Me Vs DC Vs the World?

THERE'S SNOW!!!!

2008-12-01T08:12:00.004-06:00

The season has officially begun, the snow has fallen and the lifts are running. Oh and also, I have a place to live and a job. Looks like I'll be staying here for awhile. More to follow...

Settling Down For a Bit (hopefully)

2008-11-16T13:32:00.002-06:00

Its been awhile since I’ve made a post on this blog. That isn’t to say that nothing notable has happened since last time. In fact, quite the opposite. I’ve managed to make my way through Hungary, Slovenia and then finally arriving in Athens to meet my parents.

Traveling with them was frantic and fast… A pace that I wasn’t expecting but one that I easily embraced. The opportunity to forego the poverties that I had become so accustomed too and relish in the three star life that I suddenly found myself in was just too tempting. All at once, minibars (whether free or not), ensuite bathrooms, and made up rooms (daily) were part of my life. Something that just a couple weeks ago, much less months, I never could have imagined. Best of all, I got to really travel with my parents. A chance to show them a taste of my life for the past 10 months.

But like all good things, this came to an end abruptly and all too soon. Tossed out on my own, again, I made the decision to haul ass to Austria. I had had dreams of working in an Alpen ski resort for many months. Consequently, along my entire trip I had been asking people for advice, recommendations and pretty much any info I could get my hands on. St. Anton quickly became the name that I heard the most.

With nothing but a location and a name, I turned up. Arriving in the midst of a light snow, instantly set the mood but made my shelter search that much more miserable. Off a tip, I managed to find a house that “many a ski bum has gotten their start.” After 3 hours of walking, the woman who ran the place almost turned me away but apparently, she couldn’t do it because I looked too miserable. Luckily as the snow started to come down harder I had managed to procure a roof in exchange for 1.5hrs of work a day. It was a short term arrangement but it was something.
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There is a band that for years I’ve found myself listening to in times of transition. I really cant explain why but their music has joined me on my drive from Texas to Colorado, Colorado back to Texas (for the last time) and then Texas to DC and back again. For some reason, it seems to fit and I rarely find myself listening to them otherwise. In this period of uncertainty, I find myself listening to them again.

I’m truly unsure of what awaits me in the coming weeks but I’m optimistic. I’ve been told that people in my situation typically do a lot of dishwashing and snow shoveling to get by. If nothing else I’ll do my best during the days and at night crank up my iPod (after the bars of course). I’ve found inspiration before in unlikely places but this time I’m drawing on something that only feels familiar in times of unfamiliarity.

A Good Problem to Have

2008-10-12T18:14:00.001-05:00

Yea I’m in a funk but so what? I’ve been out for so long that I guess it was bound to happen eventually. Getting burned out almost seems natural but I just hope it turns out to be a temporary thing.

It has been awhile since my last entry and though I waxed poetic about missing Asia in the last post, this time I’ve realized that maybe it isn’t that continent that I miss most but rather something a little more subtle.

So far in Europe, things have been really easy. The buses and trains run on time, they arrive on time, they work and everything seems to run smoothly. People wait at the crosswalks until signaled and the rational rules of traffic apply. You can drink the tap water and flush toilet paper. I don’t fit in here. Europe is too easy, too comfortable. So far while it is jam packed with culture… The only thing missing is adventure, and this is crucial.

Admittedly, this is a funny complaint to have and a damn good one to have in the grand scheme of things. There is no way I should expect that the top travel destination in the world should have all the frustrations that made my previous ones rewarding. But with all these wants and unrealistic expectations about a place that shines, it took an objectively weird experience to bring it all back

Through a series of indescribable events I found myself in a venue called Godor listening to a man scream incessantly into a microphone while someone to his left just whistled into another. It was strange, and the heavy metal accompaniment just added to the craziness.

Through it all, I might have actually realized what Europe is about. Not daily adventures and annoyances of developing world travel but more about seeing how a culture so similar yet so distinct from my own revels in the activities that I enjoy as well.

That concert changed something in me and it wasn’t from the long list of $1 beers. It showed me that adventure can take many forms. Being part of a crowd exploding with excitement to music that any rational person would call noise exposed the differences in us while simultaneously confirming my feelings of familiarity. Here we have a culture that I actually can relate too! A country that somewhat resembles home in comforts and attitudes. And that is the difficult part.

Seasons Change

2008-09-20T02:11:00.001-05:00

I can finally feel the cold that I’ve wanted for so many months. Summer seems to have flown by and fall is cranking right along. The seasons are changing and yet I still don’t know the date or day of the week. Sometimes I just need to take a break, think about the places I’ve been, the places I’m going, take a deep breath and take in my surroundings.

Really, I can’t believe I’m saying this but I find myself missing Asia. Those 6 months represent a fare amount of misery, a little bit of hard work and just a tad too much heat. But, there were so many good things as well and of course I didn’t realize what they were until I left. Here’s just one…

The Thais, the Chinese, the Lao, the Japanese and the Cambodians were by far the most generally jovial people I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. Most remarkably, the people who had the least to smile about did the most of it. The individuals I was lucky enough to get to know really changed the way I saw each country and its people. From the Chinese film producer to the Thai teacher trying to learn enough English so he can get a better job and on to the Japanese graduate who refuses to join his country’s killer corporate culture, I don’t remember many names but what was most important about our conversations will never leave me. What I miss most about Asia lies in its people and I will never see them the same way again. Though I can’t say for certain, something in me says I’ll be back.

Europe is on the horizon and I’m sincerely excited about it. There are so many epic travel destinations and just so much to see that I can’t even wrap my head around it. I cannot even begin to describe how much more I’ve heard about France, Italy, Spain or Greece than I ever heard about Cambodia or Laos. I’m still undecided as to whether this is a good thing but at the very least, all this hype has instilled a great deal of curiosity in me. And plus, I still retain my goal of getting a job in the Alps this winter and few new friends in the right places might actually be able to make it happen. Nothing sounds better than spending a winter at the base of a European ski resort, so let’s just hope that I can make it happen. I’m going into Europe a lot more blind (in terms of research) than I went into Asia but the more I read here on its eastern doorstep, the more I get excited for what’s to come.

Finally, I’m currently in Turkey blasting my way through with Alyce. It’s been quick and I’ve barely had time to breathe but the scenery, food and traveler scene is spectacular. I got to swim in the bluest water I’ve ever seen on a 4 day sail boat cruise down Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. We’ve eaten so many chicken kabobs that any sane person would feel sick at the mere thought of one by now but yet I still crave them on any given afternoon. Since school has started in most countries, the students have left and only the unemployed or long term travelers remain (mostly). This country is currently completely overrun with Aussies and though it can get repetitive at times, we’ve managed to make some great friends along the way. Honestly though, if anyone were to invade Australia, the country would be screwed; everyone is gone apparently. Turkey not only occupies the tumultuous east-west divide but it seems to do so gracefully as well. It’s a beautiful country and though the people leave something to be desired, we have truly enjoyed our time here.

So the seasons are changing and nature’s way of reminding us of time’s passing has definitely resulted in a bit of silent reflection on my part. I’m definitely looking forward too what’s to come but seem to be prematurely missing the places I’ve been. In the end I feel fortunate to have been given (or had the chance to seize) the experiences that rustle up these feelings. I’m just trying to remember not to take a step forward without taking at least taking two looks back.

Greetings from the Holy Land!

2008-08-27T06:42:00.008-05:00

As the sun began to rise over the hills surrounding the Valley of the Kings, we knew that it was going to be a scorcher. Situated on the Nile, Luxor is one of the most significant areas in Egypt for ancient Egyptian sites. It is also the hottest place I've ever been. With highs between 115-120F and not a single cloud in the sky, the heat is just plain indescribable. This climate's only saving grace is that it is so dry that sweat instantly evaporates making it somewhat more bearable than the dank wetness of South East Asia. In any event, nothing could have prepared me for the feeling of being slowly baked alive while trying to appreciate archaeological sites that I remember reading about in 1st grade.

The importance of the Nile to Egyptians of old (and now) cannot be understated. The Nile Valley is surrounded on both sides by huge expanses of nothingness. We witnessed oceans of sand and rock on our approach to Luxor from the Sinai Peninsula making the scenery devoid of substance yet oddly intriguing. The transition from a beige Mars-ish landscape to one of lush green fields of corn, papyrus and other crops happens abruptly as one ventures within 10 miles of the Nile. One can't help but marvel at all the Nile makes possible in one of the harshest climates on earth.

And now for something completely different... Alyce and I's arrival to the Holy Land could hardly be described as graceful. It is a long story that I'll have to tell another time. Either way, once we were both on the ground in Jordan, we quickly headed to Petra and spent a couple days exploring countless unbelievable structures carved out of the many sandstone cliffs in the area. It was awesome in the purest sense of the word. From there we headed to Egypt.

The process of taking the ferry from Aqaba, Jordan to Nuweiba, Egypt across the Red Sea could best be described as a clusterfuck. One has to wait in line and visit practically 15 different windows before being given their ticket. Once you have a ticket in your possession, the waiting begins... Apparently, the ferry leaves "whenever" and nobody quite knows what's going on (not even the ferry company staff). After a few hot hours of waiting, a mad rush happens to board buses so that you can ride about 2 minutes down the road to the boat. After vehemently fighting the request to throw our packs into these giant trailers containing hundreds of unmarked suitcases, we finally had to relent. At least we were able to board the vessel. But even then, we had to wait for a couple more hours before the 1.5 hour trip across the sea began. That is right, all of this hassle for just a one and a half hour trip. The ferry was actually quite pleasant while we were moving but the disaster that awaited us on our arrival to Egypt was just unreal. I don't think I can adequately describe the insanity, inefficiency and plain ass-backwardness of the Egyptian arrival process in a way that would come close to doing it justice. And then, to add insult to injury, all of this can be yours for one easy payment of $85... Yes, almost $100 for an 8 hour ordeal that should have only taken 1.5. Well, I guess it is just another crazy experience to add to the pile... An experience I'd rather not repeat.

This is getting long so I'll just end things here. Alyce and I are heading to Cairo tonight and then to Turkey shortly thereafter. It's been great so far and though the Middle East has its share of frustrations, I've had worse (and better for that matter). Best of all, there is no plain fried rice to be found for thousands of miles.

The Beginning of the End? No, Not Really

2008-08-13T12:26:00.004-05:00

Well my grand Asian adventure is coming to a close. It's been over 6 months since I stepped off the plane in Bangkok but it feels like it was last week. I just cannot believe how fast the time has flown by. Well, there will be plenty of time to reminisce later because there is no break after this milestone.

I'm boarding a plane tomorrow night for Amman, Jordan where I'll be meeting Alyce. She'll be on a fresh pair of legs and I just hope I can keep up. Guess I'll just have to see.

Anyways, here's a list of things I will not be missing about Asia:

Trash everywhere
Smoking everywhere (China)
Spitting everywhere (China)
The complete lack of air conditioning even when a working unit exists (SE Asia)
Taking 3 days to get somewhere when it could have taken 1 (Cambodia)
People trying incessantly to sell me custom tailored suits, sex and drugs
The lack of BBQ sauce and anything remotely resembling Mexican food
Being elbowed in the ribs by an old lady while trying to get on a bus (China)
The seething human mass of chaos that is a Chinese train station
The feeling that I'm on the same track as every other backpacker (SE Asia)
The description of anything more than a walk around town as a "Trek"
The immature gap year kids and people who just got out of the Israeli Army

And, things that I will miss:

The food: Pad Thai, spring rolls, dumplings, okonomiyaki, banana pancakes, fresh tropical fruit, etc...
The cheap beer: Sometimes as little as $.50 for 600ml
The ease of travel: It is so easy to get around that sometimes its disappointing
The scenery: Mountains, jungle, waterfalls, rivers, temples, everything
The locals: I've met some of the most kind and genuine people out here
The travelers: I've met so many cool people along the way that I'm sure I'll keep up with in the future
The wacky pop culture: I can't describe this, it just needs to be experienced to be believed
Giant Asian cities: Hong Kong, Osaka, Tokyo, Bangkok, Shanghai. They are so much fun to explore
The long nights, the early mornings and the feelings of complete misery that make arriving somewhere so relieving

Well this was all thrown together pretty fast since its late and I'm tired so that is going to be it from now. My next post will be from Jordan and I can't wait. I've finished all my uploading so now my Flickr is full of all the pictures that I'm going to put up there from Asia. Enjoy.

