The Amazing Adventures of Team Jer-Kat

Made it!

2010-07-16T04:50:00.005+10:00

I've been wanting to ride my bike over Highway 20 for ages - and I finally did it!

I left Sunday morning from Lynnwood towards my destination of Colonial Creek. I rode to Snohomish and took the Centennial Trail. The CT is a fantastic trail, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a long trail! From Arlington I turned toward Darrington and just barely missed Mike. I kept on from there to Rockport, and had fantastic views of the Sauk along the way. I stopped for food at the Marblemount BBQ Caboose, and also at the Cascadian Farm fruit stand - both were excellent!

From there I made my way past Newhalem and started through the mountains. The only traffic left on Sunday evening were heading west, which made my passage through the dark and wet tunnels a little less scary. But with much effort I finally found myself at Colonial Creek Campground for the night.

I set up my dismal camp, which included little more than a tent, a sleeping bag, and a sandwich from the IGA in Darrington. It wasn't too long before Mike, Huge, and Huge's son Tyler found me! They brought me fire wood, hot dogs, and above all - beer! They turned my dismal little camp into a fine establishment! It was great to have their company after such a long day.

I awoke the next morning with sore legs and a sore head. But the start out of Colonial Creek definitely got the blood moving. It was a steep climb with strong headwinds to boot! But from the Diablo Lake outlook onward the winds were at my back. The climb up to Rainy Pass and then back up to Washington Pass were arduous. I made a few stops along the way and took in plenty of fluids and food. But I did manage to find a riding partner. Mike, from Redmond?, was going the same was as me toward Spokane. We took pictures of each other at the Washington Pass sign, but on the downhill he totally dropped me! The wind was very gusty now, and with all my gear on the rear of my bike it made for some very squirrely steering. This did not improve my confidence as I descended down curvy roads at 40+mph without guardrails!

I met back up with Mike in Mazama, and we continued together to Winthrop. I needed food, and Mike needed to find a place for the night, so we parted ways there. After a much needed sandwich, I talked to my parents on the phone. They decided they'd start heading my way to pick me up - so the race was on! I really wanted to make it over Loup Loup pass before they caught up, and I nearly did. I was 4 miles shy of the top when I saw my dad in his big white truck. Although I was a bit disappointed to not have made it to the top, I felt pretty good about the day's accomplishment! Plus he was nice enough to bring me some good snacks and beverages to celebrate :)

Overall it was a fantastic bike ride! I would highly recommend riding over Highway 20. The views were unmatchable, the shoulders had ample room, and the drivers were very courteous. In two days I didn't even have a single upset driver. The cherry on top were the fantastic tailwinds coming down Washington Pass and through the Methow Valley!

Day 1: Lynnwood to Colonial Creek
Length - 114 miles
Total Climbing - 4,928 feet

Day 2: Colonial Creek to Loup Loup Pass
Length - 81 miles
Total Climbing - 7,552 feet

Total:
Length - 195 miles
Climb - 12,480 feet

Sunny Seattle

2010-07-09T05:59:00.004+10:00

It's been too long since we posted anything on our blog! We've both been super busy with wedding planning and job hunting/new job. But we're both doing well!

Last night we enjoyed Seattle's warmest day of the year (so far) with Dave and Colleen on Meadowdale Beach. I caught this eagle in multiple exposure carrying off it's catch into the sunset. It was a great way to spend the evening!

I'm Famous!

2010-03-01T16:48:00.003+11:00

I have SO much to catch up on about our travels through South Australia, the Northern Territory, and Tasmania, but for the mean time I wanted to share this news clip!

Kat and I arrived into Honolulu a few hours before the tsunami was going to hit. I called our hostel from the airport and they said to go ahead and come over. When we got there they were evacuating! They offered to store our luggage ... on the ground floor! We refused and instead had to hike with all our stuff a ways up the road. The news crew caught up with me as I was dragging our stuff along.

Quite an adventurous day for us!

Links to:
The Article
The Video Clip

On the Road Again!

2010-02-08T12:04:00.002+11:00

The last week was a bit stressful finishing work, packing up, and preparing to be on the road again. The very worst part was having to say goodbye's to our friends and to Sydney itself. No more swims in the aquamarine waters of Coogee with Georg, and no more cycling along the coast at sunrise with Garth :( But it does feel good to have the stress behind us and to be finally exploring more Australia!

Kat and I ended up packing all night long to make a 6:30am flight to Adelaide. We arrived in Adelaide exhausted but eager to explore! One of our good friends from Sydney, Isobel, happened to have just moved here so it was very good to meet up with her and see her again!

Also, one of Fred and Diane's very good friends, Diaper Bob (sorry Bob, but the Bongiovanni's have immortalized that name for you!) happens to live in Adelaide. We went on a wine tasting tour in the Barossa Valley - which is EXCELLENT - and had an wonderful dinner with both Bob and Isobel.

My expectations of Adelaide have been FAR surpassed. Based on the judgements of other people, I had expected Adelaide to be a quaint country town and a bit on the dull side. This is simply not true. Adelaide is a comfortably sized city with a lot to offer. The city center is planned and flat and contains Botanical Gardens, museums, a university, shops, and many great places for food, beer, and wine. This makes it an ideal place to bicycle about and take in the sights. The city of Adelaide has capitalized on this and provides free bicycle rentals! Kat and I are exploring the city by bike and thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

Adelaide has been a great respite from the busy, crowded, and HUMID Sydney. The wine, dry heat, and gorgeous stone buildings give the city a relaxed and mediteranean feel. I think it's sometimes a bit off the tourist trail, but if you're looking for a great place to stroll through green parks and sample delicious food and wine in patio seating, this is the place to do it.

Too hot

2010-01-23T16:34:00.005+11:00

Today it reached 40C (104F), but was still cloudy and humid. In fact a few drops fell out of the skies a few minutes ago, which immediately vaporized upon landing on any surface. It's a hot day.

I was standing in our kitchen this afternoon sucking down a fruit smoothie when I heard a loud bang and watch liquid and debris flying out of an open shelf a few feet away. My reaction was something like "what the %#@*," which may or may not have been aloud. I inspected the mess and found a huge puddle of brown liquid and a shredded Coke can.

Clearly the can had exploded while on the shelf and sent the contents of that shelf, including 12oz of sticky liquid, flying through the kitchen. I really don't know what else to say, other than it was hell cleaning it up.

Has anyone else ever had a Coke can explode like this?

DNC

2010-01-18T09:53:00.004+11:00

On my birthday I woke up and headed down to the beach to attempt a triathlon. That doesn't sound like an appealing way to spend your own personal holiday, but it was a gorgeous day and the idea wasn't necessarily to race, but to get a feel for the transitions before the real race at the end of the month. Well, it wasn't going to be a race as long as I beat Garth... but that's another story. But swimming, cycling, and running in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney are certainly not the worst way to spend a day...

In any case, two days prior to the race Georg was hit by a car. This unfortunately left him out of the race. And then Ian became very sick, so he was out. Andy took one look at the course and said 'no.' So at the start only Garth and I were left standing. I had eaten way too much Mexican pork and cervesas the night before, and Garth smelled as if he had attempted a human pickling. Out of five people, not one of us was ready for this! What does this say about us?

Garth and I lined up at the beach and then tore our way through the surf towards Wedding Cake Island, located 750m offshore and easily spotted by the 'icing' that birds have generously coated it with. We were actually clocking along fairly well, considering our condition, when Garth stopped and said "ow." I don't like it when Australians say this. What is "ow" to Garth is akin to "holy !*&@*#& #!*@ my leg is gone" for me. It seems that Garth had entangled himself in a Blue Bottle jellyfish.

During a race it's important to remain calm to save energy. I was not doing this. I watched Garth untangle himself and was more than a little shocked when he told me he was okay and that we should continue. We made it another 100m when my arm starting feeling hot. I stopped swimming and realized that I had just been brushed, but rather the Blue Bottle's tentacle had wrapped around my arm a half dozen times and there were around a hundred blue stingers lodged in my skin. It did not feel good.

Up to this point I had not been stung before, and I was not sure what to do. Garth was 50m away and hadn't yet realized I'd stopped, and I decided I needed to do something right away. So I reached down with my right hand, grabbed the tentacle, and started unwrapping. And one good thing happened: my hand was fine! The stingers can't get through the thicker skin of the hand! This cheered me up a bit. But only a bit. Then Garth asked me if I was allergic to stingers, and my mild cheer was lost. I replied that we would soon find out.

It seems that Garth had now been stung again and his tolerance had been met. My tolerance was more or less met when I saw him get stung, so I was absolutely ready to call the swim off. But we called it off 600m out into the open ocean... and now had to cross through these same waters to get back. I doggy paddled for a few minutes so I could constantly watch the surface, but I'm not sure I was even keeping up with the tide. Reluctantly I put my head down and started paddling... and made it to shore alive! (I was not really in danger of dieing, but the chemicals in my brain certainly wouldn't let me believe this)

We stopped off at the lifeguard station to warn them that there's Blue Bottles out there today. The lifeguards all agreed that Garth's stings were the worst they'd ever seen: he had them on both shoulders, his arms, chest, one nipple, and the left side of his face. But they gave us ice and cheered us up as good Aussie lifeguards can always do. It seems that one woman's husband had been whipped in his hanging parts once, which made myself and even Garth feel a lot better about our condition.

And that's how 4 of my friends, and myself, got a DNC for the first Coogee Bay triathlon.

We're so bad at posting!

2010-01-08T12:17:00.002+11:00

So it's been a while ...quite a while... since either of us posted to our blog! But we're still doing great here in Sydney and are looking forward to coming home soon.

A lot has happened since the last time we posted anything! In November my parents, sister, and Mike came and visited us here in Sydney. We did a lot of exploring around Sydney and had a really great time. We also made a trip up north to Port Douglas to see the tropical side of Australia. Queensland is an amazing place! That place is crawling with life and there is so much to see, do, eat, and explore up there. Definitely one of my personal favorite paces in Oz!

Then over Christmas break we had one of Kat's close friends, Juliette, come and stay with us. With summer fully on, it was a great time to go to the beach. Kat and I bought snorkel gear and use them very often in the bays near our home. We've been lucky enough to see boxfish, blue grouper, octopus, squid, cuddlefish, port jackson sharks, whiting, needlefish, parrot fish, and countless others that I don't know the name.

For Christmas we told ourselves 'when in Rome' and donned Santa hats and made our way to the beach. Santa hats do not make for good beach gear, and I had mine off and myself in the water to cool down in about 5 minutes :) For New Years we fought the crowds to see the fireworks display in Royal National Park - a prime viewing spot for the bridge. It was SO crowded, but everyone was in good spirits and the event turned out to be a lot more mild than I expected. Everyone was crammed together, but most people seemed patient enough.

Recently, while neither of us had to be back at work yet, I took Kat on an overnight trip in the Blue Mountains. We went on a route that took us past great waterfalls, scenic vistas, bird life, the good kind of insects, and unfortunately leeches. I wish I had a picture of one of these bloodsuckers, but when either of us found one we would go into a 'get it off! get it off!' dance until the leech was removed and ground into the forest floor.

Also visiting, and still in Oz, is our friend Elizabeth and her boyfriend Anrik. They came over from New Zealand and we'll have this next weekend together before they have to go home. They're up in the Blue Mountains at the moment, and I'm sure they're enjoying it. It's hard not to when you're on vacation!

Anyways, there's WAY too many good photos to post all of them, but hopefully a few from the past couple months will give a good idea of what we've been up to.

Cheers!

Big Storm!

2009-10-10T10:37:00.002+11:00

This week a big storm came along the coast of NSW. There were gale force winds coming from a SE direction which make for some intense swells! Since Coogee is a fairly protected bay, the swells were manageable and some surfers were making it out. But in less protected beaches like Bronte it was completely unmanageable. I went for a run down to Bronte to check it out and the entire bay was nothing but foam!

I did get the camera down to snap a few shots of Coogee:

Two and three wheeled flyin'

2009-10-04T12:19:00.003+11:00

The CBD of Sydney is a fairly congested place. Riding a bike through it is nearly always an adventure. But the other weekend Sydney hosted the major Australian marathon event and very nearly shut down the entire CBD for its route! I started fantasizing about getting up early that morning and flying around the empty streets on my bike before the marathon started, until I received an email calling out for volunteers.

