Happily Lost

The final country

2009-11-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

Oh dear, loads to report. Trip is winding down faster than I am comfortable with but there is not much I can do about that... Since the last post, Misha and Krsitin came and met up with me in Bolivia. It was so great to see them! We spent a couple of days hanging in La Paz with Ken. On Sunday we found this awesome street festival with live music and dancing. We were the only gringos in attendance and the locals were all very amused by us and included us. That night we were supposed to head down to Uyuni to tour the salt flats, but while I was watching our bags so TK and Mish could use the bathroom, someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked me a dumb question and when I looked back down, Mish´s camera bag was gone. Totally a textbook ruse and I am still kicking myself for falling for it, but it happened. In the bag was Mish´s passport along with cameras, phone and bank card. I felt awful. So we cancelled Uyuni and spent the next few days in La Paz filing police reports, getting her a temporary passport, and buying her a new visa (a $135 visa...). Mish was super good about not dwelling on it and when we finally got through all of the red tape, we headed to Copacabana for a couple of days.

In Copacabana we did a 17km hike to a little fishing village called Yampupata where we got a boat to Isla del Sol. We arrived just as all the tourists were leaving and headed up to the top of the hill (quite a feat at 3800 meters) to watch the sunset. It was interesting for me being there again in the off season as the first time I went to the peak to watch sunset, there were about 100 other tourists. This time we had the whole place to ourselves. We had a leisurely dinner with some wine on the island and got up to watch the sun rise over Bolivia (it set over Peru). The next day was a chill in CPCB day. Much deserved after the long trek the day before. We ate fresh trout from the trout shacks on the coast of Titicaca and shopped and relaxed. For sunset we walked to the top of the Cerro overlooking the lake.

Friday we went back to La Paz to pick up Mish´s passport and visa and booked a day trip for the following day. Unfortunately it was canceled due to weather (which was weird cause the next day was lovely...). Instead we took a micro to Valle de La Luna and wandered around the lunar landscape for a bit. Later we checked Mish into a hostel (she was leaving the next AM) and Kristin and I took an overnight bus to Uyuni. We arrived at 6 AM and booked a 3 day tour for that morning. There was a bit of a delay in finding a jeep for us but we managed to leave around noon for our tour. We met an awesome honeymooning Irish couple who were our buddies for the trip. Day 1 was spent in the salt flats. We took fun pictures messing with depth perception, ate lunch at a salt hotel, wandered around an island made of coral covered with cacti (the flats were an inland sea) and spent the night in a salt hotel. Day 2 we went to a variety of lakes with 3 kinds of flamingos living in them. We had lunch under a volcano and spent the night next to a large red lake. Day 3 was a long day and began at 4:30 AM. We headed out to some geysers (that were really bubbling sulfur pools, but still cool) and then hit hot springs before breakfast. From there we went to a bright green lake under another volcano and then started the long (8 hour) drive back to Uyuni. After a farewell dinner with our Irish friends, we caught the night bus back to La Paz.

Wednesday was a chill day in La Paz (we needed it). Thursday we headed to Coroico in the hills. It was lovely and we stayed at this great eco lodge about 20 minutes (uphill) from the town. It had a pool and lounging areas and was a great place to relax for the afternoon. The next morning we got up to hike to the top of a hill. We made it about 2/3 of the way before deciding that it was more trouble than it was worth and headed back to the pool. That afternoon we went back to La Paz as Kristin had an early AM flight on Saturday. We had a yummy upscale llama steak dinner for Kristin´s last night in Bolivia.

After Kristin left I got a bus to Arequipa via the border at Desaguadero. There was quite a line to get the entry stamp but I made it to Arequipa after 11 hours of travel. I ran into Laura from New Zealand at the hostel in Arequipa (we met in Mendoza and again in Tupiza- she is convinced I am following her). We did dinner with some other hostel peeps and then went back to the Halloween party in the hostel bar. Later that night we all headed out to see one of the hostel employees´borther´s band play at a local bar. The streets were totally packed with people in costume. Seriously, Peru celebrates Halloween more than some places in the US! The band members were all dressed as superheroes and something about hearing heavily accented covers of Evanescence and Shania Twain (along with some local pop songs) done by Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Captain America made the night damn near perfect. Yesterday I spent the day in Arequipa with Laura and a Canadian girl. Arequipa is a lovely city with lots of white buildings that sparkle in the sun. It has loads of old, oranate churches and a good vibe. If I wasn´t beelining to the beaches right now, I would have spent a couple of days exploring (although I was there before on a previous trip).

Today I am in Lima after an overnight bus ride. Tomorrow I head north up the coast to hit some ruins and start working on my pre-winter tan before I meet Kara in Mancora (she really is going to make it this time... I hope).

All for now. Less than 3 weeks til the end of the journey....

Back... in Bolivia!

2009-10-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

My border crossing experience was interesting (aren´t they all?). I had no problems finding the border and gtting my exit stamp but once over on the Bolivia side I stood in a line for 45 minutes waiting for it to move just a little and wondering why no other travelers were there. Luckily I decided to ask the immigration police for a form and he told me that I did not need to wait in that line and I breezed into Bolivia. I bought a ticket for the next bus to Tupiza and went to check on train tickets for the next day. That was when I discovered there was a strike in Uyuni and no buese were running. That was upsetting because it meant I had to take a bus through Potosi and add about 8 hours of travel time to get to La Paz.

I got to Tupiza after 3 hours on a shaky, dusty bus on unpaved roads and was met at the bus station by Ken who I had traveled with in Bolivia. After I checked in and freshened up, we headed out for food and drinks and ran into Laura from New Zealand who I had met in Mendoza. Small world. The three of us went for dinner and drinks and ran into Ken´s German friends and an Austrian guy I met on the bus. So we all hung out for awhile and then Ken and I decided to check out the local nightlife for a bit. The next morning Ken and the Germans headed for Uyuni. I gave the train station one last shot and found out that the trains were back on! So I booked a ticket and spent the day lazing around Tupiza (I had been there previously so didn´t need to check out the tourist sites). I splurged for "executive class" on the train. Once on I was reminded that I was back in Bolivia as "executive class" had more comfortable, smallish chairs that reclined a bit. It did not include food (and apparently you cannot bring any on) but did include blankets and heat which I was VERY thankful for that night- it was freezing!

The next morning I arrived in Oruro and took a bus to La Paz. I wandered around and booked into a little hotel and booked a tour for Monday. The tour was terrific! We drove up to close to the top of Chacaltaya Mountain (5450 meters- 17,895 feet) and hiked up to the peaks. The views were terrific! We could see Illumani (tallest in Bolivia) and Waima Potosi as well as others. After the mountain we headed south of La Paz to Valle de la Luna which is named Valley of the Moon because the white rocks and formations look like the moon´s surface. Awesome day! I got back to La Paz and moved to a hostel to meet more people and then booked a trek for today. Today I hiked for over 4 hours to alpine lakes with more terrific mountain views. Pretty good couple of days!

Anyway, this is a quick update and I am trying to keep them shorter. Ciao for now!

A short stint in the desert

2009-10-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

From Cordoba I took a very disappointing overnight bus to Salta. Since I am not a fan of long bus journeys, I splurged for the ¨cama¨which usually involves a hot meal, wine, pillow and blankets. Our bus (Ken was with me) had none of these. And it arrived late. So that was lame. As was the ridiculously loud snoring man across the aisle from me. But we made it nevertheless. In Salta we headed to the hostel where Ken´s camera was and headed out to check out the town. We wandered around, found some great pasta, and checked out the overpriced, interesting and rather sad mummy museum (that is not the official name for the record). Apparently the Incas used to take the most attractive and physically fit children in each town and make them walk hundreds of miles to a religius ritual. Then they walked back and one of the children was ¨chosen¨to be the sacrifice. This child was taken up on a mountian, fed chicha (alcoholic drink) until s/he passed out, and then buried alive in a cave with ceremonial objects. There were two of these mummified children on display. One of them had obviously woken up before freezing to death. It was kind of gruesome. After a nap, Ken and I decided to have dinner and check out the Salta nightlife. It was Sunday so not too much was going on (we spent Saturday night on the bus) but it was fun watching the souped up cars cruise the strip. Souped up in Argentina runs the gamut from shiny race car look-alikes to beaters with flashing lights.

Monday a crew from the hostel took a bus to San Lorenzo about a half hour away for some hiking. There was a short zipline that a couple of people did and the hike was short but nice. It is really hot up north during the day (finally!) so we were all cool with a shorter hike. That night we treated ourselves to a steak dinner (probably my last in Argentina). Tuesday morning I headed north to Tilcara with a couple of Canadian girls from the hostel. We had a relaxing afternoon reading and enjoying views from the hostel, but one of them realized she had lost her passport and they headed back to Salta to look for it. I hope they found it! Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised by blue skies (forecast was for rain) and spent the day exploring the desert near Tilcara. First I went to Purmamarca which is know for its ¨Seven Color Hill¨which, as the name implies has seven colors of stripes in the hill. I took a little hike there and then headed to Maimara where there is a picuresque hillside cemetary. The walk back to Tilcara was a bit farther than I anticipated, but I go there eventually. Then I headed to an archeology museum and up the hill near twn t the Pucara which is the ruins of an Inca fort. I ended the day with a llama steak (regional specialty) and paid for it later that night. Ah well, the last one I had was fine... This morning I came up to another indigenous town on the way to Bolivia called Humahuaca. I wandered the town and did a short hike to the Peñas Blancas or white rocks overlooking the town. Tomorrow I am heading up to the border to Bolivia. I am so ready t be back in Bolivia! Argentina has been nice to fantastic, but it feels so incredibly first world and comfortable. I will have plenty of that when I get back to the US in 6 weeks (OMG- just 6 more weeks!). Plus I miss the vibe and people and otherworldlyness of Bolivia.

All for now!

I heart Cordoba!

2009-10-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

I planned to spend two nights in Cordoba. I ended up being here for six. Sometimes you just get stuck in a place. And I am so not complaining! I met some people in the hostel the first night and three of us decided to head to Alta Gracia the following day to see the Che museum. Two more people arrived from Mendoza the following morning and the five of us spent the day in Alta Gracia. The Che museum was really interesting. It is in a house that Che lived in when he was young and mostly focused on his "pre-Che" life. There were loads of pictures and letters and maps- definitely worth a visit if you happen to be in Cordoba. That night we added another couple of people from the hostel and hit the biggest buffet in Argentina for dinner (my second visit). A couple of the girls decided to go skydiving the following morning and invited me to join them. I said I would think about it.

I woke up the next morning and decided to jump out of a plane. There ended up being five of us in total- Mercedes and Fiona from Canada, Cathy from Australia, myself, and Espen from Norway. The plane was so small that only one person could go up at a time so we spent a long time sitting in the sun and waiting our turns. There were some Israeli girls before us. It was all of our first times to skydive so we were all in the same boat. I was terrified. I hate heights and always said that unless the plane was going down, I was staying aboard. Since I signed up last, I went last. It was great being there to watch my new friends do their dives as it became more and more real that I was about to do the same thing. Finally it was my turn. I was totally OK until I was strapped to the instructor hanging out the door of the plane. Then I freaked out a bit. By "freaked out" I mean screamed a few obscenities and wondered why the hell I was there. Then I was falling through space from 8500 feet. Oh and our intro talk where they explained what to do lasted literally five minutes... Anyway, before I knew it, the parachute was open and we were drifting down. All was well. I survived. About 10 minutes after my jump, a plane from another company broke its wheels on landing and they had to cancel all of the rest of the jumps for the day. Lucky for me it happened after my jump because I do not think I would have come back the following day... That night we went for a celebratory steak dinner with nice wine.

Wednesday was spent relaxing and walking around Cordoba. Wednesday night an impromtu plan was made to take a long trek on Thursday. So Thursday morning myself, Ken from Ireland, Jules from Oz and Wouter from Holland got up and grabbed a bus to the Quebrada del Condorito. The first 10 km of the hike was fairly easy and flat. Then we hit the valley- 500 meters straight down followed by 500 meters straight up. But at the end we hit this amazing overlook with condors soaring past. Totally worth it! The walk back seemed longer and had a bit more elevation gain. We were all pretty tired but glad to have done it. We got back just in time to shower and head up to the roof for the hostel BBQ.

Yesterday was the start of a 10 day Oktoberfest in a German town about 2 hours from Cordoba. There was a group of nine of us from the hostel who went to check it out. Unfortunately it was pretty dead the first day but with such a big group, we made our own fun. And the weather was terrific! It was the first time I was able to wear shorts and a tank top in months (still got pretty cold at night though). Today is a chill day and tonight Ken and I are taking an overnight bus to Salta. I am looking forward to exploring the quebrada north of Salta that I skipped on the way down. Also getting very excited to meet up with TK and Mish in two weeks in La Paz!!

Photos uploaded! Many fewer than I would have liked since I lost five weeks of Bolivia and Argentina, but better than nothing...
http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/ArgentinaUruguay#

Uruguay

2009-09-27T15:22:00.001-07:00

I love the word Uruguay. I have no idea why, but it never ceases to make me giggle...

So, as the title implies I spent a week in Uruguay. And it was just the thing to make me stop complaining about how expensive everything is in Argentina- Uruguay is definitely more so. And it is all relative, but you know, compared to say SE Asia, India, and Bolivia, these places cost a lot. But Uruguay was fun. I spent a couple of days wandering around Montevideo. One night I got locked out of my hostel for 2 hours (my key did not work and 24 hour reception in Montevideo apparently excludes Sundays). But I met some really nice homeless people and found a good little restaurant nearby. Plus the Uruguayan family that was also waiting outside the hostel asked if I was from Spain after talking to me for 10 minutes so that made me very happy about my Spanish skills. From Montevideo I headed to the deserted (out of season) beach town of La Paloma. It was kinda fun to have the town to myself. I did a long walk along the beach to a neighboring town and just enjoyed watching the ocean. I do love the ocean.

After La Paloma I spent another night in Montevideo but it was super cold (and it is Spring!) so I was glad my hostel did a communal dinner and had a bar and a pool table. My roomies were these hysterical girls from Brazil and Columbia so we had an entertaining evening. I was sick of the cold at that point so I headed up to Salto in the north where there are hot springs. I went to Dayman which is described by Lonely Planet as "the Disney of hot springs" and it really is a huge complex. It has about 12 pools of varying sizes, temperatures and depths plus lots of green areas for lounging around. There is also a thermal water park next door, but I stuck with the plain ol pools. It was much warmer in Salto which was nice. Yesterday I headed back across to Argentina and spent the night in Santa Fe. Santa Fe is a colonial town with a bunch of lovely ornate churches so I walked around and checked them out. Today was rainy so I decided to make it a transit day and took a bus to Cordoba. And they served wine on the bus! That was a first for me. And I have taken loads of buses in Argentina.

Wanted to remark a bit on the mate culture. I am intrigued by it. In Argentina, and even more so in Uruguay, everyone drinks mate all the time. They carry a thermos of hot water and a mate glass with silver straw everywhere they go. I love it. Well actually I am not a fan of the drink but I love how completely addicted everyone here is. Note to self to take a picture...

OK, this was my attempt at a shorter post. More in a few days. Hopefully the weather will clear and I can get out and explore more of Northern Argentina. Cross your fingers for springlike weather for me. I have another winter to face when I get back to the US.

Summer camp wedding and a killer time with Mom and Dad!

2009-09-21T15:07:00.000-07:00

Oh dear, I swore to make these more often and more brief. Such a failure am I (and Yoda to boot).

Beach day in Rosario was good. Then headed to Buenos Aires where I found a dress for the wedding and hung out for a few days. The weather turned super cold so much of my time was spent indoors.

Flew to Boston and had a great time hanging out with Ali and Dave (thank you!!!!) both times I crashed at their place. Friday night met up with Johnny and Sam in Boston and on Saturday we headed up to the summer camp in NH for the wedding. Let me just say that the summer camp wedding idea was a fabulous one!! Even though I had a little fall and my face was a bit scratched up for the ceremony (no, do not expect pics), it was even more fun than it sounds. Talent show, kickball, bonfire, s'mores, a great wedding ceremony by the lake and party thereafter... Way to go Tom and Court!!! Before I left I got a quick dinner in with my cousin Alex to round out the week.

Had a few days in Buenos Aires to get things ready for Mom and Dad's arrival and sightsee. Unfortunately I had my camera stolen in a crowded subway car two days before they arrived and I lost all of my pictures from Bolivia and Argentina that I had been being lazy about uploading. I was really bummed about that. Thanks to Mom and Dad for getting me a new camera at the last minute as cameras in Argentina are more than twice what they cost in the US. Aside from the camera mishap, I had a great couple of days with some girls from my hostel in Buenos Aires. We explored the town and got to drink a penguin of wine (used in lieu of carafes in some places) at an awesome empanada house.