East Asia by the Numbers

2008-08-11T08:17:00.004-05:00

Well as we all know, I'm leaving this part of the continent soon so here're some stats to give yall an idea of what the last 6 months have looked like...

I've taken...
24 Bus rides (b/w destinations)
23 Train rides
8 Border Crossings
6 Flights
6 Boat rides
6 Countries (7 if you count Hong Kong)
4 Bullet train rides
4 Days to get to Saigon by driving a motorbike
1 Ride in the back of a truck (during the pouring rain incidentally)
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6,300 Pictures taken
~2,500 Pictures kept
1,233 Pictures posted to Flickr (with 21,766 views in total)
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16,000 Vietnam Dong = $1
8,000 Lao Kip = $1
4,000 Cambodian Riel = $1
106 Japanese Yen = $1
30 Thai Baht = $1
8 Hong Kong Dollars = $1
7 Chinese Yuan = $1
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30 Malaria tablets taken (out of 79 brought)
12 Nights spent as a bartender
4 Guidebooks used and since discarded
3 Entertainment options for every bus/train/plane ride (iPod, Nintendo DS, Book)
3 Expensive gadgets bought (eeePC, iPod Classic, Sigma 18-200mm lens)
2 Books read (The Mole People, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy)
1 Sock lost
1 Remaining sock used as iPod case
1 Night inadvertently spent in a hammock
1 Camera lens broken
1 Pair of unstained shorts left
1 McDonald's soft serve ice cream cone per day where available

And Thousands of...
Beers drank
drug offers refused
boom boom/massage/pretty lady offers refused
Custom made suit offers refused
Miles traveled

Dont Know What You've Got 'Till It's Gone

2008-08-08T03:48:00.008-05:00

The weather in Yangshuo (my current location) is perpetually hot and humid. The streets are filled with hawkers trying to sell souvenirs and bicycle rentals and the ubiquitous Chinese tour groups are everywhere you look. This was the place that almost everyone I spoke too about China insisted that I make time for in my itinerary but I've having a tough time figuring out why. The karst scenery is pretty impressive but I constantly find myself wishing I was back in Yubeng.

Yubeng Village is a full day’s hike from Duqin, which is a full day’s drive from Lijiang, which is a full day’s drive from Kunming, which is 42 hours on a train from Shanghai. Nestled about as far into the Himalayas as one can get without entering Tibet, this roadless town is surrounded by glaciers, mountain ranges and waterfalls. Mitch, Jim (two British guys that I ended up traveling with for a couple weeks) and I hiked out there and stayed for 3 nights taking advantage of everything that the rest of China isn’t.

The town is about as close to an idyllic mountain village as I could have ever imagined. White Tibetan homes are surrounded by golden fields and green pastures. Trails run off into the distance and all of this is punctuated by dramatic snow capped peaks in almost every direction.

All 3 of us had come to China to get to the mountains and we were finally officially there. Elevated altitudes gave rise to elevated attitudes as we explored the surrounding areas. One day it was an easy hike to a beautiful waterfall and then the next day we ventured to an emerald glacial lake. The opportunities seemed endless and we were really limited only by our own ambition.

Our days began and ended with the same food in most cases. To eat, we had to go get one of the women of the household to come to the dining room. On the floor was an assortment of locally grown vegetables and ingredients. Ordering was quite an ordeal because all I could do was just point at what we wanted and they would cook it. If I wanted peppers and onions then I would point at each with different hands then clap my hands together. It was crude but my point got across. If we wanted chicken, they would have to go out back and kill one. Though the food lacked variety, it was fresh and considerably better than much of the Chinese food I had had so far. In the end, 4 days worth of food and lodging cost us $45 total (split 3 ways). Probably the best $15 I’ve spent in a long long time.

It wasn’t Tibet but it may as well have been. Feeling like we accomplished what we set out to do, we walked out of that valley with nothing but our packs, smiles and a natural high that persisted for days. We walked the shady path all the way back to Xedong where we could catch a cab back to Duqin. On the drive I crossed the Mekong for what very well may be my last time… But I’ve said that before.

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I’ve finally succeeded in getting all my Yunnan pictures on Flickr so feel free to check them out. Just hanging out here in SE China waiting for my flight on the 14th to Jordan where I will meet Alyce. But first I have to try and enjoy Yangshuo and Hong Kong though in reality, I may have already left China. The opening ceremonies for the Olympics are tonight so that should be interesting at the very least. Definitely expect another post before I leave this country.

Not in Tibet but Close and the Mountains are huge!

2008-07-24T05:56:00.003-05:00

I woke up to the sounds of goats and jack hammers. A seemingly odd combination but the rural road to Tibet is under constant assault from landslides and avalanches depending on the season...

My Tibetan ambitions hit roadblocks along the whole way. Though Beijing "re-opened" Tibet in late June, I quickly found out that things weren't nearly as simple as the China Daily would have me believe. Arriving in Chengdu, my high hopes were crushed as I learned that although I could get to Tibet (and more importantly, Everest), the trip would be costly, monitored and mired by red tape and restrictions. Turned out that all foreign tourists must go on a fully booked tour with guide and driver while staying in 3 star hotels. The common costs could be split up by 4 people in a group but for reasons which I cannot understand, the Government requires that everyone in the group be of the same nationality. One used to be able to book a cheap "tour" which would dissolve on the other side of the border allowing everyone to do as they please. This option has not been available since the pro-Tibet protests last April.

In the end, even with a hypothetical group of 4 Americans, it would have cost me $1500-$2000 and over a week of waiting to obtain the necessary permits. I decided that being babysat while shuttled around from sight to sight was not the way that I wanted to experience Tibet or Everest. It was a tough decision to make and weeks later I still wonder if it was the right one.

I left Chengdu and with it my frustrations with Tibetan travel restrictions and my growing weariness to travel on the whole. I was headed south to Yunnan with plans to get as far into the mountains as possible. And that is exactly what I did.

I'm writing this just a stone's throw from Tibet, Burma, and Sichuan province. Duqin is about as far into the Tibetan Plateau as one can get without actually crossing the border. Situated at around 9,000 feet, the days are crisp, the nights are cold and the area is filled with countless hiking opportunities. Last night was perfectly reminiscent of the Colorado mountain sunsets that I'd come to love so much in the past. The therapeutic qualities of this place are something that I've been needing to get over the oppressive qualities of China’s cities. Good thing I'll be here awhile.

I haven't been able to upload pictures since I got Yunnan so my Flickr page is in desperate need of updating but I'll have to get around to that later. I have miles of hiking ahead of me in the coming days including trips across the Mekong (yes, the river I thought I would never see again), to glaciers and remote Tibetan villages. It's the rainy season but I really hope the nice weather holds. Expect more updates as I get back to civilization.

An American 4th of July in China

2008-07-05T04:31:00.008-05:00

Fourth of July in Chengdu was definitely unlike any other 4th I’ve ever had. My first major American holiday abroad was not spent among fellow Americans but Chinese, Danes, and Brits instead. Though there wasn’t anyone around to truly share in the celebration, anyone is always open to another excuse for 1 more cheers… It was a pretty good night.

Resolving to throw my budget to the wind, I hopped in a cab and went across town for some dinner and late night revelry. As I walked to the restaurant, I decided a beer would be nice. Went into a convenience store planning on buying the same cheap Chinese beer I’ve been drinking all along but then something caught my eye. I’d been told that drinking in public is technically illegal but never enforced so I bought a large bottle and went outside. Breaking the law in the name of America, I sat on the steps of the convenience store drinking a beer that won a blue ribbon in 1893, dubbed “America’s Best.” I skipped the Budweiser and went straight for Pabst Blue Ribbon. It was warm, not particularly delicious in any sense of the word but it was American and I kind of enjoyed the sense of superficial patriotism that it conveyed.

Got an American beer in my belly but then it was time for food. Anyone who has spoken with me in the last couple weeks has no doubt heard about how much I’ve been missing Mexican food. Since I was treating myself all night, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to indulge/experiment in the more Mexican side of Chinese cuisine. Just down the road from the convenience store lied a most unlikely restaurant for central China.

I walked in the doors of Peter’s Tex-Mex Grill and sat down. That’s right, Tex-Mex. Not quintessentially American but uniquely Texan and it fit perfectly into my “comforts of home” night. Weeks of anticipation and longing had brought me to the moment that I ordered a plate of beef enchiladas with a side of refried of beans and Spanish rice. I sat admiring the signs on the wall reading “Everything is bigger in Texas” and “If you’re smoking, you better be on fire” while waiting for my food. Man, when I closed my eyes I could just imagine that I was in Texas instead. Actually, that’s a lie… the interior was over-the-top stereotypically “Texan” (well at least that was what they were going for) and the boisterous Chinese patrons did nothing to prolong my delusion. All of that didn’t matter as soon as my food came out though.

I went in with low expectations, hoping to be wowed but mostly I was just puzzled. Why are the beans green? Where’s the cheese? You call that Spanish rice? And why god, why isn’t the plate hot?!? With an air of adventure, I dug in. The beef wasn’t too bad, the sour cream hit the spot and though the rice and beans were weird, they were vaguely familiar as well. It was no Elvis plate at Chewy’s but at least it had Texican qualities about it. But seriously, I had no idea how much a cold plate detracts from the overall experience… All I wanted was the waitress to say “be careful, the plate is hot” so that I could nod in understanding only to touch the plate anyways just to make sure. I guess eating Mexican food isn’t only about the ingredients. The whole meal was quite nice and though I’ve been spoiled in terms of Mexican food for my whole life, I can still appreciate a Chinese take on it.

From dinner I went to an Irish Pub that I was told should have a decent number of westerners. They had American craft beers on special and I was delighted to get a Rogue Dead Guy Ale for a decent price. It was the first decent dark beer I’d had since I left home. That was great but I was left wondering where the Americans were at. Everyone I talked too was from somewhere else but a foreign country’s holiday is as good a reason as any for a cheers so they were happy to join in my celebration. Hung out with a tour group for a little while before heading out to another bar. Walking into a French bar on July 4th, I pretty much had to check my pride at the door. No matter, I spent the rest of the night walking up to people and asking if they were American. After they replied “no,” I would just say “damn” and walk off. Nobody ever let me walk away and this turned out to be a surprisingly good strategy to begin conversations. The night wore on and at about 3:30, I was content with my Chinese July 4th celebration. I rode in the cab back to my hostel thinking about how starkly different my next Independence Day will be from this one.

I’m spending the next few days hiking up into the mountains south of Chengdu and I cannot wait to hit 9000 feet. The trail head is at just over 1500 so it should be an ass kicker if nothing else. Pictures and news of my Tibetan ambitions to follow when I get back in a few days. I've also uploaded some pretty spectacular photos from a hike I did a few days ago so check them out if you're curious. that's it for now!

No more aimless wandering... Everest is on the horizon

2008-06-28T08:53:00.003-05:00

Arriving in China with 2 months ahead of me, I was left without a clue of what to actually do here. My original plans were to slowly make my way into Tibet and then overland into Nepal via the Everest Base Camp but China closed Tibet to travelers after the Olympic torch relay protests citing safety concerns. I had to change my plans a bit and then I decided to go deep into Sichuan, which borders Tibet, to get as far into the Himalayas as possible but then that massive earthquake happened reducing much of the province to rubble. As I arrived in China, a country with limitless travel potential, I, paradoxically, could not come up with any good ideas of places to go or things to see.

