Year: 2007

After spending a few days there, we began to accumulate quit the list of wildlife encounters. To start, there were several millipedes and frogs and a giant centipede around, then there was the green tree snake that was making it through the rafters of our porch, peaking his head out every now and again as if to say ‘hello’. But that wasn’t the last snake we saw…..as I was walking back to the room one afternoon, I was stopped in my tracks as right next to the trail was a 5 foot cobra……watching me. I stood there and held it’s gaze as I called Erin over who had just blazed right by it and has and odd fascination with everything that moves in the forest. We both stared at it for a few seconds, and then with great speed and agility, and our blessing, it turned and slithered away….covering some serious ground in a short amount of time! I didn’t realize that I was going to be coming face to face with something that could take my life with one bite, but I guess that’s what you get out in the wild. As if that wasn’t enough, the next night as we were walking down the main path from the road to the restaurant, I stopped in my tracks…..again, and saw a black scorpion scurrying along in front of me. This time we stopped and grabbed the camera to make sure to capture it on film…..I’d say it was a good 4 – 5 inches long. This past summer I stayed with my friends Sara and Curtis in Arizona….they had found 4 scorpions in their kitchen, but they were only a little over an inch long and were whitish yellow. In other words, their scorpions didn’t have anything on this guy!

When mentioning all of this to the guest house owner Joyce, she laughed and said, “Yeahhhhhh…..you gotta watch out for those! And I think there might even be some Anti-Venom on the island now as well! Not 100% sure though…..But I know for years there wasn’t.” Greeaaaaatttttttt! Just what guests want to hear! But hey…..it’s all about the journey right?

There was a bit of productivity to be had. One night we decided that taking a Thai cooking class was in order so we signed up and dove in! What a great experience that was and now I really need to find a kitchen to start experimenting in! Anyone willing to lend me theirs I will try and cook up some mean Pad Thai?!?! And if that doesn’t work out…..it’s my treat at your local Thai cookery! I mean….I don’t want to lose any friends you know!

So after spending 4 days and nights on a beach relaxing, snorkeling, and generally….just taking it easy, we made our way to Tokyo. While entering Japan I was the lucky recipient of a random, detailed bag search. I couldn’t help but think of my buddy Dave, who several years past had experienced much of the same thing. While his ended with him being held for several weeks and deportation from Japan, I was cleared and shuffled into the country with the rest of the masses. I did stand there for a moment and think about what it must have been like to have been in his shoes that very spot several years before.

Tokyo is an amazing city! Being the second visit for Erin here, she grabbed the guide book and ran me around the city showing me all of the sights that you need to hit in just a few days! There were several things here that are a bit…..let’s just say different. Not bad mind you, just not the way most of us ‘westerners’ are used to them. For instance, in most places in Tokyo, it’s illegal to walk and smoke. There are designated areas on the sidewalks and on the train platforms where smoking is permitted. Otherwise it’s strictly forbidden. It’s odd because while they have very strict guidelines for this, you can still pretty much smoke in any of the restaurants and bars…..and IF they have a smoking section, it’s usually separated by a panel of glass that doesn’t even cover the area connecting the two sections…….and half the time there is a fan blowing the smoke out of the smoky smoking area and into the other half of the restaurant. After all, you can’t have smokers sitting in a room full of smoke can you?

Every Sunday near Harajuku, the punks and misfits of Tokyo don their best outfit of the week and head down to an area near the arena and show off their stuff. It varies from the 50’s greasers to the punks. Photographers are all around trying to capture a few images to take home of “the kids in Tokyo”. If you’re as lucky as I was, there will be a concert about to start at the arena right next door where you can confirm the fact that there are crazy fans in Japan just as there are in the states

Smoking is one thing, but try taking the subway around rush hour while carrying 2 bags in Tokyo. It’s a fun and interesting exercise, because while people will push and push until everyone is on and you can’t even raise your hands next to you in order to grab onto something, but not one person mumbles so much as a word. Silence is king. Packed like sardines and there is complete and utter silence…..mystifying. My theory is that since people are so crammed in, the quantity reaches a critical mass where everyone’s lungs can only intake enough oxygen in order to survive. Being able to inhale enough air in order to communicate would mean that there is still extra room and someone else should get shoehorned into the train car. Not sure…..just a hunch, I’ll get back to you on that.

Before Erin left to head home to Toronto, we grabbed a drink in a dive of a basement club where I thought I had experience the most expensive coke I’ve had to date. $8 for one glass….AND it was filled with ice. Hey, it is Tokyo after all and the bartender was playing our requests while he ‘rocked out’ between serving us drinks. All in all it’s just part of the experience. Well, once Erin headed out I went to meet up with my teammate’s sister Wendi. We met at, of all places, the Mandarin Hotel Bar. If that’s not perfect I don’t know what is. While I thought I had seen the highest priced coke in a basement bar in Shinjuku, I was wrong after my almost $10 coke on the 38th floor of the Mandarin Hotel Bar. Again, you weren’t buying the coke, you were buying the scenery and the ambiance of the city view at dusk. Well worth it if you ask me!

Japan celebrates Christmas in a big way……lights, trees, Santa, and holiday songs every where! I’m just waiting for a group of carolers to come by and start singing. Bottom line is Japan loves everything American. It’s odd in a way…..American baseball is huge here! But Christmas is EVERYWHERE!

The next day I took a day trip to Kamakura just south of Tokyo. There they had a huge Buddha and a temple up on the hill where they had hundreds of smaller buddhas which are cared for by women in the area that have lost children over the years.

That night we didn’t sleep. Well, we didn’t sleep much as we stayed up late at 24 hour internet place that had semi-private cubical style padded rooms in Ginza for 2800 Yen. This was basically a place that you crashed, watched movies, played online games and surfed the web for the evening if you get stuck in that part of town. The reason we did this was because around 4 in the morning we headed over to the Tsukiji Fish Market. This is an international fish market where a 400 lbs Tuna can go for $10k USD. The frozen Tuna came from every where, Ireland, South Africa, Russia just to name a few we heard in passing. All of the Tuna was auctioned off and then diced up to get ready for shipping and delivery to the local eateries. Most of the other fish was on ice, but lots of it on ice, was still alive and barely holding on…..and not for long. I didn’t think I would ever like Sushi for breakfast, but at a place right next to the fish market, we had some of the best Sushi I’ve had to date! It’s amazing when it’s that fresh.

Later we caught a bullet train to Nikko. The train was massive and seemed to flex when it went by……crazy. All of the seats spin….i.e. the train comes in and then pulls out from the direction it came in at the end of the line….so all of the seats have a release and swivel so that they are all facing forward. Japanese engineering…..What was in Nikko you might be wondering….more temples. But this one had the original ‘Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil’ monkeys which were carved into the side of one of the structures.

The best advice I got before coming to Japan was from my travel agent Annika in NYC. She basically forced me to get the Japan Rail Pass which covers all long distance travel and some local travel within Japan. Hearing that a return ticket from Tokyo to Kyoto was around $250, the $500 rail pass was an easy choice. With it I was able to head north to Hokkaido, which is the northern island in Japan where I went to Niseko Mountain and hit the slopes for a few days with Wendi, who can ride almost as good as her brother Dave (watch out Dave!). As I was headed to the north edge of the main island in Japan…..snow. By the time I reached the coast the ground was covered and it was coming down! Normally for someone sight seeing and backpacking around, this would be a bad thing. But I was on my way to Niseko for some snowboarding, so it was decidedly a good thing! We had 2 days of no waiting lift lines and near knee deep powder! Best conditions I’ve had in years! Surfing the powder was only enhanced when we rode through the glades which weren’t actually glades, but small bamboo forests. After snowboarding each day we managed to make our way to the Onsens…..something that Japan is famous for. Onsens are the hot baths built around the natural springs in the area. Throw away your American bred shyness and bear it all because no suits allowed in these single-sex pools. But after a day of riding and abusing your body, relaxing in some mineral rich natural hot springs with a beverage of your choice is a good thing….a very, very good thing indeed.

After heading back to Tokyo, I spent my last few days on the Japanese islands down south in Kyoto and Hiroshima. Walking through the A-bomb museum is a humbling experience and walking past the now dubbed A-bomb dome is even more humbling. On your way from the museum to the dome, you pass a flame that will literally stay light until every last nuke on the plant is dismantled and destroyed. I have a feeling that the flame will be light for quite some time…..

My plans to attack Mt. Fuji while in Japan were altered just a bit when my buddy Ben had to cancel his trip. Instead of attempting to bear the elements and climb up as far as we could with all of the snow…..I opted for taking a picture out of the window of a train traveling at over 150 mph….not quite the same thing….but I got to see it nonetheless.

All in all Japan was an amazing and interesting place that I would like to go back to one day. The people are…..well interesting. But in a good way! Things there are just different, but it’s not a bad thing at all. After Japan, my trip was supposed to get me to the north island in New Zealand leaving the day after x-mas, but having all of that Christmas cheer jammed down my throat in Tokyo, I felt the urge to change my ticket to the 23rd and high tail it to the south island right away where my friend Maia’s couch awaited me. Christmas day was celebrated with about a dozen of her friends who were also away from loved ones and everyone brought over a pot luck Christmas meal and we even had a secret Santa…..so it was all good!

