A Short Update - Nearing Christmas

I know there hasn't been too much activity here recently, but I have been super busy. I have been running packages for UPS during the day as a driver helper. Surprisingly, I actually kinda like it. The pay could be better though. Some days I work overtime and get home around 8pm, others it's 6pm. Then, I may have some time to read (currently reading Essential Reiki, Tao Te Ching (Mitchell translation), and The Complete Idiots Guide to Feng Shui) or I may have to cook. If Ivy happens to be home, I tend to not read. I also started working at Zoka Coffee starting today. I'll be working weekends till my gig with UPS is done. So, I hope you can understand why I haven't really had time to write. There are a plethora of things I got floating through my mind that I would like to share and hopefully once I am on a regular part time schedule with Zoka, I'll be able to do so. 

Final Few Days, Returning Home, and Job Searching

It’s been a few since I last wrote. A lot has happened… I wrapped up my trip in Scotland, flew home, reunited with Ivy, trying to get a job (or a least an income), and beginning to scope out some of the spiritual thingys out there. It's going to  be a long one...

I'll start from the beginning, the last I wrote I was on my way to Edinburgh. I did stop over at Aviemore to look at our “mountain”. The mountain that they set on fire was actually mostly a cliff face and the rest was a craggy hill. I snapped some photos and hiked around for awhile in the park devoted to it which was really pretty. After a few hours, I caught the train to Edinburgh. Side note: One thing I like about most of the trains in Europe is that you buy a ticket without a time. For example, the train runs every 90 min during the day from Aviemore to Edinburgh. If I had have missed the one at 3, I just show up to the next one. No need to change my ticket or anything. End note. On the way to Edinburgh I passed through Sterling. The only reason why I mention it is that Sterling hosts the William Wallace monument.

A Little Grantime

It seems fitting, in some way, that although I left without any need to find myself, I am here in the land of my ancestors finding shit out about myself. Well, not really about me, just about where I came from; my roots, if you will. I'm glad I saved this part for last (or close enough to last). It seems to wrap things up well. This post will be about Inverness and Grantown, but mostly about the Clan Grant, so if you don't care about cool shit this will bore you.

Holland, London, and a Quarterly Check-in

Even though this is my one year check-in, I'm going to try to keep this one brief. I left Ostend a couple days after writing the last post. I needed some slow down time and it offered it. I mainly just kept to myself, walking the beach when the sun was out and eating when it wasn't. They have a sweet park there that I spent some time in. I even got the room to myself on the last night. When I left it was with the intention to go to Antwerp, but every thing was booked up. So was Amsterdam.

Beer Tour Belgium

I have not been thrilled at the availability of internet. Why they charge in many hostels, even for WiFi, is beyond me. It's up to about $5 an hour here, which judging by the speed of the connection is not much more than a normal deal you'd have at home, means they pay off the entire months bill within a day or two. Luckily, the hostel I'm at in Ostend has free internet (from a computer) and free WiFi for an hour or two at a time (its a weird system). Also, this is from my phone and not proofread - FYI. I'll explain how I came here and how I found some time to write this post...

Prague Through Berlin

I have had a surprisingly hard time finding time, for writing. Mostly, it is a combo of lack of accessable computers and doing stuff with friends. That should be at least calmed down a bit as I don't anticipate seeing anyone I know till I get to London next month. Maybe I'll have better access to computers, but I doubt it.
To get on with the trip, not really much in the way of cool stories happened in Prague; a lot happened in Munich; and Berlin was pleasant, though different than expected.

Lots of Flying Butts in Poland

I am of course speaking of the only thing I retained from my college art history course, flying buttresses. Being that there are a shit load of massive, 5+ story, churches here, there are a ton of flying butts. Flying butts are not anything impressive either, but appear to just be a waste of time and money. Then, again, that's what the church loved more than anything back in the day and still does to some degree today. That may be the name of the post cause I like playing on words, but I don't care about churches so I wasn't going around looking at them and really, it won't be a focus of this post.