No big deal though, I was in China, and just trying to get a feel for the place is a full time job. If I had arrived here from Vietnam then I wouldn’t have been surprised by much but I got here from Japan where I had become accustomed to clean streets, efficient public transportation, and, well, order. I don’t think those adjectives apply here in any real sense of the words. But, China is a deeply interesting place full of history and culture. That said, it will test my patience.

I think train travel is a good subject to use for comparison. In Japan, the trains run fast, on time and the stations are neat, orderly and logically designed. One can arrive at the station and be in their seat within 5 minutes. In China however, just buying a ticket can be a harrowing ordeal. Today for example, the ticketing office in the station had over 40 ticket windows all having a 30-45 minute wait. It is never clear which window you have to use even though tickets for the same day must be bought at different windows than the ones for 3 days in advance. Of course, I can only really figure out which window is the right one after arbitrarily picking a line and then waiting for 45 minutes before being told that, actually window 3 would have been the right choice. Once I arrive at the window, I have to hand the attendant a piece of paper with the train, time, date and seat preference written in Chinese and hope to god there is availability because if there’s not, I’d have no way of understanding what my other options are. Seems pretty daunting but it could all be avoided if I wanted to pay the hostel a $5 commission to get the ticket for me… sometimes I wonder if it is even worth it but then I realize all that trouble bought me dinner and then some!

All comparisons aside, I’ll focus on a few of my initial impressions. China’s economic growth has been dubbed “miraculous” countless times and the effects of this are impossible to miss. There are over 30 skyscrapers where none existed at all just 10 years ago (Pudong in Shanghai). You will see a really nice BMW pull into a high rise apartment complex next door to a market where one could buy anything from pirated DVDs to live chickens. And the most prominent feature of any Chinese skyline these days seems to be bamboo scaffolding and construction cranes. All of this progress continues completely unchecked resulting in really dirty cities.

In case anyone is wondering, Beijing really is as polluted as everyone says and Shanghai isn’t too far behind. The smog is surprisingly thick making any clear picture of a distant object impossible. And what’s most depressing is how much the sun is obscured by all this. I’ve spent most the last two weeks in Beijing and Shanghai and didn’t have a single sunny day the entire time. Shanghai was rainy but Beijing is, well, just like that. I’m very interested to see the world’s reaction to all this during the Olympics. I’m currently 12 hours west of Beijing and though the sky was clear and sunny, there was still haze on the horizon.

On a completely different subject, the best news of the last couple weeks is that the Chinese Government has just recently reopened Tibet to travelers making my ultimate goal of seeing Everest a possibility. I’m currently hauling ass west to get as close as possible to figure out if the news is correct since it all gets censored by the Government and nothing is ever as it seems in these issues. Apparently bribing officials and costly transport is an ever present reality in Tibetan trave; but money is no object at this point and if I can get to Everest, I will. Should be interesting in any event.

That's about it for now. internet is slow, intermittent and sometimes censored here, especially as I get out in the boonies, so expect less blog posts but I’ll try to keep it up. As always, more detailed accounts of my exploits can be found in my Flickr sets.

So long Japan, Hello Communism (...Again)

2008-06-09T09:13:00.004-05:00

I hop a boat for China tomorrow morning. Just one in a persistent string of departures and short goodbyes, leaving Japan is different because, for the first time so far, I'm not ready to move on.

In my previous blog posts, I've really focused on the negative parts of travel here and I think I figured out why. In a place with so few negative aspects, it's really easy to focus on the ones that are there. In all fairness, Japan is an amazing place to experience.

The people here are so nice... Just looking completely lost will usually be enough for someone to walk over and help. I arrived in Matsumoto way too late without reservations and while I just aimlessly walked around that city at night looking for a cheap place to stay, this man just walked over and asked if he could give me a hand. He helped me get my bearings and pointed me in the right direction. Even more surprising was when I was walking around Fushimi Inari and it began to rain. I didn't particularly mind at all so I just kept exploring. At some point, this woman bursts out of a house and frantically runs over to give me an umbrella. I did my best to describe to her that I didn't mind getting wet but she wouldn't take no for an answer. I thanked her in the only way I knew how (arrigato gozaimasu). It poured the rest of that day and I was extremely glad to have that umbrella.

The cities here are just awe inspiring. I've just lost myself for hours among rows of izakayas and brightly lit store fronts. The neon lights and noise from pachinko parlors fill many streets creating endless options for interesting walks. These cities definitely get more interesting by night and every late night stroll has been rewarding in some way. While I was in Hiroshima for example, I heard some music off in the distance and decided to hunt it down. I stumbled upon a group of friends jamming out under a bridge. They were really good so I just sat down and watched for an hour or so. That was a great night.

And I cant forget the food. There are so many varieties of food unique to Japan and they are mostly awesome. For the first week I was here, I looked forward to every meal and that feeling only subsided as I started cooking for myself to cut costs. One of my favorite specialties is called Okonomiyaki. You sit down at a table with a hot grittle set in the middle called a tepan. After greasing the surface, you put a mixture of meat, cabbage, egg and sometimes noodles in the middle and then flip it once it's crispy on one side. Finally, once it's done, you douse the whole thing in mayonnaise and a dark bbqish soy sauce and then eat. It's cheap and just uncontrollably delicious. This is just one of many amazing food items that I had never heard of but was glad I got the opportunity to try.

I still feel as though the culture is very hard to understand but my feelings have moved from desperation to intense curiosity. This is the first place that I can definitely say I need to come back too and it will have to be for a long time if want to figure things out. And I really do, the culture here is just so dense and rather than scaring me away, it just fosters a greater will to learn. I'll be leaving with more questions than answers so, I totally need to come back (hopefully with more money next time).

So this is my last night in Japan and I'm truly sad to leave. I have two days on a boat to rest (which I desperately need) before landing in Shanghai and beginning my exploration of the intimidating behemoth that China is. I started my night with a 38th floor view of vast cityscapes of Osaka and Kobe. After that, like so many nights before, I walked in what ever direction looked interesting among pachinko parlors, restaurants, izakayas and arcades bathed in neon light. And finally, it ended like many Japanese people end their night over a hot bowl of soba noodles in a humble roadside shop. A fitting climax, I would say, to an awesome couple weeks.

A message from my past self

2008-06-09T01:47:00.002-05:00

I just got this email a couple days ago and figured I would share it with everyone. I totally forgot that I wrote this. There is this website that lets you write emails to yourself to be delivered at a future date of your choosing. One day at work I figured it would be fun to write a few... So here's the first one:

The following is an e-mail from the past, composed on Wednesday, October 24, 2007, and sent via FutureMe.org
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dear FutureMe,

As I'm writing this I'm really hoping that you are somewhere in the world that isnt the states and having a hell of a time.

You should be half way through your trip by now! Don't forget to stop and enjoy your sourroundings if things are frantic or conversley, dont forget that there is much more to see out there if you are taking it too slow! You have 6 months (maybe) left, make the most of them.

Your past self is writing this from his desk in DC... I just hope you (and by you, I mean me) recieve this email somewhere exotic or at the very least much more exciting than your desk at KHHTEF.

When you wrote this you were supposed to be finding Global NAPs Network's federal USF filings, if that doesnt put things in perspective... I dont know what will!

Anyways that is about all I have to say, why dont you make this email into a blogpost or something.

-Your Past Self
P.S. Sorry I went out and spent all that money at the bar last night... I'm sure it would have been nice to have now.

There's less douchery on the road less traveled

2008-06-06T05:46:00.004-05:00

Been traveling around Japan now for 2 weeks and it has really been crazy. With such a short amount of time, I've had to move fast.. and move I did. I've spent 4 nights in Tokyo, 1 night in Matsumoto, 1 night in Nikko, 2 nights in Hiroshima, 5 nights in Kyoto and now I'm off to Osaka tomorrow before catching a boat to China on Tuesday. The Japan Rail Pass makes travel insanely easy and fast (a subject which I'll post a video about soon) and getting to your next destination is as easy as just showing up at the train station. So far there have been a few rough nights (one must plan ahead religiously here because spontaneous travel is rewarded with nothing more than homeless nights or expensive hotel rooms) and many long days but that is not what I want to talk about right now.

One of the first things I noticed when I got to Japan was the sheer lack of backpackers. This is an expensive destination so, of course, it does not attract the amount of budget travelers that SE Asia does but there are hardly any here at all. As a result, all of the "Backpacker's Hostels" are mostly filled with people who are on quick 2 week vacations and travel on a budget that is orders of magnitude larger than mine.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying that whatever I'm doing is objectively better than that but it definitely changes the type of people that I run into on a daily basis. I like backpacker folk... This type of travel definitely attracts similar people and through my experience they are almost (and that is a big almost) all pretty cool. They're open minded at the very least. And what is most convenient is that everyone's primary goal is having the best time possible on the least amount of money.

Money really seems to be the most divisive factor. While I'm extolling the virtues of living frugally and going farther, someone is making fun of me for being too cheap to drop $15 on dinner. No big deal though, everyone travels differently and there really isn't a right way to experience a foreign country. Doesn't really bother me too much and I'm quite proud of my ability to live on next to nothing.

For instance: Though food is astonishingly expensive here, I've gotten my dinners down to $1.50 (from >$8) and lunches (the only meal I eat out anymore) are running below $5. Most hostels here have kitchens which are amazing for making cheap dinners. I boil some cheap soba noodles and combine that with a $1 boil-in-the-bag curry sauce and there ya go. It's not the best thing I've ever eaten but it is filling. It's stuff like this that really brings me back to my life in DC.

So, long story short, Japan is expensive and filled with people who love to spend money but with a little determination and no shame, one can really make it reasonable. And plus, it is a lot of fun being somewhat of an oddity in all these "backpacker's hostels."

I've uploaded tons of pictures to my flickr account so that is the best place to go too get a better idea of where I've been and what I've been doing. Plenty more good stuff on the way as well. It's getting late here and I haven't had a night earlier than 2am in weeks... I'm gonna get to China and just sleep more than anything else probably.

Domo Arigato: Not only for thanking robots

2008-05-30T03:41:00.005-05:00

Well I’ve been in Japan for a few days now and although I’ve managed to get my bearings, the place still ceases to amaze me. It hasn’t been long but I could already fill pages about my observations and feelings towards this place so I’ll try to start somewhere logical and break it up over the course of multiple posts.

I’ve been quite fascinated with the culture and country for awhile now. Follow video game or tech news for long enough and you get enough glimpses into what goes on here to spark curiosity. So now I’m here trying to figure it all out but more so than anywhere else, I get 10 new questions for every 1 answered. The culture here is a tough nut to crack as a casual observer but all one can do is just try.

The language barrier is the single biggest roadblock to my understanding of Japan. It is actually a very easy language to speak. I’ve already picked up a lot of Japanese and with just a couple weeks, a phrasebook and some determination, I could get conversational. On the other hand, Japanese is one of the hardest languages in the world to read. And there in lies the problem. There is so little English here that really exploring the culture becomes very difficult.

Food is the prime example. Japanese cuisine is some of the best and most varied in the world. There are so many styles of food and dishes that do not exist in other places and from what I’ve had so far, they are awesome! But, there are hardly any menus in English and I searched for days trying to find an okonomiyaki place without luck. I probably passed 10’s of them and I eventually learned there was one NEXT DOOR to my hostel the whole time but since the words are all in Japanese, there was no way for me to know. In Southeast Asia, trying new things was unavoidable but here you really have to try because otherwise you’ll just go eat at Mc Donalds or somewhere else familiar.