Now I’m off to explore the land that The Lord of the Rings built…..wait, I might have that backwards…..in any case, I’m off to explore and see the sites! I hope everyone is well and as of now my plans have me in NZ for 5 more weeks, South Africa for 2 weeks, then Spain for 2 months. After that Mexico for 2 weeks and back to the states at the end of April. Not sure where I’m going to land yet, but Salt Lake and Denver seem to be elbowing out DC, Chicago, Atlanta and near San Diego. Who knows where I will land, but I can’t wait to get there! Hope to see you all soon!

The journey up the river wasn’t too bad, lasting around 5 hours or so which included the boarder crossing. All of this went fairly smoothly as the boat we were on had a guy that took all of the passports, filled in all of the relevant forms, and expedited the entire process…..including the haggling over Visa fees….and of course the obligatory bribe fees…..just because they can.

We decided that we would only stay in Phnom Penh for roughly 24 hours before catching a bus to Siem Reap, i.e. Angkor Wat. So we planned and packed in the major sights before hopping on a bus for 6 hours, which cost btw 6 USD. We chose the Paragon Hotel which while having nice, clean rooms and a friendly staff charging the going rate and happy to help arrange transport or help out in anyway possible…..also turned out to be the popular spot with the local prostitutes…..we witnessed 4 different local girls bringing their much older, gray haired white men inside. Rumor has it with Thailand really cracking down now….Cambodia is an easy hop skip and jump away for the sex tourists, and because of the corruption….with a little extra money, you can fairly easily buy yourself a year long Visa at the boarder.

For those of you who don’t know, Cambodia has a bit of a horrid immediate past. By Immediate I’m talking late 70’s early 80’s. The Khmer Rouge basically tortured and killed thousands in a pretty horrific way. And for some reason, they thought it would be nice to document it. A local high school right downtown was taken over and secured with razor wire and barracked so no one could get out. They turned this cheerful place of learning with yellow walls and white and yellow tiled floors into a holding and processing area where they erected cells and torture areas, lots of which they captured on film. Today what is left is a wicked reminder of how evil this world really can be, complete with photos to prove it.

After all of the death that loomed in the air from the worst high school I think we could find in Cambodia…..we made our way over to the Royal Palace which was a nice change from all of the gloom. Surrounded by Lotus flowers and about a dozen temples…it’s a great place to spend a few hours and do some sight seeing.

The next day we woke early and made our way out to what has become known as the Killing Fields. This is where the Rouge would kill and bury the thousands that they murdered over the years in mass graves in a remote part of the country side about a half hour out of town. It is hard to imagine that such atrocities could have occurred in a place that is so beautiful.

While walking through the grounds, you begin to soak in the enormity of the operation that had taken place there. Immediately upon entering the area, you come across a memorial tower that was erected which currently houses hundreds if not thousands of skulls from those killed. Walking past that you enter the fields which now are scattered with huge ditches marking where mass graves were unearthed. As you walk through the grounds, you slowly realize that not all remains have been removed. Upon a second glance, you are smacked square in the face with the realization that the tree roots that are coming up through the well worn path are actually human bones and that the rags of clothing that are oddly scattered about the trails but for some reason are half buried are actually the clothes of those killed, slowly making their way to the surface after the trails that have formed are worn day in and out, a somber realization to have while standing on top of a mass grave. Walking on the dead is not something that I would like to repeat, but at this location, it was unavoidable. For all of the preserving of the victims that had taken place there, it was surprising to see such a blatant disregard for the other remains that were being trampled on by tourists paying their respects at such a site. While seeing the high school as well as the Killing Fields was a very hard thing to stomach, it was a must see for anyone visiting Cambodia. For all of the beauty that this country has to offer, you can’t forget what went on here less than 3 decades ago.

One thing to note about Cambodia is that it is very, very corrupt. There is an additional fee for just about everything. Speaking with one of the guest house owners he was saying it’s not too bad on the day to day level, but the corruption does have a trickle down effect, for instance his 256 kb internet connection costs him 220 USD per month. Ouch….if you are not technical, to give you and idea, if you are viewing this page from home over your cable modem, you have roughly a 7,000 kb connection for probably around 45 USD a month.

Another spot that you see the corruption is the Angkor Wat park entrance fee. A 1 day pass is 20 USD and a 3 day pass is 40 USD. To give you an idea….you could probably last for a week with 40 USD if you really tried. The parks basically figured out what would be the most that they could charge without it being called extortion, and still have heaps and heaps of tourists coming in by the bus load….and they do, bus after bus. In our case we just hired a tuk tuk driver for the entire day….going rate, 12 USD….and you literally have them the whole day…..you look at temples….and they wait.

You might be curious why I’m quoting everything in USD. Well…..if you go to an ATM and pull out money….you can ONLY get United States Dollars. You can’t even pull Cambodian money out of a machine, which has an exchange around 1 USD to 4000 of the local currency. Which works out, because small change is always handed back in Cambodian, and places happily take both, but only quote prices in USD. Several places I’ve traveled to over the past year take both their local currency as well as USD, but I’ve never been to a place where their economy is based completely on that of another country, an odd thing to say the least.

Angkor Wat and all of the temples were amazing to wander around in. It’s easy to see how the vegetation has taken and is still taking a toll on the structures there. While seeing a tree grow out of and in between a pile of rocks….you realize that the pile used to be part of a building and the roots, over time, just grew and grew until the stones shifted enough to turn the building into a pile of rubble. After spending a few days there and seeing site after site, it’s easy to see how people can spend a week here running from temple to temple. The area is filled with them and some are a few hours ride from town. If you are planning on coming to the area be sure to save at least 3 or 4 days to see the temples before you become ‘Wated’ out.

Siem Reap has embraced tourism in a big way. The Old Town area is teeming with restaurants and shops where you can get just about any type of food and about anything else that you need. From the Blue Pumpkin bakery which has some of the best half priced croissants (after 7 pm) you can find in Cambodia, to Viva’s Mexican joint which had the best Enchiladas that I’ve ever had….so good we went there twice ?. We also enjoyed the Dead Fish Tower restaurant. This place was the definition of eclectic and a must see if you come to see the temples of Angkor. While all of the seating is on different, very randomly arranged levels, the center is open so that you can see the stage where on some nights they have a solo performer, in our case a guitar player signing away to some of the more popular tunes. Don’t lean too far back though as you might fall 20 to 30 feet since there are no railings to hold you back. There were also, by my count, 7 crocodiles, 1 duck, 2 ducklings, 1 rat, 1 frog, 4 or 5 fish….all inside the restaurant.

After leaving Laos I headed back to Hanoi to meet up with an old friend from Canada. Our plan was to check out Vietnam by heading down the coast and exploring the cities and some of the smaller, less traveled areas. However, before I got to Hanoi, I went through Chaing Rai, Thailand. It had two things that were worthy of mention. The night markets and the White Temple. I’m not going to say much about the White Temple other than take a look at the pictures below. I’m not sure what the story is with all of the hands, but I couldn’t take enough pictures of them!

Once in Hanoi, we started by taking a couple day boat ride out to Ha Long Bay. I knew this was a popular destination for visitors in Hanoi, but I had no idea how popular it was until we pulled up to the port and saw the mass of buses and tourists all vying to get down to their ship and leave the harbor. I thought to myself that this was a mistake and had feelings of immediate regret that we signed up with one of the big tour companies. A tourist trap for sure. However, once we cleared the ticket counter and boarded a smaller boat we cruised out to the edge of the harbor to climb aboard our junk boat. (Junk if you are wondering is the style of boat….hey, I had never heard of it either!) Our boat was nice. It was very nice and we would be sharing it with about 24 other people, and not one of them was an American.

We cruised through Ha Long Bay and saw the massive rock formations climbing out of the sea. Lunch and dinner were both exotic and filling as food just kept coming and coming. The spring rolls were served with the lights turned off as they were skewered on toothpicks attached to a hollowed out pineapple with holes in the sides allowing a candle on the inside to illuminate the table. A vase of flowers was placed on each table to add to the décor, only they weren’t flowers, they were carrots, bell peppers, radishes and the like all carved into different types of ‘flower food art’. This was not a $5 cruise…..Unfortunately before we left Hanoi we were treated to a free breakfast from the tour company. I say unfortunately because Erin, my Canadian friend, managed to draw the short straw and get food poisoning. The whole 3 hour bus ride out to Ha Long she wasn’t feeling well. We made it all the way to the boat, and while climbing the stairs to reach our room, Erin heard the ‘voice’. If you’ve been reading these blogs, then you’ll recall that I had heard the voice earlier this year while in India. Well about two rungs up the ladder, the voice called out to Erin to immediately halt her accent, turn around and run to the nearest bathroom…..which she did. The rest of her day was spent much as mine had been, ejecting everything that you had in you….over and over. Not a great way to start a 2 day cruise.

