometimes, just the other day he told us this story where the police took his trishaw lisence away from him for no reason and then he had to go to the police office then to a lawyer to pay him and get him to fill out some sheet and then back to the police office to pay them and get his lisence back. In the end is cost him K8000, which is more than he pays in rent for the whole month. It really makes you mad sometimes the way the people are treated here.
Ok well before i continue, just 2 things that made us quite frustrated about our hotel staff. They were quite unfriendly first of all and we decided to buy bus tickets from them to Kalaw. Now this was a little bit our fault as we didn't even check other options and just bought them and so we ended up paying almost double the price necessary. Our fault. But he says that the bus trip takes 12 hours and you get in at sometimes around 6am the next day into Kalaw. Fine then. The next thing was they had a computer in the lobby that had a sign that said internet access. So they turned it on and we just wanted to use it for 5 min to check if the flights that we booked online went through. As we leave to go to our room they ask for money. Well you really should have a sign or tell us how much it is before we get on, but ok how much is it for 5 minutes. Well he says that it's K2000 minimum. Are you crazy! the other place we went to was K400 per hour. So now your just trying to rip us off. So we argued a bit but right from the start they were quite rude. They said that we should care that they have to pay taxes to the govt. Well actually that's your problem not mine and you should tell people it's K2000 before you let them on. But if they did no one would use it probably. Anyways we didn't pay. hehehe
The next day we got up and checked out. Then we caught a taxi out to the longest teak bridge in the world at Amarapura. It was neat and one of those things where you should just go and do it. At the start of the bridge there was the bird sellers again but this time they had all kinds of birds for sale, huge beautiful owls and such. It was sad but i wasn't paying this guy $4 just to free a bird that he has caged. Just doesn't seem right.
Well we got back and waited for the transport to the bus station that was "included" with the bus ticket. Another thing that was annoying. It was just this pickup truck that we filled with people but the thing was that it took pretty much 1.5 hours to go maybe 5km. It was ridiculous. At one point the drivers and the workers of this bus company got out and just left where we waited for like 30-40 minutes doing nothing. It's amazing how much these Burmese put up with, they were all calm but we were close to freaking out a little. Then we get to the bus station and get in this very crummy bus. Like it was bad. My chair was broken and wouldn't go back and the armrest wasn't even attached to the rest of the chair anymore. So the bus ride sucked as they all do here in Burma with basically no road ahead of us and no room to move and always for me, no sleep at all. So then around 2:30am in the morning and were told that we are in Kalaw. So not only did we pay double the money, we got a shitty ride to the bus depot, a shitty bus and then lied to about how long it takes to get there. So we arrive in Kalaw at 2:30 am and mad at our hotel because now that we are here , we have to wake these nice people up to see if they have rooms, something for which we could have phoned in before. The second try they had a room available so we went to bed.

Bagan

2007-02-21T21:15:00.000-08:00

OK well it worked that we hooked up with a bus to Bagan but we soon have learned that getting around Burma is the hardest part about it and pretty much the most expensive. The bus back to Yangon was the very same bus we caught there so you can read the previous blog about that. The the bus to Bagan left from a different bus terminal so we had to catch a cab for the 30min ride over to that one. We secured 2 seats on the overnight bus to Bagan, got some food, snacks and water and were pretty much on our way. Well the ride went quite smoothly for the first bit, although the dinner stop was rather quick. But then at the time that everyone would normaly get to sleep, the road got pretty bad. I think that i slept maybe 5 mins the whole time. I would look up to see what the driver is seeing and it sure doesn't look like a road to me. There are trees that nearly cover it on both sides, and the road is barely large enough for our one bus, let alone the traffic coming the other way. And the road is very full of hole, maybe more holes than smoothness. Well 14 hours later we were sleepily in Bagan at 6:30am. We secured a room and went to sleep. By the time we woke up it was time to go check out the place a bit.

We got some food (breakfast, lunch, linner, whatever you want to call it) and then walked to other way to the restaurant district to get some info about leaving Bagan and such. We visited a mans painting shop where he sold many sand paintings that were really good and so we keep some of them in our mind as we were about to see many many more. The next day we awoke at a very reasonable hour, 7:30 i think, had out breakfast and was ready to get out horse cart ride to check out all the temples. So Bagan is not exactly a place but more a valley that is filled with thousands and thousands or temples. There was said to have 4400 built but maybe 2200 remain today. The time of Bagan was only a mere 120 years or so before that was ended by the invasion of the Mongols and Kublai Khan but in that time they were sure busy with thir temple building. It was trully remarkable to see the place that would take a week to explore in full but we did our best to see as much as we could. The first day we hired an horse-cart for the day to take us around the major sites and wherever he decided to take us. We soon named our horse Yukon, well Yukom in Burmese as they havce trouble with the n sound, much to the delight to our driver who began to use it extensively. We visited many beautifull temples, some small some big but all unique in their own way and interesting. I don't really get tired of them too much. I mean so many people say they are all the same and in many ways this is true with the buddhas and much of the architecture but after that, each temple has it's different feel to me. So i always am interested in seeing more because i like to find out how they are different as supposed to how they are similar. In some of them the paintings on the wall were still very preserved and in most the buddha statues were all restored to their previous glory. One even had pretty much the biggest buddha i have ever seen. And the views from tops of the largest ones were quite spectacular. We stoped for lunch at this place that was a friend of our divers and were treated so nice by the cute family there. The boy that served us knew his english pretty well and they just would serve us more dishes without us asking, just for free. So we gave them a balloon and a pencil for the kid. The little baby that was brought out as well who was just so cute and mesmorized by the balloon. The ladies even brought out the Tanaka, sort of a sunscreen/face lotion that all the women wear here that makes them so beautiful. Afterwards everywhere we went people commented on how beautiful Justina was and how lucky i was to be with her. I guess the stuff really does work. It was interesting that at most of the temples and especially the big ones, there were many of the same things, especially the sand paintings. And of course we always get the same deal. "This is a sand painting, see no problem rolling up." Thanks, about maybe the 150th sand painting i have seen today you really opened a door of understanding for me. But they are just using the english that they know that's all. That night after we viewed the sunset we returned to our room to rest and then went out for some Indian food that was actually quite good, i mean all you eat chappathis, can't go wrong with that.

The next morning was a little slower but this day were planned to take out some bikes and ride to the ones a little father out where none of the large tour comapnies go. Another thing that is quite strange here is the lack of we seem simple technology. I mean gears on bikes? how hard is that really? I know in India it was the same and it was the most painful when you would watch the cycle rickshaw guys struggle so much that with gears would be so easy and we felt a little bit of our pain that day with our no gear bikes. Oh yeah and Justinas didn't really have breaks either. But we managed as best we could and actually got to see some really neat temples including my favorite that a keymaster had to come and unlock for us. But the inside was all open and there were a large buddha on each of the four walls that made up the center. And the paintings inside were still in very good condition as well. There were stairs to the top which had a really good view of the entire valley and of course there was nobody around. We had the whole place to ourselves. That day was nice as that was the case in most of the temples and there wasn't even many vendors as they are never visited by the large tour buses. We had some trouble on the sand tracks that crissed crossed the the valley, to which gears and of course tread on our tires would have helped, but we perservered. At about 4:30pm we called it quits as we hadn't eaten lunch and weren't that interested in doing much more biking. so after stopping for some food, we continued back to our hotel. After giving another balloon to some kids beside the road we have decided on a few rules about giving out stuff now. First of all we only give out things to kids that don't ask for it and second of all we will blow up the balloong and demonstrate how to play with it by sharing. No more instant fighting that has been the norm. We then sat in the comfortable chairs back at the hotel and read a bit. I tried to talk some more to this couple from Quebec who were quite interesting (the dude hadn't spent a whole winter in Canada in 8 years) but when my french began to slur as my brain got tired, i went to take a shower and head to dinner.

The next morning we were cathching the boat to Mandalay as we had heard that the road to Mandalay was worse that the one from Yangon. But of course the boat still left at 5:30am so we awoke at 4:30am to get our horse cart to the jetty. But wow, how different that trip was. It was like night and day between the bus and the boat. We could walk around, they had really comfy chairs, the boat was empty as nearly everyone goes the other way (Mandalay-Bagan) and we just enjoyed to the river scenery and the sunshine. Oh yeah and we could drink ice cold beers too. It's amazing what that does to you when you arrive at your destination. You get there refreshed and in a good mood. The ride into Mandalay passed the town of Sagaing, which had a number of remarkable stupas atop many of the hills. Well, got some more no gear cycle rickshaw dudes to get us to a hotel, secured a room, and went out for dinner. Got back to some Friends on TV (on the chinese channel with chinese subtitles), and went to sleep. We awoke to have breakfast and have found internet that is actually decently speedy and able to upload photos at a decent rate as well. Amazing isn't it? So there ya go you are now pretty much up to date. We will be hanging out here for a few days before continuing on to either Hsipaw or Kalaw, yet to be decided. Hope all is well in the free world!

Yangon-Ngwe Saung

2007-02-21T20:20:00.000-08:00

Ok well it has been a while since entering on the blog, and well that may have something to do with the severe lack of internet and the firm iron grip that the government has on its people. Well there is just the trouble that you can't access any web based email (pretty much all email) unless you go through this kind of hacker email site. It's not easy. But i will try to bring you up to speed. Oh and also pictures are very slow, if you didn't assume that already.

Well we spent a few days in Yangon checking out the scene and figuring out just where we can go in this country and what is possible and in which routes that the government can be avoided as much as possible. It It was and interesting process where we just brought out a map of Burma and got the lady to put barriers and big X's where we couldn't go. It seems to be not that bad as the govt is concentrating on the high end tourist business where the people come on really expensive tours, fly everywhere and stay in really expensive places. And since we are not into any of those things, it's not hard to avoid the junta. We just won't be travelling overland to thailand unfortunately and so we must catch a flight from Yangon to Bangkok instead and go from there. We visited the paya that was in the center of the city and to which all the roads are organised from. Justina was caught by the cage of cute birdies out front and we paid the $1 to set one of them free for good luck. I sometimes just feel like saying, how much for the whole set? We founf one place with internet that was in i believe one of the government malls, you can tell them because they are all a/c and super nice inside with flower shops and guards and such but of course totaly empty of people. we found another internet place across the road which was cheaper and locally owned. We tried to go to a travel agent but since we rarely know what day it is, we doon found out that it's sunday and the travel agent is closed. ok then. We walked over to this large market area where tere was no shortage of fabrics and jewelery and bamboo frogs and souvenir tshirts. But it was just so nice to walk around a market and 1) not have everyone stare at you and 2) not have everyone yelling at you to buy their stuff. We were staying in a place for the first few nights with no windows but a/c (although the power was very inconsistent so we really could have used some windows) and then swtiched to a place that was much more affordable and practical for us. The first place claimed to have the best breakfast in the world and i could maybe argue otherwise but i let them have their small glory. I'm glad we didn't escape all of India or I would miss it too much so I was glad to see that the entire back alley was fully of trash. I also got a feel of India as we went to see a Bollywood movie that was playing at the English theatre, so yes, there was English subtitles and you could actually tell what was going on. And yes we actually got to see some Bollywood dancing and singing but there could have been more, always could have been more. It still had all the ridiculous aspects of a Bollywood movie, the 3+ hours long, the totally crazy fill in story parts that include aliens and computers that can see the future and ohh the romance with it's so close to kissing but not quite. After another day in Yangon we tried to book a bus ticket to Changtha beach was learned that it was full so instead we got a ticket to Ngwe Saung beach which wasn't as big but supposedly much nicer. Well the beach turned out to be very nice indeed but the bus ride there, well that's another story.