Ok, ok, enough of the bitching… In all honesty, determination is rewarded with new experiences and discovering an awesome and cheap soba noodle shop down a back alley is a real treat. Japan is awesome! The food is delicious, people immensely helpful, sights intriguing and bullet trains fast as all hell. I’m really enjoying myself here and could easily spend months if I wasn’t just hemorrhaging money.

Like I said before, there is so much to write about this place so I’ll try to get more posts up soon. Also, pictures and descriptions are getting added to my flickr account all the time and don’t forget that viewing them by set is better than just scrolling through the photostream. I’ve only got a 2 week rail pass here and any day wasted means I’m losing big money but I’ll try to catch up on the writing soon. Additionally, this being the land of technology, I've decided to jump mediums a bit and start taking more video. I finally got a video editing program up and running on my tiny little computer so there should be more of this hitting the net as well.

Thanks for reading and feel free to leave any comments you may have (there’s no sign up required).

I'll finally be able to wear cotton again!

2008-05-21T09:30:00.006-05:00

Well I leave Bangkok and Southeast Asia for good tomorrow and I thought I would have more to say on the subject for some reason I'm just drawing a blank. I've left plenty of locales probably never to return again and to my surprise leaving an entire region feels no different. I'm heading to a place every bit as strange as anywhere I've been so far and I'm actually quite excited for this one. You see, I'm flying to Japan tomorrow. It's the land of robots, talking toilets, video games and wacky game shows... all things that I would say I'm pretty interested in. Leaving a region where you cant drink the water or flush the toilet paper too go to a country where not only do the toilets lift their lids for you but they greet you as well will definitely leave an impression. So, expect some random musings in the future but for now in lieu of some sort of SE Asia recap or wrap up, here's Darren's short list of Vietnamese road hazards:

1. School children walking to school on the highway
2. Giant trucks that use the whole road on blind corners
3. Motorbikes carrying 50+ Jackfruits (they are spikey and are about the same weight and size as a bowling ball)
4. Motorbikes carrying an entire family of 5 (and their groceries)
5. Motorbikes carrying livestock
6. Motorbikes carrying other motorbikes
7. Traffic lights (because obeying them can get you killed)
8. Wheel swallowing pot holes
9. Daily thunder storms
10. etc...

So far as I can tell, none of those were out of the ordinary either... Just another day on the roads of Vietnam.

I've got all of my pictures from Vietnam uploaded to the flickr account and organized by city. You can click the collection entitled "Vietnam" to see all the sets I've made and then just go from there. Well I'll end up writing more once I get to Japan but for now, it's so long Southeast Asia, hello temperate climate (thank god!).

"We keep on"

2008-05-15T03:33:00.005-05:00

It wasn't my first choice of activities for the next four days but after plenty of goading, I was finally convinced. I'd been traveling with two Irishmen named Pat and Paul for the last couple weeks and their visas were running out soon. Paul, in particular, needed to be out of the country within a week and we were still a ways from Saigon. The opportunity came up to spend the next four days riding motorbikes from Dalat to Saigon and this kind of adventure seemed to be the perfect way to spend their last days in Vietnam.

Huddled around a table in Dalat, Pat, Paul and I discussed the terms of the trip with Mr. Phuc. Mr. Phuc was part of a group named the Easy Riders... a rag tag group of motorbike guides who organized around 15 years ago under a common banner. They came highly recommended from pretty much everyone and though their prices were steep, their standard of service reflected this, allegedly. Sitting around that table discussing things, we had no idea that we were going to see first hand what differentiates the Easy Riders from everyone else.

Terms agreed on, contracts signed and bikes delivered, we left Dalat at 8:30AM on day 1. Mr Phuc in front then Pat, Paul and myself heading up the rear, we tore our way through the hills outside of that scenic mountain town taking in some incredible views and sights along the way. The trip started out great and before lunch it was clear that the next few days had a lot in store.

Lunch was spent eating “Vietnam food at Vietnam prices” as Mr. Phuc liked to say and he continued to tell us that the next section of road would test our riding skills. It seemed like hyperbole and just another way of saying that it was steep and curvy (more so than before anyways) but we kept that in mind. We left the roadside eatery in the same order as earlier and after heading down the road a bit, I saw Pat and his bike cut clear across his lane to the outside of the curve we were on.

I had a perfect view of the whole thing from the back. Cornering through a tight left turn, Pat suddenly shot to the outside and straight into a concrete pillar. There weren't guardrails out there but there were evenly spaced waist high pillars made of concrete on the tighter corners. After colliding with one of these, both bike and rider did a front flip (they separated in mid-air) and landed down the steep embankment. Paul and I stopped suddenly and I motioned for him to head down the road and catch up wth Mr. Phuc (I never really learned his first name). I pulled up and assessed the damage.

There were pieces of the bike's fairing strewn about the road and Pat was lying face up in a bush with his bike about 10 feet away. Rushing over to pull him out, I asked if he was ok and to my surprise he said that he was. Still skeptical, I reached out to give him a hand but he stood up just fine and walked up the hill to the road. Shaking the dirt off, he assessed the damage and concluded that, much to our collective amazement, there was none. The bike on the other hand did not make out so well.

It took all 4 of us to pull that bike out and when we finally got it upright, it was clear that it took the brunt of the damage. The fairing was in pieces, the handlebars bent, break pedal bent and front break lines hung free. It wouldn't start and it obviously needed some work. Mr. Phuc coasted the bike to a mechanic followed by me to bring him back on my bike. The mechanic couldn't get the bike running and the two of us road back to the rest of the group to assess our options.

When we got there, I got a better explanation of what happened. Pat had looped the shoulder straps of his day pack over the handlebars. Turning sharply to the left, sent the pack to the outside and weighted down the handlebars causing him to careen to the right. Regardless, we were faced with one less bike and a decision to make. Pat decided not to scrap the trip and that he would ride on the back of Mr. Phuc's bike for the rest of it. We were going to make it to Saigon by two wheels as long as we were all still in one piece.

What a day so far it had been and it was just the beginning of this adventure. After redistributing all the gear, it appeared that we were ready to get moving again after sitting at that roadside for a couple hours.

Mr. Phuc turned to the 3 of us and, like he concluded every stop along the whole trip, said “we keep on.”
_____________________________________________________

I've uploaded plenty of pictures from the whole trip on my Flickr account and if anyone is interested, I'll make another post about the rest of it. I'm writing this from Mui Ne and I fly out of Vietnam in just 3 days. Oh and after all that, the total cost for the repair that Pat had to pay was $50.

What a Long Strange Trip It's Been

2008-05-03T14:59:00.003-05:00

Well the 3 month anniversary of my leaving was just yesterday and I think this is an appropriate time for some sort of retrospective. Three months may seem like a long time but really, it seems like I stepped off that airplane in Bangkok yesterday. I've been through all sorts of crazy experiences, things that I could have never imagined before leaving, especially not from behind a desk in DC. Many of the roads have been long and the destinations not always worth it but I've been really surprised how far a healthy sense of adventure can bring a person. Three months... wow, has it really been that long?

I stepped off that plane in February with an ounce of excitement and a pound of trepidation. Landing in a foreign place at 2am without any idea of where to stay and just a vague idea of a part of town was a real trial by fire. But, fear quickly turned to anticipation and like I've said before, the uncertainty of it all is a real catalyst for excitement.

So what all have I really done in the last 3 months? Here're a few things:

Rode a motorbike out 70km to some crazy cave north of Chiang Mai, only to return to the city in the middle of rush hour.

Rock climbed out on cliffs above the Andaman Sea until I got tired and then just jumped in the ocean near Railey Beach, Thailand.

Had an absolute blast bartending in Siem Reap, Cambdia. Things can be just as much fun on that side of the bar for sure.

Made a split second decision to accept an invitation to spend the night with a Cambodian I met on a bus. I bathed in the Mekong, ate cow stomach and drank with her entire family.

Rode in a minivan into northeastern Cambodia that was completely full. There wasn't even room for my day pack behind the back seat but a man we picked up on the side of the road was able to fit 4 live chickens back there. They made so much noise as we rode down that bumpy dusty road.

Lounged in a hammock at my bungalow on Don Dhet in southern Laos where there is only electricity between the hours of 6-10PM. There was no doubt that all the chickens running around were the same that ended up in your dinner.

Rode 50ft rope swings in Laos where the closest hospital was at least 3 days away.

Played a game of beach soccer with a bunch of Vietnamese kids that needed an extra player in Nha Trang.

It's crazy to think about how much has really happened in the last 3 months but at the same time I feel like I just left. Some of the longest days of my life have been on miserably hot and long bus rides but at the same time one can wonder where the day went while drinking a beer in an inner tube on the Nam Song river. The days are usually long but the months are short it seems.

I may have been gone for awhile but it still takes some pretty unique situations to bring everything into perspective and remind me of how special all of this really is. I took an overnight bus yesterday which was supposed to have air con but like most times it did not (or the driver just didn't feel like turning it on). As I sat there at 11 at night drenched in sweat and listening to my ipod while trying to nod off to sleep, a song came on randomly that I used to hear a lot while working late nights in DC. Music can really bring you back to situations that you may associate with songs and this particular one just reminds me immensely of sitting at my desk at 8pm doing telecom research. Haha, sitting on that bus on the way to Nha Trang, it seemed really hard to imagine a situation that was farther removed from all that song represented. And nothing makes me happier than knowing that I just as easily could have been sitting at a desk but instead I was on my way to one of the best beaches in Vietnam.

Well this is getting long and if you cant already tell, I could talk about this for hours. My trip is officially one quarter over and so much has happened, I could go home happy tomorrow. But I'm not, and there is plenty of open road ahead of me. I'm spending a few days here in Nha Trang before hitting the rest of the sights on the way to Saigon where I'll catch a flight to Bangkok and then another one on to Tokyo.

Lastly, you may have noticed that I added a small advertisement on the right side of this page. If the ad seems helpful, go ahead and click it... It may just help me travel for a little longer!

Vietnam: The Land of Smiles? Not Really.

2008-04-20T10:15:00.004-05:00

First impressions being what they are, Vietnam has not made a good one. The people are very confrontational and Hanoi is littered in scams and copycat businesses. More on all this in a second...

Though they have some very fundamental differences, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos' similarities are much more striking. The countries are in varying states of disrepair but by and large the people operate on the same wavelength and share a similar amiable disposition. Though I had a hunch, I had no idea how different Vietnam was from its neighbors to the west.

This country's history is filled with war and conflict and its people show it. On my first day here I was ejected from a street side eatery for deciding not buy something after hearing the price and had a woman refuse to sell me an ice cream bar because even though I wanted chocolate (which was 3000D), apparently, I pointed at coffee which looked exactly the same but cost 1000D more. After the confusion was settled, she still wouldn't sell it to me and I had to leave ice cream-less. Some people seem to be exceptionally nice and helpful while others are just as rude so I'm still keeping an open mind and hoping that my first impressions are wrong.

The scams here are also really intense and one always has to be on top of things. I already saw one girl perish and this story is just too good not to tell. Knowing the cab from the airport to central Hanoi was going to be expensive, I decided to try to recruit some people to split it with me while I was on the plane. The first person in on this venture was the Canadian girl who got swallowed by Hanoi fresh off the flight.

After following some guy across the airport parking lot and over a highway to a cab that had just pulled up, we were safely on our way to Hanoi for less than it would have cost if the cab had picked us up from the terminal. I had read that for any business with a good reputation, there are countless establishments with identical names trying to capitalize off the success and that finding the one you want can be difficult. The Canadian girl told the cab driver that she wanted to go to a place called "The Hanoi Backpacker's Hostel" and he acted like he knew exactly what was going on. For the record, this place is one of the most popular hostels in town and every cab driver knows of it. In any event, he stopped a place called "Backpackers Hotel" which was clearly not the right place but he and the man that rushed out from the door tried to convince her otherwise. I made sure that she knew it wasn't the right spot but the Old Quarter is small and she should be able to walk to it without a problem. After asking her if she had a map and if she would be alright, we made plans to meet 2 hours later at the backpacker's hostel for a beer and the cab driver took me to my destination (although not really, he dropped me off about 2km away telling me it was just around the corner and trying to screw me out of an extra $2). I showed up right on time but she was no where to be found. The staff at the hostel hadn't seen her either and it was pretty clear that she never made it. Poor girl got owned by Hanoi on her first night.

