walk the earth

Home!

2006-05-25T23:10:00.000-05:00

Well, I spent my official last night of the trip in London with Tim and Pascale. It was really good fun. We went out for a beer at a pub on the Thames and then dinner near Tower bridge. They're both doing quite well, working and enjoying London life. It was fantastic talking to Tim again about all of the adventures we all shared (with Matt of course) through Nepal, Tibet, India, Switzerland, and Germany. He remembered things I had forgotten and vice versa. It would have been awesome if Matt had been there to complete the crew, hopefully all three of us can meet up someday soon. Right now Matt's in South America, and from all reports, it sounds like he's having an excellent time.

Enjoy some of the last views of the trip.

Tim, Pascale, and I. In London.

Tower Bridge, London.

the wharf area, Thames river, London.

Tower Bridge and Thames River, London.

Night London.

A couple of odd signs on the walk by the river:

steaming X's? hmm. And what exactly makes it anti-climb paint?
it wasn't slippery...

I slept well on my last night and had a quick breakfast the next morning, said farewell to Tim. I took the Tube to Heathrow and boarded my last plane of the journey.

It was great; my flight home was the most comfortable of the trip. Nice new airbus, Virgin Atlantic tricked it out with bigger seats, huge flat screens for all, a great entertainment system with 20+ movies, tv shows, video games, music, live flight maps with satellite imagery, and great food. With all that in economy, I can't imagine what's in First Class. Because of all the toys, I didn't sleep at all.

First sight of America below, it had been quite a while.

I'm roughly estimating 38,000 miles covered, The vast majority of those on 18 separate flights, but substantial miles were covered on various buses, trains, taxis, matatus, tuk-tuks, boda-bodas, bicycles, and footsteps. 20 countries visited, passport filled, new pages added, all in a little less than 9 months. 254 days, not that I was counting.

So, right, I'm back home. Safe and sound. Trip Done. Over. Finished. Feels weird. But so great to see friends and family again.

My folks met me at Washington/Dulles with a sign which read "MOLONEY," I picked them out of the crowd instantly. It was great, hugs all around and lots to talk about. There was also a nice "welcome back Pat" banner on the house. I'm extremely lucky to have such understanding and supportive parents, family, and friends. Thanks again for giving me the confidence to reach high, always knowing there's a big net to catch me if I fall. Luckily, this time, I didn't fall.

Sure, I left some skin in a few places, on a road in India, and on a bike trail in South Africa. Spilled a little blood, swallowed my pride, learned to be patient, learned when shut up, and more importantly when to speak up. Got sick a few times, went liquid, never trusted a fart, barfed until I couldn't barf anymore. Made new friends and no enemies, fell in love, fell out of love. Was sometimes freezing cold, boiling hot, incredibly tired, exhausted, frustrated, scared; but I wouldn't have changed a thing. I was pick pocketed, lost some things, but ended up gaining so much more. Spent money, but earned experience.

So what's next? Good question. I'll let you know when I find the answer.

London Layover

2006-05-23T07:32:00.000-05:00

The weather was pretty cold and rainy in Kaapstad (Cape Town) for my last few days, but since having mostly fine weather on my first visit, I couldn't complain. Still had one last nice afternoon for a run around the city and some outside market souvenir shopping. I also caught up with the lovely and gracious Sara and friends who are studying abroad at the University of Cape Town. I had met them a few weeks before at a hostel in Plett Bay and again in Storms River. We sank some pitchers of Sangria at a waterfront Mexican place the night I got back from Durban and then we all went out to the bars near UCT. It was a really fun night, and a good time spent with a good group of Americans. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone back home, still can't believe it's tomorrow.

I also bumped into Toya from Buccs and we went out to some live music on Long street. Then on my last night, I went out for a really nice sushi dinner with Sara and Liz at a cool seafood place and some good times at a few bars afterwards. After that fun last night in Africa, it was goodbye. I packed up for the long flight to London and took off. British Airways made the ride comfortable and easy and I had some interesting company on that trip too.

So yeah, back in London now. I was in Africa for quite a while, and a few things jumped out at me when I got here. First, there's so many white people. Obvious I know, just not used to it yet. And what's with everyone so dressed up, clean, and in such a rush? When the train into the city stopped briefly, someone made an announcement as to why the train stopped and when it would start again, amazing. It's almost as if time and schedules are important here. I'm afraid this will take some getting used to.

I met up with Tim at his new apartment, uh, 'flat' and am now touring around the city. We're going out tonight, then I'm heading home tomorrow. I will talk to you all soon, and in person.

I'd like say a very sincere thank you to you and everyone else who's followed, enjoyed, commented, contributed, sponsored, joined up, and whom I've met during this trip. It's been an absolutely fantastic journey and adventure, which you've all contributed to in some way. All of you have enhanced this experience and motivated me to share it with you as much as I could, and I wish I could have done more. Thank you all and I'll make a more official farewell post sometime after I get home.

Just so you know, this whole trip started as a brief conversation with Matt while in my car on I-270 a few years ago. He had just come from Africa and was saying how much he'd love to go back and climb Kili. I said if he ever did that I'd like to join him; and look what happened. We certainly climbed Kili and did a whole lot more. Big things start small.

Lekker Bru

2006-05-19T09:15:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been an active trip up the coast from Jeffery's Bay with lots of fun in the sun. I've officially started the journey home, by catching a flight from Durban back to Cape Town this morning. From here, I hang out for a few days in the 'Mother City' (Cape Town was the first settlement in South Africa, by the Dutch), hopefully catching up with a few friends I've met along the way. Then take a long haul to London on the 22nd. It's a quick stop there to catch up with the London crew and then back to Frederick, Maryland on the 24th. When saying I'm from "Frederick, Maryland" the following conversation usually ensues: Where's that? It's on the east coast, near Washington DC, the Capital. Oh, is that near Seattle? Nope, that's Washington State, on the west coast. Oh, East coast? Yes, the east coast, the side that New York is on. Oh ok! I got it. So I usually just say "Maryland, near Washington DC, below New York."

Anyway, from J-Bay, I headed to Port Elizabeth, a bigger city for a night, then on to East London. Stayed at a cool place there called SugarShack, right on the beach, then headed off inland to a place called Hogsback. J.R.R. Tolken (author of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings) apparently once lived and got some of his inspiration there. It was easy to see why, all around there were mountains, waterfalls, and thick lush forests. I went for a couple of great hikes, and one sweet bike ride. Met some fun Swiss, a crazed Scotsman, and an even crazier South Africa who were all up for some fun in the mountains. The Scottish guy, Stu, was the chef at the hostel and avid mountain biker, it was really fun to be out on the bike with another keen rider.

View from the hostel lawn.

A beautiful fall day in the Southern Hemisphere.

One of many cool waterfalls.

The swiss crew I went hiking with.

Sunset, moon rise. Wax on, wax off.

the view from the hostel tree house, 40ft up a shaky ladder in a huge pine tree. A tricky climb with cold beer in hand.

the Hogsback Inn, nice spot.

The trail markings were hard to miss.

Madonna falls.

Waterfall # 342...

Sunset, moon rise.

I turned on the lights and look who's on my bed! no joke.
My Reef flipflop gently escorted this guy off the bed and onto the floor. He was then flung, again by flipflop, out the door and safely into the yard. This scorpion was actually not too dangerous, big pinchers/small stinger means he uses his pinchers to kill stuff and not the stinger, so it would have only been as bad as a bee sting. Not that it stung me, or the sandal.

After sunset, then moon rise. The stars were spectacular. We were so far from any cities, they some of the best I've seen, clear and bright.

From Hogsback, I caught a shuttle van to Cintsa and the awesome backpackers place: Buccaneers. It was a really really great place.

View from my room.

One of the staff and Toya, my Israeli scavenger hunt partner. Everyday at 4pm there's a free activity for everyone with free wine included. What an inspired idea? We won the scavenger hunt and had a lot of fun doing it. We won a free breakfast the next day and made it huge.

Went for another bike ride. From the hills to the ocean.

ocean view, fun fast downhill.

We rode across the beach back to Buccs.

My place.

The volleyball with free wine crew. left to right: Peter(Ireland), Caroline(Ireland), Sam(UK), Kate(Scotland), Girl on bench smiling?(S.Africa), Steve(Ireland), Emily(UK), Mark(Denmark) sitting on the ground, Maria(Denmark), and Richard in blue shirt(UK).

Amanda(Minnesota, USA) and me on the breakfast deck. She worked at Buccs and was super cool and great fun. She lead the scavenger hunt (with free wine) and the mud walk through lagoon (with free wine).

View of the lagoon and beach from the 'main house' at Buccs.

View from bus window on the road to Durban.

Lekker Bru roughly means "Nice One Brother" in Afrikaans and is heard quite frequently whilst traveling around S. Africa.

beach life

2006-05-07T10:50:00.000-05:00

the careless and the carless

2006-05-07T08:53:00.000-05:00

Around the coast of South Africa, east of Cape Town, is the 'garden route.' I headed on a bus from Cape Town to the beach town of Plettensburg Bay, or Plett. It was a quiet little spot tucked into a huge bay which routinely gets visits by all kinds of whales, dolphins, sharks, and seals. Because it's almost winter here in the southern hemisphere the water is quite cold, so I opted for a nice long day hike around a cool pennisula instead of a swim.

Hike around Plett bay.

This side was getting bashed by the Indian Ocean, while the other side was pretty calm and had hundreds of seals lying about.

Storms River
After two days in Plett at a great hostel, I headed up to Storms River to do some more hiking and biking... I met a big group of American girls on holiday from their semester at University of Cape Town, a fun bunch for sure, we hung out for a bit.

Went for a mountain bike ride with an Australian girl, April, in Storms River. It was so much fun to be back on a bike again, it was 22km ride with a ambitious hike in the middle. great day.

The very dark waters of the storms river dump into the Indian ocean just down there.

the unfinished bridge we walked across to get to the National park on the other side. It held.

art?

a cool waterfall that I could hear but not see off the side of the trail. I cut through the thick bush down to it and got a couple of good photos; and also picked up quite a few ticks in the process. After coming back up to the trail, I danced around stripping off my cloths trying to get all the ticks (they carry some funky disease). I think I was successful, no symptoms yet. fingers crossed.

me, bike, happy.

On the ride back into 'town' I saw these guys playing soccer and thought it looked nice with the mountain in the background.

downtown Storms River.

From Storms I took yet another bus (i've been thinking about changing the name of this blog from 'walk the earth' to 'bus the earth,' as that would be just as accurate.) Anyway, it was a quick ride to Jeffery's Bay where I am now. A great spot right on the beach, fun crowd, great surf, just about perfect.

location, location...

Oi, oi! Adrian, my roommate and surf buddy, saying hello at the Island Vibe Backpackers. We may suck at surfing, but have a great time out there.

View from the loo.

wind blown surf right on our doorstep.

The sweet guesthouse kitchen, where I whip up massive bowls of pasta and my current breakfast favorite; toast covered in baked beans and a silly amount of cheddar melted on top. a healthy start to a day on the water.

The Cape Escape

2006-04-27T11:04:00.000-05:00

After a long cold wait at a gas station for my bus to arrive in Keetmanshoop, it finally did at 11pm. Things can change quickly while traveling, sometimes better, sometimes worse. As fun as sitting around at a gas station for three hours with the local folks of Keetmanshoop, Namibia was; it was about to get a whole lot better. The bus came. I got on, found my seat next to a trio of girls from Finland who were also on there way to Cape Town. We got along well and made good time out of the 3am border crossing into South Africa. We drove through the night and into the next afternoon before finally rolling into beautiful and sunny Cape Town, South Africa.

"Travel the world over and you will not find a more beautiful city than Cape Town" said the travel guide, and it was right on. This is a Fantastic city in an extraordinary location dominated by impressive Table Mountain. Where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet at the south western tip of the African continent has always been a strategic shipping point, this city has really done a good job of making it's harbor the center piece. Not like any other African city I've seen, I have to remind myself constantly that this still Africa.

I also met up with an American in the Peace Corp, Kevin from St. Louis, on the bus. We got some lunch after the trip and then split up to head to our respective hostels... while walking down Long street looking for Long St. Backpackers, I bumped into my old travel mate, Dave the British Safari Guide! Because of my Fish River Canyon non-adventure, our schedules had realigned and we had great reunion. Talked about all we had each done since Malawi and had a great time for the next few days checking out the city and surrounds.

welcome to cape town, seth ifrika.

The waterfront and Table Mtn.

downtown.

Went on a tour of Robben Island, the prison island just off the coast where Nelson Mandela was held during Apartheid.

Nelson Mandela's cell.

Robben Island tour.

guard tower, robben island.

The hot ride which took us to the island. The sea was angry that day, there was quite a bit of puking going on during the 20 minute ride out. Dave and I held it together, but when this older gent behind us tossed cookies down the front of his shirt, I got up to get some fresh air above deck.

a friendly seal on the docks.

After two days of cloud, rain, movies with my good friends Dara and Dave, malls, and bars!, it finally cleared up again and we headed up the mountain above the city.

view hiking up Table Mtn.

Dave overlooking Cape Town on Table Mtn.

The city center and harbor.

Looking west.

I told you it was beautiful.

Splash down.

We hiked up around 3pm (because Dave was so hungover (Cape Town has great nightlife) from the night before he couldn't get up before 2:30pm despite my attempts to wake him earlier by hitting him with a Masai club.) We took the last cable car down the mountain after sunset. To be fair, had we gone up any eariler we would have been in the clouds, so it really worked out for the best.

The 'table cloth' being pulled down over the mountain at sunset.

The 'twelve apostles' run down from the mountain on the western side.

On Dave's last full day in Africa we rented a car to explore Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope which is about 50 miles south of Cape Town. Great fun.

Our ride. The powerful 1.3 liter Mazda 323, 5 speed gearbox, 4 wheels, 1 trunk; about the most basic car on the planet.

Yes, yes they are. They stole Dave's sandwich off the table and were chased away by the waiters with slingshots. sorry I should have got a photo of that too.

The Cape Point lighthouse.

it's a beautiful day, don't let it...

We are far from everywhere.

it's a lizard. Andrew, what kind?

Dave and I at Cape Point. We'd come a long way through Africa together and had lots of really good times, it was really fun to meet up again. There was a huge wall map of Africa at our hostel and we retraced our steps from where we met up in Kampala, Uganda. If you find a map of Africa, have a look, it is quite a way to Cape Town, many a bus ride, let me tell you...

face off: mazda 323 vs. female ostrich.

it was a draw.

a hyrax. It's apparently related to an Elephant?

And there were penguins too.

Today I hiked up Lion's Head, a mountain overlooking Cape Town and next to Table mountain with a friend I met in Namibia, Max from Vancouver.

Max climbing up the chains on Lion's Head.

top rock.

We hiked up Lion's Head, then across the 'Lion's rump' to Signal Hill and then back down to the Waterfront area downtown. big day.

another view from the hike.

i'm enjoying an apple at the top.

bye bye.

Next stop Plettensburg Bay up the East coast on the Garden route.

freefall!

2006-04-19T07:20:00.000-05:00

The Namibia tour ended with a stop in Swakopmund on the west coast. Swakop has lots to offer: I chose skydiving. Isabella and Karen from the tour were very keen to do it too, so we headed off to the airport, all very excited.

Swakopmund airport, a dirt runway in the desert, next to the ocean.

This little plane on right took me up to 10,000 ft, door open the whole time, and then I (while strapped to an instructor, Paul) jumped out. It was nuts, and so much fun! The wind was screaming as we fell going faster and faster getting louder and louder. I opened my mouth to take a breath but couldn't close it again, we were going so fast. I thought the wind was going to tear everything off me, watch, shoes, and goggles. We free fell for about 30 seconds to around 3,000ft and then Paul pulled the chute. And instantly everything went quiet. We floated down from there and he gave the controls to me to do some spins and dives, awesome time. The view on the plane ride up was really cool, the Atlantic ocean crashing into an ocean of sand dunes with quad bikes driving all over the dunes. I also got a DVD of the whole thing.

blue steal.

Away we go. Isa and Karen went up after I made it back down, the plane didn't have room for all of us at once.

Coming in for a soft landing.

Glad to be back on the ground. Smiling for the video camera on Paul's arm.

Karen, Me, and Isa after returning to earth. From here we headed back to the guest house, cleaned up and went out to dinner at Cape to Cairo with the whole group from the trip, a great end to a great day.

...Since then I've spent the Easter weekend in Windhoek hanging around trying to organize some hiking in the Fish River Canyon, with no success. Then I took a bus south to Keetmanshoop, where I've been for the past two days, but still haven't been able to sort out a hike. Sadly, the Fish river is massively flooding at the moment, so no hiking in the canyon. I tried to organize a hike outside the canyon but couldn't get permission to go it alone, must pay for a guide, and there's few other travellers in the area to come along. So, I'll just have to save it for later. Next up, Cape Town!

whatever's clever

2006-04-18T05:23:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Namibia.

After meeting back up with Isabella in Windhoek, she twisted my arm and made me go on a 4 trip around the country taking in some of the highlights. We headed off from Windhoek in the morning and were quickly out of city and into the bush or 'veld'. From there we headed to Sesreium through Solitude and then onto Soususeveli and the huge sand dune ocean. A very cool sight.

The beast from the east, another Toyota Land Cruiser. On left is our guide "Beanie," Isabella, and Katie.

Massive Cricket. There were honestly thousands of these all over the roads. They come out after the rainy season to eat and get run over by the hundreds by our fast moving Land Cruiser.

In my hand, they are big and apparently delicious.

Beanie looking funny taking photos of the group with everyone's cameras. She was a fantastic guide, lots of fun.

View from near our campsite, day 1, walking to a dune.

Hiking from camp to one of the dunes to watch the sunset.

Hiking up a dune at Sousesevlei at sunrise on day 2.

Sun up scene over the dunes.

Rob, a Kiwi (New Zealander) hiking up one of the dunes. Later in the day, Rob and I hiked up the "crazy dune" which is aptly named because it is considered crazy to hike up it. It was straight up and very hard to climb as the sand would just slide down covering our feet and making progress quite slow. Two steps up, one step back...

Water in the desert? It's not a mirage, the rainy season just finished and this will be gone soon.

Next up was the dry lakebed of Deadvlei, a nice hike over the dunes under the punishing sun.

dead tree in deadvlei. These trees are preserved by the dry air and have been here for hundreds of years.

Katie, a friendly American law student, hiking up part of the "crazy dune,"aka "big daddy."

Rob on top of the "big daddy"dune, cool view, completely exhausted.

Me on top after a heck of a walk up. You can see where we came from below in the background left. I was glad I had two liters of water, drank it all and then some more when we made it back to the truck. It was an awesome run/fall/crash down the face of the dune, really steep down back to the dry lake bed below.

Scenery from the top overlooking the Namibian desert.

another dead tree at deadvlei.

A nice walk through Sesriem canyon later that day.

I just like this photo, I think it came out well. We found a baby 'horned adder' snake in the parking lot, very poisonous with cool little horns on its nose. Sorry, couldn't get close enough for a photo, as it was very poisonous and seemed a little bit angry.

Springboks.

Isabella, the cool German doctor who was kind enough to put up with me for the past few weeks, is looking none to pleased to have her photo taken whilst overlooking the scenery on the way to Swankopmund.

eat at your own risk.

The Smoke that Thunders

2006-04-13T04:50:00.000-05:00

Victoria Falls is known as "the smoke that thunders" in chichewa (the local language), and thunder it does.

In Lusaka, Zambia I met a British/Chinese guy named Kun (pronounced "Quinn") at Chachacha backpackers who was also heading to Victoria Falls/Livingstone so we took a 7 hour bus down there together. It's was an easy (rooster free) ride and once there we checked into the awesome Jolly Boys backpackers in Livingstone. Upon arrival I saw a couple of friends that I'd been traveling with for a while and was happy to meet up with again, Steve and Isabella. They'd met up with Andy (UK) and Nina (German) so there was a good group instantly, sweet. We cooked a dinner together and planned some fun for the next few days.

The next morning Kun and I took the shuttle to the Falls and spent most of the day checking them out on various hiking trails and viewpoints all around on the Zambian side. Victoria Falls is shared by Zambia and Zimbabwe; you can cross over to either country on a huge bridge over the gorge with spectacular views and a 300ft bungee jump.

The gorge between Zambia and Zimbabwe with the Zambezi in between. Bungee is off the middle of the bridge.

With so much water pouring over the falls a soaking mist gets stirred up all around.