So first of all the bus terminal for Yangon is freaking far away (about 15km out of town) and it's costs $6 by taxi just to go there. And of course all the buses here leave so freaking early (6am) so we end us catching the taxi at 4:30am. And then we are paying $9 for our bus ticket to the "Beach resort". Well ask about the bus and they point us to the yellow bus (which actually had a mustard orange stripe on it, not yellow, but it was much too early to argue about such details ). And this bus is really just a local bus but of course we are paying the tourist price for a bus that would be $1 india, maybe 2. So me being nearly the tallest person on the bus gets the seat right at the back wheel with my legs to my chest. Mmm, 6 hour ride. Well by the end i couldn't feel much from the waist down and was for sure ready for the beach. This one guy from a hotel told us to come check out his place so we did and when we got there we learn that the place is actually full (thanks, could've used a little communication skills there). We return to another place where they have a wonderful little bungalo for us right on the beach so we took it without another word. We sent the next 5 nights and 5 days relaxing and just enjoying the beach life. I could have easily stayed another week but we decided that we should probably see some more of this country and save the next beach session for thailand. But the days passed by very fast, swimming, eating food, reading, swimming, napping, hammoking and eating food. I went for a run along the 9 mile stretch of the beach (of course i went to far and ended up being sore for the next 3 days but i passed resort after resort, most of which are inteh $50-$150 a night range. Almost all of them were totally empty, it was that bad. But i can totally understand it. I mean the government wants to develop this place (they ordered the entire village that was there moved 100m) but they of course go it all the wrong way as most military dictatoships go. They put all these really expensive hotels there, man of which they own themselves and yet don't develop the route there. So there is only a local bus that connects to the place unless you hire your own taxi for the 6 hour drive. So the room is $140 a night but you have to get on a 6 hour bus that is packed, hot, dusty, with people barfing and no leg room to get there. Mmm, just doesn't fit together. Anyways, at our place we had these three very cute ladies who worked there and got maybe 6 hours sleep everyday and yet had more energy than i have seen in a person in a while. This one girl would run everywhere and up to greet you when you came for breakfast or got in from dinner in the village. So after I would just run up to her as well jsut so that she wouldn't have to run as far. The last night, we had a bit of a bonfire with the rest of the people at the resort and the girls did some dancing for us and we did a little dancing for them. And boy, we partied hard, all the way until 11pm!! I know, crazy. Well we eventually decided to go and caught the 6am bus back to Yangon hoping to hook up with another bus to Bagan that same day so we wouldn't have to stay in Yangon or go to and from the bus terminal twice.

Kolkata-Yangon

2007-02-09T22:56:00.000-08:00

Ok so we arrived in Yangon last night from Kolkata after 4 fairly frustrating days that make you wonder why you go to India in the first place and even more why you plan to return. Anyways, Kolkata was a big city with lots of big city stuff and doing things in India, let alone a big city, doing anything at all just takes soooo long. We of course didn't help ourselves by sleeping in until 10 in the morning and one night staying up late partying the night before our last day in town but still it could have been easier. So we went back to the consulate in the morning with 4 photos and got that done. fine. we then returned to get food and rest a bit in the hostel before starting to walk out and do things. pass the many pee walls, sweet, and off to find the tourist office. got a map and found out that they don't have the nightlife brosure anymore but we sit inside for a bit and enjoy the a/c. Then we keep going and begin the search for Cail's sitar. There are a bunch of shops along this one road so we go into many of them to see what they all got going on. get a wide range of prices on sitars that look the same from far but when you look closely they are quite different. ok this one was a quicky, that one too a long time etc... decided on one that gave us tha package deal but they don't accept credit cards. so off to find a bank machine that my card works at. ok return and the process begins with the purchase. someone is sent to get the case, chai is served, they have to pack it all up and such. fine, sweet, got that done. Now we got to ship this thing. so i haul it on my head like any Indian would do, got so many looks and eventually arrived at the post office, just another amazing colonial building that is now some slow Indian system. Ok so this thing cannot be shipped by boat as it is too long. great, so it had to be shipped by express mail. fine, oh but wait, as with all other Indian post, it needs to have some sort of custom made cloth diapers to be made to cover the whole thing. So gotta pay that guy to make this crazy cover, slightly misshapen of course so that took a while. He even put a little patch over this tiny space. oh well shipped, done, sweet. back home, rest before out to dinner. we went out to a nice place but unfortuanetly were shuffled into the back cafeteria style area so it kinda lost a bit of feel to it. but it was a nice dinner with cocktails even.

The next day we awoke, a little too late because i let Justina sleep in. But she looked so cute so i couldn't wake her. we phoned the rents one last time as we didn't know what kind of situation it would be in Yangon and did some emailing before going to pick up our Burma visa. Done, sweet. after that we did some walking around to get a few things, pharmacuticals and the like and then returned to rest as we were plannig on going to the club that night. So on the way to dinner, we stoped at the club to ask them about details. opens at 9pm till 4am and i need to get some shoes if i want to come in. ok then. Had some dinner at this bar/restaurant that had a live band. When the english act started at 9pm, this lady with an outfit that some would deem a little too much in Canada, sang Venga Boys, the song about eating pizza. Lifa, we thought of you. Got back to the hotel, asked the dudes there about shoes but all their feet were obviously too small for me so i went out to search for some. Found some for $5, done sweet. The club was fun, seeing the Indians there do things that most Indians don't even think of was interesting. We tried to invite this group of 3 girls who were dancing on the edge of the dancefloor to come on it but they said that they couldn't because their dad was watching. mmm... i see.

Well the next morning was a little slow but we got out and began the day. More frustrating stuff, went to HSBC bank, an INTERNATIONAL bank and of course, no we don't cash travellers checques. Went to the AMERICAN EXPRESS bank, and no we don't do that either. WOW. Went to the GSI to get some maps and then to the post office to ship some stuff, more diaper packaging. Didn't have enought to pay the packing guy and as we returned to the hotel, it started to pour rain so we dolled out jackets and got soaked. It was amazing to see how much of the place was flooded after 10 minutes of rain, and i can see how in the rainy season, rickshaws are the only way to travel. Went to the money exchange guy who could cash out checques and give us US cash and that was another 45 minute process. Well we arrived back tired but wanted to go check out a movie. So we got in a cab and did the whole meter now thing to get to the shopping mall. Dinner at Subway, pretty much the only thing that went well during our whole Kolkata experience, it was that good. bought tickets to the movies but wasn't until 10:45om so we returned to the hotel. of course the caby on the way back ripped us off by taking us on this huge roundabout way. why can't people just be fair here. 24rps there, 90 back, yeah that makes a lot of sense. Packed up and returned to the theatre. Got through half of the movie, well it was intermission after 1.5 hours, but as it was all in Hindi and there was clearly no Bollywood dancing that was gonna happen we went home. Had to walk as all the cabbies were asking 300rps. Woke the next morning and caught the taxi to the airport. Hotel guys says it takes 1hr, of course it takes 30min. And here is the kicker of India. Just as you are leaving there coutry they are ripping you off. We are still getting out bags out of the cab and we are thrust this coffee in our faces then the guy runs away. Oh that's kinda nice, a free coffee as we are leaving. Nope as we go to walk in, they demand 20rps. Man just makes you want to loose it. Sure doesn't leave a good impression that's for sure. Well we are now in Burma, that was bit of a long one and no pics, that doesn't work here. We have to work out our plan as there are so many places that are either off limits or only accessible by an expenive flight. Ahh, military juntas.

Puri- "It is my wife, she is sick"

2007-02-05T05:25:00.000-08:00

hey there, well we are now in Calcutta, well Kolkata now after another lovely train ride. Kolkata is a city of 13.2 million and yet it has one of the worst train stations i have seen, with no system in place. Amazing how you can go sometimes to saying that you will never return to India ever again. It was a very long train ride to Puri and after let's say 15-16 hours, you are ready to get off the train. I had the bunk that had the perfect view of Justina below so that was one less Indian staring at her while she sleeps. We arrived in Puri and began the search for a hotel room. Went to one right on the beach but, mmm dirty and bathroom dirty. Another room, dirty, can do better. And we were sure glad we kept looking. Strolled into this lovely family stay house with such a cute family. They only had 3 rooms in their house that they rented out and the 26 yr old sun ran the "internet cafe" upstairs. We guessed that it was really just his computer but it was never confirmed. We had the room below which was quite large, had a balcony on the front and a clean bathroom. And all for the low low price on 200rps! It was such a steal. So the first day we settled in and had a nap, went out for food then internet then more food and there goes a day right there. The next morning we did another one of those crazy sleep in days and had the beginnings of the many knocking on the door. Granted we had them doing quite a bit for us (getting train tickets, tour tickets, etc...) but the family really liked knocking on our door to make sure that we had everything. And just when you are still sleeping and have to get up to answer the door, all the annoyance just goes away as the door opens. The family is just that cute, especially the mom. So that day we had some late breakfast that was more like lunch and headed down to the beach to chill out. Things kinda went a little bad after this. Justina began to feel not well quite quickly after the food although we thought it was just because we had eaten a lot. Later after dinner, things got a little worse and she had the middle of the night fever going on. So when the alarm rang at 6:30am so we could get on our bus for a 12 hour crazy tour of so much stuff, it was clear that we weren't going to make the bus. And hence the title. In my sleepiness, i actually used those words, and it sounded very much like Borat. So the next few days were spent taking care of Justina who had caught some sort of food poisoning, getting some sort of food she can take in (juice, bread, crackers, etc...)

The next day she was sufficiently better in the afternoon to wander out to check out the temple and some market stalls. The temple is Hindus only, so we had to climb to the top of the Library to get a peak inside(with a small donation of course). It's too bad as the temple looked like quite the complex. Walking the crazy streets of India followed with the usual fare including cows eating garbage as well as the Hindu god donations that are dumped over the wall. An interesting system in a country that is so poor and starving where they donate all this food and things to the gods that are then dumped in clear view over the wall into a large pile for the cows to eat. It is clearly not reaching the gods. Other street highlights is dead bodies being carried down the street, stall after stall of the same stuff which largely included the temples what seemed to be some sort of mascot more than god characters with large alien like saucer eyes and small pokeman type body. As one Indian guy described it, "the Hindu religion is very complicated", now that's a gross understatement. We also tried to get some key chains made for the family as she had mentioned how she liked the one i had put on to our key and that she had meant to get some but just hasn't yet. So we thought it would be a good gesture. But again India has foiled us. This is what i wrote down on a piece of paper for the key chain man to engrave on the key chain, " Rm 1, Rm 2, Rm 3" And what did we end up getting?
"R. M-1, R. M-2, R. M-3". WOW, that's all i have to say, Wow. Well the next day Justina felt good enough for us to rent a scooter, which was quickly named "Rickety Red". Should have gotten the motorcycle. I mean this scooter had nearly 400000 km on it! How can it still be running. But it got us to the Konark temple and back in one piece so that was nice. The Konark sun temple was quite interesting, built in the mid 13th century and with 2 sister temples a ways away that creates some huge triangle. The whole thing was depicted with the sun in mind and the phases of life coinciding with the rising and falling of the sun. We have the rising sun and birth, the children represented with the animal kingdom at the bottom. The middle sun with sculptures representing the youth, which consisted almost exclusively of kama sutra sculptures positions, which were all described to us in full detail by our grandpa guide, to quote, "this is 69, very interesting position. And here the woman is kissing the man and the second wife is waiting." While pointing, "Lesbians". And so on, you can guess the rest that isn't suitable for the blog. Ahhh. And how old are you sir? It was entertaining to say the least. Then the setting sun is depicted for the old people, the tired man and his horse. The main temple used to be over 220ft or something like that, really big anyways. But when it was found that the many iron clamps holding it together made it into a large magnet that was messing with the Portuguese's navigation instruments, they of course came in colonial fashion and destroyed it. Nice work. We returned to Puri, safely, and had some dinner before boarding our 10:30pm train to Kolkata.