Book Reviews: Tandia, The Valkeries

Tandia, by Bryce Courtenay -This is the follow up book to The Power of One, and it is equal to the first. I really liked this book and if you remember, I was complaining about the ending to the first saying that it lacked the closure that was built throughout the book. This one starts right where the other left off. Peekay, the Tadpole Angel, is headed for Oxford to learn law and bring it back to South Africa to try to change things during the time of Apartheid. At some point he realizes that the law taught in England won't really apply to this system. However, he goes about trying anyway. There is a new introduced named Tandia. She is a colored girl who really has a shitty life. First, she is a child of an Indian man who is slightly connected to Peekay from many years back. He cheated on his wife with the black help and this is where Tandia comes from. She is raped after her father dies mysteriously, and almost killed by the police to cover it up. She ends up living a whore house and the madam takes an interest in her intelligence, and beauty. She sends her to school, and eventually Tandia gets a law degree. However, it's not all fun and games. The villian of the story continues to be a force of brutality and terror in her life. This ends up leading Peekay and her together.
However, the book doesn't lose sight that Peekay, who ends up realizing his dream of being welter weight champion of the world, is the driving force with a destiny to unite all of Africa. This is why I'm divided on the end. The end of the book does, but doesn't, fulfill his destiny. You are lead to believe in these superstitions and medicine men and other supernatural things. Even Peekay, who is reluctant to believe that he is suppose to be the one to bring peace accepts much of these things in the end. However, we never find out how he does. That being said, the end still could be fulfilling his destiny, it just seems like it should be a little more than it was. It can still be a good ending, but I wanted more and I didn't like certain things about it. Anyway, I still highly recommend this book.
The Valkeries, by Paulo Coelho - this is the same guy that wrote The Alchemest, which is a huge seller. I haven't read that one, and would be willing to give it a chance even after reading this rubbish. This is supposed to be a mostly true account (according to the author) of a trip he took earlier in his life to the desert. He goes there to see his guardian angel. I didn't really know what this book was about before reading it and since I didn't have to buy it and recognised the author, I figured I'd give it a whirl. It appears to be one of those books that is really trying to be spiritual in a how to way, like the Celestine Prophecy. However, this guy who is supposed to be a magus (think new age wizard), is super Christian. None of it really makes sense together since the riturals and things contradict Christianity. Anyway, he writes as if you not believing every word makes you an idiot. But most of it is totally crazy bullshit, even for me whom just underwent many spiritual awakenings and am open to a lot of things now. But this is over the top even for me. Could the book be ok if the guy wasn't trying to say it was all real? Perhaps, but only because you wouldn't have to going, "god this guy is full of shit." Anyways, I wouldn't recommend this book unless you believe in what the bible says about all those crazy angel wars and levels of spirits and what not word for word.

Well Then, I'm Happy to Tell You That God Loves You

This post is Croatia to Vienna, so it'll be long...


Croatia is lovely, but really, it's kinda dull. It's expensive (min of around €40 a day), and while nice, it lacks anything really special to hook you. It's got nice, clean beaches in warm Mediterranean clear water; it's got walled cities and intact fortresses; it's got mountains; it's got somewhat interesting cultural things. But so do other countries around it that are much cheaper. Originally, I was going to spend a bit more time, but the cost really put a damper on that and I only stayed about 5 days.

Easiest Way From Greece to Croatia? Italy

In my last post I had made it to Rethymno and met some cool people. Even did a tour of the Minoan Knossos. I left the day after that post for Santorini, Greece's poster boy. I must say that Santorini is dramatic. Three of five towns are built not just on the top of 500 meter cliffs, but down parts of said cliffs. The town I was able to get a hostel was Perissa.

Book Reviews - Celestine Prophecy, One For My Baby, and The Big Book of Chi

This is what happens when you don't write for awhile, you get a back log of stuff. That's why there's three.

Island Hopping in Greece is the Bee's Knees

I took the ferry from Çeşme to Chios (pronounced kios) on the 3rd. I was the lucky recipient of being the sole person to have to empty the entire contents of my bag for border control. The guy thought I'd some how come up with a way to fit cocaine into the air pockets of the foam cushioning in my bag. I was almost certain he was going to slice it open. Then had me answer a dozen times that this was indeed my bag. Thanks for being a dick just because I was American.
Chios isn't much to write about. The town is like most island towns here, it is built around the marina as the main focal point of the city. In Chios, the main road goes along the harbour and splits the shops and restaurants from the walk path. The affect this has is that it sucks; you don't want to sit in a cafe cause you have cars in your face and you don't really want to walk the path cause its uninviting. it does have a wall around part of it, but compared to other towns in Greece, its impressive. There is nothing resembling a hostel, so its not a great destination if you are traveling alone. I spent most of Wednesday morning trying to find a cheap place to stay. There are the hotels and pensions, but Greece has places that have a sign outside advertising rooms for rent. These are your cheapest option next to hostels. In the end I got one for €20. Always ask if they have cheaper rooms or will go less. Almost all will show you a room that isn't their cheapest, or they'll drop the price €5. The place I stayed had a great typical Greek lady running it. She was on the heavier side and hilarious. She spoke some English, but it was heavily accented so it was tough to understand.
It also turned out she was a level 2 reiki. She mentioned it to me when I asked her some places to see on the island. She said there was a sea cave that was great for reiki. She asked if I knew what it was, so I grabbed my big book of chi and turned to the reiki chapter. I tried to see if she'd do a session on me, but she said she couldn't for some reason.