No photograph can do it justice.

overlooking the thundering falls and getting drenched.

Here in Southern Africa the rainy season has just finished. Because of this the Zambezi river, which flows over the falls, was running as high as ever. This was both good and bad. Good because the falls were huge, thundering, and awesome. Bad because the river was too high to go rafting, only one company was running the river and they were just doing rapids 14-23, not even half the river. A bummer, but there's plenty else to do around the falls and I kept very busy.
After checking out the falls all day, Kun and I walked into a 5 star resort nearby and bargained are way into a most spectacular buffet. It was a great feed and we gorged ourselves on the edge of the gorge and the falls, fantastic.

The next day Kun was keen to try the bungee jump so Isabella and I went to watch him do it/push him off if he chickened out. He did it with ease, it looked like tons of fun. But bungee's not really my thing, I passed. Later that day the whole group went on a sunset booze cruise on the Zambezi above the falls, it was a super fun all you can drink fiasco with about 30 people which ended with a birthday cake fight, we all made it back to Jolly Boys for a late night swim.

On the following day Kun and I were keen to do something active so we checked out the Gorge Swing. It was a great day filled with gravity and terror as we chucked ourselves off a massive cliff over and over again. The free fall was about 160ft until the rope went tight and pulled us away from the ground. It was so much fun but really really scary. We also went rappelling forwards and backwards, shot across zip lines and hiked up and out of the gorge many many times. We were completely spent by the end of the day and crashed out by the Jolly Boys pool which was filled, yet again, by bikini clad Swedes. Yep, another tough day in Africa.

lets fly.

being pulled back over the gorge.

terrified. this was my second jump on the gorge swing which was done facing the cliff with my feet tied together (so the rope wouldn't go between the legs...), the safety guy basically leans you out over the edge of the 300 ft cliff and then counts to three and lets you drop.

After five days of fun in Livingstone I got a great deal on transport to Windhoek, Namibia; where I am now. A safari trip from Windhoek had just finished its journey at Jolly Boys and the two guides were heading back to their base, I got on board with them in a 9 passenger Land Cruiser with trailer for the whole ride (~600 miles) for $50. Way cheaper and more comfortable than the bus! We camped overnight next to a massive meteorite and got to Windhoek in two days. It was really fun having the whole vehicle to myself and the guides, Benny and Martin were really good fun. We took our time and eat like kings having a big BBQ at camp. I met back up with Isabella in Windhoek and planned the next adventure...

alone again, on the road again

2006-04-03T06:19:00.000-05:00

Safari guide Dave and I said farewell in Blantyre, Malawi; and then there was one. Dave caught the ~28 hour bus to Jo'burg, South Africa to meet up with his work friends down there and to eventually head back to England. I took off on a 8 hour bus back to Lilongwe, Malawi's lazy capital and to start my south western migration to Victoria Falls and eventually to Cape Town. I had a great time travelling with Dave, we made a good team and had lots of fun together. He's going to spend about two months at home in England, and then will head back to Africa to work at a sweet lodge in South Luwanga National Park, in Zambia.

I had a really fun bus trip back to Lilongwe, had three seats to myself for the first couple of hours. I was reading and watching the beautiful Malawi countryside go by, then it all went so wrong. Our bus lost first gear, or something happened to the transmission. We didn't stop, but it slowed us down a lot. I had caught the 'SpeedLink' bus, not the express bus, so it was making lots of stops letting people on and off. So that was no big deal, just lots of gears griding and engine revving. Next problem: We were passed by another bus spewing dark fumes and then a few minutes later passed it on the side of the road. The other bus driver was waving his arm at our bus to stop and help, much to the protest of the passengers on my bus, we stopped. The other bus was toast so they all piled onto our bus, which was near capacity already. There went the seat to myself. I was joined by a nice older woman who had a rooster strapped to her back much the way they usually carry children here, and a couple of guys piled into the seat with us. Nice and smashed, the typical travel condition in Africa. This rooster just stared at me the whole time as if I was going to kill it, he was highly suspect of me as he should have been, i was hungry. The woman would feed it corn kernels every now and again after it would cluck a bit. I noticed she expertly had it's bum wrapped in a plastic bag, a rooster diaper if you will, to prevent it's stinky drippy poo from leaking down her back as she carried it.

The bus was super packed and we continued, gear griding away from every stop. All of a sudden, everyone on the bus erupted into shouts, whistles, screams, and pounds of their hands on windows; the usual symbol for distress. I had no idea what was going on, but figured it wasn't much, massive freak outs are pretty common and usually are caused by nothing. Well, not so in this case. Apparently, since the bus was packed, the roof had taken the overflow passengers and their cargo. Some of the cargo had not been properly secured, surprise surprise, and had flown off the roof as the bus got up to speed. So, the driver stops and a guy from the roof takes off down the road to recover said lost cargo. He returned with a bundle of tied up live chickens. They had flown off the roof, this was a big bus, and landed on the road, somehow unharmed. Tough chickens. So we continued and eventually made it to Lilongwe just after dark, and I took a taxi to a take away restaurant and ordered some chicken. It was delicious.

The next day I took a mini bus to the Zambian border and crossed into Chapata, a pleasant small town with a ShopRite supermarket, Barclays Bank, and hostel nearby. I went for a great run and got many strange looks, nobody runs around here. The next day I took a bus to where I am now, Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. I've been noticing as I progress south that infrastructure is improving rapidly. I'm loving it. Roads, there are roads! And usually they are more pavement than pothole, a welcome treat. And I'm back to the land of drinkable water, straight from the tap!

The 'plan' is to head to Livingstone, and see Victoria Falls. It's one of the 7 wonders of the world, and the 'adventure capital of Africa.' There's all sorts of stuff to do, rafting, bungee, rope swings, jet boating, helo rides, microlight flights, boat cruises, etc. I'll do something fun, not sure what yet. After that I'm thinking about heading west to Namibia and to see the Atlantic ocean again. I've almost circled the globe now, cool feeling. There all sorts of stuff to do there, including sandboarding down some massive dunes and going nuts in a dune buggy. After that, I'll try to do a hike in the Fish River Canyon, which is a second only to the Grand Canyon in size, near the South African border. Only trick with that is I need to find a group to go with, as there's a 3 person minimum to enter, it's a wild place, can't go solo. Then heading south south south to South Africa and all it's first world greatness. I'll hit Cape Town and then head up the coast to Durban, and hopefully have time for some surf lessons and then hiking in the Drakensburg range near Lesotho. Then it sadly comes to end my friends... I've booked a flight to London from Cape Town on May 22nd. I'll have a day and a half to catch up with some friends in London and then it's hop across the pond back home on the 24th of May. I have mixed emtions about coming home, definitely looking forward to seeing everyone again, and to having a return to normalcy. But I know I'll really miss the adventure of travel and life on the road. It sure has been fun, though tough sometimes, but always an adventure. Someone asked me what I would do differently if I was doing it all over again, I really couldn't think of anyhting.
I've got some short trips this summer that I'm really looking forward to, and some fun ideas of what to do with life after that... but I'm also open to suggestions. Comment away.

on the slow boat

2006-03-30T05:21:00.000-05:00

A three hour tour...

The boat trip down Lake Tanganyika was a nice change of pace from our usual modes of transport (the overstuffed minibus). There was four of us heading down the lake, Dave Maher (the always suave British safari guide), Steve (British), and Pierre (French). We split up into two first class cabins, which had two beds each. The cabins were pretty good, they were clean, had a sink, closet, and it came with sheets! Luxury. The ship had a restaurant with local dishes and a small bar serving beers, cokes, and peanuts. On board there were three classes (1st, 2nd, and floor), since the boat is a combination cargo/people mover, there was always a lot of activity going on, including an usually high amount of breast feeding. The MV Liemba is the only way for many lakeside villages to get supplies and pretty much their only access to the 'outside world.' The lake is massive, it's really like an inland ocean. It's the second largest lake in Africa, and the second deepest lake in the world. When we got out into the middle of it, you couldn't see all the way across, just water all the way to the horizon. The trip was to take about 2 days and we were planning to get off on the 10th stop, Kasanga.

Overlooking Kigoma, the main port on Lake Tanganyika.

We spent a couple of pretty lazy days in Kigoma waiting for the boat to arrive and then leave, but it was a scenic place on the northern part of the lake, in western Tanzania. Pierre was recovering from Malaria and we were just ready to hit the water. We got going about 4 hours late, pretty standard, and sailed off.

The mighty ship. ~93 years old.

usual on deck activity.

sailing off into the sunset. Day 1.

The captains view.

early morning on the lake, quite serene.

Pirates!
well not exactly. Most of the villages which are serviced by the ship don't have any docks, so the only way for goods and people to get on or off is to use these little tender boats. For them, it's big business and they jockey for position as soon as the Liemba comes to a stop. The guys climb aboard and get the stuff and people off the big boat and into their little one. A frenzy of activity.

The Steve. There was plenty of time to read, write in journals, and stare off into the distance. Day 2.

The mighty MV Liemba after we pulled into port at our destination: Kasanga, Tanzania.

Since the ship was late the bus we were to catch left earlier that morning, so we hiked into town and spent the night a local guest house. The place had no running water, just a bucket which collected the rain water off the roof. No electricity in the town, but this place had a small generator which ran the TV and Dish system, so we were blessed with South African soap operas at loud volume into the night. Priorities...

road scene, Malawi

The goat killer. This Toyota HiAce, the minibus of choice throughout Africa, hit a goat on the way to Mzuzu, the driver didn't even flinch, just kept on going. The goat was probably killed instantly as it was a clean head shot on the steel front bumper.

When we would stop to let people on or off during the minibus journey we had the option to buy various kinds of cooked fish. Delicious.

Local kids enjoying the digital camera. They would laugh in hysterics each time I showed them their photo.

Sunset from our dorm room, Nhkata Bay, Lake Malawi.

Dave and Cheryl, on Nhkata Bay. We first met Cheryl in Rwanda, she's Canadian on a African holiday and heading South also. So we all met up in Nhkata Bay for a few days. Steve and Cheryl have since headed to Victoria Falls, I'm hoping to meet up with them again soon.

Mayoka Village, our fantastic hostel on Lake Malawi.

Me on board the boat.

Made it to Mzuzu

2006-03-21T04:59:00.000-05:00

Had an excellent adventure down Lake Tanganyika and am currently in Mzuzu, Malawi. I'm excited to be in 'Southern' Africa now, having traveled through every country in 'East' Africa. I'm planning a lazy path from here down to Capetown, South Africa via Malawi, Zambia and then I'm not sure... maybe Botswana and Namibia or Zimbabwe and Mozambique, but all paths lead south. Any suggestions? I'll update fully as soon as I can!

Burundi or Bust

2006-03-14T04:10:00.000-05:00

The day after visiting the gorillas, Dave and I headed west in a packed minibus to the town of Gisenyi, on the north end of Lake Kivu. Kivu splits Rwanda from the Congo (aka Zaire, aka Democratic Republic of Congo) and is exceptionally beautiful. We had heard from a couple of other travellers in Rwanda that the Congo made for an interesting day trip. Just over the Congo border lies the town of Goma, which was half covered in hot liquid magma during a volcanic eruption in 2002. So we decided to cross over and check it out.

Lunch spot, beside Lake Kivu, Rwanda.
(Looks nice, right? A few minutes after this photo was taken a prostitute came over to our table and stole a french fry off Dave's plate, apparently upset after we rather directly declined her services.)

Lake Kivu, Rwanda.

Local transport. Goma, Congo.

Our transport. Goma, Congo.

The sights around Goma were refugee camps, Asian UN peacekeepers in APCs and Land Cruisers and hoards of shifty taxi drivers around a busy airport. A 20 minute ride out to the lava should cost $5, our lowest offer was $40, and the highest was $100, all bargaining done in French. Thus we took the motorcycles which were $5.

Lava flow covering village, Congo.

Crowned Crane, lunch spot, Congo. Best burger in Africa.

Local Beer. Delicious.

Another view of Lake Kivu, Rwanda. A nice lakeside stroll to and from the Congo border.

Rwanda to Burundi:
Burundi is a beautiful small country south of Rwanda which is currently enjoying peace after a 13 year civil war. We were planning to head to Lake Tanganyika, in Tanzania with a stop for a few days in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi. Up until a few months ago, Burundi was considered off limits to travellers (see linked travel warning above) We had met a few travellers that had just come through with great success and reported a calm country with friendly people. I had been planning to go around the country through Tanzania, but that was pretty far out of the way, and transport would have been a combination of minibuses, pickup trucks, if anything. Not exactly ideal options. We found a direct bus from Kigali, Rwanda to Bujumbura, Burundi (Yahoo! Express) and had a tip on a good budget hotel there. So, we went for it. It was a superb journey through the most stunning country I've in Africa.

Typical road scene, Burundi.

Village near the Rwanda-Burundi border. I couldn't take too many pictures because the police are still a little weary of people with cameras.

While in Buj, we were trying to find a cargo ship to take us down the lake to Kigoma, where we'd get another ferry further south. However, we never found a boat that was willing to take us on the 16 hour journey, and really weren't all that enthused to spend 16 hours on a cargo ship either. While walking around the port we came across the Medicine San Frotiers (Doctors Without Borders) Logistics base and spoke to Stella, the manager there. She gave us to best quote of the trip: "You guys are brave, I think you're the first tourists I've seen." But she had no idea of cargo ships we could hitch on to Kigoma, so we took a minibus (as per usual) to the nearest town to the border, then a taxi, then had a couple mile stroll to the Tanzanian border post. Its not the "most popular" way to go, but it was really fun to do it.

Lets Go O's. Burundi kids near the Tanzanian border.

The crew crossing the Burundi-Tanzania border. It was a 1 or 2 miles from the gate on the Burundi side on a dirt road to the Immigration building on the Tanzanian side, a gorgeous walk through the woods.

Cross border commerce, Burundi-Tanzania.

The landscape between the two borders, looking into the Congo. Awesome.

Safe and sound in Tanzania. We've been in Kigoma on the shore of Lake Tanganyika for 4 days now, and were getting a little bored.

Dave and I going over the options for the day in Kigoma, there is a nice Internet cafe...

Ah, it's not that bad, it's a beautiful small town with a port. We're getting on the MV Liemba ferry boat today at 4pm for a two and a half day trip down the lake (which is the second deepest in the world, and the second largest in Africa) to Southern Tanzania and then onto Malawi. The MV Liemba is a 93 year old ferry, we hold first class tickets, we're bringing 12 liters of drinking water and some fruit. It should be very interesting... We've met up with the only other tourist in Kigoma, an Frenchman named Pierre, who will also be coming with us.

Roll around Rwanda

2006-03-12T09:07:00.000-05:00

Updated: Now with more words!

Rwanda is simply amazing. It's called the land of a thousand hills, but it has millions of them. Each one is lush and covered in terraced fields of banana trees, tea, coffee, etc. For a country that experienced a horrific genocide in 1994, it has made a remarkable recovery. The wounds are literally still visible around the country. There's a noticeably high number of amputees in Kigali, the capital. However, as it's commonly said, Rwanda is a country looking forward, not back. It's easy to forget what happened here, but essential not to. The international community failed to help Rwandans when they needed it most, by not stepping in to stop the massacre. So for the past decade they've been making up for it with "guilt money" as in an enormous amount of aid and relief. Almost every UN agency and NGO imaginable is here, their white Land Cruisers burning around town by the hundreds.

Dave and I took a two hour taxi from Uganda over the border and then into Kigali, the capital. The border was pretty chilled out, no tanks, and only a handful of armed men and lots of fuel trucks standing around a muddy road with some buildings. As an Americano, I get into Rwanda for free! no visa required, thank you. (Visas in Africa are generally an expensive and useless hassle, in my opinion. As I've seen on a couple of occasions my $50 USD bill go directly into the pants pocket of the Immigration official, and been issued no receipt. Hmm, that's odd? I would complain, but that would be extremely stupid. And would result in being delayed for not having some other form of paperwork, another passport sized photograph, or vaccination card; and then having to pay even more. I fund the ever expanding bellies of African immigration officials.)

French and Kirwandan are the primary languages here, so my two years of high school French got a real work out. Dave spoke it better than I, and was often looked to for translation when doing the always important work of negotiating a fair price for taxis, beers, hotel rooms, fruit, etc. I found that I could still understand conversations well and read menus just fine, so it was fun.

We spent a few days checking out the city in perhaps the worst hotel we could find. Hotel Gloria. HG had an excellent location in the city center, cheap rate, and that's about all. No water, pillows, mosquito nets, or electricity. It did however have a flock of the biggest mosquitoes I've seen to date, and they all seemed to be living in our room. I got a few bites. The hotel man, who we nick named "Shi-Thead," would come by around 6pm to spray toxic mosquito killer spray in our room. It was like tear gas, we would have to open all the windows, ok the one window, to let it dissipate. During the dissipation process, we would have to be far far away from the room, or we couldn't breath. So, the mosquitoes would leave and come back later through the open windows, completely defeating the death spray. I didn't shower for three days (no water) and was feeling a little less than fresh for a while. I did have the good idea of going to the Hotel Mille Collies (aka Hotel Rwanda, which the recent movie was based on) to use their pool and outdoor shower. The hotel, pool, and shower were excellent. Quite an improvement over Hotel Gloria. We took off for the North and the town of Ruhengeri the next day.

I came to Rwanda out of curiosity and interest. Curious to see a place that I remembered vaguely from the news long ago, and interested in seeing Rwanda's top draw, and the focus of Dian Fossey's research, the mountain gorillas at the Volcanoes National Park.

Volcanoes in the mist... A nice 4:30 am wake up call.

Parc National Des Volcans is where Dian Fossey did her famous study of the Mountain Gorilla, as made famous by the book and movie "Gorillas in the Mist." She was also murdered here, apparently by one of the poachers she worked very hard to keep out of the park.
The park is really an amazing place, it's very easy to see why she fell in love with the environment and the creatures.
Our day began at 6am when we met up with Steve and a Canadian named Cheryl. We had to rent a Land Cruiser for the day to transport us up to the park headquarters and then onto the trail head to our Gorilla group for the day, which was the 14 member Amahoro group.
We were grouped with 4 older Canadians, all from "ThUUUUnder Bay" Ontario. (as they pronounced it.) A nice group that was in Rwanda to build a school and develop a curriculum for the teachers as part of a church based organization. I forget the name. So we all piled into two Land Cruisers after meeting our guide for the day, aptly named Patience. He's been a guide for 7 years and was one of the people who habituated the gorilla group we would visit today. There's about 8 groups of gorillas in the Rwandan section of Parc National Des Volcans, a few that are habituated to humans for tourists to visit, a few that are left alone, and a couple that are studied by researchers.
So, we took off up the muddy road for about 25 minutes to the trailhead and the Canadians Cruiser got stuck, so they jumped into the back of ours. We all made it up there and hopped out, got some hiking sticks and were off!

Which way do we go? up. There's Patience, being ever so patience with our probably dumb questions about Gorillas, and explaining their diet and habits.

The Steve. Traveling with yet another Brit, they're all good fun.

huge earth worms all over the trail.

Mzungus in the mist. The hike up to the Amahoro group was excellent. We started in some farm fields just outside the park barrier and continued up on slippery, muddy trails for about 2 hours. The trail ended and we then followed trackers through some really thick vegetation to the actual gorilla group. It was misty and cool, perfect. Though, at times, slightly uncomfortable because of the stinging nettles which remarkably could sting us through our pants. Not to be out done by the nettles, there were ants that had a keen sense of direction and desire to congregate and bite a few of us in the 'crotch region.' They would start around the ankle, having easily penetrated our socks and pants, then make a mad dash for the old family jewels. We had to stop a few times so the women could go behind some bushes to extract these little biting bastards from their underpants. I found this quite hilarious until they got me, then the humor of the situation was somewhat lost as I dropped my pants in the middle of the jungle to remove the unwanted guests. Over the two hours I became pretty good at heading them off at the upper thigh, and had only one or two bandits make it across the proverbial 'border.' So ants and nettles aside, awesome hike. Once we got near the group, our patient guide, Patience, informed us that the trackers had lost sight of the gorillas and it would take up to 6 hours for us to find them. While the Canadians were freaking out and about to mount a full on hysterical tirade, Patience patiently informed them that he was only kidding, and pointed to where the Gorillas were quietly munching on some wild celery stalks. I've never seen a group of people go from extremely annoyed to extremely excited so quickly. I'm sure he does this same trick everyday, can't blame him. The reaction was pretty funny. Anyway, we walked up to the group and that's when the quickest one hour of my life began as I watched and took endless photos of the encounter with some of the rarest primates in the world. There are about 500 mountain gorillas left in the world, their habitat constantly shrinking.