My hotel wasn't exactly on the up and up either. Even though I made a reservation and paid a deposit through a hostel booking website for a dorm, they still didn't reserve it and had none available for me when I got there. After refusing to pay $15 (instead of 5) for a room to myself, they offered the room to me for the same price as the dorm which was so uncontrollably awesome that my head almost exploded. No really, after traveling in this region for almost 3 months, never in a million years would I have expected that offer. Things did turn sour though as soon as I moved into the dorm though. After begging them to turn the air conditioning on in accordance with their advertisement and description of the room, they finally relented with big smiles explaining that their number one priority is to make the customer happy (shoulda been my first tip off). Everything worked great till about 2:30am when I woke up in an oven because they decided to turn it off (presumably to save a buck on the power bill). After waking up completely soaked in sweat and pleading with the most uninterested night manager in history (who, by the way, elevates douchery to new heights), I was left with nothing else to do but just wait it out. That really sucked because I was beginning to get pretty sick and I had to leave early in the morning for an overnight boat trip in Halong Bay but hey, I was the one who babbled on and on about the hardship involved in travel right?

I'm not really bitter about it anymore but it is still nice to rant when someone finally succeeds in screwing you over after narrowly avoiding so much other chicanery (no idea where that word came from... just popped into my head the other day and after looking it up, it seemed to be a perfect fit). But anyways...

All of this considered, there is still a lot of really impressive scenery here and though the jury is still out on the people, I have barely left Hanoi so it is way to early to make any judgments. This is getting pretty long and I still have many thoughts about Vietnam but those will come later after I have been here awhile. I leave Hanoi tomorrow night for a town up in the mountains called Sapa with the sole purpose of summiting Mt. Fansipan in one day even though most people say I can't. If nothing else, it should make a good story.

Keepin on Keepin on

2008-04-16T07:42:00.002-05:00

Things I've learned while in Asia part 1:
1. Roosters don't only make noise in the morning. They do it... all... damn... day... long.
2. The single most versatile object ever created was the plastic bag.
3. No tourist should EVER wear one of those Vietnamese conical hats... those people look utterly ridiculous.
4. There are all kinds of stuff out here that will give you a rash of some type... fortunately there are also “Thai strength” topical steroids which will clear anything up in a day and a half.
5. I am way, way too punctual for South East Asia.
6. Thai/Cambodian/Lao karaoke music videos cease to be an interesting cultural phenomena as soon as you are forced to listen to them on every bus in the region. Pro Tip: Using your iPod to create your own soundtrack to these ridiculous videos however is a lot of fun.
7. Cold showers can either be the best, most refreshing, thing available or quite frankly, a religious experience.
8. Though air conditioned buses and minivans are available almost everywhere, getting one with functioning air con is the stuff of legends. Most times the driver just doesn't turn it on despite any advertised claims.
9. On the streets in any large town, one is just as likely to smell freshly served noodle soup as they are to smell raw sewage.

I board a plane tomorrow for the first time since I flew from Texas and I'm quite excited for this experience. Hanoi is 30+ hours by bus or just 1.5 hours by plane and I've finally decided to open my wallet in the name of convenience. Since that last flight, I've taken 14 bus rides, 7 train rides, 5 boat rides and even one in the back of a truck... I think it's time to mix it up a bit.

The last few days in Luang Prabang have been a total blast. I arrived here just in time for the Pii Mai Lao (Lao New Year) celebration where the entire town turns into one huge water fight. It was an awesome experience and detailed descriptions and pictures will get to Flickr as soon as I get a fast connection (probably in Hanoi).

The Mekong River has been a pervasive feature of the last couple months and I leave it tomorrow for the last time. Since March, I have never been too far from the river and I've been constantly reminded of it's ability to sustain life all throughout this region. I'll have to head down to the banks once more before I leave to smell its disgustingly pungent life giving waters.

So long... for now.

You too can travel the world on a shoestring... Ask me how!

2008-04-07T08:40:00.002-05:00

I knew I would write something like this eventually, I just had no idea it would come so soon.

It wasn't until I found myself sitting around a fire on an island in the middle of the
Mekong having a pseudo-intellectual discussion with a Canadian about Buddhism while a buffalo was butchered not 10 feet away that it all finally hit me...

The point of travel lies not in what one may see but in the wonderfully bizarre experiences that fill every day. It was never about checking various landmarks or countries off a list but rather about jumping into situations that one could never get at home. Every so often, a moment has made me stop and think about how ridiculous (in terms of my perspective at home) it really is. And that is what it's all about.

It seems that everyone's predictions that this will be life changing, amazingly fun, eye opening, etc... have proven correct. Individual travel is something that everyone needs to experience and despite most people's beliefs, they really can.

I don't know a single person who could not handle travel on these terms. Everyone takes things at their own pace and comfort levels and if there ever was an activity that could be specifically tailored to every participant, this is it. One needn't be overly resourceful, stoic or vigilant in the face of adversity, everyone can handle the minor problems that spring up on any given day. Some handle it better than others but for everyone, it is a learning experience. What is the best way to learn a foreign language? Go live in a country and speak nothing else. And what is the best way to develop the qualities that I mentioned among others? I'm pretty sure it is stepping off an airplane by yourself in a foreign land with nothing but what you can carry on your back. The reward is indeed the journey, not the destination.

What's more, anyone can afford to do this. A trip like this is rarely immediately available to anyone and while it is all fun and games now there is plenty of sacrifice and effort that goes into getting here. Saving for a trip can be a marathon or a sprint and everyone does it differently. Everyone has heard that a journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step and in this case it is just looking at your current spending and changing a few things. It is so easy too. Cook dinner and bring your own lunch to work, cancel your cable tv and get a netflix account or simply try to avoid running up a monstrous bar tab every weekend. Whether it takes you 1 year or 10 to save, you will never regret having done so. The point is that getting to the open road involves some sacrifice and that's a very good thing because without it, travel would not be nearly as rewarding.

Lastly, quit deluding yourselves into thinking that a year unemployed will be perceived negatively or forever ruin any future career plans. I've learned that Americans (and myself included) generally have believed that taking a year to travel is either a waste of time or critically impairing to any job prospects. In so many other countries travel is not only encouraged but respected. I have no idea what is to blame for the American perspective but we must realize how much we miss by thinking in this way. We have spent so much time and effort building a cage in our minds that locks us to our current routine that it is so easy to forget that we have had the key the entire time. The hardest part of choosing to travel is the choice and once you realize that, everything becomes so easy.

I could wax poetic for hours or share tons of travel pictures and stories but none of this captures the feelings and rewards that independent travel results in. If you're still reading this then maybe you have thought about doing a trip like this before and all I can say is DO IT. Make that decision and start the journey today because honestly, what are you really waiting for? Go ahead and trade in your work shoes for a pair of hiking boots, your commute for that next bus ticket, and all of your bedroom furniture for a backpack. You'll be extremely happy you did because, to borrow some words from an amazing film maker, if you don't do it this year, you'll be one year older when you do.

That's all for now and if you take anything away from this post please realize that long term travel is something that everyone absolutely needs to experience. All you need is to make the choice.

-Darren 'Travel Evangelist' Donahue

Time Out

2008-03-29T03:13:00.003-05:00

Since I left, myself and others have called this trip a vacation but I've come to realize that that title is completely wrong.

The term vacation conjures up images of pina coladas on the beach or some alpine ski resort with hot tub and pool. What ever it is that I'm doing now is very, very far from that.

Whether I'm trying to get across Bangkok to catch a night train or looking for shelter after hitting the ground in Ban Lung, this is a lot of work. Additionally, covering large distances in short time frames (a scenario which has become almost routine for me) is extremely exhausting. For example, 2 days ago I got on a bus in Phnom Penh at 6:30AM bound for Bangkok. After arriving in BKK at 9:30PM, I had to negotiate a fair price to the train station hoping that I would be able to get a sleeper berth for the 12 hour train to Ubon Ratchathani leaving at 10:30PM. As is often the case, things didn't go according to plan and every seat was full on that train. There were non-air con seats available on the last train of the night at 11:50PM and after weighing my options, I decided this was the way to go. A miserable 12 hours later, I had to find shelter in Ubon.

Next to my backpack, my closest companion these days is uncertainty. You never know if there will be enough seats on the bus or if it will make it to the destination in time for you to catch the next leg of your journey. Contingency plans are a must and almost get used as often as they become unnecessary. The huge question marks looming at the end of any day really do add a whole level of stress to this life that I didn't even consider before leaving.

Of course all the transportation worries could be avoided with 1 direct flight and though affordable shelter can be hard to find, there is always an abundance of hotels and nice rooms available which is where a budget comes in. For the same amount of money, I could travel for 1 month or 1 year and neither path would intersect. Those who knew me in DC knew that I was a slave to my budget to save for this trip and not much has changed. I spend around $30/day on average including all transportation, food and shelter costs. I am also constantly looking for places to cut corners. The other day I walked into a store that sells music to put on your ipod and convinced the owner that their selection was worse than the one down the street and it would be a good business decision to trade music with me and expand his collection rather than just sell it to me. That saved me about $5 (which is a night's stay).

Enough bitterness, I wouldn't still be out here if it wasn't worth it now would I? Despite all the tribulations, there are extremely rewarding moments throughout. Though transportation is stressful, getting to my destination a day and half earlier than I should have is endlessly gratifying. And travel in general gets easier the longer you do it. I have come back to Thailand and feel like I'm returning to an old familiar friend. I know how much stuff should cost, I know how their transportation system works and I know quite a few words in the local language. Though I leave this country soon, the open road isn't nearly as scary as it used to be.

Uncertainty has changed from a stressor to a source of excitement and spending 30 hours in transit gets easier with every passing excursion. No longer new and exciting, this transient life is finally familiar and I wouldn't have it any other way. I head to Laos tomorrow because I'm already restless having spent 2 days in this town. I've finally hit my stride and don't plan on slowing down any time soon. And why would I? When moments like this make it all worth it.

Ridiculous Situations Seem to Be the Rule, Not the Exception

2008-03-24T01:16:00.004-05:00

The first place I ever felt like I truly arrived at the ends of the earth was Ban Lung... but a lot happened between Siem Reap and there.

After reading in the guidebook and asking around I was fairly confident that I could make it to Ban Lung in 3 days. Although it was pretty much due east of Siem Reap, the lack of paved roads or bridges over the Mekong required that I head all the way south to just outside Phnom Penh and then back north again.

After running around Siem Reap looking for a bus to take me the farthest on the first day, I eventually booked a ticket to Kratie (which is the stupidest transliteration ever because it's pronounced Krawtcheh... saying Kratie got me plenty of blank stares for awhile). Getting a bus with good air conditioning is like winning the lottery and it wasn't my lucky day so most of the ride was pretty toasty. The entire time a group of locals were talking loudly and laughing about something but I couldn't figure out what. Eventually, a Khmer girl in the seat in front of me turned around and explained to me that the woman at the center of attention had two younger husbands and this made her quite a curiosity.

Lena continued to strike up a conversation with me by asking me all about where I was from and how long I planned on staying in Cambodia. She explained all about how she is getting married in a month to a man almost twice her age but that isn't nearly as unusual as the other woman on the bus. She eventually explained how she has had foreigners stay with her in her house outside of Kratie plenty of times before and that she would love for me to stay the night with her family.