Turkey Post, Finally

I've been neglecting posting lately. Mostly that's because of access to a computer. I'm writing this from my phone, which I hate. It's hard to type long prose and I basically can't proof it, not that I do too much proofing anyway. So FYI.

After all that fuss that the picketing agent gave me in Bangkok, all I had to do was walk up, say I wanna go in Turkey, and they gave me a visa. When I got to immigration, the hardest part was the 5 min. line I had to wait in. I'm not sure one person looked at me to see if I was even the same sex as on my passport. I guess it may be because they have women with burkas comings through all the time and checking a passport against a small slit where you can only see their eyes really means nothing. No, they don't have to remove them, but yes, you as a man will need to remove your hat.

Quarterly Update 3, A Little Late

Sorry this is a bit late. I hit 9 months on my birthday and there was no way I was writing then or the following day. Then, I was traveling, then I was behind on some other posts, and then I didn't have access to a computer. I am going to include the last couple weeks in this, so consider it a quarterly update, plus Turkey. I still didn't when I "wrote" this post. I used the speech to text function on my phone and am borrowing a computer from a guy at my guesthouse. That means that this will probably be full of spelling and formatting errors. So without further ado:

Getting Tired of Vegetarians

Aren't we a bit self righteousness

I'm seeing a lot of stuff like that picture above lately. I'm even reading some of it in unlikely places. I'll save my review of Walden for when I finish it, but I can tell you this much, it will be a long post for good and for bad. There is a part in it that really illustrates what my point, "I believe that every man who has ever been earnest to preserve his higher or poetic faculties in the best condition has been particularly inclined to abstain from animal food". There seems to be this belief throughout society that eating vegetarian is of a higher moral plane. It is not.

Tigers

As a sorta birthday present to myself, I decided to go to hangout with tigers. There are a couple places you can do this in Thailand. The Tiger Kingdom in Chang Mai and the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi are the only places that I know of. Before visiting either, I had heard mixed reviews from travelers and definitely polarized reviews on the Temple.
After getting a positive review on the Kingdom from the Irish couple doing the Gibbon Experience, I decided that it would be wise to go to that one, and perhaps if I felt up to it, do the Temple as an additional one.

Book Review, Walden

One of the more fascinating books I've read, this year (and all time), is Walden (this one has a different introduction than mine and comes with annotations for some reason). Written by Henry Thoreau in 1850's Massachusetts, it was a book far, far ahead of it's time. I would go as far as to say that this is definitely a classic that should be read by everyone. It's not an easy read. It took me about 20 days to consume this 330 page book, which is quite some time for even me. There are two reasons that it's a tough read. It is written in 1850's language and prose. Some sentences are literally a page long and therefore easy to start zoning out or to get lost. I do like the old language, though I found I had to look up a few words that are out of fashion today. The other reason that this book is a tough read is that it's heady or heavy, requiring breaks every so often to contemplate.

Beer Wıth Me

I have several posts that I'm working on simultaniously, including my 9 month check in, so bear with me. Also, if you were one of the people interested in beer with me, Oktoberfest is fast approaching and it'd be prudent to get tickets soon. Jordan and Chelsea have informed me that they just purchased theirs!
Ok, so quick update - I'm ın Istanbul now. Yesterday was brutal.

Ever Had Fresh, Right Off the Tree That Almost Fell On You, Papaya?

No?! Well, it can't be beat.
I'm sure the big question, esp. after I posted the ziplining videos on FB, is how was the Gibbon Experience? Well, for most of the men out there, it was like living out a childhood fantasy. I lived in an awesome treehouse in the jungle, hiking and zipping around the jungle at my leisure. For the women, I guess it's the equivalent for you would be if I got to get married and cook and clean for 2 nights. Isn't that what you fantasised about?

Blurb to Update Cause I Don't Plan on Internet for the Next 5 Days

So, really briefly...
Three things I forgot in the last post. One, the power in Luang Prabang cuts out randomly for random lengths of time. One day, part of the town didn't have power for five or more hours. Maybe that particular one was due to the storms that have been hitting the area, but the  power would cut out at least once a day even on the sunny days. Two, I was a bit in a funk when I was writing the last email. I don't really know why. It was after hanging out with the elephants. I came home and practically passed out, only to be awaken by my "take malaria pills" alarm shortly there after. When I woke, I was in a fog and a bad mood, but that mood lasted the rest of the night and I tried to avoid seeing anybody I knew. On the bright side, the next day the "boss" of the coffee shop allowed me to download music. I walked away with about 600 songs. Most hadn't heard, and a lot is jazz (there are a few gems but I will be deleting most of the jazz). I've gone through about half and am deleting about 1 in 8 songs. The third thing was that I found out that I will most likely not being receiving $1,000 of which I had budgeted into my trip. It involves a friend back home whom I lent money to. I don't know all the details or all the sides of what has transpired so it's not fair for me to speculate on here. Suffice to say that a combination of job loss and legal problems will no doubt put paying me as a last priority. I hope this not to be the case and I want to trust that this person can get their act together enough to pay me before I come home. It would be a bummer to have that issue waiting for me upon my return.