Our trip back to Hanoi started out as our trip to Ha Long began…..with a traffic fatality. Motor bikes are rampant in this region and in the city they are great, but once on the open roads….they don’t stand a chance. I won’t go into the grotesque nature of the accidents, but lets just say that they were very graphic and left images in my mind that I will not soon forget. We came upon both of these accidents minutes after they had occurred, so long story short, we pretty much saw everything. And I can confirm without a shadow of doubt that they were both fatal. Both of these were also right at the beginning of a 4 hour bus ride, which made the rest of the ride a bit unnerving as well as thankful that we were inside a large bus with a Vietnamese driver. I know that I won’t be driving on these roads any time soon. 

 

That day, we went and found some ancient ruins being unearthed in downtown Hanoi. It was an archeological dig that was taking place that I read about in the New York Times of all places. Pretty cool! That evening sitting at the Candle Cafe in the Old Quarter of Hanoi awaiting our night train to Hue down the coast, I heard an old woman banging loudly on a metal shovel as she pushed a cart filled with garbage up the street. It was garbage time, not day mind you, but time. The event that was about to transpire was a nightly event, not weekly. After about 5 solid seconds of loud banging, she stopped and proceeded to start to sweep the piles that had accumulated in the gutters of the streets into the shovel and dump them in the garbage cart. The banging also stirred something inside the café as 2 workers appeared with 5 gallon buckets filled to the brim with refuse about to become part of the nightly deposit. While talking about garbage might not be interesting, it does give you a deep glimpse into the everyday life of living in Hanoi. It is also noteworthy to mention that any combustible garbage is burned…..right there in the gutter, on the curb. You make a pile of garbage to get picked up and then you make a pile to burn and light it on fire. This makes navigating the sidewalks always interesting as you are constantly stepping around and sometimes over miniature and sporadic sidewalk bonfires.

Waking up in Vietnam is an interesting experience, and it usually involves a loud speaker of some sort. While in Hanoi, loud speakers are conveniently mounted on light posts through out the city. Usually just before 07:00 they start by blaring communist propaganda for the better part of an hour. That way you can lay in bed and listen to the government tell you what they want you to hear, all in Vietnamese of course. You would think that if you took a night train, as I did to Hue from Hanoi, then you would be spared this lovely wake up call. Well, yes and no. The train was a bit different. Before spreading the love of communist propaganda (In Vietnamese and English btw), they started the morning off around 06:30 with an instrumental version of Frank Sinatra’s My Way…..and a bad instrumental rendition at that. But I will admit that I found myself humming along before I drifted in and out of sleep for the next hour or so attempting in vein to deny that the day had actually begun and it was time to rise. 

 

If you’ve been there, then you’ll know that Hue is Vietnam’s Seattle. It rains there…..a lot! Every time I’ve heard someone talk about it, whether it be recently or having gone there a few years ago, they always refer to the rain and the flooding. Well, now I know why. Hue is an ancient city. (Inside voice use John Cleese in Monty Python style) The old part of town floods fairly easily and is actually surrounded by a moat and a wall creating what they call the Citadel. Then within that moat is the Imperial Enclosure….oh yes….it’s surrounded by a moat and a wall as well. And for good measure…within the Imperial Enclosure is the Forbidden Purple City, which, as you may have guessed, has another wall…and yet another moat. As you can imagine, if it weren’t for a bunch of bridges….you’d never get in, however, since they built the bridges they have there by negated the walls and the moats all together rendering them useless. (End Monty Python dialog)

Walking around Hue we saw some unusual sights. First were the massive gun turrets on either end of the bridge. Being thankful that they weren’t manned, we continued on down the street and stumbled on some vendors selling war era items, some of which were several US dog tags from the war. When you stop and think about how those dog tags got to where they were today…..it makes you come to the realization that they didn’t get there for any good reason. Part of me wanted to buy up the whole lot and upon return track down the families of these soldiers and let them know where I found this dog tag. In the end I didn’t buy anything. I couldn’t wrap my head around the significance of that act and all the meaning behind it. It honestly was a bit too much for a backpacker just trying to see the world…. All in all, Hue wasn’t all moats and walls and Forbidden Purple Cities…..it was also my very first experience with dysentery. Took a big gulp of local water and regretted it a split second after I lowered the cup. Woops. I regretted it even more around 1 in the morning when I woke up, rushed to the bathroom and couldn’t figure out if I should kneel or sit. Not a real concern really, I would be doing both soon enough. All I have to say about that one is….thank god for all the hoses on the bathroom walls in Asia…..a very multi purpose device indeed!

Dining in Hue was interesting as well, and I would say NOT for a food connoisseur. I say this because while the food is all generally good, you can’t go into a restaurant and not get a menu that is smaller than 25 pages. They all literally have EVERYTHING on the menu, western food, local food, Thai food, and some random other mixes. But none of the main restaurants on the main drags focus on one thing, they all serve everything….some better than others. But anyone who knows about a good dining experience doesn’t want a place that can serve everyone and their brother, they want a place that has a specialty, a focus. A place that when someone says you know where I had the best Pho in Hue…..it was xyz café. And that’s why you go there. This is lost to these restaurants. A shame really….

We chose to fly to Ho Chi Minh as the rail was washed out between Danang and Hue. I had mixed feelings for sure. The Reunification Palace, which was the old South Vietnam Presidential Palace has now been dubbed Independence Hall. Since the north ‘liberated’ the South in April of ’75, it’s been kept in it’s original condition. The Presidents office has been relatively untouched, as meeting rooms have been as well as the basement which had all of the communications gear left by the American forces. Outside on the grounds you’ll find the two Russian made tanks that took credit for liberating the Palace. You’ll also find a Bell-412 on the roof and an F5E (I may have gotten that one wrong) that were captured from the US forces when they finally left. It was a very odd feeling being an American and walking into this place. Hearing the tour guide tell how when they finally liberated and saved Saigon that it ended the oppression. I guess when you get down to it, it’s all about perspective. Just depends on which side of the wall you are standing. 

 

Another tough pill to swallow, but a must see, was the American War Museum. Several aircraft and tanks alike that were captured from the US were on display here as were hundreds of photographs from global photographers documenting the war. In the main section of the museum, they also had displays of what Agent Orange did to not only the country side, but also the people, both the immediate affects as well as the long term, of which were even a bit more horrifying. They also prominently documented several injustices that occurred during the war which were so far away from the Geneva Convention standards it was ridiculous. But all in all it was a fairly good representation of what occurred during that era in Vietnam’s history.

The next day we caught a bus up to Chau Doc. Most people passing through this town do so on their way to Phnom Penh, Cambodia via a boat ride up the Mekong. There were several markets in this town but not much else. We spent a day there and that was enough. Next thing we knew we were on a boat heading to Cambodia…..not bad at all!

Once in town, if you leave the Main Station in Taipei, Taiwan and head due south, you’ll be standing on a street corner wondering if the Taiwanese rail had transported you across the globe to NYC. Looking across the street and turning left to right you’ll see, without taking a step, a McDonalds, a Dunkin Donuts, 2 Starbucks, a Cold Stone Creamery and 4…..count em….4 – 7 Elevens……oh yeah….and a couple of Taiwanese shops as well. Taiwan is NOT China. The people are friendlier, the city is much easier to get around, and not everyone is trying to rip you off. However, the entire time I was in Taiwan it was either cloudy or raining. I did go up in the Taipei 101 and managed to catch a glimpse of the ground blaze by as holes in the clouds presented themselves. Oh well….I had to try! I also fell victim to the obligatory ice cream cone at the top of the world tallest building. Of course it was sold at a MövenPicken stand….how perfect.

After leaving Taiwan I made my way to Hanoi, Vietnam. I have never seen so many bouquets of flowers before in my life. Actually I have, but it usually involved someone’s demise. This time however I had just cleared customs at Hanoi’s International Airport. Throngs of people jammed the exit way eagerly anticipating a loved one’s return home. I haven’t seen so much genuine love and happiness while waiting for my driver to find his other fare than I did that day. Passenger after passenger cleared customs and made their way to the gauntlet of loved ones waiting to jam a huge bouquet of flowers into their hands and simultaneously envelop them in a massive group hug. This went on for 15 minutes as I waited and it didn’t relent when I left. As I was walking next to the driver out to the car, I turned to him and asked, “So where are my flowers?” He looked at me a little confused and I told him to never mind….I don’t think he got it……

Hanoi is a pretty cool city. It’s been the capital of the area for hundreds of years and it’s pretty obvious why. It reminded me a bit of Bali with all of the motor bikes all over the place and tourism is certainly a main draw to the area as there were westerners everywhere! Not Americans per se…..but westerners from all over the globe. Definitely worth checking out!

Just a thought:

You know it’s a good day when……you reach for your wallet before leaving the hotel room to check and see how much you have left. You want to make sure that you have enough for the next few days. You grab a wad of bills and count out 1.8 Million Dong. The funny thing is…..you’re still asking yourself….is that going to be enough?