Before I knew it, the bus stopped by her house and she looked at me and asked whether I was coming or not. Without any time to really think it through, I grabbed my stuff and got off the bus. Lena, her fiance and I dropped our stuff off in her house and went to the Mekong for a swim. She told me to grab some shampoo if I had it as well. After walking across the street, down an embankment and across a large expanse of dry river bed we got to the water.

I stuck my foot in and was shocked by how hot the water felt. She assured me that it was cooler farther from shore so I swam out. The first foot and a half of water was probably around 80-85 degrees but it dropped dramatically below that. I swam around a bit and then washed my hair. Showering in the Mekong under a setting sun was probably not something I will forget for a long time.

After this, Lena and her mother started preparing dinner and I started preparing for whatever I was going to have to eat out of courtesy. Right as we were about to eat, much of her extended family showed up with cases of beer. Dinner was pretty good but I didn't much care for the cow stomach or liver. I ended up sticking mostly to white rice and stir fried vegetables.

After dinner, glasses full of ice were passed around as well as beers. Everyone filled their glass and gave a loud cheers and drank the whole thing. After a refill they repeated this ritual and made sure that I did the same instead of just sipping. Lena told me that they were trying to get me drunk but I let her know that I had been working in a bar for the last 2 weeks and I didn't think there was enough beer around. They continued their ruinous strategy until they were sufficiently tanked and then things got fun. Everyone forgot that I don't speak Khmer and I was just trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Enjoying friends and family over good food and drinks truly is a universal thing. All in all it was a really fun night.

The next morning, Lena's father tried to convince me to stay for a couple more days but I needed to head out towards Ban Lung. I packed up my stuff and said goodbye to my gracious hosts.

More on Ban Lung later but check the flickr page for more pictures and descriptions.

On the Road, Again.

2008-03-18T06:19:00.004-05:00

Well my brief stint in Cambodian employment has been prematurely cut short. Long story short, the owner sees employment in his bar as a tourist attraction and not as a viable job so he had no intention of following through on a pay increase that he promised from the very get go. Oh well, I got about one and a half solid weeks of fun and money out of it and although I will be losing a small amount of money during my stay here, I did get 2 free t shirts and some astronomical number of free drinks out of those assholes.

People have been wondering what my living conditions have been like while I'm here. I've been staying in a guesthouse called the Mandalay Inn. For $6.50/night I get a TV, fan, hot shower and wireless internet. It's a bit more expensive than other places I could stay but what was most appealing was their claim that it "look expensive but not." I checked and sure enough it not expensive and they came down on the price since I was staying for awhile.

Food in Cambodia is nothing to write home about (well I guess that is what I'm doing right now but whatever). Most of it is pretty bland except for the curries which are not spicy at all but have plenty of flavor. I try to eat at least 1 meal a day for $.50 which is usually just a packet of ramen noodles fried with chili sauce, vegetables, salt, sugar and oil. High class? no, but it is filling. The street stalls in town sell all kinds of fried noodles or rice with meat for $1 a dish which is usually my dinner. Again, pretty bland but filling none the less.

Well these past 2 weeks have been the longest I've spent in any one place since I've left and now it's time for me to get moving again. I'll be heading to Ban Lung, the provincial capital of the Northeastern province of Cambodia where there are plenty of waterfalls and a volcanic lake to enjoy. It'll take me 3 days of overland travel to get there since the roads are sooo bad but I've heard great things about the destination. Internet access will be intermittent so expect fewer blog posts in the near future. After that, I'll be heading into Laos to meet up with some Swedish friends I made during my time here and then Vietnam beyond that (more on them later).

ahhhh sweet sweet unemployment... I'm back!

You Don't Have to Go Home But You Can't Stay Here

2008-03-15T07:41:00.005-05:00

I was never entirely sure whether taking this job was going to be a good idea. Cambodia (and all of Southeast Asia for that matter) is getting hotter by the day which scares the hell out of me when I consider how miserably hot it is already. The pay is about $15 a night; enough to break even and then make a very small profit. Dealing with drunk foreigners is always a real treat (the Irish are consistently the most rowdy/drunk) and lastly, this is about as far from a cultural experience as I could get seeing as how very few if any locals stop in.

All things considered though, this is turning out to be an absolute blast! My nights start at 8PM when things are pretty slow. Usually just a few people sit at the tables outside and take advantage of happy hour specials. By about 10:30 things start to pick up as any number of tour groups come in asking for pitchers of long islands or whiskey buckets (half a bottle of Thai whiskey, coke and redbull served in a bucket with ice). After the initial rush things still stay pretty busy but there is always enough time to talk to people at the bar.

The bar is named Angkor What?, an obvious play on the similarly named temple complex nearby.
Described as a “Siem Reap institution [which] manages to pack them in every night” containing “regular drink deals to keep the punters well and truly liquefied” by Lonely Planet, we really do succeed in keeping everyone sufficiently inebriated. There are only 3 bars in town which stay open later than 11 (of which Angkor What? is one) which contributes to the nightly crowds.

Working conditions aren't too bad at all. There is no air conditioning but fortunately there are plenty of fans directly above the bar to keep us cool. Drinking on the job is not permitted but rather encouraged which always keeps things interesting behind the bar.

The job so far is a lot of fun and my living conditions aren't half bad (more on that later). The days are hot, the nights are cool and the fun almost never stops... For example, on my first night, the other bartender, the owner, some friends and I stayed after we closed and drank through the night. Stumbling my way home in broad daylight left me nothing else but the thought of how in the hell I got myself into this situation and what is in store for the weeks to come.

A Slight Delay

2008-03-08T23:33:00.001-06:00

My trip through Thailand was a lot of fun but upon entry to the country you are only issued a 30 day visa. Just a couple days after Pat left, my visa expired so I had to book it for a border to avoid being fined upon exiting the country.

Wanting to take care of the southern part of my SE Asia circuit first before the heat became too intense, I hopped a bus for the Cambodian border from Bangkok. The border crossing at Poipet is filled with people trying to make you pay more money than you need too. Someone even went so far as to type out a ridiculously long guide to making this border crossing which you can find here. You need to acquire a Cambodian visa which many travel agencies at the border will arrange for you (they charge $10 more than the actual cost of the visa though). If you want to buy it for the standard price of $20, you must be prepared to deal with all manner of government immigration officers who try to charge more and keep the difference. Obtaining one for the actual price seemed impossible so I settled for $22.5 and payed to grease the wheels of this ridiculous process.

Once you obtain your visa and get stamped into Cambodia, the next challenge awaits. The border town of Poipet is about a 3 hour drive down a terrible unpaved road from Siem Reap (my eventual destination). Few buses run down this road every day and the most common way of making the journey is by paying a cab to take you. Complicating matters, organized crime in the area has taken over the cab business in Poipet by extorting drivers and 'pressuring' those who dont comply into paying. All of this results in inflated prices for travelers which can only be controlled by finding others to share the cab with you.

Having read about these difficulties before hand, I met a Canadian named Nailin on the bus from Bangkok and we decided to try and find 2 more at the border to split the cab. We ran into two Norwegian girls named Moeyfrid and Tova at the border who shared our goal and after rendezvousing on the Cambodian side it was time to negotiate a fair price with the mafia cabs.

After much negotiation, they very reluctantly accepted my counter offer of $40 for the whole car and we were on our way to Siem Reap for much less than they initially offered.

Siem Reap is the closest town to the Angkor Archaeological Park and is thus inundated with tourists year round. I spent three days exploring the temples and there is a ridiculous amount of pictures of them on my flickr page. Their seamless integration with the approaching jungle was unlike anything I had ever seen before. My original plan was to leave Siem Reap for points onward shortly after using up my entire 3 day pass to the temple complex but something kind of ridiculous came up.

There are quite a few bars in the main tourist area and a couple of them draw a crowd all night long. I went into one called Angkor Wat? which had an American girl working behind the bar and I asked her how she came to be a bartender in this crazy city. After talking for awhile she informed that they were currently looking for more staff and that I should come by the next day if I was curious about it.

Anyways, after coming by a few days in a row and speaking with the owner of the bar, I was offered the job on the condition that I stay for three weeks. This wasn't an easy decision because I'm already hating the intense heat out here and delaying everything by 3 weeks would place me in SE Asia during the hottest part of the year. After checking assorted climate charts, I decided that this was too cool of an opportunity to pass up.

I've spent the last couple days getting all the logistical issues of staying here for 3 weeks taken care of. I negotiated a great room at a discounted price, figured out what is involved with extending my visa and found a great place to set up shop. Tonight is my first shift there so we'll see what happens but if nothing else, I'm sure all of this will be one hell of an experience.

More details on this ridiculous event to follow....

"I wasn't always cargo"

2008-03-05T00:19:00.004-06:00

It's been 3 weeks since Pat got here and we moved so fast that I barely had an opportunity to write anything much less communicate with the western world. I've uploaded plenty of pictures to my Flickr account with long descriptions so I'll spare everyone the details. I will however describe what is involved with covering large distances in a short time without the use of air travel.

We spent 4 nights in the Thailand's second biggest city and northern provincial capital, Chiang Mai. That city was awesome and we managed to do a lot in our short time there. On the 5th day, we boarded an overnight train to Bangkok at 4:30PM.

Traveling great distances via a second class sleeper train really is the way to go. For about 800B, you are given a large chair to sit in during the daylight hours which faces another chair of the same type directly opposite. A table is placed between the two chairs for food or whatever use you may have. As night comes, the table is removed and the chairs turn into one bed while another is pulled down from the ceiling. You can easily close the curtains and sleep your way across the country.

So anyways, we boarded our train at 4:30pm and just chilled for awhile. Apparently, Pat learned of an amazing trick for making train travel even more pleasant than it already is. I wasn't sure of the specifics but know that it involved 700ml of Thai whiskey and a liter of Coke.

Bringing our own alcohol made us no friends on that train. The ladyboy waiter/train attendant was not very happy at all since he/she was not going to get any beer sales off of us. He even went so far as to hit Pat several times with a menu and then pout his way down the aisle. Unphased, we were even able to acquire ice for our drinks with the help of a couple of Aussies in the berth across from us. The rest of the train ride was pleasantly drunk and resisting the advances of the mustached ladyboy got more fun as the night went on.

We arrived in Bangkok's Hualamphong train station at around 6:30am. We killed some time, got some breakfast and boarded a 9 hour train to Surat Thani. This town offers mainland access to the islands of Koh Samui, Koh Tau and Koh Pha Ngan, the latter of which was our eventual destination. We were hoping to catch a speed boat there straight from the train but after hitting the ground in Surat Thani and taking a public commuter bus to the pier we quickly realized that we were too late to make it to Koh Pha Ngan that night.

Koh Pha Ngan is the home of the infamous Full Moon Party which occurs monthly on Had Rin (the beach's name) and plays host to thousands of travelers in one night. Finding reasonably priced shelter near the beach around the full moon can be very difficult or impossible depending on how late you are. Knowing this, we planned to be on the island several days before to get a bungalow in a good location and every day lost made it much harder.

After considering all options we decided to take the overnight ferry even though we had already been traveling for over 24 hours. A description of the ferry and pictures are located on my Flickr page so I wont get too far into it but suffice it to say, it was a boat filled with cargo and tons of backpackers all with the same goal as us.

The ferry pulled into Koh Pha Ngan at 530AM and we hit the ground running seeing every other backpacker as opposition in our goal to find the best/cheapest place in a good location. After several hours, plenty of running and hearing repeatedly “sorry room is fool,” we finally found a livable bungalow and a bed to lay down on after 31 hours of travel.

It's funny how your budget increases the longer you walk around and the hotter it gets. Oh well, I guess you have to make compromises sometimes.

That's it for now, be sure to check my Flickr and Youtube pages for updated content.

Just had to get out!