OK, now to the reason for this post -

Just a Brief Update From Laos

I know I haven't written in a while. The one computer that is free to use at my guest house, has been occupied non-stop. Not that there is a super amount of things to write about.
I stayed in Vang Vieng 3 nights. The scenery there is quite beautiful, but the town is solely designed for young partiers. If you so chose, you could rent a moto and go see some caves or lagoons or just hangout in the beautiful countryside. Then, you have to go back to town and see all the drunk or otherwise kids roaming around being fucking annoying. Why are they so intoxicated? They go tubing. There is a river that goes along the town that is usually calm enough to go tubing down. I've always been a big fan of grabbing some beer and taking a leisurely tubing trip with friends. Vang Vieng takes it up a notch. There are bars along the river, about a dozen in total (though I heard yesterday that most got washed away in the storm that's been hitting SE Asia). These bars not only sell or give away cheap shitty whiskey called Lao Lao, but some bars offer "happy" shakes or food that can have mushrooms, opium, or pot in them. Therefore, you can begin to see why there are so many people wandering town bandaged up or why they have a dozen people drown a year.

Book Review - Into the Wild

I finally read the book Into the Wild, though reluctant because the character in the movie pissed me off.
Well, the character in the movie was slightly mis-portrayed. What appears to be going into the wilds of Alaska with absolutely no experience and blatant disregard is not quite true. I think what pissed most people off was that he mis-identified some plants which ended up stopping his body's ability to absorb nutrients from food. It appears to be that he correctly identified the plant, but there was nothing written about the dangers of eating a part of the plant he had to start consuming. He was eating wild potato, but during the summer they dry up and he started eating another part of the potato, which was impossible to know would be bad for him since it was though edible and there was no record, save one rare account from a couple hundred years back, of it being an inhibitor. While some of my opinion of Chris McCandless has changed, I still don't care for him.

Dylan Is the Most Awesomest Being Evar - Guest Post by Ivy Gahn

OK, the title is my own.
I asked Ivy to write about the experience from her point of view. I wanted to give you guys a view from a different perspective. She remembered a few things that I had forgotten as well. It was nice for me in another way as well. I had never read anything that she wrote. I didn't even know she had written or even enjoyed it, but it turns out she is pretty good. Check it out:

Savannakhet, Loas Update and Book Review

After my last post, which ended with me dropping Ivy off at the airport, a couple of nice things happened to me to help cheer me up a bit. After leaving her at the airport, I took the train to the city. It doesn't stop anywhere near where I was staying, but I figured I'd just take a tuk-tuk the rest of the way. However, when I got to the last stop I was in no mood to do so. I guess I needed a good walk. On the way back a couple temples caught my eye, so I wandered in. I arrived at the second temple just as the monks were wrapping up praying. I was lingering about and one of the monks motioned me in as the last trickled out. He showed me how to pray and while it's pretty simple, involving three head to floor prayers, there is no way I'll remember what the speaking parts were. I talked to him a little bit in broken English and he said his name, but it was impossible for me to even pronounce. He also made me take a picture of their Buddha shrine. It was a really nice moment. Next, I stopped at another temple that was at the top of a "mountain" as the sun was waning. When I got back to my guesthouse, I went to the roof to find rabbits in what used to be a bar and a laundry girl that spoke near perfect English. I talked to her a bit about her life and then got some recommendations from her. The recommendations were spot on. I ate some fantastic baby clams and then had a beer in a tucked away deserted bar (I didn't want to be around anyone).I realized that Bangkok isn't the shit hole I thought it was. It has hidden little gems amidst a see of crap. Although, I'm not sure that I'll ever find a reasonably priced and not a dump, place to stay. So, those two things helped to cheer me up a little. Also, the next day I found a guy who reinforced the stress points on my new backpack (Ivy brought my dad's backpack which was identical to mine and we switched). He didn't do quite the job that the guy in Peru did, but it will definitely help to keep it from breaking.
Still, I needed to get out of Bangkok as quickly as possible. The first thing I did the next day was book a bus to Vientiane Laos. Then, the backpack thing. Then, a couple new books. I've been looking for The Celestine Prophecy based on a recommendation from Golden, and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I didn't find either. Not that they aren't out there, just that when you go to a book store or whatnot, the books are stored happenstance. It is quite frustrating trying to find specific books as I'm sure you can imagine. However, there is something to it. In a way, it allows you to find things you weren't sure you were even looking for. I ended up picking out Dan Brown's new one (see book review below) and Into the Wild. I didn't know I was looking for them, but as I was looking for those specific ones above, they were the books that vividly stuck out.

