Author: Brian Buckland

Now is when I would post some pictures so you can see what Cancun looks like, but instead I’ll just tell you to walk into any travel agency and there are countless brochures for you to gawk over and awe the huge resorts and the pristine beaches. Or maybe you remember from your college days a few months before Spring Break hit and magically fliers promoting all inclusive travel packages from the chilly north east down to tropical Cancun appeared so you and your fellow Spring Breakers could cram 4 college students in a room, binge drink and have irresponsible sexual encounters with practical strangers (i.e. other US college students from other universities looking for the same blissful week in the sun as you), and you can do all of this to your hearts content, for that week anyway. This was Cancun. To put it mildly, and you can quote me on this, “Cancun exudes everything that I’ve never wanted in a vacation destination.” I can not tell you how true that is. I spent 2 days there and that was 2 days too many. If I never go back it will be too soon. So no, there will be no pictures of Cancun to post……and I’m not sorry about that either. If Cancun holds a special place in your heart from those college years with memories of old friends and random hook ups….some a little less blurry than others, then I feel sorry for you. And would tell you that if you want to travel and experience other cultures, you need to get off of this continent to do it.

Now that I have gotten my fill of Cancun bashing out of the way, I returned to the airport to meet up with Jeff, Nancy and Kelly to hop in the smallest rental car we could find and head south to Tulum. We were bound for Brian and Gina’s wedding on the beach, where bare feet and white attire were required. They chose to have a traditional Mayan ceremony where all of the wedding guests gathered in a circle on the beach, the bride circumnavigates her ring of friends and family and enters the circle to join her husband to be. With the Mayan ceremony complete we all retired to the beach front restaurant for refreshments and the awaiting mariachi band. Of course prior to all of these festivities there were a few days for all of the guests to jump aboard the catamaran and venture out into the ocean for some snorkeling. This was followed up by a casual stroll through the local Mayan ruins that sit perched on the ocean front with magnificent grandeur. This is the way to do a destination wedding, friends, family, relaxation by the water and on the water, getting in some exploration of local ruins and to cap it off, circle up on the sand with all of your loved ones for your exchange of vows. Congrats Brian and Gina! I wish you all the best!

In an attempt to not post all of the wedding shots here, I’ve selected a choice few for your viewing pleasure. I would also like to note, once I was knee deep into shooting my first wedding, it really wasn’t all that bad. The stress went away almost immediately and the familiarity of the camera gear and conditions took over and I adjusted as necessary. Would I do it again…..sure thing! In a heart beat. Will I start shooting weddings for work? Not a chance….I value my weekends but would be happy to indulge some close friends to help them remember their special day. Never say never….

Following the wedding, the Sevich Clan and I filled the tiny rental car yet again and raced inland on the Yucatan Peninsula through multiple police check points and towards one of the great Mayan ruins, Chichen Itza. The huge temple, El Castillo is the center piece of this site standing far above the tree line and still in remarkably good shape. It is an impressive sight to see and well worth the journey. As we were exploring the grounds, we also stumbled upon the Great Ball Court. This was the largest known Ball Court of the Mesoamerican times stretching almost 550 feet long and over 230 wide while the walls towered almost 40 feet up. The single ring on each side were the goals for the teams of the time. Maybe this is where basketball was born, but the stakes were a bit different for sure. While we were at the ruins, we were going from shady area to shady area as it was sweltering. So on the way back we decided to stop off at one of the local cenotes. These are all over the region and all vary in size and depth. They are essentially large sink holes with a swimming hole in the bottom. Very impressive indeed!

It was great to be able to explore and see sights such as these while being at a wedding. I think destination weddings are a perfect cross for a holiday and wedding in one. You don’t end up with a huge guest list just because it takes so much time and effort to actually get there and then you end up with just those that are closest to you to celebrate your union on your own grounds. Very nice indeed!!!!

From the Yucatan Peninsula I caught a flight out of Cozumel and over to Mexico City. I was excited for this journey as I was going to get to connect with an old friend of mine Azul. Some call him Azul, some call him Blu and some call him Sergio. He’s a skydiver friend I met long ago and could immediately tell he was a good soul. He’s not only a skydiver, but a singer, an artist an entrepreneur, and a hell of a tour guide. I never got to know him very well before now, but like most of the friends I’ve reconnected with over this journey, he opened his home to me and showed me all that Mexico City had to offer as he invited me into his world.

People often ask me what surprised me most on my journey. I usually say Israel. I was blown away by how amazingly nice it is as are the people. It by far was one of the biggest and best surprises I came across. Well, Mexico City is a close second. I had no idea that it was as hip of a city as it is. Mexico City is just as cosmopolitan as the rest of the major cities of the world. With over 22 million people in and around, it offers all of the modern luxuries, all of the transportation and all of the fantastic restaurants that the rest of them do. The people are generally nice and welcoming and it honestly, seemed like it would be a great place to live for a while. My first venture out I caught a glimpse of a guy riding his Segway, in traffic and talking on his cell phone. Yes, Mexico City. The love of art is evident here as there were public sculptures on display all over the city and even more evident when Azul took me on a tour of artist and activist Diego and Frida’s house and showed me some of the true history in Mexico City.