Mom and Dad flew in last Saturday early morning. I met them at their hotel and they were super troopers in shrugging off the jet lag (after a red eye) and walking to Plaza de Mayo and Puerto Madera. Later we went out to diner and to a Tango show at a classical BA institution, Cafe Tortoni. Sunday we ran all over town seeing the Recoleta Cemetary (where Evita is buried) as well as the Evita museum. Monday we took a ferry over to Colonia, Uruguay for the day and wandered around the old city and parks. Tuesday we relaxed a bit and went to the zoo and gardens and an art museum. Of course we ate well during all this (highlight being Juana M in Recoleta) and Mom and I sampled some Argentine white wines. Oh and Monday night Del Potro, an Argentine tennis player won the US Open. On the walk back from the ferry we stopped to watch the finals outside a bar with flat screens facing out into the street with loads of Argentinians. I love stuff like that!!

Wednesday morning we flew up to Iguazu to see the falls. It was a rather cold and rainy day but we perservered and saw the most incredible falls I have ever seen! Thursday the weather was still iffy so we spent the morning seeing other Iguazu attractions, the Plastic bottle house and the tree and stone houses. Both were way more interesting then they sounded (and I had totally made fun of Mom for wanting to go), especially the plastic bottles. Later the weather cleared up so we went back to the falls to see them in the sun and saw loads of rainbows. It is hard to describe the falls. The Devils Throat is insanely powerful and high. Then you walk the upper and lower circuits and just see the incredible breadth of the falls. I cannot even estimate how many there were...

Thursday night we flew back to BA and had diner close to the hotel due to rain and lack of taxis. Friday we rented a car (excellent work Dad driving in the crazy BA traffic) and went to San Antonio de Areco- home of the gaucho tradtions. We did the gaucho (cowboy) museum and other local sights before heading back that evening. We had our last dinner (and ice cream of course) out in Palermo. Saturday we did shopping and the planetarium before it was time for Mom and Dad to head home. We had such a wonderful time and covered a lot of ground! I am so so so glad they came down to meet me!!

OK, two days later and I am now in La Paloma, Uruguay on the beach. It is off season and really quiet here but it is nice to see the ocean. Yesterday I was in Montevideo which was fun for a day (except for getting locked out of my hostel for 2 hours, but these things happen). Tomorrow I think I am going to head back West. We will see how I feel in the AM though.

Thanks Jen for reminding me to stop putting this off! Will write in a few days so the next is shorter- at least that is the plan...

Wine and meat

2009-08-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

Right, well lots to report since last post. I have been sick so I have not written in a bit. Finally I am geting better so here goes (posting sick makes for whiny posts and no one wants whiny posts...). Tour to Cachi made for a very long day. Like 13 hours long- mostly in the van. But the people I was with (all native Spanish speakers- I think the universe is contriving to make me practice and, for the most part, that is good) were great so it made for a good day. The highlight was the national park toward the end of the trip, but we were all kind of tired so it was a bit anticlimatic. But lovely all the same- desert, colors, rock formations. I went to dinner with a couple of Dutch girls from my hostel, which was fun, and called it a night. The next morning, I rented the world´s second worst bike (second to the one I rented in NE Cambodia) and headed off to tour some wineries near Cafayate. The bike was so bad that I stuck to wineries within 2 km of town, but I did get to try some nice Torrontes (dry, sweet smelling white that I definitely recommend for summer). In the afternoon I went for a tour of the quebrada (canyon) nearby. There was more driving and less hiking than I hoped for but the colors in the canyon (red, yellow, green) were spectacular. The rock formations were pretty terrific as well, and we got to climb and scramble up them, which is always fun. Plus, we got a private concert in a natural ampitheater so yeah, no real complaints. What I will complain about is the 6 AM bus I had to take to Tucuman the next morning. 6 AM buses should be outlawed! And, after 5 hours in the bus station, I got to take a 13 hour bus ride to San Juan. Not so fun. San Juan was a nice little town but this is the off season for Argentina (which I totally don´t understand since it is high season in Bolivia right next door) so there were no other travelers there. I spent one day wandering around and checking out the town and then moved on to Mendoza.

Mendoza. Everyone has heard the hype and it is pretty well justified. This is the heart of Argentina wine country where 70% of the wines come from. You also have the Andes in the distance which makes for great scenery and, I hear, good hiking (but expensive hiking...). My first day in Mendoza I walked around (that´s kind of how I roll) and checked out the huge park in the center of the city (built to help with the aridity of the city). I had a nice communal dinner with some people in the hostel and crashed early to get ready for my bike ride to wineries outside of touwn the following day. What a comedy of errors. I started by taking the wrong bus which didn´t go anywhere near the bike rental place. I did not have change for another bus and where I was they did not sell bus cards (buses in this area do not accept bills or give change). Luckily I was near a winery on the biking route so I ended up walking the winery tour (none of the wineries had change either. Argentinian change is an interesting story- apparently they do not mint enough and bus companies make a profit selling it back to the government). I met a nice Irish couple (with bikes) who waited for me a lot that day so I had good company on my tour. I hit three wineries with them. The best was the third which only did wine by the glass (but was a much better bargain than paying for tastes at the others) and also had a nice outdoor BBQ with live music. We spent quite awhile there. The second winery was really cool as well. It is the oldest winery in South America to offer tours and as part of the tour you get to walk into an old aging container and down through a small maze made of other old aging containers. The first winery was a bit of a rip off. After the third winery I split off from the couple to head toward town where I could actually get change or a bus card to get back to Mendoza. There was one more winery on the way. As I was walking there, I was hailed by a police officer who was stopped to buy snacks at a local kiosk. He asked me where I was going, if I was alone, and if I was a tourist (duh). Apparently the area I was in was "unsafe" for me to walk alone (Mendoza area locals are notorious for being overprotective of travellers). So he did the obvious- loaded me into the back of the police van and drove me to the last winery. Yes, I got to ride like a common criminal to the door of the last winery where I was politely let out to do the tour. Priceless! You should have seen the looks on the faces of my fellow wine tasters! Honestly, that was a highlight of the day :). I made it back to Mendoza without incident and had a great story for my fellow hostelers.

I decided to have a chill day in Mendoza the following day which was really just that and headed off on Monday to San Luis. Oh but I must note that I have been eating quite a lot of the wonderful Argentinian beef since I have been here (went for the paradilla (BBQ) lunch special on my chill day) and it really is quite nice. San Luis was a nice town but like San Juan, there wasn´t much going on for the traveller (many tours do not run in the off season so getting to nearby parks is not possible solo and sans auto). Luckily here an Australian woman arrived the same day so we had a fun night out on the bar strip. Tuesday morning I got up early on little sleep to catch the 7 AM bus to Cordoba only to find out that, for some unknown reason, San Luis is an hour behind the rest of Argentina. So I really woke up at 4:45 AM, not 5:45 AM. Keep in mind that Mendoza is farther West than San Luis, but it is the same time zone as the rest of the country... yes, still bitter. To make my morning worse, it turned out that the hostel staff (there was no one in the hostel but myself and the Aussue girl and she was always with me) ate my sandwiches I had made for my 7 hour bus ride. Not happy. Ah well, travel woes...

Cordoba. I quite liked the city of Cordoba. Once again, no other travelers in the hostel, but it did have some locals so once again I got to practice my Spanish and I met some very interesting Argentine characters (a couple of older men with very different political views, a street performer, and a music professor with an amazing voice to name a few). Day one once again spent wandering the town. Day two I headed to Villa Carlos Paz- the Vegas of Argentina. I didn´t gamble (sorry Dad, much more fun with you there) but I did walk around the lake and then hike up the hill in the center of town to the large cross. That hike kicked my butt. It was hot and steep, but man, I am getting way out of shape (nothing to do with the wine and steak, of course). From Cordoba I decided to head to Paraná. After my hellish bus trip from Cafayate to Mendoza, I decided to do shorter bus trips to more places. Paraná is a nice lil town on the Paraná river. It isacross from the bigger and more well known Santa Fe. My cold was in full form here so I decided to splurge on a private room with bathroom and TV to recover in. Unfortunately my splurge room had bugs in the bathroom and uncomfortable beds (the TV was a nice change though) so I moved to the (empty, of course) new youth hostel the next morning. Walked along the river front and read a lot in Paraná and this morning I came to Rosario.

I was torn between skipping Rosario and heading directly to Buenos Aires and spending a night here. I am so glad I decided to come. Hostel is empty as usual, but I love this town! The flag monument is amazing! And I had a great day walking through the riverfront parks and watching the locals as they hung out and did kite boarding and Brazillain martial art demonstrations. I am going to stay another day and head to the river beaches tomorrow to try and get a little color before I head back to the US briefly for Tom´s wedding (love frequent flyer miles- a shame that I have no more :)). When I get back to Argentina, my parents join me for some time in Buenos Aires and a trip up to the legendary falls at Iguazu. To say I am excited is a gross understatement!!

Sorry about the length. Hopefully some people still actually read this. I´m still alive, well (cold notwithstanding) and loving this trip. More soon.

Southern Bolivia and into Argentina

2009-08-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

I feel like it has been ages since my last post but I think that is more because I have been moving quickly to make sure I have time to enjoy Mendoza before I have to be in Buenos Aires. So last post was in Tupiza. I ended up spending a couple of days there. The town itself is pretty small and nondescript (but randomly has a ton of Italian restaurants, there are more Italian retaurants than Bolivian ones- odd) but the scenery nearby is terrific! It looks a lot like the red deserts of Nevada and Arizona. I did a half day jeep tour of some of the rock formations which was great. The next day I did a hike up the railroad tracks to see more before I took the night bus to Tarija. I loved Tarija. Tarija is the area of Bolivia where they produce wines. It also has loads of great scenery nearby. My first day I spent wandering around the city. The next day I did a day tour of the surrounding area. We started the tour with a visit to the pueblo San Lorenzo which was home to Moto Mendez, a Bolivian war hero. After San Lorenzo we visited a waterfall at Coimata and the lake of San Jacinto. We had lunch back in town at a BBQ restaurant (Argentinian stlye) and then headed to the vineyards. The first vineyard was a commercial vineyard where we tried Singani (similar to grappa) and a Syrah. Then we went to a quirky older man named Jesus' private vineyard. Jesus ages his wine in large glass jugs and invited us to a ceremony where he siphoned out 2 meters of wine for each of us (about a half a glass) and had us toast before drinking it. Then we tried some of his singani. He was hysterical and we all ended up buying bottles from him because we had so much fun there. The last vineyard we went to was a boutique vineyard where we tried seven different types of wine from communal glasses (that's how they roll in Bolivia). Steve, one of the others on my tour, bought a leather flask of wine that we drank on the way back to town. That night the crew met back up for dinner on the plaza. All in all a great day!

I had planned to cross into Argentina from Tarija via Villazon- about 8 hours away,but our guide told me about a smaller crossing only 3 hours away at Bermejo. So I headed down. It was a bit confusing as the border is before the town of Bermejo and I had to change my money at the immigration office. Also the border guards aren't used to Americans crossing there so there was a bit of a debate as to the procedure. Finally I walked across a bridge to the Argentine side and they scanned my luggage but I had to go to the second office to get my entry stamp. It all worked out. I then spent 2 hours in Aguas Blancas waiting for a bus to Jujuy. There is nothing to do in Aguas Blancas except try to get out of the heat and away from the mosquitos (they were everywhere). But it all worked out and 5 hours later I arrived in Jujuy.

I just spent one night in Jujuy and then headed to Salta. Since I plan top come back through Salta I also just spent one night there but had a good time at the BBQ on the roof of my hostel hanging out with a couple of people I had met in Sucre and a slew of French travelers. Today I took a bus to Cafayte (pronounced Ca-fa-sha-te 'cause it is Argentina). The town itself is pretty small but there are lots of wineries around and good hiking and biking in the surrounding desert. Tomorrow I am doing a tour to Cachi and some hiking and Tuesday biking to wineries and then hiking in the desert (not sure if that is the smartest order, but that is how it worked out). Argentina is a lot different from Bolivia (more expensive, more first world feeling, more touristy) but so far so good.

Fiestas Patrias and a day in the mines

2009-08-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

Friday night out with the school crowd was a lot of fun. We had food and drinks at the school with a good turnout of teachers and students and later went to a karaoke bar and then two danceclubs. So I defintely got the full Sucre nightlife experience. Saturday night I hung out in the hostel with some other travelers and Sunday got up early to meet fellow students Duncan and Catherine to visit the Sunday markets in Tarabuco. Tarabuco is about 65 km from Sucre and is known for its market and the traditional dress of the locals. There is also a staue of a Bolivian man standing over the corpse of a Spaniard as he is just about to eat the dead man´s heart. The story is that the Spaniard had raped and killed his wife and children and eating the heart of a defeated foe was supposed to give you their lifepower. Interesting (if morbid) stuff. We had a good time wandering the market (which takes up most of the town) and later hung out at Catherine and Duncan´s hostel and went for a local dinner. Actually Duncan and Catherine´s hostel became my other home for the rest of the week. I had my second week of classes in Sucre which I felt went even better than the first. I am still not fluent, but I think I have definitely improved (thanks Omar!). Monday night a couple of us went to watch a documentary about life in the mines of Potosi. Much more on that later, but if you get a chance to see The Devil´s Miner, I definitely recommend it.

Thursday was Bolivia´s Fiestas Patrias (Independence Day). The festivities actually kicked off Tuesday night with music and parades. Pretty much the majority of the celebration is music and parades but there are tons and tons of them. It is mandatory for all students and many people of differing occupations to participate in the parades. The town was completely covered in flags. The Pesident, Evo, made an appearance (and to everyone´s pleasant surprise there were no riots or major protests) with a pre-recorded speech. The town was full of campesinos and miners who came in to see Evo but I missed most of that due to classes. It was really cool to be in the capital for Independence Day though! Friday was my last day of classes and my last night in Sucre so a group from school met at my second home and then went out for tapas. It was a great end to my time there. I miss Sucre and my friends there already.

Yesterday I headed to Potosi which at 4060 meters (over 13,000 feet) is the highest city in the world. My main reason for visiting was to do a tour of the silver mines. The tour didn´t disappoint. We first went to get geared up in protective clothing, boots, and hard hats with lights on them. Then we split into groups of 8 or less by language (I went with the Spanish group) and headed to the miners market. In the market we bought gifts of dynamite and soda for the miners. In the morning, you gift coca leaves as well since the miners chew it all day, but in the afternoons they have enough. In Potosi anyone can walk into a store and buy dynamite- even kids. From the market we went up to the plant where they separate the silver from the rock and other minerals and watched the machines in action. Then we headed to the mines. I had heard the stories and knew that the excursions into the mines was no picnic, but I wanted to experience it for myself. Tourists are not coddled, we are there facing the same conditions as the miners do every day, albeit for a much shorter duration. Potosi is quite cold in winter so of course it was very cold when we entered on level one. It immediately got completely dark so we needed to use our head lanterns (miner issue). The walkways vary from big enough to walk in comfortably to so small you have to crawl on your hands and knees. To get from level to level, you need to scramble up or down steep grades or shaky ladders in the dark and at time the path ends and you need to traverse wooden boards or rocks to get across. We crawled up to level zero (because the level numbers go up as you descend) and immediately the temperature changed here it was HOT. So hot we were all sweating profusely where we´d been shivering just moments before. We met our first miner who talked to us as he worked and answered our questions. He had his 12 year old son with him. This is not uncommon in the mines. A couple of guys tried to use the big metal hammer and rod the miner used to make a hole in the rock and were far slower. It was a good demonstration of the strength needed to do this for hours on end. We went down to level two and hung out with another miner. The amount of dust in the air in the tunnels made it hard to breathe and our paper masks did little to help (plus it is more of a hinderance when you are panting and sweating). We finished our tour about two and a half hours after we entered the mine on level three. Here we got to see the mine´s Tio who is the local god of the mine (more like a devil). All of the mines have a Tio and the miners leave offerings of coca leaves, alcohol and cigarettes daily when they enter. Also on the way out it got so cold that there were icicles hanging from the walls of the mine. We were all exhausted and filthy. After we left the mine, we got a dynamite demonstration. Our guide put the fuse into the dynamite, lit it, passed it around so we could take pictures, planted it in the ground a little ways away, and ran back so we could watch it explode. I don´t think you get that on any tours in the US... Anyway, it was tough but I´m really glad I did it. The tour really makes you feel for the miners (who earn about 25 cents per kilo of silver they harvest).

OK, this computer is crazily slow so hopefully this will post. More soon!

Sucre- la primera semana

2009-07-31T10:23:00.000-07:00

Just finished my first week of classes here in Sucre. It´s a terrific place to study! The town is a good size, not too big or too small- about 200,000 people. It is a colonial city and the controversial capital of Bolivia (Evo wants to move it to La Paz and two of the branches of government are currently located there, but to anyone from Sucre, this is still the capital...). There are loads of lovely churches and museums and everything in the town is white, hence the nickname "The White City". Sucre is at 2700 meters so not as high as La Paz and Copacabana but still decent elevation. The weather is moderate year round so even though it is winter we have sunny afternoons where t-shirts are fine, but then you have to bundle up a bit at night. I´m really enjoying my time here.