Cambodia, Thailand, Ivy, and Jason/Angie

Sorry folks, but this will probably be a long one. It encompasses a little over two weeks of stuff and Ivy.
Originally, I planned on going through Laos to Thailand and meeting Ivy in mid-June. However, her work and idiotic bosses had other plans. They nearly made it so that she would never be able to visit. Why? Because two weeks off is too much. It is a sad, sad state of affairs in the US. First, we only get about 3 weeks off a year - maybe 4 if you're lucky or upper management or spend 20 years at the same place. Then, most people can't take more than a week off at a time. Most of the time it's just stigma. I mean, if we get our work done, or if it's shared work when we are out (as in Ivy's case - coworkers are required to cover for people on vacation), then shouldn't we be able to do whatever we want with our vacation time. When talking with European or Australian people, or even some of the third world, they are baffled about how we view work. Even British get twice as much time off as us, and they are workaholics too.
Our work paradigm is better spent for another post, so getting back on track, Ivy's work had another person out for a couple days of the original time, so they wouldn't let go on our original plans, then they were reluctant to let her go for two weeks. I'm not sure I would have allowed her to come if she could only get one week, it's simply a waste of money and we'd likely have not been able to Bangkok. We'd have had to take tours out of Bangkok for a couple days, but going to the islands in the South would have been out because we wouldn't be able to afford the time to not fly and we'd not have been able to fly there cause we are on a budget. Thankfully, her bosses came around, though I (and my parents) was about to have words with them had they not.
So, I flew from Hanoi to Bangkok for under $100 and was scheduled to arrive thirty minutes before her. I figured I'd go to her gate and meet her, you know, all romantic like.

Topical Discussions - 060611

I read the news today oh boy...

Today, as I was drinking a coffee, I noticed a Bangkok newspaper in English. Curious, I picked it up to see if there was anything interesting going on or anything about Thailand. Generally, I use a person filter to get my news and it works really well. But, I was curious. Oops. 

3 things caught my attention: The pope sees his shawdow - 6 more weeks of winter, drugs are bad m-kay, and an interesting thing about India.

Book Reviews - The Power of One & Blink

Take a guess at which one is a novel and which is a non-fiction essay type book. Also, take a guess at which one sucked monkey balls and which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Last Part Vietnam

Last you heard, I was in Hanoi eating snake hearts and pooping. I spent a couple more days there, but mostly just walking around the city. Ho Chi Minh has his corpse mummified there, but unlike Stalin, you don't get to look at it and they have a changing of the guards every now and again in front of the mausoleum. Also, there are all the ministries - on that subject, surprise, the biggest ministry was defense. It may have been on more acreage than our Pentagon. If not, it at least looked like a resort. Those defense strategists need their spas, but don't worry it's all inclusive. Moving on, I decided to go to Sa Pa.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - This Last Week or So

This is going to be another long one. A lot of things have happened in the past week or so. I'd like to end on a positive note, so I'll start with the ugly.

Chopstick Theory - Self Improvement During Dinner

You have a lot of time to think when you travel like this. Naturally, you will inevitably allow yourself to think about things that you never would have before. This has many benefits, the least of all of them being that I've come up with about 8 viable (to differing degrees) business ideas. With the exception of one, none would make me wealthy. That's not really the point is it. The majority of them would require little work after startup and allow me to be mobile. The fact that they'd provide a tiny income is not important. But all this is a topic of another post. The other benefits are small self and world revelations. I spent 30 minutes on a train of thought about chopsticks while I was eating the other day, but it was fun. Without hustle and bustle of daily routines and deadlines for this and that, you have all the time to think about things as silly as chopsticks. There's just some simple joy in that I think we all need.

Prostitutes, Trannies, and Bears Oh My

OK, no bears. Just lots of the other stuff. And they harass you a lot. I have been taking it pretty easy around here, just going on walks around the town. Oh, and seeing movies just to get out of the heat - it is hot and humid here. My clothes are constantly covered in sweat, but then so are all the other travelers. Other than that, one thing I have been needing is a massage. In fact, I probably need a few of them and an alignment (not doing that here) because I have knots in my back literally the size of fifty cent pieces and am super tight in the neck. So, I was looking around for a massage place and found one of those "seedy" ones and had the strangest massage ever.