Apparently the 'wheelies' (men in wheelchairs) who were participating in the marathon needed escorts, and cyclists are the best suited for this role. But the email warned that the wheelies average almost 30 km/hr for the event and reach speeds of up to 50 km/hr, so it's not for the faint-of-heart. I responded without hesitation and found myself escorting the fastest marathon wheelie on the planet: Kurt Fearnley (his 3 paralympic gold medals back up this claim).

Kurt needed the assistance of two cyclists: one out front looking for potholes, and another nearer him relaying the information. This is because he's got his head down, pounding out a 28 km/hr pace with his arms. I have to say that I feel that I'm a fairly fit cyclist, but keeping up with Kurt for the duration of the marathon was taxing. And I have the advantage of leverage and gears! Clearly, Kurt is an amazing athlete.

Flying across the Harbour Bridge at 60 km/hr and through the empty streets of Sydney, while escorting a world class athlete, is definitely going down as one of my favorite experiences in Australia. I wish I had photos to share, but obviously taking pictures while keeping up with Kurt is quite impossible. However, since Kurt is such a renowned athlete and he set a new record for the Sydney marathon, there are plenty of photos and even videos floating around where you can spot a Cougs jersey flying by.

How?

2009-09-08T16:58:00.003+10:00

Had to share this one!

Also, it turns out Lance Armstrong is coming down under! And just in time for my birthday...

http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/news--and--media/latestnewsreleases/lancearmstrongconfirmed

Lots of green and blue

2009-09-04T13:33:00.002+10:00

This last weekend a friend of Kat's and mine, Chris, visited from Wellington. We did a quick tour of Sydney and then Chris and I set off for a few days in the Blue Mountains.

We hiked out to Mt Solitary, which is really a butte in the huge valley outside of Katoomba. The views from the top were stunning, and we made it there right at sunset. Unfortunately we didn't cover a lot of ground the first day since it took some time to travel from Sydney to the trailhead. So the second day was a bit of a long hike traversing the entire length of Mt Solitary and then across the valley floor back to Katoomba.

We managed a successful bushwack that cut off quite a bit of distance for us, but the vegetation was very thick and we both received a fair share of scratches - but thankfully no leeches!

We overnighted the second night at a fantastic hostel in Katoomba, the Flying Fox, and had a good sampling of as many Aussie beers the local pub had to offer. The next morning we went for a nice day hike around Wentworth Falls and found a number of spectacular waterfalls.

The season is definitely changing here as I saw plenty of flowers throughout the hikes! I even found a pine tree that produces flowers and another pine tree that had pea pods.

View all

Get your own

South of Sydney

2009-08-24T11:53:00.005+10:00

I've been trying to get Kat to write a post for some time... but you might notice that it's not working! So in the mean time I thought I'd put up a few pictures from this last weekend.

This last weekend, a friend of mine went out of town and was kind enough to let me borrow his car for the duration of his ski trip. It offered Kat and I the rare ability to easily travel around Sydney but it offered me the great opportunity to drive a 6-speed French-built right-hand-drive car. It was a blast!

At first we did the very boring but but necessary shopping trips to the grocery store and Ikea. But yesterday it was decided that we must utilize the opportunity to see things we normally wouldn't get to since we're limited to public and bicycle transportatio. We drove south.

South of Sydney the land opens up. First you drive through Royal National Park, the second oldest national park in the world. We drove straight through but noted the turn off for Garie Beach for out return drive. South of RNP are a series of coastal towns all the way to Wollongong. In one such town was holding its monthly market. We stopped in and found lots of brick-a-brack and fresh foods for sale. It was a very lively market and the backdrop of the Tasman Sea was very refreshing.

Back on the road we made a pit stop at the Scarborough Hotel. We had read that the Scarborough was 'the best pub in Australia' and I wanted to check that statement. So many restaurants and hotels make that kind of claim so it's easy to cast them off, but then again, sometimes it's true.

It's difficult to claim that the Scarborough is definitively the best pub in Oz until I can perform a larger sampling (which I'm certainly striving for), but it would be hard to believe many exist of significantly higher quality. Walking in it is like any other Aussie bar: you order your beer and food at the counter and go to find a seat. But when you turn around to find a table you find that the bar extends down a flight of stairs to a backyard filled with tables and benches. Kat and I spent an hour sitting on a bench high over the ocean watching migratory whales pass. Maybe there's a bar in the outback where kangaroos serve your beer, but if not, I find it hard to believe there's many finer places to sit back with a cold one.

On the way back we pulled into Garie Beach. It's a great stretch of sand with tree covered headlands surrounding it. There were few people on the beach with most of them either surfers or fishermen. Garie Beach was a great place to relax, and we did so until the sun went behind the hills and it was time to drive back north.

Awesome Picture

2009-07-16T15:33:00.004+10:00

Yeah for bikes and public transport!

Better Late than Never!

2009-06-30T21:28:00.002+10:00

So....I'm a little behind in blogging. But let me tell you about Canberra:

The last couple of weeks I've been in Canberra for work. Canberra is the capital city of Australia so it houses Parliament and all the other government offices that are necessary to run a country. I'm always interested in government so being surrounded by it and it's workers, and I promise there's no avoiding political discussions here, has been interesting. I'd also like the quickly add that anything you hear from Senator Fielding, especially relating to climate change, should be quickly disregarded. I have a tip from an extremely good source that the man is an absolute nincompoop.

There's only a few hundred thousand residents in Canberra and most of them are either white collar public servants, students, or support workers (hotels, restaurants, etc). This makes Canberra have a feeling of affluence. Also, since the entire city is planned, it has a very clean and extremely roomy feel to it. Roads are wide and lots are quite large. The cycling in Canberra is EXCELLENT! In fact, the rural areas surrounding Canberra are very good for cycling as well. I went for a nice ride last weekend and saw kangaroos and wallabies!

But the best aspect for this mid sized city is the availability of cultural institutions. What other city in the world with only a few hundred thousand residents houses national museums, national libraries, national galleries, or an impressive war memorial? Kat and I took the time to visit them all and they were very impressive.

One of my favorite things about Australia, and so far Canberra has been the best place for it, are the birds. There huge flocks of sulfer-crested cockatoos and gallahs here, and I've also seen black cockatoos, swamp hens, black swans, native ducks, cormorants, and more than half a dozen varieties of lorikeets, rozellas, and parrots. These colorful birds seem so out of place here in Canberra where there's sometimes frost in the morning, but the cockatoos are still there every morning, rolling in the frosty grass.

You may have heard negative things about Canberra so you may be wondering why I'm so positive about it, but it's because it really is a nice place. Many people will snub their noses at Canberra in favor of Sydney and it's beaches and harbor, but in my opinion Sydney is sometimes overrated while Canberra is even further underrated. Perhaps if you visit Australia you may not take the time to make it out to Canberra, but let it be known that this is a nice city indeed!

I don't have pictures of Canberra online yet, but here's some pictures from my last trip into the Blue Mountains. It was a great trip with spectacular waterfalls and I even spotted a dingo!

Attempt at the Blue Gums

2009-05-25T09:58:00.000+10:00

I'm used to an 'attempt' being that I couldn't climb high enough due to weather or some other unforeseeable obstacle. This was my first abort due to not being able to descend low enough.

This last weekend I tried to walk out to a grove or very large eucalypts known as the Blue Gum Forest. It's an incredible scenic area that's only a 2 hour train ride from Sydney. I checked the weather before I left but the weatherman failed me miserably - when I arrived in Blackheath I was greeted with torrential rain.

Not being one to walk away from the wet I made my way down the canyon and was greeted by a very spectacular waterfall: Bridal Veil Falls. It was amazing to see the water gushing over the cliff top but seeing it as the base was truly epic. The water was smashing down with so much force as the bottom that is was creating extremely heavy winds and blowing water sideways. Trees that were 50 meters from the base were being blown sideways!

But this is where my problems began. I had to cross the river near the base and managed to do so but not without getting fairly wet. I continued on until I came to the first of 4 river crossing my map showed and decided I could go no further without taking serious (and stupid) risk. So I found a nicely hidden campsite to wait until the morning. The weather never did improve and while the water level did subside a bit I decided it was still too dangerous to consider crossing and made my way back to Blackheath to head home.

But the best thing about failures is that they almost always teach you a lot more than when you succeed. First, I learned that a homemade tuna-can stove works really well and it doesn't matter if it gets wet. Second, I learned that one should be very cautious around rivers in Australia. What if I was on the other side of that river before the rain started coming down? I'd be stuck for sure. Since the trees here are almost entirely Eucalypts, there's not the option of a tree bridge. So always remember to bring extra food and your ten essentials!

Kristin and Mike visit - and so can you!

2009-05-20T18:51:00.000+10:00

Kristin and Mike came to Australia for vacation for the past week and a half or so. They were lucky enough to make it up to Cairns, but they also spent some time with Kat and I here in Sydney and out in the Blue Mountains. We had an awesome time and it was great to show someone around Sydney and to share some pie eating experiences.

The first weekend we went around Sydney and saw the best sites. The ladies did a lot of catching up which left plenty of time for Mike and I to bond over the ancient sport of beer pong.

This last weekend we took an overnight trip out in the Blue Mountains. We started in Katoomba after we enjoyed a delicious mushroom-ginger-soy-rice pie (sounds weird, but was maybe my favorite pie to date). We hiked out to what's called the Ruined Castle and enjoyed wonderful Eucalyptus forests and superb views as you can see in the photos. The cockatoos teased us the entire time by staying within earshot but out of sight in the treetops. Luckily a gorgeous sulfur-crested landed in our backyard the day we got back :)

We also took an entire day to visit the Taronga Zoo. It's the major zoo here in Sydney and I really have to say my favorite tourist attraction in this city. I didn't include many photos because I want people to get a chance to see the zoo for themselves, but the ferry ride to the zoo and the zoo itself has about the best views of Sydney around. And on top of that the variety of animals is very impressive. I highly recommend the bird show, but I'll stop there because I feel as if I'd be spoiling the ending of movie by saying more.

But overall a fantastic couple of weeks. I'd like to give a big thanks for Kristin and Mike for visiting us! It was great to have you both!!!

Click on the Koala to see more pictures:

Mike and Kristin Visit Us!

She Said Yes!!!

2009-05-11T20:12:00.000+10:00

I'm very excited to say that Kat and I are engaged! I proposed to Kat right here in Sydney on Observatory Hill overlooking Sydney Harbour. I was pretty hopeful that she would say yes but that didn't stop me from being nervous. But I'm very happy that she said yes and that she likes the ring! Kat's dad, Fred, made me promise not to get married in Australia. But I definitely agree with him and we plan to have our ceremony when we get back home. We want all our friends and family to be able to come to our wedding!

We've both been incredibly excited about being engaged but everything else is going quite well here in Sydney. Kat and doing very well in school (as always) and I've started working with an environmental company doing environmental auditing. So far it's been a great job and I really enjoy opportunity to be doing work for the environment.

As some of you know, Kat and I managed to get evicted from our last house. We're still not exactly sure how it happened but I think it's easiest to just say that our house-mate was a bit strange and doesn't know how to deal with people very well. But as luck would have it we found a much nicer house with three great kiwi guys that's closer to school for Kat and closer to work for me! Plus the guys have a foosball table and there's a pond in the backyard that we've already populated with goldfish. We've yet to name them but I'm leaning towards Tim and Tam. Feel free to give suggestions.

This last weekend we were very happy to have Kristin and Mike stay with us. We all had a really great time hanging out together and it was fun to have friends from back home to see. Plus I had an excuse to show them all the great beers and meat pies that Sydney has to offer! But they left for Cairns today and should be enjoying some great sights right about now.

So Kat and I are both very happy and having a great time in Sydney. But now we have even more incentive to get back to Seattle and have a WEDDING!!!

Crikey! It's Easter Break!!!

2009-04-19T13:04:00.001+10:00

For this last week Kat, Elyse, and I took off for a road trip up the coast. After making a huge Easter brunch for ourselves, we headed to Byron Bay for their world famous blues festival. We got to listen to the likes of the Drive By Truckers, Blues Travelers, and James Hunter, among many others. We barely caught a glimpse of John Butler but since he's such a hit in Oz his stage was flooded and we found ourselves out in the pasture straining to see and hear his show. But he plays around here a lot so we're just going to go see him again sometime!