We were also able to view a world famous photographer that was holding an exhibition right in the main square of Mexico City, Plaza de la Constitucion. It’s a massive square right in the heart of the city and one of the entire sides is the National Palace. I was quite pleased when I said we should see if we could get into the Palace and Azul replied that he had never been inside. Finally, I was able to share a new exploration with one of my hosts. It’s always nice for everyone involved to be treading on new territory. After we passed the metal detectors and ID checks, we explored the grounds to find several huge murals painted by none other than Diego himself. A very cool experience indeed!

My last hurrah in Mexico City would be a trip on the back of Azul’s BMW motorcycle out to the Mayan Temple known as Teotihuacan. This was a truly massive site and dwarfed the temples back near Tulum. We scaled the Pyramid of the Sun, strolled down the Avenue of the Dead and ended up at the Pyramid of the Moon. This enormous complex gave tourists virtually unlimited access to run up and down these pyramids and get views that I’m sure in a few year’s times tourists won’t be able to get!

As I’m sure by now you can tell, I had a blast in Mexico! So much thanks to Brian and Gina for letting me be a part of their day and a million thanks to Azul for being such a gracious host. Mi Casa es Su Casa……that is of course once I get a Casa 😉 I can’t thank you all enough for everything. It was great to get to see Mexico through the eyes of a local and to have my eyes opened during the process.

At the end of April I flew to San Diego and on to my brother’s place in northern Idaho. My summer seemed to turn into a repeat of last summer, driving from one event to the next, from Team Mandrin training camp to the next camp. Some how my summer filled up before I knew what was happening. I find myself spending most of my time between Chicago with the team and Toronto with friends.

I’m currently in search of a new career but also trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up. The interesting thing is that as I say this to more and more people, it become more and more evident that even people towards the ends of their working careers in their 50’s & 60’s are still trying to figure out what THEY want to do when they grow up as well. The realization that you do what makes you happy is settling in and I’m just trying to figure out a balance of doing what makes me happy while also providing the independence to travel the world and visit friends. You’d be amazed at what you can accomplish with a laptop, cell phone and a good internet connection. So with that said, the search is on. In the mean time, I’m going to plant my feet some where in North America. I’ve been toying with places like Salt Lake, Chicago, Denver, San Diego and Atlanta…..but currently in the lead is Toronto. I’m excited to see how it all pans out.

In the mean time, I’m going to be working on putting together a coffee table style book of some of my travels. The goal is for Spring ’09, but we shall see. In the mean time the travels are far from over. While the winter will most likely lead to work and actually earning some money instead of spending it, mid October is going to take me back and fourth from the Arizona desert to the islands of the Galapagos off the coast of Ecuador. The Sevich Tsunami is back in action for another tour to be immediately followed by the US Skydiving Nationals in Eloy. Both should be great experiences and I can’t wait to see how they turn out.

When I left South Africa at the end of March, I headed north towards Spain. Not many flights go direct, so I ended up connecting in Doha, Qatar. Keeping true to the explorer inside, I chose to spend a few nights in Doha and see what sights I could find. Unfortunately my full day of exploration was cut short when I woke and pulled back the curtains to reveal a rather nasty sand storm. While fairly commonplace in the Arabian Desert, not exactly a day you’d want to run outside and bear the blowing sand while hitting the streets…..let alone with a camera. Luckily by the time the afternoon rolled around it had cleared up enough for me to get out and wonder through town. I walked several miles over to the new part of town which would be better described as one giant construction project. I took a picture from the far side of the bay and later counted no less than 36 construction cranes in one shot. Doha is taking after Dubai and investing their money in real estate before the current source of their massive wealth runs out. All of the money there of course comes from oil, and with the experts estimating that in a little over 20 years their vast oil fields will run dry, the city is hoping to transform itself into a center for global business, thus investing in massive buildings and real estate. Walking the streets in that part of town was obviously something that wasn’t done often as I didn’t pass many other people and at times there were no sidewalks, just construction sights to walk across. Eventually I found the mecca of the shopping areas in Doha which came in the form of a giant mall. This brought me back to being in Dubai a few years ago where about half of the men and women were dressed just like westerners, with jeans or slacks and t shirts or dress shirts while the other half were wearing traditional white robes with colored headdresses for the men and full length black burkhas for the women, all the while concealing their faces. It is always interesting to see the changes and the challenges when one culture is influenced so much by another. Attempting to find the balance between what they want and know exists in the west to where their roots come from and the long obeyed traditions of their ancestors.