We smelled them before we saw them, and then BAM, the silverback charged right up to us to make his presence known.

we got right into the middle of the 14 member group. They were climbing all around us and eating some veg.

This little fella enjoyed our company and was jumping all over.

daaaaa!

Heeeead. like an orange on a toothpick. The big cranium of the silverback.

silverback

enjoying some celery.

we got too close and he politely asked us to back away. It may be difficult to tell from the photos but this guy was over 500 pounds.

I filled my memory card with a few hundred photos and a video or two of the hour with the gorillas, it was beyond words. So cool, and very surreal. We were surrounded by misty volcanic mountains, the thickest vegetation and there were 14 mountain gorillas playing and eating all around us, not the least bit put off by our presence. I felt like the silverback was going to look at me and start talking, they were so much like us. It's hard to explain I guess, but I'll never forget that hour. magical.

All Over Uganda

2006-03-02T04:11:00.000-05:00

daaaaa! dirty dirty.

Since my last installment I've covered a lot of ground. I've been enjoying Rwanda for about a week, and will attempt to sum up the past few weeks getting here.

After Dave and I returned to Kampala, from sipi falls we headed north to Murchison Falls National Park. Murch is famous because the river Nile pumps through a 18 foot gap in some rocks to form a massive and powerful waterfall. We had a terrible time getting up there, as there's limited transport options. Most people visit the park with they're own vehicle, but sadly we're not most people. We took a crowded bus for a 6 hour ride to the northern town of Masindi, spent the night at a nice little place with TV (and electricity, a nice treat). Spent the next day trying to figure out how to get into the park, which is another 100 or 200 kms north of Masindi. We decided to take a minibus taxi, known as a 'ma-tatu,' to a small town called Bellisi. From Bellisi, we were told we could get 'boda-bodas,' or motorcycle taxis, the final 33kms into the park, where there was a nice lodge waiting for us. Well, the taxi ride was wicked. A 14 passenger toyota hiace minivan can actually hold up to 26 passengers + a few chickens, and a roof full of cargo. I thought the wheels were going to come off, as dave and I were crammed into the last two seats in the back with people on our laps. It's all about profit maximizing on an African taxi, each person meant a good fare. No matter the comfort or delay to let on and off these 26 people, and nevermind the damage this does to the old hiace. The road was less road than pot hole, when it had pavement, which wasn't often. We finally got to Bellisi after a long long ride, but the fun was only about to start.

Bellisi is nothing but a few shacks at a crossroad. There are exactly two boda-bodas in the whole place, which is lucky i guess, but not when you're trying to negotiate a decent price. The drivers knew full well that they were our only hope. We couldn't walk, there are lions in the park, which might eat us. By this point I was smelling like a rotten goat, and was covered in dirt. Sweating a lot in the taxi, with open windows to let the dust in was kind of like getting tar and feathered. Well, we finally got a half decent price (still 3x too much) from these guys, after a pleasant 15 minute standoff. We were finally on our way, it was about 4:30pm at this point. 33km doesn't sound far, but on a tiny motorcycle (moped), on sandy dirt roads with a full backpack on plus the driver, it wasn't the most enjoyable journey. But I was still laughing most of the way, it was pretty comical. That all came to an end once we entered the park and were attacked by tsetse flies. These flies can kill cattle, their bite seriously hurts. They were laying into us without remorse, I would smash one and then watch it fly away totally unharmed. But we lived and finally made it to the 'Red Chili Rest Camp.' It was awesome, cool little huts, showers WITH WATER (not always a given), and great food. We had a couple cold beers to celebrate our arrival.

Lazy croc.

Ghetto zoom lens through the binoculars.

Hippos are not friendly, but delicious.

Mooven, these longhorns were all over the road on the drive back to Kampala.

Downtown Kampala, Uganda. A fantastic African city, my favorite thus far.

The next morning we booked a boat trip up the river to see the falls. It was sort of like a river safari trip, as the banks of the Nile are covered with crocs, hippos, elephants, buffalo, birds a plenty, etc... It was great fun, and was full of great folks. We met a really nice Canadian couple on a super 3 week safari around east africa. Barb and Scott were in their early 30's and remembered the days of backpacking on a budget. They felt sorry for us after we told them about our trip up and offered us a ride back to Kampala in their super sweet Land Cruiser. NOT ONLY did they give us a ride ALL the way back, they gave us a couple of cold beers, bought us lunch, a few drinks, and dinner back at their 5-star Sheraton, we topped it off with a swim in the hotel pool. Ahhh. awesome. Thank you Barb and Scott!!!! Dave and I got some hilarious looks walking in there with our packs on, totally covered in dirt. We rocked up to the bar and one of the bellmen came over to take our packs and hide them behind the bar. too funny.

We spent a 2 days in Kampala hanging out with the small group of friends we'd made at the hostel. On our last night we all went out for an Ethiopian dinner and then to a pub to watch the Real Madrid v Arsenal soccer match. Ugandans are huge soccer (football) fans and it was a wild night. The next morning we headed south to Masaka, a small city and jumping off point to the Ssese islands. The "Ssese's" are africa answer to the Caribbean. A small group of islands in Lake Victoria. We met up with two of our friends from the hostel, Carolyn and Becca. They're British medical students do a semester of study at a hospital in Masaka. They had a great group down there, and we spent the next day, 23 feb (Ugandan Election day) hanging out at the local pool teaching the locals how to land on their backs whilst attempting a flip (my technique). The election is Uganda's first presidential election with multiple parties involved. Meaning the last few elections had only one party, so it was no surprise who won. The current president, Museveni, has been there since 1986, and while he's done a very good job in my opinion, many people were ready for a change. All was going smoothly in the run up to election day, but many were worried there could be trouble on election day. We thought it wise to be out of the capital on that day, as did the State dept, who sent me a few emails encouraging I vacate the capital on election day, and "maintain a high level of awareness." So we made a strategic withdrawal, and hung out by a pool that day keeping up US-Ugandan relations with a few beers and a couple belly/back flops.

We made it out to the islands the next day on a car filled ferry, it was a beautiful trip. The islands are very lush and not so populated. We settled into the 'Hornbill campsite' which was great. Its run by an old dutch guy and serves some of the best food I've had, including a massive tub of guacamole. Becca and Carolyn met us out there for the weekend and we all had a great time lazing about and going for a short hike. After they went back to Masaka, Dave and I headed out to the infamous 'Banda Island' that we'd heard about from a couple of folks at the backpackers in Kampala. Banda is run by an old British-Kenyan who lives out there by himself sort of running a resort, but mostly making his own banana liqueur, drinking most of it. While he was nuts, he did cook up an awesome lunch and was very entertaining.

After Banda, we headed back to the mainland and continued our journey south, heading for Rwanda...

Sunset over Lake Victoria, Ssese Islands, Uganda

Our camp was at the bottom of this hill, right on the beach. The four of us hiked up for the sunset and beers. The fancy new ferry boat can be seen parked at the dock in the background, it was donated by the Dutch.

Oh yeah, self timer professional I am. The three Brits were very kind to put up with this yank for so long.

Luke, the Dutch owner of Hornbill campsite took us out to Banda Island on his old boat. It was a fine ride on the calm lake. Lake Victoria is massive and incredibly beautiful.

Lunch spot on Banda Island.

The boat returns to the beach at the Hornbill campsite.

welcome to the jungle

2006-02-21T08:12:00.000-05:00

We've got fun and games.

Here are some photos from around Jinja, Uganda, before and after our rafting trip.

Bungee jump platform over the Nile river at the Adrift Rafting HQ. Take it easy, I didn't do it. I have no desire to bungee jump. Well, truthfully, I do have a slight desire to bungee jump but this one wasn't all that high and it was too expensive.

Mr. Matt and Mr. Patrick, before we hit the (croc free) white water of the Nile. Our last day was fantastic, rafting was an excellent way to end our time together. Matt's in Europe/UK now, catching up with old and new friends, and then heading to South America. He's hoping to get work with his engineering firm GHD in Santiago, Chile. "Ever been?" "Why yes! Twice last year!"

Sundowners on the banks of the Nile. A strong finish.
(Tim: Notice I'm drinking with my left hand, and Matt's drinking with his right. Buffalo!!!!!!)

Our boat crew. Me, Matt, Dave, and Juliean

The impressive plaque at the start of the Nile river. Lake Victoria is to my left, and the river goes to the right. Not that you can see it very well, but it is behind those trees.

The Boda Boda. Our preferred mode of transport. Driver, Dave and I, plenty of room, very comfy...

Kayak launch ramp into the Nile at Bugagali Falls. Brady, Andy, Chad are you seeing this?

Sunset over Bugagali Falls, Uganda.

Background:
Dave and I spent a few days in and around Jinja and Bugagali Falls relaxing by the river and planning our next few weeks in Uganda. (as shown above) We were both keen to do a lot of the same things (Mt. Elgon, Muchasion Falls National Park, Ssese Islands, etc) and get on well, so we've decided to stick together for a while. Having a qualified safari guide along has many perks, and he's had some limited success with the ladies by dropping "well, actually, I'm a safari guide..." I'm still using the old standby: "All I have are these damn Nepalese coins..." with (not surprisingly) little success.

Up Mt. Elgon
From Jinja we took a taxi for an hour or two North to the town of Mbale, which is the access town for Mt. Elgon. We waited for about five hours at the bus station for the Mbale bus which never came, then gave up and got in a taxi. Elgon is a massive mountain, not so much in height, though it's a respectable 14er. It's sports a 80 by 50 Km surface area, and (~12 million years ago) was the highest mountain in Africa. But around that time it had a massive eruption, as volcanos do, and now has a gigantic crater at the top and is thus quite a bit shorter than it used to be. We would hike up the Sasa route and then down the Sipi trail to the beautiful Sipi falls. We were planning on a 5 day/4 night hike. Dave and I supplied all our own food, and carried our own packs. For food we brought a 4.4 pound bag of rice, a pound of pasta, one loaf of bread, 4 cans of tomato paste, 3 cans of tuna, 2 cans of pineapple chunks, peanutbutter, jam, 8 chocolate bars, and a couple bags of cookies. This served us well, but we ran out of everything but the rice and bread by the last night, and it turns out Dave's not the biggest rice, PB&J, or tuna fan... I think he was pretty hungry by the end of it.

The friendly gal at the Mt. Elgon National Park visitor center, where we secured our permit and paid for our (mandatory) ranger/guide and porter, convinced us that we were 'strong' and 'not old and slow people.' So we opted to save a little money and do the hike in 4 days/3nights. This would be pushing it a little, but seemed well within our abilities. Since the altitude wasn't all that, I was confident in the shorter schedule as was Dave. We met our park ranger/guide that night and talked it over with him, no problem, easily done he said. Mike was his name and he was a head guide at the park, we were in very good hands. The porter, Elisa (male), seemed keen and we went to sleep that night at the base of the mountain at a cool little guest house with great food called "Rose's Last Chance."

The next morning we got up, had breaky, and met up with Mike and Elisa. Mike was decked out with is olive green ranger uniform, rucksack, and AK-47. He was looking rather militant. The AK seemed a little excessive, but he insured us it was for our protection from wild Buffalo, Hyeena, etc. All he would do is shoot it in the air if something came to close, just to scare them off. I guess that's the cheapest noise maker the Uganda Wildlife Service could find? Anyway, it was kinda cool having an armed escort up and down the mountain for four days. Not that we came across any buffalo, hyeena, etc.

The trail up was a beauty, through lots of small villages full of little kids yelling "Mzungu, how are you?" Mzungu = white person. Lots of fun as a few kids followed us up for a little while.

Mike our commando looking park ranger/guide. He was great, very friendly and full of insights about the parks enviroment(s).

A nice junglish start.

Almost to the end of the first day, we made it thorugh the jungle/rain forest into the mooreland and then to the heath zone. Something like Kili. You can see the ranger's hut in the background of this shot.

Mike and Dave atJackson's Pool, early in the morning on summit day (day 2).

Jackson's pool an the rim of the crater ridge in the background.

Mike and I at the summit, Wagagai Peak.

Summit shots.

Dave and I, on "top rock."

Dave's blister, ouch! This is back at camp after coming down from the top. He popped it and powered through the next day, which we had a 35km hike way across to the other side of the mountain and back up over 4000m. Day 3 was way harder than summit day (day 2), but went through some awesome landscapes with perfect weather.

Day three. lots of up and down as we worked our way across Mt. Elgon to the Sipi trail. This section was recently burned in a brush fire. We saw a couple of fires the night before we started, and then saw the evidence whist on the mountain.

Dave and Mike in another wild landscape.

Our armed guide and porter, Elisa carried a machete the whole time. But it was only used for cutting firewood, and our sweet custom bamboo walking sticks. We cooked over an open fire each night at camp, these guys are pros.

a typical section of trail, day 3.

The cave we slept in day 3.

same cave. awesome camp!

Day 4. down to Sipi falls.

sorry, ran out of time, I'll finish the captions and update you all soon! hope all's well back home.

African daze

2006-02-16T08:06:00.000-05:00

After the Serengeti safari, Andrew and I said farewell to Matt for the time being and headed back up to Nairobi. Matt took off for Zanzibar, and some R&R on the beach. Andrew had to catch a flight out of Nairobi at 11:30pm that night. We got into Nairobi around 7pm, and headed to the famous restaurant "Carnivore." At Carnivore you, surprisingly enough, eat all kinds of meat. Waiters walk around with different animals on a stick and carve you off as much as you want. A fine way to end any Africa tour, by eating all the animals we had spent the past few days watching. My favorite was probably ostrich, while Andrew seemed to enjoy the camel best. It was good fun and a great way to send him off. I had so much fun the past few weeks and was pretty exhausted from it all. I headed solo into Nairobi and hit a dorm bed in the hostel for the next 12 hours at least. I spent a few days relaxing around Nairobi and planning the next adventure. Matt and I had left with tentative plans to meet back up again in Kampala, the capital of Uganda (just west of Kenya). I headed there on a 12 hour bus ride over some of the worst roads i have ever been on. Just the bus ride was an adventure. About a third of the way into the ride the axel broke off and was bent under the chassis, we had to get a replacement bus which didn't take all that long. Finally got into Kampala at night and I was personally escorted to the 'new taxi park' by two nice Ugandan cross country runners that I had befriended on the bus. They found the right taxi for me and got me the right price, and I was off to the 'Backpackers Hostel.' A fantastic place it was, with all kinds of great folks. Hung around Kampala for a few days organizing a rafting trip for when Matt showed up and hanging out with a good group of folks from all over the place. Matt showed up on the 4th with a British guy named Dave, who he met on the bus from Dar es Salaam to Kampala. Dave's a great guy, a licenced safari guide in South Africa and working on his certification in Zambia. He also has a degree in Zoology. We had a fun night on the town in Kampala, went to sports bar and watched some of the African Cup soccer matches with a rowdy crowd. The next morning we headed to Jinja, a hour or so drive east on the North Shore of Lake Victoria and the start of the Nile river. The Nile, longest river in the world, starts here and works its way north through the Sudan, and Eygpt. It sports some world class whitewater and we were keen to raft it. We went with Adrift (http://www.surfthesource.com) and had a hell of a good ride. There were a bunch of class 5 rapids, it was great. We went through one rapid and got devastated, flipping and swimming. We made it successfully down after that, completely flipping over only once more. We had lots of time to just hop out and swim through the calmer sections. Swimming in the Nile, amazing day. We finally safely made our way through the last rapid called "the bad place." It was super fun, and a fitting way to end our time together, Matt and I said our heartfelt goodbyes as he was heading back to Nairobi, for a flight to London on the 8th. It was sad to see Matt go, we've had an incredible time together and will hopefully meet up in South America sometime in the near future, but with funds falling fast, it's all up in the air.

I'm now traveling with Dave the zoologist and safari guide. We just got back from NE Uganda, and a four day trek up the 5th? highest mountain in Africa: Mt. Elgon (14,193ft). It was a spectacular hike and I'll get photos online and tell you all about it soon.

Serengeti Safari

2006-02-05T07:42:00.000-05:00

After our spectacular time on Kili, the three of us spent a day or so relaxing in Moshi, Tanzania; and arranged a 4 day Safari. Safari means 'journey' in Swahili, and what a journey we had.

The Safari we planned included 3 days/2 nights in the Serengeti National Park and 1 day/1 night in the Ngorogoro Crater. These are about the two best parks to view game in all of East Africa, and perhaps the world. To say I was excited about it, would be quite the understatement. Andrew was also really looking forward to it and kept saying how much he wanted to "see animals eating other animals." While that didn't quite happen, we did see some of earth's most amazing creatures and had a fantastic time. We again went with MEM tours for our safari, and rode around in one of their pimped out Land Cruisers. Enjoy the photos below with captions explaining the trip...

The crew on the rim of the Ngorogoro Crater, Tanzania. We drove around the rim of the crater on our 6 hour drive from Moshi to the Serengeti. Ngorogoro is on the way to Serengeti, so we got a glimse of what we'd be coming back to see in a few days, stoked.

Ngorogoro is a volcanic crater with a surface area of 20 square kilometers. It's packed full of wildlife and is probably the best spot to see the most animals because they're all confined in this small space. Steep, heavily vegetated slopes shoot up to the rim 600m above. This shot was taken from the south east rim looking north west.

Mr. Swahili, Andrew Eckert. He took it upon himself to learn a lot of Swahili while in Africa. He bought a English-Swahili phrasebook and kept it on his person at all times. The phrasebook was hilarious, it must have been written back in the colonial days because it contained some really insensitive phrases. Our favorites included: "Show me native dances," "This needs more salt," "Try to be cleaner," among many others. Andrew would use his Swahili skills, not the previously mentioned phrases, at shops and to our safari guides much to their amusement. They really appreciated his efforts with their language and it was just good fun. I wish Andrew was still in Africa! It was really great having him here.

Upon arriving at the entrance gate to the Serengeti National Park, we immediately came across a heard of elephants as they walked past the visitor center. As seen behind Andrew. One of the bulls (male) elephants mock charged a group of tourists that got a little too close. Good fun, and a great start.

After passing through the visitor center and main gate, we entered the vast plains of the Serengeti. Small 'islands' of rock stick out of an ocean of gold grass to provide these lions with a nice spot to relax before sunset.

We were extremely lucky to see this leopard up in a tree on our drive into the park on the first evening. It was either hunting or harassing a group of monkeys also in the tree, and then jumped down and slowly walked directly in front of our truck. A fantastic start, I had hoped to see a leopard, but never expected it to be so soon or so close. Leopards are very rare to spot and are usually only seen from a distance.

my favorite animal for sure.

Sunset over the Serengeti.

Our driver, Mike, let Matt and I take a turn at driving, it was great fun. Matt was keen to put the pedal down and Mike had to tell him to slow it down a few times, the Cruiser had some serious go.

I took a turn for a while and pulled up next to a lion with a buffalo kill, good times.

One of the many colorful lizards around our lunchtime beer spot.

Andrew chasing and trying to catch one of the many colorful lizards around our lunchtime beer spot.

Three examples of the elusive homo siapen siapen (aka human). They are a bipedal primate of the superfamily Hominoidea, together with the other apes. However, humans have an erect body carriage that frees their upper limbs for manipulating objects, and a highly developed brain capable of abstract reasoning, language, emotion, and introspection. A rare find in the Serengeti, especially these three with their unusually light skin tone. They must apply protective layers of 'sunscreen' up to 3 times per day to protect their delicate skin from the harsh equatorial sun. In this acacia tree one can be seen sleeping after a hearty feed, one is looking for possible mating opportunities and/or food, and another showing his powerful teeth to ward off would be aggressors.

Giraffes are hilariously awkward creatures that look the most silly when trying to run. The scene is not captured well with still photography, you must see it in person.

We sadly got a flat tire on our way back to Ngoro from Seregeti, but luckily were met by a few local Masai guys and had a good time hanging out with them.

Andrew looking tough, next to a Masai warrior.

One of my favorite shots from the whole trip, a Masai in Matt's avaitors.

The landscape in between the plains and the lush Ngoro crater.

An elephant decided to raid our campsite on the rim of the crater. We did our best to ward him off by standing far away, staring, and taking many photographs. None of our techniques proved effective as he walked into the middle of camp to have a cool drink from the water tank.

Beats the zoo.

Matt Jackson, Australian wildlife expert.