Well this train ride wasn't too bad, only 9 hours, and we arrived in Kolkata at 8:30am. Well what a messed up "system" they have here sometimes, if it can even be called that. For the main train station for a city of 13.2 million i was expecting a little more. "Private car to Sudder st for 300rps?" No thanks, I'll get a 50rps taxi. Go to the prepay taxi stand where there is a large lineup that isn't moving with the guy behind the counter staring into space as the guy at the front of the line is trying to get him to do something. Forget that, go to the meter taxi lineup. In the lineup for a bit and then we agree for a guy to take us for 100rps. He takes us to the taxi and expects us to pay 100rps to share with 3 other people, i don't think so. Return to the meter taxi line. Eventually get in a taxi at the front of the line pretty much by opening the trunk and putting my stuff in. And then the driver even tries to do the meter fake, buddy, common, who do you think we are, amateurs? Get that thing on. Ahh India, how you can make me hate you. Battle some touts, look at a few shitty rooms and settle for one small room that is clean with our own bathroom. Got out Burma visa forms but must return tomorrow as i needed 4 photos, had 3 and all the photo shops are closed because of course its monday, duh. OK well this is a long one and having trouble with the photos but we will be spending the next few days getting everything ready for Burma, shopping and shipping and see Kolkata. Take care.

Mamallapuram

2007-01-29T03:36:00.000-08:00

OK so the photos aren't working too well but i will keep trying as i write this. We are now gonna be heading to Chennai where we will be getting a 20 hours, yes 2-0! hour train ride to Bhubaneswar where we can then get to Puri. It's gonna be quite the test, I'm not really sure what of yet but probably a test of something. The days here in Mamallapuram were not really spent doing a whole lot. But that was both up our alleys as we both got a little sick (well really i got sick and then got Justina sick but those of course are just minor details). So due to the lack of energy we spent some time sleeping in and enjoying our large bed and very clean room, and hanging out at the many rooftop louge restaurants or chillin on the beach. Sounds tough i know. But we are by now feeling quite a bit better and i think we will both agree in as the 11-12th hour on the train comes around that we will be very glad that we are not sick. I still enjoyed a really nice birthday though, got a nice card, a book that i just have to read as well treated to a relaxation message from Justina. All very nice presents. Because of course i was feeling just so stressed out. It was a little interesting getting massaged by a man with sort of rough hands totally naked, and switching positions, lying down, up, sitting, etc.. but it was really nice and i know i probably thought about it a lot more than he did. Although he kept asking if Justina was gonna come back to get one too, but hey i can't blame the guy for wanting to massage girls, could you? We also spent some time on the beach enjoying the late sun. I got a lot of really nice bday emails too, could have a little to do with the hint i put in the blog but they were really well recieved anyways, so thanks to all. For my birthday dinner we actually tried the seafood here (as in the stuff they catch that day) and it was really nice, some jumbo prawns and tuna steaks. And we even drank 3 beers! I know it doesn't sound like much but here that's quite the milestone. One day we vistised the Five Raithas temple complex that is another world heritage site that can be checked off the list. It was fairly small but you just had to remind yourself that all those structures were carved from one solid piece of rock and that ain't easy. Today we went shopping as this place is a bit of a sculpture capital (see Justina's blog title) and actually did very well. Of course you could buy so much more as many of them are truly remarkable but there is only so much that can be carried and only so much that can be shipped. One that was really interesting was that had Laptop Ganesh and even a bunch of Desktop computer Ganesh. Again it's amazing how they depict their gods here, whether it be laptop Ganesh or all the flahy lights and things, to us it makes them seem much less holy and to a point disrespectful, but they love it here. Just more crazy India.

Pondicherry

2007-01-24T22:38:00.000-08:00

So we are about to leave Pondicherry to catch a bus to Mamallapuram where i will be enjoying my 25th birthday on the beach, eating good seafood and enjoying some semi legal beers. It's gonna be sweet. Not a bad way to spend a birthday, even if to me 25 seems just a little bit on the old side. Pondicherry has been a very pleasant place. Very easy to walk everywhere, the streets are very clean, some really interesting colonial architecture and just overall laid back atmosphere. no places really open until 10am and they all close between 12-2 or even 4 as that if siesta time. then they will open again until 7, 9 or 11 if its a restaurant. We have been enjoying the many rooftop garden restaurants with theire french styles and even some of the funny attempt at french signs. This one place was called "L'E Space". i found it funny at least. The first day we pretty much slept most of it as there wasn't much sleep to be had on the bus ride over here. The next day we did a lot of the tourist things, visited an ashram and even convinced Justina to go to the Pondicherry museaum. As i climbed the stairs onto the second floor of the museum, Justina was sitting in a chair in the first room looking as if this was gonna take a while. ( I was a little slow as they had this huge chart with the history of the entire world and didn't think anything else could slow me down as much as that). But she told me to go around the corner to the right, outside. And what do i find there? A large rock collections of rock and mineral samples from all over India!!! ok well maybe it's just me that would get excited, but Justina thought it was quite funny. It's how she thinks usually of my rock liking. The next day we rented a scooty (they actually say scooty on the side of them here) and battled the traffic for the first bit before driving off intot he coutryside. We were looking for one interesting town and some beaches but there were really no roadsigns at all and we just kinda explored around the side streets. We cam to a few places that was a beach and one that we think might have been the one that was described in the book. Last night we had a very nice dinner and even a bottle of wine! that is a huge rarity here. So that's all i got for now. We have booked our flight from Calcutta to Burma for the 9th of february, so we are officially going to Myanmar. I'm pretty excited about it.

Mini train and Pondicherry

2007-01-22T05:18:00.000-08:00

So it turned out to be ok timing as the mini train resumed its service on the 2oth of jan and so we took it down to Mettupalayam on the 21st, where we would board a ocal bus to Coimbature and then catch an overnight to Pondicherry. It was a very cute train and the ride was very nice through the mountains but at times i felt like getting out and walking as i think that might have been faster. but hey it's about the experience right? And to check off another thing on the list. We got into Mettupalayam, where a taxi driver says that it's cheaper to take the taxi than the local bus. your funny buddy, really funny, how can it be cheaper than 25 cents each , mmmm? So now we are in Pondercherry for a few days, a sleepy sort of french colonial town before we continue north. Oh and yes the roads here are very bad, i think i was airborne (fully) about 3-4 times on the overnight bus, and that is semi lying down.

Ooty

2007-01-22T05:03:00.000-08:00

ok well the trip wasn't that nice but the reward was there for sure. We luckily got this room on the top floor of this one guesthouse that overlooked the lake ad if we had arrived maybe an hour later would have missed it was people were just checking out and there were others who arrived after us. So we felt fortunate. And for all of you who are thinking, "oh aaron is in some tropical paradise, so warm" well think again as Ooty was a cold mountain town. It was hot during the day mind you but as soon as the sun went down it was quite cold, we were guessing around 4-5 degrees. Justina even bought a toque for the time that we were there. But it was kinda nice to sleep under a big blanket other than the half sheet deal that is usually the norm here. Well we explored Ooty, went walking around as much as we could and relaxing as best as we could. The market was quite nice, so many good looking veggies and fruits, the selection is amazing and the people quite friendly, most don't even notice you. One of the days we joined a trek into the mountains to see the tea plantations and villages. As Justina pointed out, they weren't as villagy as they could be with roads and buses that reach them but they are very small communities that are agriculture based and very poor soo... It amazing sometimes, when some people could just really use your empty water bottle. Justina tried to give these kids a balloon but one of them snatched it out of her hands as she tried to blow it up and the fighting soon began so that was enough of that. Apparently the kinds don't share here, there really isn't much sharing at all that goes on, amazing for a place with so little to go around. it was an interesting walk that ended at a huge lookout point. And boy is it ever amazing how much pollution there is here. You can really see it in the air at places like this, trapped by the mountains around it as well as in your nose and throat. kinda gross i know but it's true. I mean the view is very nice but so much is blocked out. We are very lucky to live in a place that is so clean.

ahh India

2007-01-22T04:52:00.000-08:00

Ok well I got a little taste of indian travelling although there wasn't that much we could do about it as it was mostly bad timing. But the story goes that we went to the train station to inquire about taking the train to Ooty. She says that there is no direct train and the connection option sounded quite complicated. Furthermore, the miniature train, one of the main reasons that we were going to Ooty was out of commission due to rockfall. Ok then, fine. We then go to a travel agent dude, who said that there is no train but you can take the bus to Coimbature and that the newspaper has said that the mini train is in fact running again. Well half way at least and we could just go to the bottom station and inquire when we get there. Ok then fine, let's do that. So later on that night, quite late as we were in our bed clothes , we get the knock on the door. It is some Indian man who doesn't speak english very well and is actually a little stressed out. He says that the bus isn't running anymore as it's broken or something and can't be fixed, so he needs our passport info to try to get us on the tourist quota train to Coimbature and then catch the local bus from there to Mettupalayam. Mmm, i thought that there wasn't a train. oh well, we tell him that we will come in the morning and to go have some chai and chill out. So of course, the morning comes along and there is another knock on the door. Same dude, even more stressed out this time and said that we must come now. ok ok we are on our way. We get to the travel agent and he explains things how the bus isn't running and the train is really full as everyone is going home after the festival in Madurai (there was a festival going on?). but he will get us spots, no problem. ok cool. so that night we return to the agent to pick up our berth numbers and he writes one on our ticket, 22. i thought to myself, mmm, that sounds like one number. He explains that it is, it's all he could get, but don't worry, there will prolly be an open spot and the conductor will move you there. mmm right. we were a little frustrated as we felt that we got ripped off, well we did money wise but also ripped off for what we got. but the trael agent guy said he was sorry and justina felt much better as she explained that that never happes. so anyways, it was a very tight ride, i read as long as i could before joining justina in our bunk, fit for one Indian, not 2 whiteys. but hey that's travelling. we arrived in coimnbature and joined in this pair of english ladies on a hired mini-bus to Ooty, arrving around 9am. what a journey but it ended ip being worth it as is usually the case for places that are hard to get to.

Madurai

2007-01-17T05:40:00.000-08:00

Well, we are about to leave on the train to attempt to get to Ooty, hopefully. The train here was actually just fine, I've been on worse in Italy even but Justina said that it was one of the emptiest trains that she had been in so i am prepared for worse. We spent the first day here resting and figuring out what we wanted to do for the rest of the time in India. Got some good chores done and soon enough the day is over. Doesn't really take much here it seems. It is quite tiring walking around and such, i guess just because it is much harder than New Zealand, many people asking for everything. They tend to talk to me more as i am the man and in charge of everything, if they only knew the truth. But if they get too far, Justina has no problem stepping in and its soon over after that. We visited the temple today which was quite neat, another amazing place where it is tought to understand what all these people get out of it. BUt maybe it's just hard to understand for me. Anyways, got some more clothes suitable for here at the market, the Mr.Canada comes out fast as soon as you say where you are from. And now i may taste some real travelling that may intail train, bus, train or train, bus, bus, or train, bus, bus, train. Who knows whats in store. not me.

India-Varkala

2007-01-15T03:43:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, well i arrived safely here in Varkala India and let's just say it was a little exciteing to see Justina again. Just a little. been here 4 nights and i can really see how you can get lost in a place like this. well it doesn't help when you are having breakfast at 11am everyday but it's ok, we earned it. There really isn't much to say, been to the beach a couple of times, meals here always takes so long because you end up sitting there feeling just so stressed out, looking out onto the ocean with a nice breeze. really tough, i know. We are now gonna be leaving on an overnight train to Madurai and our, well my start into real india. I'm looking forward to it, even if it's a bit of a shock. That's about it, we have the next while planned out, gonna spend another 2-3 weeks in India before heading to Burma for the allocated month and then to the south of thailand before a little more India. hope all is well. it is with me now.