I arrived on Sunday morning and wandered around for an hour looking for a hostel. I spent the day just kind of making my way through town and later met a couple of Irish guys to have dinner and drinks with. Monday morning I started classes. I´m attending the Bolivian Spanish School which is right on a park about a 10 minute walk from my hostel. I am doing 4 hours of one on one classes 5 days a week from 8:30 to 12:30. We have a break at 10:30 and on Monday a group of us went out for salteñas (similar to empanadas) during the break which was a good way to meet some other students and teachers. After class my first day, the head of the school told me that I was more advanced than they had anticipated and they wanted to switch me to a teacher with more experience with students at my level. Unfortunately that would only be possible if I switched classes to 2:30 to 6:30 which I didn´t want to do. So next week I am switching teachers. My teacher this week, Ana, was fine though. I kind of told her what I wanted to work on and she´d put together lessons and we did a lot of conversing and some excursions. But I am hoping to really improve a lot more after next week. I guess we´ll see.

The excursions I went on with the school were to the local cemetary and to a castle south of the city. The cemetary is gorgeous. Loads of trees and flowers and huge, marble masoleums. At least for the rich. The poor are buried in the back in graves marked with simple wooden crosses and apparently the people can only afford to rent the graves. So, after a year or two, the bodies are dug up and moved and new ones put in. I´m not exactly sure where the bodies go when they are moved... Former presidents of Bolivia and many of the famous martyrs are buried in the cemetary as well. The castle is called "La Glorieta" and was built by a former prince who adopted like 40 orphans (ha and his wife had no children of their own). It was another interesting excursion.

Yesterday after classes, I went with another student, Tim, to see the Dinosaur Park. We took the local transport up instead of the tourist bus which was much more intereting and a whole lot less expensive. A cement company in Bolivia unearthed the world´s largest area of dinosaur tracks here back in the 1990´s. There are over 5000 tracks including the world´s largest single track which is more than 350 meters long. The tracks were made on flat ground but with the movement of the plates, it has become a wall on the side of a mountain (vertical). The park has an overlook so you can see the wall and also displays models, a skeleton and molds of the tracks of the different types of dinosaurs. It was pretty fascinating in my opinion.

Yesterday night, Tim and I met up with Stephen, Michael and Makala (also from school) to go watch a local futbol (soccer) match. It was fun to go, but the locals were not really into it which was somewhat surprising for Latin America. There was one group of erious fans at the end of the field that sang, danced and cheered the entire game and sporadically set off fireworks. So they were fun to watch. The local team, Universitario, won 1-0.

Tonight the students are getting together at the school for dinner and drinks and Sunday a group of us are going to a local market town. Good times all around!
More next week.

Isla del Sol, La Paz, and Cocha with the Huertas

2009-07-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

Isla del Sol was awesome! Amazing scenery from both Peru and Bolivia (although the mountains on the Bolivian side were definitely more impressive). We arrived on the north side of the island and hiked to the northern tip to see some ruins. Then we took a path down the island to the south and the village of Yumani. Most of the people from the morning boats left the island at 4 but I decided to stay the night. I went up to a hilltop to watch the sunset over Peru and then headed to a restaurant near my guesthouse for dinner. I think a few more people than planned chose that restaurant for dinner because they ran out of nearly everything (you can have trout or trout) and it took nearly 3 hours to have a simple 3 course set meal. Luckily I was at a table with a really nice uncle and niece from Spain (she works in the Galapagos and he was visiting) so I got to practice my Spanish with friendly people while waiting. Turns out I am quite adept at whining in Spanish, but definitely can work on my vocabulary :). The next morning I watched the sun rise over Bolivia from my room (seriously, the scenery on the island is fantastic!) and then walked down to the southern ruins before the morning boat departures. I met a nice tour group from Sweden who let me join them on their fancy private boat back to Copacabana and got a late morning bus to La Paz.

Upon arrival in La Paz, I met a French girl named Nina who is spending the year in South America. We ended up sharing a room in La Paz and hanging out for the next few days. La Paz is very hilly, very high (12,000 feet), and right now (winter), very cold. But when it is clear, you can see the nearby mountains from the city which is lovely. Nina and I saw the movie UP in Spanish (good thing it was animated as I didn´t get much of the dialogue) and checked out the very interesting Museo de Coca. We ate local almuerzos (inexpensive set lunch) and I got a chance to see the new Harry Potter (I loved it but it wasn´t my favorite of the movies). We also went and saw live local music and met some mountain climbers.

Since I am coming back to La Paz in October, I only stayed for 2 days and then headed to Cochabamba. My friend Heidi is from Cocha and put me in touch with her family here. The Huetras are the most amazing hosts!! Thank you so much Chichi and Nelly! Chichi picked me up the first day and took me on a scenic tour of the city and to her lovely home. Nelly came and met us and we went out and got marrequetas (fresh, sweet bread rolls) and then went for the most fantastic hot chocolate I´ve ever had at Chocolate Para Ti. Nelly brought me to her house and let me try calling home on her fancy Magic Jack before dropping me back at my hotel. The next day I wandered around the main area of Cocha in the morning and visited many of the churches and squares. Nelly picked me up in the afternoon and we went up to see the world´s largest statue of Jesus (yes, taller than the one in Rio- barely). Nelly is super outgoing so we met loads of people. Plus, I swear the Huertas know everyone in Cocha so we constantly stopped to talk to people and I met more people than I can possibly remember. It was like being with local celebrities! After the statue, we went for terrific empanadas, juice and huminitas (like sweet corn bread with anis) and then back to Nelly´s for a bit. In the evening we went to Recoleta and walked around and then saw a jazz trio playing Bolivian classics (and others) at a wine and cheese event at the upscale Hotel Cochabamba. Such a great day! Yesterday Chichi took me to lunch for chorizos (yummy spicy sausage). I have now tried every single food on the list that Heidi sent me (and then some) and I have to say that I´m a fan of Bolivian food! After chorizos, we stopped and got a cinnamin ice cream for desert. I´ve seriously been spoiled the past few days! Later in the day, I met up with Nina who had arrived in Cocha the night before and we went to see a Brasilian concert in a European mansion in the north of town.

So after a terrific time in Cochabamba, I´m heading to Sucre this evening. Monday I start Spanish classes so I am planning to actually stay in one place for 2 whole weeks. We´ll see how it goes.

Ciao for now!

Zanzibar

2009-07-17T07:55:00.000-07:00

Well there is more to cover here than Zanzibar, but I love the way it sounds... Now that I am in South America I should have no problem posting more regularly. Has to be said, it has been a bit flattering to get complaints about the lack of posts. Thanks for reading everyoine...

Right, back to Africa. From Mombasa I crossed into Tanzania (and paid the $100 visa fee- traveling as an American is expensive!). I spent a night in a cute little seaside town called Tanga and was planning to head to Lushoto to do some hiking, but I could not get an honest fare from the public bus station so I opted to use a private bus company to go directly to Dar Es Salaam. I spent a couple of days wandering around Dar and trying to sort out plans to get to South America. I decided to cut Africa short as I had already done a safari and beaches and it is surprisingly expensive to travel independently through Africa. There is definitely more I want to see there in future trips though! Anyway, my friend Heidi was nice enough to put me in touch with her friend Patricia who lives in Dar and she agreed to meet me for dinner. I had quite an adventure trying to get to the suburb of Mikocheni- my lack of swahili and knowledge of Dar made a 30 minute daladala (public minibus) ride into a 2.5 hour excursion including 3 daladalas and some help from friendly locals. But I made it right about on time. Patricia took me to this great restaurant called Dar Alivc that is right on the beach and decorated with old traditional African wooden boats. We had terrific grilled snapper while sitting on the sand with the waves crashing in the background. If you go to Dar, definitely eat there! Patricia then took me home to meet her family which was awesome! It was a terrific evening all around.

After one more day in Dar (sorted out my South America plans- finally!) I hopped on the slow boat to Zanzibar. Has to be said, Zanzibar deserves the hype. It really is a beach paradise. I spent the first night in Stonestown which is an old colonial town and a great place to wander the narrow, cobblestone streets. For dinner I headed to the nightly market where stalss set up selling cheap, fresh seafood on skewers and Zanzibar pizzas- dough filled with your chice of meat, veggies, eggs, and chiles or banana and chocolate. I had both. The next morning I took a shuttle to Nungwi, a beach town on the north coast. I got a cute little room just off the beach and spent the day reading and sunning. That evening I met a trio from Ireland and through them a couple of Danish guys and a couple from California. We all headed to the full moon party down the beach at a nearby resort. The party was great, music, bonfires, the beach and lots of people. The next couple of days I spent relaxing on the beach and hanging out with that cerw and some others we met. It was pretty much perfect! Finally it was time to head back to Dar. Sawyer and Malana- the California couple, and an English guy named Lee accompanied me back to Stonestown for one more night. We watched the sunset over beer at the Africa House and went back to the night market. Lee and I took the ferry back to Dar the next afternoon and hung out there. He was going to the beaches south of Dar for a few days so I tagged along for the day. Has to be said, as nice as Zanzibar is, the beaches south of Dar are equally lovely and much less expensive... I{m glad I got to see both.

The next few days was a whirlwind. I flew to Cairo where I was hoping to see the pyramids on my 22 hour layover. Unfortunately it took Air Egypt 4 huors to sort out the transit visa and hotel (which was free with my ticket, but had I known how long it would take, I would have passed) so I did not get a chance to go. The next morning I flew to New York and spent a lovely evening and day with my aunt Randi and family (thank you Randi!!). The next night I headed into NYC for dinner with Kara and Justine. Monday morning I flew to Fort Lauderdale for 4 hours and had lunch and ice cream with my parents before flying to Lima, Peru that night. Three continents in four days.

I spent a night and a day in Lima. It was really nice to be there as I know my way around a bit from the 6 weeks I spent there in 2005. My Spanish seems to be rising to the challenge of South America and it is so nice to be able to understand some of what goes on around me! I pretty much flew through Peru on my way to Bolivia. Overnight bus to Arequipa, then bus to Puno. I spent a night in Puno with a couple from Oregon I met on the bus and then crossed the border to Bolivia yesterday afternoon. And now, I am really going to try and slow down a bit! Wish me luck. Last night I met up with Molly and Devin (OR couple) on the top of the hill that overlooks Copacabana and Lake Titicaca to watch the sunset. It was awesome! It is a little chilly here at 12,500 feet since it is winter, but the scenery is lovely and the town is super laid back. This morning I went to the cathedral to see the blessing of the automobiles. Every day the priest comes out and blesses a line of cars and buses. Flowers are adorned on windshields, holy water is sprinkled, beer is sprayed and ashes scattered. It was really interesting to watch. Tomorrow I am planning to head to Isla del Sol- the Island of the Sun, which the Incas believed to be the birthplace of the sun. Should be fun!

Pics from Africa are up-
http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/Africa

All for now- more soon!

Into the Wild

2009-06-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

Jambo!
It has been ages, I know. Internet access in Africa is tres slow. So much to catch up on...
Delhi was short but sweet. Met some great people and saw some sights. Really noticed the poverty and the people with deformities who used it to beg for money. Seemed more prevalent than in Calcutta.

Then it was on to Kenya. I just spent one day in Nairobi and then I did a 3 day safari in Masai Mara. It was incredible! We saw tons of elephants, lions, jackals, buffalo, warthogs, impala, hippos, crocs, many different birds... We did 4 game drives in the three days and the second day we drove all the way to Tanzania! Our safari van had a roof that opened up so we were really right next to the animals with nothing to block the view. The highlight was the three lions sleeping next to a buffalo carcass (the morning's kill) while 6 jackals alternately ripped it apart and watched for the lions to wake up. We also got to see lion mothers and cubs. The first night our guides took us into the Masai Mara village to hang out with the locals and listen to Kenyan music. It was definitely a highlight as well.

After the Mara I went to Lake Naivasha for a few days. The plan was to bike through the park (the only one in Kenya you can go into without a guide and vehicle) but I rode right past the turnoff and didn't realize my mistake for 15km. By the time I got back to the park I was exhausted and decided to pass. But I still saw giraffe, zebra, and impala on my ride near the park! The Lake was a great place to relax and the camp I stayed at had a social restaurant where I met other travelers and watched monkeys frolic.

Next stop was the coast. After 24 hours of buses and matatus (shared vans) and a boat, I arrived on the very chill island of Lamu on Kenya's NE coast. I planned to spend 2 dys there and work my way down to Mombasa, but I liked it so much I stayed for 5. The first night I went to the home of a local chef, Chef Alli Hippie, who supposedly once cooked for the Rolling Stones when they were in Kenya. The meal was by far the best I've had in Africa. Seafood fritters, fresh chapati and sauce, coconut rice, fish, and lobster. Plus a desert, juice and live entertainment from Alli's family after the meal. I met some other travelers at dinner including Paul from England who became my Lamu partner in crime. The next day we went to the beach and checked out the little town of Shela (where I accidentaly ordered entrails for lunch- ICK). Later we met some local guys who took us to a nearby local village to taste palm wine. I got a little oversunned that day so I spent the next couple of days doing a lot of reading and going to the local musuems. I also learned to play Bao which involves a wooden board and stones. Finally I felt it was time to move on and headed to Mombasa.

I didn't love Mombasa so I spent an afternoon on Diani beach which is about 45 minutes south (if I go back, I'll stay there instead- great place!). Then I headed to Tanzania! Yesterday I stopped over in a little coastal town called Tanga and today I came to Dar. Just arrived here so not much to report but Zanzibar is just off the coast so time to blow the budget again and check it out (I mean it is Zanzibar...). Oh but NB on my last post, Kara had to cancel in the end so I opted not to do Kilimanjaro. It'll have to stay on the list for now.

More soon!

Free Tibet!

2009-06-13T00:10:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not going all political, I'm just quoting the signs, shirts, etc that are everywhere in McLeod Ganj. Seriously, I have seen more Free Tibet paraphernalia here than I have seen the rest of my life combined (and remember, I lived in Portland AND San Francisco). The reason for this is that McLeod Ganj and Dharamsala have a large Tibetan refugee community and are home to the Dali Lama as well as the Tibetan Parliament in Exile. Pretty interesting stuff as I've bever been exposed to a population and governemnt in exile.

Giong to take a moment to voice my frustration that once again there is an issue with my card, reader or this computer so I cannot upload my India pictures. Will try another cybercafe later. Grr.

Right. Well more about McLeod Ganj. Its a big traveler town with lots of yoga and meditation and buddhism classes. I may have touched on that in my last post. I didn't partake in any of this but it is interesting to be surrounded by it. For me, the highlight of my time in McLeod was the day hike I did to Triund. Triund is 9 km from Mcleod pretty much straight up. It was quite a hike but at the end you come over a ridge and there is a lovely meadow with colorful tents set up surrounded by loads of snowy mountain peaks that look close enough to touch. Totally worth the climb! I'd show you a picture but... OK letting that go. Also near McLeod I walked 2 km to Bhagsu and the waterfall and temple there. The waterfall is really a trickle at the moment but the people watching on the walk there was worthwhile. I also walked up 3 km a few times to the little village of Dharamkot which is smaller and more picturesque than McLeod and has a great vibe. It is also a haven for Israelis (all the restaurants serve Israeli food and there are loads of them there).

I decided to head north to the hill station of Dalhousie in the Chamba Valley instead of going to Shimla or Manali. It was fairly quiet and had some nice scenery but overall I wasn't that impressed. I had some issues with my guesthouse and kind of got ripped off on a day tour and just spent a day there before coming back to McLeod. Basically, if you get the choice, I say skip it and go to Manali. The one impressive thing about Dalhousie was the gigantic monkeys that were everywhere. Big white ones with black faces that were about the size of a human teenager. Pretty crazy. There are also many monkeys in McLeod but they are more your run of the mill little brown fellas.

Not much else to report at the moment. I've been catching up on movies here are they show them at a few makeshift cinemas in town. The momos here aren't as good as in West Bengal and Sikkim but there is lots of other good Indian and Tibetan food. Tonight I take an overnight bus to Delhi and Monday morning I fly out to Kenya. I'm hoping Kara's firm will figure out when she can meet me in Tanzania for Kilimanjaro. Its been pushed back 3 times now. Everyone cross your fingers for her as I really am excited to do that!