Eventually I did make it to Spain. I had decided before leaving for my second around the world that I wanted to accomplish something other than travel, so I gave myself 6 weeks to be immersed into a culture and a language. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do and never had the time nor the resources. So before I got back to the states, it was time to dive in, get a flat for 7 weeks in Barcelona with my friend Adela from Boston who happened to need a place and take a 6 week beginner Spanish class 30 hours a week. In the beginning, I’ll be honest, it was hard. But once you get the basics and it starts to shift towards really expanding your vocabulary, it turns fun and exciting trying to form new sentences and hold different conversations. Of course those that are familiar with Barcelona are asking yourself why I would have gone THERE of all places to learn Spanish when they speak Catalan?!?! My answer to that is this, I looked at my options in Europe, I could either live in Barcelona, on the water and closer to the rest of Europe, or I could head to Madrid, land locked in the middle of Spain making it much harder to get from place to place. Of course the decision to learn Spanish in Spain came from dinner I had one night in Miami before I left. I was sitting at a table with a bunch of old friends and realized that one was a Columbian, one a Venezuelan and one a Peruvian. It was the perfect melting pot of native Spanish speakers. Of course every country has different dialects, so I asked the question, ‘If I learned Spanish in Spain, will all of you understand me?’ Their response was obvious. They asked if someone from England came to the US would I understand them? It was the same for Spaniards visiting South American countries. While there are little differences here and there, everyone will understand them. And so it was that I found myself signing up for a class in Barcelona in a small attempt to better myself.

Serendipity played a small role upon my arrival to BCN. I say small role because just as I was arriving, the PIA (Parachute Industry Association) Annual Symposium was just coming to a close. So while I wasn’t able to see any of the event itself, I was able to catch the last night closing party and meet up with some friends from around the world that I hadn’t seen in months.

Of course it wasn’t long after that I arrived in Barcelona that I found myself on a flight bound for Palma de Mallorca. It’s an island out in the Mediterranean just off the coast of Spain. Through the wonders of the internet, an old friend and I connected and we decided to take a weekend and explore the island. She had chosen the life of a ‘yachty’ and had finally planted herself on the island to work on a yacht based out of that port. Jessica and I met up and with another friend and proceeded to explore the country side with the windy roads and ancient houses. I should say windy, deadly roads as you’ll see in the pictures below. There was one section where a tour bus had plowed through the waist high barrier and plummeted 50 feet to the steep cliff side below. Since the roads in the area were so tight and remote, their response was to get the people out of the bus and then just fix the barrier, leaving the bus on the cliff below as a reminder to drive more carefully around sharp corners. It is a different world indeed…..

Upon returning to Barcelona I was invaded once again by the Canadians. This time around Erin decided that she didn’t get enough of the travel and met up with me in BCN only to have both of us hop on a plane for a long weekend and head north…..way north to Oslo, Norway. The land where a small bottle of water and a candy bar costs you $12 USD. That is NOT an exaggeration. With gas over $8 USD a gallon (this is back in April mind you), the Norwegians were used to the expensive lifestyle. Explore the Munch museum, the Viking museum and wondering the streets, we eventually made our way to the Sculpture Park on the northwest side of town that was covered in sculptures of people. It was cold….but it was also beautiful. The Norwegians seemed like welcoming people and summer there must be breathtaking. Just make sure that you don’t have a tight budget or you won’t be able to even get around.

Once back in Spain we met up with Erin’s sister and her boyfriend who had never left North America. It’s always interesting to see those first time travelers and what their take on things are. It was good to have an excuse to go out and get Tapas over and over again. Running up and down the stairs of the Sagrada Familia, the artist Gaudi’s influence was all over the city. From the Gaudi Park to buildings up and down La Rambla, his style was every where and the people embraced it. Between the abundant markets and the iconic architecture Barcelona was a great place to stay for a few months. While the people were amazing, I would also warn tourists or anyone visiting this city, that while violent crime didn’t seem to be a problem, petty crime was ramped. In my first two weeks there I knew of people who had wallets, passports, back packs, $1500 cameras, shopping bags full of goods, bicycles and to some people’s horror, six packs of beer stolen right out from under their noses. If you’re not a vigilant traveler, don’t carry anything of value outside the walls of your hotel. But like I said, aside from the petty thievery, you didn’t have to worry about violent crime or even break ins….it all just seemed to be petty theft. While very inconvenient and costly, it’s still much better than some places I visited and I would still strongly advice you to go to Barcelona if you had the change, just make sure that your guard is up!