Bungy Taupo-Auckland

2007-01-08T19:47:00.000-08:00

OK so now i am in Auckland and tomorrow at 3pm i fly to Singapore for the night before continuing on to Trivandrum in southern India. All set for Singapore, booked into a hotel stopover package, i know not very traveller like but its a good deal and no hassle which is sweet when i have 24 hours to be exact in the town. On the morning of driving to Auckland, we stopped to do the Bungy which was sweet, a lot different than skydiving that's for sure, you are so much closer to your surroundings and then you get dunked in the water. I wish that i had looked more down when i was dropping though because i couldn't tell where i was for the most part until i hit the water. oh well next time. We also stopped to pick up some hubcaps as 2 had been lost along the journey and what do ya know, they have the exact same ones in the store, the cheapest you can get. what a surprise. Got into Auckland, found a place to stay and then headed out for kebabs and the Heineken Open, my first tennis tournament experience. Now it wasn't packed with stars but the 7 and 9th world ranked players were there and we were able to watch the 7th ranked player Robredo? woop some 57th ranked players butt. so that was neat. The next day we packed up and Jesse dropped me off at a hostel downtown before driving out to the airport to head to Fiji for a week before returning home. So its just me now. It's been raining all day today so just been walking around getting all the errands done for India and maybe hit a movie later as all the tennis will be probably cancelled. Anyways, not much else to say, thanks for the comments everyone, i forgot about the singing up part, not always easy. well take care, might not put up another entry for a little bit. see you all later

Ferry-Taupo

2007-01-06T21:25:00.000-08:00

Ok, so is anyone reading this, i haven't got any comments at all. Even a hi would be nice, common how hard is that? hehe Anyways, in Taupo now, might not get pics up here but will soon. We went out that night after the intense 3 hour interenet session and checked out the local bars. Nothing huge as its friday and people go out here on thursday and saturday, but fun anyways. Went to sleep around 1:30am, mmm car sleeping and woke up 3 hours later to get on our 5:30am ferry. Wow what a restfull sleep. It was really nice though going through Malborough sounds as the sun is coming up and got a few good early light pics. We arrived in Wellington and had breakfast and hit the road. And it was obviously the right direction as as we got closer and closer to Taupo, it got sunnier and sunnier. We stopped to take some pics of the mountains for mordor including mount doom, which was neat, it was a good day to see them. Got in to Taupo, went to one place to inquire about a room and they only had 3 left and they were above the bar so apparently our floors would shake until 4 am, like literally. So i guess we found where we were gonna go to tonight but not a place to stay. Found a few beds, and headed out for dinner. Had a nice server from Quebec city but of course my french has deteriorated to near nothing but i tried anyways. That night people were out, we haven't been to many places where there have been many others partying but this was for sure one of them. We woke up the next morning feeling 100% reading for skydiving. well maybe 20% but we were ready. It was really really fun. I can't believe that these people do it sometimes 15 times a day. and get paid to do it too. The one guy has done over 9000 jumps! Anyways, it's interesting, when you are on your way to jump out of the plane, you don't really realize what's going on and then when you are free falling, that's only when you can tell. Crazy! you can't not just laugh the whole time. Well after that we had some lunch and crashed for a while. Got up to go bungy jumping but unfortunately it was just closing so we aren't gonna do both in a day, that will have to wait until tomorrow. Oh well. The thing i'm thinking about the most right now is 4 more sleeps until India. Tomorrow its off to Auckland for the last 2 nights and there is a tennis tournament going on starting tomorrow night so we are gonna check that out. Take care everyone.

Malborough Sounds

2007-01-05T00:57:00.000-08:00

ok so we drove to the start of this Queen Charlotte track, asked about beds at teh hotel there and the lady was kinda rude so we packed what food we had left and headed to the camp an hour hike away. that of course was 30 min away and we camped right on the beach with nearly no one aroyund. tried out the night stuff on my camera and it's actually sweet, i shoudl have took more of those kind of pics before. well i know now. The next day we work up, waited for the tent to dry as there was dew everywhere and hiked to mosquito bay whic was 4 hours away. well maybe 2.5 but that's aight. it was a really nice and peacefull walk with some nice scenic views. Had lunch at the bay, then hiked back. Got into the car and drove to picton where we will be boarding the ferry at 5:30am tomorrow morning. SO maybe not much sleep tonight. But hey, that's vacation. Aight, i'm done, take care everyone, considered yourselves up to date.

Abel Tasman

2007-01-05T00:36:00.000-08:00

Ok lots of pictures and little talking is the best way to describe the Abel Tasman Park. Again we were super, super lucky. When we arrived at the kayak rental place and asked him about a 3 day trip, he was like, "there is no chance, everything is booked". but he called anyways and bam, there is one night available at Bark Bay, and one night at Appletree bay. So since bark bay was about a 5.5hr paddle away, we quickly got some food and set off. And boy that first day was rough. lots of water coming over the top and getting us soaked. But as i had more experience than Jesse, i took the rear and steering and so wasn't as wet, well just no face hits, hehe. After one break for some food, we kept going and arrived at Bark Bay. Beautiful spot. There was this group of older kiwi guys, obviously old mates as the were at each other the whole time. But we were allowed a camp fire, which was super nice and they had a bunch of mussels that they had picked to cook over the fire. True camping to us canadians. These guys were quite funny, and kept us laughing for most of the night. we drank both bottles of wine that we had brought. The next morning we woke up slowly, chilled for a bit, waited for the craziness of the water taxis to happen. i mean common people how hard is it to go your own way? then we set out for more paddling. So much calmer this day, we stopped at a gorgeous beach for lunch and such and then in the afternoon when there were no boats out continued to our next camping spot. Set up our tent, right on the beach which was sweet and hung out with this interesting group of people, 3 dutch, 2 austrian, 1 aussie, 1 english and 1 american and just chatted about anything. Once it got to dark and all our hope for any sort of game went away, we hit the sack. Woke up the next day to a glorious morning, played 2 chess games with the aussie, 1-1, but he had to go before we could have a decider. Paddled out into the calm waters and around some islands and then returned to town. We then looked at the map and said hey, Let's go hike the Queen charlotte track!

Ferry to Picton and Motueka

2007-01-05T00:30:00.000-08:00

So we woke up at 10:20am, luckily as the battery on my alarm clock decided to die that morning. packed and rushed out. got to the ferry terminal for our 1pm boat just fine, no sleep but we made it. nice ride, some really good scenery on the way into picton actually but stayed inside most of the time. arrived in picton and started driving. Tried to stay the night in Nelson, totally full, so hey lets keep on driving. Arrived in Motueka, found some beds, called some friends back home to wish happy new years for them and kinda crashed. Ya! sleep! kayaking tomorrow.

Wellington New years

2007-01-05T00:17:00.000-08:00

ok this new years is mostly in pictures. but we went to afew bars, then met trudy at the southern cross for a few mroe. we then went to this other place for the actual new years where this band in white suits was playing. (Side note, this, we believe, is the same band that played in Kimberley some 4-5 weeks ago, gallagher, check out the photo and see for yourself. kinda crazy) anyways, we soon left that place after midnight as we had the dj show to get to. Showed up and soon after, Tara reynolds was on. She played a really good set and you could tell that she was having a good time so that's always important. Danced our faces off for prolly 4-5 hours and emegerd into the early light searching for kebabs, didn't find any. Good new years though, UPF would be proud.

Himatangi Beach- Wellington

2007-01-04T23:36:00.000-08:00

Aight so it's been a while so gonna catch up one by one here. We drove from New plymouth down the surf highway on the way to wellington. it is clear why they call it the surf highway, so many surf beaches along the way. it was quite nice. we almost saw the volcano but not quite was covered in just enough cloud to be out of view. oh well, it was a nice day for a drive nonetheless. Then we get to wellington, check into our hostel and of course it starts pouring rain again. this whole new zealand summer thing is killing us. Everywhere we go, " yeah this is one of the worst summers ever". thanks tips. oh well, make the best of it right. we walked around a bit, asked a few people about new years stuff, everyone saying get out of wellington. well that's not really an option, so your not much help. we had some dinner and went out for some drinks and met this one really nice girl Trudy at the first bar we went to, which actually is everyday kareoke bar, which was interesting. played some pool, she took us to another bar where we talked some more and agreed to meet up tomorrow night at some point. The next morning we woke up around 1pm and decided to do it all, bar hopping and dj show and so got the tickets and got ready. See next

New Plymouth

2006-12-27T23:20:00.000-08:00

Well still here and lucky that we stayed. We payed for 3 nights wehen we arrived and then woke up to cloud and rain and thought, too bad that we payed for 3 nights. We then drove to the info centre and were informed that gale force winds were in the forecast for tomorrow and that to get to the top of the mountain right now you need ice crampons and lots of experience in ice climbing. So since we have neither of those than i guess that that was out of the question. So we decided to do the only thing that you can do outside when it's raining... surfing. So i picked up the board from the hostel (which was a 6'2 board and skiiny as well which i soon found out that i really wasn't ready for), jesse rented a board and a suit and we heard to the beach by town. Man was it ever stormy, it was as if the gale force winds were already here and at some point it was truly dumping rain. but hey gotta make the best of it and with a wetsuit on, all you need to do is keep active and your fine. So i did a bunch of skimming and some attempt at surfing and we battled it out. Where am I, Tofino? No, New Zealand during the summer time. Which everyone who we have talked to have described it as the worst summer they have ever had, hehe. There are even macdonalds commercials making fun at it. Well we returned to the hostel and as we get there and have kunch what does it do? Gets totaly blue skies and sunny. Wow, so we chowed down, jumped in the car and hit a beach about 15km out of town. Wow it was so nice to get some sun. And the skimming was ridiculously good. We got some good pics and vids and will try to get some up when we are at a regular computer. But didn't get back till 8pm, long day at the beach. But that's kinda what we are here for so its good.
That night we tried going out the bar, but things were kinda quiet, except one place which we soon figured out was a work xmas party, which we learned was called something like a chrstmas "bang"or something. We decided that we would tell the time by how many buttons were undone on the guys dress shirts. each one meant an hour. hehe
We woke up with sunny skies and were happy but then fell back asleep for a bit and then woke up again and it was cluody, boo. So we ventured out, picked up two boards, a longer one for me this time, in the rain and headed to the beach. after some surfing and getting pounded, i switched to skimboarding which i can do very well to make me feel better. After a nice skim session and some lunch, the sun began to peak through and it turned into a nice day. so moer surfing, got out once past the whitewater, that stuff it really hard here sometimes. but it was another great day ont eh beach nonetheless. tomorrow we get somewhere between here and wellington and then its to wellington for new years! man time goes by fast
take care everyone

Waitomo Caves-New Plymouth

2006-12-26T14:15:00.000-08:00

Aight well no pictures quite yet as that isn't possible on this computer so that will have to wait. We are now in New Plymouth where we we supposed to be enjoying the beach and the surf. we may still enjoy the surf but it is raining and stormy, so less enjoying the beach. i gotta say that we didn't expect weather like this here, i mean its supposed to be summer. Many people that we have talked to have said that this isn't normal which is just perfect. Oh well. We arrived at Waitomo caves, go t a place and went to try to book the caving tour. But of course it's chritsmas the next day so things aclosed stupid. So we booked for the next day and then headed to Raglan, a surf beach abotu 1.5 hours away for the day. Many other people had the same idea but had secured there boards and such the day before as things are closed on christmas. Weird. We hit the beach anyways and at least it was rather warm. So i got the skimboard out and it was the first ever skimboard Christmas experience for me, so that's was sweet. And it was fun watching all the other people surf too. On the drive back we hit up some waterfalls which were pretty cool and then back to waitomo caves for the night in the hostel. This time whe we returned there was 2 bus tours there, including a contiki tour. I am reminded very quickly why i wouldn't like to be on one of those tours. The drmam, and childishness of some of the people is a little too much for me. I guess i'm not 19 anymore but still, i don't think that i was like that tnen anyways. The caving was pretty cool but of course a little too hyped up. BUt there were some really neat formations and so many glow worms on the walls and ceilings so that was actually my favorite. Such amazing creatures, they only need 2-3 bugs for food for their wholel lives! We are now in New plymouth, gonna hit the surf today and hopefully the weather turns for the better as we were planning on hiking the 2500m volcano. Think summy for me. see ya