Got the pics up! Here is the link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/India#

West Sikkim and the road to McLeod

2009-06-05T01:29:00.000-07:00

Howdy,

So West Sikkim. Well I shared a jeep with the couple from the lake trip, Sara and Mike so we got a room together in Pelling in West Sikkim. The room was kinda like summer camp in that it was made of wood and had a cabin type of feel. We also had a TV (luxury) which was good since it poured down rain our first day there. We also met up with my friend Dan from Darjeeling in Pelling. Once the rain cleared we hiked up to a huge monastery with a very ornate sculpture on the top floor. There were also very suggestive murals covered by sheets which we found amusing. Wlking in Sikkim is always hiking. Everything is stright up or straight down. And it totally felt like a lot more up than down (doesn't it always). Just thought you should know. So after the first monastery we trekked up to Pelling's other famous monastery which is the second oldest in Sikkim. And man was that walk exhausting! But the views from the top were nice and we posed in photos with Indian tourists (which never ceases to amuse me- they love us). Later we had beers on the rooftop of our hotel with Dan and some guys he'd met and an impromptu jam session broke out. Gotta love "Hotel California" in India. We later went to see some live music (Stevie Wonder covers and all).

From Pelling we piled 14 people into a jeep made for 8 and headed for Yuksom. Yuksom is the historic spot where 3 lamas met in the 1400s and decided to create Sikkim. The stone they sat on, Coronation Rock, is still there. Yuksom is a cute little mountain village. It has an 8 PM curfew but we discovered that if you head to a restaurant, you can stay out until 10 (don't tell). So we had dinner and Tongba and met a nice Frenchman and made plans to go hiking the following day.

The hike was part of the "monastic trek" and 9 km to Ketchapari Lake. 9 km does not sound like much but keep in mind it is Sikkim. The first 5 km were super steep downhill into a valley and then we had to climb 4 km back up to the lake on the other side. Plus the trail was not all that well marked so we had to keep asking locals for directions. It was a long, hot, 3 hour hike. But the lake was very peaceful and there is absolutely no debris on it. Legend has it that it is a holy lake and the birds keep it spotless. We spent the night at a homestay above the lake with great views of the valley- you could see all the way back to Yuksom. And the food was terrific! I didn't realize that random forrest plants could taste so good. Sara, Mike, Dan, and Alain liked the lake so much they decided to spend another night. I had to head on though since my permit for SIkkim was about to expire. So I trekked back alone (very glad I'd loaded up my iPod with Mike's music) and spent one more night in Yuksom.

The next couple of days were tedious travel days so I won't bore you with details of jeeps back to Siliguri and a 21 hour train to Delhi followed by a 5 hour train to Chandigarh. Chandigarh is where I decided to stopover on my way to McLeod Ganj (because I couldn't face 12 hours on a bus after 21 on a train). Chandigarh is India's experimental architecture city. It was designed by a famous Swiss architect whose name eludes me at the moment (Le something). It is very clean and set up in a grid with numbered sectors. There are many gardens and a big lake in the center of town. There is also a huge rock garden that reminded me a lot of Parke Guell in Barcelona. My only complaint about Chandigarh (other than the heat- NEVER go to southern India in May or early june) was that accommodation was really expensive. Oh well- just a stopover.

Yesterday morning I got on a bus to Dharamsala. Eight long, hot, sweaty hours later (no AC on the bus) I arrived and got a taxi to McLeod Ganj (was planning to take another bus but apparently the bus driver was drunk and the next bus was 1.5 hours later). McLeod Ganj is home of the Tibetan government in exile (well Dharamsala is but technically McLeod is part of Dharamsala). It has loads of yoga and meditation classes and is a huge Buddhist haven. There is also a good deal of environmental awareness going on here so this morning I participated in a cleanup of a dumping area in town. It was hot and gross and felt a bit like an exercise in futility since we all know the locals will be dumping more trash where we just cleaned (that's how they roll in India), but I got my karma points for the day. After the cleanup I headed to the Dali Lamas residence and temple and to a museum that details the takeover of Tibet and the crimes against humanity committed therein. Pretty disturbing stuff.

So that's me caught up for the moment. Ten more days in India and then I am headed to Kenya to begin the African leg of my trip. I'm deciding between a 4 day trek here or heading to one more place in India before I fly out. We'll see. I definitely will be coming back to India at some point though. It is fascintating! And I have only gotten to see a small bit....

Hope everyone is well.

St

Sikkim

2009-05-24T05:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, hard to believe that I have been in Sikkim for a week now... So Julien, my French Canadian friend I'd been with since Calcutta, and I said goodbye to the Darjeeling crew and took a packed jeep ride up to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. In the share jeeps in India, they pack 10 or more people in a jeep that we would likely think full at about 6. Such is India... Gangtok is a huge tourist destination for Indians during the hot season down south. There are not many foreign travelers and the ones that are here tend to hang out at the New Modern Central Lodge (not to be confused with the Modern Central Lodge down the hill). Julien and I went for a nice Indian meal and tried some of the local Sikkim beers our first night. The next day Julien found a group to do the GoechaLa trek in the West and I set out to find a group for the jeep trip to the north. Four hours and countless travel agencies later I had no leads and was a bit frustrated. Later, however, I met three guys who were interested in putting a group together and we decided to meet the following morning to get our permits squared away. The following morning Julien headed West and I met my new friends to sort out the trip. We opted for the 4 day, 3 night trip. I had some stomach issues that day so I pretty much stayed close to the hotel- not uncommon in India. On Wednesday morning we added one more member to our group and headed north!

The first day we spent most of our time in the jeep. Luckily the scenery was terrific. Lush green forested hills and loads of waterfalls. We stopped for thalis for lunch and continued to the small town of Lachung. It was dark when we arrived and the driver and guide had a bit of trouble finding the hotel. We drove up a dark, windy road which showed no signs of life, but then the New Season appeared. It was nowhere near the town but the seclusion meant no unnatural noise and the next morning we had incredible views of the snow capped peaks surrounding us. During this season, a clear day is a rarity so we were lucky to have about 4 hours of clear before the clouds took the views away again. We headed farther north to the Yumthang Valley. By this time the clouds had fully rolled in so we had hill views but no mountains. We'd heard of a hot spring farther up where foreigners are not allowed to go and talked our driver into letting us bribe him and the permit police to let us go up. So that afternoon we found ourselves hiking up to 16,000 feet about 10km from the Tibetan border to this small and very secluded natural hot spring. It was probably about 40 degrees and windy so hanging in the hot water was terrific! As we were leaving, we got a little glimpse of the glaciers looming above us. It was pretty magical to say the least. We spent another night in Lachung at the New Season (very warm and comfy beds and terrific food!) and got up at 5 AM to head over to Lachen a bit to the West.

Our hotel in Lachen wasn't quite as nice as the one in Lachung but it was still warm and comfortable (and comfortable beds can be hard to come by when traveling on a budget- believe me!). From Lachen we drove up to the Thangu Valley (we tried more bribes to go farther north again, but it was "Not Possible"- a common phrase in India). The weather was wet and chilly so we just did a short hike (about 1.5 hours) in the valley and headed back into town. I spent the rest of the afternoon playing cards and having a few beers with a couple of the guys while the other two went to a local house to try the Sikkim millet alcohol- I was a little bummed to have missed that. After another large, filling Indian meal, we called it a night. The next day we headed back to Gangtok in the jeep. The distance was only about 120 km, but the roads are small, windy and often scarcely paved so it took the entire day. We had hoped for views of Kanchendzonga on the way back but alas, we were foiled again. We did stop at a nice monastery and enjoyed another yummy thali (thalis are a bunch of small dishes that make a filling meal when put together).

Today four of the five of us joined another couple and headed to Tsongo Lake at 13,000 feet. The lake was nice but there wasn't a whole lot to do up there and it was rather cold and cloudy again. But we had momos and then we got our guide to take us to a local place to try the millet alcohol I had missed in the north. The millet is fermented in bamboo for 15 days and then put in a tin can. When you are ready to drink it, you pour hot water on it and let it sit for 10 minutes. If you'd like, you can pour more water on and keep drinking it once you finish your first cup. We also tried yak meat at the local establishment. All in all a good day of trying new things :).

Tomorrow I am heading to West Sikkim to see a few more towns and hopefully do a bit of hiking.

Hope everyone is well! Congrats to Sean and Christy on the arrival of Eleanor Lake!!

India- a country of extremes

2009-05-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I made it to India without a hitch. And right off the plane, I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore. Calcutta airport is totally old school. And the taxis there are cars that look like they are from the 1950s. And they don't have AC. And Calcutta is HOT right now. Like "I feel like I am melting" hot. I spent three days in Calcutta and most afternoons I found myself back in my room with the fan on sweating or looking for cafes with AC. The city was a great intro to India though. It is dirty, crowded, and poor like I have never seen poor before. But it was also amazing. The colors of the clothes people wear and the parks and well, everything is just so different. When I wasn't melting, I was transfixed by how everything in India is completely beyond my comprehension. The culture is totally opposite ours. I don't think I am describing this the way I want to, but just walking around and watching people and cars and carts and seeing the buildings and food stands.. well I could have spent my entire trip to India doing just that. I have to say, I really like it here. I did get to a few of the tourist spots in Calcutta while I was there. The Victoria Memorial is gorgeous and totally out of place in the city. I also spent a few hours in the Indian Museum and went to the planetarium. I met some great people in the guesthouse and spent the evenings on the roof hanging out with them. And the food in India deserves mention. It is terrific! Dahls and chapatis and curries. I eat all the time!

From Calcutta I took the overnight train to Siliguri on the way to Darjeeling. Another guy from my hotel was on the train as well and when we arrived (I splurged for AC, he was in the regular sleeper car) he had met a group of other travelers and we chartered a jeep to Darjeeling (after a bunch of bartering and some confusion about a bus- you barter for everything in India and nothing seems to run on a set schedule). Most of us stayed at the same hotel in Darjeeling and we met some other travelers here and that has been my crew for the past week. Darjeeling is totally different from Calcutta. It is a hill station at 7000 feet so it is rather chilly here (a welcome change). It is surrounded by hills and mountains so when it is clear you have amazing views. You can even see Kanchendzonga which is the third highest peak in the world. In the 6 days I've been here I've done lots of walking around, taken the famous "toy train" down to Ghoom (second highest station in the world), gone to a few temples and just hung out with the crew and read. Its been terrific. This is the longest I have spent in one place in over 6 months and I've enjoyed it immensely. Oh and I've had a lot of tea, of course :). Yesterday was my birthday and my friends organized a little party for me in the hotel complete with a cake, card, and present. It was terrific! I'm going to miss this crew. Yesterday was also election day in this province so there was dancing and revelry in the streets (including lots of colored dust thrown all over unsuspecting pedestrians) as well as fireworks last night which we watched from the roof of our hotel.

Today I am heading north to Sikkim which is supposed to be gorgeous. You need a special permit to enter Sikkim (but no worries, I have it). I'm hoping to do some trekking and a jeep tour to the north (guides and additional permits are required for both). I'm super excited about it!

All for now!

Back to Thailand and a quick trip to the US

2009-05-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

Sorry it has taken me awhile, it has been a hectic couple of weeks. Turned out I had messed up the date of my flight from Hanoi and I ended up with an extra day. Which was cool because I went with some Argentinians I met to the "Hanoi Hilton" or the POW prison that John McCain and other US POWs were held in. The prison has been used as a prison since the French were in power so most of the exhibits were about Vietnamese revolutionaries. The two rooms dedicated to the US POWs focused on how well they were treated and showed pictures of volleyball games and Christmas parties. No mention was made of torture or suicide attempts. It was interesting to say the least.

After Hanoi I headed back to Thailand for 5 days. I had a rather crazy morning hitting the US Embassy for additional pages in my pasport (but if you need to get them, much quicker to do it on the road than in the US) and then the India embassy to drop off my info for the Indian visa (process takes a week and 3 visits to their office). Once I had that out of the way I went to the island of Koh Samet which is 3 hours by bus and an hour by boat from Bangkok. Like all of the Thai beaches I've encountered, Koh Samet is gorgeous! Turquoise water, white sand, and a national park inland as well. Koh samet is a big weekend getaway for urban Thais so it is pretty busy but if you walk south, you can find some secluded spots. I spent 3 days chilling on the beach and hanging out in the very social restaurant at the Naga Gueshouse (definitely one of the most affordable places on the beach) and then headed back to Bangkok to catch my flights to Austin.

I spent a week in Austin and Fort Lauderdale. It was great to spend some time with my parents (thanks for everything mom and dad!). After a couple of days there I went back to Austin for the wedding. Congratulations once again Meredith and Andy! The wedding was lovely and I was so incredibly happy to be there! A few more thanks go out to Jaclyn for my accomodation the first night, Heather and Meredith for airport transit and Forrest and Cathy for providing accommodation, food, communication and transport over the weekend. I owe you guys big! I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about the trip since well it is the US and all, but it was definitely a nice break. And I celebrated my 6 month anniversary there (which is weird since I was in the US celebrating 6 months of being out of the US...).

Anyway, I am back in Bangkok for the last time. Tomorrow I fly to India. I'm very very excited!! Also, you may notice that I was finally able to post pictures again. Here are the links to the pics from S Laos and Cambodia as well as Vietnam. I think the Vietnam ones especially came out well (not surprisigly, it is gorgeous there!). Enjoy!

S Laos/Cambodia-
http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/SouthernLaosCambodia#

Vietnam-
http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/Vietnam#

I didn't take pics at the wedding so any of you who are reading this who were there, please either send me some or send me links!

North Vietnam

2009-04-15T23:47:00.000-07:00

Well my trip to Ninh Binh was interesting. I was told we'd arrive there at 5:30 AM so I woke up at 5 to be ready and at 5:40 AM we pulled into Hanoi which is 2 hours north of where I wanted to be. I guess I slept through Ninh Binh (and I made sure to tell the driver and the woman working on the bus I was going to Ninh Binh, but it didn't seem to matter). So I had to then get a motorbike to the train station but the first train was 4 hours hence so I took another motorbike to the bus station and nearly got charged double for the bus (thank you nice man in front of me for telling me what the true fare was) and I made it to Ninh Binh about 8:30 AM. As this little tale illustrates, I've noticed in North Vietnam the people are much more likely to try and overcharge and misinform tourists than in the South. I'd been warned about this, but it is still frustrating to encounter.

Ninh Binh turned out to be fantastic! The first day I rented a bike and rode down to Tam Coc where you go on a row boat through caves and around huge limestone karsts and rice fields. The scenery is amazing. I was in a boat with a Swiss and a French girl and we had the boat let us off at a temple and walked back from there. There was a festival at the temple and the people were in colorful costumes with all sorts of accessories and things to carry in a parade. From there I walked to another temple a few km away and explored it as well. I met two nice Aussie ladies, Jo and Ally, who helped me not get charged twice (the boat woman took my ticket for the rest of the park "by accident"). Later that afternon I rode up to Hoa Lu which was an ancient capital city and wandered around a bit. The second day I joined Jo and Ally and we again took bikes. This time we started at a small temple tucked away into a karst. A lovely female monk took us on a tour of part of the temple that was in a cave and we watched as she performed a ceremony complete with some terrific chanting enhanced by the natural acoustics of the cave. I thought Jo was going to stay all day. Then we biked to Thang An which is somewhat like Tam Coc only 20 times better. There were no other tourists and the boat took us through about 9 long caves (which were lit up inside) and to 3 temples on the lake. It was truly magical. Later we rode to a new pagoda that is being built and walked around it. Even though it is under construction, they let people into the completed parts. Exhausted we headed back to the hotel (with a stop at another temple to eat more fresh pipneapple- yum!). Ally and Jo had to catch a night train that night. I was sad to see them go. The lady at our hotel came up to me after they left and told me I was lucky to make nice new friends. Pretty perceptive lady :).

The next morning I took a minibus to Haiphong to catch the ferry to Cat Ba Island on Halong Bay. There were 3 French travellers on my bus and I shared a cab with them to the ferry, hung out with them while waiting 2 hours for the next ferry and stuck with them on the boat (guess what, we were all overcharged- see a pattern forming?). I figured I'd continue stalking them so I went to their hotel with them on Cat Ba and they said I could join them on their boat trip around Halong Bay for two days. I lucked out! The boat trip was fantastic! Halong Bay is gorgeous- more limestone karsts, this time coming out of the sea. We shared the boat with a Spanish couple for a few hours the first day but after that it was all ours. We went through a huge cave (on foot) and sailed all over the bay. We rarely saw other boats so we felt like we had the whole bay to ourselves. The food on the boat was plentiful and delicious. We had fresh fish with every meal (so fresh we watched our second day's lunch get caught that morning). My fave was the spring rolls though. We spent the night on a floating fish farm and before going to bed we hung out and drank rice wine with the captain and the guys who live on the farm. The second day we went kayaking through caves to a secluded lagoon. Later we cruised to Halong City where the French crew (Severine, Vincent, and Gregory) left me to head back to Hanoi. I had the boat to myself on the way back to Cat Ba and just enjoyed the scenery. It really is gorgeous! The next day I did a trek in the National Park on Cat Ba. It was really hot, slippery, steep and there were loads of bees. Luckily I only got stung once. After that I headed straight for Hanoi (bus boat bus) and then onto an overnight train to Sapa so I really pity the people who were stuck in a cabin with me. The view fromo the top of the island was nice though.