The scene around camp. Andrew is in there somewhere.

We were powerless to stop the beast.

This looks like a nice spot to rest...

The drive out of Ngoro...

The Kili Klimb

2006-01-25T09:51:00.000-05:00

1-20-2006

The first day started with a hearty breakfast at the hotel across the street, Kindiroko. The of Kili from the rooftop restaurant was excellent, as you can see. I felt that a clear start to the hike was a pretty good omen, as Kili is usually behind a dense layer of cloud. The mountain was clear, cloudless, and very imposing. It's a massive volcano, and had us all just a bit anxious to get going.
We were picked up in a super sweet Land Cruiser, 11 seater, totally decked out for safaris. Snorkel, and all. We rode out to the MEM office, just down the street really, finished paying up (about 860,000 Tanzanian Schillings each...) With all our gear, and guides, and their gear, and a couple of porters, finally we were off! To the Machame gate and the real start, boots on dirt.

We went with MEM for both our hike and following safari. The owner, Mohammad, is very professional and runs an impressive operation out of his swank Moshi office. We paid a little more than we had intended for both the climb and safari, due to the Jan. 1st 2006 hike in all Tanzanian National Park fees. No small percentage increase here, nope, all the the fees doubled! The thinking behind the huge jump being that TZ parks are getting very popular and the government wants to make them more exclusive, ie less crowds. So for us budget boys, the time to come would have been a month ago, but we had no idea about the price hike... It turned out to be worth every penny/schilling.

The Mountain

Kilimanjaro, which can be loosly translated into "Mountain of Light," rises out of the relative flatness of its surroundings quite impressively. The skyline of Moshi, where we were staying to organize the trek, is dominated by Kili when it's not covered in cloud. When we first arrived, it was hidden from us and didn't appear until the night before we were to start. At 5892 meters up (19 330 ft) the peak, aka "Kibo" is covered by rapidly shrinking glaciers. While the mountain is not "technically" difficult to climb, meaning we didn't have to use ropes, ice axes, crampons, etc... It is a world class workout and physical challenge. The hike up Kilimanjaro also kills a whole lot of people. A few weeks ago, 3 Americans and two of their Tanzanian porters were killed in a freak rock slide on the Western Breach route. That route, one of the most direct, is now closed. Two days after we summited, on 27 January, two western trekkers died in separate cases of altitude sickness or heart failure, details were still sketchy. Both were on the dangerously quick but most popular Marangu route, aka the 'coca cola' route.

There are many routes to chose from on Kili: Machame, Umbwe, Shira, Western Breach, Rongai, and Marangu. We chose to go for the Machame route, aka 'the whiskey route.' Not simply because of it's 'cool' nickname. Machame is known for its spectacular views, good acclimatization, its not the most popular, about 2nd, we'd stay in tents (not 'fart box' shelters), and it has (arguably) the highest success rate of getting people to the summit. We planned a 6 day hike, and to cut costs we insisted on carrying our own packs. Mine was pretty light at 14 KG or 30lbs. One must hire a guide and a bunch porters to climb Kili, it's not a Tanzanian welfare program, although it does seem that way at times. We definitely could have summited with a little less support, but it was great having a full team with us. There were some nice perks...

So, our MEM crew consisted of the following: 1 Guide, 1 Assistant Guide/Cook, and 4 porters. This was a pretty ridiculous team to support just the 3 of us, but we were soon to find out why they were all needed. The level of comfort and care was HIGH!

First up when we got to the campsite each day, our tents were pitched for us, we got served hot tea, coffee, hot chocolate, biscuits/cookies, and fresh popcorn; immediately. Meals, a minimum of 4 courses each. Mornings, hot tea/coffee and cookies in bed. We weren't exactly roughing it, and I could definitely (but wont) get used to this level of service in all my outdoor pursuits. We got our money worth, that is for sure. The best of all were the desserts. Oh my, fresh pineapple, mango, watermelon, that was the icing on the cake. We were treated like royal guests by the crew, it was excellent to be spoiled.

All those luxuries aside, the hike was tough. The first two days were pretty standard really, still at low altitudes, breathing easy, and a moderate ascent. We gained a lot of elevation quickly and by the second night we were back in thin air again. Ah, I miss Nepal. The environment changes were the coolest. Here's a day by day:

Day 1: Machame Gate to Machame Camp

Very lush tropical forest to slightly less tropical but still forest. Cool views all around and up to the summit. A soaking rain shower on the way up made it feel all the more tropical. All gear happily stayed dry as Andrew had brought us plastic pack liners, complementary of course, from the United States Government (our always silent sponsor). We met the other groups on our route that night, which included a contingent from the Singapore Army, all very nice guys, who were fitness instructors on an Army sponsored climb. Also met a well traveled and well climbed Canadian retiree named Ben, he's spending his new found free time hiking the big mountains of the world. Good on ya Ben. We'd meet up with all these folks and more each night at camp, as we were on similar schedules up ze mountain.

A wild start at the Machame Gate.

Day 2: Machame Camp to Simba Camp

Out of the forest and into the "Heather" and "Moreland" zones. Ecosystems quite unique with a few plant species that are only found on Kili and Mt. Kenya to the North.

Day 3: Simba Camp to Barranco Camp

Barranco was my favorite campsite by far. The huge trees, up close view of Kibo, the valley below streaching out into infinity. They all came together to make a truly magical place on an already spectacular mountain.

He's a tiger.

Room with a view.

Our trusty lead guide, Eugene.

Day 4: Barranco Camp to Barrafu Camp

Our last real sleep before the summit push came at Barranco, from there we had a long 7 hour hike up to Barrafu. Barrafu was an unwelcoming moonscape set on each side of a rocky ridge. Our tents (set up before we arrived by the awesome porters) were set among boulders, but well blocked form the wind. We were supposed to sleep here from about 5pm until 11:30pm, before setting out for the Summit. While we tried hard to find sleep, it eluded us. The combination of elevation and excitement got the best of us, I caught about an hour before being awoken and gearing up to go.

Simon Peter and I. Simon is going for the Kili ascent record, in under 9 hours. Insane.

Day 5: 12:20AM Summit Push

Fideles, our favorite porter, woke us up at 11:30pm with hot tea and some cookies. We readied ourselves and our packs the long hike up. The stars were alive in the crystal clear sky, the Milky Way was vivid above, as was every constellation imaginable. It was indeed a perfect night to hike.

A light wind kept us cool but not cold on the way up. I had on my usual summit outfit: everything. Which this time included: polypro thermals top and bottom, smartwool socks, Cloudveil pants (thanks Brady!), blue NF longsleve (thanks Dave! it was my 21st birthday present and one of my best articles of clothing.), NF fleece, waterproof shell jacket, yak wool hat, headlamp, fleece gloves, and goretex mittens over those. I was perfect, until we got to the rim, then the wind got to me and I threw on Andrew's stand by down jacket over top of it all. So I was actually quite warm at the summit.

We were power breathing from 12:20am until the summit was reached at sunrise, so for at least 6 hours straight. Anytime I stopped totally concentrating on the taking huge inhales and forceful exhales, a vise like headache would quickly remind me to keep the breathing going. While none of were taking Diamox, a drug that artifically increses your respitory rate, we did have it with us just in case one of us needed it. Luckily we didn't. We did take good ol' Vitamin I (Ibuprofen) once before the summit push to relieve the minor headaches already brewing in our brains. Other than that, it was a supplement free climb, aside from a shocking about of tea and hot chocolate/milos. Just as we were getting to the crater rim, I started to feel the effects of the altitude, and noticed it in the other two as well. Basically, we were losing our balance more easily than usual. Particularly when I'd turn to admire the view, I might stumble my feet a little as I got moving again. Also, time or my concept of time got altered. When I thought 5-10 minutes had passed, 30-40 had actually. The two breaks we took on the way up went by in an instant, just enough time to down a snickers and some partially frozen water. By the time I banged my bottle lid on a rock to break the ice and got a sip, it was go time. Also getting an essential pee was time consuming process with all that stuff on. After six hours of constantly steep hiking, we made it to the rim of the crater. This was the pyscological summit for me, as I knew if I got here in good shape, I could go the further 45 minutes to the actual summit and to the top of Africa: Uhuru Peak. After a quick stop at the rim, we pushed up to Uhuru. The sun was almost peaking over the eastern horizon which was on fire in mixed shades of orange, red, pink, and blue. We all had our cameras our and firing away from then on. Enjoy:

We could see the curve of the Earth. Seriously.

On the top!

Some Whiskey on the Whiskey route, thanks Tim!

To get back down, we took the Mweka route, it was super quick, but very pleasent.

Fideles, our man.

our pimped ride.

spending bills... really not all that much. $1 USD = 1200 Tanzanian Schillings.

the old post...

We made it to the top! Just wanted to quickly let you know we're back down and safe. It was an awesome and amazing experience, which I'll share with you all in detail asap, with photos of course! check back soon.

i could only get a few photos online now. we just got back from 4 days in Serengeti National Park, incredible time. Andrew, sadly, leaves tomorrow. I'll head to Nairobi with him and then ? I plan to update fully from Nairobi! But for now, enjoy the mountain.

View from our Breaky spot.

On the trail up, day 1, Machame route "whiskey route"

From camp 3, Kibo, the summit of Kilimanjaro.

Under African Skies

2006-01-17T09:57:00.000-05:00

Vast and Beautiful is Africa. Not a whole lot of time, but I was able to get some photos online for your enjoyment. I've enjoyed being behind the camera as much this week as ever in my life. Got to Nairobi, Kenya on 1/11/06. Spent the night in Nairobi Backpackers which was excellent, and met a really great group. We checked out Nairobi a bit, but really just looked to book a budget safari for the four days we had to wait for Andrew to arrive. We ended up booking through another hostel, and BUDGET it was. We saw incredible game, as show below... but had some truly laughable accomodation. luckly, we had a cool guy from Conn, Kirt; along for the safari with us. He's a real adventurer, having just summited Mt. Mckinley last year, amazing. Great company for sure. So, it was 4 days, first one at lake Nukuru, days 2 thru 4 at Masi Mara game park. both are very well know in Kenya, and was an awesome first safari!

White Rhinos at Lake Nakuru

mother and baby.

The King.

ROOOAR! ok, it's a yawn.

Baboon!

The morning drive into Masi Mara. we would listen to Toto, 'Africa' on Matt's iPod during the drive, to get pumped. great song, great place.

lion cubs at Masi Mara. I could watch lion cubs playing for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy. they're my favorite for sure.

As if someone went nuts with black paint on a white horse, the Zebra are an omnipresent feature of the Masi Mara landscape.

And a Giraffe by request.

breakfast of champions, nothing beast buffalo in the morning. they go for the tongue first, appearently the favorite part for the lions...

we were so close that we could hear the bones crunching and flesh tearing. sweet.

she was perfectly content having us around, and almost on que would turn to the camera. awesome.

ele's

At the hippo pool, with a few crocs thrown in for good measure.

Our AK-47 wielding park ranger. to protect of from the hippos, of course. Hippo's cause more human deaths in Africa than any other animal.

A Hippo covered bend in the Mara river.

another favorite.

Nairobi Backpackers

presently in moshi, Tanzania. Picked up Andrew on the 17th, bused down here on 18th, arranged trek on 19th, leaving for Mt. Kilimanjaro tomorrow! We're doing a 6 day trek up the Machame route. met our guide, Eugene, seems great. We're all very very excited, and a bit anxious, it's a high mountain! wish us luck!

fotos

2006-01-08T09:34:00.000-05:00

Here's some photos from the adventures in Europe, i've added captions to a few but ran out of time... heading to Kenya in a few hours, should really get packed. Next stop Nairobi!

An avalanche seen from Jungfraujoch, we heard the roar before we saw it.

The lion of Lucerne, Switzerland

A fine time to fly...

A ton of snow on the wing of our flight from Zurich to Berlin. We took off a little late, but no drama.

Janet, Lynda, and Jen on the first morning in Berlin

The boys and the Berlin wall.

Checkpoint Charile

Beautiful Berlin

The infamous Berlin wall.

The Holocaust memorial, Berlin.

I like this shot of Matt walking through the Holocaust memorial.

A good night shot of a Christmas festival in Berlin.

Cool car I cant afford...

at New years celebrations, Brandenburg gate, Berlin.

Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic.

Me and the Charles bridge in Prague.

Church inside the Prague Castle.

A sample of Prague's gothic architecture

Overlooking the city in Prague.

the famous Old Jewish Cemetary, Prague.

Another Charles Bridge shot, Prague.

Chuch of Bones, Kutna Hora, Czech Republic.

Me on the train to Kutna Hora.

Fun with bones, there were bones from over 40,000 people arranged around this church, very creepy.

More of the bone church...

a nice 'easy' flight.

Tim and Pascale, my excellent London tour guides.

Tynsky Church at night, Prague.

The first sign I saw once I got off the train in London. Comforting.

the classic London shot, which everyone takes. so i had to, couldn't resist.

Big Ben.

Sometimes you're just in the right place at the right time...

Trafalgar Square, London.

"Look kids, Big Ben, Parliment..."

Czech Yourself

2006-01-05T13:14:00.000-05:00

1/2/2006 - 1/5/2006

Lynda and I got a train from Berlin to Prague on the 2nd, I had originally planned to head to Holland, Belgium, and then the UK. But, Lynda was going to Prague and invited me along. She's cool, a friend of a friend of Tim's. A tv producer in Sydney, for a motorsport show, 27, a good travel companion for the week. All in the swiss house had been to Prague, and loved it. so I'm in Prague. She had prebooked a hostel in the "old town" near the Tynsky church. Turned out to be in the absolute heart of the city, perfect spot. We've walked all over the place, having cheap, great meals and beers (Pivo!) Saw the castle, charles bridge over the famous vtavla river and the usual tourist sights. Went 60Kms on the train today out to Kutna Hora, home of the famous "bone church." The bones of 40,000 people are on display as wall ornaments, chandoliers, etc. very sick but oddly cool. Heading to London tomorrow, easyJet, then its a few days of pounding the Pound Sterling (horrible exchange rate for us Yanks) 1.00 United States Dollars = 0.569186 GBP, das ist nicht gut. Mr. Matthew and I are off on the 10th to Nairobi and the Afrika Adventa begins. We meet up with ANDREW on the 17th and attempt to climb/hike/walk and vomit from altitude our way up Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa.

More photos to come in the next few days...

Hold on tight, and enjoy your ride.

2006-01-03T13:26:00.000-05:00

Recap: Wengen to Berlin.

12/23/2005-
Met Tim, Pascale, Jen, and Lynda (all Australian) in Zurich airport (Flughaufen) and quickly hopped a train to Wengen, via Bern-Interlaken. The swiss train system is amazing, best, most efficient, cleanest in the world (so far), and all for a reasonable price. Swiss perfection. The airport was also immaculate, modern and efficient. Everything has its place and its multiple purpose in Swiss-land. We got into Wengen and were floored, it was even better than we had hoped, and was looking its best after a fresh dump of pow. Our chalet, 'millennium,' was on the top of a building, huge porch, living room, fireplace, big modern kitchen, exactly what you'd want in a ski place. And in the freaking alps.
Wengen is all resort town, no compromises, tram runs straight into it, which had been wiped out by an avalanche in 1999. So that's all new, and you can see fancy avalanche barriers high up in the hills. Trains bring people and everything else up to Wengen, and then onto the slopes and over the mountains to Grindlewald, the next valley over. We skied the resort Jungfrau.

12/24/2005-
Christmas Eve:
Woke up early completely jet lagged, worked out with John and Matt (must keep fit for KILI!), got breaky, made it in our own Kitchen! First time in 3 months i've had a kitchen with a full on fridge, with food in it! Washed my toothbrush under the faucet without fear for giardia, cryptosporidium, and all our other favorite intestinal friends causing havoc. Drank glassfull after glorious glassfull of tap water! oh how i love trusting tap water again. Oh, and did I mention EVERY bathroom has plush toilet paper, flush toilets, toilet seats, and running water! Welcome to the future.
Went with the boys to check out rental equip and lift passes, walked out with a 6 day pass, and a hot pair of all mountain Rossi's. John (Aus), brought his ski boots which fit me, and he was planning to board all week. So I saved a bit of money on renting boots, nice one John. While the others were getting settled John, Marielle, and I headed up mountain to check out the trails mid morning, glad we did. Blue bird day, perfect conditions, took more runs than I should have then headed downtown to try and find my parents hotel. As previously explained, I ran into them on one of the paths, had a grand reunion, fit for the big screen. They came back to the chalet and I introduced them to everyone. They got on like old friends with all, as usual. We, (Tim, Matt, and I) eat an awesome meal at their place that night, went to midnight mass at a funky little church and crashed out quickly, it was Christmas.

12/25/2005-
Christmas Day:
Got up, went for a ski, another great day, some low cloud had a nice inversion. Mom, Lynda, Jono, and Pas cooked our feast. We had a great Christmas dinner and opened presents late. I got all sorts of good stuff: London Underground boxers, socks, Superfeet insoles (feet are loving them), and to top it off Mom and Dad hooked me up with a mini swiss army knife/ 1 Gig USB thumb drive. Matt picked up the guitar and we all sang along a bunch of songs, it was great, great fun.

12/26-28/2005-
Alpinlife:
Ski, Ski, Ski, Jungfrau is among the best ski resorts I've been to. It sports an amazing lift, tram, train network, and it's a bargain compared to skiing out West in the US. Lots of different terrain, all you need. Skied with Jim and Kath a lot, got cloudy for a few days, had some poor vis, but the snow came too. All would meet for lunch everyday at the top restaurant, Eiger always present in the distance. Dinners at the Berghaus (J&K's haus) became the norm, trips to the Co-Op had me stocked up on supplies, all hanging out each night at millennium and drink, drank, drunk. Got called out on Buffalo club violations many a time. Jono, Pas, and Lynda cooked up some good food all week.

12/29/2005- Jungfraujoch
Mom, Dad, and I got up early and took the highest railroad in Europe to the Jungfraujoch, on the Eigergletscher train through the massive Eiger. Insane engineering, which was all done around 1900. Observatory, shopping area, restaurants, museums, ice caves through the glacier, research station, these swiss just out did themselves. While on the observatory deck, we heard, then saw an avalanche, it was nuts.
After a few hours, we took the train back down to Wengen and said our goodbyes. Jim and Kath were heading off to Lucerne. Their visit was excellent, we had tons of fun together and everyone adored them. It was however, far to short. They loved Wengen and I loved the week with them, very lucky to have them come over.
I skied a little bit that arvo, took my last run down the world cup downhill course and then back to the chalet for the last time. Very sad to leave that place, it's been a trip highlight for sure. We started packing up and getting ready to hit Berlin.

12/30/2005-
Cleaned house, took out the heaps of empty bottles to the recycler, walked into town and got the train to Lucerne. Had a quick stop for lunch in Interlaken, about four hours in Lucerne, saw the lion, old bridges, etc. Ate some McDonalds, all we could afford, thats when i put some photos online, and headed for the aeropuerto/flughaufen/airport. It was snowing quite heavily in Zurich and we were unsure if we'd take off or not, but those swiss had it dialed. Took off a little late in half a foot of snow, no drama. Got into Berlin pretty late, got slick Merc cabs to our Hotel "Comet" and hit the sack.

12/31/2005-
Woke up in Berlin, the hotel had a great breaky, went on a long, frigid, walking tour of the city. It was a great tour that pretty much covered everything. Brandenburg gate, Reichtag, Checkpoint Charlie, the Wall, holocaust memorial, museum island, churches... We got some tasty kebabs, went back to the hotel to warm and wash, then hit New Years in front of the Brandenburg gate. It was snowing, then raining, but still a good time. We ran in the new year listening to an odd mix of euro, Spanish, American pop. Just about perfect.

1/1/2006-
Museumed and walked around East Berlin with Jen, Lynda, Jono and Janet. The boys and Pas were on a more intense museum marathon, and we all met up later that evening for a beer hall dinner somewhere in the city. The Checkpoint Charlie museum was especially cool, there were so many insane ways people got across the border, very clever.

best week ever

2005-12-30T11:23:00.000-05:00

Im very sorry for the lack of wordsmithery, but Ive had zero time to hit das cafe de Intraneten. In Berlin at the moment, super fun, with the full crew. heading to New Years at the Brandenburg Gate, did a good walking tour of the city today. Cold and snowy, beautiful in Berlin. I promise to fill you all in on our awesome time in Switzerland, the good times there can not be overstated. It was so fun, beautiful, amazing. Like being home with my mom and dad there, and a great croud of friends. Many thanks to everyone for the Christmas presents, and happy birthdays. and Happy New Year!!! Wish I could be with you all too!