While in Gaudi Park, Erin and I got into some stalking. We caught a glimpse and we had to get a closer look. I’ll be honest, I was mystified and could focus on nothing else. I saw my prey and I moved in for the kill. Switching to paparazzi mode we slapped on the telephoto and moved in for a closer look. While normally I would refer to pigeons as ‘rats with wings’, something was different with this one. And once it took flight we confirmed that it really was a unique bird. Now don’t worry, I by no means am changing my stance on pigeons, but I did decide to make an exception for this fowl. We called it ‘Pigeonkeet’. While it was no doubt a pigeon body with the telltale iridescent markings around the neck, it was also vibrantly colored with greens, reds and yellows of a parakeet. You might recall a picture from above where you saw pigeons pecking at the ground with a parrot randomly in their midst. Well, our theory is that after a late night of drinking from discarded beer cans, a parakeet flew to the wrong nest and well…..one thing lead to another…..and pigeonkeet was born! Long live Pigeonkeet!

Over all Spain was a great place to live for almost 2 months. I was able to take several weekend trips from there also while being able to immerse myself into the culture. Of course I knew before I got there that since the dollar had been the lowest ever against the Euro, it would be one of the most expensive places that I had visited. But all in all it was well worth the journey and the extra cash. From Spain I would leave for North America. Not the US, but Mexico…..the trip was almost over, but to be honest, it was getting time for me to put away the backpack and find a place to call home and start getting some form of a pay check. So while this journey might be coming to an end soon, a new one is just about to begin.

After a 14 hour flight from Sydney, I arrived in Johannesburg to see the smiling face of Charis greeting me at the airport. We had decided a few weeks earlier that we would travel the country together by car through the mountains and down to the coast all the way to Cape Town and back through Kimberly to Joburg. She had become quite an inspiration for me and I turned out to be a bit of a test for her. You see, she had just recently taken over the family business and was attempting to shift things to a virtual office of sorts. Armed with a cell phone and a broadband internet connection for the laptop, my arrival was the perfect excuse to move the office to the road and see if going virtual was actually feasible. So while our SA trip was a test for her, she and her business were an inspiration for me. That lifestyle was what I wanted, and to see someone who was doing it and doing it well gave me hope that when I get back to the states, I can create that business model as well. It’s always nice to see an idea implemented and working the way it was supposed to. But I digress….

After getting settled into the fortress that she calls home, with an 11’ wall topped with an electrified fence, remote controlled reinforced iron gate, security cameras and the security guard who is posted at the end of the driveways on her street, who’s job it is to patrol…that street, we were safely at home and kicked off our shoes to plan the 2 week journey in front of us. I say all of this because crime is ramped in Joburg. Aside from the high walls and electric fences on everyone’s homes, you see the well know “ADT” security sign posted on properties protected by such. However what hits home a bit more than the all familiar ADT sign, is the second half of the sign…..”Armed Response”. Just a sign of the way of life in the big city. Spending a few days at home base, we took a day trip on Safari. A trip to the southern tip of the African continent wouldn’t be complete without seeing some wild animals. Off to Pilansberg we went and got, in my opinion very, very lucky to see the animals that we did. The pictures speak for themselves…..

Our first night away from Joburg was a trip to see some old friends of Chaz’s in the Drakensburg. These are the mountains which boarder Lesotho, a country completely surrounded by SA. Her friends have been running a camp there for over 10 years and it’s quite a nice place to hike and get out into the hills. After a few nights sleeping in a small cabin with only one light that was powered by a solar charged battery, we were off.

Our next stop was down the coast to Coffee Bay and Hole in the Wall. Yes, there is a town actually named ’Hole in the Wall’. Don’t worry, you’ll see why in the pictures. You’ll also see why cows all over the world dream of life at Hole in the Wall…..there might even be a cow retirement home there…not sure. But I do know that they are living the good life. Aside from the cows, the area is quite remote and we had to travel on a road that had the most potholes that I had ever driven … It was actually impressive with how many potholes there were. They varied in size and depth from what we are used to in the states to bigger than a car and around a foot deep. What was more impressive was we even saw a crew repairing potholes…..something that we both swore hadn’t happened there in years. If you weren’t dodging potholes, you were dodging live stock as they roamed freely across the street. Not a place to be driving at night. But during the day we were able to see the beauty of the area and see the more traditional settlements with spaced out round huts with thatched roofs. When you pass through the settlements the kids see the car coming and when they recognize the white people in the car they come running. They aren’t running for money, they are yelling “Sweets! Sweets!”. Of course there are plenty of people who do want money. One form of the commonly accepted begging whether you want it or not, are the inevitable “car gods”. No matter where you park, they are there. The car gods watch over your belongings and upon your return they stop traffic and guide you from your spot. All of this for a 2 or 3 Rand tip. If you’re wondering it’s 7.50 Rand to 1 USD.