My plan for Sapa was to hike Fansipan, the highest peak in Vietnam. However, the weather wasn't so great, the treks were pricier than I'd anticipated and I developed an allergic reaction to the bee sting which caused what I like to call "Cabbage Patch Kid arm" meaning pretty hefty swelling from fingers to elbow. So instead I hiked to local villages and waterfalls and enjoyed the scenery and chill vibe (if you can ignore the constant harrassment from local villagers to buy brightly colored crafts) in Sapa. I only stayed 2 days and met Lloyd and Loz from Wales and Emily from Austin on the way back to Hanoi. We thought we were all on the same train, but when it turned out Lloyd and Loz were on the later one, they traded their cush soft sleeper tickets and paid extra money to be snuck onto our train in the employees car (that's how they roll in Vietnam). But it was worth it as we all got to hang out (our car was empty) on the way and until the hostels opened in Hanoi.

I've spent the last couple days in and around Hanoi. The most fascinating thing I've done in the city was to visit the Ho Chi Minh masoleum. Yes, if you fly to Vietnam, you too can view the preserved corpse of Uncle Ho. You must be properly dressed (no shorts or tank tops) and can not laugh, talk or smile while in his presence (armed guards are there to enforce this). You may not take photos and must keep moving and not stop and gawk. Got it? Good :). Today I took a day trip to the Perfume Pagoda. I have no idea why it is named the Perfume Pagoda. It didn't smell particularly nice and after a sweaty hour on an open boat in 40 degree heat and then an hour hike up the hill, we certainly didn't smell very nice either. But the temples are nice to see- the highest one being inside a cave (so you can cool off before hiking down and getting back on the cramped, sweaty rowboat). I met a nice Israeli and a couple from Argentina so I'm going to head out in a sec and meet up with them.

Tomorrow is my last day in Vietnam. I'll be sad to leave it and highly recommend it to any of you who are thinking about coming over to SE Asia. Next stop a short stint in Thailand, a quick jump to the US for Mere's wedding, and then I am off to India. More adventures await!

Easy Rider

2009-04-07T21:47:00.000-07:00

Sin jow,

OK, so the trip with the Easy Rider was AWESOME! Definitely worth the money. We did so much that I know I won't be able torecap it all in this post but I'll list some of the things we did. The best parts for me were stopping and visiting the local people and seeing what they did and how they lived. It is definitely not anything you can get on a bus tour. I think it was the most authentic local experience I've had on my trip so far.

The first day we left Dalat and headed to Lok Lake. On the way we stopped at a silk factory and a waterfall and then went on to a family that raises the worms for the silk factory. That was really cool. We also stopped and spent a little time with a squatter family. Jean, my guide, brought passion fruit from his family's farm and twice a day mixed it with water and sugar for a really refreshing drink. We ate in little local restaruants with cheap, terrific food and we ate a lot! Day one it was lots of small plates of meats and veggies with rice. Day Two we went from Lok Lake to Buon Ma Thout. BMT is the biggest town in the Central Highlands. There is a large War Memorial in the center of town. We stopped at a family that makes brooms on the way and went to an old bridge that was the site of a battle during the war and another waterfall. Lunch was vegetarian food which was terrific. Dinner though was my favorite meal in Vietnam to date. We went for make-your-own spring rolls. They brought out rice paper, noodles, lettuce, mint, banana, mango, cucumber, fig, grilled meat and crsipy sticks. You roll a bit of everything in the rice paper and dip in this amazing peanut sauce. I hope I canfind another place like that before I leave Vietnam! Day 3 was the longest day on the bike. We did over 200 km to get to Kon Tum. We had fresh mango on the way and stopped to see a couple of local tribal communities, rice harvesting, andsome more battle sites and memorials. Day 4 we went to a small town whose name I have forgotten. This day we started riding on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The trail is now a paved road, but in many places, you can still see the path used by the VC during the war. The scenery became more dense and beautiful as we got farther north. We stopped to see some incredible wood carving and cement tree pot making (huge). Our last dinner we had venizon and rice (yum). The last day on the bike we went to Hoi An. We started again on the HCM trail but left it eventually. We stopped to see pineapple harvesting and try fresh pineapple. We also went to a hill that was the site of many battles and saw bomb craters (you see these all over Vietnam). The trip ended in Hoi An and Jean headed for home.

Hoi An is a UNESCO world heritage site (the old town anyway) and a great place to wander around the small alleys and look at the old buildings. Hoi An is also known for its tailors and many travelers end up having way more clothes made than they anticipated (case in point my Irish friends who started with one suit each and then spent 3 extra days buying more clothes). I just had one dress made for Mere's upcoming wedding. Had to bedone :). I did a day trip to the Cham ruins at My Son. The site predates Angkor Wat by about 700 years. Unfortunately the war destroyed most of the temples. Bomb craters litter the site. We took a boat trip back toHoi An and stopped to see a craft village on the way. After Hoi An I planned to spend a night in Danang to explorethe Marble Mountains and China Beach, but it was raining so I just got a train to Hue. The train ride was lovely despite the weather. Ocean on the right, mountains on the left. Definitely a nice cahnge from the tourist buses.

The last few days I've spent in Hue. Hue is on the Perfume River and was the capital of Vietnam under the Nguyen dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The first day I wandered around the old Imperial City which has lots of temples and old royal buildings. Yesterday I did a day trip down the river to some more temples and some of the tombs of the kings. The tombs are in parks with lakes, trees, and multiple old stone structures. Really cool to wander through. Last night I went on another boat to see Hue folk music on the river. My favorite part was when each person on the boat was given a candle in a floating paper box to set down in the river. Something about fire on water... Tonight I head north to Nimh Binh. The weather has been bad the last 3 days and I hope it clears as I go north. I hear Halong Bay and Sapa (both of which I am totally looking forward to) are not nearly as nice in bad weather. Fingers crossed!

Oh and if you are interested in reading about the Easy Riders I went with from Dalat, the web address is www.dalat-easyrider.com
The one Annie posted in the comments on the last post is from another town. Many towns in Vietnam have Easy Riders, but the ones from Dalat are supposedly the original and best. Also the most expensive...

Vietnam, home of the American War

2009-03-28T20:14:00.000-07:00

OK, no more pics for a month til I get my card sorted out :(. Cross your fingers for me that I haven't lost everything...

The bus ride from Phnom Penh to Vietnam was uneventful (a good thing with border crossings). I did meet a tour group and the guide joke that Cambodia's national pastime was sleeping in hammocks. I found that hysterical because you really do see loads of people all over Cambodia sleeping in hammocks. Often when you'd think they'd be working. Not that I am judging. I say more power to 'em.

First stop in Vietnam was Saigon (yes, it has been renamed Ho Chi Minh City, but everyone still calls it Saigon and Saigon is easier to type). I had been warned that the cities in Vietnam are absolutely crazy and it is true, I have never seen traffic like I saw in Saigon. And there are literally hundreds of electric wires crossing at every major intersection. This place is packed! My first day I walked up to the War Remnants museum. In Vietnam, the Vietnam War is called the American War. The museum is really sobering. It shows many terrible things our troops did to villagers and talks about the chemicals we let loose that are still crippling children today. There are also displays of protests against the war from around the world (including the US) and some peaceful artwork by kids. Definitely a must see if you go to Saigon. The next day I took a day trip to the Cao Dai temples and the Cu Chi Tunnels. Cao Dai is a hybrid religion that is popular in Vietnam. The temple reminded me of the Gaudi architecture you find in Barcelona (so I loved it). The Cu Chi Tunnels were a system of tunnels 200 km long where the Cu Chi Villagers lived during the war. We were shown all sorts of really painful looking booby traps that the VC set up for American troops and were able to crawl through parts of the tunnels. For a small additional fee, you can fire a real military rifle or AK-47, but I passed as I am not a fan of guns. My third day in Saigon I did a day trip to the Mekong Delta. We spent much of the day in varying sizes of boats along the Mekong and visited a few island villages. We got to try coconut candy, fresh honey, rice liquor, banana wine (skip it, so gross), and 5 different kinds of fruit (my first jackfruit!). I also got to wear one of the conical hats that are so common in Vietnam. I look ridiculous and yes, there are pictures.

I've been very excited about the food in Vietnam for, well the whole trip. I am addicted to the fresh spring rolls with shrimp and pork that you buy on the street for 4000 dong (25 cents). I also love the Pho. Yesterday I tried the Bun Hue which is a spicy noodle soup from the north. It was good, but I prefer Pho. Each area has its own specialties so I'm looking forward to trying loads more as I travel north.

Yesterday I took a bus up to Dalat in the Central Highlands. It took all day so other than walking around the lake and the market last night, I haven't seen much. This afternoon I am doing a motorcycle tour of the area and tomorrow I head off for a 5 day tour of the highlands on the same motorcycle. This trip is with the famed (locally anyway) Easy Riders that I have heard and read rave reviews about. So needless to say I am stoked! I'll let you know how it goes.

See some of you very soon!

From Killing Fields to beaches

2009-03-24T00:31:00.001-07:00

Hallo everyone,

Unfortunately still no pics. I'm on my third cybercafe today and none will let me upload. I'm a little worried about a virus (cause the computer here says I have one) so everyone cross your fingers that it is the computer, not my card...

On my first visit to Phnom Penh, I did the Big 4 of sites here. They consisted of the Royal Palace (nice ornate buildings, lots of gold and silver statues, elephant carts, the usual), the National Museum (statues, history, more gold and silver) and then the starkly contrasting Tuol Sleng (aka S21) and The Killing Fields at Choeng Ek. The last two were remnants from the Khmer Rouge regime. Suspected "traitors" or "party enemies" were sent to S21 to confess their crimes. The confessions were extracted using medieval torture methods- sometimes over a period of months. Family and friends of the "traitors" were often also forced to confess. Once the confession was obtained to the satisfaction of the staff at S21, the people were taken to the Killing Fields and killed- usually with blunt or sharp instruments to conserve bullets. The bodies were then buried in mass graves which were treated with chemicals to cover the smell and kill anyone who may have been buried alive. It is so difficult to fathom this sort of cruelty, but the skulls in the memorial at Choeng Ek and the images in S21 make you realize it really happened. Quite a contrast to the museum and palace...

From PP I headed to the Cambodian coast. My first stop was Sihanoukville (I still can't pronounce it right). Sihanoukville is a total beach town. There isn't really anything else to do there (except get a super fast Vietnam visa- which I did). It was St. Patrick's Day when I arrived so it seemed fitting that I spent it in the company of some Irish girls who were staying at my guesthouse. Actually everyone at my guesthouse was great! The Irish girls, the Scottish crew, the English bartender, the Kiwi, the Yanks, and the German dude. Oh and Jesse, the Dutch guy learning hotel management. So I spent the next 3 days hanging out with the guesthouse crew, going to the beach and relaxing. I also ran into some guys that I've seen in 3 different cities now. Small world indeed.

After Sihanoukville, I spent a day in Kampot. I wasn't too impressed with Kampot, although I did meet some cool people on a sunset cruise on the Mekong and we had dinner together. So I headed out the next day for the little seaside resort of Kep. Kep was another relaxing place to spend a few days. The first day I walked about 20 km between seeing the whole town (it is spread out) and hiking the trial in the Kep Mountain National Park. The second day, I took a moto to some caves with Buddhist shrines in them and on the way back stopped at a small museum dedicated to victims of yet another killing field in the area. My guesthouse in Kep was right on the water facing West so I saw some beatiful sunsets. Day 3 I took a day trip to Rabbit Island 5 km off the coast. Even though Kep is on the shore, the beaches are nothing to shout about. The ones on the island are much better. Seafood is super fresh in Kep so I had a lot of fresh shrimp while I was there. It was pretty neat to have dinner on the ocean and see the guys out catching the fish (at night) right next to where I was eating.

I think that is about it for now. Back in Phnom Penh trying to take care of a few last minute things before I head to Vietnam early tomorrow morning. I am very excited about Vietnam!!

Oh and Heather sent this link (thanks Heather!) where you can sign up to receive an email whenever I update the blog. Feel free to use it if you wish.

http://www.feedmyinbox.com/

Angkor

2009-03-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

Suas'dei,

Right, Ban Lung. I seemed to spend a lot of time lost and dusty in Ban Lung. The first day I went looking for a couple of waterfalls. They were signed off the main road, but never again. I didn't find any, but I did get a nice 10 km walk through little villages were the kids would see me and come running out screaming "Hello! How are you? What's your name?". In one a little girl actually held my hand for the entire walk through the village. It was kinda cute. That night I met a bunch of really interesting other travelers and reconnected with a few from my bus from Laos. We've been on a similar schedule so I've hung out with them in basically every town in Cambodia. The second day I rented a bike to go to a volcanic lake about 5km outside of town. It was the worst bike ever and walking would have been much easier. Plus I got completely lost in a very hot and hilly area. But all this made the lake that much more refreshing when I got there. It was lovely!

From Ban Lung I headed to Kratie. Our bus broke down three times on the way (not at all unusual in Cambodia). Kratie is located on the Mekong River which makes fo great sunset watching. I joined a couple of other travelers and we took motorbikes (we didn't drive them, rode on the back) 15km north of town to get on a boat and see the endangered Irwaddy dolphins that live in the river. These are interesting in that they look much more like whales than any dolphins I have ever seen. They just kind of skim the surface making taking photos tough but we saw loads of them (and considering there are only about 75 left, that was impressive!). They are endangered because of fishing and also because the Khmer Rouge used to throw grenades into the Mekong when they were in power. After dolphin watching we went to a place called "the rapid"which is a group of bamboo huts on the river where the locals come to swim and hang out. It was Cambodian Women's Day so there were loads of people there. Our tour finished with a visit to a temple on a hill with great views (and about a million steps). I met a really cool French girl who is working for an NGO in Phnom Penh so I totally pumped her for information. I really didn't know much about the terrible things that went on in Cambodia just a few decades ago. When you are here though, remnants, signs, and information are everywhere. If you are interested, I recommend reading "First They Killed My Father".

From Kratie I decided to spend a night in Kampong Cham to break up the trip to Siem Reap. The best part was the bamboo bridge that the locals construct every dry season to link the town to an island in the Mekong. The bridge looks like it will collapse any second, yet motorbikes and horse carts and bicycles ply it constantly. I walked across to check it out. Also worthy of note was massive thunderstorm. I have been traveling in the dry season so with the exception of a quick shower in Khao Sok in late January, I have not seen rain since December. Needless to say, I loved it!

OK, Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor. Siem Reap is a total tourist town with loads of restaurants, markets, internet cafes, bars, and massage studios. It is expanding rapidly and I am glad I am here now and not in a few years. The temples of Angkor, however, are just amazing. Totally worth all the hype. I opted for the 3 day pass (thanks for the advice TK, Kara, Mish, Jaclyn and Erik). Day one I got a tuk tuk to take me on the short circuit where I saw Angkor Wat (incredible, but crowded), Angkor Thom (a group of temples and terraces), and a few other temples including the "Tomb Raider Temple" where they shot the movie. This one is also worth the hype because the forest has totally taken over and it really feels like you are in ruins in the middle of the jungle. There are a couple of smaller temples with a similar vibe and less crowds which were even better! Day two at Angkor I joined some guys from my guesthouse to watch the sunrise at Angkor. They were doing the circuit I had done the day before so I walked up to the Grand Circuit. I only got to four more temples on foot because they are 2-4 km apart (look closer on the map). So I hired a moto and headed up to Banteay Srei which is about 30 km away. My last day of temple climbing I went to the Rolous group which are the earliest temples and then caught the disappointing sunset from Pre Rup. I splurged on a hotel with a pool for my last 2 nights in Siem Reap which was terrific! It really gets ridiculously hot during the day. Oh and I forgot to mention the Doctor Fish. I did it twice. For $3 you get 15 minutes with your feet in a shallow pool filled with little fish who eat the dead skin. It tickles like mad at first but then you get used to it. After your feet are much softer and smoother. Definitely an experience!

Today I left Siem Reap and am in Phnom Penh for a couple of days before I head south to the Cambodian beach and then into Vietnam. I'll try to get a couple of pictures added in the next day or so. All for now.

Sold Out CAKE!

2009-03-04T22:16:00.000-08:00

So that was a sign in a restaurant in Cambodia and for some reason it struck me as very funny. Especially because cake wasn't even on the menu....