After the blues fest we went north to Brisbane and visited Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo. In the US we mostly know Steve Irwin as the crazy Crocodile Hunter on TV but here in Australia also known as a great conservationist and the zoo that he created helps keep up his legacy of conservationism. But it also makes for one amazing experience! The zoo has Koalas, Wombats, Emus, Kangaroos, Echidnas, and all sorts of snakes, lizards, crocodiles and birds of Australia. And unlike most zoos I've been to these animals are active and some are interactive. We actually were able pet Koalas and Wombats and got to feed Kangaroos and Wallabys right out of our hands!!! I can honestly say that this likely the most fun zoo that I've ever been to - and since I love zoos that's saying a lot!

Following a brief stop in the hippie town of Nimbin we headed back down to Byron Bay again for some post-festival relaxation. Byron has an amazing beach that stretches out of sight on the horizon and the town itself is full of shops and great food stalls. It's the quintessential beach vacation town which is what makes it so likable. It also helps that the weather was perfect :)

I apologize that the photos are so heavy with zoo pictures but there's two good reasons: first, I like animals; second, my battery ran out and I wasn't able to charge it up again!

Easter Break

Catching Up, Part 3: The Blue Mountains

2009-03-19T13:33:00.000+11:00

My last embark took me well out of Sydney into the Blue Mountains. I took a train to Katoomba with only part of a plan. After talking with a local outdoor equipment shop I found a new plan: the six-foot track (or 6^T as it is sometimes shortened to). It is typically a three day excursion that follows a historic horse track to the Jenoleon Caves. But there was one catch: I needed to be back in Sydney for some dinner plans. If I wanted to do the track I would have to make it to the Jenoleon Caves by 3:45pm the next day to catch the last bus back to Katoomba. But after being in the city for weeks I was desperate to punish my legs a bit and give it a go.

The trail starts near Katoomba and descends through a gap in the cliffs down to Nelly's Glen. At this point the vegetation is incredibly lush and thick, watered by the many waterfalls coming down the cliffs. As I walked further the trail changed to pastoral pastureland, dry forests, lush river valleys, and sparse and dry hilltops. This was a great way to see the varied landscape of the blue mountains and the many great Eucalypts and animals that live among them.

The animals I encountered were just as varied as the landscape. Since I was alone I made little noise which allowed me to catch a glimpse of the more shore animals. I saw Eastern Grey Kangaroos, Wallabies, a Trap-Door Spider, a Red-Bellied Black Snake, a giant bee nest, Lace Monitors, hordes of other lizards, Galah Cockatoos, many Lorikeets, Sulfur Crested Cockatoos, Kookaburras, a strange green leech (not attached to me, thankfully), and many other birds and insects that I can't begin to identify (or photograph for that matter!). If you've never heard a Kookaburra click here to hear one!

After I turned out the lights the forest really came to life. The kangaroos I had disturbed when I came to camp returned for water, opossums and/or gliders started rustling through the trees, and kookaburras bantered back and forth. Falling asleep to the thumping hops of roo's in the brush and the amazing calls of the kookaburras made me instantly recognize: "god damn you're in Australia Jeremiah!"

I made it to the Jenoleon Caves with time to spare and sore but satisfied legs. I had finally made it to the outback, seen more animals than I had hoped for, and made it back to Sydney in time for some fantastic Thai food. The pictures here can speak far better for what I've seen!

Catching Up, Part 2: Royal National Park

2009-03-19T10:06:00.001+11:00

Last weekend Elyse, Kathleen, and myself decided to get out of Sydney for the day and see some of Australia’s flaura and fauna. Directly south of Sydney lies a beautiful and easily accessible park called the Royal National Park. Some people walk the length of it in two days, overnighting at the midpoint. We decided just to go for the day so we took a train to a station across the road from the park and headed onto the trail.

The park was absolutely gorgeous! As we walked through a dense Eucalypt forest we had intermittent views of the sea cliffs on the Tasmanian Sea. As always in Australia, there was a huge variety of singing and colorful birds seemingly everywhere. After about 3 hours of walking we finally made it to the clearing above the beach. We had hoped to see kangaroos here but midday proved too hot for them. Kangaroos don’t have many sweat glands so during the day they rest in cooler spots. The best time to spot them are at dusk and dawn (just like deer in the US).

Our trail ended at a squeaky clean beach. And I mean squeaky in the literal sense: when you walk on the sand it squeaks! The beach has a few remnant huts leftover from the ‘depression,’ according to the signs along the path. I’m not sure what this means so I’ll have to research it further. We relaxed and enjoyed the beach and the sun before further exploring along the coast.

As the tide went down it revealed a large flat rocky area known as the figure-eight pools. In the stone there are a number of perfectly round holes and two that are connected resembling a figure eight. Inside are the usual assortment of tide pool critters like small fish, crabs, seaweed, snails, etc. We were even lucky enough to come across a large rockfish that had somehow been stranded in a very shallow pool! Kat decided to save it but I warned her that the fins likely had venomous spines. So Kat borrowed Elyse’s swimsuit from her bag and managed to wrap the fish up and then dump it into the sea without being stung!

The route back took us on a lower path that went through palm and fern tree groves known as the Burning Palms. We spotted a lyrebird although we thought it was a feral female peacock at the time. But the great sight of the day was a Red-Bellied Black Snake that was around 1.5 m long! We didn’t know what kind of snake it was right then so we all kept a respectable distance. I think giving all creatures in Australia a respectable distance is wise until we’re more familiar with the dangerous ones! I later read that the Red-Bellied’s venom is on the scale somewhere above a rattlesnake but just below a King Cobra. Yikes!

Luckily on the way back we just caught the beginning of what turned out to be a dramatic thunder and lightening storm. It was raining so hard that walking the 200 m from the train station to the bus stop got all of us absolutely soaked!

Catching Up, Part 1: Sydney

2009-03-18T14:37:00.000+11:00

Sydney is a gorgeous city with a lot of character. The neighborhood we're in right now, Newtown, has more than it's fair share of character, as any Sydneysider will attest. There are activities of every kind and enough space that the background will always be picturesque.

There are SO many beaches here that many are completely overlooked. It's simply amazing to me that any beach as beautiful as the ones here could be overlooked, but it's true. And that's not to say that Sydneysiders don't go to the beach, they are in fact the most beach-going people I've ever seen. It's no wonder that Australia consistently does so well in swimming at the Olympics.

So in our first weeks here Kat and I spent a LOT of time looking for a place to live. We spent little time sight-seeing but we did manage to make it to Bondi Beach. Many Aussies have told me that Bondi is the tourist beach and it's too overcrowded. Only an Australian could be so lucky to say something like that. While there were a lot of people there, I found it to be a very enjoyable beach that had a great show-off feel that only a beach can provide.

We also managed to get down to the harbor to see the famous opera house and the Sydney harbor bridge. They both really live up to the hype, but no necessarily for the reasons that I thought they would. I thought they would be amazing as standalone sights but it's the entirety of the area that makes it a superb sight. The opera house is seated on a small peninsula a short walk from the CBD (central business district) and is attached to the Royal Botanical Gardens. When you walk around the opera house you are not only overwhelmed by the architecture, but also by the views of the harbor bridge, the tall CBD buildings, the botanical gardens, the passing sailboats, and of course flocks of Cockatoos.

That's all I'll say for now because there's a lot to say about Sydney and I'll be here for another year! Hopefully the pictures will help fill in the gaps. Click here to go straight to the online album.

Doom and Gloom!

2009-02-27T14:15:00.000+11:00

Kat and I are finally in Sydney, but between here and Auckland we had a fantastic sidetrip to Mout Ngauruhoe which is otherwise known as MOUNT DOOM!!!!

It's a one way hike that you can hire a ride back to your car. The hike takes you across the Tongariro Crossing and as a side trip you can summit none other than mount doom (from the Lord of the Rings movies). We had an excellent time and despite less than perfect weather actually got some superb views. The gloom part was that it was raining and snowing at the top of the mountain, but really that just added a feeling of accomplishment for reaching the top! There are a lot of volcanic activities in the area as you'll see in the pictures.

So far we're having an excellent time in Sydney and we haven't even explored much yet. I've been keeping my head down applying for jobs and looking for a place to live. Within the next few days hopefully we can do some exploring and I can put up some pictures of Sydney.

Abel Tasman Photos

2009-02-18T12:34:00.000+11:00

I put more pictures online. It was such a gorgeous place - these photos really don't do it justice!!!

Tramping the Abel Tasman

2009-02-16T08:39:00.000+11:00

Right off the bat in New Zealand we took off for the Abel Tasman National Park with Elizabeth and her friend Chris. Kiwis (New Zealanders) have an entirely different vocabulary and outlook on hiking (tramping), camping, and experiencing the outdoors. I really have to say that they have a wonderful system and it makes the outdoors more accessible for more people. The Abel Tasman track (trail) is called a Great Walk. A Great Walk is one of a few of the more popular tracks in New Zealand and it means that it has a very good infrastructure. The trails are extremely well marked, there are huts and camp sites all along the track, and there is either fresh and/or drinking water at every hut and campsite.

Details aside, everything about the Abel Tasman track was beautiful. The flora and fauna are so different from what Kat and I are used to, but with a similar geography and climate to the northwest. Around every corner was an exiting new plant or bird. Also around every corner was a new golden beach with turquoise water!

We had an excellent time with Chris and Elizabeth on our four days on the track. Unfortunately for Elizabeth, she had a surfing accident the week prior and dislocated her left shoulder. Not wanting to cancel the trip, the rest of us volunteered to carry her gear for her!

We overnighted in the very cute town of Nelson on the way home and spent an entire day wine tasting in the Marlborough region on the South Island. This region is especially known for it's whites. We sampled, and of course purchased, some excellent wines. Our exchange rate made this an excellent value! Kat and I are extremely disappointed that we won't be able to share any of the Kiwi wines with people back in the States! But I have to recommend that the next time you're going for a white try a New Zealand label. I'll try to do some research on what is being shipped back to the US.

Leaving the North Island behind us...

Lush hills, golden beaches, and torquoise waters

Lots of walking on the nice sand

Elizaperson was a trooper! Four days of tramping in a sling!

Tidal crossing. Kiwi men normally wear shorts this short so they didn't have to roll theirs up like I did.

A happy Kat on a happy beach!

Some pictures in Wellington

2009-02-07T17:05:00.000+11:00

Kat, Elizabeth, and I took a long walk today through the charming town of Wellington. Enjoy!

Happy in Charming Wellington

2009-02-07T08:42:00.000+11:00

Kat and I arrived into Wellington, New Zealand last night. Elizabeth was waiting for us at the airport, and it was so good to see her again!!! We arrived into Wellington on a very good day for two reasons: it's Waitangi Day and it's also the Sevens tournement of rugby. After showering 30 hours of grunge off at Elizabeths superb pad we walked to downtown and were greeted by a city full of Kiwis that were dressed in outlandish costumes that all seemed to have refreshed themselves with no less than two gallons of beer each (or seven and a half liters, as they'd say). Even though we were exhausted and jet-lagged it was impossible not to get into the fray and enjoy ourselves. Kiwi's really know how to have a good time!

Our travels getting here were pretty hairy and there were lots of close calls and miracles that happened to ourselves and our luggage. But everything made it in the end! We flew from Seattle to LA (LAX sucks. It really sucks!), then to Papeete, Tahiti, then to Auckland, NZ, and then on the Wellington, NZ. From the Papeete airport we could see the island of Mo'orea that we had planned on visiting. It definitely gave us some motivation to get some kind of reparation from Orbitz for missing our entire Tahiti vacation.

Lastly, and far most important, Kat and I owe a lot of thanks to many folks back home for helping us out! There's no way we could have done this without the help of all our friends and family back home. We really appreciate it everyone! Thank you so much!

A few facts: it is roughly 8,000 miles to fly from Seattle to Wellington. We left Feb 4th at 3pm and arrived into Wellington on Feb 6th at 7pm local time. An entire day is missing for me! I will never have a Feb 5th, 2009 in my life. Good thing I don't keep a journal. Anyways, that makes for about 31 hours of travel time.