After spending a night in Knysna, we made the final leg down the coast to Cape Town. Any time that I mentioned I was heading to SA to someone who was from here, they inevitably always told me to, “get out of Joburg as fast as you can and get to Cape Town”. Once I was there I could see why. It was indeed a different world. You didn’t have to worry yourself while sitting at a stop light like you did up north. Things here were different. Just an easier more laid back lifestyle seemed to be the norm. My long lost friend Francis B Jackson found his way back to CT a few years ago and has been calling it home ever since. It was good to meet up with an old friend I hadn’t seen in ages. That seems to be a recurring theme and almost be the norm for me these days, connecting with old friends in random places exploring the far corners of this world. It’s a great feeling to be able to run as far and wide as I have and still have a smiling face happy to see you even if just for a few days.

I was able to celebrate a birthday while in Cape Town as well. I have now lived for 33 years on this planet and I’m hoping that I’m only a third of the way done with my journey exploring it’s surface. It might sounds like an odd statement, but I feel my age. That is by no means a bad thing. Sure when I was in high school I remember thinking that by 30 I would be married and have 2.3 kids, a dog and a white picket fence. Of course that was just the naivety of a teenager thinking he knew how the world worked. Year after year our experiences build upon one another to make us who we are today. I’ve heard people say that in your early thirties that you get to a point where you feel comfortable with the knowledge that you have and your direction in the world. I understand that now and I couldn’t agree with it more. Of course in the literal sense I still have to find a home and a new career, but that’s just a small, minor detail. On the whole, I know where I am. I know who I am, and I know what I want. This trip has been the biggest present I have ever bought myself and I will not ever forget it. You could almost look at it as an investment in my future state of mind and the returns are already coming in.

Anywhooo, for the annual celebration of my arrival on this world, we deiced to climb Table Mountain and take the cable car down. Francis told me that the hike is hot, very hot with no shade so don’t do it during the middle of the day. He was right….it was brutal out there. Of course when we got to the valley in the rocks ascending to the top, the clouds rolled in so thick and the winds picked up it made us run for shelter. We were in what locals referred to as the ’Table Cloth’. This was the point in time where the mountain was reminding us it was indeed a mountain and to not take it lightly. The 50 yards across to the other side of the climb disappeared as over 30 knot winds blew clouds and cold down from the top. We went from sheltered area to sheltered area just wanting to make it to the top without succumbing to exposure. When we finally were about 5 minutes from the top we heard sirens blaring. We should have had almost 2 hours before the last cable car went down, but if the winds get too strong, they shut down the top and the car and that’s that. We assumed that the sirens were the warning that they were shutting down and made a break for it. We raced and raced and finally made it to the cable car where indeed we caught the last ride down. It was a bit of a disappointment making the 2 hour climb and not being able to spend some time on the top looking out at Cape Town, but I was happy to get back on the ground and into the warmth. The evening was capped by searching out one of the only Thai restaurants in CT followed by ice cream. Yes, despite the near death experience, it was a great birthday and incidentally, my second in a row outside of the USA! The next morning we went to the beach on the other side of the bay to meet up with one of Chaz’s friends and got to see the lunch hour kite surfing fiasco. The beach was packed and I wondered how all of those kites steered clear of one another…..madness! Around 1:30 or so the kites started to thin out as the works returned to their jobs and left the beach behind. Not a bad way to spend a lunch break if you ask me. It also is the perfect depiction of how life is in CT. Everyone we met seemed to have just a much more laid back point of view on things and didn’t mind taking their time to get through the day. I can see why my friend Francis has been here for as long as he has…

After CT, we made the long drive up to Joburg with a stop over in Kimberly where the DeBeers Diamond company dug a huge hole in the ground. By huge hole I mean huge hole. So big that it’s actually a local attraction and they charge admission to see it. Apparently there were a lot of diamonds to be had down there. Aside from that, the only other thing that Kimberly had to offer was a place to sleep right in the middle of the drive from CT to Joburg. That last day I got pulled over for traveling 142 in a 120 kph. The fine was 200 Rand, less than 30 USD. We smiled and chatted with the cops, got to play with the laser detector a bit and we were off. We also passed by several townships as they were called. This is where mass people without homes, prop up whatever materials they can find and build a shelter. The government provides electricity and bathrooms and the people build their houses around them. It is a wild scene and the biggest one that we saw was just outside of CT. It’s not exactly a place to stop and take pictures….so most of these were from the car.

I can’t thank Chaz enough for running me around her country and seeing the sights that my friends have been describing to me for so long now. I can’t wait to return! But my next adventure has me landing in Spain for a few months in an attempt to learn some Spanish. Of course on the way I’ll have a few days to explore the wonderous world of Doha, Qatar. Much like Dubai….Doha is an oasis in the dessert.