OK, since my last post I basically had a whirlwind through Southern Laos. I spent one day in Vang Vieng and really was not impressed. It is kind of like Spring Break meets Laos. The scenery is gorgeous, but the town is overflowing with drunk Westerners. There are restaurants that play Friends all day long. Episode after episode. Same is true for the Simpsons. I did the tubing thing which was fun but after the one day, I was totally ready to leave. Instead of taking the minivan to Vietnienne, I opted for the back of a local pickup truck. And this is something I love about Laos. If you want to get away from all of the other tourists, just travel like a local. Every time I was the only Westerner and all the locals smile and try to talk to me as well as they can (most don't speak English). It is really fun!

I didn't really do a whole lot in Vientiene. I wandered around and checked out the riverside restaurants and the night market and went to the National Museum which was part historical and part propaganda (did I mention that Laos is a communist country?? foreigners have a curfew and are forbidden from dating locals). The main thing I did was to get my visa for Cambodia (although it turns out I could have gotten it at the border). After two days in the capital, I headed down to Pakse with a quick overnight stop in Savannaket. I quite liked Pakse. Its small and cute and on the intersection of two rivers. I took a day trip to the Bolaven Plateau which has loads of waterfalls and coffee and tea plantations. We also stopped at a few villages. One of them was interesting in that the villagers make their own coffins when they hit adulthood so they know they have something to be buried in.

From Pakse I went to 4000 islands- again in the back of a pickup with the locals. Since I didn't take the tourist bus, I got to share a boat with a group of Lao people having a Sunday picnic. They chatted to me for a bit and gave me a beer. I found a bungalow on the river with a hammock and set up camp on the island of Don Det for a few days. My guesthouse was run by a sweet old woman named Mama who spoke of herself in the third person ("Mama is going to cook fresh fish tonight", "Mama gives you change tomorrow") I ran into an Irish guy, Collum, I'd met in Khao Sok in Thailand. He told me about a festival that was going on at the wat on the island that night. So I met up with his group there. The festival was great. I won 2000 kip (40 cents) playing a game where you pick a number and then get two darts and have to make your numbers add up to the one you picked. We met some locals and hung out by the dance floor for most of the night. I was tired from traveling so I went home by midnight, but I could hear the party going at 4 AM. The next day I rented a bicycle and rode over the bumpy island tracks (on a one speed cruiser with bell and basket but no shocks) to the neighboring island of Don Khon. There is a nice waterfall there. I also swam in the Mekong and did some reading in the hammock. It was a very relaxed atmosphere. My last night on the island I met a British couple who had been there for two months. They invited me to a wedding at their guesthouse that night. The son of the couple who run the guesthouse married a girl from another island. Of course I had to go. It was so much fun! There were very few foriegners and the locals treated me like one of the family (I met 5 women named Mama....). We drank and danced and ate and it was quite the celebration. The party continued for 3 days, but I left the following morning (and getting up for my boat was not fun!).

After a long day (11 hours) of travel yesterday- including a bit of sketchiness by the transport operator (who completely overcharged us all) I am now in Ban Lung in Cambodia. Cambodia is country number 7. Oh and I am four months in- crazy! Since it is the dry season, it is very dusty here in NE Cambodia (most roads are unpaved). My legs and feet look like I spent too long in the tanning beds from walking to local villages this morning. And my guest house here is brand new and has incredibly comfortable beds! I am going to try and slow down a bit from here on out. I was pretty exhausted from rushing through Southern Laos and I'd like to spend more time in fewer places. But then again, I do get antsy easily....

All for now! No pics cause Internet is slow here.

Oh my buddha

2009-02-22T18:56:00.000-08:00

Given the amount of wats I've seen since my last post, I thought the title appropriate. Plus, I love that phrase :). Right, so to try and make this a manageable read... So much ground has been covered.

Mish, Erik, and Jaclyn met me in Bangkok where we spent a couple of days checking out the sights of the city. The wat with the huge gold lying buddha was the highlight for me (and for Jaclyn). And the boat taxis up and down the river. The second night, Mish, Erik and I had to go check out the Patpong night market area where all the sex shows are. It was definitely an experience. I think the highlight was the baby elephant that randomly walked down the street at 1 AM in central Bangkok. You know you aren't in Kansas anymore when... We took a night train to Chang Mai. The train was delayed 3 hours along the way and the reason given was "no power". Interesting. But we passed the time making friends, hanging out and playing cards. We spent the day wandering around Chang Mai. I was a bit disappointed as the city is just kind of a city. But as in all of Thailand, the food was excellent! The next morning we took a bus to Chang Rai. This is where we decided to do hill trekking from. I was happy that the bus was a Thai karaoke bus (where they show cheesy karaoke videos the whole time) so the crew could experience it. I don't think they were as amused as I was (come on, one opens with a girl getting hit by a tuk-tuk!). We set up a trek through our hotel and had dinner at Cabbages and Condoms which uses the proceeds to supply safe sex education and condoms to the villages in the area. The signage was interesting- especially the sign over the door which read "Our food is guaranteed not to make you pregnant". The next day we went to the hill tribes. We had negotiated for extra trekking time and trek we did. It was hot and there were many hills but the scenery was gorgeous and the villages were interesting. We ended the day with a short ride on an elephant and then a longboat ride back to Chang Rai. That night we went to the Chang Rai night market which was my favorite in Thailand. We spent most of the time in fromt of the stage with live music and dancing. There were loads of food vendors. Erik and I had a hot pot and Erik got the mixed insect plate for dessert. I was impressed with myself for trying a catepillar- totally not my thing. We also had to have a tower of beer, just because they were there.

On to the border crossing into Laos. We took the morning bus to Chang Khong and caught a longboat across the Mekong to the border. Figuring out the order of windows to go to at the border was an experience but after an hour we were safely and legally in Laos. We spent the night at a local guesthouse whose owner has quite the temper. Definitely not typical of the Laos people. We wandered around the town for a bit and had a quiet night and got ready for the two day boat ride to Luang Probang. We found a great restaurant on the river and Jaclyn was able to try lapp- Laotian salad made with minced meat and lemongrass. It was terrific. We arrived early to get good seats and waited in the boat for a few hours. They tried to overfill the boat dangerously but there was a protest from the customers (including chanting- only the tourists of course) and they added a second boat. The scenery on the river was amazing! We spent the night in the small village of Pak Beng on the way. Day 2 our boat was less crowded and we spent much of the ride talking to the other passengers. That was great because we kept running into them in Luang Probang and it was like already having a group of friends waiting for you in town. The scenery on day 2 was just as nice as Day 1. I think Mish has about 3,000 pictures if you are interested.

We arrived in Luang Probang around 6 PM- just as the sun was setting over the Mekong. After a bit of wandering around, we found a great guesthouse. Then we headed out to the night market for perusing and food. The next day we got up super early to give alms to the monks. Every morning around 6:30 AM (not 6 as we thought) the monks walk into town and people offer them food. We bought food from local vendors on the street and sat and waited. Unfortunately there were so many monkls that we ran out well before the procession was through. Later we let Erik handle negotiating for a boat to the Pak Ou caves with hundreds of buddha statues in them. On the way we stopped at "whiskey village" to try Lao Lao, the local rice whiskey. The caves were cool to see and the boat ride was great. Later, we walked up to the wat on the hill above town to watch the sunset. That night, Mish and I met up with a group of people from the boat trip down and hung out with them. The second day in Luang Probang we wandered around the city. Mish and I had seen a board outside a travel agency that mentioned a place called Utopia and we were determined to find it! Sure enough, later in the afternoon we saw a sign for Utopia and followed it to a cool lounge on the river with terrfic views and very comfy seating- so we hung out for a bit. The place is pretty aptly named. Later we did a little tasting of many Laotian dishes at a place Jaclyn had read about and also watched the monks as they did the 4 PM drum playing at the wats around town (and there are literally hundreds- you can't walk 15 feet without passing a wat!). That night we went for dinner on the riverfront. Our last day in LP, we once again let Erik do the negotiating and took a tuk-tuk down to the Kuang Si waterfalls about 30 km outside of town. The falls were great as was the swimming. On the walk back there was a bear rescue area. For our last dinner we went to the Laotian BBQ where there are hot coals on the table and over them is a pot of soup. You add spices and vegetables and cook the meat on a grill that is in the middle over the soup. So good! Mish, Erik, and Jaclyn did their last minute shopping at the night market and we had our last BeerLa0 as a group :(. It was so great to see them all and we had such a great time. It definitely felt too short. But I am so so so glad they came to meet me (thanks guys!!).

The next morning they headed for the airport and I caught a minivan to Nong Khiaw 4 hours north. From Nong Khiaw I hopped on a boat up the river to Mueng Neua ( I still can't pronounce it) which is only accessible by boat. The town is tiny and most places only have electricity from 6-10 PM. There really isn't much to do except hike and chill out so it was perfect for me! In the morning I hiked out to two caves and then farther on to two villages. After the second village I continued to a waterfall and wadered past it for a bit. On the way back I had lunch at Hoy Ban, the second village. I tried to order chicken but was told they only kill a chicken for two or more people. As I waited for the noodle soup (veggie) they asked me to copy the name of their restaurant/guesthouse, the village, and "great food" over and over so they can give the papers to travelers as advertising. I thought it was terrific! Oh and I love how the villages use hydroelectric power. On the trail I saw multiple barrels set up with wires attached to give power to the villages. And in Mueng Neua, all of the light bulbs are compact flourescents. Interesting how the rural Laotians get this more than we do... Off my soap box. I met up with some guys from the boat up and a couple I'd met in LP and we spent the evening eating and playing cards by the river. We left at 9:50 to be able to see on the walk back to our guesthouses but missed the timing. The village really does completely shut down at 10.

The next morning I headed back to Nong Khiaw. I stayed in a great bungalow on the river with terrific views and walked out to a huge cave where 500 villagers hid during the bombings of the Indochina war in 1964. Yesterday I took a sawngtheiw (pickup truck with two rows of benches) back to Luang Probang. The truck comfortably seats 12 in the back. At one point, we had 19. It was a novelty for me, but it is interesting that this is how the people live here. Kind of the sort of thing that makes me greatful for the things I take for granted at home (solid walls, laundry, shower, etc). Also, it reminds me of a joke we heard in Luang Probang (about Thais, but obviously works for Laos too).
Q: How many people fit in a Thai car? A: One more.
After the pickup ride, I got on a bus to Vang Vieng. It took 9 hours so it was a long travel day but I am glad I didn't have to spend another night in LP and travel all day today.

That's where I am. Who's next to come meet me??

Photos for Thailand and N Laos are posted:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/ThailandNLaos#

A quick hello

2009-02-16T19:21:00.001-08:00

Sabadee from Laos!

Still hanging out with Jaclyn, Mish, and Erik. We're having a blast! Went through Chang Mai, Chang Rai, and into Laos. After a two day boat trip down the Mekong, we are in Luang Probang. They are heading to Siam Reap on Thursday morning and I am going to go north to some small towns with good hiking and very limited electricity. I'll do a longer update once I get back.

Hope everyone is doing well!
St
PS- picture is of the huge lying buddha in Bangkok. I like this pic :).

Kickboxing, history, and edible insects

2009-02-06T01:25:00.000-08:00

OK, first off, I did not eat the insects. They were huge and scary and even the Indian guy I was with who talked the big talk about eating them chickened out. But it was still interesting to see. More on that later.

I lived through my week of kickboxing camp. I did a camp where you live at the training site and the price includes training twice a day, meals, and accommodation. It was really tough and I was sore and bruised, but I'm glad I did it. Training began with running at 6:30 AM followed by morning training with pads, bags, and sparring until 8:30. Afternoon training kicked off with 15 minutes of jump rope (sounds easier than it is) and lasts until 5 PM. The place I stayed has two gyms. The live in one is in a suburb of Bangkok which was cool because Christian (the German guy who was also staying there) and I were the only Westerners I saw the whole week in that area. The other gym, which we went to a few times, is off Kho San Road in Bangkok proper and people can walk in and train as much or as little as they like. More people were at that gym. The food was amazing! We ate after each training and every meal we were served a big plate of rice and three plates of mains for the two of us. And we nearly finished it every day. Everything from green curry to Tom Kha to pork and veggie dishes to omelettes... I miss the food already.

After my camp ended I came to Kanchanaburi which is 2.5 hours away from Bangkok. Kan is most famous for the Bridge over the River Kwai which was built here in 1942 as part of the "Death Railway" built by the Japanese from Thailand to Burma during WWII. The name is from the estimated 100,000 people, many of whom were Allied POWs, who died while building it. I've now walked over the bridge and ridden a train over it and visited the musuem about the railway so if you want more information, I have you covered. I'd like to see the movie now.

Yesterday I took a bus to Erawan Falls for the day. Erawan is a 7 tiered waterfall about 2 hours away. I have some great pics and the swimming was great! Last night I ran into a guy I had met in Indonesia. He, a friend of his, and I walked down to a Hindu festival I had stumbled onto the night before. This is where the bugs for consumption were sold. Huge grasshoppers and roaches and worms.... ICK! But hey, I haven't tried it. Aside from that, there were lights everywhere and fireworks and games, rides, "regular" food, etc. It was a lot like a carnival but then there was the religious side with monks, chanting, incense burning, candles, statues, and live birds that you buy and set free for good luck. It was such a cool experience!!

Tomorrow I head back to Bangkok to meet Jaclyn and Mish. We plan to head up to Laos so I'll let you know how that goes.

Under, over, and through

2009-01-26T02:37:00.000-08:00

Sawadee Ka from Thailand!

I've been here just over a week now and have been keeping very busy. First stop was Phuket (flew in for 30 day visa). The whole reason for me going there was to dive. So I did :). But before that I went to an Obama innaguration party at an expat bart in Phuket town (it happened at midnight in Thailand). It was fun. The bar did a special with Obama burgers and bourbon. Anyway diving. I went over to Karon beach for diving. The beaches were nice as was the $6 massage on the beach. The diving was terrific! I did my first wreck dive (got to swim through the boat to the prow) on the first dive. Then we went to shark point and saw 2 leopard sharks. I got to lay down next to them. The highlight of the third dive was a huge moray eel (we saw 2) but we also saw a bamboo shark on that one. All and all a great day underwater!

After Phuket I decided to head to the jungle so I am now in Khao Sok which is a huge jungle in South Thailand. After a short day hike the first day I was here, I did a 2 day trip into the jungle. The first day we hiked into a cave. The cave had loads of bats and spiders and frogs and crickets and water. So much water that we had to swim at some parts while our guide scaled the rocks with the cameras. So cool! We spent the night in a floating rafthouse on a lake. Like literally you could see the water through the floor of the rooms. And the food was terrific! They put down plates of like 3 different mains and you just served it on up. Curry, sweet and sour, noodles, ginger.. I love Thai food! Day 2 we went for a longboat ride in the morning and saw 4 kinds of monkeys. Most were too far away to get good photos of, but we saw black monkeys, longtail macaques, shortail monkeys, and my favorite (because they act like acrobats in the trees) gibbons. Later we did a hike over a hill and went for a swim before heading back.

Today I decided to go for a short hike to a waterfall. Was supposed to be 4km. I don't know what the person doing the measuring was smoking but after nearly 3 hours of hiking there was no sign of the falls. What I did see loads of, however, mostly on my feet, were leeches. I was hiking with a French couple when I first saw a few on my foot. I was wearing Keens (sandals) for the river crossings (and because it is the dry season when there are few leeches- but it had rained yesterday) and when I took them off I had about 9 leeches drinking away. The French couple (wearing long pants and hiking boots) freaked out about the leeches outside their clothes and went back. I continued on stopping every now and again to pull another few off my feet. Honestly, it was a rather gross way to spend an afternoon but I'll chalk it up to experience. A couple of random facts about leeches- they are harmless in that they don't make you sick or anything and don't hurt at all. In fact you really cannot feel them. They release an anticoagulant when they start drinking the blood so it takes a few minutes before you can start to clot. I could go on here but I bet I am totally grossing you all out, huh? Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of them. My camera was in my backpack and upon seeing leeches on my feet I couldn't make myself wait to get out the camera and take a shot before frantically ripping them off. I should take a pic of the marks on my feet though. Note to self.

Tomorrow I start heading up to Bangkok. Going to do a muay thai kickboxing class for a week before Jaclyn and Mish come meet up with me for 2 weeks. Can't wait to see them!!

The picture is of the floating rafthouses where I stayed. Cool, huh?

Food coma

2009-01-18T04:31:00.000-08:00

How funny, I was totally getting ready to compose a post about food and I saw Jen's comment asking for info about it. Jen, you totally read my mind! I'm currently in Penang, my last stop in Malaysia and a place totally known for its food and well, I am totally trying my best to taste it all. Right now I am killing time between dinners 1 and 2 (but, hey, I skipped lunch). Before I go off on food though, let me catch up to Penang briefly and then I'll go off.