I picked up my passport at the Laos Embassy in Hanoi and continued to stroll down the road back towards the Old Quarter……on the next block was the Cambodian Embassy….and on the next block was the Iraq Embassy…..hmmm…..I thought about stopping and putting my bag down to get my camera out and snap a shot, but then I thought, if the armed Vietnamese guard sees the American looking guy drop his bag in front of the Iraqi Embassy…..it might not be such a good idea. So I decided to pass on the photo op. Call me crazy…..but I figured I keep on walking. Not long after I came upon the Hanoi Hilton. The original Hilton that is…..There’s not much left of it besides the main wall and a little area to show the tourist. The rest was knocked down to make room for a Sofitel Hotel……the actual Hilton Hotel is over by the Opera House. Pretty crazy to think that where they once held hundreds of American POW’s, they now charge almost $200 a night for a high end hotel room. And $200 in Hanoi goes a long, long way….

After taking a 2 hour bus from Chiang Rai, I arrived in Chiang Khong. Hoping a quick tuk tuk I caught a lift over to the Mekong River where I experienced the most lax boarder crossing I have ever experienced. You need to go out of your way to make sure you get stamped both out of Thailand and into Laos. Hiring a long boat to make the 5 minute trip across the Mekong (costing 30 Bhat, i.e.1 USD) a breeze.. Not a bad deal at all! Huay Xai, Laos awaits and is not much more than one main road. Grabbing a room at the BAP guest house I strolled over to the office for the Gibbon Experience. If you’ve heard of it then you’ll know, if you haven’t let me tell you about it. 3 days and 2 nights in the Laos jungle. All transport and food included. A few hours hike in and out. The catch is this…..you’ll be staying about 150 feet up in a tree house with 7 other people and the only way to get there is via zip lines.

Actually, there are 5 tree houses all together (with 2 more under construction) all connected with a network of more than 20 zip lines, the longest being almost 1000 meters. It’s wild…..that’s the best way I can describe. One of the best suggestions I’ve had yet on this trip! Thanks Whit! I’ve got a few videos I made from borrowing a friends camera. Check em out!

This first one is of a nice long zip way above the tree tops.

The next one is actually 2 put together of me leaving the tree house and returning to the tree house.

Now I’m on my way back to Hanoi to meet up with a friend and tour the coast of Vietnam and Cambodia for the next month or so before making my way to Japan. More to come for sure……I’m just getting started!

Once the camp was over…..I bought a car and got ready to head down to Peru. Before heading down I took some time to reflect on where I had been and what I had done in the last several months. Hiking volcano’s in both Bali and Hawaii, crossing the Charles Bridge in Prague and the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia, touring the Taj Mahal, swimming in the Dead Sea, visiting the 12 Apostles in Oz & Dracula’s castle in Transylvania. I strolled through Red Square in Moscow past Lenin’s Tomb then into the Kremlin and Tiananmen Square in Beijing where a once upon a time student went head to head with a tank as the international community watched. I hiked for a few hours over the Great Wall of China and took the 6 plus day journey on the Trans Siberian Railroad. I also went to the top or just saw some of the highest communication towers in the world including Sydney, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur and Moscow. It’s really hard to sum up a journey like that in a few sentences, but when I looked back I realized that I packed what would be for some a life time of holidays in just 4 months. Yet my journey wasn’t over. The Sevich Tsunami was meeting in Lima and I needed to be there. There were 10 of us in all, and everyone made their own contribution to the trip in some way, shape or form……

From my seat left, there was Kelly (Nancy’s sister) who is currently in the Peace Corp in Costa Rica, Leah (Kelly’s life long friend from Boston) currently hunting for a job, Brian (Jeff’s buddy from ages ago….skier and hiker extraordinaire) who is from NJ (and yes….we did hold that against him), Jeff and Nancy (co-founders of the Sevich Tsunami) organizers of the whole trip, Gina and Brian (Yes….another Brian….there were 3 of us) Gina is Nancy’s friend from high school and her soon to be husband, Brandy (from the ATL) who contributed countless Lama dances, Cathy (from Boston) was our sacrificial lamb. She accepted everyone’s hiking boot blisters for us, and of course there was yours truly, I’m just a vagabond looking for a home in Peru. The crew had gotten together and we found our way to Cusco. The trip had begun!

When signing up for a hike on the Inca Trail, responsible tour operators require you to arrive in Cusco at least 48 hours prior to the hike in order for your body to acclimatize. We had arrived 72 hours ahead of time leaving us plenty of time to rest and explore the city. Cusco is located at about 11,500 feet above sea level, so walking up a flight of stairs will have you breathing heavy and spending a day hiking on the Inca Trail would leave sitting on the side of the trail sucking wind. So what did we do? Well, the first day we caught a bus over to Pisaq which is situated east of the Sacred Valley of the Incas. There is a pretty well known market there as well as a few trails to hike up to old ruins. We figured why listen to all the advice we were given and why not push out bodies a little?

After the markets and some local food, off we went to hike the side of the mountain. Most of us….myself included didn’t want to push it too much and decided that getting to the first ruin was enough……Brandy and Gaynor went further and found some more, even better ruins that we missed out on. Those two were our rouges. One minute they were standing right next to you and the next they’d be on top of the hill you were standing next to yelling down at you.

After wiping ourselves out that night we got back to our hotel and had pizza and beer delivered to the room. We were all surprised when the pizza box came with a Ron Jeremy look alike on the cover…..it was either that or Super Mario…..none of us are sure, but most were hoping for the latter.

Cusco is a city in southeastern Peru near the Sacred Valley (Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountains). The next day, our second in Cusco, our rest and relaxation as we were acclimatizing to the conditions included a several hour hike up to Sacsayhuaman, which was commonly reffered to as Sexy Woman for obvious reasons, Tambomachay and Pukapukara. This is a group of ruins that is located just to the north of the main square on your way to see Jesus. Just walking through town and up the side of the hill we were able to see some amazing sites and we weren’t even on the trail yet.

Our last day in town before beginning our adventure we decided to truly take it easy and make our way over to the markets. These were not your every day markets you might be used to in the states. Sure they had socks and underwear and hats and gloves, but they also had fresh squeezed juices, fruits, packaged foods, petrified alpacas, pigs feet, headless plucked chickens, pigs heads, full sides of beef and of course flowers. You can really pretty a place up with some nice flowers. Yes, it was a true Peruvian Market that was not located in the tourist area. For me that was a huge relief as the tourist scene was really beginning to wear on me. It was a nice reprieve to see how the locals lived and shopped. That’s something that I had looked for in all of the countries I had visited…..find somewhere there are no tourist and TONS of locals…..this was that place.

Day 1. The bus arrived at our hotel around 5:20 am. There would be 16 of us in our group, 21 porters (2 of which were cooks), a lead guide and an assistant guide (she was the one that followed the group and kept kicking the slackers last in line and making sure they kept moving.) The bus brought us to kilometer 82 which was the trail head and where the Peruvian government had setup a control point, passports were checked and stamped and matched up with tickets that had been purchased back in October. While we would be on the trail a total of 4 days, the government had limited the number of tourists to 500 per day anywhere on the trail. So 125 new hikers showed up each day to take their turn.

To start the day Brandy and Cathy were showing us their new stretch….I think they called it the upward dog, their twist on yoga above the ground. The hike started and within 30 minutes we were donning our rain gear. Fortunately it was just a sprinkle and the worst we had the entire trip. After constant bombardment from our guides about making sure we stay hydrated and to keep drinking water, we past an America who was on the back of a donkey being lead by a Peruvian guide. The only problem was that he was heading down. He had a big smile and said, “Inca Ambulance….drink lots of water and stay hydrated……I didn’t”. It was almost as if our guides had paid these characters to set up this elaborate illustration to help drive the point home. Obviously they didn’t, but we got the hint anyway. Altitude sickness was serious business and not to be taken lightly. That night we made camp and the moon was bright. We needed a good nights sleep because the infamous day 2 was in front of us as was the 5 ish wake up call….

Day 2. Everyone that we had talked to about this hike had warned us about Day 2. It was the most vertical and the roughest of the days. Day 3 was cake to Day 2. Having to out do everyone in my group, I won the heaviest pack award and went from leading the group the first day to trailing towards the end as my pack seemed to be pulling me backwards down the mountain. I attempted to make the pack lighter by eating all the snacks that I had and drinking tons of the water as quickly as possible. For some reason it was still the heaviest pack out of all of us. Even the porters laughed at me as they were sprinting by wearing nothing but sandals, shorts and a t-shirt.

Having only two functional batteries for my camera, I kept the shooting to a minimum the second day as I was fearful that I would run out before the prize at the end that was Machu Piccu. We started the day with a group shot of everyone including the porters. Then I had to get one of Brandy taking out Cathy. Not sure what was going on there but our theory is they were working on a new yoga technique yet again.