This is Wengen. Photos now, words later.

Downtown Wengen. It's a small resort village high up in the alps, just at the bottom of the Jungfrau ski resort. no cars allowed, save a few taxis, just a train to get the people up there and back. There's a tram, cable car, in the center of town to the ski slopes. On the other side of the mountain is the massive Eiger, quite a famous mountain.

Our chalet and crew, on arrival.

Me and the Eiger, its an extremely impressive peak.

Our chalet living room, matt and I stayed up stairs in the loft, there were 3 bedrooms downstairs, two baths, kitchen, deck, awesome.
the crew was: John, Marielle, Jono, Janet, Pascale, Linda, Jen, Matt, Tim, and I. Plus my folks! Whom everyone loved, I heard "your parents are so cool" many times, and they are, they came all the way here to visit! Most were Australians, save me, Pascale (NZ), and Marielle (French).

The original crew on our sweet deck.

The crew with Mom and Dad. I was walking down one of the snow covered paths looking for thier hotel, and just saw Mom and Dad walking towards me. it was a reunion fit for the movies. Lots of hugging, kissing, smiliing, a great way to meet back up after 3 months away. classic.

The Eiger in a early morning cloud inversion.

Awww, they can still tear up the slopes with the best of them. We had a great time skiing together all week.

ReeeeeeeCOLA, it says on the gondola car. The alps were all i expected and more.

One of our fun filled nights together, I wish we had a few more weeks of this!

At the 'TOP of Europe" the highest train station, which goes right thru the Eiger, more about this crazy spot soon.

Wunderful Wengen

2005-12-24T04:08:00.000-05:00

India didnt give up without a fight! Matt, Ian, and I (Tim flew out of Goa) took a cab to the airport at 1:30am and almost hit a couple of rickshaws, very very close. Our cab driver, was pretty young and didnt really know how to drive, nor did he know where the INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT was. WTF? One would think that would be a place a taxi driver would know, but right, its India. So, eventually made it there slowly and and intact. had a 6 hour delay because of smog in Delhi, my flight was Bombay to Delhi to Frankfurt, Germany. So I missed my flight to Zurich, spent the night in a really nice hotel in Frankfurt, and flew Lufthansa to Zurich the next morning. I can not explain how much better Lufthansa was than Air India, but I cant complain too much, at least the flight was safe if not comfortable. No aircon during the six hour delay, while we were sitting on the hot runway.
Met up with Tim and the crew in Zurich, hopped a 3 hour train to Wengen, just near Interlaken. Its absolutely amazing, snow paradise, our chalet is SICK, and brand new. heated bathroom floors, sleeps 12, killer view, great group too. will show pics soon. My folks get in this arvo, waiting for them, cant wait to see them!

Bouncing through Bombay

2005-12-21T08:52:00.000-05:00

Photos, as promised.

This is the criminal monkey. He really tore into those peanuts.

Canadian Ian, good guy, but was little help with the monkey and the peanuts. He ran away too.

Gateway of India, and Taj hotel. Bombay.

The caves on Elaphanta Island, off Bombay.

Statue in caves

birthday dinner. Red Snapper. real good. Thanks again to everyone for saying Happy Birthday, and the gifts, I really appreciated hearing from you all!

Matt and I made it back to Bombay/Mumbai on a 12+ hour train ride from Goa on the evening of the 19th. We immediately hit McDonald's, standard Chicken Maharajah Mac and medium fudge softserve. McDonald's is pretty much the most expensive place we eat here, it's a classy place in India, and serves absolutely no beef, chicken only. Then got back to the hotel/hostel we've stayed before. Yesterday we met up with 3 of Matt's friends from home, who are on their own India trip, good guys and we all went out for beers in Colba, the touristy district of Bombay. We also met up with Ian, Canadian from Nepal/Goa. Spent the day today checking out touristy stuff, Elaphanta island was one. An hour boat ride out of Bombay harbor and full of caves and monkeys. Pretty cool, but I made the mistake of taking out a bag of peanuts while still in monkey territory, bad move. One of the monkeys was on me in a second, I tried to dodge him for a few seconds, but his hissing had me thinking 'HotZone' and that I never did get that rabies vaccination, so I decided to drop the peanuts. Though they were salted and delicious... The monkey seemed to enjoy them, damn thief! But I got a good photo of the culprit and will upload asap, on an ancient computer that's not friendly with my camera at the moment.

Heading to Zurich in a few hours after Matt, Ian, and I catch 'King Kong' at the cinema, I hope it's in English... Flying Air India (AI127) to Delhi, then Frankfurt Germany, then a Swiss Air flight into Zurich, should be a nice trip, and provide plenty of time to catch up on my... right, I dont really have anything to catch up on, sleep i guess! ha. Well, I probably write in my journal, which this blog has all but replaced. Maybe they'll be some good company on board. Matt flies to London, then we meet up again in Switzerland. Tim too. My folks come in on the 24th, looking forward to that very much!

Enjoy the view

2005-12-17T05:56:00.000-05:00

Sunset at Palolem beach, South Goa. 12/16/2005

View from Cabo del Rama fort, South Goa

Lunch view at Patem Beach

the Church in Cabo del Rama fort.

Treehouse in wildlife sanctuary.

Tim climbs up to the treehouse. No wildlife seen, except two other tourists. There was a small snake enclosure which had four Cobras and two Pythons. The guide used a long stick to poke the cobras, which reared up and hissed.

IN PALOLEM

We've been having a fine time here in Palolem. Met up with Ian, from Canada (America Jr.), who Matt and I originally met on our rafting trip in Nepal. We've all had some fun nights, as the happy hour cocktails are silly cheap. We rented the scooters again, the oh so hot Honda Activa, but this time for two days (with proper registration, and helmets). Yesterday we went up north checking out some sights, the del Rama fort, more beaches, etc. Had some lunch and headed back, had to dodge tons of cows, a few monkeys, dogs, and warthogs. The usual traffic in India. Today we went south to a wildlife sanctuary, and got to take the Activa's offroading. They performed quite well, I decided not to try anymore burnouts, as my wounds from last time are still healing. We then headed to the beach just south of Palolem, called Patnem. Swam a bit and had some lunch on the beach, another fine day in Goa. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and donations, both are greatly appreciated.
Planning a relaxing 25th birthday on the beach tomorrow, and a big seafood dinner with the crew. Sounds like it's pretty chilly back home, hope these photos make you a little warmer.

Lovin' Goa

2005-12-13T00:46:00.000-05:00

Photos, as promised:

'Sun Worshiper' in Goa

Library and Clock tower, University of Bombay

Me on the beach, South Colva, Goa.

This guy got a big fine for parking his super tanker in a non-super tanker zone. Story is that it dragged it's anchor in a storm six years ago and got beached here, near Baga, in Goa. Now the hull is cracked and it's full of sand, so it's not going anywhere. How pissed would you be if you just built a hotel on the beach and you woke up to this thing one morning? shame.

Our Honda Activa's parked in front of a Church in Old Goa.

Old church on top of a hill overlooking Old Goa.

Our CocoHut. Great spot.

Me and the beach girls who tried to sell us everything from fresh fruit to jewlery. They were very nice, I had a 'fruit tab' with one of them, she kept me well stocked in banannas and pineapple while we relaxed on the beach.

Market day, Anjuna beach, Goa.

Anjuna Beach

And a favorite shot from the archives... taken on our last night in Kathmandu (11/22/05)

Goa is everything we hoped it would be and so much more. So far we've spent 4 days in South Colva, in a place called "CocoHuts." Literally right on the beach, we had a cool little hut with bathroom attached and beds covered by mosquito nets. Very authentic and just what we were after. A glorious long, white sandy beach with enough waves to have a great time body surfing. Plenty of excellent people around including two cool British girls that were there on a two week holiday. A whole crew of other travelers made for an awesome crowd and vibe.

We then (on 12/12), took a taxi up the coast to Anjuna, another beach town. Had an awesome seafood buffet, and went for a dip that evening. The next day, we rented Honda scooters and tore around Goa for the day. I had the only real mishap, when I tried to do a burnout in some dirt, dumb move. I caught some pavement and completely lost control. Luckily I wasn't going too fast and bruised my pride more than my body. But I totally dumped the bike on the road. Oops. Got a few minor scraps, but nothing a bandaid couldn't cover. The other two found it quite hilarious, as usual. But it was a good wake up call, and we were more careful the rest of the day. We then had a run-in with the Goa Police, who tried to extort 2000 rupees off of Tim. At one point threatening to take him to the 'police station' without us. They pulled us over, and asked to see our drivers licenses, luckily Matt and I had ours with us, not that they are valid in India... So the cops were just looking for some dumb tourists to get a bribe from, and they figured we would fit the bill. Well, we hemmed and hawed for a while, clearly knowing what was going on, the classic, "oh, big fine for no license, blah blah blah..." Then they tried the old "oh, you don't have registration for these bikes.." yeah, no s**t, they're rentals! Anyway, we were polite and eventually they let us go without paying a thing. We had asked for a clear definition of the law and a written ticket for any "fine" (bribe) that they wanted Tim to pay. So, cleared that hurdle and were off to explore Panjim and Old Goa.

Checked out some of the old Portuguese churches and stuff in Old Goa and then rocked back up to Anjuna on our super hot Honda Activa's. It was really fun on those bikes! So, today, we hit the Anjuna markets which were huge. I got some stuff for my folks for Christmas, and looked around endlessly for a barber, no luck. I really need a haircut. Took a taxi into Margao, the main town in the middle of Goa, and then hopped a local bus to the furthest beach in the south: Palolem. It's sick. Wide bay, hills all around, palm trees right up to the beach. As the guide book said: Idyllic. Staying in another hut 50 yards off the water, with 50 cent beers. We'll check out the beach and town tomorrow and then relax here for the next few days. It will also be the place I turn 25! nice one.

Matt and I have booked a train (12 hour sleeper) on the 19th back to Mumbai/Bombay, then I depart good ol' India on Dec. 22nd at 5:40 in the AM. Back to winter time and 'the west,' looking forward to it, but will also miss these places and the unbelievably cheap traveling. Tim flies out of Goa, stops in Mumbai, then onto London, then Switzerland. We'll all be meeting back up in Wengen, Switzerland on or around 23 December. Sweet.

The Taj

2005-12-06T01:37:00.000-05:00

Truly one of the seven wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal.

We hopped a train from Jaipur to Agra, home of India's most popular tourist attraction, the Taj Mahal. The Taj was built by Shah Jahan as a tomb for his second wife, and after his son killed him, he was buried next to her too. Some kid... It was really impressive, right on the bank of a river and raised up on a massive platform. It was built by hundreds of skilled workers from around the world around the end of the 18th century. Agra has little else to offer, so we went on back to New Delhi later that evening. After watching Old School at a cafe, hilarious.

Bam.

Side view, the Taj was built to look identical from every side.

Yes, I know my head is blocking the building, and I need a haircut. But just wanted to show that I'm still alive, and is in fact me updating the blog.

View of the Taj from the Agra fort.

Fun times:
We're in Delhi at the moment, and had really great night out yesterday. We met a cool girl, Priyanka, on a train a couple of days ago, and she recommended club Dublin at the Sheraton hotel in Delhi as a good spot. So, the three of us headed there last night in the hope of meeting up with some other Aussies and Priyanka. We got a cab from the backpackers ghetto, Parhan ganj, and headed to the Sheraton, which just so happens to be the poshist place in Delhi. We rolled into Dublin, and as the name suggests, it's a typical looking Irish pub with a small dance floor club attached.
I mistakenly brought only about 800 rupees, about $20 USD, with me... didn't know quite how exxy this place was. With that I could afford only 1 Guinness, which was 450 rupees, well over the cost of our room at the hostel. We were pretty much about to leave when we started chatting to the guy next to us, who was there on business. Make a long story short, Tom (guy we met) works for Cisco Systems on wireless networks and travels all over Asia-Pac on the company coin. So he shouted us the next 4 rounds of beers and Cisco picked up the tab! Priyanka and her friend Aprajita showed up around 11 and we all had a great night and got good and tossed for free.
Today were taking a overnight train to Bombay (16.5hrs) we'll spend a day there and then take another train down to Goa. Goa's on the south west coast of India and has some really nice beaches on the Indian Ocean, it's quite well known for it's traveler scene, and should be excellent. I'll update again from there!

TRAVEL PLANS and IMPORTANT DATES:

December 7th: Tim turns 27! He's a old, old man.

December 18th: I turn 25, I'll be somewhere on the beach, with a cold beer in hand.

December 22nd 5:40am: I fly from Bombay to Zurich, Switzerland, and then get a train to Wengen, and meet back up with Tim and his crew from London in an alpine chalet. Matt flies in the the following afternoon. My folks are meeting us in Wengen on Christmas eve, should be spectacular! Hope to do a bit of skiing and a lot of snowball fighting vs. my Australian snowtard mates.

December 30th: We fly from Zurich to Berlin, stay in Berlin for New Years and then the crew splits up for a while. Tim goes back to work in London, and Matt travels around the UK. I'm not sure of my plans yet around Europe, hoping that MEGAN MILLER will come to visit for a bit. Everyone is more than welcome and totally encouraged to come visit if you can! (TIM HOGAN where are you?) I have to make my way to London (by Channel Tunnel I hope) by January 10th to meet back up with Matt and fly to Nairobi, Kenya.

January 10th: Fly from London to Nairobi, spend a week traveling around Kenya, visit a game park or three, and gear up for our attempt to hike up Mt. Kilimanjaro, one of the seven summits, and the highest free standing (not part of a mountain range, it's a volcano) mountain in the world. Planning on the Machame route.

January 17th: Andrew Eckert, 'super strong' climber and overall great guy, flies into Nairobi to meet us for the Kili climb and a little safari action afterwards. He sadly heads back to the states on January 30th, to continue messing with DNA at the National Cancer Institute.

February:
After Andrew departs, Matt and I are currently planning to head to Zanzibar for some beaches. Sometime after that Matt heads back to the UK and then onto Chile, in hopes that his Engineering firm will give him a job in Santiago.

As of now, I'm planning to travel overland through south eastern Africa through Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. That should take me through to April and then I pretty much have no idea... But I'm thinking about, depending on the timing, crewing on a sailboat from Cape Town, South Africa to Rio, in Brazil. I have about as much sailing experience as I do astronaut experience, but I'm a quick study. No worries Mom. If that doesn't work out, I may work my way up to North Africa and into Morocco for some trekking in the Atlas mountains. Depending on my financial situation of course. All fun ideas so far.

Speaking of the financial situation, if you've been enjoying the blog and feel the urge to contribute to my travels and Internet Cafe fund, I've set up my Paypal account to accept donations. You can use your Visa or Mastercard and a couple of other options should you feel the need and are just super cool. You can send me as much or as little as you'd like, totally not necessary, but greatly appreciated!!!! A couple people had mentioned this as a good idea, especially with birthday and Christmas on the way... :) Just click on the button below:

It's super easy and quick. You can use Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express. It's totally secure, and instantaneous. And will increase your chances of getting a really cool gift from a far off land by 100%. Thanks to everyone who reads this blog and hope all's well back home. bye for now.

When the going gets tough, the tough get Goa.

2005-12-03T01:16:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been an interesting time here in Rajahstan... We headed to Bikaner first, on a hellish overnight bus ride. The driver had hindi pop pumping until 2am, and then dumped us off in the middle of the night in a little town called Gangaga, then another bus to Bikaner. Bikaner has pretty much nothing going for it, besides the '8th wonder of the world' Rat Temple. It was a major disappointment, well, it wasn't too bad, here's some rats->

We had to walk around this place barefoot, and as you can imagine, it's covered in dung. So after 10 minutes and a few photos, we were out.

Change of plans:
Matt and Tim both 'went liquid' again, after some dodgey food in either Attari or Gangaga. I was felling pretty queezy, but somehow managed to avoid the worst of it. We had to pass on the Camel Safari though, as none of us felt that would be any fun in our sickly state. Camels bounce a lot... not good. After seeing fort after fort, and museum after museum, we've decided to make a mad dash back to Delhi, and catch a wicked long train ride to Goa.

After all of the adventuring in Nepal, we just haven't enjoyed being super tourists, the sights here are spectacular, but... When you're feeling sick, a fort is a freakin fort. There's also a severe lack of other travelers around, which makes things a little dull. We've met a few cool folks, a nice girl on the train to Jaipur invited us out for a night on Delhi when we get back there. But otherwise it's been slooow.
So, to Goa! Bye bye desert. Beaches, parties, backpackers, and some relaxation. No more overnight bus trips! I hope. The hindi pop hasn't grown on me yet. We're all feeling much better again, and are heading to the world famous Taj Mahal tomorrow. It's also my Mom's birthday too (12/4), Happy Birthday Mom! See you and Dad in Switzerland... :)
Just had a great dinner with the boys at a revolving rooftop restaurant and watched some fireworks, fun times. Hope all's well back home, and thanks for all of the comments, I do love reading them! And it makes me want to make the blog better too.

ok, i know you just want photos:

One of Rajahstan's beautiful forts, overlooking Jodhpur.

Jodhpur, the blue city, was a cool stop on our desert journey. The blue appearently keeps away the mosquitos. Seemed to work...

Tim, uber-tourist and team photographer, in his element. Listening to the audio tour guide in the Jodhpur fort.

J-J-J-J-Jodhpur!

The fort, still in Jodhpur, has a sweet view of the city. And prime canon shootin' too.

Pushkar! A great laid back town around a small holy lake. We hiked to the top of the mountain nearby, see shadow on right side of photo, at sunset. Great time.

Pushkar view from summit.

the crew at sunset over Pushkar. i love the selftimer. new camera is working out nicely.

she's a beauty.

An advertisment for underwear in Pushkar. ummm, lost in translation?

the Monkeys of Pushkar, our breakfast entertainment.

like a little buddha all covered in hair...

Fort over Jaipur, the capital of Rajahstan.

Sunset over Jaipur, just took this one a few hours ago. 12/3/2005

Mooooon. after sunset shot, thought it came out well.

Crowd at India-Pakistan border closing ceremony. This was hilarious, can't believe this fiasco goes on everyday!

Curry in a hurry

2005-11-25T03:06:00.000-05:00

Welcome to India:

So glad I've got a camera again! enjoy.

Sikh worshiper at the Golden Temple.

Sunrise at the Golden Temple, Armritsar, Punjab, India

Sikh guard with Golden Temple in background

Golden Temple, home of the Sikh Religion, which was founded by Guru Nanak in the 1600's.

The motley crew. We had to walk around the temple in a clockwise direction, in bare feet and with our head covered. They provided the scarves. There's a 24 hour chant performed by 4 Sikh priests, and free food provided to everyone, free entry. This is a really interesting religion, and really cool place to visit, glad we made it up here.

Last taxi ride in Kathmandu, on the way to the aeropuerta. My nickname is now BUCK. The mustache will probably be gone by the time you read this, am getting too many stares.... ;-)

So, we took a 5.5 hour train ride from Delhi to Armritsar yesterday, it was excellent. Great food served, A/C, comfy not crammed seats. Awesome. Armritsar is in Punjab (a state) and the home to the Sikh religion. The Sikhs have a long and ghastly brutal history with the Muhgals, and it was pretty interesting checking out the Golden Temple and museum. We were pretty much the only tourists there, among hundreds of Sikh's coming to worship.

Heading in an hour to the Pakistani border to watch the 'closing ceremonies' which is a Monty pythonish event which occurs and sunset everyday. The Indian and Pakistani army's meet eachother to lower their flags and try to out stomp, out march, and out scowl eachother. Later today we're hopping an overnight bus to Ganganga and then onto Bikaner. Bikaner has a temple full of rats (~40,000), which we hope to enter and photograph, one catch... Have to take our shoes off. Should be like that scene in Indiana Jones, looking forward to it?

Smelly Delhi

2005-11-23T11:26:00.000-05:00

Flew into Delhi this arvo, no drama. Took a taxi to Parahganj, the main backpacker district and found a hotel easily enough. Taxi ride was crazy, as usual, but didn't see any dead bodies on the road, which is a good thing. When Tim was here two months ago, there was crushed dude all over the street... gross. India is pretty intense, that's probably the best way to describe it. You can't believe anything that anyone says, because 98% of the time they're trying to rip you off or set you up to get ripped off. It makes you feel bad for that 2% of times when some is actually being sincere. But I'm sure we'll adjust and be having a fine time whilst touring.