A little further up the road I stopped where I saw some bee hives. It’s very odd to see these bee hives stacked all over NZ as they are just off the side of the road with no warning sign, no fences, just the bee hives, very interesting to say the least. I had stopped at a group of these once before, and when you are still you see the swarm of bees flying through the air. The first time my camera was in the back of the car and I wasn’t about to get out and grab it, I like tempting fate and all but that seemed a little silly. This time it was within reach and I could capture the bees in action. I guess the general Darwin rule applies here as well. Just after that I saw another Buckland sign proving my families British heritage. I couldn’t help but stop and ponder what exactly was up on Buckland Peak, but alas….I pushed onward and upward towards Nelson and eventually Abel Tasman National Park. Abel Tasman is an amazing Park where you can hike in as far as you want, then you can walk down to a beach and take a water taxi back to the trail head. A great way to spend a day! After Abel Tasman, I hopped the ferry in Picton and over to Wellington I went. Yes, I must confess. I gave into the guilty pleasure of seeing the Police live in concert. Why the hell not right? I mean, I’m fairly certain that I will never have that opportunity again in this lifetime anyways. After seeing them perform, I can soundly say that Sting hasn’t lost a thing after all these years. Great show! However I had to stop myself from leaving because the second act was Fergie. No Black Eyed Peas, just Fergie. Don’t get me wrong, she looks great, she can dance, has a voice that could lure the sirens from the shores. However she lacks general talent. While there were 3 or 4 Black Eyed Peas songs that she performed that were quite good, she then proceed to do the rest of her set singing cover songs. Everything from Gun’s n Roses and Sublime to Barracuda. The odd thing about it was that each cover was actually 3 or 4 songs merged into one. To hear her butcher these songs made me get up and leave my seat and head for the door. The only thing that stopped me was that I kept reminding myself that I was there to see the Police and they were up next. So after talking myself down from the ledge when her set ended, I returned to my seat, and Sting and the Police rocked the house! As far as cities go, Wellington is a place that you must see even if you don’t head to the north island, the Gardens in the center of town, the cable car heading up to them, the free open air concerts in the park, short clips of poetry strewn about the city in well landscaped areas. It really did have a nice vibe to it and was easy to get around. In other words don’t miss out!

Jumping back to the South Island, I started to drive south and stumbled rather quickly on a major event unfolding, a forest fire. Half of a mountain range was engulfed and about a dozen helicopters of all shapes and sizes were attacking it from all angles. I grabbed my camera and started shooting from what turned out to be three different locations. The first spot was almost directly under one of their fill up points. Great angles and amazing experience to see these choppers come rushing at me to just stop, swing their bucket over the water and load up for another round of aerial fire fighting. The next angle showed just how much smoke and flames were ripping their way across the range and the magnitude of the fire. It was impressive. Sad to see the forest burned up, be amazing to see these pilots delivering their precious cargo with precision accuracy time and time again.

After the firefighting photo shoot was over, I headed down past Mt. Cook to meet up with Maia and friends for some climbing. Her friend Dan flew over from NYC and got some great shots of them bouldering with her friend Pip flirting with her fear of heights. Good fun had by all!

Back over to Christchurch for some Punting on the river. Melsinore flew down for the last few days in NZ and joined me in running around town and exploring the peninsula. We ended our time in NZ by going for, what turned out to be, a rainy hike back over at Mt. Cook. I don’t think that Mel had anything to do with it, but once she arrived, so did the rains, they even followed us over to Sydney. Almost our entire time there it rained. Granted it was only 4 days, but still! We walked the streets of Sydney and I got to realize how many places I had been. I bought a book in that store last time I was here…had lunch in that café, went up to that tower, stopped in over there, sat in that park, etc….it was a little walk down memory lane. Superbowl Monday happened while I was in town and where else better to watch it than at Cheers, where everyone knows your name! It was a mixed crowd, with those silly fans from NY and the cool fans from Boston. Then there were the one off Aussies that weren’t really sure why the footballers wore all of those pads? At then end of the game, the Boston fans left upset at the loss of the now, not undefeated Patriots….but alas, some things were just not meant to be. The day I left the sun came out and the only pictures I got were from the SYD airport. For you aviation buffs out there, tell me if you can describe this plane from Singapore Airlines……if it dwarfs a 747 it must be a A380…..the larges passenger jet in the skies.

The next leg of my journey will take me to a place that I’ve wanted to go for years, South Africa. After that a quick stop in the desert and then a few months in Spain diving into the culture head first. I’m also starting to think about what is next in my life. It’s always been something that’s been in the back of my head during this whole journey, but as the numbers in my bank account continue to get smaller, the reality starts to set in that work is indeed around the corner. In all honesty, I’m excited about it. The scary and exciting thing is that I don’t know what “it” is. I’ve got a few ideas I’m tossing around and I’m not sure which way the cards will fall, but I know with all certainty that whatever it ends up being I’m going to be attacking it head on ensuring that it will not only be a successful venture, but it will also allow me to continue in my new lifestyle of being able to explore and see the world. No more 2 or 3 weeks a year vacation crap that is dealt out by the corporate world. I’m going to be creating or joining a business that will allow flexibility in life and be realistic about why indeed all of us are working. I am truly looking forward to that. In the mean time…..on to South Africa….