Not Good

2009-02-03T12:04:00.000+11:00

I understand that this is very inappropriate in Australia:

Visa status: approved!

2009-02-03T07:09:00.000+11:00

We now have one!!!!!!!!! Yes I know we were supposed to fly out yesterday. But we were finally approved just today :)

Yeah for team Jer-Kat!!!! Now Jeremiah doesn't have to take illegal jobs on a tourist visa or have to swim from New Zealand to Australia.

Also, a big thank you to ALL the people that helped us out on this. Getting this visa was a huge effort and we had a lot of help. So THANK YOU!!!

Flying is such a pain!

2009-02-02T06:47:00.000+11:00

Listen to this: today Kat and I were scheduled to fly from SEA to LAX and then onward to PPT. However, when I was writing down our itinerary I noticed that we were scheduled to arrive at LAX at 1440 while our LAX/PPT flight out had changed to 1300. What the hell! If either Orbitz or Air Tahiti Nui had informed us that they had changed the flight time then we could have done something about it, but since we only found out this morning we couldn't get on an earlier flight to make the LAX/PPT connection. And to frustrate us further, the next flight out with Air Tahiti is not until Thursday!

So, after hours and hours on the phone with Orbitz we finally had to accept the later departure. This means that we will have zero time in Tahiti and will have to go straight on to New Zealand. This has really taught us what happens when you go with an internet company like Orbitz and run into a problem. We had to go through three levels of managers before we could get someone who could even help us. The first person we talked to actually recommended that we get on the flight to LA!!! If we had listened to her we'd be stuck in LA until Thursday!!!

Now we're going to collapse into a sleep coma for a while. Sorry superbowl!

Lately...

2009-01-29T10:58:00.000+11:00

Kat and I have been bumming around the state of Washington lately. We recently made a trip to my parents house in Oroville and then went down to see my Grandpa in Kennewick. We took the train from Seattle to Wenatchee and my dad picked us up from there. Taking the train is a nice way to travel! I highly recommend it. You get comfortable seats, a great view, and you can walk around as much as you want.

We also went on a great overnight trip in the Commonwealth Basin. We only made it halfway up Red Mt, but the views were great! I'm really going to miss the snow in Aussie so I'm glad I made it out there with some good friends.

Now we're getting packed to fly again. Only this time we're taking a LOT more luggage! I'm bringing my bike so I have the fun chore of boxing it up. To complicate the matter I took a ride around Lake Washington yesterday without fenders. There's a thick coat of Seattle grime covering EVERYTHING!

This is a view from my folks place in Oroville. The lake is still very much frozen over!

Chris took this shot on Red Mt. That's Kendall Peak on the left and Rainier in the distance. That day it was 50F in the sun but less than 25F in those lower clouds!

Family time! Me, Kat, John (dad), Smitty (grandpa), Jess (sis), Lorrie (mom)

PICTURES!!! -- fixed

2009-01-17T08:43:00.000+11:00

It took some time but I finally did it. Between Kat and I we had a total of 7,748 pictures and videos. I'm serious! But I waded through them and picked out what I hope is a good representation of what we saw during our three months of travelling. Please enjoy and if you're curious about something in particular I'm sure I have more pictures of it!

The links may not have been working for everyone before but I think they should be accessible by all now. Please let me know if the links below are still not working!

Pictures:

Maps:

Fun in Fairbanks!

2009-01-12T07:00:00.000+11:00

Jeremiah decided to come visit me and my family while I was up north, and we had some wonderful winterland adventures. Well, actually, the whole time he was up here the temperature hovered between a balmy -40 and -50 degrees F, so we really couldn't do much of anything. The thing is, Alaskans are used to operating in cold temperatures, but for most of the winter "cold" means about -25. When temperatures hit the negative 50s things tend to shut down in a big way- mostly because cars literally get frozen to the ground. So, we had a lot of great family bonding time (in a house with 1 bathroom and 6 people) and took some excellent cold weather pictures. Alaskan winters really are beautiful, when the air gets this cold everything become crystal clear and sharp, and if you can get above the ice fog (created when the air layers condense due to the cold weather and all the car and people exhaust gets trapped, creating an intensly dense fog in low laying areas) the views are stunning.

We went for a short walk in Creamer's Field, a wildlife refuge right behind my house. At this time of year the wildlife consists of moose, foxes, hares, chickadees, and sled dogs. Sadly, we only saw the tracks of all of these animals, but it was fun to get out and enjoy the short-lived Alaskan sunshine.

As the weather got colder and stayed colder I monitored the progress of the ice growing on our hall window, and on my last day there it had almost consumed the whole glass. The temperature in our hallway hovered just below freezing, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised... :) My sisters and I made the mistake of storing beer in the hallway (Alaskan Amber of course!) and on the second day when I opened one the whole thing exploded, and almost all of the beers were frozen solid. Whoops.

We did see a moose from the roadside, and after driving up into the hills we were able to see a beautiful aurora. My family also celebrated a belated Thanksgiving because, except for my parents, none of us were together for the holiday. With some help from my sisters I created a Thanksgiving feast.

We are now members of the 40 Below Club!!!

2009-01-12T06:55:00.000+11:00

2008-12-31T08:40:00.000+11:00

I hope that everyone is having a great time over the holidays! I enjoyed Christmas with my family in Alaska very much, although our white Christmas was a little bit difficult to enjoy due to the -20 degree weather. Jeremiah and I have decided to continue using our blog to document our travels, so soon I will be posting pictures of frosty Alaska, and, barring any bizarre accidents, in about a month I will be posting pictures of our time in Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia!

For now though (as per request), here is an excerpt of an e-mail I wrote to my family about my snow/ice/wind delayed trip from Seattle to Fairbanks, Alaska about a week ago- I made it but it was definitely an experience I don't want to go through again anytime soon!

"I made it out! Barely! I did get out of Seattle at 4pm on the 21st. At that point I think we were the second to last plane to leave Seatac airport before they shut everything down, at around 2pm the announced that they only had enough de-icer to clean off 12 more planes, and somehow, my plane ended up being one of them.

It's a long story that spans me getting to the airport at 8pm on the 20th, my flight being delayed until 1am, then canceled at 2am, then standing in the longest line of all time until 4am, making a line buddy (we both had laptops and were standing in line typing with one hand reloading the alaska airlines booking page over and over in case seats opened up), my line buddy getting through to alaska airlines via phone at 4:30am (my buddy was on hold for 2 hours), getting seats on a plane scheduled to leave midnight on the 21st, getting out of line and finding our bags by 5am (well, actually I was the only one to actually find luggage), sleeping on a pile of my clothes under a stairwell (there were people everywhere, I felt bad for the families with small children and the dogs stuck in kennels), waking up at 7am and bluffing my way into the boarding pass only/check luggage line without a boarding pass of any kind and without even knowing my flight number ("it just wouldn't print!"), finally getting a nice lady who checked me in for my flight 18 hours ahead of schedule and gave me a standby pass for a flight leaving at 10am, getting onto the 10am flight when it actually boarded at 11am, getting off of the plane 2 hours later when it became clear that the de-icer people were not going to reach us for another 2 hours, being amused by the Santa riding around in a courtesy cart handing out candy canes and the elf on a unicycle, at 2pm finding out that the Seatac airport only had enough de-icer left to clear off 12 more planes and then the airport would be shut down because all the de-icer was stored in Eastern Washington and they couldn't get it across the pass (!!), finding out that our plane was going to be one of the 12 planes to be de-iced and getting ready to board at 3pm, being told that my ticket was revoked because they decided to pool all of the unaccompanied minors who were in the airport and flying to Alaska on our plane, so they gave away all the standby seats to them, leaving 9 more people stranded, deciding to wait at the gate just in case someone who previously boarded to plane somehow got lost and didn't make it back on, and FINALLY, getting on the plane at 3:30pm (thank god for holiday induced airport confusion). We were de-iced and in the air by 4pm, landed in Anchorage at 6:32, ran to the gate of the Fairbanks flight leaving at 6:43, got on the standby list, made it on the plane, took off at 6:50, and LANDED in Fairbanks and had my luggage by 8pm! Rounding out a full 24 hours in airports, and 2 days without sleep!"

Whew! I hope that everybody else is enjoying their holiday season and has a Happy New Year!!

Home at last!

2008-12-25T20:19:00.000+11:00

My flight home was much less eventful than Kat's but I'm back in Seattle and I'm freezing! I've completely lost my tolerance for cold so I'm pretty much constantly chilled here.

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

I'll follow up with some more trip details and more photos soon. First I need to eat some pumpkin pie!

Home Sweet Home!

2008-12-20T04:05:00.000+11:00

Well, after several LONG plane flights I am back in Seattle! I am sad that my trip is over but I am getting excited about seeing my family again and moving to Australia! It's a bit of a shock being home again, and the weather here isn't helping!

In Thailand...

In Seattle, 24 hours later...

I SWEAR this happened on accident....

2008-12-20T04:00:00.000+11:00

What's better than a mango smoothie? Two mango smoothies!

2008-12-20T02:13:00.000+11:00

While we were on Ko Phanang Jer and I really planned on checking out different beaches, going for some dives, going to a different island, and in short, continuing our fast paced travel adventure. Instead, we looked a the ocean, took a deep breath, bought a frisbee and went nowhere. :) It ended up working out in our favor because Jer and I finally got food poisoning, in Thailand of all places. We expected to get sick in India (and we did a little bit) but Thailand is pretty safe for food so we were surprised. We got over it just fine, so don't worry, but I'm glad that we ended up staying in one place after all. I think that sitting on the beach doing nothing really speeded up our recovery.

Here are some long awaited picures from our time on the islands:

Diving in Koh Tao!

A rock formation in Ko Tao, this was one of our dive sites!

Pretty sunset!

The beaches were gorgeous in Ko Tao, perfect for lounging around!

Moving on to Ko Pangang...more beaches and lounging time!

Full Moon Party!

After Ko Phanang we headed back up to Bangkok via all day boat and bus, getting in late and having just enough time to enjoy all of Bangkok's wonderful street food!

Tiny Island, Big Paradise

2008-12-19T13:05:00.000+11:00

I'm on a tiny island right now called Ko Mak near Ko Chang (Ko Chang is the more popular larger island). It's only a few kilometers across but it barely has anyone on it. I'm renting a tiny hut near the water. I had to ride my bike across the island to get to the only 'internet cafe' (if you can call it that). The electricity only comes on in the evenings so we can listen to music and then it's back to candles. In short, this place is amazing. The only activities are diving, drinking, and nothing (yes, nothing is an activity if you're actively trying to do nothing). Today I do nothing and tomorrow I go diving.

But this computer is slow so I'm going to be short! I'll update more later.

The Full Moon

2008-12-14T01:13:00.001+11:00

For the last few days Kat and I have been relaxing on Ko Pha Ngan. The beaches here are great and the food is awesome but the real reason we came here was for the full moon party. It's by far the largest party I've ever been to. I would guess maybe ten thousand people were packed onto a beach that was lined with DJ's and bucket vendors. We had a very, very good time! We drank buckets of gin and tonic and had our chests painted (we're in bathing suits around the clock here). Kat had a butterfly painted on her but I decided on a giant American flag. I don't meet very many American's here in SE Asia so I decided to show a presence! But with the flag on my chest I actually did meet another American - from Bellevue no less!

This is a little of subject but I have to post it: throughout our travels it's not uncommon to have a little ant problem in most places we stay. We're not exactly staying at the Hilton so it's not such a surprise as you would think! But Kat hates the ants. Bitterly. So one day in Krong Koh Kong she gets fed up and searches the town for a can of raid. She finds a can large enough to kill a termite mound and has been carrying it ever since. But the best part is how zealous she gets in killing ants. This is an actual quote I overhead her saying to herself when she didn't know I was there, "Die! Die! Die! I'm only happy when I'm killing ants!" Ever since I've been a little worried about her so if I go missing you'll know who to ask :)

We'll stay here on the island another couple of days before we head back to Bangkok so that Kat can fly home for x-mas. The end is too near!

Island Time

2008-12-09T23:31:00.000+11:00

Kat and I are on yet another island! But this time it's in Thailand: Ko Tao. We took an open water course here so now we're certified to dive up to 18 meters! I always wanted to dive but I don't think I expected it to be so incredibly fun. Kat and I might actually change our plans a bit so that we can fit in some diving off the Similian Islands next.