Just had a nice meal and tour around the bazaars a bit. Heading North tomorrow but will try to upload some photos if possible. Had some fun with the beard, am now sporting a hulk hogan style handlebar mustache and ridiculous sideburns... Let the fun begin!

The UN goes rafting

2005-11-22T01:16:00.000-05:00

Rafting was spectacular! The river was freezing but bearable. Our raft flipped twice, the other one flipped once, I went for a unexpected swim once, and we all had a blast. We had a really good group with one American (me), two Canadians, one Australian (matt), four British, two Spanish fellas, two Russian girls, and an Israeli guy. Plus our eight Nepali guides, all of us and our stuff was packed into two rafts, one gear raft, and two safety kayaks.

We hit some great rapids each day and had some chances to hop out for a swim whenever we wanted. We did hop out a few times and stayed in for a minute or two before our bodies went completely numb. The river is glacier fed, and feels like it. It's also that cool blue/gray color and twists and turns through gorgious valleys and massive cliffs.

The first day started early with a two hour bus ride to the put-in spot. We packed everything up, inflated our rafts and got lecutured on how to do difficult things such as: How to put on a life jacket, how to paddle, how to wash our hands before eating, how to wash our dishes after eating, etc... Once on the river things got way more interesting. We hit a few rapids straight away, little brother and big brother. Got through them without incident and were cruising nicely. The next rapid had no name, which I thought that it wouldn't be that bad, I was wrong. We got into it and next thing I know, our raft dropped into a big hole and I was swimming. Got back in straight away, but I was hilarious to all that I fell out, just cold and wet for me. After that I realized all of the rapids for the rest of the trip weren't named, so that was NOT an indication that they weren't big. ha!

The guide in our boat, Santos, was in it for a big ride and that's exactly what he gave us. Our raft hit every big rock, rapid, hole, and hydraulic in the river. After a while, we realized what he was up to and that it wasn't a coincidence that we were heading directly towards to biggest waves on the Kali Gandaki. He was great, and ensure our boat flipped whenever it was possible. On our first toss, I caught a paddle or something across the thigh, hurt, but was just a bruise. And once in the frigid water, I felt no pain. Everyone else in the raft escaped injury though a few were caught under the raft after the second flip. Not a good feeling! But easy enough to get out of, and all were good. Each day had its fill of excitement and flat water, until eventually pulling up onto and nice sandy beach to camp for the night.

Camping was great, we brought no shortage of food and it was pretty good too. We'd set up tents and raft shelters, which were cool. Just prop the rafts up on the beach with two paddles, then cover with tarp. easy. We had campfires each night and had some smooth rum punch on day 1. Day 2 was beers cooled in the river for a few hours, quite nice.

Here's some photos from Paragliding, Rafting, and a bunch of Matt and Tim's shots from the Annapurna Trek:

PARAGLIDING:

While riding up to the mountain top in the back of jeep to hurl ourselves into the air, ie Paragliding, we chatted up this guy on the far left. He just happened to be the retired German Ambassator to Nepal, who paraglides all the time. He now lives in the Hamptons with his wife, who's a doctor, and travels the world to paraglide and generally have a good ol' time. Very cool guy, I talked to him about paragliding in the states and the difficulties of managing different ecomonic growth rates within the Euro economic zone with only one Central bank to control interest rates... yeah, I'm a nerd at heart. But he's got a masters in econ and I'm always interested in that stuff.

We were joined by a couple of hawks while paragliding, and we actually followed them to find the good thermals. wicked. They would swoop in close to check us out and screech, guess they don't like to share the airspace.

Got some unique views of the Himalaya that few others get to see.

RAFTING:

Camp fire on day 1, enjoying some food and rum punch.

The guides, they were hilarious, and very experienced. They almost made us feel safe... j/k.

Plenty of food... I think I gained weight on this trip, if that's possible.

Annapurna Trek Photos:

(I lifted these off of Matt's blog, he spent hours and hours in the internet cafe resizing and uploading all of these. sucker.)

Here's a good shot of me walking up the pass at @ 16,000ft. Trails was steep and slick.

Day 2 heading up the lush valley before the environment changed into an alpine wonderland.

Really nice section of trail totally carved out of the mountain.

Our good friends Joost and Ashley, Dutch and American. Had many fun nights with them.

Looking out over Manang, spectacular views. Tim and I have our man beards in full effect. Matt has a few hairs popping out here and there.

Our crew with Annapurna II in the background.

Bam.

Over the pass, and down the backside. Matt and Tim had some drama with the icy trail and found sliding was their best bet. Aussies and snow don't mix well.

On the way to Jomosom, one of our favorite stops.

Wild swinging bridges over raging waters with mules, quite the combo. But we've never seen anyone fall in.

Tatopani (Nepali for 'hot water') known for its river side hot springs, which we enjoyed fully!

Sunrise at Poon Hill over the Annapurnas, an amazing morning view.

yeah, look at the photo, no caption neccesary.

Always in Maoist country.

We met a really good kiwi guy, Dave, and trek with him for a few days and finished up with another massive feed when we got back to Pokhara. good bloke.

The way down quickly became tropical and warm again, such a diverse and fun trek. If you're into long walks in some of the best mountains in the world, then check this place out, you won't be disappointed. It may cost a lot to get over here, but once in Nepal, expenses are absolutely minimal. For accom, food, snacks, everything, we were spending about $10 USD a day on this trek.

Goodbye Nepal...

So, we're heading to India today at 4pm, we'll be in Delhi for 2 days, then into the western state of Rajahstan. After a few weeks there, visiting various cities, forts, going on a camel safari through the desert, etc, we'll also check out the Taj Mahal (which is in Agra, not Rajahstan) and eventually head to the far south to the beaches of Goa. Goa's got quite the reputation as one of the worlds greatest hangouts. I'll be updating along the way and adding pictures whenever the internet is fast and allows it.

I'm really going to miss Nepal, I've been so lucky to have such an awesome time here. I was worried about coming before, but those worries were completely unfounded. Just goes to show how far off the international media can be about a place, and how much we believe them. Please, if you've ever thought of visiting Nepal, do it now. The country really needs your visit, and you will absolutely love this place. It's adventure paradise.

Paragliding!

2005-11-17T05:32:00.000-05:00

It was so much fun! enjoy the photos:

The take off point, high above Pokhara and lake Phewa...

woooooo!

Matt and his pilot...

Sorry internet soo slow today in Pokhara... more photos later...

Walking in the Annapurna

2005-11-16T08:43:00.000-05:00

Glorious! I really love long distance trekking. To explain actually how much I love it would probably scare you, I want to do a lot more of this, and will. I'll leave it at that.

We hiked for about 180 miles, from about 2000ft in elevation to over 17,000ft on the Throung La pass. It was spectacular, words are difficult to chose, but the everything was amazing. I'll post some of Matt and Tim's finer shots as soon as possible. What takes most folks a minimum of 16 days, and sometimes up to 21, we did in 14. Gained one day going over the pass, our most difficult day by far.

On pass day, we started from the high mountain village of Ledar at 4200 meters/ 13,780 feet. Woke up at 4am and was on the trail by 4:30am, it was awesome, frigidly cold, snot in the nose was solid ice. But the stars, incredible, just sooo clear, there seemed to be a million. You could see the bright stripe down the middle of the sky, the milky way, with vivid colors through it. It was way better than any planetarium, so cool. Slowly the sky lit up from the east as we made our way up to Thorung Phedi, the highest real village, and our much needed breakfast stop. We were hiking entirely on snow at this point, and it was still frigid. I was wearing my thickest smartwool socks, fleece pants, trekking pants over the fleece. Thermal top, fleece pullover, and shell jacket, fleece gloves, my yak wool hat, and trusty headlamp leading the way through the dark. Once we hit Phedi (14,685ft), we dove into a bowl of hot porridge, toast, and tea. Tasted sooo good! After warming up there for half an hour, we headed up the steepest section of the pass. The trail switched back constantly going straight up through the snow and rock. After a few more breaks, endless switchbacks, false summits, and slippery icy trail, we eventually made it to the top of the pass at 17,870ft around 10 or 11am. The way down the pass, which we thought would be a nice break, turned out to be even harder than the way up! The trail was solid ice in some sections, very steep, and veeery long. Matt and Tim, warm climate Australians, had a hell of a time. I'm used to walking on snow and ice from working at a ski resort in high school, winter backpacking, and just playing in the snow as a kid. I was so glad for that experience. Tim and Matt fell numerous times, luckly not hurting themselves very badly, just sore butts and wrists. I fell once, but into powder on the side, I arrested another fall by grabbing my hiking stick, and snapping in half in the process... Some Israeli guys that were going down the pass at the same time were sliding down a few sections on their butts, Matt and Tim followed suit. My trekking pants have the same coefficient of friction as sandpaper, so no sliding for me. A Mexican guy tried the same maneuver down a REALLY steep section and totally lost it, going so fast, couldn't stop at all, scraping at the snow literally for dear life. He hit a well placed pile of powder which slowed him down enough to eventually stop, but it must have scared the crap out of him. And was absolutely hilarious to watch, he was fine. We eventually got down, exhausted, in the town of Muktinath for a massive feed. Ok, onto the long winded summary... enjoy, then get back to work.

Trip summary: 11/1/2005 (day 1)
We left Kathmandu around 7am for a long bus ride to Dumre, where we caught another ride to the start of the trek in Besi Sahar. In Dumre we hopped in the back of pickup truck/jeep to Besi, on the way we were stopped constantly by singing children celebrating another Festival. Nepal has more festivals than Baltimore has crime, it's a fun country, people will sing and dance at the drop of a hat. But all the kids, surprise surprise, we're asking for money at every stop, so it took us a while to actually get to Besi, but not bad at all.

Warning: disgusting (yet funny) section ahead -->

I was still suffering from a little thing the medical world likes to call "Bacterial Diarrhea", or as we like to call "the pumpkin soup." One unfortunate side effect of Bacterial Diarrhea, besides the brown water tap that is your bum, is "sulfuric burps." Pretty much farting via your mouth. I had this wicked bad. So on this jeep ride, while trying to keep myself from crapping my pants, I'm also burping hot garbage tasting nastiness. Matt and Tim found this especailly hilarious, as they had also had the bacterial diarrhea, but not the burps/farts via mouth. They had taken Cipro the night before and were pretty much all better by this time. I however had just gotten it that morning, and had yet to take any medicine. So whatever, I could deal with it and had a delicious lunch of plain rice and Sprite.

(disgusting section mostly over, children may continue to read)

We walked through Besi on a road towards the start of the trail. On the way there was a bus in the middle of the road, completely packed, but people (as they all do in Nepal) were climbing onto the roof for a ride. So for 20 ruppies each the three of us climbed up and got to skip another boring hour of walking down a dirt road. Riding on the top of buses, which may sound dangerous, is a fact of life in Nepal, we were up there with about 30 others bouncing down the path. Just watch out for low powerlines and tree branches, then you'll be A-OK. On top of the bus were 3 American girls starting the circuit trek too :), I talked to them for a while, while Matt and Tim were behind us, cracking up waiting for another one of my farts via mouth (some friends...) Luckily I kept the hot garbage stench inside, although my breath couldn't have smelled remotely good. Really cool girls, and we saw them a bunch on the trail until we eventually went a day ahead over the pass.

It was sooo good to be back on the trail. With just my pack on my back, cool-clean air, roaring river next to us, and a beautiful sunset on the snow capped peaks in front of us... so nice. We walked into the dark until eventually getting to the little village named Nadi Bazar, on the banks of the Marsyangdi river. I took the one dose of magic powder (Azithromithin, an antibiotic) that I had with me (THANKS JEN! (Tobin's soon to be wife)), and by the next morning I was feeling way better, and soon the pumpkin soup was gone, and I was back to 100%.

Good thing too, because we had some serious elevation to gain and not much time to waste. The next few days we gained and gained altitude going from lush tropical forests to arid high mountains and eventually to a winter wonderland. It's like walking from hot summer to icy winter in 4 days, pretty wild. Each day is an entirely different environment and you can literally see the changes ahead of you as the forest thins out into increasing rugged terrain. I recommend this trek to everyone, it's sweet.

We met the friendly Maoist rebals in the village of Jagat on our second night. They wanted us to pay 100 rs for each day we'd be in 'their' territory. We listened to the dudes speal about how Communism could fix all of Nepals problems (yeah, that'll work..) and how they were against "American Imperialism," I said G'day mate, and kept generally quiet, pretending to be Australian as usual. So we straight faced lied to this guy and told him we were only going as far as Jomosom (10 days) and then flying out. So we only had to pay 1000rs each. Not too bad, but running the risk of meeting them AFTER Jomosom, and having some explaining to do... (which we did).

On the trail we met up with a really cool couple, Joost and Ashley, a Dutch guy and American girl who live in Holland. Just on a long 3 month holiday, doing the same trek. They taught us how to play dutch Uno, which is full contact, and tons of fun. A great way to chill out over dinner after a long days walk. We stayed in the same lodges for a few nights, and had a great time. We also met some other great folks, Brian and Barbara (Irish, traveling for 2.5 years), Justin and Lisa, and the 3 American girls from before.

Our first real goal was to get to the town of Manang, high in mountains and a good size. It even boasts a movie theater and fresh bakeries! Everyone stays in Manang for 2 days to Acclimatize, and we did too. Had a fun time, really enjoying the bakery, fresh apple pie, cinnamon rolls, apple strudles, mmmmm. Watched the movie "Ray" and hiked up to an awesome glacier lake with spectacular views of the valley and mountains. We were in snow by now, and it was pretty chilly at night, but sunny and nice during the days. Also got to see some locals slaughtering a yak, which was gursome, yet interesting...

You've already read about going over the pass, so I won't repeat... After Manang we head up and over on that one huge day. Once over we stayed in Muktinath, at the "Bob Marely Hotel." The proprieter was a transvestite/shim/shemale/boygirl/ladyman, whatever you'd like to call it. I'd like the record to show that Matt and Tim picked this hotel, as I was keen to stay down the street. But, as accepting of everyone's preferences as we are, we didn't let the man-lady detract us from the very nice and comfortable Bob Marely hotel. As it turns out, we should have, the place had crapass food, slooooooow service (means it takes an hour or more), and cold showers. So, in the future we will avoid hotels run by shim's.

Onto Jomosom, and out of the snow, following down the Kali Ghandaki river valley, things warmed up as we went down and got better and better. We stayed a great place in Jomosom, with super food and friendly service (no lady-boys either). Wanting to push the envelope of hiking distances, we made it all the way to Ghasa the next day, which was hella far. We all had sore feet and a blister or two, but nothing a little duct tape couldn't fix. We saw an amazing road building project on the side of the river we were following. A hundred or so men working with only hand tools to chip away rock on the side of a mountain, not a machine in sight. Amazing people here. We hiked in the middle of the river as it was just a trickle, the river bed was super wide in parts and very windy, but a really cool landscape. It'd be rad to see it full and pumping during the monsoon season, probably half a mile across in parts. We hiked through the "steepest valley in the world" between the 8000+ meter (26,000+ ft) peaks of Annapurna and Dhawalagiri. Awesome.

The next day we made it to Tatopani (Nepali for 'hotwater') known for its river side hot springs... :) That day we also met three cool guys, Dave, Nic, and Tony (NZ, US, UK) on the trail. We all rocked down to the hot springs, cracked some cold beers and let our sore sore sore legs get some relief. It was awesome, the hot springs were just next to the river and like giant jacuzzi's. Lots of trekkers were in there, all enjoying. We are young and dumb and decided to jump into the glacial fed river beside the springs for a bit of a contrast. And contrast it was, FREEZING! but still tons of fun, once you jumped back into the hot springs.

So, as were basting in the springs thinking things just couldn't get better, our mate Charlie, from the Everest base camp trek walks up. We all yell at him and have a big reunion. Charile's the 40 something brit who's been traveling for 8.5 years on his earnings as a geologist for the big oil companies. We played some games of 500 with him, just like old times, it was great fun. Had a massive feed that night, and were feeling quite relieved. The next day we had a huge uphill push to Ghorepani and to Poon Hill, a high hill with great views of the Annapurna range. We met the Maoist rebals again, and got off with paying just 400 rs more b/c I was upstairs at the time and they thought just Matt and Tim had payed 3000rs (1500 each), they didn't notice that our reciept said 3 persons on it. Silly communists!

The last day was painful, we decended 1000's of feet down, i'm not kidding, more than 4000 stone stairs on the trail. Our knees were dying, but we made it just fine. After a truly scary taxi ride, (no brakes at all, just down shifting) we got back to Pokhara. Pokhara is the second largest city in Nepal and is on the banks of Phewa lake and surrounded by lush mountains. It's also listed in one of my guide books as "one of the top 10 hangouts in the world." It's like a little travellers heaven. We, I, absoultely love it. We're staying in the nice 'Hotel Nirvana,' apptly named. Tomorrow, let's see here, what's on the agenda? Oh, 10am Paragliding flight off a nearby mountain top! Super stoked, have wanted to go for a while now, since Doug and I saw one go off of the top of a mountain while skiing out in Jackson Hole. The day after, the 18th, Matt and I leave for a 3 day rafting trip down the wild Kali Ghandiki river, should be the grand finale to a fantastic time in Nepal! Yesterday we took out some kayaks on the lake an had a nice paddle, Matt had a bit of trouble, spinning the whole time, but took it really well, didn't get frustrated at all...

We fly out to Delhi, India on the 23rd. I bought a new camera today, so you'll be happy to see more pics on here soon! Hated spending the money on it, but I couldn't be without a camera any longer. I really wanted to take some photos while soaring through the air with hawks as we paraglide tomorrow morning... wooo! we're going with these guys:
http://www.nepal-paragliding.com check it.

Anyone want to quit their job and join up?

On the Trail again

2005-10-31T05:41:00.000-05:00

Originally posted October 31st, 2005...

After a brief stop over in Kathmandu, at our lovely guesthouse, we're hitting the trail again tomorrow. We'll be walking the Annapurna Circuit, which is supposed to be one of the best hikes in the country. It should take us about 16 days to walk about 330kms around the Annapurna's, finishing off in Pokhara, one of the top 10 hangouts in the world*. Matt and I are planning to do some rafting before heading back to Kathmandu for a day, then onto Delhi, India. Our last day in Nepal, and also when our visas expire, is November 23rd. We'll be in Delhi for as little as possible, probably leave on the 24th. We then head through Rajhastan, Agra, and eventually spend a week in Goa, lazing on the beach. The India jaunt will take us thru December 22nd, then we all make our way separately to Switzerland, and meet back up again in a chalet in the Alps. We'll spend a week in Wengen, Switzerland, for Christmas, then head to Berlin for New Years. All are welcome to meet us in Europe for the holidays! So that's the plan thus far...

I'm definitely looking forward to the simple trail life again (walk, eat, sleep), and the spectacular views of the Himalaya. After being cooped up in a Land Cruiser and in cities for too long, it'll be great to go into the wild again. Still no camera, so I'll be borrowing from Matt and Tim's photos when I return. Tim, our team photographer, is quite competent. I'll be 'leading' our motley crew again on the trek, which basically means I'll be stuck carrying the map, and being asked how far we are to each destination. Quite an honor... not much to it, just follow everyone else... :) I'll let you know how we go, and update in a few weeks.

SAF

Son of a...

2005-10-28T00:10:00.000-05:00

I got pick pocketed. I feel like such a sucker. Right after I updated the blog, and THANKFULLY downloaded all of my photos from the last few days in Kathmandu and the whole Tibet trip to CD, Tim, Tess (great Swedish girl we met, who's been traveling around the subcontinent for 2.5 years), and I decided to head to the nearby Jokhang Monastery because there's free entry at 6pm. We were planning to walk up to the roof and take some sunset photos of Lhasa and the Potala palace. Well, there was a huge crowd waiting to get in (ala free entry), about 100-150 Tibetans, and us. Just before they opened the doors there was a huge push in the crowd and everyone was getting crushed up against the doors. Lots of pushing and bumping. I put my camera in my right front pocket and kept my hand on it. The crowd then really started pushing and the three of us got split up, we were struggling to keep upright and I took my hand off the camera to use my arms to push and brace against everyone. It was sort of dangerous, but as soon as the doors opened we all just rushed through, nobody got hurt. Once I got through, I realized my camera was gone! I was pretty shocked, I hand my hand on it like 45 seconds before... I was frantically looking around, but couldn't go back because of all the people rushing through. Once they all got through I looked and looked, but it was long gone. I looked for shady folks walking away, but didn't notice anyone.