Pakiri Beach-Auckland

2006-12-23T23:51:00.000-08:00

ok So there are a bunch of things here to talk about. OK so after Paihia, we went to Pakiri beach, a stop on the way back to auckland. Beautiful beach but it was getting stormy. good thing we have a tent, hehe. it was nice to have a nice relaxing time though after the chaos of Paihia. (On the last night there, we went to the bar that closes at 3am and they had fooseball!). The kinda weird thing about Pakiri is that it's in the middle of nowhere and ye the security is the craziest i have ever seen! gate with sharp stuff ont hte top of the fence, and unfriendly staff. Not going there again. But we arrived in Auckland, found a place, went to this pretty lame aquarium, well it's nothing compared to vancouver(except for this conveyor belt thing that took you around this track and your surrounded byt the tank with sharks and fish and stuff. And they had penguins. But that was that day

I will now descibe to you a night in Auckland. This was very interesting. I was trying to meet up with my friend Lisa who was arriving in Auckland that night(which didn't happen unfortunately), so after dinner we go to the Globe bar, the one that we heard was good for travellers. A little early as it's more a club so we sti down at the bar to have a few pints. Time goes by, a few more and people are trickling in. Now before we even knew it, we were kinda worried but thought it would get better, we were suddenly surrounded by guys and one of them i think was hitting on Jesse and rubbing his leg up to his. Now i have been to gay bars before and even there there are more women than here. It was scary so we left. (gonna maybe send the lonely planet to tell them to update the type of bar that is). So then we go down to the warf as we here there are more bars there. Well these aren't bars but posh nightclubs and are turned away instantly,( well Jess was wearing sandals but i don't think the bouncer wanted to let us in anyways.) So we continue back to the hostel district to on bar at the bottom of a big hostel. Now this is another thing we learned is that people here in Auckland get really drunk and really early. We arrive to this place that is total chaos, there is this guys who is dressed up in a santa suit, which really soon turns into only santa pants, people coming to talk to us but can't form sentences, and this wa maybe at 11:30pm. Amazing. So we had a few more there and moved on. At this time we decide to walk back but on the way run into this bar and decide to go in. This place turns out to be a japanese bar full on with japanese music and one white guy there, drunkinly dancing ont he dance floor. We only had one there are returned home. So that was our night in Auckalnd, we learned that it wasn't our scene at all.

We spent a night in Tauranga, one day on the beach and climbed the hill. The surfing sucks oin the east side so were moving to the west and gonan do some underwater caving in a few days. Merry Christmas to all, it's christmas eve here but there are no present under the tree. we don't even have a tree. But that's ok, i don'tmind at all, it's been kinda nice to be away from that chaos, although i miss being with the fam around now. I wish all a merry xmas wherever you are.

Paihia boat cruise

2006-12-19T20:39:00.000-08:00

hey there, well not much has passed from here, just went on a baot cruise around the islands. it's a little different than the boat cruises you find in vietnam and much more expensive but that's the reality when you travel in a developed country. the scenery is still gorgeous. just thought i would put up some pics.

NZ-Ahipara and Paihia

2006-12-18T22:14:00.000-08:00

hey there, in Paihia now. The internet actually works here and is quick. things are much more catered towards travellers here. we actually have me other people like our age and stuff. Not very good weather though which is unfortunate. but oh well, gonna try to make the best of it. Ok not sure what i wrote on the previous blog so some may overlap but i'll try to fill some blanks. So we were in Ahipara, and drove up to the cape which was neat. We did some sand dune boarding down what they called Psyco alley or something so then we invented psyco gap which is where you have to aim between a rock a tree at the bottom, hehe. it was fun, always trying to make things more interesting. We then drove down the creek, another thing that you would never get a way with in canada down to the beach. it was really cool going down the beach, kinda wish we had a litte more intense car then we could go all the way but oh well we got the idea. The next day after another quiet night we figuerd that we would hit the beach again and that our sunburns had recoverd enough. so Jesse went and got a surf board and we headed out. so nice. i love the beach, especially where the skimboarding is so so good. and no wetsuit needed and the surf is fun too. we then drove to Kaitia where we saw a cool museum with the curator who loved canada. and again, so funny when you tell people where you are planning to go next and they are so shocked, "wow that's like a 2 hour drive away!" hehe silly new zealanders and there small distances. we then dorve to Paihia and were pleasantly surprised to see that there are like other tourists here and lots of restaurants, etc... so here we got a hostel room, luxury. beds and pillows and such. cool though good change. today we did pretty much nothing, woke up when wewanted, talked to people and ate and had a nap and then went for a long walk around and got some groceries for dinner. that's about it. tomorrow gonna try to do a cruise but weather dependant, it was pouring here for a lot of the day(another reason for the laziness). it's gonna be fun going to a bar tonight that closes at 1am! yah! take care everyone

New Zealand intro

2006-12-16T21:08:00.000-08:00

hey there, this will be quick and with no photos at the moment as the internet is slow and expensive. i know i thought this was a developed country too! anyways, we are in Ahipara now on the north coast. we went to the very tip of NZ today and did some sand boarding as well. it's quite nice here with beautiful scenery but very different type of travelling. with the car there is almost too many options of things to go and places to see so we are just flying by the seat of our pants, or boardshorts for that matter. also things are for sure not catered towards tourists at all. there are minimum restaurants, which is fine as we are camping and such and there is many things that are still closed as the busy season really hasn't started yet. but it will soon. very soon, hehe. we did 2 days in Piha, a small surf town with amazing views and incredible skimboarding (so glad i brought it) one afternoon of surfing and we were both very sunburned. but that was of course our fault as we didn't head the warnings that we received and lacked the necessary sunscreen. oh well, got the laugh at the pharmacy as we bought a large bottle of aloe vera gel. we are off to the bay of islands next and hoping that the sunburn goes away so we can go back to fully beaching it. oh yeah here they have a national highway that's on the beach! it's crazy. we drove on it but couldn't go all the way as only one entry was suitable for our little car, hehe. ok gotta go more to come soon i hope, take care everyone
aaron

Field Season 2006 part 2

2006-10-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

Well to continue on with the previous post, i had 2 weeks in Terrace doing some prospecting. Now much of this ground has been coverd fairly well so we ended up going to some places not exactly where people didn't go but couldn't go because they were crazy cliffs! Anyways, i survived, but we did some repel sampling which was pretty sweet. We also got to do some helicopter recce work which was I was very lucky to do, just fly around in a helicopter for 4 hours and stop where ever you want to. Some days I really do remember why i do this job, even with all the seperation and time away, this was one of those days. We were again fairly lucky with the weather, although there was a few days that it was shitty, but we were staying in a house in terrace which made all the difference. It was really good to see the Terrace crew again, went to a really sweet party out of town, where there was horsehoes, badminton, bonfire, loud music and fun people. All this equaled one of the worst hangovers ever, i was completely useless and i blame it all on the 2am caesars. But they were SOOO good! After Terrace, Gallagher and I drove down to Cranbrook, going through Jasper. Now that town has wonderful scenery but man, nobody was answereing to our charms, and we were trying. But the drive was really incredible. I then flew back to Vancouver as my cousin Tracy was getting married in Whistler. It was really good to see all the relatives from ontario again, even if it was a big whirlwind tour. We were lucky and received gorgeous weather for the outdoor ceremony. I then flew back to Cranbrook to run a drill program 2 hours out of town. Living in a trailer, which was actually quite luxurious comparatively. By the end of the program it was snowing and so time to get out of there. I moved in with my buddy/coworker Jesse and here i am, gonna be working in the office for nov before heading on the crazy world tour at the start of dec starting with NZ. Stay tuned it's gonna be a dousey.
i'm outro

Field Season 2006 part 1

2006-10-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

Hey there, well people probably won't be reading this as i haven't entered anything in since my trip to asia but now that i'm done the field season and in front a comp regularly, i thought i would give you a break down of the summer. You see instead of the 4 seasons that most people affiliate with, i work on 2: the field/work season and the non-work season.
My season began in terrace where i was going to be the core logger for this other company. I arrived however to a different reality. I was the core logger but also the project geo and oragniser of welll... everything. Bit of a shock but what really helped that i knew everything that i needed and where to get it from my experience being in terrace last summer for 3 months. Long story short as i don't have many pics for that time is that it was a really good time in terrace. Got to see lots of my buddy dustin and in the year he has accumulated a very cool group of peeps that i infiltrated. Got to see lots of world cup games as my schedule was determined by the boss, who was me! So that worked out pretty good overall actually. Then i returned to vancouver for 3 weeks which was nice as i missed Justina very much and we got to actually spend some time together which seems so distant right now. But the other part of it was that i wasn't working in prime working season so that part wasn't as good. Well first week of august came around and i was shipped off to the mackenzie mountains in the NWT for a 10 fly camp prospecting and mapping job. Back to the roots part of the job which i like very much.
It was awesome, 4 person camp, Brad and I and Colleen and Brownwen, 2 girls that had been working up in the yukon-NWT all summer. It was a really good crew that's for sure. we spent our days hiking around sampling and mapping and nights having a few drinks and a really good time. I enjoy that kind of stuff, especially because the weather was incredibly good. I have provided some pics of the view from my tent and the group and such. it was gorgeous up there, no bugs, hot at daya and cold at night, crazy stars and just good times. we didn't even see any bears which was a surpise. The worst day that we had was the last day so we were very glad of that. got back to whitehorse for one more night of partying. (we luckily didn't get a cop searchlight on us this time, unlike the night before we left for camp. After this, i took a 3 days journey to Dawson City to do some assesment work to follow up some stuff from last year. One day of work and 2 nights in dawson ain't bad. After this i flew back to vancouver for 4 days with Justina as she was leaving for india on the 5th. I added the pic of Justina's going away keg and my scooter. (They wouldn't let us try to take it on the scooter, which was probably a good idea). From there i went back to terrace for a 2 week prospecting and mapping program.

Siam Reap

2006-05-01T23:40:00.000-07:00

Well the bus ride to siam reap was fine but we had an interesting stop where there was some sort of part that busted inside around the front left wheel. So we stopped there while the tour guide and driver did some severe auto work and the farmers came out of their houses and the kids were amazed with digital photogaraphy (as i still am sometimes) and we arrived at the bus station which of course is 5km out of town. So we grabbed the tuk tuk driver and after a few tries to some places, we got a room in this pretty psh place but it only ended up being $7 a night, with tv, fridge aircon, my own room for 2/3 nights. we got a sweet deal as we had asked for a 3 person room but it was taken until the next day. So then the next night, the next night when the hotel guy went to ask the lady if she could move to a smaller room as she was by herself, she started crying. no joke, i felt bad for the hotel guy. so one more night with my own room, this time with 2 single beds, hehe. The last night we got the 3 person room, hehe. Well amid all the hype and the insanity of people trying to sell you stuff, angkor wat and the surrounding temples and palaces are really quite amazing. Just being there is pretty special, some serious energy going on there, so much history and just trying to think of how it was built with such primitive tools, etc... We hired the tuk-tuk guy to take us around all day and it was 2 full days of touring around and you could prolly spend another 2 days to see what i missed. maybe even 3. So the first day we took in Angkor wat, angkor thom and a few others. We then caught the sunset which was really nice but really crowded. We returned that night and went out for dinner at the same place again. We were there 3 nights in a row, but Pou and Bunthy were really good hosts and it's so much better when your known and welcomed in like friends. Plus they had reall good food, a hige menu and happy hour from morning to late night, which translates into all the time. Sweet. the first night we went right across the street to this place called angkor what? (maybe one of the worst bar names ever) for dancing. But there was only me lauren, stef and this american guy so we went to bed early... maybe 2-3am. The next night, these 2 swedish girls met up with us as well as Andy, this english geologist that i had met in laos and we went to Zone one, the big disco out of town. Now this was a sight, so 5 of us, and this group of 4 other tourists and these three hilarious dutch guys and then 300 cambodians, hehe. There was for the most part, techno dance, which was extremely loud but then every once and a while, it would calm down and there would be 3 slow songs in a row. Awesome. so we danced up a storm, had to represent the foreigners. So after getting some really late ingfht food, we got back to the hotel at 4am. and since the tuk-tuk was picking us up at 5am to take us to watch the sunset, then we just stayed up for the hour and hoped right on. Brought lots of water, some fruit and of course some sunglasses, hehe. to wear all the time. It was kinda cloudy but it was still pretty magical just being there and taking it all in. After that we tour around the larger area until 12, when we returned to the hotel to sleep until 6pm, ahh i love air con sometimes. We woke up and guess where we went for dinner? That's right Angkor Famous, same as the 2 nights before. we were joined by the dutch boys, the swedish twins and 3 more swedish girls. More great food and more 2 for 1's and then when it was apparent that they wanted to close soon, maybe 12:30-1am, we went across the street again but ths time there were actually other people there dancing as well. Another great night and very little sleep before my 9:30 flight to bangkok. I'm now in bangkok, did lots of shopping today, good but got ripped off a few times. Love the thai comps though, a great change as you might have noticed i'm all caught up for photos too, hehe. Now i'm gonna prolly go get a massage, try to see some peeps at this bar and then head to the airport for my 20 hour journey home, ouch, i know. 7 hour layover in shanghai... shanghaiya doin. hehe.. then get home at 10:30am and will sleep, sleep, mmmm... well that conlcudes my journeys for now, thanks for everyone who tuned in i hope you enjoyed it and i'll see you soon or next time. i'm outro