Basically we are beach bums right now. The most difficult thing I did this afternoon was cut up a pineapple and a mango and open two bottles of Chang. But in my defense the knife was too small and dull so it was rather difficult :) Fresh pineapple warmed by the sun is about the best food that can be eaten. Well, second only to BBQed fish. But I've been eating plenty of both here so I'm happy.

But this internet is far too expensive here since it's an island so I'm cutting this entry short! Kat and I are both happy, tan, well fed, and salty right now. And it's movie time down the beach so I'm off!

Happy B-Day King Bhumibol!

2008-12-05T12:31:00.000+11:00

Kat and I are back in Thailand and today is the King's birthday. The people have a great respect for their King so a lot of places are shut down today and there should be some celebrating tonight! It was actually a little tough to find an open internet place this morning. We're finally waiting for out ferry to Ko Tao, a nice little island in the gulf of Thailand that's well known for being laid-back and having great scuba diving. But we've had a marathon last few days getting here!

I think the last time we were able to update was back in Siem Reap. From there we took an early morning bus to Phnom Penh and then an hour later (after a nice lunch at the Capital Cafe) we set off again to Sihanoukville for the night. This meant a full day in the bus but we had a lot of ground to cover! Sihanoukville is a city the french built in the 1950's so that Cambodia could have it's own shipping port instead of relying on Vietnam. But now it's turned into a full-fledged beach town. We stayed in a nice little bungalow and had BBQ'd seafood right on the beach. I really mean right on the beach: big waves would nearly lick our toes! But we headed out the next day for Krong Koh Kong right on the border of Cambodia and Thailand. Krong Koh Kong is a small town and honestly not that memorable but it's a great jumping off point for either the Cardamom Mountains or a boat trip out to deserted island.

The Cardamoms don't have trails and the only access is by a few roads using dirt bikes so we opted instead for the island of Koh Kong. We hired a boat in town that took us to Beach No 3 (no kidding, it doesn't even have a real name) where there's a beautiful lagoon and a white sandy beach. Just down the beach were some rocks that provided great snorkeling. We spent the entire day lounging on the beach, snorkeling, and finding awesome seashells! It was really the kind of beach that I always dreamed about so for me it was a high point in our trip.

But we wanted to spend the remainder of our trip in the islands in the guld of Thailand. So we proceded on a marathon trip that isn't even over yet. From Krong Koh Kong we took a tuk-tuk to the Thailand border and walked across. On the other side we had to wait until a share-taxi had enought people to fill it to drive us to Trat. From there we took a bus into Bangkok's Eastern Terminal. From there we had to take the public buses to the Southern Bus Terminal. From there we took an overnight bus (it's 11pm by this point) and we arrived in Chumphon - although the bus screwed us by not dropping us off in town so we had to take a moto the remaining 10k into town. From here we're taking a ferry to Ko Tao where we can finally relax on the beach once again!

But Cambodia is done for us. I really really enjoyed Cambodia though. The people were very friendly there and always had a smile. Evening bargaining wasn't stressful because they were always smiling. I'd have to say that the food in Cambodia wasn't my favorite, but the fish amok and the lok lak were both very good. The amok is a curry dish with fish and vegetables that comes wrapped in banana leaves. The lok lak is a plate of cubed beef with a black pepper sauce, a fried egg, and of course rice. But the coffee is always good in Cambodia!

Alright, I have an island to get to!

Angkor! Angkor! Angkor!

2008-12-01T00:57:00.000+11:00

It's been awhile since I actually posted something myself, so I thought I would give everyone an update of how Jer and I have been doing. First and foremost, Happy Thanksgiving!

The last time Jer wrote we were in Nha Trang, Vietnam. Since then we have been to Dalat, Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City, depending opn who you talk to), Phenom Phen and Siem Reap. Dalat is a mountain town in Southern Vietnam, and was originally built up by the French during the colonial period to be a relaxation spot. The city's weather is much cooler than the rest of Southern Vietnam and it was a nice break for us. Dalat's weather means that it can grow many different vegtables (ones more similar to what we usually eat) so the food there was a treat. They also produce a pretty okay wine and great coffee- including the famous "weasel coffee." Besides relaxation the main thing to do there is to take a ride with the Easy Riders, a group of older motorcyclists who took part in the Vietnam War. Most of these guys worked for the Southern side, so they had a difficult time finding work after the war was over, and when tourists started coming back to Vietnam they began giving people guided tours of the countryside. Since many of them worked with Americans during the war (my driver was actually sent to Colorado for training) they speak very good English and had some really interesting stories to tell. Jer's driver was in the Air Force during the was but mostly worked at the base and didn't see any fighting. After the war my driver was sent to a "re-education"camp for 3 years, a tough price to pay for his involvement in the fight. They took us everywhere and we were able to get an up close view of the coffee plantations, the rice wine making process, and the silk collection and weaving process. I wish I could put some pictures up but the connection is a little too slow.

From Dalat we went to Saigon, a huge bustling city in South Vietnam. The city was a little overwhelming at first but we got the hang of it and had a great time. We visited the Cu Chi Tunnels, an elaborate system of tunnels that the Viet Cong during the war. The tunnels are TINY, I could barely fit in them. I was dissapointed in the tour however, there was basically no effort to present an accurate view of the war, at the beginning of the tour they showed a video made in the 1960s about the tunnels that described the Americans as "devils who like to kill women and children." At the end of the tour there was a shooting range where you could try out an AK-47, but I thought it was very poor taste to put a shooting range over an area where soldiers of both sides fought and died, so we left as soon as we could. The highlight of Saigon, however, turned out to be the War Remnants Museum, which actually did paint a more unbaised view of the war. It has a special photography display for all of the photgraphers who lost their lives during the war, a section on Agent Orange, weaponry displays, and an area dedicated to peace. One of the more interesting things about Vietnam was that everyone we talked to wanted the past to be in the past, and wanted to move forward peacefully. We expected some level of individual animostity to Americans (and we truthfully told everyone who asked where we were from) but we never ran into anything at all. The government might say something different, but the Vietnam people have gotten past the war and are looking to the future.

After Saigon we took a bus across the Cambodian border and into Phenom Phen. Going into Cambodia was a little bit like going back to India, there was trash everywhere, unpaved streets, people living in very rustic bamboo huts suspended over fetid water, but there was one BIG difference: the Cambodian people are awesome. In India the people we met were often not so nice or at the most indifferent and just wanted money, but in Cambodia the people (while they still want your money) will also joke around with you and seem to enjoy life more. Phenom Phen is a big city and I was a little paranoid about being there after being warned about frequent high speed motorbike bag snatching (and one case where a girl was dragged into traffic and killed) but everything went smoothly. Jer and I stayed at a longtime backpacker guesthouse ($5- back to cheap accomodation, yay!) near the lake, simply because soon the lake will be replaced by a resort hotel. For some reason they are pumping sand into the lake, and plan to build a resort on top of it. How this makes sense I don't know, but they are going about it very energetically. It also means that all the houses nearby are beginning to flood, so Jer and I thought we should check it out before it all disappears. In Phenom Phen we visited S-21, the famous and horrible prison/death camp used by the Khamer Rouge. It's actually a high school building, so it looks stragely innocuous from the outside. Inside there are displays of photographs of victims and, in 14 rooms, the empty beds that held the last 14 prisoners, along with some of the devices used in torture. They were tortured to death right before the Vietnamese took back the city and their bodies left in the prison when the Khamer Rouge fled. It was very sad and really brought home the reality of genocide, the sheer number of people that died at the hands of the Khamer Rouge or subsequently starved to death is almost to vast to contemplate. To round out an already depressing day we visited the killing fields, where the prisoners of S-21 were taken to die. The site is mostly grass, which covers a hilly landscape made up of disinterred mass graves. There were pieces of clothing on the ground, which we didn't take much notice to, until we realized that the clothes blonged to victims. Sorry to sound so morbid but just thinking about it gives me the chills...

Anyway, after Phenom Phen we took a bus up to Siem Reap, where we have spent 3 days visiting the Angkor temples. There are many different temples and they are all very beautiful. We watched 2 sunsets and Jer got up for a sunrise viewing of Ankgor Wat. We will post pictures soon!! Jeremiah and I also spent Turkey Day in Siem Reap. We didn't have turkey or mashed potatoes, but we did have fresh veggie spring rolls, beef curry, and ginger chicken! The food was excellent and we ate in a place called the Butterfly Restaurant, the whole thing was enclosed in a giant net and there were butterflies, frogs, and jungle plants everywhere. We spent the evening with Tony and Kate, two people we met on a boat ride in Nha Trang, Vietnam and we luckily keep bumping into! All in all it was a great evening. :)

Attacks in Mumbai

2008-11-28T14:18:00.000+11:00

Firstly, Kat and I are NOT in India right now we're in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Second, if you haven't heard about the attacks in Mumbai you should check the news for the latest updates. Briefly, what has happened is that gunman in Mumbai, India have synchronously attacked multiple sites in southern Mumbai, otherwise known as the Colaba and Fort areas. The BBC has a map here. Last month when Kat and I were in Mumbai we visted 3 of the 5 sites that were attacked. This is a little frightening to hear about and I feel very bad for the Mumbians that are involved. We arrived into Mumbai at the railway station that was attacked, we ate dinner and drank beers at Leopolds which was also attacked, and we bought gifts in the Taj Mahal hotel which was attacked as well. In fact the hotel we stayed at was only 2 blocks from the Taj Mahal.

I've heard a few accounts that the gunmen were targeting foreigners and while I'm not sure if this is true or not I just want to say that Mumbai is probably the most diverse city on the planet so please be careful what you read. The train station attacked, the Victorian Terminus, is the busiest train station in the world and would have had about every walk of life you can imagine, while Leopolds and the Taj hotel would likely have been mostly foreigners or wealthy Indians. Leopolds is a popular pub for backpackers to grab some cheap food and beer and meet other travellers, which is exactly what Kat and I were doing just last month.

Kat and I wish Mumbians the best and hope that the Indian government is able to put a stop to such terrorist attacks.

GO COUGS!

2008-11-24T22:15:00.000+11:00

16-13 in double overtime Apple Cup victory!

GO COUGS!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally some pictures!

2008-11-21T02:49:00.000+11:00

Kat and I bought a cable so now we can finally upload pictures again!

This is a delicious fruit dish we ate in Nha Trang. The fruit in Vietnam is phenominal! The orange stuff is mango, I'm sure you all recognize the banana and strawberry, and the white one is dragonfruit. Dragonfuit is such a beautiful fruit and the flavor is a very mild sweet. It's a lot like a less sugary watermelon.

This is me enjoying the top deck of our boat cruise through Halong Bay. As you can see the views are great. The boat trip is probably my favorite thing we did in Vietnam. Boating, swimming, kayaking, private beaches, and seafood for three days? How does it get better than that!

Hue is the old capital of Vietnam. Just inside the main entrance were large ponds swarming with these gorgeous fish. When Kat dropped food into the water they erupted into a slithering pile of fish.

Cheap beer, cheap food, and cheap clothes

2008-11-16T15:28:00.000+11:00

But not necessarily in that order! We're in Hoi An right now and it's a really great town. The hotels are the best we've seen on this trip so far, and the old part of town is right along the river and features beautiful old buildings. There are many restraunts here that feature excellent food and beer for a great price. For dinner Kat and I usually go on a restraunt crawl: we go from restraunt to restraunt ordering one dish and two fresh beers. My favorite dishes so far are white rose, cau lau, fresh spring rolls, any meat wrapped in banana leaves, and fried wontons. Mind you there are MANY other great dishes throughout Vietnam, but those are my Hoi An favorites.

The biggest thing in this town are the tailors. There's dozens of them throughout the city. They can make you anything you want! Both Kat and I went a little crazy but the quality is so good for the cost that we couldn't pass is it up! Plus I'm going to need those nice clothes when I become an engineer again someday :) It's been raining for the last two days so this has been a perfect way to spend our time. The weather is starting to improve so hopefully tomorrow we can spend our reamaing time on the beach!

I'm sad to report that my SD card reader doesn't seem to be working so I can't upload any pictures right now. Hopefully I can find another one somewhere so I can put some pictures online! We've really got some good images here in Vietnam and I can't wait to share them.