Good Morning Vietnam

I am in Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh to be exact. Since my last update, I stayed a few days in Cairns with not much to report. I didn't dive, I just kinda hung out and got a few things out of the way before flying to Darwin and then to Vietnam. Darwin was kinda cool. I met some cool people that I hung out with while I was there. The first night I there there was a festival going on. Every Thursday night during the dry season they have a big party in a close by park. Go for sunset (the dust in the air during the dry season makes them awesome), stay for food, music, and fireworks (things that explode into flames are perfect ways to celebrate the DRY season). Lastly, I got everything I needed straightened out and even looked for books on chi/psi/qigong, but didn't find anything worthwhile.
Then, I jumped a flight and got in late last night. I shared a taxi with some old dude who got kinda clingy and wanted to hang out with me. Thankfully, it took a good long while to find a place to stay because it is apparently a national holiday weekend celebrating the end of the American War (kinda awkward). I did find a place, thanks to the help of a hotel owner who was full (I'm using their computers to type this too). I walked around a bit and grabbed some pho. Lots of prostitutes...

How Ya Going? Yeah, Good Mate

It's been awhile since the last update. That's due to the fact that I've been on the road most of the time and not staying in places (beaches, rest stops, etc) where there is much, if any, access to the internet. Quite a bit has happened since then, and my interests are evolving. Also, at the end is a book review or two.

6 Month Check In AND Please Don't Hate Me

It's been 6 months! Hard to believe. Same thing as last time - update on where I am and what has been going on followed by the quarterly check-in. And I'll throw in a video that is seriously going to make you all hate me. Sorry, them's the breaks.

Australia Update, Sydney to Byron Bay

Hey,

I'm writing this from Byron Bay, which is a little surfer town. The break is an easy beach break, but is a bit unpredictable. As in, you'll see a swell coming and begin paddling in and all of a sudden it's dead. Or, from no swell will come a break right on top of you. Still, it's good to get on a board again.

Last New Zealand Post, a Video Update and Advice on Campervans

So, this has a couple elements to it. The first, is the last update that I made, the second is some final thoughts about NZ, and lastly is my advice on what transportation to use.

In OZ, Stupid Moves and a Couple Concerns

I am safe and sound in the land of OZ. I already like it more than NZ. The people are just way more friendly and cool. Sydney is alright for a big city. I am staying in the Kings Cross area, which is jammed with backpackers, and the area seems posh in spots and a slum around the corner from the posh spots. I spent my first day wandering the city via the botanical garden, which has some cool "bush" plants - I'll post some photos on FB when I get a faster internet connection (I'll also post one more NZ thingy). I also visited the opera house and the government house. Both were pretty cool. I didn't get to go inside the opera house, but it is pretty neat even if you don't. The government house is a lot cooler than it sounds. It is essentially a castle and it is still used by the Governor of New South Wales to entertain important people and foreign dignitaries. The tour is free and a sweet and funny old lady gave the info. I recommend it. I also really like the bay that snakes about Sydney. Oh, and I almost forgot that OZ has a ton of super dangerous animals. Thankfully, I was reminded by a spider the size of my hand; a common spider here. Apperently, he is safe, but he looks mean as shit.

Sanity Plea - A Better Flip Flop

This is a video plea to make better flip flops.

Also, I want to clarify something:

Book Review - A strange Room

Hey all,
Video book review this time:

Book is In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut.

NZ, Beauty, No Brains

Hey everyone,
Here is a video explaining my FB comment on how New Zealanders seem to be a little slow. The second video is somewhat related, but was inspired by some stupid Japanese tourists. I am beginning to actually hate the Japanese tourists because they just don't seem to give a shit about the environment, the animals, or the people that live in the particular country they are visiting. To some degree a country whose major industry is tourism, they should be better prepared and therefore some of it is New Zealand's fault. But that's another topic.

Update from the South South Island

I forgot to mention the most amazing place in New Zealand yet. The Fiordlands! I went there for 2 days, and would have stayed more but was pushing my luck already.

Video Update from Punakaiki

Video taken on the 13th of March in Punakaiki, NZ

Video Update from Auckland

If Auckland is any indication of how the rest of New Zealand operates for internet, be expecting way more video posts.

Chile Update

I haven´t been to inspired to write lately. Not that I haven´t been having a good time or that nothing has happened. On the contrary, plenty has happened, but they have all been just the little things. The kind of little things that fade in and out of memory and probably will fade away in the end. That´s fine with me though. Trying to capture every little thing that happens is not the best use of your time travelling. Besides, they can randomly be sparked later by something and provide a pleasant little reminder. Or, they may be forgotten forever. Then, the next time you visit one of these places it will be an uninfluenced brand new experience all over again; no expectations...

Final Peru Post - Cusco and Arequipa

Hello from what was sunny Iquique, Chile.

Today was my first day in Chile. Since my last post, I have been in Cusco, Colca Canyon, and Arequipa.
While Cusco is quite a nice city with stone churches and colonial building all over the city, there isn´t much to report. I spent 3 days there, which consisted mostly of a couple parties and walking around, enjoying the city. I did make a few friends there, two of which I will probably stay with a night or two in Santiago. The only real touristy thing I did was make an attempt on the only sunny day to go to Saquishuan (sp?). However, the price was 40 Soles for students and 70 Soles for tourists. However, I had forgoten my ISIC card. I tried to walk down a road that paralleled the ruins to see if it was worth paying the full price, but the guards wouldn´t allow me. I decided I didn´t want to pay the extra $10. That´s about the jist of Cusco, fun town and late nights.