Day 3. We hiked, we smiled, we felt good. The hell of Day 2 was behind us and we had crossed dead woman’s pass. Our camp site was at 11,900 feet and a few of us were having some altitude issues, but with a little hydration, some food…..and puking a few times……we got past it and carried on. The weather was perfect, the sun was out…not too hot and not too cold we scaled the side of the mountain crossing pass after pass and ruin after ruin.

The trail was as interesting as the ruins were. One moment we were walking in what seemed to be a rain forest and the next we were on the side of a sheer cliff with nothing to catch us if we fell. It traversed the mountain side weaving and winding and sometimes going through caves and back again. Some steps were stones put in place while others were simply carved from the stones that made up the mountainside itself. Walking sticks would have been a good idea this day and the there was a lot of downward steps to be had and you could feel it in the knees. Lots of it was very steep as well, both up and down.

While going around the side of the mountain during a rather flat section of the trail, I was caught off guard by screaming and our tail guide running past yelling at the porters that had just passed us. Something seemed to be up and in a bad way. When the front runners stopped and headed back to check on the rest of the group, we quickly realized that someone had taken a spill off the trail. Once we got to the rest of the group, our porters were blazing around the corner having jettisoned their packs and sprinted full speed to the rescue of some unlucky hiker. It was Rick from Canada. There he was standing about 20 feet below us looking up. Apparently he had stepped on the outside edge of a rock about a foot and a half square and it gave way sending him tumbling backwards and head first down the side of the mountain into tons of vegetation. He had fallen head first on his back, his backpack taking the brunt of it, he slide down about 20 feet until the undergrowth stopped his fall. Later that day all he had on him were a few scratches on his head and a little limp. Not bad for falling off the Inca trail……they sure don’t build em like the used to….

We passed more ruins and then more terraces in our journey finally ending at our last camp site for the trip. This was the end of our third day of hiking and those who were quick enough rewarded themselves with a hot shower while the rest of us, myself included went yet another day without and just enjoyed the final dinner. It was an early night as the next day we would make a run for Machu Piccu. We wanted to be first in line and first to the Sun Gate……so our wake up time was 3:40am. Ouch….that’s all I have to say about that one….

Day 4. It started earlier than all the days before. 3:40 am was our call to wake and get some breakfast so that we could get in line and get to the check point first. The check point opened just before 5:30 am and by that time there were about 10 groups behind us. Of course we were first in line and once we cleared that point it was like we were in the Amazing Race. We grabbed our ticket and made a run for it. Headlamps blazing we were going at a steady clip…….then, slowly but surely the headlamps started to turn off one by one. Not because it was getting light out, but because we had a full moon and the lamps were limiting us. With some hesitation I switched mine off……and after about 30 seconds of running just waiting for that ankle to give out I could start to see the uneven rocks that I was running on, only this time I could see much more and our speed had increased. We were on a tear as we ripped over the mountain passes and onward towards the Sun Gate. I’ve got to be honest….it was one of the most fun hours of the entire trek, going at a good pace with a full pack on your back and racing the masses that crowd Machu Piccu each and every day.

The Sun Gate…..we made it. The sun had yet to hit Machu Piccu, but we could already see the lines queuing in the distance as it would be another 40 minutes before we got down to the site itself. No rest in site, we were off…..

On that tear down the mountain toward the site, we past a few people walking the wrong way towards the sun gate. One asked….where did you come from? ‘Cusco’ we replied with big grins. Knowing full well that they had taken a train and then a bus to see the remains of the Incan empire. By the time we got there we started to see the flood of tourists that took the easy route and by no means earned the glory of being first on the mountain that day. They had their shiny hiking boots ready for the worst, yet they had all taken a bus up the hill and a train from town. It was a bit sad, but it made us feel that much better about walking around the site as we had come the way the Incas would have come back in the day.

We shared those first few rays of sunlight with the Lamas that called Machu Piccu home and stood in awe of what past civilizations had built at the top of a remote mountainside in the middle of the Andes. It was impressive to say the least. Something that I won’t be forgetting any time soon….

The stone work was amazing. Seeing how the Inca’s built everything and finished it while it was in place was impressive. It was a bit sad to see how the archeologists who “restored” Machu Piccu a few decades ago did so. While the foundations of most of the buildings were intact, the structures had all been knocked over. So instead of replicating the stonework that the Inca’s had done once upon a time, they simply stacked stones to complete the structure. While this gives you a better representation of what the buildings would have looked like in their original state, in my opinion, it was more an insult to the past cultures that worked tirelessly in order to shape the stones the way they were. You’ll see a shot below with a round building….in the base you’ll see the Inca stones….and at the top you’ll see the restorer’s version. It’s hard to even compare the two…

Finally we made our way back down the mountain and grabbed some food. Guinea Pig anyone? Then since you are only allowed to travel in one direction on the Inca Trail, we took the train back to Cusco.

A flight to Lima the next morning allowed us to spend the day running around Lima exploring what more Peru had to offer. We found a great little lunch place that served ceviche. The tuna was so tender you just sat your fork on it and it was cut in two. Then a night flight back to Miami then Boston and we were home. There has been a bit of culture shock during all of this…..not in the countries I have visited but coming home to America. I see things that I used to do and buy that I can’t even think about buying any more. Don’t worry…I’m not all save the earth, I’m going green or anything. Just being a little bit more aware of what the American machine feeds the masses. Literally and figuratively. Anywhoo……all in all I’m glad to be home…..even though I don’t actually have a home…… I’ve got a full summer of driving across the country and visiting with friends and family….oh yeah, and skydiving! I drove straight to Chicago the day after I was back for Project Horizon then down to Florida via ATL and am now in SC. In the next few days I’ll be bombing up the east coast Boston bound for another camp, then out to Montana. Fun summer indeed!

Well….that’s it with the blogs for a while. I’m stoked so many people followed along and enjoyed the pics! They’ll be more later on in the summer when I have something to write about. In the mean time now I have to start figuring out what I’m going to do when I grow up and where I’m going to live! Any ideas, I’m all ears……

BTW…..Brandy, your landlord Pearl called……something about the dancing Lamas were eating all of the quinoa. What the hell is quinoa anyways? And where did you get dancing Lamas?!?!?!

When we left Krakow, we caught a flight to Dubrovnik, Croatia. I have heard in the past that the Croatian coast is something that needs to be seen. What I had heard was correct. Dubrovnik is a city that has so much to offer. Whether it’s a stroll through the old town or hoping a boat out to one of the many, many islands around, you really can’t go wrong here.

The old town is an ancient walled city that has been revitalized and is now the focus of many tourists as well as multiple cruise ships. A 15 foot wide wall encircles the entire town and you are permitted to walk around the top of it for a small fee where you can soak up all of the breath taking views out over the town and surrounding ocean scapes. It takes just about 45 minutes to make it all the way around stopping for pictures here and there. Something worthy of note is that back in ’91-’92 the Yugoslavian Army decided that the old town’s walled city was a threat and proceeded to mortar the town destroying several buildings and damaging almost all of the roofs. You’ll see below that most of the roof tiles are nice new red clay tiles that show little signs of aging. About 80 % of all the roofs in the town had to be replaced. Some buildings still lie in ruins as a reminder of the senseless attack. The port is also a spot where you can hop a quick ferry out to one of the many islands and is attached directly to the old town.

On one of the islands we found dozens and dozens of peacocks. I was surprised at how close we could get without them being startled. We even had one show off and display their feathers in all his grandeur. During our hike the day before around the old town wall, we noticed a little café on the outside of the wall perched on the rocky cliffs below. It was just about 15 tables with umbrellas, offering a perfect view of sunset with the ocean crashing on the rocky shore about 50 feet below. The next day we venture to another island this time a little further away. On our boat ride out we passed what looked just like the new Zakim Bridge in Boston, but only half of it. This island was much larger and had more inhabitance than the first. Hiking straight across the island to the main beach in a hidden little cove we caught some sun and enjoyed our last few days in Croatia.

After traveling with my friend from London through several countries, she fell in love with Croatia and decided that she was staying. Wanting to see some other friends in Munich I ventured on and made my way to Germany. Staying in the heart of Munich, there were people every where. Walking on the main drag from the train station to Marianplatz I saw plenty. Everything from clowns on stilts, to paparazzi, to members of the red cross descending from a church tower, to beer gardens full of people, to a soon to be bride with all of her friends being entertained by a swan on a bicycle, to an organized parade that was in protest of a new runway at Munich’s airport which would accommodate the new Airbus 380, to finally, my old friend Sonja. It was good to see an old friend in a familiar city. While only there a few days I was able to explore all over and was even shown an area in the middle of town where the river and the concrete blocks underneath formed a stationary wave which is big for surfers from all over town. Surfing in the middle of a city….who would have thought.