ALSO - I figured out how to change the configuration on this blog so that ANYONE can post a comment. This means you don't have to log in, but if you don't log in you'll be anonymous. So if you don't want to be anonymous make sure you type in your name!

We leave for Na Trang tomorrow night on one of Vietnam's spectacular buses that we booked through the popular Sinh Cafe. I'm not exaggerating when I say these buses are probably about the best transportation we've been on in any country. You get a seat that can completely recline, the air-con works (almost too good!), and even the roads aren't too bad. It appears that the main north/south highway is currently being reworked so within a year the roads will probably be even better. So if you come to Vietnam I highly recommend using the buses for transportation!

DMZ

2008-11-13T13:46:00.000+11:00

Having grown up a full generation away from the Vietnam War (or the American War as it's called here) Kat and I were both very interested in getting a better understanding of this war from both the American and the Vietnamese perspectives. But after our visit to the DMZ area near Hue it's apparent that there are really three perspectives.

The Vietnamese people that I've talked with about the war seem to have a similar outlook to many Americans about the war. By both parties it seems to be viewed as a bad experience by all who were involved but there is not a resentment of Americans by the Vietnamese, just as there's not a resentment of Vietnamese in the US. But the government owned museums that we have visited give a perspective that can only be described as propaganda. Especially disturbing is the museum at Khe Sanh that only gives the perspective of Americans in utter defeat. In addition, there is rarely any mention of the south Vietnamese fighting against the north or of the Australians or any other nationality that fought in the war. But I would also argue that the textbooks in the US do not give a quality lesson about the war either. I won't get any deeper into this except to say that if we can't get our history straight now how will this war be described to future generations?

The other disturbing side of the war comes from the perspective of the civilians. Kat and I visited the Vinh Moc tunnels where hundreds of civilians had to live to escape bombings. They lived there for 6 years. I can't imagine how terrifying and difficult it would be to have to live like that with the fear of being killed at any time.

Even if it is necessary, war is terrible thing. It was sobering to see the tree-less hills (agent orange and napalm), the tanks still on the road side, and to read the stories written in the museum registries by vets. Even though it was a sad day, I'm glad that Kat and I were able to see this area first hand. Even though the war was over three decades ago the mark is still there and it really showed us how devastating war is for all sides involved.

I'm sure that there will be a few vets that read this so if you have any questions or comments or corrections, please let me know! Kat and I toured through Dong Ha, the Vinh Moc tunnels, crossed through the DMZ and saw the still-standing megaphones, saw The Rockpile off hwy 9, visited the Khe Sanh Combat Base, and stopped at a few Vietnamese memorials along the way.

Good morning Vietnam!

2008-11-10T13:16:00.000+11:00

Vietnam has been incredibly great so far!!!

Kat and I flew into Hanoi a few days ago from Vientiane on Laos Airlines. I was pretty impressed by how good the service was not only with the airline but also the lack of rip-offs as we exited the country. Laos officials are notorious for ripping off tourists but at the airport they were very professional and fair.

In Hanoi we've been staying in the old quarter which has been incredibly fun. The streets are narrow and there's people and scooters flying all over the place, but the people and the food are terrific! For people that know Kiet, they'll understand what I mean when I say that I understand how Vietmanese Kiet really is: they'll yell at you for your stupidity but they'll still go out of their way to help you - it's just that sometimes is difficult to tell the two situations apart!

The other day Kat and I had to cross an incredibly busy street. Mind you, we're quite used to busy streets after Calcutta, Mumbai, Bangkok, etc., but in Vietnam the streets are not only crowded but damn fast! Anyways, a young Vietnamese man grabs Kat's arm and walks us across the street with his hand held out towards traffic in a show of "stop for these foolish white folks." After we're across and just as I'm sure he wants to sell us a tour package or a ride on a rickshaw he takes off back through traffic before we could even thank him! I don't know what the Buddhist version of a good samaritan is but this nice man certainly lived to that same ideal.

After two days in Hanoi we went on a 3-day boat cruise through Halong Bay. Halong bay is a series of karst islands. They jut straight out of the sea making for a dramatic landscape of thousands of islands. I'll get pictures up as soon as I can find a decent internet cafe but right now this isn't one of them! On our cruise we were fed excellent seafood and we were dropped off at various spots to enjoy kayaking, biking, hiking, and of course some beach time. One beach we kayaked to was completely made of small coral. Of course that true of all beaches, but this one in particular had large chunks and beautiful shells everywhere! But the best aspect of the trip were the wonderful people that we met. We spent the full 3-days in the company of Simon and Jane from Australia and James and Hazel from Ireland. We had a great time getting to know these people and hopefully we can meet up with them again down the road. If any of you are reading this, thank you for such a good time! Trips like Halong Bay never feel that great unless you're in good company and Kat and I both felt that we definitely were!

We've seen a lot of sights in Hanoi but one of my favorites is the Bia Hoi junction. This intersection sells fresh beer that tastes like a weak pilsner. But at 3,000 dong a pint it can't be passed up! Plus the seating is in tiny plastic chairs in the street so the entertainment of watching people and scooters go by makes for a good time. But the most excitement comes when the police come through: it seems that these shops are running a little bit against the law because each time a police car comes through the proprietors panic and make everyone grab their beers and themselves and cram together on the sidewalk in front of the tiny shop. Of course they don't speak english so I have no idea why this happens but its good fun so I just go along with it :)

Today Kat and I will enjoy our last day in Hanoi before taking the night bus to Hue. Our bus sounds pretty spectacular so I'm crossing my fingers that it works out. At the good advice of Ty and Emily we booked a get-on/get-off whenever you want bus that goes down the coast of Vietnam through Sinh Cafe. They even gave us a free t-shirt!

Coming to America!

2008-11-05T03:12:00.001+11:00

Kat and I went on US soil today! We visited the US embassy here in Vientiane, Laos so that we could vote. The other embassies are in nice french colonial houses but the US embassy is a compound behind 15 foot concrete walls with barbwire at the top. It even has it's own water tower complete with outposts just in case it's under siege. I have to say that I was more than a little proud! But the 'citizen services' folks were extremely helpful. Not only did they fax one form in for us, but they let Kat and I put our ballots in with the military mail so it didn't cost us a cent.

Vientiane is a nice sleepy town. It's the capital of Laos but Olympia feels more diplomatic that this town. But then again Laos is probably smaller than Washington! Beerlao is easy to come by and so is BBQ'd food. The riverfront is lined with 'restaurants' that are little more than umbrella clad decks with a bbq and a few tables serving as the kitchen. And they're perfect. Last night I ate an entire fish. It was salt encrusted with the belly filled with spices and it was grilled perfectly. Maybe when I get out of Laos I'll actually be able to upload some pictures of my feast!

One thing that suprised me about Vientiane is the number of ex-pats. It really seems like a lot of countries are putting their stakes into Laos. There's Chinese, Japanese, French, and other Europeans around everywhere. In fact it's kind of difficult to find authentic Laos food here!

Tomorrow we fly to Hanoi. I'm very excited for Vietnam but since Hanoi is flooded at the moment I'm a bit nervous. The weather doesn't look like it's going to improve any time soon either!

Well the midnight curfew is almost here so I better be shutting down. Maybe I didn't mention this before but the entire country of Laos shuts down at 11:30pm. The government has imposed a nationwide curfew. They seem to let westerners get away with it but I haven't been pushing it!

Same, Same....But Different!

2008-11-01T16:56:00.000+11:00

Hello from Laos! Jeremiah and I are in Vang Viene right now, and are trying our best to keep dry! This city is well known on the backpacker circuit as being the best place to go tubing down the local river, and is pretty overrun with tourists! We have spent more time watching our fellow travelers than we have enjoying the Lao culture. It's not all that bad though, just a little bit of a shock . The Lao people have tried their best to determine what Westerners like and provide it for us, and the result are bunches of "TV Bars" which are basically a replica of a typical living room, complete with rows of couches with coffee tables set up in front of huge TVs that play a rotation of Friends, Family Guy, and classic movies. They bring you a beer and some french fries and you are set... It's really weird to see from the outside, a whole restaurant full of people just glued to the TV, but I can understand the appeal, after being on the road for awhile and not seeing any TV a little vegging out would start to sound nice to anybody. It's still a typical town though, with goats and chickens all over and people going about their daily business, just with an odd twist. It makes me wonder what the Lao people must think of Western travelers though...

We were hoping to rent motorbikes here so we could get out and see some of the country, (we had a blast on these in Chaing Mai) but so far each Laos city has outlawed the rental of bikes to tourists because they don't have the medical facilities to treat anyone with a major injury or sickness here, and it would be bad for tourism if someone got sick or died. It's something we have had to keep in mind the whole trip, there is no 911 to call and with the exception of the big cities there are no ambulances. Luckily the huge medical kit I have been carrying around hasn't been necessary (except for some Imodium and antibiotics).

Last night we celebrated our first major holiday out of the US- Halloween! Because we are in a party town I was pretty sure that we would find a costume celebration, so Jer and I set out to dress up. This was a little trickier than anticipated because we are both carrying the absolute minimum in clothing and there is nowhere to buy costume supplies around here. We took a hard look at our options and decided to take the easy way out- PIRATES! All we had to do we wear our normal clothing (hippie wrap-around shorts, random t-shirt, sandals, and a bandana on our heads!). Jeremiah also wore his compass to make it all more authentic. :) We went to the "Bucket Bar" and it was a huge party. You can actually buy a plastic pail filled with Lao-Lao (rice whiskey) and 7-Up. I stuck to beer and we had a fun night meeting other travelers and dancing to American music.

Today we wanted to give river tubing a try (this town is famous for it) but so far we have been prevented by the rain. Hopefully it will clear up soon!

Laos - "the most remote country in Asia"

2008-10-31T01:57:00.000+11:00

This country, or at least Luang Prabang, is overrun with wealthy Europeans looking for a little adventure. This wouldn't be so bad but the cheap backpacker scene has been replaced with over-priced restaurants serving French wine. Argh! How am I going to get my $1 meals!!?!

I know this post sounds negative but in reality I really do like Laos and wish we could spend more time here - especially off the tourist track! The Laos people are very friendly and a ex-pat restaurant owner we met described the Laos people as having "big hearts" and I really can see that. But I think they really got to our hearts the first time we were served Laos coffee. It's so strong and black that adding cream doesn't change the color. But true Laos people only add sweetened and condensed milk to their coffee so it's really tasting like the coffee version of India's chai and Kat and I absolutely love it!

I'd write more, but unfortunately Kat and I got a little excited in the market and forgot how much money we had left (easy to do when a beer costs 10,000 kip) and we have almost run out of cash. It's a problem here because there are no ATMs, so until the money changers open up tomorrow morning we have about $7.50 to live on!!

Back into the wild

2008-10-27T15:35:00.000+11:00

Kat and I were lucky enough to have the wonderful Nick Postornino visit us in Chiang Mai! We had a great time together riding scooters and lounging around this great city. He was working down in Singapore for a few weeks and decided to fly up and meet us. It seemed as though we spent a good amount of time hiding from torrential rain but it didn't seem to dampen our spirits!

Tonight Kat and I leave for Laos. We're taking the night bus to Chiang Khong and the we'll be taking a 2-day river boat ride to Luang Prabang. I don't think there's much internet activity in Laos so we may be out of contact for a week or two. We've met a few other travelers heading in the opposite direction so we've heard very good things about Laos. In case we can't make contact, our plan is to boat to Luang Prabang, then bus to Vang Vieng, then another bus to Vientiane, and then fly to Hanoi. Hopefully we'll be in Vientiane by the 4th so that we can vote!!!

Elephants! One of the 'must do' things on my trip list was to ride an elephant.

This is a waterfall that we relaxed at during our jungle trek. As you can tell it was a pretty difficult journey.

A waterfall in the jungle.

I saw two of these spiders in the jungle! With their legs they're about the size of my hand.

This is the jungle hut we stayed at on our trek. The entire structure was made of bamboo! It was pretty incredible. The man made a deck while I watched. His skill at cutting the bamboo with a hatchet was pretty incredible. He made the lower deck you can see in an afternoon.