This however was not the beginning of my trip to New Zealand. To get the big picture, we’ve got to go back. It all started over a year ago in New York City while, with my friend Maia, we were sitting at my travel agent’s desk plotting my course around the world, for the first time. I had plans of spending around 11 days in New Zealand racing across the country seeing all that I could see before hopping over to Australia for about 2 or 3 weeks. Both Maia and Annika (who both have been to NZ before), emphatically told me that I was not allowed to go. I was a bit stumped as everyone that I know who as ever been told me that I absolutely have to go, so curiously I asked why it was that I was not allowed? They both agreed that it simply was not enough time. To which I replied, there’s never enough time! But with that said, Maia told me that her plans would bring her to NZ for the month of Dec. 2007 (We were having this discussion in January of that year). So we agreed that I would bypass NZ this time around and after my around the world trip, I would try and find time to get away from work and spend a month down near Oz at the end of the year. Well, as luck would have it, after my global excursion, I made the conscious decision to not find any sort of employment, forego the income and leave on another journey around the world. After all, despite what cats of the world think, you really only do live once! Wouldn’t you know it that this second around the world would lead me to New Zealand for roughly 6 weeks, both ample time to see the country and experience the culture, while also satisfying both my traveling friends and travel agent (whom btw is a good person to keep happy when you find yourself in a bind half way around the globe!). Thus we return to Christmas Eve Day 2007, and me racing to get to Queenstown where I was greeted by not only Maia and her boyfriend Random, but by about 10 of their friends from around town for a BBQ up the hill at Eric & Pip’s place with a spectacular view of the lake. This was immediately followed up by a pot luck lunch / dinner at Maia’s house on Christmas Day for all of the traveling kids who have found themselves far from home during the holidays. It was great to be with a bunch of people in the same situation that I was in, feeling the holiday blues. So to combat the doldrums of being away from family during the holidays, they arranged a Secret Santa along with the pot luck and spent the evening watching the first 2 movies in the Back to the Future trilogy. I’m not sure where Back to the Future comes into play at Christmas time, I would have guessed something more like the Die Hard series seeing that it’s placed around the holidays, but who was I to question it! And with that, I was firmly planted in New Zealand.

After being treated to snow on the mountain peaks on Christmas Day, one of the first things that I noticed was the intense sun. As I’m sure everyone is about to say, the sun’s just as intense where ever you are in the world as it is in NZ. What you may or may not be aware of is the giant hole in the ozone cause by man made emissions over the years resulting in about 40% stronger UV rays over NZ, helping contribute to Kiwi’s tans year round. While I’m sure many of them thank us profusely for this, most religiously apply sunscreen, probably because NZ has some of the highest rates of melanoma anywhere on the planet. Along with searching for the shady spots on an almost constant basis, I opt for the latter of the two choices and apply sunscreen at the hint that I was going to out and about for any period of time. If you can get past how intense the sun is, NZ really is a breathtakingly beautiful place. No wonder the Lord of the Rings was filmed here.

Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of New Zealand. If you’re not an active, outdoorsy type of person, you might as well not even come to Queenstown as you’ll surely be shunned by all for not being willing to jump off a mountainside only tethered by a large rubber band. Within my first few days in town I was introduced to both Frisbee Golf as well as Ultimate Frisbee, repelling and climbing, mountain biking and multiple hikes in and around town. Added to that we took a day trip over to Wanaka which is a neighboring town where they were holding an air show for a few days. Wouldn’t you know it that I bumped into a bunch of skydivers from around the world that I’ve met over the years. Jumpers from France, Austria, USA, New Zealand and Australia were flown down to NZ for a couple jumps each day. It was nice to get a little taste of jumping while traveling and fun to randomly surprise a bunch of old friends half way around the world! That is always a good thing!

Wanting to get out of Queenstown and see what else NZ had to offer, I managed to enlist one of Maia’s co-workers at the outdoor sports store for a journey over to Milford Sound. Now while Maia is here to see the country, she isn’t working at the gear store for the money, she’s working there for the discounts. Don’t be fooled, NZ is an expensive place to visit and to play! Anywhoo, Laura and I made it out to Milford in time to catch the last cruise of the sound for the day which included pulling the boat right up to the edges of the fjords and even under a few waterfalls. The next morning we woke early climbed into a kayak and made our way out on the sound. As much as I hate the early mornings, there is something to be said about being out on the water when it looks like glass and paddling up to rocks where seals are taking a break of the stresses of life and basking at the edge of the sound. As my friend Carrie would say……’it sure didn’t suck!’