Getting up early I caught a 6:00 am train to Prague. I was in Prague 10 years ago backpacking around Europe, and I’ve always wanted to go back. It didn’t take too much time before I found myself walking through the old town square over to Prague’s Astronomical Clock. This is a huge tourist attraction as on the hour 4 animated figured appear and ring in the hour. According to the stories, these 4 figures represent that which is despised, death, vanity, Judaism and Turkish. Regardless of the meaning it’s a huge tourist attraction, large enough for me to grab a picture of the crowd staring up at it. Next on the list was a trip to the café on the water with an amazing view of the Charles Bridge, followed by a tour of the bridge itself. Be sure to rub the brass plaque for luck as you cross the bridge, people would line up for the chance. With statues surrounding the bridge and vendors all around, the Charles Bridge is a place in Prague that you’ll find yourself over and over again.

Waiting in the tower on the bridge for sunset, I was able to capture a few key shots as the sun fell. I even grabbed some more from the street with the North Star shining bright….

The last day was off to the castle on the hill. This brought back a lot of memories from 10 years ago. Sitting in that square watching a friend sketch the church spires and the buildings all around. There I was again 10 years later staring up at the magnificent building wondering where all the time went and where those friends are today. You could say I had a moment, but it was a good moment and it made me glad that I made the extra journey out to Prague once again. Leaving the castle I chose the path less traveled and ended up in the King’s Garden, a pretty cool little place to rest for a spell and catch up on some reading. Then I ventured over to the park next door for the postcard view of the bridges in downtown Praha.

Finally I hopped over to London to meet up with my friend and wait for my flight back to Boston. I did run around London but left the camera at home….hey…I needed a break! That and it was raining the whole time. Who knew….rain in London! Anywhoo……I did see the quick sites in town and made my way back to Boston. Now I am 2 days away before leaving for a trip to Peru with 10 other friends. In a few more weeks I should have some nice shots of the Inca trail and Machu Picchu. What a way to end an already unforgettable journey. And I honestly hope that most of you have enjoyed the pictures and the writing as much as I have enjoying taking them and presenting them to you. One more post to come….stay tuned….. 

 

-Brian

I flew from Tel Aviv to Istanbul, Turkey. A land where east truly meets west. This was to begin my 2 ½ weeks of travel through eastern Europe. An old friend that I haven’t seen in 13 years caught wind that I was going to be in the area and decided to join in the fun. Lauren has been living in the UK for the last year or so and needed a break from the corporate life, something I could completely understand and sympathize with. We were to meet at the Seven Hills Hotel in Sultanahmet, Istanbul. Since I arrived a few hours early and there seemed to be some confusion about checking in, I stowed my bags with the front desk and ascended to the rooftop restaurant for some brekky and the scenery. With views of the water, rooftops and the Blue Mosque, it was something that would take a bit to soak in. There were rooftop terraces all over town and the Mosque just towered in the distance. It’s awe inspiring presence made me want to run down and start exploring the city right away.

The end of April was the perfect time to visit. Spring had sprung and all of the flowers were in bloom. There was even a tulip festival in one of the main squares that we happened past. I’m not a huge flower guy, but they just made the beauty of the land that much more powerful. With ornate mosques around every corner and amazing arrays of flowers in full bloom just adding tons of color to everything, it was the perfect timing for an aspiring photographer.

After walking through the parks we found our way to the shoreline where hundreds had gathered to take in the perfect day. It seemed to be the spot for the locals to buy some of the local bbq food and have a picnic. From there we made our way to the markets and through some old off the map neighborhoods to see how the locals really live. We even stumbled on some young girls teasing the boys on the other side of an old boarded up building providing the perfect photo op. Then we ended the day back at the Mosque for some night shots….

Istanbul ended under ground at the Basilica Cistern. A subterranean cavern, man made to hold water back in the day. Today however it’s been drained of all but a few feet of water and walkways and lighting have been put in so that you can see the engineering marvels of the generations past. The reflection of the columns off the water made it a spectacular view and the very dim lighting made it a challenge to photograph for any photographer without a tripod.

Off to Romania where they were gearing up Bucharest for the Formula 3 race that would shutdown the streets and close off the Parliament. The parks and the land were nice, but Bucharest still has a ways to go before it catches up to Prague or Budapest. Remember 1989 was a common theme in town and they even had a square named after it. Obviously an important day in history to everyone that lived in the land, Romania is now a member of the EU and is in process of attempting to strengthen their economy to make it a better place for everyone.

Around town there were several sights to see from the old buildings to the new and the architecture in between. Including one of the worst coke ads that I’ve ever seen that I felt compelled to post…..so does it make you thirsty? We also decided that it would be nice to step it up a notch and stay in a decent hotel. We went to book two nights and were told that they only had one available, but the second night we could stay at the Venezia which was a new hotel owned by the same owner and had the same quality. However it was not open for business yet and would be opened the day we needed it. It turns out that we were their first guests ever and received the royal treatment included gifts brought to the room once we checked in and got settled. A very nice place indeed!

The following day we caught a train to Brasov and then Bran which is located in Transylvania. It’s also home to the modern day Dracula’s castle. I have to say that this excursion made our trip to Romania as the country side was what would put you in touch with nature. The pure beauty and unpolluted scenery of the snow capped mountains was something that made you breath a sigh of relaxation. The castle itself and it’s surroundings were amazing. The old buildings around the castle were as old as the castle itself just adding to the ambiance.

Next stop was Budapest. This was a repeat city for me as I was here with my buddy Kevin back in 1997. However one of the main things that I missed on that go around was the Castle Hill and all that was inside. I found out this time around that I missed a huge part of Buda. Buda as you may not know is on one side of the river while Pest is on the other side of the Danube. Running around seeing churches and Palaces everything in between we tired ourselves out and headed to Pest where we found a little café for drinks and dinner. Sitting next to a few guys who were obviously from NY, I couldn’t help but throw on my Sox cap and give them a big smile. Of course that drew instant comments in my direction, but it was all good as we enjoyed dinner in Pest and they disappeared into the endless crowds that flowed by at a constant pace. That evening we had a night train to Krakow……who knows what Poland will hold, but so far I’ve only heard good things from other travelers. We shall see….

In the past, traveling to Israel always seemed like a strange concept to me. Why would anyone want to go to a place that is in the news every other week for people being blown up by a suicide bomber as they sip on a double espresso at their neighborhood coffee shop with dogs running around, babies in strollers and people just trying to enjoy life? It seemed like this was a normal phenomenon for Israelis. What I found was something that I was not expecting. However my trip to Israel didn’t start in Israel, it started in Moscow…..

Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport. My flight to Tel Aviv was on El Al Airlines, Israel’s flagship airlines that flies all over the world. Since Israel probably has the most enemies outside of the USA, if not more, they have very tight security. Prior to getting to the check-in counter, your checked luggage must be x-ray, tagged, and only then you can approach the counter and get your boarding pass. After answering a series of questions such as why I was going to Israel, if I had family there, if I was a Jew or practicing any religion, I was cleared to get my bag screened. Once my pack was launched out the side of the x-ray machine, security personnel asked me to open every pocket in order to swab the insides. This was the familiar explosives swab that is performed at random in airports around the world. However this time the machine kicked out a non-descript red screen that flashed ‘Contaminant’ and ‘TNT’ with a series of numbers listed next to each. Immediately I knew I was in for it. I looked at my watch and was thankful that I was over 2 hours early. Let me be the first to say that when traveling to Israel from Russia, this is the last thing that you want to see flash across the screen. What followed was their supervisor bringing me to the ‘back room’ for further inspection. After being told to empty every single item out of both of my bags into 3 large plastic bins, I was asked to leave the room and wait outside for their inspection of my gear to be completed. For the first time flying on a commercial airliner, I was glad I didn’t have my parachute. Once the full inspection was complete, and after I plugged in every electronic component that I had, which included 2 cell phones, camera battery charger and laptop, I was cleared to head to the gate. During the time of the inquisition, another of the staff had checked me in.

To the gate… After having every item I’ve been carrying for the past 4 months inspected thoroughly, my next boondoggle was the standard airport security check. Sending all metal items through the x-ray, I stepped through the metal detector and into the full body scanner. Turning 90 degrees to my right in order to match the footprints on the floor of the scanner, a technician instructed me to raise my arms above my head in three languages. Upon doing so, a large arm about 8 feet tall whipped across in front of me and behind me simultaneously. I was cleared to step forward. When I looked back at the screen I could see what looked like one of the screens from Total Recall, there was my body, as viewed through the eyes that don’t lie. A full body image highlighting every bump and contour, not hiding anything at all and for all the world to see. What better way to see if someone is carrying something under their clothes. Once clear of airport security I had to traverse gate security. After answering a few questions and handing over my ticket, I was asked to come to their special room where I had to empty all of my pockets, take off my shoes, unbutton / zip my pants for a full inspection. A full body pat down and handheld metal detector was under way by a Ruski that in my opinion now owes me dinner! After sending my things through the x-ray that’s at the gate all over again, I was finally allowed to rejoin the masses and board the aircraft. When we finally started to taxi out, I noticed that we were being followed by an El Al security vehicle that acted as an escort and was with us until we made the final turn onto the runway from the taxi way. I can honestly say that I’ve never felt safer on a flight.