We saw a lot of ants in the jungle. I like ants so I thought I'd share this nice snapshot.

Big trees and lush foliage in the hills around Chiang Mai.

Another waterfall with the classic long-exposure shot.

Kat near a field of tiger lilies. This was during our visit to the palace atop the hill above Soi Suthrep above Chiang Mai.

Orchids are everywhere! We saw georgeous specimens at temples, around town, and of course perfect ones like this on at the palace.

I found this moth lying on the ground. I have size 13 feet so I hope this puts it in perspective for you!

This wood carving was just out and about in the palace grounds. It seems wasteful to put such a work of art outside in this climate!

This is a giant bamboo grove at the palace. Nick is wearing a bamboo hat that he made himself.

Badass #3

Badass #2

Badass #1

Monk Chat

2008-10-25T02:24:00.000+11:00

Today I found out that there's a Wat in Chiang Mai that has 'monk chat'! Basically it's a chance for foreigners to sit and talk with Buddhist monks so that the monks can practice their english. It was a great time! The monks that Kat and I chatted with were very interesting. They were both from Cambodia and came to Chiang Mai to study at the monastery (it's basically a full fledged university). One of the monks I chatted with had to take a 3 day journey by bus from his hometown in Cambodia to get to Chiang Mai. He didn't speak thai or english yet so he said he barely ate for 3 days! It was a great experience and the monks were wonderful to talk to.

We don't want to leave this place...

2008-10-24T15:52:00.000+11:00

We're still in Chang Mai, and I don't regret this one bit. And Nick Posternino gave us an excuse to stay an extra day or two! He's in Singapore right now and decided to fly up for the weekend and meet up with us here! So far in Chang Mai we've kept very very busy. We're meeting more people here than anywhere else before and also getting the chance to take some classes and do other fun activities that we had hoped to be doing all along.

So far we've taken a cooking class, trekked through the jungle, attended a kickboxing fight, and eaten some of the best food so far on this trip.

The cooking class was a full day and we cooked 6 dishes. I LOVE Thai food so this was an excellent day. Not only did I learn how to make some delicious dishes, but I got to eat Thai food all day long. I received a cookbook from the class so I'm eager to continue making these dishes. The surprising thing was how easy most of the dishes are to make. Some ingredients may be harder to find in Seattle, but I don't think I cooked anything that cooked be whipped together in more than 30 minutes.

The trek took 3 days and 2 nights into the jungly hillsides surrounding Chang Mai. The first day we rode an elephant and then hiked our way up to the top of a hill. The view from our hut was amazing! And our bamboo huts were authentic. I expected touristy crap but we actually got to stay in bamboo huts with a hill tribe with chickens and cats running around. The next day we stopped at a waterfall to lounge before getting to our jungle camp. This was also a bamboo hut but this time beside a creek in the dense and lush jungle. Butterflies the size of birds flew around and a papaya tree stood right in the middle of camp. The 3rd day we rafted down some whitewater and then made our way back to town. But by far the best part was the fun group of people that trekked with us! I'm sure I'm spelling these names horribly, but thank you Peter, Andrea, Eoin, Sonne, Jon, Laura, Monica, and Ellen for such a great time! Hopefully we'll meet up again down the road!

Anyways it's noon now and a good excuse to eat some more food. But if I don't get online again before I leave Chang Mai, our plan is to take a bus north to Laos and then take a river boat down the Mekong for two days. I'm not sure that internet is widely available in Laos, but I think that may be one of the more appealing things about laid-back-Laos. So I hope everyone at home is doing well!

Thailand!

2008-10-19T14:21:00.000+11:00

Kat and I have made our way from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Bangkok was a GREAT city and it seems as though Chiang Mai may even top it! There are a lot of touristy classes here such as cooking, meditation, and even muay thai kickboxing. But most importantly we'll be booking a trek to get in some of northern thailand's beautiful greenery! We arrived into Chiang Mai at about 5am and quickly made our way to the very popular Julie's Guesthouse. We'd heard about the place from another couple and we decided we really needed to stay there. So we camped out in the lobby (we really did - I napped on their cushy lounge chair) and were first in line at 8am when it opened. It really paid off because between 7 and 8am about a dozen or so people showed up! But we got a room there so we're very pleased.

I'm getting behind in my pictures so here's a few from the past week or so

This is the largest monolithic structure in the world. Its at the Allura caves site near Aurangabad. It was pretty impressive! This site had a lot of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain temples but this was the most impressive one.

This is also at the Adjunta caves site. The stairwells are not lit but I caught Kat by suprise with a flash! We had to be really careful not to fall. It's not like there's a hospital nearby! We had to take a bus for over an hour in the countryside to get there.

A family of monkeys on Elephanta Island! We took a ferry here from Mumbai and saw more caves. By this point we were a little burned out on caves but it was still a fun trip with the boat ride and the monkeys everywhere.

These fishing boats were lined up on the beach of Elephanta island. The muck looked a lot like Birch Bay (near where I grew up). And by the look of the fishermans feet the muck was at least a foot deep.

Kat and I found this little restraunt near our hotel and Khao San road. The owners were very nice and the food was about the best we've had in Thailand! And that's saying a lot because the food here is excellent. We ate here about 4 times.

In Bangkok we visited the Wat Pho temple. The tilework was amazing and colorful. The cleanliness and well kept buildings and plants really contrasted to India.

Still in the Wat Pho temple. This is the main chamber. The monks on the left were chanting.

This was a flower in the garden around Wat Pho temple. This place was amazing!

Yes, another Wat Pho photo, but this is the main attraction. It's a 50m lying Buddha statue. The scale is impressive but perhaps even more so is the intricate ingravings you can see on the Buddha's feet.

Most mammals do not lay eggs

2008-10-17T17:18:00.000+11:00

But apparently there is a hairless ape in Bangkok that does.

Enough said.

The Temples of Dhoom!

2008-10-16T20:02:00.000+11:00

We didn't actually visit the temple of doom but I see the word Dhoom used a lot here. For example, just about every city has a Hotel Dhoom. Not too appealing is it? Anyways, since the last post Kat and I made our way from Mumbai to Aurangabad. Aurangabad is a nice city on the smaller side. We found a great hotel near the train station. The main attraction of this area is the Ellora and Adjunta caves. They're two seperate sights that house the largest monolithic structures in the world. Basically they're huge temples that are cut directly out of the mountain - and they are damn impressive! We spend a day at each site and I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Then we caught yet another overnight train back to Mumbai. We visited Elephanta Island which is another sight of temple/caves. The only problem is that we had just done that for two days alraedy so we were pretty burned out on caves. But the boat ride out to the island was great! I guess I can say I've sailed the Arabian Sea now, but I don't know if that's one of the seven seas or not.

I have a friend from work (Dev) who lives in Mumbai that was kind enough to put Kat and I up for the night. He was in incredible host! Thanks Dev! We spent some time walking around his neighborhood and visited Juhu Beach at sunset for some great dinner. It is a very nice beach and the food we had was excellent.

Kat and I caught a flight from Mumbai last night and now we're in Bangkok. I should have known better but we flew Air India. Talk about a crappy airline! Our flight left over 2 hours late and they kept switching the gate number of the board. So an entire airplane of people, actually only half an airplane because it was only half full, was in complete confusion. And the ass that worked the check-in counter was not any help to everyone. It's no wonder that Air India couldn't fill their plane. But the food was actually pretty good. I'd definetly say better than what's served on the US flights.

A colorful few days...

2008-10-10T17:21:00.000+11:00

After our amazing stay in Jaislmer Kat and I boarded yet another train to Jodphur. Since we only had the day in this city we stowed our bags near the train station and headed out to explore this city. Our expectations were low, after all this was just a train stop on the way to Mumbai, but we were quickly corrected. Jodphur houses a giant fort and palace on a rocky hilltop above the modern city. We tuk-tuked up to the top and took an audio tour of the fort. It followed the Rajastani style in that it was extravagant, elegant, but also bold. The walls were tall and thick but the interior buildings held many couryards full of ornate sandstone carvings. I have some great pictures to upload later!

The other highlight of this day, well maybe more for me than Kat, was the Omelet Man! Just outside the bazaar is a stand that sells omelets and toast. It's really just an egg sandwich but after almost 3 weeks of curry it was a life saver! I walked up to his stand and he immediatly pulled out 2 buckets for kat and I to sit on while he told us that he splits 6,000 eggs a day! His food was delicious and he sold a local cola called Black Horse that only cost 5 rupees (10 cents!!!). Great tasting food for cheap is pretty much my favorite thing in life so this was an amazing experience for me! But I'm sure Kat will be rolling her eyes when she reads this...

After Jodhpur Kat and I took another train to Mumbai. What an expensive city! I guess I should have expected this but it still hurts the budget. But it's also a very western city by Indian standards, which is a great change for Kat and I. It means that she doesn't get lewd stares as often, she can wear a skirt, and we can hold hands in public! These may sound like small things but it definitely raises our comfort.

Last night Kat and I had a very unique experience. We made our way to Chowpatty Beach to watch the burning of a statue. The beach was packed with viewers and there was a stage set up that was acting our some scene involving Hindu gods. Anyways, we were walking home from dinner afterwards very near the Gate of India and we heard music. Upon closer inspection we saw a pier that was housing what we thought was a wedding. We walked up to the well guarded gate just to ask what was going on inside but they quickly ushered us in without explanation - we thought we were about to crash a wedding! But it turns out it was a dance party to celebrate the last day the 9 day festival of navratri! It was a very wholesome dance party where everyone in the family dances. There was dancing in circles and a dance that involves sticks. The people were so accepting they basically forced Kat, myself, and a German couple we met to dance. They taught us how to do it and we had SUCH a great time with them! They were so friendly and accepting and I think they loved that Kat and I enjoyed their festival so much.

Hari Boonbari, Camel-a Safari!

2008-10-07T01:31:00.000+11:00

Today Kat and I got back from our much anticipated camel safari! We did a two-day-and-one-night trip into the desert on camels! We booked a great one with our hotel that took us out to a lesser known area and it paid off. We didn't see another camel group the entire time. Most of the landscape was desert scrubland but we did get through a couple of sand dune areas. The dunes are pretty fun on a camel because they really get moving on the downhill side of a dune! Camels are extrodinarily weird creatures. They have really long legs, huge eyes, and they make the strangest gargling yelping sounds imagineable. Luckily none of us were bitten or spit on the entire trip.

Our guides cooked an excellent dinner for us over the fire complete with Chai. We started having some fun with our two fellow travellers with the camera at night and came up with some pretty wild photos like the one shown that Kat so artfully drew. The youngest camel boy especially had fun dancing around at night with the flashlights! After we settled down a bit the camel guides sang some wonderful songs. We slept on blankets under the stars - it was probably the only night in India that we actually have to have a blanket to stay warm.

The other great view in Jaisalmer is the city fort. It's actually endangered right now due to poor water management (get on this Frei!) and it's doomed to self destruction soon. It's a shame because it's beatiful and it's really the crown jewel of this great city. The intricate work done in sandstone makes this city truly unique. Also, the hospitality and generosity of the people of Rajastan has been unrivaled so far in India. I realize this sounds hokey, but this is pretty unique for us so far in India so it is a very welcome change.

Tomorrow we board the train for Jodphur and then Mumbai!

In Jaisalemer at last!

2008-10-05T03:32:00.000+11:00

Well, it's been awhile since I posted, so I will try to add a few highlights that Jeremiah may have missed. I have also added a few pictures to previous posts, so make sure to take a look!

From Darjeeling we headed back to Kolkata to catch a train to Varanasi. I enjoyed Varanasi, however the huge amount of pollution there is upsetting. Besides the ritualistic burning of bodies into the Ganges, according to our Lonely Plant the river is heavily polluted with E. coli and other nasty bugs. During our boat ride we were all very careful not to touch the water. Our boatmen, two young 10 year old boys, happily informed us that their grandfather had caught a Ganges Dolphin, and was proud because the dolphins "have very good oil!" We were all horrified because there are only about 4,000 of those dolphins left in the Ganges! But, how can you compete with the lure of "good oil"?

One highlight of Varnasi was the holy cow man we encountered while wanderling lost in the streets. We were taking pictures of a particularly large cow when an old man approached us and told us that he was a caretaker for the cows, and showed us a tiny stable where a 13 day olf calf was resting. He didn't even ask us for money (which totally surprised us), all he wanted was that we mail him a copy of the picture.