Machu Picchu for $210

That number isn´t bragging. In fact, I got ripped off.

I arrived in Cusco at 5AM and because I was at my weakest moment (running on 5 hours of sleep), I did something I try never to do. That is, I was approached by a tour opperator and booked a tour on the spot after only 5 min of negotiation. There are many, many ways to do Machu Picchu. You can take the Inca trail hike, which is supposed to be the thing to do, but you can´t do it in Feb. cause the trail is closed. It also requires about 6 months advance notice (not exactly true, it is possible, though slim chance, to do it on the spot in Cusco, but it's a big risk if you don't have a lot of time in your corner) and costs a shit load; I heard $500ish. You can also do alternative multi-day hikes, which are becoming more popular. Don't know the prices; they're less $, but still high. You can take a train,

2 Book Reviews

Hey all,
Just a quick couple book reviews.
I read Eat, Pray, Love. Yes, that´s super gay of me. I did it because I have been toying with the idea of writing a book about my travels and what led up to them. So, I picked it up at a book swap for research.
First, let me say this. If you are a dude, and aren´t gay, you will hate this book. If you are a chick, or a gay dude, you will probably like this book. Without spoiling to much, the book follows Liz (the author) through Italy where she eats, India where she prays, and Bali where she loves. Clever title, huh? The problem that I had with this book is that she is a total nut job. I like the fact that she goes travelling and like to read about what she does, but she is really fucking preachy. The authors voice is authoritative, masked by what seems to be humility, on the matters of eating, praying, and loving; esp. on the matters of praying. This voice also doesn´t seem to notice glaring contradictions in itself, nor does it leave room for her being wrong about anything (even though she feigns this). Then, by the end of the book, she seems to have most of her act together. However, if the dude she ended up with were to dump her, she´d be exactly back where she started cause she never really gets her head straight.
It was really hard for me to read after her eating phase, cause all I could say "you don´t have a fucking clue what you´re talking about. Stop pretending to have your shit together."

Second book: The Anthologist: A Novel. This book is about a poet who has to write an anthology and struggles with it. I loved this book. Besides learning a ton about poetry that I´ll never remember, I loved the simplicity. The author isn´t trying to accomplish too much; it´s just an interesting guy, who you can relate to, doing normal shit, while trying to write a book. Oh yeah, and woo his girl friend back. It´s a quick read, and great. Get it.

Very Short Peru Update, Puno and Floating Islands

I arrived in Puno on the 5th. It is quite a bit bigger and nicer than Copacabana. They too have a big festival going on called Virgen de la Candeleria, in which they have a costume and dance competition in the form of an unorganised parade. They have all sorts of crazy costumes, some of which seemed a bit Asian. I spent some time walking about the city and watching the parrade, that is until a thunderstorm rolled through and I needed cover. Eventually, I made my way to a tent at the main area where I was invited to drink with some Peruvians from Tacna. For the most part we talked in Spanish, but occasionally one of the more drunk ones would repeat that it´s cold here but very hot in Tacna and at the beach. After a while, I got pretty drunk too and I needed to eat dinner, so we went our seperate ways.

Super Long Bolivia Post La Paz - Sorata - Copacabana - Isla del Sol

Hey all, this is going to be a long post because the internet outside La Paz is pretty shitty and I haven´t had a chance to post some stuff. However, there were some pretty cool things worth reading about that happened, particularly in Sorata.

Bolivia, Uyuni and the High Andes

Last I wrote, I believe I was on my way to Bolivia. Well, lets just say that it's been quite a ride from then till now.
I'll start with getting to Bolivia. I caught the bus in Salta around 10pm. The bus, which was supposed to be 7 hours, was in fact 9. This ended up being a good thing because it allowed me extra time to sleep, which I needed because they played Preditors (in Spanish) at full volume starting at about 11pm. For those unfamiliar with the movie, it is the most recent shitty installment and 60% of the movie is yelling and gunfire. So, you may be able to imagine the difficulty a light sleeper may have had, even with earplugs. We did finally make it by 6:30 ish and it was a good thing I wore my warmest clothes cause it was freezing and drizzling.
I opted to walk to the border hoping to cross paths with a ATM on the way to pay for the Bolivian visa. Nope. Fortunately, every Argentine (including border officials) I asked said that there is no cost, which is incorrect by the way. I arrived exactly at opening of the border 6AM. I know, timing seems wrong, but Bolivia and the border are 1 hour behind. The wait was 1 hour to get stamped out of Argentina. I found out that yes, you need to pay for the visa from a border agent, so I headed into town with directions to a cajero de cambio (ATM). That's right, I just walked into Bolivia without any hasle of getting stamped in, similar to what the border was like between Costa Rica and Panama. Naturally, these directions were way off. So, I asked around. Some people had no idea what a bank or cash machine was??? A very helpful bus official pointed me to the nearest one that of course didn't know what an ATM card was. So, I wandered some more. Finally, at the second hotel I stopped by, the manager gave me directions to the only working one in town. Turns out there aren't any banks in Villazon, just a couple ATMs and a million casa de cambios (cash exchanges). By this time I had burned about 2 hours and having heard stories about train tickets, decided it was in my best interest to buy a ticket before attempting the visa back at the border.