Man, I was pisssssed. Felt like such an idiot, I had my camera out and was taking pictures just before I got into the crowd, must have looked like such a target. Tim and Tess came back and helped look, but no luck, it was gone. My camera was in the sticky fingers of some damn pickpocket. I talked to my hotel front desk people, they told me where to go tomorrow, since it was past 6pm, the police office I was supposed to go to was closed for the day. So today I've been sitting around, and trying to find 3 different PSB (Public Security Bureau) offices. The first one I went to had lots of cops, but none that spoke any English, I tried to get someone from the hotel that spoke Chinese and English to come with me, no luck. Tess came with me as a witness to the correct office and I got the report filed out and gave a statement. They asked if I had any 'suspects,' I wanted to say "yeah, dark hair, 5'4'', either Tibetan or Chinese." But figured that would just cause more confusion than it was worth... Oh well. At least I didn't lose any photos, just the Camera and a memory card... both replaceable. Oh and I had the room key and about 150 yuan in cash in the other pocket. Not the way I wanted to end my Tibet trip... Looking forward to getting back to Nepal tomorrow. The flight goes right over Everest and is supposed to be awesome!

Tashi Delik

2005-10-27T01:31:00.000-05:00

TIBET

Tibet has been both a difficult and delightful trip so far. Difficult for many reasons, cultural differences, illness, miscommunication and arguments between our crew (the three of us, whom you must know by now, and a really cool French couple) and the guide. The Tibetan people, the scenery, and the great people we've met have been a delight.

The drama started almost as soon as we arrived in Tibet, when our guide informed us that no accommodation or breakfast was included in our six day tour. We specifically payed for a tour which included both, back in Kathmandu. So, as explained before, we had to make a couple of international calls to sort things out. We 'thought' we had it all sorted until about day 5, when our guide got a call from his boss saying they still hadn't received the rest of the money, and told us we'd have to pay the difference when we got to Lhasa, or else he was calling the cops. Great...

So, we met with boss man when we got to Lhasa, got him in touch with the guy we booked through in Kathmandu, and finally things got sorted out, and we didn't have to pay any more. It was an expensive jaunt to begin with, so we were not excited about the prospect of paying anymore. It added a bit of stress to the trip which is never welcome. Also, we all were sporting some excellent cold/flu symptoms, which sucked as well.

Once in Lhasa, we got a room in the popular but pricey Yak Hotel, by pricey it was about $6 USD or 50 Yuan (WAY over our budget of $12 US/ 100 Yuan a day). But it did have an awesome restaurant. After a day or so of R&R and a hotel change, we've been exploring the wonderful city of Lhasa. There's all kinds of monasteries, nunneries, and other Buddhist sights. I won't bore you with more words, I know you just want to see the pictures... :)

On the road to Tingre, day 2.

We drove over a couple of 5000+ meter passes, and at each one there were tons of prayer flags to catch the wind. The Buddhists believe the prayer flags send the spirits of the dead throughout the world, and can usually be found on the top of every accessible mountain or pass.

One of the high/low lights of the journey, Mt. Everest's Tibetan side basecamp. It was awesome to hike there, it was a 7k walk from the village of Rongbok. But, the weather was crap, clouds and snow, no Everest in sight. But still, very cool to spend the night in the same tents that climbers sometimes use. Great Tibetan hospitality that night, and a good game of 500.
(This shot was looking South, without the clouds you could see Everest straight ahead.)

Another shot of Basecamp, this time looking North/ away from the mountain.

Tim's here practicing one of his many cool looks at another high pass.

monastery overlooking Shigatse, a more developed town in Tibet, on the way to Lhasa.

Xigatse monastery, view from the road. We climbed to the very top of the highest wall surrounding the place, it was a really fun climb up crumbling mud walls.

View from monastery wall, overlooking a mountaintop fortress in the distance, in Xigatse.

Tibetan on the road to Xigatse, overlooking a sacred lake.

The Potala Palace, ex-home of the Dali Lama, the Chinese would kill him if he tried to come back, so he lives in India. Aren't those Chinese just so friendly?

The crew and the Palace.

Begging is something that we've all had to get used to. The first time you see a adorable little kid begging, you give them what you can. But after the 1,000th time, and someone just comes up to you and says "Hello, Money." It gets old, especially when you see the wad of cash they've already collected for the day. The more aggressive Tibetan kids will just latch onto you and a plead, like this one is doing to Matt. It's tough. Matt walked with her on his leg for about 20m until she gave up and pealed off.

It can be fun though, and the kids can sometimes be pretty funny. At one of the mountain passes, when we would hop out of the land cruiser to take a photo of the view, the kids nearby would jump in front of us and try to get us to take their photo. If we did, they'd ask for money, usually about 5 yuan. So at one pass, I gave one of the kids my camera and asked them for money when they took a picture of me, we all had a good laugh, and I obviously didn't take their money. But when this little girl pulled out her wallet to pay me 5 yuan, she must of had a wad of 200... Those little kids do well with their little gig. Here are two shots that the kids took, while I successfully looked like a dork:

In Tibet

2005-10-21T07:18:00.000-05:00

We've been on the road now for four days, and each day has been it's own adventure...

(I apologize for any spelling mistakes, this brower's in Chinese, and a little tricky)

The trip started out easy enough, with our early 5:15am departure on a bus towards to the Nepal/Tibet border. We stopped for a great breakfast in the mountains outside of Kathmandu, and were all feeling great about the trip. The French couple, who's traveling with us, are very nice and extremely well travelled.

So we get to the Nepal/Tibet border, the three of us make it through no problem, but the Frenchies visa is screwed up and we end up waiting there for about 3-4 hours. Once things get sorted out, we take a minibus up and twisty dirt road to the main customs building for more passport and visa checks, and they scan our bags just before the place closes. Then our guide, who we call Zorro, but who's name is actually Sunume?, informs us that No, accomodation and breakfast isn't included...which the tour company guy said was definietly included. So, we had to call Kathmandu, which was now an expensive international call since we're in Tibet, and sort things out. And appearently, we did get it sorted, so that's all good now.

We spent the night at the border town, in a dumpish place, and then got on our way the next morning. Our Landcruiser is pretty good, only problem is there's 7 people in it! So, we have driver, who's not a small man, our guide (Zorro), the french couple, Matt, Tim and I (plus all of our stuff). It's a squeeze. Our first day of driving got us into Tingre(sp?), it's a wildwest looking town that doesn't have much going for it. China has some issues, one of which is garbage disposal. Actually, there is no garbage disposal to speak of. Everyone's just tossing whatever, wherever. It's pretty sad really, what could be nice towns look very dirty and trashy. But, can't really judge, I'm in a foreign place, things are different.

From Tingre we traveled overland on rough track to the Northern Everest basecamp, near Rongbok monestary. The weather's been nice, but it was cloudy up in the mountains. We decided to give ourselves the best shot at seeing Everest by hiking up to the basecamp, and spending the night there. Hopefully it would clear up in the morning, and we'd be in a great spot to see the mountain. It was a 7km to the actual basecamp, and while on the trail we noticed a significant turn in the weather. It started snowing lightly, and the wind picked up. Matt had what turned out to be a chest/head cold coming on, and we were at around 17,000ft. We met a nice french guy, named Thomas, while walking and we all hit the first tent we found at basecamp. A really nice tibeten guy took us in, and cooked dinner. It was FREEZING in the tent, but there were plenty of blanets and a sheep dung fueled stove. So we played some cards and went to bed. Matt couldn't sleep at all, as he was feeling quite bad. I slept pretty well, in my bag and under a bunch of blankets. The trick is to fill up your Nalgene with boiling water right before you get in bed, toss it in your sleeping bag, and you've got a nice little furnace for the night.

We woke up this morning in base camp, and there was about 3 inches of snow, and still lots of clouds, and no Everest. Pretty bummed, because we didn't have time to wait around for the weather to clear, Zorro and the rest of the gang were waiting for us to get back to Rongbok. With Matt still ill, and he didn't get a wink of sleep last night, we weren't really keen to walk back in the snow/wind for another 7km. Luckily, there was a dumptruck parked nearby which had been delivering stuff to the National Park office. We got the driver to give us a lift back to Rongbok in the back of the dumper. It was perfect! We got back with time to spare, had some breaky and checked out the monestary for a little while before all piling into the cruiser for another bumpy day on the Friendship highway.

Now we're now in Lhatse, a slightly nicer place, and looking forward to a warm night's rest, after a interesting Tibetian meal. We're all looking forward to paved roads, a shower, and Lhasa. I'll update more when I get a chance.

Oh, and the toilets have lived up to their reputation! You know it's bad when there's poop On the way to the toilet... That means most people can't bear to go inside. You can smell them from a mile away. :)

Onto the Friendship Highway

2005-10-17T02:36:00.000-05:00

The crew is heading to Tibet tomorrow. While Kathmandu is nice, we're all looking forward to the mountains again. We'll be riding in a minibus, more than likely it will be dilapidated, to the border of Nepal and Tibet. Oh, and there will be a middle aged French couple, whom we haven't met yet, riding with us. I pity them already. Once across the border, we'll be riding in a "Jip" which will hopefully be a Toyota Land Cruiser left over from the 1970's, and not the 1950's. We'll see. The "Jip" will be our chariot for the next 4 or 5 days on route to Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet. On the way, we'll stop at the famous Rongbok monastery at the foot of Mt. Everest, on the North side. We trekked to the base camp on the south/Nepali side before. The views of Everest are supposed to be even better on the North side, hopefully the weather will be as cooperative as before. The toilets in Tibet are well known to be the absolute worst in the world. Can't wait! I'll take photos of the most heinous, and make a special: "don't click this link at work" page for your viewing pleasure... Maybe.

Eye Candy. well, almost...

2005-10-15T02:57:00.000-05:00

Here's some more photos from the trek:

The route from Dzongla towards the Cho La pass. The pass is up the mountains straight ahead of Tim in this photo. Looks like the obvious route, yeah?

Here's a shot of a few of us crossing the glacial moraine with that wonderful black dog, not the best weather...

Sorry, the internet is suuuper slow at the moment, photos won't upload. Will try later...

Over the Cho La Pass...

2005-10-15T01:50:00.000-05:00

Here's a excerpt from my written journal about one of the more exciting days we had on our trek...

10/9/2005 Dzongla- Cho La - Gokyo

We woke up in Dzongla, had breaky, waited for the clouds to pass. We walked for only a brief bit in cloud until the powerful sun burned of the layer, exposing the beautiful valley below and the dizzying pass above. We continued up a flatish section and observed some trekkers making their way up the very steep and rocky pass. As we approached the pass, I got pretty tired up the twisty switchbacks just before the rock scramble, but we were all feeling the elevation, and took a break before heading up. At the base of the pass we met up with an Indian guy who was resting, and having a cigarette... He gave us some dried fruit and we were happy to rest there a while.

Matt led up the first pitch of the scramble, very shaky with our full packs on, but manageable. It was hands, knees, and feet up the first couple hundred feet. We all did fine and made it to the top without drama, I had used "sherpa socks" (put my feet and socks in plastic bags, then in my shoes, to prevent snow/water getting in. Using only trail runners has been great and light thus far, but could have used some proper boots at this point.)

We rested at the top of the first steep section, took some photos and drank water. The next section was a glacier crossing, which was just like on Rainier after Camp Muir, pretty flat, but hoping over a few crevasses via snowbridges and playing in the snow. Sherpa socks did their trick. We started to see more and more trekkers on this section, which was a welcome site, as we could get good route info from them as they had just come up the other side. The down side of the pass was completely snow covered from the storm the night before, and was in bad shape. We rested at the top of it with a few other folks, then headed down. I led and it was very slick, totally snow covered and steep. I twisted my left knee on one of the rocks, and had to nurse it all the way down, but it was fine later. Route finding was hard on the bottom section because we couldn't see any footprints to follow, but we eventually found the right path and successfully made it to the bottom. Had a well deserved rest, the concentration and altitude was pretty tiring. The pass tops out around 17,400ft.

We rested in a makeshift campsite a few k's from the bottom of the pass, I was out of water, only had 2 liters with me, and had one of my rehydration packs, Tim was feeling it too, and had one as well. We still had a to cross an unknown number of valleys to get to Thangnak, the next closest village and our desired lunch stop. We made it over with ease, as we were now quite a bit lower, and could really breathe well. Just before Thangnak, we saw the Dutch brothers, Gerhardt and Yann, resting my a stream. They had stayed in the same tea house as us in Dzongla. I filled up a bottle, and iodined it to be safe, it was ready to drink in about 15 minutes and I was damn thirsty, it was so cold and refreshing. An easy walk into Thangnak, and in minutes I was enjoying a massive plate of veggie fried noodles and black tea. We eat and rested, Charlie the British traveler in his 50's, who we had met a few times before was there an joined us. Charlie's amazing, has been traveling constantly for the past 8 years, an ex-geologist for the big oil companies, he said "I was a grown man and was drawing lines on pieces of paper for a living. So I checked the bank account, and told my boss, 'Thanks, I'll see ya later.' I'm trying to travel for a decade, year and a half to go." He usually can be found in Zambia with his girlfriend, or in Indonesia, where the going's cheap.

FOLLOW THE BLACK DOG...
What happened next was astonishing. After Thangnak, we had to cross the Ngozumpa Glacier to get to Gokyo, our final destination for the day. Following the trail from Thangnak with the Dutch brother, not really paying attention, chatting about soccer, Holland, and sports, the trail abruptly ended at a massive glacial lake. At this point we were pretty much into the glaciers moraine, a very rocky and unsettled area. During lunch dark clouds had moved into the valley, it was now foggy and snowing lightly. We decided to back track towards Thangnak and hopefully find a trail around the lake that we must have missed. Blazing a new path looked quite un safe over steep loose rocky terrain. We never found an alternative path, so went all the way back to Thangnak. At Thang, things got interesting. At the first lodge we met a British guy who helped us out, he led us to where he thought the "new path" to Gokyo lead, apparently we had been on last years route, which had been wiped out by the lake. It was all made more difficult by the bad weather and poor vis. While this was going on, a little black dog was under foot, not all that uncommon. There's wild dogs all over Nepal.

The British guy lead us as far as the glacier's moraine, and pointed us in the direction he thought would get us through to the other side. There were tiny trails all over the place, and many intersections, it was a bit confusing and getting late at this point. We noticed the same black dog was ahead of us on the trail, and all sorta of decided we'd follow him, since he was the only one that seemed to know where to go... Well, we ended up following the dog for the next two hours through the whole glacier and directly to Gokyo! The glacier moraine is a landscape from another world, without the dog leading, we would have gotten lost a bunch of times...And wouldn't have made it to Gokyo before dark.

The Dutch guys and the three of us were walking in amazement, the fog, snow, terrain, dog all came together to make it a memorable walk. We fed the little dog some crackers and water when he would wait for us to catch up as we fell behind. Got some pictures of him and the terrain which I'll upload asap.

We got into Gokyo just before dark and found a lodge which was free to stay as long as we bought dinner there. Sweet, and Dave and Francois were there, two great guys we had met a few times before on the trek. Had a filling meal and talked about plans with the rest of the crew. Another day that I will never forget.

The bottom of the top of the world

2005-10-12T01:23:00.000-05:00

This is what we came to see: Mt. Everest.

The Crew and Mt. Everest:

We're at about 18,000ft here, on Kala Pattar, over looking Mt. Everest (the tall one) also in the shot is Nuptse (far right) and the West Shoulder of Everest (forground). We got up at 5am to start the hike up Kala, it was still completely dark and fun with our headlamps lighting the way. We watched the sunrise over Everest and the rest of the Himalaya, an awesome sight.

bing.

There were a bunch of other trekkers up there at the time, and a bunch of our friends that we had met along the way. We spent about two hours hanging out up there, taking lots of photos, because we had spent a lot of time acclimatising, we felt perfectly fine at that altitude, amazing. When I saw the height on the GPS, i was pretty amazed.

About 4000ft higher than I was on Rainier. The weather was pretty chilly, not sure exactly of the temp, but well below freezing. We eat some breakfast of Snickers and Mars bars at the top and watched the show of light over the mountains, fore sure a highlight of the trek.

Here we are on the second day of the trek, from Phakding to Namche Bazar, still in the lush river valley, about to climb up and cross this hanging bridge. The bridges were awesome, so high up off the ground and they swing and bounce a lot when you cross them, but are super strong. we saw a bunch of Yaks crossing this before we did, but still while you're over it, it's a little scary. This one was about 100ft off the floor of the valley with a pretty rapid river benenth it...

This is Cho Oyu, another 8000m peak, took this shot around 5:45am from the high village of Gokyo. Another spectacular day in the Himalaya. :)

NAMASTE!!!

The trek was glorious!!! Just got back in Kathmandu and had a massive feast at the guest house buffet... We eat really well on the trail, lots of Dal Bhat (rice, veggies, and lentils) but bacon, eggs, tomatos, potatos, were too expensive for our budget. I had three eggs, a plate of potatos, fresh tomatos, another plate of pancakes, and about a pound of bacon. and about 4 glasses of orange juice. And somehow kept it all down.

The himalaya were just too much for words to describe... We went so high, climbed to well over 18,000ft, it was unbelievable. Saw Everest for days, and tons of other huge mountains, Nuptse, Ama Dablam, Theng Kutze, they towered over us. Huge waterfalls, insane. Still stoked about it, and it's over. No shower for 15 days, mutant funk. I look like a yeti. But I took a hundred photos or so and kept the written journal well updated... So, I'll be adding to the blog shortly with a full description and photos. I'll be in Kathmandu for the next 6 days, then we drive into Tibet for 8 or 10 days, then back to Kath and onto the Annapurna circuit trek, another 16 days on that, supposed to be even better than Everest base camp. Put a heart rock with "Sweet Marya" written on the back at base camp, facing Everest, so she can watch the climbers in May.

Also put up some prayer flags at base camp, with Marya Griffin written on it. She was with me for sure, miss her.

Trek details:
So on September 28th we woke up at 5am at the Kathmandu Guest House and caught a death defying taxi ride to the domestic airport. I was sitting in the front seat, as we terrifingly weaved between feral dogs, errant buses, other taxis, and people. Way too much activity for me at 5:30am. Once at the Domestic airport, which is more like a gymnasium of confusion, it's a giant room with a hundred people speaking 10 languages and all frustrated, we some how got boarding passes and through "security" which is a cheap excuse for some Nepali to play a quick game of grab ass. We took a little bus onto the runway to our Drommier 220, Short take off and Landing aircraft. This little 16 seater of noise and power was pretty wild looking. And soon we were on way over Kathmandu, towards the start of our trek and the high mountain village of Lukla.
Lukla is really cool, and where most people start from now, since the maoists have checkpoints in the region below. And while that may sound dangerous, it's totally not, all they do is make you pay a 5000 rupie fee ($70), which is a pain in the butt, but not too bad considering the alternatives. So, the 'airport' at Lukla is a little strip of black top which is 180ft higher at the top than at the bottom. It's basically goes up the side of a mountain. pretty crazy.

So we landed with a thump, and quickly deplaned as helis were landing and other planes buzzing in. An intense scene for sure. So we collected our packs, which were minus matt's trekking poles, that he had bought the day before specifically for this trek, a bummer, but we picked up some hiking sticks instead.

Grabbed some breaky and headed off for our first stop, Phakding. The route went like this:

Lukla-Phakding 9/28
Phakding-Namche Bazar (stay 2 nights to acclimatize) 9/29- 30
Namche - Tengboche (stay 2 nights to acclimatize) 10/1-2
Tengboche - Pheriche (stay 2 nights to acclimatize) 10/3-4
Pheriche - Dugla 10/5
Dugla - Lobuche 10/6
Lobuche - Gorak Shep 10/7
Gorak - Dzongla 10/8
Dzongla - Gokyo (over the 17000+ft Cho La pass) 10/9
Gokyo - Namche Bazar 10/10
Namche - Lukla 10/11
Lukla Flight back to Kathmandu 10/12

Trek stats:
Distance: about 40-50 miles
Altitude: Start: 2800m/ 9200ft Top: 5646m/ 18526ft
Time: 15 days
Weather: Clear and Sunny almost every morning, mid 60's in Lukla, 20-30's at Base Camp.