Saigon, Phnom Phen

2006-04-28T22:24:00.000-07:00

Well i'm in phnom phen right now, it's pouring rain outside and were waiting for the bus to come get us to go to siem reap. Saigon was interesting, a bit of a blur but that's fine with me, big cities aren't really what i'm looking for. Got in around 7, found a place to stay and went out for some drinks and of course met up with people that we had seen in hoi an. Well fifty cents for a bottle of beer, can't go wrong. The next morning after maybe, mmm, a few hours of sleep, we went on the tour to the cu chi tunnels. It was quite interesting although there wasn't much to see. OUr guide was a south vietnamese veteran so it was the most interesting talking to him and his experience. Then, we got dropped off at the War remnants museum, had some luch and explored. The museum was interesting, lost of relic american war stuff and some pretty amazing photos, no kiddy stuff that's for sure. Walking home from the museum was interesting, the traffic was intense and i just liked crossing the street, i could do that all day, hehe. We got some good videos. That night had some really good thais curry and of course met up with the group at the same local place with cheap beer. Afterwards, me and 2 of the kiwis decided that we had better find some dancing in the club district. Well again, that was interesting. Many prostitutes, well i think so, sometimes it's hard to tell who's who. It was fun though just got a beer and danced for a couple of hours. When we went to leave, it was a serious downpour. We waited for a bit but it didn't seem it was gonna totally let up so we caught a cab back to our hostel area. When we got there, it soon died down and so we walked the rest of the day. Funny how i miss the rain, it puts a smile on my face. The next morning we woke up early and went to the saigon waterpark. Since we were flying to Phnom phen and were really only saving a few hours( It turned out to be more than that as the bus was really late, hehe), so we decided we better make use of it. So i spent the last few hours of my time in vietnam in a waterpark. It was fun though, they had tons of rides, tubes for people and tubes for rafts, and wave pools etc... So the flight was 20 minutes and we got a place on the lake and went to the killing fields. Quite the contrast from the waterpark... Well it was interesting, just the walk around bones and old clothes everywhere, the evil is everywhere. It's quite hard to understand how people can be allowed to make other people do such terrible things and the fact that there is still no justice. That night we sat on the deck overlooking the lake and watched the amazing sunset and scenery, had some food, some drinks, and just chilled out. It was great. Today we got up early, said bye to Lisa who was going back to NZ and set off to see the grand palace and the genocide museum. The palace was quite spectacular, and all kept in tip top shape. Don't know really how to descibe it, you'll just have to see the photos. The genocide museum was located in a high school that was turned into the largest prison and interrogation centre by the Kmer rouge. It was really sad, just to picture the cruelty and pain that envellopes thsi complex. There were 20,000 people saif to be intered here over the years of the regime and 7 survived. To stare at the many photos pf the victims struck you hard. And the stories of many of them were really touching. A country in tourmoil with people with little choice in the matter. Well gonna catch the bus to siam reap, got 3 nights, 2 days there and then fly to bangkok fo rthe day and then i'm home. i gotta say i'm kinda looking forward to it now that's it's happening and i know it, hehe. well talk to you or see you soon.

Nha Trang- Mui ne

2006-04-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

Hey there, not going to even bother with photos but i thought that i would keep you updated. So that day after i put up the last entry i walked down the street, went to the post office to phone the airline to try to change my flight for the hundreth time. So i was on hold and i hear, "your call will be answered in one minute", then a minute later, "your call will e answered in 2 minutes", then a few minutes later, "your call will be answered in 3 minutes". so i just hung up the phone and said forget it. So then i was walking down the street to go to the beach, ut one of the many people offering motorbike rides got my attention and translate some written testaments of previous customers that was french. So then i read numerous testaments of how amazing the trip is, i think to myself, i can be on the each anyday. So i say yes, let's go. It was actually such an experience. He took me way out into the countryside, to the beautiful rice fields and sugar cane fields. We went to these cool waterfalls, stopping along the way anytime i want to take some pics and give some cookies to the kids in the minority villages. The water falls were quite nice where we swam and had lunch. On the way back, we stopped at a school where i gave a large ox of cookies to the teacher to give out to the students. Then we stopped at a sugar cane factory which was really interesting. We then stopped at a spot where they were processing rice with this thing that looked like a quarter tanker truck. The people there were so friendly as i dout that they see many tourists out here. Amazing what a difference tha makes. After visiting some sights of the city, the huge white buddha and some champa ruins, we went ack to his local spot for some saigon beers. That was awesome, his english was actually really good, a good friend of his stopped by and joined us for a bit. one lady was trying to teach me all the words to describe different body parts, etc... Really cool experience and i now know why there was so many good reviews. After that i went ack to the hotel and then met up with the kiwis and the americans who were hanging out at a local place. the irish wussed out. then we went to the why not ar where me and 2 of the kiwis just danced up a storm as there wasn't much else to do. On the way to the beach at 2:30am, i had the best baguette sandwich ever, hehe and we chilled at the each before i returned to the hotel. Of course was woken up by a knock on the door, had slept through my alarm and had to get on the us at 8am. So grabed my stuff and out the door i went. The bus ride wasn't too ad, about 5 hours, arriving in mui ne around 1:30pm. Got a room and a motorbike and drove to the kiteoarding place. unfortunately, there was not enough wind to do kiteboarding, nor was there gonna be any for the next 5 days so that was out. instead just drove my motornike around and pretty much went down every paved road possible until it ended, hehe. Took in the sand dunes at sunset where you can slide down them on carpets. Good sleep last night and today was gonna do some windsurfing but the wind is even worse today so maybe just gonna lie around. Got a 2pm us to saigon then maye quickly into cambodia, still gotta decide that. well take care

Hoi an-Nha trang

2006-04-23T21:01:00.000-07:00

Well here i am at another shitty vietnam comp with so usb access, i might as well just wait until i get back, hehe. Hoi an was a really cool place, i was going to stay there for only a few days but that soon turned into 5. I went out and partied every night, 4 nights in a row to the same bar. Full moon bar that's about 5-7kms out of town and you gotta hop on the back of someones bike for the ride out and back. It was crazy. The first night i went out with the irish. The second night the irish bailed out very early, wusses, so i headed out with this other crowd 3kiwi girls, another irish guy and a new yorker and a albertan, that we had been talking to in pretty much the only bar in old town. The night after that, when we went for dinner, who do we find at the cafe playing pool but Damian and Barry the irish from Hanoi. So we had to go out again, the whole irish crew was there but it was so interesting to see a brand new group of people there everynight, hehe. Well except for me of course. That was a crazy nights, one of the irish ended up pulling a girl and frank was cloes but at the last minute, didn't remember her name, hehe. It was quite funny to hear that in the morning. The last night i met with the new zealand girls for dinner then i met up with Maria who was in town with her parents for one night so i had to show her out on the town of course. And there was this crazy older aussie guy who was allowed to drive a scooter around this bar, actually in it, hehe. Around the pool table, do a dew laps, would never see that in vancouver. The days were spent sleeping in of course, at least a little bit, then the day would commmence usually around 12 or 1. Went to the same beach as before one more time. Then spent 2 other days on the nicer beach, did some runs, hung out in paridise. One day we took our scooters out to the my son ruins, about 50km out of town. Now the ruins were pretty destroyed by american bombs but it was still cool as they were from the 7th century but i thought the best part was the drive out there. We drove through countryside, on a major highway, i think i'm really starting to like this scooter thing, hehe. Got some suits made during the day and pants too. So very cheap and there on there way home as i'm writing this, well i hope they are at least. Then i caught a night bus to Nha Trang, arriving at 6:30am. Got a room and tried passing out but the kiwi girls wanted to get out and have some breakfast. We were maybe gonna book a ticket on the boat tours they have to the islands but we decided to get breakfast first and think about it. And of course who do we see at the hotel across from ours, waiting for the bus to take them on their boat trip... Damian and Barry. So we jumped on their trip, i think they were still drunk from the night before. They called it a booze cruise, and in a few ways it really was. We drove out to the islands, the first one had some really cool snorkling. The coral was in really good shape, i'm no coral expert but it was all alive at least and there were many fish and such, i can see why the diving here is so popular. The next stop we had lunch on the boat which was amazing. All kinds of foods for us to share in the benches that converted into a large table. The after lunch, what's the plan. Well the crew comes out and plays some songs, we had a guitarist, a drummer with some barrels but a real bass druma dn pretty much the worst looking cymbal i have ever seen. It was hilarious and very entertaining. So what do we do after that, well get some life buoys and set up the floating bar to get some free wine and pinneaple. So we drank all of that, then took over another boats floating bar, drank all of their and our guide even went to a 3rd boat to get a few more bottles. we were quite the posse. After this crazy fest, we stopped at another island were we could lie down and rest a bit from the drinking. Tried to play some volleyball but they wanted $6 just to rent the ball, ridiculous. At the last island, a small fishing village, some people went on these crazy basket rides and the rest of us just did jumps of the boat, couldn't get my back flip down unfortunately. After getting back to the hotel i had to nap, i was exhausted. Went out that night of course though, to this pretty good bar, the Why not? bar, pretty much one of the best bar names i have ever heard. Partyied here for a bit but didn't stay out too late as there wasn't too much going on and damian and the kiwis left quite early. well i'm gonna go hit the beach now but it was good to catch up on this a bit. sorry there are no photos, maybe next time. i'm outro

Hanoi-Halong bay-Hoi an

2006-04-18T22:56:00.000-07:00

OK well I'm in Hoi an now, finally getting to some beach time, although it's almost one and i'm just getting up, hehe. A little bit of a late party night, but that's ok, gotta do it once and a while. Ok so i got quite a bit to talk about, and again there are no photos as this computer that i'm using doesn't even have usb ports, hehe. oh well, at some point i'll just do pics. So that night in hanoi was interesting. We went out for some dinner at the Legends pub, which looked out onto this really busy intersection and so it was just interesting watching the traffic try to negotiate itself. Then after dinner, we went to the top floor where there was a bar for a few more drinks, met up with the 2 other irish guys from the tour and picked up this aussie guy who had just gotten here and was by himself. We also met Jon and his girlfriend, who were old friends with Keith from home and living and working in Hanoi. After a few here, we got taken to their local joint, a nice little place with a sweet upstairs lounge and a pool table downstairs, a nice feel to it. We talked up all kinds of people here, mostly who were living and working in Hanoi. Good group of people for sure. Then when this bar was losing it's energy, we went to the late night place just outside of the old quarter. It was really good that we had an insider to tell us all these things. The doorman was either a policeman or had a policeman uniform, hehe which was interesting. The bottom floor had a bar and large dancefloor that was packed already with farangs and vietnamese farang friends. there was pool tables as well. the second floor was more of a lounge with another bar, and there was even a top dark flooor, ooohh. There was also a nice large terrace that overlooked the river. Nice place, and i think open till whenver, maybe 6am? hehe. Well i did some dancing but soon i was hitting the lounge hard, getting tired of drinking and just content to hang out and talk to whoever came and sat down with me. The irish boys wre going quite hard, hehe. Eventually, i think it was prolly around 3:30-4am, Matty(the aussie) and i decide that it's time to walk home. Well we know the direction kinda but once you get into the old quarter, things can become very confusing fast. We eventually came to this open bright area that was packed with all kinds of people sorting through ginger, garlic, limes, fruits etc..., getting ready for the next days market i assume. It was quit the crazy sight to see at 4am, hehe. Eventually found my way and after banging on the door a bit got someone to let me in.