Varanasi is somewhat of a tourist attraction not only for foreign travelers, but also for people from all over India. We were able to watch a nightly ceremony performed near the river, and while it was interesting we didn't understand anything that was going on, and had to leave after 2 hours (it kept going for several hours after that!).

After Varanasi was Agra, where we spent the minimum amount of time. The Taj was gorgeous but due to a train delay we didn't have enough time to see the fort. We did, however, have enough time to store our stuff in a cheap hotel for a couple of hours while we visited the Taj, and and discovered to my dismay that ants had totally infiltrated my bad while we were gone.

After Agra was a horrific train ride to Jaipur. Traveling second class to save money (which actually equated to about $10) was a terrible idea. The train was late, was filled to the brim because they didn't check any tickets, there was a hole in the ceiling about a fot wide above my bunk that I was sure was full of cockroaches, and even though it was a night train there were so many people hanging around talking that none of the lights were ever turned off. I wanted to take pictures but I was afraid to take out my camera!

Jaipur turned out to be a lifesaver because we found a clean, cheap hotel and were able to catch up on laundry and sleep. We saw a Bollywood movie called Drona, which was in Hindi so we couldn't understand most of it. Basically it was a story about a guy who found out he had a magical destiny to defeat a strange puppet loving man. It was pretty funny to us, although I don't think it was meant to be. :) The whole moviegoing crowd got into it though, cheering and yelling throughout the whole 3 hour long debacle. Hilarious.

We are now in Jaisalemer and are having a terrific time. The city is in the desert and the main attraction is a beautiful fort. It's beginning to sink into the ground due to an overtaxed plumbing system, so I am glad that we have had the chance to see it. It's VERY hot here. I have a nifty digital cloclk/calculator/thermometer that I have been carrying everywhere, and it read 102 in the shade! I put it in the sun to see just how hot it really was, and after a couple of minutes the whole screen turned black! I cooled it down on my water bottle and it started working again, everything except the thermometer function. I permanantly burned it out!

Anyway, we are going to get an early start tomorrow for our camel ride in the desert- I hope everyone is donig well!

The Ganges and the Taj Mahal

2008-10-03T00:23:00.001+10:00

Right now Kat and I are in Jaipur, but we arrived here from Agra and before that Varanasi, so I have some catching up to do!

We spent 3 days and 2 nights in the wonderful city of Varanasi. We ended up staying at the same hotel as Mark and Monica, a couple we've been running into since our first day in India, so we ended up spending some time with them. Varanasi is a very old city. I've never been to Italy but I've heard some of the old cities are made of narrow passages - Varanasi was just that way. This makes for an interesting layout but it poses two problems: it's easy to get lost (but you can always pay a boy 10 rupees to take you to your hotel), and sometimes it's difficult to bypass the larger holy cows. Yes indeed, even Varanasi has free-roaming cows - maybe more so than the other cities we've visited.

The real magic of Varanasi is the spirituality. Varanasi is one of the holiest spots in the world for Hindus. As a result there are priests and worshippers throughout the ghats along the Ganges. In the morning many people come down to the Ghats to bath. The first day I was there I let Kat sleep in and I wandered down to the main Ghat myself. It really was an amazing place. It also helped that the 'Chai Wallahs' were out that early in the morning - Kat and I have found that few people rise early in India!

We also visited the 'burning-man' ghat. Basically it's a cremation process where the bodies ashes are put into the Ganges. Hindus pay huge amounts of money for this rite. The wood is carried downriver to the ghat, and the flames used to ignite the pyre are from an eternal flame that is said to have been continuously burning for 3,000 years. After the fire the 'little body' that is left (basically the charred remains of the chest cavity) is thrown into the river along with the ashes. There is a LOT more to the ceremony but it is very fascinating. I'm sure there's better descriptions on the internet.

From Varanasi we took the train to Agra for the day. We only wanted one day because our only destination was the Taj Mahal. As I'm sure everyone's heard, the Taj Mahal is supposed to be the most wonderful architectural achievement of mankind. And I really have to say that is doesn't disappoint! It's large, but not huge, but it's position makes you have to constantly look up to it. And especially after having been in India for a while the perfect green gardens contrasted with the white marble and the blue sky is beautiful. Inside the mausoleum is the sarcophagus' of the rulers. Surrounding them on the white marble walls are inlays from floor to ceiling. The detail of the marble work is astounding. The Taj is the must see sight in India and Kat and I were both very impressed.

Right now, as I said previously, we're in Jaipur. It's really just a between point on the train for Jaisalmer, but it's been a blessing in disguise. We thought it would be a boring town, and it is, but that's just what we needed! Since we left we're been constantly on the go, around the clock, and it's nice to be somewhere that we don't have an agenda of sights to see or touts to barter with. And after the worst train ride yet - I'll have to tell about this later - we found a great hotel to catch up on sleep in. So far the highlight of this town for us has been the McDonalds. I don't normally eat at McD's at home, but this was the first one we've seen in India so we had to try! I knew something was wrong with the menu but it took me a minute to figure out why I couldn't find the Big Mac - there's no beef! This should have been obvious to be sooner. So I had the Chicken Maharaja Mac. It's not really the same thing at all. For starters it's thin chicken patties and second the sauce is curry flavored! So I didn't really get a taste of home but at least it was entertaining.

Next up.....Jaisalmer and camel rides!!!

PS - pictures are still difficult to load on most computers but I'll keep trying!

Bombs and possible flooding?

2008-09-27T21:19:00.000+10:00

Just in case people are wondering, Kat and I have decided to skip visiting Delhi. There have been multiple bombings recently and there's been a flood warning as well (thanks Elizabeth!). Plus we're kind of tired of big Indian cities already. So don't worry!

Finally some mountains!

2008-09-27T20:39:00.000+10:00

Kat and I spent the last few days in the wonderful city of Darjeeling. The climate and scenery is similar to Washington so we were very comfortable, but the culture was mostly Nepalese with some Tibetans and Indians thrown in. The people here were extremely nice. The last day we woke up early and took a share-jeep up to the top of Tiger hill to watch the sunrise over the Himilayas. We were particularly lucky because the clouds parted for us to see not only Kanchenjunga, but also Everest! In the picture at left it's the peak in the middle that's just poking out. The sunrise was gorgous! I have lots of pictures but these computers are too slow to load many.

On the way out of Darjeeling we took the Toy Train. It's a small train that runs from Darjeeling to New Jalpaiguri. We shared the car with a large Indian family that was very nice. I had actually met the man the day before and he was very happy to see that myself and Kat would be riding with them. They were great! They sang songs and shared lots of snacks with us. One of the girls even begged Kat to sing her a song. After much reluctance I convinced Kat to sing "we are the champions." Kat sang like a nightingale but the little girl was not impressed (sorry Kat!). I think she wanted Britanny Spears or something.

We also ran into a couple that trekked for 15 days up in Sikkim. They managed their way up to the 5,000m pass of Kanchenjunga! That's higher than any mountain in Washington and it's just a pass! Anyways, we had dinner and breakfast with them before and after the train. They were from Vancouver and are into the typical northwest outdoors stuff so we had plenty to talk about.

Kat and I heading out for Varanasi on the train tonight. We plan to spend 2 days there and then head to Agra for a day. From there we'll go to Jaipur for a couple of days before going to Jaisalmer for a camel ride in the desert! We don't have plans past that. But lucky for us we've been able to upgrade out tickets from the 'sleeper' class the the 'AC3' class. Kat is VERY happy about this and I suppose I am too. But I sure will miss the calls for "Chai!" at 3am and the harassment from the singing eunuchs for rupees...wait, sleeping sounds nice too.

Warm Water from 6:30 to 7:30? Excellent!!

2008-09-25T00:16:00.000+10:00

Well, we are in Darjeeling, and like Jer mentioned, it is wonderful. The climate here is so much like back home that it's kinda funny. I have been able to wear my jeans and a long sleeve shirt- what a nice respite from the 100 degree 100% humidity weather of Kolkata. Yesterday and today we spent most of our time walking around the town and doing a bit of shopping. I decided it was time for me to go local and I got Shalwar Suit fabric, which I will take to a tailor tomorrow. Basically it's like a sari with pants- much better for walking with a giant backpack. Most of the clothing here is very colorful, so I went with a bright pink color with embroidered gold stars to help me fit in. :) We also visited the Zoo and Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. The Zoo wasn't as bad as I thought it might be- the animals were in large natural enclosures, however the fences seemed a little bit too close for comfort in the tiger enclosure... We went up to the top of Observation Hill, where if the weather is good you have a great view of the mountains and surrounding hillside. In our case, however, the weather was very cloudy and misty, so we had a great view of the ground 20 feet in front of us. Nevertheless, it was a great spot, absolutely COVERED in Tibetan prayer flags and shrines, and with the mist the whole thing seemed very surreal.
-Kathleen

Darjeeling Express - Jeremiah

2008-09-24T00:11:00.000+10:00

Well, it was actually the Darjeeling Mail train that took us from Kolkata to Darjeeling but it was as every bit entertaining. Train tickets were scarce so we had to take the sleeper class train, but this turned out to be a pretty good experience. We heard some bad things about sleeper class but I thought it was great. It was super cheap and Eunichs come down the train every so often singing and asking for money. Also, at every train station - even if it's 3am - a guy boards the train and goes down the aisle calling out Chai! Chai! Chai!. It can distrupt your sleep.

But we made it to New Jaipalguri on the train. Then we had to do some major hassling to get on a jeep up to Darjeeling but we finally made it for a reasonable price. I really can't complain about paying 90 rupees for a 4 hour Jeep ride!

Kat and I plan to spend a few days in this wonderful city. I finally found an adapter for my camera's battery so I'll be getting some photos up soon. I also just wanted to add that Kat and I found the most wondeful hotel. We're paying 300 rupees for a room with it's own bathroom. It's super clean and there's a nice restraunt on the top floor that serves - what else - darjeeling tea! I bought some sweets that West Bengal is known for tonight to have with my tea.

From the Front Lines- Kathleen

2008-09-22T23:58:00.001+10:00

Hello Everybody and welcome to our travel blog! Jeremiah and I are on Day 3 of our trip and doing well. I spent my first day on my own in Hong Kong, where I rode a tram up a mountain, ate some Hong Kong fast food (where I was the only foreign person there) and rode a ferry from Hong Kong island to Kowloon. The flights weren't too bad, and the food was even tasty. Now we are in Kolkata, India, about to head to Darjeeling by night train. India has been a bit overwhelmin so far, very busy and crowded and different. I was "attacked" by small street children, who, as far as I could tell, just wanted to steal by cold water bottle. We had quite the time setting up the mosquito net in our super cheap hotel, and so far our travel sheets and fleece blanket have come in handy (not because of the cold, because it is blistering hot here, but just for comfort and bug protecting). The traffic here is crazy, I think the biggest danger isn't getting sick from stange food, its from crossing the street. I had to immediatly buy a long skirt when I got here, jeans were just too hot and don't really fit in well with local customs. Darjeeling should be a welcome change, up by the mountains it will be cooler (but a little bit more rainy). Anyhoo, I hope that everyone is doing well, and I will try to post again soon!
-Kathleen

First Report- Jeremiah

2008-09-22T23:55:00.001+10:00

So far Kat and I have collectively been to Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Kolkata. Kat spent her first day in Hong Kong and loved it! But I'll let her tell more about that herself. I spent that same day in Bangkok - and I really have to say that Thailand is amazing. I thought it would be over-touristy but it was great. The Thai people are so kind and helpful and the weather's not too bad either. Right now Kat and I are in Kolkata and it's defintely been a memorable experience. We stayed in a hovel...I mean hotel...for only $6. The food has been excellent and we even managed to find a beer. We visited Mother Theresea's tomb today near the train station that we'll be departing for Darhjeeling. Right now we have train tickets to Darhjeeling, Varanasi, and Agra. Kolkata is a very busy place. We walked for hours and the crowds never cease! We got caught in a downpour (monsoon?) and had to splurge for a coffee to get out of the rain and dry off a bit, but it was definitely an India experience.

Anyways, time to eat and get off to the train station.

I hope everyone is doing well!!!