Last Day in Argentina

Hey everybody,
Today is unfortunately my last day in Argentina - well, officially I take the bus in the evening so I guess tomorrow is. Details. Tomorrow I take the bus up to La Quiaca at the border to Bolivia. I was considering taking a bus to San Pedro, Chile, based on a suggestion that it is less of a pain to get into Bolivia, that I could do the salt flat tour from there to Uyuni, Bolivia, and that it was only about $50 more. Well, as luck would have it, the buses were full till Monday and I´m not sitting around in Salta for the weekend. Especially, after seeing a dead dog with its spine and ribs showing (I think it got hit by a bus) and getting harassed by tranny hookers. Not that Salta is all bad. The central plaza area is nice and there are a lot of tours that you can do.

Argentina Update and Quarterly Review 1

Hello from Cafayate,
I´ve been in this little wine town for 2 days, which have been quite nice. However, with deadlines looming on making it to Machu Pichu before I leave South America, I am going to leave tomorrow, possibly spending one day in Salta, then heading to Bolivia. This is a cool "little town". It seems smaller than it really is, and has made it´s mark on the map because it can grow wine. It has seen an influx of wineries (most within walking distance) over the last few decades - most wineries here are under 30 years old, which also means that the wine they are producing is simpler (not as complex as the older grapes). It seems touristy here, but I think it is because of the time of year. January being Argentina´s month off. There are Argentines everywhere on vacation, so every place that I go seems a bit touristy. That being said, this town has a lot of charm and a lot going for it. Wine, obviously being the big draw, but it is nestled in what I think is a canyon. I say think, because I wasn´t paying too much attention on the bus ride. I´m pretty sure we decended. Anyway, there are rock formations and rich red hills that jet out. The scenery from the bus ride itself, makes it worth coming here. There is trekking and day hikes, some which you´ll see pre-Inca remnants like cave paintings and weird holes in rocks, which were apperently used for both grinding corn and something with interpreting stars. Or, whaterfalls, or ATVs, or whatever. I haven´t enjoyed it as much as Mendoza, but I made some pretty good friends in Mendoza.

Patagonia Part 2, El Bolson to Mendoza Plus Book Review

I am currently in Mendoza. I arrived at about 10 AM. My first impression is that it´s OK. The town itself looks like it wants to be like BA, but can´t quite pull itself together to do so. That´s not to say that it is a dump or anything, it just feels like it has been at a bodega all day and was a little tipsy when it came time to put in some effort. I am likely going to their massive city park today. Tomorrow, is a winery tour by bike.

I Need Snow

NOTE: I don´t know why the video only worked for a couple days. Problem is, I deleted it from my phone so I can´t attempt a recovery of it on here. I hope that this isn´t going to happen every time I try to post a video. Anyway, here´s the original post:

Patagonia Part One

The title says part one cause I´ll probably do a few posts from here because it is badass. This one´s short too.

AR Update, Iguazu to Bariloche

Wow, I just realized how long it's been since my last update post. Sorry about that yall. So last I wrote I was on the Brazilian side of Iguazu falls. On Christmas I took a tour to the Argentina (AR) side with the intention that they'd drop me off at my hostel on the way back. Doing this, I not only got to see the AR side, but I avoided the dangerous for robberies middle ground between boarders. Oh, and it isn't just a bridge, there's about 3km, which would have been really though with the 20 kilos I am carrying in 35 degree heat. So, because the tour was missing a guide and because the hostel dude was being nice, he took $5 off and the tour cost almost the exact amount it would have if I tried to do it all by myself and with none of the hassle. I just wish I wasn't having stomach issues on the 24 and 25. Both days they'd go away about 1pm, but on the 25th I didn't have the option of staying in the hostel till they went away. No, I was Iguazu falls and I was going to see them come hell or high watermelon. I powered through and a tip of the hat to the AR Parks system for they're excellent selection of restrooms. The only thing that I couldn't do was a small waterfall a ways away from the falls. Well, and the middle island cause it was closed for a while.