My last day in the Cameron Highlands I did the half day tour where in 3 hours they take you to a strawberry farm (yum), tea plantation, honey farm, butterfly garden, rose garden, buddhist temple and market. It is a whirlwind but really interesting! Then I headed up to the island of Langkawi where I spent 5 days doing not a whole lot. But that was kind of the point. Langkawi is actually a group of 99 islands about 100 km off the coast of Malaysia and near the Thai border. The biggest island is just known as Langkawi as well and that is where I stayed. It has loads of great beaches and is great for relaxing. The island is also duty free so beer, cigarettes, and chocolate are cheap. Big contrast to the rest of Malaysia where these things are taxed heavily (did I mention Muslim?). Other than hanging out on the beach, eating, and drinking with the people I met on Langkawi, I did an island hopping excursion. First we went to a limestone created freshwater lagoon surrounded by ocean for a swim. Then we headed to a mangrove island with loads of eagles and finally we went to a beach island with clear water for swimming (it is a bit murky on Langkawi and jellyfish are rampant). Yesterday I came down to Penang and tomorrow I'll fly from here to Phuket in Thailand (thanks to that stupid new visa thing).

OK, on to food. I keep hearing that people lose weight when they travel. Those people either aren't traveling in Asia or don't share my love of Asian cuisine... In New Zealand the food was very Western so I tended to cook in the hostels (great kitchens in Kiwi hostels). But from Indonesia on, I've been loving the food! In Indonesia the staples are fried noodles or rice with meat (or veggies), curries, BBQ fish, satay, and gado gado whcih is steamed veggies in peanut sauce and sometimes includes some or all of the following- fried egg (huge in Indo), rice, tofu, and/or tempe. There are other dishes and each region has its own specialties, but those are the basics. Malaysian food tends to0 be similar to Indonesian food with some additional types of noodles. Once again, varies by region and I am simplifying. Also in Malaysia there are large Chinese and Indian populations so those cuisines are widely available in the bigger cities. This is what I have been living on! I love the Ma Po Tofu (only found it in KL) and in the Cameron Highlands we had this awesome steamboat where you get 2 kinds of broth and loads of raw meat and veggies and cook it in the broth. It is all you can eat and there were 6 of us so we had quite the feast. Here in Penang I had some great dim sum and a terrific wan ton noodle soup. For Indian I quite like roti canai for breakfast. It is a flatbread kind of like a pancake served with curry sauce for about 50 cents. There is loads of briyani and tandoori and many buffets where you get a plate of rice and pick from the random food on display. Tonight I tried the banana leaf where you get rice and about 5 different kinds of veggies with a bit of dhal soup served on...wait for it... a banana leaf. As much as I am looking forward to Thai food, I am totally going to miss all of this!

OK, I guess that is all. More from Thailand! Keep the comments coming please! I love them.

Pic is sunset on Langkawi and the rest of my Malaysia pics are up:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/Malaysia#

And into Malaysia

2009-01-10T02:49:00.000-08:00

Hello again!

So I made it safely and uneventfully into Malaysia. I spent the first day and a half in Kuala Lumpur (which means "muddy confluence"- random tidbit). I quite liked KL. I mean its a city but I thought a nice one. None of the other travelers I've met since seemed to like it much, but then again, they weren't coming from Jakarta :). The first day I wadered around a bit and had terrific Ma Po tofu (loads of Indian and Chinese people in Malaysia so there are many restaurants from both). I had (and am still not over) this terrible cold so I crashed early. The next day I did the hop on hop off bus tour of KL which I found very interesting. I went to the National Museum and learned about Malaysian history (it was conquered by the Portugeuese, then the Dutch, and then the English before gaining independence in the 1950's). And then I made plans to head to Taman Negara the following day.
I went back and forth about going to Taman Negara because it is the rainy season and I'd read that leeches are rampant at this time of year. But in the end I couldn't resist a visit to the 130 million year old rainforest. It really is "the" National Park in Malaysia (in fact, Taman Negara means "National Park"). On the bus ride there (4 hour bus and then 3 hours on a wooden longboat to reach the park) I met Tess and Lauren from England and Felix from New Zealand and Dustin from the US. This became the TN crew. We arrived late so we just had dinner in a floating restaurant on the river and grabbed a few beers (expensive beers- Muslim country). The next day we headed into the park to do the Canopy tour which is a series of swinging bridges hanging up to 50 meters off the ground. Pretty neat. We followed that with a hike through the jungle and then Felix, Dustin and I got ready to spend the night in the jungle. They have these structures called hides that are near natural salt licks in the jungle. For 5 ringets (about $1.50) you can sleep in one. So we hiked 4 km to one of them for the night. We had the place to ourselves with the exception of a giant lizard (quite loud) and a spider the size of my head which resided in the bathroom. Dustin and I were spared leeches (although we saw loads! They sit on leaves and wait and latch onto your shoes as you walk past) but Felix had one in his shoe. We took photos of the bloodsucker before getting it off of him. He took it quite well (and they were his favorite socks...). Sleep was hard to come by since there are no mattresses- just wooden beds, but it was really neat to spend the night in the jungle. In the morning an animal (I think it was a tapir) fed just beneath the hide and we sat and listened to it. That night we went on a 4WD night safari and saw 6 slow loris, a leopard, a frog and a bunch of birds. Awesome!

Lauren, Tess and I took the shuttle to the Cameron Highlands the next day and Felix and Dustin headed back to KL. Cameron Highlands is higher in elevation so cooler which is nice. Today I did a jungle hike and tomorrow I think we are going to hit up a tea plantation, butterfly farm, strawberry farm, and some other local sights. Plus I need to sort out getting to Thailand. The Thai government decided to change the visa structure so you only get 15 days coming overland. So now I need to fly to get 30 days. I'm not happy about it. And they did it very quietly (thank you Lauren and Tess!). It isn't even noted on the US State Dept website. Ah well. I'll sort it out.

No pics just now but I'll try to add one later. Over n out!

A taste of Java

2009-01-02T21:34:00.000-08:00

Salamat Siang and Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a terrific holiday!

After the Gilis I spent 2 long days traveling from Lombok back to Bali and then I took a plane to Surabaya followed by a bus to Solo and when no accomodation could be found there, a train to Yogyakarta (pronounced Jogjakarta or Jogja for short). Jogja, like Solo was completely packed with Javanese people on holiday (mostly from Jakarta) for New Years, but luckily I was able to find a room. Traveling in Java is very different from Bali and the Gilis. Far fewer peaople speak English and Westerners are definitely few and far between. It was cool because I have felt like I have gotten to see some of the "real life" Indonesian people, but it has also posed some challenges. Women traveling alone attract a LOT of attention. Most of it is harmless, but you literally can't walk 10 feet without hearing the cries of "hello miss (or missus or mister)" and "where are you going?" "where are you from?", and of course "do you need transport?". Today I was stopped by a group of Muslim women who had me pose in pictures with each of them. When I was hanging out with other travelers, the attention decreased about 90%. Like I said, interesting.

So Jogja. I didn't love Jogja. It was totally packed with people and many of the sits were closed while I was there due to the Muslim New Year (Dec 29 this year). The Water Palace was pretty cool. Oh and everyone there is trying to get you to buy batik and most people who come up and speak English and pretend to be your new best friend are trying to get you into a batik shop (the only official one, or my family's, etc). I met a erally nice Indonesian man named Ibnu who took me out to the beach on his scooter to see the tradtional New Year celebration. Unfortunately it was canceled due to rain, but we got to see some of the chanting and puppet performances on the way. The highlight of my time in Java came when I was in Jogja. I took a day trip to Borobordur. We left at 5 AM so we got to Borobordur at 6 AM before the crowds. Borobordur is a Hindu temple complex that was built between 750 and 850 AD and was abandoned shortly after completion. Volcanic eruptions covered the temples but they were discovered and restored and now rank with Angkor Wat as one of the most amazing temple ruins in SE Asia. The temple complex is surrounded by volcanoes and thick forest. It is truly amazing to see. We also went to the temples at Prambanan, but after Borobordur, they were anticlimactic.

On New Years eve day I took a train to Jakarta. I arrived in the early evening and met a Dutch couple, Valter and Kari at dinner. The three of us joined the thousands of Jakartans heading to the National Monument for New Years. We arrived at 11:30 (after weaving through more people, buses, and motorbikes than can comfortably fit on one roadway) and waited for the excitement at midnight. We were quite surprised when midnight came and went and nothing happened. No fireworks (save for some families lit), no cheering, no acknowledgement whatsoever. We yelled Happy New Year and all but that was it. About 12:30 most people startde to leave so we went back to our hotel area and went to a bar and watched Indonesian teens butcher American and Dutch pop songs (Indonesia was a Dutch colony until the 1950's). I've been here in Jakarta for 2 days since New Years and have walked much of the city and took a day trip to the botanical gardens in Bogor. Tomorrow I head to Malaysia.

I have posted all of my Indonesia pictures. It took forever (slow connection) so I have not had time to caption them. Sorry there are so many, but I am using Picasa as my backup for photos. At a later date the plan is to delete a bunch and/or put together a highlights album. Here's the link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/Indonesia#

Ah the Gilis....

2008-12-28T02:05:00.000-08:00

Since it has been so long since my last post, I will spare you all the day by day recap (I think). Oh and Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful time with your families and friends and eating loads and working none!

So my friends Susette and Lars and I decided that we shouldn't tell anyone about the Gilis so it stays just like it is. I'm totally breaking the pact. Keep it on the DL will you?

First stop was Gili Trawangan. Trawangan is known as the party island of the three and it definitely has the best nightlife. I had met Lars and Susette (they are from Germany) and Bags from Oz on the ferry over. They became my Gilis posse. It was great fun! So the Gilis are three small (you can walk around Trawangan, the biggest one, in less than 2 hours) islands off the coast of Lombok which is the next island to the East of Bali. The islands are completely free of the rains that plague the other islands during the rainy season (now) and are blessed with clear blue water, white sand beaches, and abundant marine life. Everything revolves around the beach and the hotels and restaurants have absolutely everything you could want- cold drinks, snacks, exposed chairs on the sand, covered chairs on the sand, covered platforms with pillows to sit on while looking out at the beach and enjoying your snacks and/or drinks. Nothing is rushed. You can order one soft drink and sit there for four hours reading, lounging, and enjoying the scenery and no one bothers you or pressures you into ordering more. Susettte, Lars, Bags and I stayed at Edy's homestay which is behind the main strip of beach bars and hotels. This was perfect because we were right in the middle of the action in a 5 minute walk, but far enough away to not be kept awake all night by the DJs when we were done for the evening. Oh and there are no motorized vehicles on the Gili Islands. Just horse carts, bikes, or walking. No dogs either which was a change from Bali. Loads of cats though and none had a full tail- we never did figure that one out. Every night one of the bars on the beach hosts the "party" where everyone who is out for a big night goes. Our favorite of the bars was Rudy's as the local guys who work there are hysterical. So we had to hit up Rudy's Friday night party our second night. The days were spent relaxing on or near the beach. I did a dive one morning and the highlights were seeing a turtle as we entered and then a large (about 1.5 meter) white fin shark while down there. Definitely the biggest one I've ever seen while diving! One day Lars, Susette and I did an all day snorkeling trip around all three islands in a glass bottom boat. Not a bad way to spend the day! I planned to spend 4 nights doing 2 islands and 5 nights later I was still on Trawangan! It is just how things go on the Gilis. They also had movie bungalows where you can watch DVDs as long as you order food or drink. Every night they project 2 movies on the screen and have mats and pillows to lounge on as you watch. Since copyright laws do not apply, I saw Twilight and Changeling while I was there :).

After 4 nights on Trawangan, I did a day trip to Gili Meno, the smallest and quietest island with the best beaches (the islands are each about a 20 minute boat ride away from one another so island hopping is super easy). There I went to the Bird Park and saw many birds from all over Indonesia and beyond. They also had a kimodo dragon which was good for me since I am not going to make it to Kimodo (4 days one way). I met a great Irish couple in Meno and they were my crew on Gili Air (the third island where I spent my last 3 nights) until Susette and Lars came the day after I did. Gili Air is a nice medium between the party scene and crowd at Trawangan and the complete chill of Meno. We spent more beach time and dropped by the island's Christmas party on the 24th. Lars and Susette opted to stay as far from civilization (the main strip) as possible but their bungalow was in the perfect place for the sunset to make us a private show for my last night on the islands. It was amazing (and of course I took like 40 pics)! I had my own little bungalow on Air with a hammock on the deck for afternoon reading. Loved it! I'm not usually a lie around and veg for a week type of person, but it was terrific to do it in the Gilis (and I walked around all 3 islands, swam a bunch, and did the hike over the hill on Trawangan to the Sunset bar- which is only open for 2 hours everyday at sunset- thanks, I feel less lazy now).
It was sad to leave Susette and Lars (Bags had gone a few days before), but we're meeting back up there in 5 years (right Susette??).

So, after the Gilis I spent 2 very long days (and one long night) traveling from Lombok to Bali to Java. This took me on a little boat, shuttle bus, big ferry, another shuttle, airplane, night bus, and a train. And now I am in Java. It definitely feels different here! Must less touristy! And very few people speak English. I was lucky to find a room here in Yogyagkarta (pronounced Jogjakarta) as New Year is a big holiday here too. All rooms are marked up and most places are full. So far I like the town though! Tomorrow I'm going to explore the old temples and parks here in town and Tuesday I head to Borobodur which is often mentioned in the same breath as Angkor Wat as far as old temple ruins go. Should be fun! I think I will stay here until New Years.

Hope you all have a wonderful New Years Eve!! Tell me all about it! Miss you!!

Oh and the pic is from Gili Trawangan. I took it when I looked up from my book and realized that I was sitting in a Corona ad. It doesn't get much better than that!

So long Western world, hello Bali!

2008-12-15T22:28:00.000-08:00

Selamat sore,

I hope the holiday season is treating everyone well. I'm spared from the craziness here in Bali (Hinduism is the dominant religion here) and I don't mind at all! So what's been going on with me...

My travel day was long and uneventful except that I was forced into buying an onward ticket from Indonesia or JetStar would not check me in. So I am leaving from Jakarta on January 4, unless I change it. So, 3 hours to Melbourne, 2 hour layover, and 5 hours to Bali later I arrived. I was glad I'd picked up a Lonely Planet and knew that there was an official taxi window with set prices at the Bali airport as "official" drivers tried to charge me double before I found the window. Since I arrived late at night, I had called and reserved a room in touristy Kuta. I only spent one day in Kuta and that was plenty for me. Everyone wants to sell you transport, sarongs, dresses, massage, etc. It is like that other places, but they are not as pushy as in Kuta. The beaches are not so nice this time of year- lots of trash and dead fish washing up. It does look like a good place to learn to surf, but I opted for wandering about. There are loads of tourists in Kuta though- definitely a hotspot for Western visitors.

After my day and 2 nights in Kuta I took a shuttle to Sanur on the East Coast and hopped on a boat 12 km off the coast to a small island called Nusa Lembogan. What a terrific decision! The island has only 7000 people on it and since it is the off season it is pretty quiet. I met an English and an Australian girl on the boat and we stayed together at this really nice hotel overlooking the ocean. It is definitely the nicest place I have stayed thus far (Jody, it reminded me of Pelican Eyes). I spent 3 days in Lembogan. The first we wandered up the beach. The second I walked to Mushroom Bay and then down to the village of Lembogan. Then I booked scuba diving for the following day and did a quick refresh in the pool. Later we hung out by our Infiniti pool and watched the daylight fade. My dives the next day (there were 2 of them) were fantastic! The first spot we saw loads of colorful fish and coral. The second was my first drift dive and we were lucky to see a miniature seahorse as well as the giant sunfish, the Mola Mola (totally out of season) plus more coral, fish, etc. A Spanish couple I met on the boat joined our crew (we hung with a Finnish couple staying at Ware Ware with us) for the evening. The next day I headed back to Sanur on the public boat and Hollie, the English girl, and I went to Ubud.

Ubud is the cultural area of Bali located in the center. It is surrounded by hills and rice fields and is lovely. I went to the Monkey Forrest the first day and saw loads of grey monkeys. They are very used to people feeding them so a baby grabbed my leg hoping for some food and scared me silly (to the amusement of the other tourists nearby). I then went for a walk through rice fields to a few artisan villages and got lost for awhile (literally) in the fields. Yesterday Hollie and I chartered a car and driver to take us around. We saw the Elephant Cave and Temple and then Temple of the Rock (really visually stunning). We also stopped at an painters' enclave, batik weaving shop, bone carver, and a coffee plantation. All very interesting. Later we went up to Kintamani and had some great views of the volcano Batur and nearby Lake Batur. On the way back we stopped at rice terraces. Quite a great day! Today Hollie headed off to the Gili Islands and I stayed. I had a $5 one hour massage and tonight I am going to see one of the tradidional Balinese dances.