So 2 hours of sleep later, i'm up and ready to get on the bus for the Halong bay trip. And who of course are across the street, having just got in and are now having breakfast? Keith and Frank, still hammered, especially Keith. When they left the cafe, they headed in the complete opposite direction, even though the hotel was right across the street, hehe. So i went and got the back but Keith refuesd to go to bed until he got some chips, and it only cost him 1.5 hours of wandering around lost and got no chips... shoudl have jsut gone to bed. Well the 3 hour bus ride to Halong bay city was a bit rough but once i got on the boat, things were a lot better. The Boat was beautiful, no backparcker boat, hehe. They served us lunch and we started relaxing. There were a kiwi couple, a aussie couple, a belgian family of 5 who were living in bangkok, and a family of 4 from Denmark, visiting their daughter who was living in Hanoi. The scenery is absolutely amazing. Beautiful shear cliffs, little islands everywhere, enormous caves that we visited and also a lookout point with an amizing 360 degree view. A place where the pictures truly don't do justice. When we got to the place where we were going to stay for the night, Marie(Danish girl living in Hanoi) and I went for a little kayak trip and you could go under this cavern into an enclosed bay which was quite spectacular and so peaceful.

That night we had dinner and stayed up as long as i could talking with the kiwis and aussies but only lated until about 11:30 when i had to crash. The next morning after breakfast, Marie and i went kayaking again and this time i had my own boat as the tour guide came with us. It was relaly nice, the sun came out, gave me a bit of a burn but oh well. I was trying to find some cliffs to jump off of but didn't bring my sandals, didn't even think that i would need them but the rocks are freaking ridiculously sharp, like needles right into your foot so i could never get to places that i had spotted. There were so many good spots though, overhanging rocks and such, with really deep water. Well after this we cruised back to the bay, had lunch at a restaurant in Halong bay city and rode the bus back into town.

That night i caught up with Keith and frank, who had done little but party and sleep since i left and we caught the 11pm train to Da Nang. 14 hours later, that actually went by a lot faster than i thought it would. Took a taxi from Da Nang to Hoi an and now am staying in this really nice hotel, $14 a night but it's luxury and i don't get the chance to "splurge" like this most other places. We went out for some food and drinks in the afternoon, then rented some motorbikes and drove out to the beach for some late afternoon, sun setting beach time. The day had been really slow on the beach so we were soon surrounded by people and eventually we were drinking beer, eating peanuts and getting foot massages. You can only say no for so long. After driving back we went out to try and find some place for some drinks and such but there wasn't much available and we learned that the full moon bar 7kms out of town is the late night place to go. There are always a few, you just have to find them. So we went there to find an interesting place with fully graffitied walls, a pool table and a bar, simple yet effective. There were a whole whack of people from all over, we chatted up many, partied and went home around 2am, i think. all i know is i woke up today at 12, air con is so sweet sometimes and now it's almost 2 and i need to get going on the day. Gonna hit the beach i think, that's prolly a good idea, hehe. Need some food though. Sorry that this one is so long but it''s so much tougher to find internet places in vietnam, especially after thailand and laos. oh well i'll try to keep up better. Take care everyone.

Hanoi

2006-04-15T04:08:00.000-07:00

Anyways, maybe no photos this time as that doesn't seem to be working but i'll add them later. The last day in Vientiene was interesting. I took the tuk tuk again andthought i was getting a sweet deal until i found out when we got back that it was a misunderstanding. damn, i got hit twice, i should have just rented a moto for 24 hours, it would have been cheaper than a freaking 30min taxi ride. Then i decided that i would go watch a movie and have some food maybe but as it was Lao new year, it turned out to not be an option. I was stopped on the way there and fed beers and food by these crazy dancing gang of guys and one girl who had been partying all day and weren't planning on stopping anytime soon. It was hilarious, the had this big speaker pumping out tunes, electronic mostly, which is was better than thai pop and stopping everyone coming down the street to get them soaked as is the custom. The drunkest guy actually physically stopeed people as the rest of us with buckets would soak them, hehe. The one video i got is quite funny. So 4 hours later or so, i'm pretty tipsy, even though i was gonna stop frinking and i had to get on a plane to another country. I had no choice though... Anyways, the flight went off great, so much better than a 24 hour bus ride and there was even a person waiting at the other end with my name on a sign to take me to my hotel in the old town. Went walking around that night in search of some pho, ran into this student who was selling books and maps and such for money for shcool, maybe... and he took me to this place and we hada huge meal, with all types of meats and this big bowl of boiling broth that we cooked it all in. it was really awesome, no matter what the bill was, it was worth it. Woke us the next day to take the day hanoi toor. Saw Ho chi minh, interesting... creepy..., saw some museums and some famous pagodas, tiring day but worht it if your only here for a day. When we returned i walked around the old quarter adn got totally lost of course, the streets here are ridiculous, not much street room, way too many motorbikes and cars and almost no rules, hehe. I have trouble even walking, i couldn't imagine driving. Now i'm writing this entry. Tomorrow morning i will be taking a 2 day trip to halong bay and then when i get back to hanoi, i hope on the overnight train to Da Nang. Well gotta get some dinner, take care everyone. The weatehr here is sooo mcuh better, nice comfy sleeps and no need for air/con, mmm...

Vietniene

2006-04-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

Well, last day in Vientiene as I fly out to vietnam tonight at 7pm. Excited to get to veitnam and check that place out. this is quite the whirlwind tour of asia but only so much time so what are you gonna do hey? I like it anyways as it forces me to move on but i know some places that i could for sure come back and hang out in longer. Anyways, yesterday was another solo adventure. I went to see the That Louang Stupa, the most religious site in Laos and the Patouxai, which is the vientiene version of the arc de triomphe. of course the one time where i don't ask the fares before hand, they are ridiculously expensive. so when i returned, he asked for $10, which is absurd, but what could i do, i gave him $8 and left. well for it being the first time that i have gotten actually ripped off, that's nt too bad. Always ask the price before hand, always. The stupa was actually quite amazing and the view from the top of the Patouxai is quite nice of this sprawled out village. I had met some people that i knew from the slow boat there and agreed to meet them later at a cafe. In the meantie i went to get my plane tickets and passport and then walked down to the river to see what's going on. There was a huge spectacle of things going on right at the waters edge, which was quite far from the city. There was lots of stands with food and drink and so many people swimming in full clothing of course and a few soccer pitches where there was a tourney going on and even some inflatabble slides. Well i got some food and drink here watched some soccer and tried talking to people but only slightly succeded. Then i met up with the peeps from the slow boat but only for a bit as they were getting on a bus to continue their journey south, so i continued on my way. Back to the room for a rest and then get some quick cheap dinner. Then, as when i was at the stupa, they were setting up this large stage and the tuk-tuk driver said that it would start at 7:30, so i thought get there by 9 and i would be fine. Well this time i walked of course and it took a little longer than expected so when i rolled in at around 9:10, they prolly had finished maybe 15 minutes ago, hehe. Oh well i think that there are things going on there all day today so maybe i'll go check it out in the afternoon. So another early night in laos, seems always inevitable. Take care everyone.

Vientiene

2006-04-12T21:10:00.000-07:00

Hey there everyone, still in vientiene, flying out tomorrow night at 7pm to hanoi so a few days left. After the first night with the Finns, which again ended early as the kick you out at 12am. No worries. Went back to the guesthouse and after one not very good sleep there in the intense heat, i decided that i needed some aircon, so i splurged on a $12 room with air con, fridge, bathroom, tv, and window, and the place has a roof terrace. Totally worth it as it is very very hot here right now, it's crazy. Maybe i'm just a wuss, all the lao people have no problem with it, hehe. It was worth it as i wasn't woken up by the heat this morning and slept till 10:30, so nice. anyways, this ton is quite interesting, being the capital and yet still the streets aren't completed and many of the buildings are quite run down but that's lao style for you. It's nice though because you can walk pretty much everywhere which makes it so much easier for navigating. Saw a few of the sights, will see a few more today and bought a burnt dvd for a dollar fifty so maybe try that out tomorrow before i head to the airport. I hope the vietnam coast is just a little cooler, it has to be, hehe. Anyways, all by myself now but it's been kinda nice having my own space and do what i want to. i'm sure that i'll meet someone on the plane over to vietnam or in the guesthouse and have a partner again. no biggie anyways, not much plans for today and so not much to say, gonna have some lunch, chill for a bit as everything is closed from 12-1 and then see some sights for a bit come back maybe get a massage, dinner and see what's happening for the new year celebrations? All of this can change too, hehe but it's good to have some sort of plan. anyways, everyone take care.

Vang Vieng-Vientiene

2006-04-11T02:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, so now i am in vientiene. it's amazing how samll a place can feel but this city feels really small. It was a nice journey on the bus today and i have everything set up for vietnam, had to pay a little more for the visa so that i can leave here on saturday but no problem, flying to hanoi on a hour flight is way better than 24 on the bus, whatever the cost, and you just have to look big scale. Vang Vieng is a nice location but is lacking in the feel. It was more like an amsterdam in laos and there was construction everywhere. The first night, we partied quite a bit and it was feelng a little too much like a spring break party, kinda weird but oh well. The next morning i did not get up early as i had splurged on a a/c room, mmm... We didn't get tubing until 1pm and this was a little late as the sun went behind the large rock mountain that faces the town. It was still fun though to go on the swings and float around drinking beer lao of course. It was crazy how tired i was after this though, i don't know the full reason but crashed from 7-10pm, woke up to go get some food, got a pancake and some water and returned to bed, hehe. what an exciting time you say, but it was good for me. some much needed comfortable rest. Man it is really hot here. ok well there is not much else to say i guess, just wated to throw some pics up and say hi.