Tel Aviv. Once clearing passport control without any stamps added to my passport, I walked out to see Uri’s smiling face waiting for me. He picked me up in his Rav 4, one that was identical to the one he had in Boston. Off we went back to his place in town where I met Tali, his Fiancé that will be his wife on June 1st, and his 3 year old Boston Terrier, Bluto. They lived on a street that reminded of the Boulevard in Providence. There were always people walking, riding bikes and taking their dogs for a stroll. A few blocks down they even had a coffee shop in the middle that seemed to be crowded no matter what the time of day. Having a lot of work keeping him busy, Uri dropped me off with Yonatan and Ella. Once again on this trip, I’ve had the complete luck with timing as they just happened to be here visiting for a few weeks so that Yono could sort out his new Visa. I had arrived on Memorial Day in Israel. Everything was pretty much closed as they remembered those that have been lost over the years in the wars and other terrorist attacks. One of the things that they do is sound the warning sirens for one minute twice that day and everyone stops and takes a minute to remember friends and families less fortunate. Yonatan, Ella and I walked to the sidewalk overpass on the highway where we stood as the horn sounded. Cars in both directions stopped as their occupants stepped out and stood in the road to remember. I was a bit surreal to see traffic on a major road come to a complete halt as people stopped, stood and thought about friends they used to know.

The next day was Independence Day. Being a public holiday, everyone heads to the parks and cooks out while we went to Ram’s house in Jaffa for a BBQ. Before getting to his house, Uri, Tali and I walked around the old port city of Jaffa. It was the first time I got to really see them as the couple that they are. After spending a week with them, I think it’s safe to say that they’ve made a good match.

Wanting to see some of the sights in Israel, off we went to the Dead Sea. Uri told me that we were driving a little bit out of the way in order to avoid Jericho. I guess there had been some sniper activity in the past near that town so it was best to drive a little further and go the long way around. On the drive down and back, we saw 5 F-15 jets, 2 Blackhawk’s and a CH-53 chopper. Remembering that the other side of the Dead Sea is actually Jordan, Uri told me that there were a couple of air bases down there which is why we saw so much activity. 

The Dead Sea is actually the lowest point on earth not covered in ice. It’s 1370 feet below sea level. While we were there, an F-15 went right over top at about 500 feet AGL. The thought of reading the altimeter in the cockpit and seeing negative 800 feet MSL in a fighter jet must be a unique experience. Having almost 9x the salinity than ocean water, the Dead Sea leaves your skin with an oily feel while you’re in the water. It also makes you feel like you’re floating on the water. It’s something that’s hard to believe for yourself until you experience it. You just lay back and you’re floating. Nothing you can do will make you go under involuntarily. Just lay back and enjoy a book……..or lay on your stomach and you’re still floating. I was doing barrel rolls on the surface and not sinking an inch! It’s a very odd feeling to say the least. A bit of advice when you get out, make sure you thoroughly rinse off. If you miss a spot, you’ll see it later as it will be all white with dried salt stuck to you.

My last day in Israel we spent at the dropzone. Who was I to say no??? After all, I was visiting 2 skydivers! Uri spoke to the chief instructor and he let me borrow his Katana 97 for 3 jumps. The scenery there is amazing as the DZ is across the tracks from the beach and right on the Mediterranean Sea. If you have a chance…..make some jumps there. A friendly DZ with 2 Caravans it was a nice place to visit!

I will come back to Israel one day as there is so much more to see. As I said to Uri, it far exceeded my expectations and seemed like it would be an amazing place to live. The way of life there in Tel Aviv was something that I hope to emulate else where once I find a place to land. In the mean time however I’m writing this as I sit on the rooftop of the Seven Hills Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey looking out over the city at the Blue Mosque only a few hundred feet to my right and the ocean a few hundred feet to my left. In a few hours I will be seeing a friend I haven’t seen in about 10 years and we plan on traveling eastern Europe together. With no set itinerary and only a flight out of Prague…..who knows what path we’ll choose…..

The traditional Trans Siberian Railroad extends from St. Petersburg across Siberia, never leaving Russia and ends at Vladivostok almost 7 days later having traveled a countless number of miles. While this is the tradition Tran Siberian experience, I chose another, almost more popular route which went from Beijing into Mongolia with a stop over in Ulaan Bataar, continuing on to Irkutsk, Russia where you stop and see Lake Baikal only an hour and a half away. From there onto Moscow which is a 77 hour journey in and of itself traversing 5 time zones. This route is known as the Trans Mongolian Railroad. While not actually having anything to compare it to, I can say already that I prefer this route as it extends to not just one culture and one landscape, but three cultures and landscapes, three currencies, three ways of life and three very unique lands. It also breaks up the monotony of a 6 ½ day venture, which is how long it would take if you didn’t get off. 

Leaving Beijing early in the afternoon, I boarded the train onto what appeared to be the tourist car, kupe` class. This was second class service with 4 berths in a cabin and a door that opened to the isle way with a toilet at either end of the carriage. Upon entering my cabin, I thought I must have been in the wrong place as there were already 6 people sitting in the 4 person cabin. When the Mongolian family saw me they jumped up and made room. Once the extended family cleared out I was still a bit confused as there were 5 of us still in there. I had an upper bunk and made my home, stowed my bag and got settled. I came to realize that the little girl, who had to be under the age of 5 was sleeping in the same bunk as mom. Of course they didn’t speak a word of English. Having passed several other backpackers boarding the same car, I venture outward to see what new friends I could make. As luck would have it there was a tour group full of Aussies and a few from the UK. They were on the Vodka Train tour, drinking their way across Siberia…..or so the brochures would have you believe. Turns out it was just a random group of people from all over Australia, a few couples and a few friends. I hung out with Beth & Brian from Brisbane, Dan from Perth and Gary from the UK. They seemed like good people and when we swapped itineraries with each other we quickly realized that while we would miss each other from Mongolia to Irkutsk, we would be on the same 77 hour train onward to Moscow. That would start a common theme on and off the train of people seeing over and over again as we all traveled along the same tracks heading in one direction or another, swapping maps, currency and tips on where to go or how to get out of being stopped by the police in Moscow…..never give them your passport, seemed to be a common response, just a photo copy! We would swap #’s and attempt to track each other down further on down the tracks. The Aussies also offered me a sanctuary in their cabin away from the family that while very friendly, didn’t speak a lick of English.

Once out of China and cleared of the Mongolian passport control, there was a bogie change. This is where they separate all cars, and lift up each and every car to change the wheels, aka bogies. China runs on a 5′ wide track while Mongolia and Russia run on a 4′ 8″ wide track. This takes only a few hours to our surprise. While some chose to stay on board and get jolted around like ants in a box as the cars were shifted and lifted, most of us went into the train station and raided the general store there. The three clerks at the front didn’t really have a register, nor a system of how they charged people. Since the lines were huge and the store was packed, they opted to process customers quickly in order to clear the store. A mad rush ensued and as I approached the front of the line, the clerk looked at what I held in my hands…..rolled her eyes around in her head as if she were doing some form of complex math, adding and multiplying and coming up with some sort of number that was not even close to how much it should have been. Shrugging and not even thinking about correcting her, I handed her my left over Yuan and exited the station and back aboard the train. 

The next morning we woke to the Gobi desert outside our window. Other travelers had told me that the Gobi, while over 100 km away from Beijing was approaching at an alarming rate of 2 km per year. Good thing they are hosting the Olympics in 2008 and not any later…..Upon arriving in Ulaan Bataar, I was greeted by the driver for the UB Guest House holding a sign with my name on it. Quite a nice sight I must say after a long trip and while backpacking. I jumped aboard a van that was promptly filled with other travelers and off we went. The Guest House left a bit to be desired, but the people made up for it as did the other travelers there, most of whom were in the midst of the same journey that I also had begun. Only having two days in Ulaan Bataar, I headed out to get some Mongolian money from the nearby ATM. When I left the states I did so with not even $100 USD in my pocket and no travelers checks of any kind. As soon as I got to a new country with a new currency I would head to an ATM and withdraw an amount I thought I needed and went from there. It’s been clockwork, up to now. The first ATM walked me all the way through the transaction then spit my card out. Having only had this happen in China, I found an ATM that was on my card’s network and tried again. Same results. After the sixth, seventh and eighth ATM, I began to grow concerned. How was I going to pay for my accommodations, worse, the train ticket onward to Russia? Not wanting to pay the outrageous fares that the travel agents were attempting to charge me for the 3 train tickets, any where from $1200 – $1800 USD, I opted to buy my tickets when I got there. The first leg was $100, the second was $35 and the third was $330. Much better than the travel agents rates. So I went in search of the International Ticket Counter which was located near, but not at the train depot. I made my arrangements, got the price and went to pay….and of course, they didn’t take any kind of plastic. A worker there realized I had tried ATMs all over town and walked me about 4 blocks to a money exchange place where they allow you to charge your credit card and receive cash. 100,000 please! It was a deal and allowed me to survive for a few days in Mongolia. The lesson learned here is that while I have 3 ATM cards with me and none of them worked, they are all Mastercards. Mongolia was Visa only land. Who knew…..