Bali is amazingly inexpensive. Although some rooms don't come with flushing toilets (you have to pour water down them) or hot water (but it is warm enough that it isn't an issue). The people are very friendly and always smile at you (and then often give the ubiquitous inquiry "Transport?"). Hinduism is quite visible with offerings in front of every doorway three times a day. I'm trying to pick up some Indonesian words and phrases. I haven't needed them thus far but I likely will in Java.

I guess that is it for now. I think tomorrow I will start making my way East to Lombok- the next island over. Miss you! Keep me updated.

St

Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?

2008-12-07T16:50:00.000-08:00

So that question was painted on the back of a campervan I saw and it made me laugh. Anyway, wow, my time in New Zealand is nearing an end. Tomorrow I fly to Bali. This month has flown by! Before I start with the recap (and I will try and be succinct- I've done so much), a couple of random things from my head... Firstly I don't think I've talked much about the people I've met on the trip. They are awesome! And I keep running into people I'd met previously in the trip which is super fun. Yesterday the world got even smaller when I ran into an Irish girl I had shared a hostel room with in China near the Tibetan border last April. I'm going to her and her boyfriend's place tonight for dinner. Good times. Some more random tidbits about New Zealand. It was the first country in the world to give women the right to vote in 1893. Pretty cool. Also, since I'm so far South, the days are long. Down in Dunedin right now it is light out until after 10 PM. I think I had a few more, but I am drawing a blank so on with the recap.

We were able to get out of Franz Joseph the day after the flooding. So then I went to Wanaka which I loved! It is this terrific alpine village on a huge blue lake with snow capped mountains in the background. I went to Mount Aspiring National Park and did a day hike to a glacier overlook with loads of waterfalls and more snowy peaks. Quite a nice place to have a sandwich. After 2 nights in Wanaka I headed to Queenstown. That was reunion central as I randomly ran into 6 or so people I had met at varying other times on the trip. After a quick night there I headed to Te Anau for a day trek on the Kepler Track. It was grey and drizzly so the views were not so great. The following day I did a day trip to the fabled Milford Sound. I was the only person going from Te Anau so I had a private guided tour of the road to Milford with a conservationist. He knew all about the local animals and plants and we did quite a few short walks and drank directly from an alpine stream on the way back. It was the tastiest water I've had- maybe ever. I did a boat cruise on the sound seeing waterfalls and peaks including one of the Mitre which is one of the highest peaks on earth to come directly from the water. We also saw a bunch of sea lions. The following day I headed back to Queenstown and then to Arrowtown, an old gold mining town, to wander about. Back on the Magic bus the next day I went to Dunedin where I stayed at a really cool hostel that used to be a bishop's residence. It is now called Hogwartz and since it was stormy out I watched a Harry Potter movie to be in the spirit of the place. Met up with a friend from the bus that night and went out for a bit and the next morning we were off to Lake Tekapo. Lake Tekapo is a glacial lake that is a super clear color of blue due to the glacial residue once it moved on. Mount Cook, the largest peak in New Zealand, was spotted at Lake Pukaki on the way in. The night skies in Tekapo are famed for being great for star gazing so a group of us braved the cold to check them out. The next day I was meant to hike in Mount Cook National Park, but another storm foiled the plans. So I spent the day playing games and watching movies with some of the other Magic bus peeps.

Christchurch was the next and my last stop on the Magic bus. I didn't stick around though, I caught another bus up to Kaikoura which is known for its dolphin and whale population. It is a cute little seaside town- very chill and relaxing. I ran into some American guys I'd caught a ride with to the trailhead near Te Anau and had dinner with them (local seafood- yum!). The next day we did a dolphin swim. Seriously, I think it is one of the coolest things I have ever done (y'all know how I love dolphins). They take you out in a boat to a pod with hundreds of dolphins and you are in a wetsuit and have snorkel gear and when they get you to right where the pod is going, you slide off the boat and join the pod. The dolphins are totally wild so you swim and try to act like a dolphin and basically look and sound like a total moron so that they will be interested and play with you. When they start to swim off, we get back on the boat and follow and then repeat about 5 times. I don't think I can describe what it is like to be swimming and looking into deep, cold, murky water seeing nothing and then, out of nowhere, there are 5 dolphins about a foot from your face swimming in circles through the water. I'm so glad I did it! We also saw a sperm whale on the way in and some albatross as well. I headed back to Christchurch which is where I am now. Christchurch is the biggest city on the South Island and I quite like it. It was created to be an English Christian settlement and originally men needed a letter of recommendation from their church to be allowed to move here. Luckily, things have changed.

Um, I guess that is it. Time to leave Western civilization behind. I'm looking forward to it, but of course there is so much more I would like to do here. Maybe I'll come back. We'll see. Oh and my fave wines I've tried are the 2007 Forrest Sauvignon Blanc (Marlbourough) and the Rockburn Pinot Noir (Otago). Beer wise, I like Monteith's Original and Speights.

Photos are uploaded. I'm captioning now. Here is the link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/SouthIslandNewZealand#

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T13:20:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are all eating loads and having a great time with your families. To everyone in my family, I miss you, have some turkey for me. It isn't all that prevalent in New Zealand (lamb and venison however...).

I spent my Thanksgiving in a gorgeous alpine town called Wanaka. The scenery was absolutely stunning! Clear blue lake, snow capped peaks, a glacier and waterfalls. Will try and upload a pic next time I am online.

St

Trapped! In Franz Joseph!

2008-11-24T16:51:00.000-08:00

Kia Ora once again,

I'll get to the title of this post in a few. Firstly, back to the recap. The wine tour was a lot of fun. New Zealand wineries give 5-9 tastes each (at least the three we went to) which was nice. Everyone else on my bus was from Belgium, so Tom, I got to see how life is like for you every day (not understanding a word of Flemish and all). Later that evening I went out in Picton with some people from the hostel and met some others out. Good times. The next morning I headed to Nelson on the Magic bus once again. Met a few people on the way and booked my day hike in Abel Tasman the following night. Had to leave the hostel at 7 AM (doing New Zealand rapidly doesn't allow for much in the way of sleeping in) and we took a bus to a boat to the drop off for the 20 km hike on the famed Abel Tasman trail from Barks' Bay to the start of the trek. Unfortunately the weather wasn't so great. It was kind of like Portland, grey and drizzly. But it was still a lovely walk. The next morning I was off to Greymouth. We spent the whole rainy day on the bus with a few quick stops to see a seal colony, do a short hike, and see the highly overrated (in my mind) pancake rocks. There isn't much to do in Nelson so most of us opted for the Monteith's brewery tour followed by a bar-b-que and out to see some live jazz. Early the following morning we were off to Franz Joseph where I was looking forward to a half day glacier hike with 2 hours of it actually on the glacier with crampons. The weather gods are not smiling on us however. Heavy rains caused all treks to be canceled so we spent the afternoon in the movie lounge at the hostel. This morning we were geared up for a 7:30 AM departure to Wanaka but the rain has caused the roads to flood so we are still in Franz Joseph in the rain. I know there is a lovely glacier nearby, I just wish I could see it... But I'm optimistic that tomorrow the roads will clear and I'll be off to do more hiking and exploring in beautiful SW South Island!

Random fact about New Zealand- there are 10 times as many sheep as people. And nearly as many deer. We saw a film about how men used to jump out of helicopters and tackle deer back about 20 years ago. And now you can understand why New Zealand is the pioneering country for skydiving and bungee jumping...

Until next post. Keep the comments coming!

PS- pics are posted. All unfortunately and editing and captions are needed, but check them out if you wish:

http://picasaweb.google.com/stacyb/FijiNewZealand#

A quick trip through the North Island

2008-11-19T13:21:00.000-08:00

Kia Ora!

I guess I'll start with a brief recap of the last two days in Fiji. The meke at Smuggler's was alright but the fire dancing was brilliant! My last day in Fiji I went on a day cruise around the Mamucas. Spent a few hours on an island snorkeling and hanging out and the afternoon on a boat seeing the outer islands. Made me a little sad I didn't spend a few days there, but I am happy that I got to see much more of the main island than most travelers do. After one more evening at Smuggler's with my Fiji friend crew (some of whom I hope to meet up with here on the South Island) I flew out to Auckland.

My first afternoon in Auckland I just wandered around downtown and discovered the Asian food alley (yum!). The second day I did the 16km Coast to Coast trail which inclded climbs of One Tree Hill and Mount Eden (both over 600 ft). That night I went out with my Kiwi roommate for a bit to the Sky Tower area to see all the trndy casino goers. Early the next morning I hopped on the Magic Bus heading South. Magic is great as it is full of travelers going the same direction so it is way easy to meet people. Plus you can hop off and spend a few nights in many different places and catch another bus going through. Our first stop was at Waitomo Caves where we did a cave tour and then took a slow boat ride into a dark cave where there are thousands of glowworms that light up the ceiling. Really cool! We also went to New Zealands only alpaca rabbit shearing center... interesting but sad. That evening we went to Roturua where a bunch of us went to a Maori village and then to a hangi (feast with food cooked all day underground). The village was interesting but kind of cheesy. The feast was good though as was the company. The group of us went out later that night. Rotura is in the midst of a geothermal area and always smells like rotten eggs. Lovely, eh?

The next morning (I can't keep track of days of the week, sorry), we headed down to Taupo. On the way we stopped at a geiser that they make every day at 10:15 AM using soap (random). It is neat though, shoots up 20 feet. Next stop was at a geothermal park. Really stinky but the colors and pools are worth not breathing through your nose for an hour or so. Then we were on to Taupo. Taupo is where most people sky dive and bungy jump. I passed on them both but we watched some bungy jumpers and most of my friends threw themselves out of a plane. I got to hear all the stories that night. I planned to stay in Taupo for a few days to hike the famed Tongariro Crossing which is a 20km hike that goes over Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately bad weather (winds and snow) caused the pass to be closed when I was there so I went ahead and left Taupo the next morning. After a grey, rainy day on the bus, the sky cleared as we hit "windy Wellington". We got to experience the city's nickname firsthand from the lookout over the city where gusts had people hanging onto the railings. My English buddy Susan and I spent the afternoon wandering around Welly and taking the cable car to the Botanical Gardens (thanks for the tip Liz!). That night Susan, David (Ireland) and I cooked a communal dinner in the hostel. All of the hostels in New Zealand (that I have been to so far) have great kitchens so it is easy to buy food and cook. Later a group of us watched LOTR The Two Towers in the TV lounge. Had to be done while in NZ :).

So I guess now we are at Tuesday which is when I hopped on the ferry and headed down to the South Island. I have 3 weeks here and am trying to sort out my itinerary (but it is a challenge, I am much better at just going and seeing what happens). The ferry drops off in Picton where I have spent the last couple of days. Yesterday I took a boat out to do some of the 71 km Queen Charlotte Track. Holy views!! I am totally blown away by the scenery in New Zealand. My hike started with a steep 50 minute climb to met the track and then I hiked 12 km to Torea Bay. I could have gome further as I was 2 hours early for my boat, but that was the pickup... This afternoon I am going on a winery tour of the Marlborough region famed for its Sauvingnon Blancs. Tomorrow I head to Nelson and the Abel Tasman Track (do I spend 2 nights or 4??).

That's me caught up. Unfortunately this cybercafe doesn't have USB ports so I can't upload pictures but I'll try to add one to this post later and want to post my North Island pictures next time I have some online time. Maybe Queenstown... who knows...

Congratulations to Andy and Meredith on their engagement!! Hope everyone else is doing fabulously and making plans to come meet me.

Til next post...

Circling Viti Levu

2008-11-10T16:30:00.000-08:00

Bula all,

My time in Fiji is winding down so today I am taking a chill day to update this and hopefully figure out where to sleep when I get to Auckland (and lay by the ocean or pool of course :)). Here's what I've been up to.

I decided to go to the island of Nananu-i-ra just off the north xoast of Viti Levu as it seemed easier to get to than the other island I was considering. So I hopped on a bus from Latouka and 3 hours later found myself in Rakiraki town. There was a taxi waiting to take me to the ferry and it was a quick 20 minutes to the island. Nananu-i-ra is absolutely idyllic! White sand beaches, turquoise waters, pretty much exactly what you think of when you think of Fiji. There were very few people on the island so I had the 4 bed dorn with a kitchen all to myself. I spent the next day and a half swimming in the ocean, walking the beaches, and reading. It was all very relaxing. Too relaxing actually, I got kind of bored. So after 2 nights, it was time to move on (the roach that landed on my head the last morning was a sure sign I'd made the correct decision).

At this point, I was a little disheartened that I had not yet tried kava, the local drink made from mixing dried and crushed roots with water. It is not alcoholic, but mildly narcotic. I need not have worried. I was in the taxi back to Rakiraki (at 8:30 AM) when the driver pulled up next to a road crew who had a bucket of kava and gave us each a coconut bowl full. Kava looks and tastes like muddy water and I have yet to feel an effect other than a mild numbing of the tongue, but hey, when in Fiji... Oh and I am quite partial to the local beer Fiji Bitter. Much nicer than Fiji Gold, but less popular with the tourists.

Anyway, from Rakiraki I headed through the interior of Viti Levu through loads of little villages until I made it to Suva, the biggest city. I'm not a big city fan so I hopped on another bus to Pacific Harbour. Practically as soon as I got off the bus, it started to rain quite hard (OK, it was when I decided to take a walk to the closed dive shop). It rained sporadically all night and the next day. But that was OK because I met CJ and Rich, a British couple who is at the end of their year long excursion. We met at the tiki bar next to the pool with the big warrior head in it (and a slide that comes out the side) and I spent the next afternoon playing cards and drinking beers with them out of the rain. I had my own dorm room in Pac Harbour as well. And the few tourists meant that we became close with the staff of the hostel. Fijians are so amazingly friendly. Everyone smiles and says "Bula" as you walk by. I planned to spend just one or two nights in Pacific Harbour but CJ convinced me to stay a third. They moved to a posh resort for their last week and I tagged along and spent the afternoon by the pool watching the rich tourists and hanging by the ocean. Yesterday though, I decided to move on.

So now I am outside of Nadi on Wailoaloa Beach. The dorm room here is full but it is definitely more of a travelers scene. Last night I went to the kava ceremony at Smuggler's Cove (really a jam session with a bowl of kava in the middle) and hung out with people from Germany, Australia, Brazil, Sweden, England, Argentina, etc. Tonight they are having a meke with fire and knife dancing. And tomorrow, I am spending the day cruising around the Mamuca islands and snorkeling. No diving unfortunately. It is really pricy here. I tried in Pacific Harbour but at both places I called a child answered the phone and said s/he didn't know if a boat was going out the next day. Add that to the closed place I went to in the rain and I decided I can save scuba for a later destination (or two). Thursday I head to New Zealand!

I hope you are all well. Let me know what is going on. And tell me if this was way too much detail and what you'd like to know more about.

The adventure begins

2008-11-04T13:39:00.001-08:00

Bula everyone (yes, I am that cheesy travel blogger who started by saying hello in the native tongue in the country I am in)!

After two weeks of crazy packing, purging and productivity, I am now in Fiji. Getting here took forever as I had a 7 hour layover in LA (thank you for taking me to Islands Briana and Kathleen!) which became a 10 hour layover as there were catering issues with the plane. But we arrived this morning (November 5 here in Fiji) at 7:30 AM. Instead of dealing with the tourist touts at the airport or in downtown Nadi (pronounced Nandi), I hopped on a bus to Latouka, the second largest city in Fiji (totally doesn't feel like it) which is about 30 minutes north of Nadi. Here I am deciding which island backpacker place to make my way to this afternoon. And telling mom I am alive and updating the blog :). Fiji is gorgeous! I haven't seen much of it yet, but what I have is green, hilly, and terrific! I'll definitely have to take some pics.

Nothing else to report since I've only been here for 2 hours. I'm surprisingly awake considering I still am not entirely sure what day it is...

Hope you are all well!
St

Gearing up

2008-09-17T13:38:00.000-07:00

OK. I've given notice at work, found someone to move into the apartment, and things are coming together for my big trip. Unfortunately the happily lost handle on Blogger was taken so I had to add the 17 into the URL. Such is life.

In the next week or so I'll be sending this out to about everyone I have ever met (if you are here, I guess I did that) so everyone will know where to tune in to follow my travels. I'm going to post my tentative itinerary here but I am sure it will change. If you have contacts to share in or near anywhere I am going or tips, suggestions, etc., please feel free to let me know. Also, while I am away, I'm going to want to hear from you all. So please add comments to the blog and send me emails. It is going to be exciting, but it'll be lonely at times as well. Plus I do want to keep up on what is going on with everyone I care about (it isn't ALL about me :)).

Anyway, here is the rough itinerary. Tickets have been purchased as far as Bali:
Depart LAX November 3, 2008
Fiji November 5-13
New Zealand November 13-December 5
Indonesia 3-4 weeks
Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Thailand, Loas, Cambodia, Vietnam) 3 months
India 1 month
Africa (countries TBD) 2 months
South/Central America (countries TBD) 3 months