Louang Phabang-Vang Vieng

2006-04-09T04:00:00.000-07:00

Ok so now i am in vang vieng, the internet this was a lot easier in thailand but still it's fine here too maybe i'm just lazy, hehe. anyways, the past few days have been a blast. we got a nice place to stay for 5 bucks a night and this group of 7 or so cam to our place the next day after we told them how good it was and they told us how bad theirs was, hehe, suckers. anyways, there is a sweet night market in the town with many things to buy, i wish i cuold teleport stuff backl but alas i can only get little things here and there. That night we went out to dinner and then to a bar for some drinks, the german retired, i guess they can only drink lots of beer during the day, hehe, so it was me and the finnish couple. we had one drink and at 11 decide to go to another place where there where other people from the boat. But of course as we were walking in the next place they were walking out as last call had already passed. Things in laos close at 11:30, hehe. So we got a good night's sleep at least.
The next day after a leasurely(i can't spell) breakfast along the mekong, we took a tuk-tuk to the speedboat launch and took the speedboat tothe buddha caves where there are many buddha statues and paintings. We had seen speedboat go past when we cam down from Houay Xai and most of them were wearing helmets. BUt of course we had none. I probably felt a lot safer than it actually was but oh well. After the caves, we decided to cross the river for some beerlao, and of course because of this trip, we ran out of gas 200m from our destination, hehe. total lao style. after some paddling we got a little bit of gas from another boat, and got close enough to paddle into our spot. That night, we went out again to the same place and had to leave at 11:30 but this time we heard of this place that is somehow open to 2am. maybe owned by the gov't? well whatver it was, all the bartenders were flaming with orange shirts and the place was full of farangs. But it was Piet's last night so you gotta go a little more.
The next day me and the fins and one canadian went to the famous waterfalls which were actually quite amazing. some very nice cliff jumping and a good rope swing and lush jungle forest. It is now the new years festival here which is also called the water festival as people soak everyone driving/biking by. and so as out taxi is more like a truck and because we are farangs, it is impossible to arrive back at your hostel with a single thread of dry clothing. It's a good things it's hot here. i bought a watergun but that doesn't compete with buckets of water... We had a nice chill night of shopping and cards and of course beerlao and hopped on the bus at 9am this morning to vang vieng. the scenery was amazing, rugged sharp mountains encased in lush jungle. but it made the journey very long and rough and windy. tomorrow we shall do some tubing and such then it's off to vientiene. ok this is plenty long enough. ok well i wanted to add more photos but it's doesn't like me, i just though maybe i should be loading while i write...hehe

Louang Prabang

2006-04-06T04:33:00.000-07:00

Hey there, so now i am in laos and survived the 2 day slow boat, which of course was no where near as bad as some people had said or some things i had read, it's really all about the attitude and the people you are with and the number of beers you drink... Anyways, the last day in Chang Mai was nice, i was able to recover from the sickness and also meet up with Eddie, an old family friend who has been living in Thailand for 6 years now. We met for breakfast and then then again later that afternoon. I met his family and was able to stay at his place and spent the night with beers and other talking about working in the bush stories and a few of my parents party day stories. Then the next day i had the 6 hour bus ride to Chiang Khong. The bus ride went alright, i'm so glad that i have my mp3 player that's for sure and i was able to cross the border into Laos that night with no problem. (Again a lot different than all the other stories that i had gotten, hehe.) I met this woman from San Diego and this guy from Berlin and we hit up the town as best as it could be for Laos. I got to play some soccer with a bunch of kids on the beach which was sweet, i didn't get to do that in Thailand although i had wanted to. The guy from berlin pete, came on the slow boat with me the next day and even though the boat is kinda slow the day went by fairly fast as he made me drink beers all day, hehe. That's what germans do. We actually had to get out at one point and walk for a bit as the water was so shallow, that was quite entertaining watching all these foreigners walking along with my beer in hand, hehe. The scenery is amazing though, the rocks are very deformed and the jungle amazing. We would stop and vendors would come on to sell more beer and pringles and such. Near the end as the sun was setting pete and i sneaked on the roof whihc was cool now and it was beautiful to get some serene time with the sun going down. We stopped for the night in Pakbang which really was kinda a ump but what do you expect from a place where most people stay one night and leave the next day. So one night, no problem. We loaded on the boat the next day and this time they packed us into one as a few people weren't taking the boat the whole way, but as long as you have a seat your ok. The day was fun though, we of course started drinking some beers at 12, and i got the chess board out for a mini tournament with germans, finnish and swedish and a canadian(me). the swedish guy was really good and won the european championship but i was able to squeek by a stalemate for the world championship, hehe. We met many others on the boat as well, some girls from kelowna, one from whistler etc... Gonna stay here a few nights maybe take a speedboat to some caves, there are waterfalls, wats on mountains... Then i will go to vang viang i think... take care everyone. oops, 2 of the same picture.

Pai

2006-04-02T04:59:00.000-07:00

ok, gotta get back on track. I am now banck in Chang Mai after 3 nights in Pai. It is quite the place, true countryside as i had imagined it to be. We stayed in these really cool bungaloos just outside of town, prolly the nicest place so far for sure. the place was called Pairadise, get it. hehe. Anyways, spent one day waling around and checking out the town, which really has little to check out but that's more what i was up for. That night, the storm came and knocked the power out as we were finishing up dinner and although it came back on maybe 45min later, we were already in chill at our place mode so that night was over. The next day we had planned to get up early and hike to this waterfall that was supposedly a 4 hour hike. BUt of course, we didn't get going until 11 and 3 hours in decided that we should turn back(sucked when some people passed us as we were swimming as they todl us that we were prolly only 20 minutes away, hehe) it was really nice to hike around though, kinda like another say in the office but in a jungle.

That night, we had one of the local foreigners, as tehre is quite teh large foreigner hippie community there and ended up meeting whole bunch of people at this party that night. quite the characters, people that had been there for months and months, i don't know how they do it but i guess it's easy to get caught up in, if your into that type of thing. it was a fun party though, they had a band from chang mai in and played lots of covers and when the band ended they threw on some electronic music which was sweet. the we headed to the bamboo bar which doesn't really open until 1am and were there from 3-4am, the only reason that i was still awake is that i wasn't drinking as i'm still learning to drive the scooter sober let alone drunk.

the next day was a lazy morning and we took the bike touring around to a waterfall that you could slide down and some canyons as well. Then afterwards, as the sun was setting i just rode around for a while with my headphones in. I can sure see how that can be addictive. That night there was another blackout but there was almost nothing open as the elections were today and they want those voters sober. we eventually found a place with these torontonians who was kinda selling illegally, but the night turned bad fast. my food poisoning sickness set in instantly and i was pucking all night. still feeling weak today and so gonna chill out here for a day at least before heading into laos to make sure that i'm better. take care everyone

Chang Mai

2006-03-29T03:18:00.000-08:00

mmm, oil massage, soo good. well last night was fun, went to a buffet and you could grill your own meat which was sweet, kinda cooking for yourself again, hehe. after many drink at the one place and meeting some english girls and guys, we went a few doors down to the bar where they had a live band playing who had a really good guitarist in my mind and continued the party with dancing included this time. Of course we party till 2am when we have to get on a bus the next day at 8:30am, hehe. oh well, today was sweet, we visited a few tibal hill villages that were interesting but quite depressing as the gap between them and the city thai is huge. then we did some elephant riding which was cool as i have never done that before. i liked their pace too, hehe. also, it was cool to see that the mahouts were controlling them but also if the elephant wanted to do something he did it anyways, hehe, like grab a bite or a drink or whatever. Then we went to this waterfall that had some sweet cliff jumping which i love and is very addictive. i had to be dragged away. to end the day off we did some bamboo rafting down the river which was neat and everyone got soaked as me and the guide were pushing it as the 3 white girls sat in the middle, so of course they got picked on quite a bit and were capsized many times. i of course had nothing to do with it, well almost nothing. we stopped along the way for some more cliff jumping and then the bus took us home. tomorrow i'm going to pai for a few days then back to chang mai then on to laos, time is ticking away.

Sukhothai-Chang Mai

2006-03-28T00:38:00.000-08:00

No pics this time, impromtu internet stop and thought that i would put in a little something. that night in Sukhothai was pretty funny, after 3 whiskeys at the guesthouse, camille was hammered and we started playing silly games. Afterwards, us and the 2 german girls went to the one bar in town that was not busy at all but ahad a few locals and it didn't take camille long to be right in the frey of things. she was talking to all of them, they were all laughing, even the cute thai servers were having a good time. She went to ask if they had any bread or crackers or something and of course one guy brings out a freaking huge jackfruit and cuts it up for all of us. Once that placed closed down we returned to ourt guesthouse to play some cards but were of course told to leave because we were so loud, so we promenaded and tried to chat with these thai kids who were up at 1:30am, but they told us not to worry as they were going to bed at 2, hehe, right... Anyways, a little hungover the next day, we took the 6 hour bus ride to chang mai. After a few full places we found some rooms got some food and visited the night market which is a cheaper smaller version of the bangkok market and of course at night, hehe. We were planning on some disco action but once we returned to the rooms at 11:30, everyone was tired so we slept instead. tonight we will go out. today we visited a beautiful wat on this mountain top and now will get some massages do some errands. going trekking tomorrow. i'm out

Bangkok-Sukhothai

2006-03-26T02:57:00.000-08:00

Ok, so now i am in Sukhotai, on the way to chang mai tomorrow morning. it's really nice to get out of bangkok but what i'm really looking forward to is the mountains of chang mai and pai to do some trekking and such and also laos as well. the day in bangkok was quite the whirlwind, trying to get in some boat boat riding down the river, gotta see wat pho and the grand palace, gotta do the tuk-tuk city tour with scam work, hehe, all part of the experience. we (meaning me and this girl Camille, who is from van and went to ubc who i met on the plane over) knew about the tuk-tuk scam but thought hey we get to see a lot of the city and i can deal with some selling, i know all about it, hehe. we didn't know of the scam that the will strand you out at some site for some other driver to try the scam all over again. well we weren't having any of that and had to pay the huge fee of an extra dollar to get them to take us straight back to where we want to go. why can't we just pay them whatever commission or gas coupon the shops give them?? oh well it was an adventure to get to the bus terminal to get to Sukhothai as the travel agent kinda knew but really didn't. we were lucky that a lady that was waiting at the bus stop was so friendly and actually has been to vancouver to study english who could help us. then when we arrived to the bus terminal, 2 a day trips turned into more like once an hour and so tehre really was no rush or anything. today we visited the heritage park of Sukhothai, which was really nice but of course i wanted to ride bikes the 14km there which was fine at 9:30 in the morning but not so good at 1:30 in the afternoon when you learn a new meaning of hot where you wish there was no breeze because it feels hotter than the surrounding air, hehe. well gonna go get a little drubnk tonight i believe. take care everyone.

Arrive in Bangkok

2006-03-23T21:49:00.000-08:00

OK, no photos yet but i thought that i would just throw something out there. it was quite the long flight and the 4 hours in shanghai was too long as it allowed me and the other 2 travellers to drink too much beer which made the ride to the kok kinda shitty. get in at 3am and start drinking more beers, $2 for a big bottle, i can handle that. slept in till 12:30 and here i am. it's freaking hot outside but bearable as i have shorts and tshirt on. i need to get some local light clothes, that's for sure. kinda muggy here as it's a big city but i'm gonna go check out some sights today if i can, prolly party a little bit tonight and then head north tomorrow night. why not. there is only so much time here but so much to see, it's crazy. aight time is running out, i'm outro.

Heli ski trip 2006

2006-03-22T09:55:00.000-08:00

So as i am packing for asia and getting ready to leave, i thought that i might try to put up some stuff up about my weekend heli skiing near cranbrook. I flew in on wednesday and commenced partying with the work buddies. Well, we party hard. So the next day i slept in until 2 of course and took the whole day at ease. On friday we work up early, went to breakfast with the 15 other people on the trip and headed to the hanger to get our shit in gear. It was a 2 hour drive to the heli pick up spot and of course we were drinking the whole way. Upon arriving in camp, it was an unter blizzard so we didn't get to do any heli skiing that day so instead we got the fire going and the keg tapped. Gong show night, and we awoke to a nice sunny day. On saturday it was touring day and we put our skins and snowshoes on and hiked up the ridge do do some lines. Beers and joints at the top and after one run we decided to go up and do another. This is when things turned a little sour. While everyone else went back to camp and got in a gasoline fire accident. No one was hurt, just caught on fire. The probably 5 minutes later, i caused an avalache on my run down and was lucky enough to get a tree. My buddy came down but didn't see what happened to me and so he caused another avalanche and lost his ski n the process. Well the ski day was over but we weren't phased too much as we knew the next day would be insane. If anyone gets the chance to heli ski, do it, the experience is amazing. I mean getting fresh lines every run was sweet but the best part for me was being up in the helicopter and watching your buddies come down the hill, it was like you were right there behind the scenes of a ski movie. Well the day was awesome, and it was a great group who for one day, wouldn't be doing anything else in the world. Well something close to that at least.