2008-02-09T04:11:00.000-06:00

I've spent the better part of today napping in a hammock at the guesthouse I'm staying at in Ayutthaya. Bangkok is fun and crazy but to echo the suggestions I've been given in the past... you have to get out eventually!

The day or two after my last post was spent exploring Bangkok's Chinatown and some temples. I woke up and bought a plate of green curry with rice and chicken for 20B from a street vendor and then made my way down the river to Chinatown. This place is a very dense area of the city where many Chinese laborers were moved by the government in 1782. Now a maze of streets and alleys play host to a daily market where one can buy anything from dried fish to pirated DVDs. Each stall has something completely different from the ones bordering it. Fortunately, the hot sun is obscured by narrow alleys and awnings from every vendor which touch in the middle. After exploring for awhile, I bought an orange slush with black tapioca balls in the bottom and made my way to Wat Mangkon Kamalawat.

The most prominent temple in Chinatown was packed with people burning incense in homage to the various deities enshrined there. The smoke was so thick that you could barely breathe. Even the monks had to retreat outdoors from time to time. The whole experience was great and since it was off the popular Bangkok tourist track, I got to enjoy it among Thais and Chinese instead of yet another German tour group.

I woke up the next morning craving a change in scenery. After checking the timetables, I realized I could hop a train that left in one hour for the ancient capital of Ayutthaya. I packed my things and got in a Tuk-Tuk bound for the train station. Despite Bangkok's characteristic traffic, I made it on board with 5 minutes to spare. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders as the train left the city and I was able to see the Thai countryside for the first time.

Ayutthaya was everything I needed and more. I've spent the last 2 days exploring the ruins of 600 year old temples on foot and by bike. One in particular was a stunning white spire that was built first by the Burmese and finished by the Thai. The Golden Mount as it is called was surrounded by a moat where a white horse was taking a drink. A little ways down the road was a statue of a Thai king on a horse. He is surrounded by dozens of tacky plastic roosters. The king won a cockfight while being held hostage in Burma sometime ago and this, apparently, was a big deal. His statue is flanked on all sides by a loyal army of plastic cocks in formation.

I've uploaded pictures of all this stuff to my flickr page so be sure to take a look. Also, you can leave a comment without signing up for anything by using the nickname box.

Anyways, I've spent most of today napping in the shade of the guest house I'm staying in. This sleepy little town has given me the respite that I needed before Pat gets here and the real action begins. As I type this, I can hear the rain slowing down on the tin roof and the temperature has dropped enough to make it quite comfortable out. I think I'll go for a walk...

What's that hose for?

2008-02-06T05:04:00.000-06:00

Well I made it and it only took me 31 straight hours of travel to get here. My flight left Dallas at 10AM and chased the sun west for the next 13 hours. After landing in Tokyo, I had enough sun light during the layover to put me at just over 24hours of broad daylight which was pretty awesome. It was 4am in Austin but bright and sunny outside where I was. The next flight was 7 hours to Bangkok which I slept for most of but woke up just in time for the moist towel, whose purpose I still don't understand. Anyways, I eventually got dropped off around 2am in the backpacker's ghetto known has Khoa San Road. I didn't have any places lined up to stay so I just started walking around looking for a guesthouse with a room available. This proved more difficult than I thought it would be and navigating the throngs of drunken foreigners only made it worse. After walking down numerous alleys and side streets, I found a room with a bed and a bathroom and took the best cold shower I've ever had.

I woke up painfully early the next day because of the jet lag (something I'm still doing 3 days later) and decided to go exploring. I just walked aimlessly in any direction that looked interesting. It was surprisingly easy to escape the lunacy of KSR and happen upon Thais going about their daily business. I've spent most of the last few days walking around different areas of town such as Chinatown, Siam Square (which has the biggest mall I've ever seen... 6 stories, 300 yards x 100 yards) and the KSR area. I've taken a few pictures which I uploaded to Flickr with descriptions so I'll spare you the full narrative.

Now onto something completely different...
The "amenities" here are pretty basic. I've been staying in rooms without windows, AC or a bathroom because well they are about $6. I really just need a place to crash for the night and drop my stuff so I'm not really looking for much. Each stall in the shared bathrooms has a shower head and a toilet with a hose next to it. There's no toilet paper because they dont use that here but fortunately I brought some to hold me over until I bit the bullet. That happened pretty quickly... I went to the bathroom early in the morning on my second day and did business. I tragically realized I left my TP in my room and then thought "well this was inevitable I guess," looked at my left hand and said "it's just you and me old friend," grabbed the hose and went to town.

It really was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be! Everything ended up spick and span and I was on my way.

Anyways, I've walked my feet raw in the last couple days and I don't have much energy left to write more so that will be it for now. Be sure to check out my Flickr page for some real pictures (the link is over there on the right) and leave a comment if you feel like it.

Oh and almost forgot... It's loud, dirty, smelly, hot and humid here but the food is good and I'm having a blast. Cant wait for more.

T-Minus 3 Days

2008-01-30T16:43:00.001-06:00

So I'm leaving on Saturday (almost a week late) and I'm only a couple loose ends from being completely packed up. Most of my gear is in order, I've checked off most of the items on my packing list and it's almost time to fill up my pack. So, without further ado here is my packing list for this trip.

3 T shirts
2 pairs of cut off pants
1 pairs of shorts
1 pair of board shorts
4 pairs of boxers
4 pairs of socks
1 fleece jacket
1 waterproof light shell
2 bandanas
1 visor
1 belt (doubles as a strap for tying things down)
1 pair of chacos
1 pair of Salomon trail runners
--------------------------
1 silk sleeping bag liner
1 knife, 1 leatherman
1 padlock with some cable
1 frisbee/plate
1 squishable bowl and cup
some rope
1 door stop
1 universal sink plug
1 headlamp
1 pack towel
1 sewing kit
1 camping spoon and fork
1 pair of tweezers
1 compass
1 neck pouch (thanks Alyce)
1 nalgene bottle wrapped in duct tape
1 bottle of iodine for water
asst. zip ties and ziplock bags
--------------------------
Toothbrush and toothpaste
shaving razors and handle
a stick of deodorant
bandaids
travel size shampoo & soap (to start me off)
1 course of Cipro
70 some odd pills of Doxycycline
a bottle of Lomatil
Some Benadryl and EmergenC
--------------------------
Nikon D40 w/ 15-55mm & 55-200mm lenses
Casio Exilim EX-S600 (not pictured)
3 2Gb SD memory cards
Gorilla pod
Nintendo DS w/ an M3 DS Simply flash cart
4th Gen Ipod (not pictured)
a voltage converter
1 Gb U3 thumb drive to keep all my bookmarks, passwords, etc...
asst. cords and chargers for all this crap
--------------------------
Books: The Mole People (thanks Erin and Jesse), Nikon D40 manual, Lonely Planet Thailand, journal (thanks Alyce)
1 rubber ducky keychain flash light that also quacks (thanks mom)
a bunch of "Dont Mess With Texas" stickers for trading and gifts
--------------------------
Gregory Baltoro 70L backpack
a 70L REI duffel bag for the backpack
Mountainsmith Day pack (800 cu in)
Tamrac camera bag for the Nikon

Well I think I have most of the bases covered so that's it for now. I still have quite a bit to do before I'm completely ready to go but this will be my last post from the states.

I'm trying to update this thing on a weekly or at least bi-weekly basis so check back soon and feel free to leave a comment below.

So what are my plans?

2007-10-30T09:54:00.000-05:00

It's almost 2 1/2 months from when I leave D.C. and roughly 3 until I board that plane for Thailand. It occurred to me that few people actually know what my plans are, so I'll try to give a rough explanation.

I should start out by saying that I'm really trying not to plan very much. I read something that seemed to describe exactly how I am approaching this trip...

"Preparation is not in knowing exactly where you are going but being able to get there none the less"

So, at this point, I know which countries and when but I am leaving it at that. I've been reading a lot about most of the places in the first half of the trip so I have a good idea what there is to do and can just wing it as effectively as possible.

So here is my itinerary (all of which is subject to change):
Jan. 28 - Mar. 4: Exploring Thailand with my friend Pat who is flying in a week after I am and staying for 3 weeks.
Mar. - April: the classic South East Asia circuit (Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos) although I don't know if I will go clockwise or counterclockwise yet.
May: Myanmar (Burma) if the political climate is conducive to travel.
June 1 - June 15: Japan
June 15 - August 15: Exploring China ending with travel to Tibet and Kathmandu overland.
August 15 - September 15: Turkey
September 15 - ... : Eastern Europe? not really sure at this point.

And here is a handy map I made...

View Larger Map

Financially, I think I should be in great shape by the time I leave. I'm trying to put away $15,000 before I leave my job and I'm getting real close with a couple months left to go. All the research I have done has told me that that should be enough as long as I stay on budget (which shouldn't be tough since DC was the ultimate test of that). After buy medical insurance, vaccinations and some last minute gear, I hope to leave with ~$14,000 in my bank account.

So there you have it. Expect more detailed breakdowns of the logistics and exactly what I'm packing as this trip gets nearer.

I'm planning on spending the next few weeks freaking out because this trip is actually going to happen and I probably have no idea what I'm getting myself into.

Time to set the record straight!

2007-05-18T14:45:00.000-05:00

Probably one of the most common things that I get asked by friends and family is “how do you like D.C.?” Admittedly, I usually give some non-descript ambiguous answer to the effect of “uh its great! I am having a lot of fun!” I don’t do this on purpose but mostly because I just haven’t given it much thought yet… I mean how often to do we really stop for a second and remove ourselves from the craziness around us to figure out how we really feel about a place? My personal answer is “not enough” but I guess that is why I am writing this. So let’s try this again…

Hey Darren, tell me about your life in D.C. Do you like it? Are you having fun?

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again… D.C. is a crazy place, no doubt about it. There is more to it than that. This is a city in a small geographic area filled with people from all walks of life. The district is cohabitated by politicians and war profiteers as well as families that are just trying to get by in some of the most poor and dangerous neighborhoods in the country. There is a veritable army of lawyers and lobbyists to represent anyone with a bankroll as well as tons of non-profits and NGOs to represent the rest. For such a small city, this place really does encompass the entire spectrum of human experience for this part of the country.

This disparity of wealth in such a small area creates an exciting dynamic to be a part of. Most of the fun and interesting areas to go out in are not really in the best parts of town. Dupont and Georgetown are definitely nice areas with plenty of nightlife but my friends and I tend to avoid these areas mostly because of the high prices but also because of the homogenous nature of the crowd. Adams Morgan, U street and H street NE are all bordered on at least one side by neighborhoods in which walking alone at night can be (but often isn’t) a risky prospect but more about that later. Whether you want to experience a frat party all over again in Georgetown or more of an alternative scene in H street NE, this city despite its size, really has something for everyone in terms of night life.

Somewhere in the middle of these extremes lies the transient (but vibrant) twenty-something crowd of which I am a part of. Most of us live in the nicer or “up and coming” parts of D.C. These are neighborhoods where one could practically sit on a bench and watch gentrification happen right before their very eyes. Places like U street, Chinatown, Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights to name a few. This phenomenon was something I really wasn’t aware of before moving here but you really can’t help but notice once you are a resident. This city seems to be moving in the same direction as Manhattan did many years ago. Chinatown, being the prime example, is an area where a great number of the original Chinese inhabitants have been priced out of the neighborhood. Most moved to north Virginia to escape the exorbitant rent and real estate prices. Like them many others, including myself, take shelter from the excessive rents (which my demographic is partially responsible for) out in the suburbs. Where ever you live, though, all parts of the city are within a pretty close reach making this city is a great place to live.