Suss it out

2005-09-27T10:50:00.000-05:00

"Heeeelloo, Namaste (bow, put hands together in prayer sign in front of chest) how are you doing today? where are you from? You want to do trekking? rafting? Oh from USA, I love USA, I have friends in California, you want hashish too? "
that's the typical rap I get walking down the street. Kinda gets old, but is fine, they're all very friendly. Have yet to meet a negative nepali. They have so little compared to the rest of world, esp the westerners, but are so happy.

We've spent the past two days organizing our Everest base camp trek, which we leave for tomorrow morning at 6:30am, flying into the village Lukla at 2800meters from there it should be a 14 day walk to base camp and back. Packs are nice and light, will be staying in 'tea houses' and eating/getting food along the way. Altitude is an issue and will be looking out for signs of sickness for sure, while going as slow as we can. I think we're ready and will be guiding ourselves, from all of our trusted sources this seems the way to go, have maps, guidebooks, GPS, etc... Tim and I have a lot of experience and Matt is great as well. If the going gets too tough or we just get a little lazy, we can hire a guide while we're going. Have registered with our respective embassies, got permits, flights in/out, last minute gear... Matt, is in fact taking a full size Criket bat and a tennis ball, only what we need to survive. Tim has the biggest camera you've ever seen and an even bigger waterproof/crushproof/dustproof/tornado proof case I've ever seen. I have the essentials, which includes enough diarrhea pills to make a line from here to basecamp.
We've organized and put a deposit down on a trip to Tibet leaving Oct. 18th. We'll be driving out of Nepal towards Tibet and then through Tibet, see Everest from the North Side basecamp, and then onto Lhasa (watch seven years in tibet for scenery) Should be a wild ride. Flying back to Kathmandu from Lhasa. So things seems to be progressing nicely, haven't had a whole lot of time to hangout, but hopefully the trek will provide plenty of time for reading and relaxation (after the hiking of course). Glad to hear from everyone, I really appreciate you all following along. To know you're all here with me, in spirit if not in person, keeps me smiling too.

I hope to get some photos online after the trek... I'll be out of contact for the next two weeks or so, but will update if I can sooner.

rocking the full beard too. SAF

We're not in Kansas anymore!

2005-09-26T03:15:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a seriously interesting few days! Since my last entry in Hong Kong, i've taken three flights and been through three different countries... flew from HK into Bangkok, Thailand on Dragon Air. Great flight and airline for sure, chatted with a woman from HK the whole time, she was very nice and interested in using her english, and i was happy to chat her up. Got into Bangkok around 9 or 10am, collected my bag, and then stored it so i could head into the city without it. Asked some friendly folks at the Air India counter about the best way for a guy like me to spend 7 hours in Bangkok, they recommended the bar upstairs... I was keen to go a bit further than that :) so i found a book store and read up on the Chatuchuk market, the largest in Bangkok, and only on the weekends, luckily it was saturday! pick up the map and found a taxi to the market.
The market was huge, so many stalls, vendors, people, and SMELLS. It's oflactory paradise, delicious food, insense, flowers, hot garbage, and open sewers all at once! You go from 'oh that's nice' to 'ahhhh! im going to puke' in 3 steps. There's all kinds of stuff there, more than one could possibly take in at once. cloths, 'handicrafts,' flowers, plants, hardware, musical instraments, and lots of food. A good mix of mostly locals and some tourists. Pretty hot in bangkok, esp in the inner market stalls. but so great. the folks there are so nice and friendly, they just light up with huge smiles and i smile back automatically, you just walk around with a big smile the whole time. nobodys very pushy, they're all keen to talk and barter, but when i said i wasn't interested, they were still just as nice and smiley. I eat some AWESOME fresh waffles, one bananna, one coconut. delicious, later in the day for lunch i had garlic thai beef veggies and rice, and a coke again great. My taxi driver gave me his number to ring him when i wanted to return to the airport; Mr. Bunsri Chaisongmoung (04-0895208, if you're in bangkok and need a lift...) and since he wasn't skimping on the aircon, i was happy to ring him around 3pm to ride back. Once i got a hold of him, i was unsure from the convo wheter he could come and pick me up right away or not. since i speak zero thai and he spoke next to zero english, the phone was less than perfect means of communication. while in the cab i had relyed on mostly sign language and body language to figure out what was being said, forgot that doesn't work so well over the phone ;) So, i just got a cab back to airport, and it was cool. got my bag and check in without drama, shopped around got my air india flight into Delhi. nice old 747 from the jurassic era, but it did in fact fly. After a 4 hour delay while they put 2 new wheels/tires on. but at least we got to stay on the plane, had 3 seats to myself!, and snack were passed out. Cake 4 hour flight in Delhi, which i slept the whole way. got in there around 11pm, waiting for matt in the baggage claim for 3 hours , his flight landed at 2am. what happend next was made worse by our lack of proper sleep and general confusion. We tried to get into the Delhi arrival area, but since we only had a reservation and no paper ticket, the AK-47 toting gaurds were not letting us in. I wasnt going to argue to much... the Cosmic Air counter opend at 6;30am, it was now 2:30am... we had a long night in the vistors lounge ahead of us. We also had to contact and meet up with Tim Porter the final member of our crew, who was currently asleep in a delhi hotel... left him some messages. and then busted out the thermarests and sleeping bags under the all criket all the time tv screen. thank the angels for earplugs... we had a dozen or so flys to keep us company while we slept on the floor. not the best sleep i've had, but we weren't going to get a hotel for 3 hours.
woke up 6am met Tim, great guy! going to be awesome traveling with this crew. got tickets sorted eventually and flew into kathmandu at 10am. Most beautiful flight yet, we could see the himalaya in the distance and lush green valleys below. met a nice sherpa guide on the flight who was really keen to help us out. I had made a reservation at the famous kathmandu guest house a few days ago and their free shuttle took us into Town/Thamel district. it's SUPer nice, and cost us $6 US a night. We've been organizing our Everest base camp trek which we hope to start on the 28th. and will probably be gone for 12- 15 days. After that we'll fly into Tibet and spend 11 days riding back on the Friendship highway to eventually view Mt. everest from the North side. After that return to Kathmandu, head to Pokara and trek in the Annapurna range for another 2 weeks. Maybe some rafting and then down to Royal Chitwan National park for a little safari.... not sure about that yet.
it' so great to be back on the backpacker trail, tatoos and dreadlocks and the tell tail signs your on the road most travelled by those in search of fun. so many trekkers here, lots to talk about, but almost no americans. I've been keeping my cowboy boots in my pack, and i'm not wearing my stars and stripes cape anymore... :) j/k no dramas at all, most folks are concerned about the hurricanes. Nepal so far has been awesome, loving it, and inexpensive. I'll try to catch up more later....

Big day

2005-09-23T16:39:00.000-05:00

Hey, Great to hear from everyone back home! Thanks for the emails and comments, i really enjoy keeping in touch.
So, have a pretty big day today: it's 5:40am in Hong Kong at the moment, I've got a 8:05am flight into Bangkok, 7:30hrs on the ground there which I hope to use to explore a bit and hopefully make it safely back to the aeropuerto for my 5 something pm flight into Dehli, India. Then it's another fantastic layover until the next morning when I'll meet up with Matt, and his mate Tim, to catch our flight into Kathmandu, Nepal. The latest ceasefire between the maoist rebals and the government seems to be holding, so jeee, that's great news! Hopefully the King will have resinded on the communications ban, and the internet and phone systems will be up, if not, I'll talk to you all in 91 days! ahhhh! Ok, should be just fine, no worries :)

Hong Kong! day 1

2005-09-22T22:44:00.000-05:00

Alright, Hong Kong is awesome. Yesterday was quite a day, started off with an awesome hike up to Lookout Point at the top of Discovery Bay. It was a hot one and pretty humid, at 35C or 95F. It was a hike straight up the mountain, and pretty steep, about 1000ft up or so. The very beginning was all rock and dirt steps, got the legs burning for sure. check it out:

On the way down, we hiked into a valley which had an awesome stream with some cool rock pools. Hong Kong is amazing, huge high rise buildings right at the bottom of really steep mountains, and lots of thick forest which goes right into the Bay. Discovery Bay is right across the water from Hong Kong, and is sort of an expat enclave. It's really nice, and has the feel more of a beach resort than an actual neighborhood.

So, we cleaned up from the hike and took the ferry over into the city. HK is super impressive to look at, huge buildings shooting up everywhere, right on the water. The entire bay is surrounded by high rise development and then lush mountains. We walked around the city and saw the touristy sights. Took the Star ferry over to Calou and TST, which stands for something like Tsim Sau Tsui. Walked around checking stuff out, and came across the Hong Kong space museum, which just happend to be showing a IMAX movie on Kilimanjaro. What luck! So we saw that and it was awesome, I'm pretty stoked for Africa and Kili, but there's so much going on before then that I'm concentrating on now.
After the IMAX we hopped on the ferry again back to Central HK. Adam had gone to the airport to pick up Rob and Ashok, two buddies from Uni back in Austrailia. They had been on a two week holiday in London and Ireland. We meet up with them in front of the ferry dock in downtown HK, it was great to see them again. We had been good friends back at school in Australia. Ashok and Rob are some characters, and are usually up for a good time, and constant pranks.
The five of us, Adam, Matt, Ashok and Rob took an open top bus around the city and then rode the Tram up to the peak overlooking downtown HK and the bay. It was an amazing view.

While walking around the mountain top shopping centre we luckily bumped into Toby, the dutchman, who climbed Mt. Beerwah with Matt and I last week. Matt knew he'd be in HK while we were and organized meeting up at the peak. Pretty lucky we bumped into him when we did. Now the six of us hiked around the peak trail to find an awesome view of the city, to watch the nightly 8pm light show. A bunch of the skyscrapers have crazy lights that go off everynight at 8, the IFC (tallest) and the China Bank building look rad. So by this time we're all starving and hop the tram back down into the city to look for a place to eat.
Since Adam lives here, he knows the spots, we rolled into 'SoHo' in cabs from the tram and found this real nice chinese place for dinner. The feast was awesome, the bill was not! Our dining fiasco ran up to $1050 HKD, which is only about $150 USD, actually pretty reasonable dinner for six.
Toby took off and we set off to find some bars. A short walk from the restaurant district 'soho' and we're into bar spot: Lan Kwai Fong.

We found some cool spots and had some beers, then checked out this place Adam had been talking about. It was some russian bar with a giant freezer. You put on fur coats and drink chilled vodka in the freezer. So two rounds of shots later, we were feeling right good.

Heading out further and kept getting bumped into by these girls passing out free drink coupons. We had to give our email address and name, and bam, free drinks! So we each wrote down like three or four names and got a bunch of coupons. After this point, my memory is a bit foggy, but I remember some more bars, drinks, an all Hong Kong band playing Black Eyed Peas and wasted expats dancing like fools. It's amazing how many westerners there are here, mostly buisness types. After a long day, we rocked the ferry back to Dbay and crashed.

Going into the Stanley market today, more later.

Hot Hot Hong Kong

2005-09-21T10:23:00.000-05:00

Well, we've made it to hong kong! Flew in today from Brisbane on Cathay Pacific. The finest airline I've flown thus far, without a doubt. Complimentary Johnnie Walker Black label and Chivas Regal, we had a fine time! In seat TV, oh it was nice. About a 10 hour flight, piece of cake. Catched up on the latest news and did some journal writing.
Matt worked here for a few months so was familiar with the airport and how to catch the bus out to Discovery Bay, where we're staying. A buddy from Cromwell, Adam, lives here. He's a professional Cricket player for the Hong Kong national team, and generally great guy. His Father is a Cathay Pacific pilot and his presently on holiday in Thailand. So we've got this great place to stay, with great views. It looks over the water towards the new Disneyland Hong Kong

Back to Brisbane

2005-09-17T21:53:00.000-05:00

Well, it's nice to be back in Sunny Queensland, Australia. Matt met me a the aeropuerto as soon as I cleared customs at the international arrivals area. It was great to see him, and feel like this big adventure is officially begun. Well, it will really begin when we head out for Hong Kong on Wednesday.
So I took off from LA on Wednesday night and arrived here in Brisbane, with a quick stop in Auckland New Zealand, at 8am on Friday morning. Not sure where Thursday was, but I was somewhere over the dark pacific chatting up the British nurse sitting next to me. Both flights were pretty nice, good food and service on Air New Zealand. Got settled into Matt's brothers place in the suburb of Brisbane, Oxley, showered up and took a nice nap. Woke up from the nap having absolutely no idea where I was, a feeling I'm happily getting used to. Hopped a train into downtown Brisbane and met up with Matt and some of his mates from work at a pub. We had a late night, but a great time catching up with a bunch of folks I went to school with down here. Saturday morning we got up bright and early for a day of hiking.
Matt had assembled an international crew to climb Mt. Beerwah, on the Sunshine coast just an hour drive north of Brisbane. We had 3 aussies, a Dutchman, and two German girls. And of course me the American. It was a super windy day, and the climb did have some tough rock scrambles to be made, but no technical climbing. We packed a huge lunch and headed off. Enjoy some pics:

Matt and I

The crew walking by the caves at the bottom of the cliff.

Summit! I was pretty windy up here, but a truly beautiful day.

I was trying to climb inside the caves, the rock was really flaky, not all that great for climbing.

After the hike was cruised back into Brisbane, and went shopping for some food for the evenings party. Matt had a bunch of friends over for a little jam session, it was lots of fun. They had the barbie going and made tons of food. It was a great first day and a half in Australia, I was completely exhausted from the hike, jetlag, and a couple of beers.

Today, I'm meeting up with my good friend Emily and some of her roommates for a night out, it's guaranteed to be a great time. Hope all's well back home.

Welcome to the land down un...

2005-09-14T11:40:00.000-05:00

Well, almost. I'm in sunny but cool California. Taking off for Australia via New Zealand tonight at 9:30... So I got in last night, flew on JetBlue into Long Beach.

Nice flight, about 5 hours, but with DirecTV in my seat it went by super fast. We took a sort of round about route: Brent picked me up at the airport, and we went back to his and Mandy's place in 'the valley.' Met up with Jason and walked to some bars on Ventura blvd. It was really great to see them and we a good time catching up over a couple pitchers. We're heading out today (Brent, Mandy, and I) to check out hollywood and malibu. Jason had to work.

This past weekend I spent most of the time hanging out with friends, we went out to brewers on Friday night, sushi on Saturday with Dave, Justin, and Dave's dad, plus my folks. Tried to pack up my stuff:

I went into DC on Monday to pick up a Visa at the Indian embassy, it was an adventure in itself. Monday night I went to LaPaz and hung out with Tim, Megan and Erin. Said some goodbyes, and got to packing. Erin and Megan, two of the coolest people on earth, and stunningly beautiful I might add, will be missed for sure. They were giving me a hard time about not being mentioned in here :).

So Tuesday, day of departure, was a little hectic, but turned out just fine. Said goodbye to my folks, who have been great and super supportive, I couldn't have done it without them. I think I brought everything I wanted to bring, so that's that. I'm on my way, and it feels great.

The big trip

2005-08-23T21:48:00.000-05:00

Background info on the trip:

I've been working for the past 3 years as a web developer at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick. It is/was an awesome job, I learned so much and got to work with some really great people. Without that job there's no way I'd be able to take off on this adventure. I worked for the Computer and Statistical Services contractor, Data Management Services, Inc., on a wide variety of web projects.

In the back of my mind, I've always wanted to take off on an extended trip to far away and interesting places, but it never seemed possible. I'd always come up with an excuse in my mind to stay put, and continue what I was doing. I had a great job, girlfriend, a cool little apartment, a car (Jeep), I thought that was it. I mean, I went to college, got a degree, got a job, that was it right? Time for the fun! Well, something wasn't right, I just didn't feel satisfied. It's not that I was unhappy, not at all, but I just felt like something was missing. I'd go on fun vacations every six months or so, skiing out west, scuba diving in the Caribbean, backpacking on the weekends, and those were really fun times. But the fun would always end so quickly, and next thing I knew I was back right where I left off. Whenever I was bored at work, I'd be surfing Travelocity or Orbitz, just to see where I could get to on the cheap, maybe just for the weekend. Iceland would be nice, oh, cheap flights into Belize this time of year, wow, they're just giving away flights to Europe right now, etc... But I never had enough time to really do it right.

To get around that lack of vacation time, which was always in short supply for me, the idea of not working crept into my mind. Over the past few years I've been reading mostly travel and adventure theme books, a couple of which were really inspiring. Just to read about other peoples experiences, both good and bad, really had big effect on me. It kind of dawned on me, that I really could do this. I could save enough to do it, I could quit my job, I felt like I could make it happen. I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but at some point it just clicked, and I knew I was going to take off. If extended traveling is something you think you might be interested in doing sometime (which it should be!), then you should check out: Vagabonding by Rolf Potts; The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Also, these books are great, and got me psyched to go after big goals: Lost in Mongolia by Colin Angus; Into Thin Air by John Krakhauer.

After studying abroad at the University of Queensland during the Spring of 2001, with my best friend Dave, I sort of learned how and got the confidence to travel internationally. It's actually pretty easy, all you really need is some money, your passport, and an easy going attitude. Experience and research always help too. I knew I could travel again, it was just a matter of when, where, and with whom. My good friend Matt Jackson, the quintessential Australian Renaissance man, whom I met at UQ, had done something like this before and was always super keen to do it again. He came through the States in February of 2003 and visited Dave and I in Frederick. After that, we talked on the phone and shot emails back and forth for a while about some of the things we'd like to do if it ever seemed possible to travel. This would be the time to really combine my two loves, the outdoors and international travel.

My old summer job (1996-2002), as a trip leader for TeamLink Inc., an outdoor adventure sport education and team building company, taught me how to really enjoy the outdoors and to challenge myself. Working at TeamLink with Andy Nichols and the gang was really an awesome and motivating experience. I assisted and led groups of kids on backpacking, mountain biking, canoeing, kayaking, and rock climbing trips all over the blue ridge mountains. But the best part was that it gave the experience to go into the unknown with only a pack on your back, a feeling I really love.

Some of the things Matt and I thought of were trekking to the base camp of Mt. Everest, the Annapurna circuit trek in Nepal; climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, and going on a safari in Africa. To do all of that in one trip we'd have to cover some serious ground, and altitude. It would definitely take more time than I had vacation days at work.

We both pretty much decided that for this adventure to been done properly, we'd have to leave our jobs. Having no job to come back to really frees you up to do anything, as long as you can afford it. So to afford it, I've been saving for a while, selling stuff on eBay, moved back in my parents, packing my lunch to work (daily advice from my Dad), and basically just trying to live as efficiently as possible. While on the road we'll try to save where we can by staying in hostels, taking public transport, and following the already well worn backpacker trail. There'll be more to come about the trip soon.

Mt. Rainier

2005-07-18T16:11:00.000-05:00

I'm flying to Seattle today with Mike Cullen, Ann Truelove, and Andrew Eckert, to meet up with the rest of the 'rainier crew.' We're going to try to summit Mt. Rainier, one of highest peaks in the continental US. And it's a volcano. The mountain has occupied my thoughts for a long time now, we started planning this trip about a year ago...

...Well, we made it. Climbing Rainier was incredible! I'll do a proper write up soon, but for now you can enjoy some more pictures.

the beginning

2005-07-18T15:05:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about writing a blog for a while now, sort of to take the place of, or supplement, my personal website (patrickmoloney.com). And now I've actually created it. I was recently inspired by a friend of mine, Chad Heddleston, who showed me his friends blog and his brother's write up of a climb in Washington, Mt Shuksan. I thought both the blog and the write-up were really inspiring, and figured now that I'm planning some adventures, this would be an awesome way to share them with my friends and family.

I'm going to keep this as up to date as possible, as long as it doesn't become a burden. So I apologize in advance if it gets old and stale like my other websites have become. I'm really keeping it as a journal or diary of travels and adventures, somewhat for myself, but also to share with anyone that's interested. I hadn't felt like I was doing anything really 'blog worthy' for a while there, say 2002-2005, just working and living in Frederick with the occasional fun trip thrown in there. Wish I would have written something down though! (Vail, Jackson Hole, scuba in Bonaire, backpacking weekends) But I would always get back from a trip and immediately be immersed in the day to day of work and life, as if the trip never even happened. A total bummer. I always had my photos to enjoy and spark memories, but I wasn't writing anything down. I've keep a journal before, when studying abroad in Australia, and I love reading it now. So hopefully this will work out in the same way.

I don't plan on making it really mundane like so many other blogs I've read... So it won't include stuff like: "woke up today, had some cereal for breakfast, drove to work..." yeah, I know ya'll don't care about that stuff, so I'll leave it out.