My next little trip out and away, I managed to get my hands on Maia’s Subaru Legacy wagon and took it down to Dunedin and the Catlin’s. This trip was a treat as I teamed up with a fellow couch surfer and as we pride our way away from the penthouse couch surfing we landed in the center of town, we made out way around Dunedin’s peninsula to see albatross, penguins and the like. Our last and surely our best wildlife encounter was after we hiked down to Sand Fly Beach were we watched two sea lions battle it out over a female. After a few minutes of blows while viciously attacking each other, the female made her way over to the two males and chose ‘the winner’. With that, the loser turned and made haste back into the ocean. It simply was not his day. The great thing about this experience is that I had my camera in my hands and I shot away. Unfortunately it was almost directly into the sun, so the pictures didn’t turn out that great, but you can still see the battle and the selection that followed. As we were making our way back up to the car we ran across a couple of Kiwi teens who were taunting a very unhappy sea lion. I couldn’t help but just snap off a bunch of shots waiting for the sea lion to triumph. After all, there are signs posted all over the place warning you to keep your distance and do not mess with these animals as they will maul you. What can I say….I was rooting for the sea lion, either I’m a cold hearted bastard or a firm believer in Darwinism. Either way I figured I could get a great shot that would be a cover story in the papers the next day setting an example to teens all over Kiwiland, thus paying for my NZ trip in one photo shoot! But alas…..the annoying kids were quicker than the sea lion. Better luck next time sea lion! I’ll be ready!

I also have a confession to make. While I was in Dunedin, I saw ads for a Cadbury Chocolate Factory Tour. If you eat chocolate down here, it’s most likely Cadbury’s. And as those close to me will undoubtedly know, I have a bit of a sweet tooth. Ok, I have a ridiculously strong sweet tooth. I have my mom to thank for that one. But blame aside, I devour chocolate whenever it is in front of me like it’s the last food on earth. With that said, the factory tour was a must. I could not wait to find me a few Umpa Lumpas to stuff in my bag and take home as souvenirs. I am quite disappointed to report that while the factory did actually have a two story chocolate ‘water’ fall, there were NO Umpa Lumpas to be found. I inquired about getting my money back due to lack of Umpa Lumpas, but I was simply asked to leave. I tell you all of this as a warning. If you ever find yourself in Dunedin, New Zealand, don’t fall for the same trickery that I fell for. The Umpa Lumpas are there….somewhere, but you will not see them on the factory tour. I guess you’ll just have to keep buying candy bars in hopes of finding a golden ticket. Oh well….it was not meant to be.

After returning to Queenstown from Dunedin, a group of us went for a climb on a rock face that was perched on the lake. Seeing that you had to hike down to the top of the rock face, the only way to start your climb was to repel down to just above the water, clip into one of the anchors there while you swapped over your climbing rope so that you were on belay. Then you could unclip and start your climb up. Just to give you some background, I had never been climbing before outdoors. While I have been probably a dozen times to rock gyms, I’ve never climbed ‘real rock’. It was a bit different trying to grip, but it was still tons of fun! Not sure I’ll be signing up for many outdoor rock excursions as of yet, but I’m sure I will do it again one of these days.

My next jaunt away from Queenstown included a drive up the west coast which brought me right past the Fox Glacier. Opting to take a guided tour, boots and crampons were handed out and off we went. There are only three spots in the world where you have to hike through a rain forest to get to a glacier and this is one of those spots. Seeing that the glacier averages 180 days of precipitation per year, I lucked out with an absolutely gorgeous day and blue skies littered with white puff clouds. A perfect day to hike on some ice that dates back long before I do! When you get to the edge of the glacier and are about to climb on, the group stops, puts on the crampons, don fleece coats and hats, even though you are sweating from the sun and the hike. Before you know it, the temperature drops almost 5 degrees celsius immediately, even more once you get out to the center of the ice. The guides are constantly chipping away new steps into the ice for the tourists to make there way across. There are also several spots along the trail that are considered very active rock fall areas. So much so that the guide company has rigged a system on the rocks that they think pose a hazard to us wee tourists. The way the system works is one of the guide heads out to the middle of the ‘danger zone’ and flips on the system (which consists of a box with several wires connected to it and a solitary light). The thinking is, if the light goes out, the wires have dislodged and the rocks are on there way to greet you. Upon seeing the light extinguish, the guide is supposed to yell ‘RUN’, in which case you start running as fast as you can in hopes of avoiding your untimely death or severe maiming from a large boulder or several large boulders. In either case, if you see the guide sprinting past you yelling ‘run’, it’s probably in your best interests to follow, unless of course he is in the process of being crushed by said large boulder. Regardless of the dangers, the hike is well worth it, but next time I think I will opt for the guided ice climbing. Now that sounds like a challenge! Either that or I just like the idea of swinging a huge ice axe, not sure which.

And that my friends, was the first half of my journey in New Zealand. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! It’s a long time to be in one country for me, but I think it will be worth it in the long run. Next up, a glimpse of the north island, helicopters fighting a forest fire and ohhhhh so much more.

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!