This is a city where seeing a monument or some other object of national significance is so common that they quickly lose their appeal. I did most of the touristy stuff when I got here. I have lived here long enough that for the most part the wow! factor has worn off and accidentally ending up on the street with a great view of the Whitehouse means nothing more than losing 15 minutes because of the traffic and perpetual construction. I along with many of my fellow residents are annoyed at times by the monument’s presence because, although the 8th grade D.C. trip season has just about wrapped up, the summer tourist season is about to get in full swing. That said, I still do appreciate the presence of these landmarks. Driving/walking passed the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Whitehouse, Capital, etc… can be mundane or exciting depending on my mindset. It’s just like anywhere else… one has to constantly remind them self to look past the familiarity and appreciate the qualities of their home. The real story however, is not the familiar façade of these buildings but what they stand for and the business which takes place inside them.

After living here for awhile now, one thing has become abundantly clear. Disillusionment is a rite of passage in Washington, D.C. For some this comes gradually over the course of months while for others there is a single moment when it hits them. I never really gave this much thought until recently but then it had occurred to me that many people told me all about how they came out here to live to learn how they system really works. I don’t want to send the impression that this a bad thing either, I mean its sad that we seem to have some sort of idyllic conception about how this country is actually run but in my opinion, to become disillusioned is to become empowered. One must understand the system before they can effectively support (or undermine) it. I haven’t figured out my place in all this but I’m hoping it will eventually come clear.

D.C. is a place where you have to take the good with the bad. I really am enjoying myself here but there is the occasional frustration. It’s great to able to experience the typical east coast absurdity while still being able to drive only 30 minutes to some pretty good whitewater. Knowing that all the important national news in this country is coming from somewhere within a couple miles of me is exciting while at the same time depressing (depending on the news). I may not have painted a romantic picture of this city but I thought it would make more sense to describe this place as I perceive it. There is so much more that I could talk about both good and bad but I think that is better left for another time. Thanks for reading!

What a long strange trip its been... so far

2007-01-18T15:21:00.000-06:00

Well it has been a few months since I last updated this, so I felt it was time. I promised at the end of my last post that I would share some thoughts on the Metro system... so without further ado...

Darren's Adventures in Public Transportation

When I came to visit this city last July, my very first impression of D.C. was from its Metro system. When I first showed up at the end of the Green line, I asked one of the Metro Employees "how long would it take to get to Union station?" He gave me this really drawn out explanation about how I could transfer to the red line at Ft. Totten or Gallery Place/Chinatown and the timing would all come down to whether or not I made a "good transfer." So I was pretty much thrust into this unknown environment consisting of colored rail lines with weirdly named stops all with the expressed purpose of making a "good transfer." With the way that guy talked about it, I was convinced that there was skill involved and with enough practice one could be a much more efficient Metro rider than others. After spending 6 months trying to figure out exactly where to get on the train so that it drops me off closest to where I want to go as well as other riding strategies, I have come to the conclusion that the assumption that skill is involved, was completely wrong. Predicting transit time is a complete crapshoot. For each new train that someone has to get on during any trip, you could end up waiting up to 20 minutes... or 1. Some would say that 20 minutes really isn't that long, especially if thats the worst case scenario, but you cant leave the station so you just have to stand there and think about how much earlier you could have gotten to your destination.

The Metro does other wacky stuff as well... for instance, 2 days ago I was waiting on the platform after work and for some reason a blue line train wasn't going to arrive for another 15 minutes during the afternoon rush (they usually come packed full every 4 minutes during rush hour). I waited as the platform quickly filled up with people and started dreading the ride home packed in like a sardine kind of like this picture:

Anyways, the blue line train finally starts speeding into the station and much to our collective dismay, it speeds right out without stopping. This odd phenomena happens often enough that last weekend I was intending to take a video of a train pulling into the station and stopping but, well, see for yourself...

Just for the record, every train on a given line is 'supposed' to stop at every station along the way (there are no express trains). Well, that is all I have to say on that subject. Expect a post soon on this winters first snow here... I'll leave you with a picture of the fantastically long escalators in this city. I call it "Journey to the Center of the Earth"

Republicans and Lobbyists and Democrats Oh My!

2006-10-02T12:25:00.000-05:00

It is October now and I am finally getting settled. First a quick disclaimer: Pay no attention to the mindless ramblings of this post because I intentionally chose not to spend the time to make it coherent in any way. If you imagine that these are the types of things running through my head as I walk to work every morning, you would be right unfortunately.

The weather here has been beautiful for the last month which is weird because in Texas, fall only lasts for about 2 weeks. Washington, D.C. is an interesting place for a number of reasons. Its election season and an especially scandalous one at that! People have been asking me if I have noticed anything crazy going on around here because of all this. I can definitely see why someone would ask this but c'mon, its not like I can just go watch the scandal...
"Hey Darren what are you doing today?"
"Oh I don't know, I was thinking of going to watch the scandal. I heard (insert scandalous politician here) is going to check himself into an alcohol rehab center and then check out as soon as all this blows over... Should be exciting."

As October starts to come to a close, seasons change, the leaves change color and everyone braces for winter. Fall is a big deal here... People go apple picking, find the need to display various gourds for decoration and all things pumpkin related (beer, pie, cookies, whatever) are the rage. The rain and cold however, highlight other differences between this city (or the east rather) and CO or TX. I honestly have been surprised at the amount of men that I have seen wearing scarves... I believe you could get your ass kicked for wearing something like that out west. Also, in Boulder when it rains you don't see very many umbrellas at all, everyone has "rain gear." I don't think people in the big cities out here have ever heard of rain gear. They just wear what ever they normally wear and carry and umbrella... perfectly content to battle changing and gusty wind directions and getting soaked from the waist down. Then when I get to work and take off my rain pants and coat, they look at me weird! I just don't understand it I guess.

D.C. is a great town! There really is so much going on here. Government is everywhere you look, there is no avoiding it. I have realized that it takes A LOT of buildings to run this government in all of its bureaucratic absurdity. I just cant imagine the amount of forms (in triplicate mind you) that are filled out here on any given day. Quick side note: even to get a book in the Library of Congress, one has to submit a form in triplicate. Another odd thing that I have noticed about wildlife around all these buildings is that the squirrels all have this salt-and-pepper hair coloration that oddly enough matches many of our past president's... Coincidence? Of course! No conspiracy theorist could tie in the color of the squirrels into their hair brained ideas without sounding crazy right?

That last picture was for you dad.

I have been following two websites religiously these days... www.woot.com and www.steepandcheap.com are both websites that post 1 item at a time at a discount of %50 or more. Normally woot.com only has 1 item a day but every now and then they launch what is called a Woot Off where they only change item after the previous item sells out which can take anywhere from 10 seconds to 3 hours. People get so excited to see what the next item will be that it is not unheard of for some Wooters, as they are sometimes called, to buy items they don't need just to keep the Woot Off moving along. This special event usually last 2-3 days or so. Why am I telling you this? Because at some point over the course of the Woot Off a very very special item appears. Woot offers up to 3 "Random Craps" for $1 each + $5 shipping and they usually have around 1500 of these packages in stock before it sells out. The thing is though, that demand for all this random crap is so high that to get it, you have to submit your order within 10 seconds or the server crashes (and it always crashes as a result of thousands of people trying to make orders at the same time) and its all sold out by the time it comes back online. So again, why am I telling you this? Because I was lucky enough to successfully order a Bag O Crap! I am sure you are thinking "what could possibly be in this bag o crap that worth all the effort?" Well I'll tell you; people have gotten all kinds of, well, random crap. Crap like old PDAs, a sequined american flag vest, a wooden duck, random cheap robot toys from China with very badly translated instruction books, CD-Rs, etc... The only thing you can count on is that it will all come with some bag that is probably useless. So after this long winded description that I strategically placed in the middle of this post so that you would read it, I present to you the contents of my Bag O' Crap!!!

So the first picture is my Box o Crap (the bag is inside). If nothing else, the box will get used as a temporary trash can until it gets filled. The second picture shows:
1 Samsonite video/camera bag/backpack
50 Blank Cd's (which would be great if I didn't already have 75)
2 USB Drive locks (I can't think of any use for these)
2 bags of air (no, its not special air... just air)
1 temporary trash can
And 1 "Tricky Squirt Disappearing Knife" whatever that means. I chock the name up to a bad chinese translation
So thats it, the anticipation was much much more fun than the actual items, but hey thats the point. If anyone needs any of this crap just let me know!

Don't worry, this type of crap isn't the most exciting thing to happen to me since I've moved here. Some things from my last life have not changed. I still take to the streets (and bars) on weekends with friends and succeed in having a great time as well as inadvertently drinking to excess. Its nice to know that there are some things in life that you can count on to stay the same no matter where you are.

So I submitted my first expense report last week which means that I finally get all of my own money back that I had to spend on cab fares too and from the District Court and the FCC. As I look at the extra money (although I know its really not extra) I feel really really, well, corporate.

I feel like I could just go on and on and on, but we all have lives to that we need to back to and I will just have to write down everything else that goes on in mine in my next post! Thanks for reading and post a comment if you feel like it.
-Darren

P.S. Stay tuned for my next post entitled "Darren's Adventures in Public Transportation"

This website is the product of a solo 26 hour drive

2006-08-17T22:31:00.000-05:00

I decided the best way to start off this blog would be by sharing some of my thoughts about my solo cross-country (half country anyways) whirlwind adventure drive!

Very early on in the drive, it dawned on me how similar this felt to my experience of driving out to Colorado for college about 4 years ago. There I found myself naively traveling a few states away to my new home with few social connections and big dreams for which I have no foundation (and turn out to be completely false). Honestly, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the only real difference between these experiences (apart from the obvious) is that this time, I can hold my liquor.

For the most part, the first day was pretty uneventful. The driving is boring but I got all the way to Nashville fueled by fast food, beef jerky and Red Bull. I did feel like I was in a video game on parts of the drive though. Parts of Tennessee definitely reminded me of Cruis'n USA. See for yourself...They look really similar to me anyways (minus the tree tunnel).

I left the next morning from Nashville around 6:30. Before heading on the highway, I decided to get a cup of coffee to keep me awake. The lady at the gas station gave me this frequent drinkers card with 2 punches (even though I only got 1 cup). I then explained to her that I was just passing through and she should give the card to the next person so they can get 2 free punches. She told me to hold onto it as a souvenir from Tennessee and then sent me on my way with 2 life changing bits of advice. "stay young and never get married." Thanks Nashville gas station lady.

Here is my "souvenir." (front and back) Notice the sophisticated method they used to reduce counterfeit coupons.

I made way through Appalachia enjoying the rolling hills and lush landscape. I noticed that atop many of these hills were pristine white steeples. This picture isn't the best example I saw but it shows how Jesus is kind of a big deal in Virginia.

And lastly, the cops in Virginia are really intense! I saw more highway patrol cruisers within 30 minutes of crossing the state line than I did on the whole trip. Virginia in my opinion has the most intense Highway Patrol and I'll tell you why:
1. It is illegal to use a radar detector at all. They hate those little devices so much that they spent time to pass a law to get rid of them? That is just ridiculous if you ask me.
2. The cops are really really sneaky. They median has many high berms which perfectly conceal the location of the patrol car until it is too late to slow down. They have built little pull outs for them to park and allow them to get moving extremely quickly. These locations had an officer waiting about 60% of the time.
3. They try and scare you into driving the speed limit through relentless signage. There were signs notifying drivers about the illegality of radar detectors, presence of speed limit enforcing aircraft, safety corridors and announcing that the "speed limit is STRICTLY enforced." here are a couple examples...
What is a safety corridor? That is such bullshit! They should call it by its real name "Income Generating Corridor." Ultimately it seems the Highway Patrol in Virginia are completely supported by the citizens which I guess means that they are on God's team; and that's what makes them the scariest.

So that was my road trip, feel free to leave some comments at the bottom and check back soon for my next post which includes pictures of the Presidential squirrels and other DC oddities. Please also visit my other site "The Ignorant American," just click the link on the right side of the page!
-Darren