Heading back to the hostel I met up with a few girls sharing the room and realized quickly that they were part of a larger group about 10 strong…..all Peace Corp volunteers based in and around Mongolia. On the whole there were just over 100 volunteers in the country I learned that night. I had no idea. I found it fitting that the very evening I was out with a group from the Peace Corp in Mongolia, my cousin who met her fiancé in the Peace Corp in Panama was getting married in Texas. How random. The group took me out to one of their favorite bars and drank happily until close…which was a staggering midnight. A large sign on the door at the hostel warned NOT to stay out past midnight as it was not safe. I figured if they took the trouble to post a sign then it was worthy of listening too. 

The next day I ventured out and started noticing the cars. While they drove on the right side of the road, the cars had right side steering wheels. Upon further inspection I realized that I was wrong, they had right AND left side steering wheels. There was no rhyme or reason, but as I stood on the street corner I took notice and counted, it worked out to about 50 / 50. How random I thought, until I mentioned it to a girl at the hostel who told me that Mongolia was a hotspot for stolen cars. They get shipped there from all over Asia and even Europe. It all made sense. Wandering through the Main Square where Dave’s British Pub was located…..owned by a British guy named Dave (who would have thought), I found myself walking into the Grand Khaan Irish Pub. What can I say, I had to check it out. To my surprise they had really good western food. I’ve been splitting my time from the local foods to western foods, avoiding fast food at all costs. So far it’s been working pretty good and allowing me a good balance. 

The train from Mongolia into Russia was a comedy show. Apparently the thing to do was to smuggle in cheaply made goods into Russia and then sell them once you cross the boarder. So much so that about 6 women ran up and down the cars holding arms full of sneakers, button up shirts, bags taped shut full of clothes and whatever else they were trying to smuggle over the boarder. The way they did it was to walk up and down the cars finding the naïve travelers and put these packages and shoes and shirts in their cabins. That way when Russia Customs walks aboard they don’t see a pile of shirts all the same, but one in each compartment and thought nothing of it. While they tried 3 different times to just walk into our compartment, in the end we dropped the stuff in the hallway and slammed the door shut. Watching them running and up and down the different cars was quite humorous I must say. I would also think that attempting to smuggle something into Russia and avoid paying customs is not something that I’d like to try. But nevertheless, it provided entertainment for the evening! 

In the cabin next to mine I befriended 3 Aussies from Perth, all 22 and traveling to Moscow. Turned out we were staying in the same hostel in Irkutsk. We bonded and ended up spending the next 5 or 6 days together. Peter, Chris and Sheryl were all traveling separately but met up in Beijing for this journey to Moscow and then would go their own ways again. What a fun group of Aussies! Of course every time they referenced backpacking right after college, I jumped in and said, “yeah….I did that back in ’97……errrr…..10 years ago.” Making me feel great about my age of course….. Once in Irkutsk we ran out and found the Liverpool Pub. This was a British Pub with a Beatles theme and to our pleasant surprise with live acoustic music, all Beatles songs of course. Walking there our group was 6 strong as we picked up 2 more from the UK staying at the same hostel just traveling in the opposite direction. Singing along and having a great time, we attempted to order food. While they had an English menu, the waitress didn’t speak any. So pointing at the menu didn’t help much. The singer ended up coming over and helping translate. Seeing that he was a pretty good guy after helping us order we started throwing requests out to him. ‘Hey Jude’ we shouted……nothing. Sorry…..don’t know that one…….’OK….how about Imagine?’ …..Sorry, don’t know that one either. Did I mention that he was ONLY playing Beatles songs, and he didn’t know these two songs? Oh well….it was still a fun night and that just added to the experience. The next day we picked up 2 more from the hostel and all 8 of us hopped on a bus and headed and hour and half away to Listvyanka.

Listvyanka is the first main town that you come to when heading to Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal is a fresh water lake and is over 5000 feet deep in spots. If you took all of the 5 Great Lakes and combined the water, you would have less than the water that is in Baikal. Having poor timing with Spring around the corner, we couldn’t drive on the lake any more, nor could we boat across as it was all still ice, just melting ice. We ended up renting an apartment for a night in Listvyanka and walking into town for supplies, dinner and of course, Vodka. We also ventured out onto the ice……we just couldn’t resist. It was fun to run around out there, but it was melting and you could see and hear the cracking. Fun, but not for an extended period of time. Getting back to the apartment we found an old cassette player and tons of tapes with Russian music mixed with Western music. That and the Vodka made for a good, loud and fun filled evening. I’m glad that the apartment was made of solid concrete as if we were in the states, the cops would have shown up at 3 am for sure….but not in Russia!

Once back in Irkutsk I ran around with Sheryl and saw some churches and statues of Lenin. It was a town of a little more then half a million. Later on, as someone else noted in the group, it was also very odd for most of us as the locals were all Caucasians. I thought about it and realized that I had been traveling in China, India, Nepal, Thailand, Bali…..all places where being white was the minority. It’s not something I thought about much, but did realize that I had been the minority for over a month, and as I realized this I remembered thinking back to Agra in India when I ventured out to one of the markets that was out of the way and while walking around for almost and hour I didn’t see another westerner. I remembered how good that felt and thought about that then. As far as this trip goes…..being the minority is gone for the time being, but it was an interesting experience to say the least…..

Now I find myself on the 77 hour, number 9 train to Moscow, the Baikal Express, writing this from the dining car as we scream across Siberia. Of course the Vodka Train crew from Australia are here to keep me company. I’m also coming to the end of a month without seeing anyone I know. It’s been nice but it will be good to see Sergey in Moscow, Uri and Yonatan in Israel, and Lauren in Istanbul. Traveling and seeing old friends as you go is a nice thing indeed. Of course so is traveling solo and being forced to meet new people. After all, I didn’t quit my job, sell my house and put all of my belongings in storage so that I could sit around and do nothing. This trip is about change and experiencing new people and new places. It’s about seeing what this world has to offer, finding out how other people from around the world make a living and see how they live. It’s about exploring and going to places that I’ve always wanted to go to but never had the time or the resources. Now I have both. Of course getting back to the states in June, I’ve committed myself to skydiving for most of the summer hopping back and forth between Boston, Chicago, Atlanta and I’m sure other places along the way. I’m already looking forward to September after our National competition when I am free again and ready to roam. I have a feeling that I might go back and spend some time in South East Asia then New Zealand for a few months. Who knows where I’ll end up or what I’ll end up doing. After all, the fact of the matter is that the pockets are not that deep and traveling for all this time, while being a life changing experience isn’t sustainable and I hate to say it, but I will have to work a bit at some point. The good thing right now is that, that is something I only have to worry about in the future, because right now I’m too busy enjoying how small this planet is and thankful for the fact that I can do what I’m doing. I’m thankful that I have a life and live in a country where I can roam free and explore all the little corners of this planet. And that’s exactly what I intend to do……

Having gotten to Moscow I found my way to the Napoleon Hostel with a friend Emiko from the train. Once I checked in and got settled, in walked Mike from Boston. He is a Merchant Marine that I met in Shanghai…..more proof that it’s a small world. The next day I ran around Red Square, Lenin’s tomb and the Kremlin. Had good timing and caught the changing of the guards with their high kicks and rifle slapping march. Ran down along the river and saw the monstrous Peter the Great statue and cathedrals all over town. That second night I met up with an old friend Sergey who grew up in Moscow. He picked me up and brought me to one of his favorite bars. We parked the car and started down a small ally to find a green, metal, beat up door with no markings or signs other than graffiti. He punched in a combo and opened the door which lead to a small chamber about 12′ x 12′. The inside was covered in paint and designs on the walls, a door at the far wall and again…..no signs other than a biometric scanner to read thumb prints. Sergey placed his thumb on the keypad and after a second or two there was a buzzing sound and the door opened. Down a flight of stairs we went to meet a girl he knew at the bottom. Ducking my head and lifting my feet as if it was a door on a submarine I stepped in and entered the bar. A very eclectic place, the Corkscrew as it was called had to be one of the coolest bars I had ever been in. The theme was base jumping, skydiving and aviation. Tables were made from spent jet turbine covered in glass and seats were out of old airlines and a few ejection seats as well. The walls were covered in pictures from jumps all over Russia. Everything was controlled by a thumb print as it was a members only bar and was actually located in the basement of an old KGB building……I guess in Russia, knowing the right people and making the right payments, you can put a bar just about anywhere! Going to bed early…..around 4:30 am I would highly recommend anyone traveling to Moscow to track down Sergey and experience this for yourself. Oh, and the live band was great there as well!

The last two nights in Moscow were spent couch surfing at Natasha’s place, only 4 metro stops out of town. The last night there she threw a party for couch surfers and friends where I randomly bumped into one of the Aussies from the Vodka Train who is also a couch surfer. I tell ya…..the world keeps getting smaller and smaller every corner I turn. Now I find myself on a flight to Tel Aviv to see more friends. Wait until you hear about the Moscow airport and the security checks….….but I’ll save that for another time….