Yesterday was just another day at the beach but this morning I decided to get up early and hike up Diamond Head Crater. I zoomed up past the other tourists in my flip flops, triumphantly reaching the top in about 25 minutes. Sweat running from my forehead, I took a last look around Oahu and thought about completing my around the world journey in ten hours. I rushed back down the crater to make it back in time for a shower at my last shared hostel dorm room of the trip. Before I did though, I grabbed a Hawaiian shave ice.
A girl named Kori discovered my short film, Missing Pieces, on the net about a year ago and soon after, she found out about my trip. I'd never met her but she was one of the first donors to feedtony.com. A native Hawaiian, she requested that I treat myself to a shave ice when I made it to Honolulu. So here it is, my last thank you of the trip:
Mahalo Kori!
I'm at the airport waiting for my flight. Five hours til I hit the mainland. Nutty man, nutty.
It hasn't stopped raining in 24 hours. A poor end to this NZ trip. Hopefully I can get a partial refund on this Kiwi top bit tour thing and do a dive in Hawaii. When you can do anything outdoors, you have to find indoor entertainment.
Mike, thanks for the fundage which kept me at the hostel and out of the rain when dinner time came around last night. Steak and sausage barbecue was the evening meal with a free pint to wash it down. I spent the rest of the evening watching Whale Rider. It was a heck of a lot more interesting after being to the town where it was shot and learning a bit more about the Maori history behind it. Anyhoo, here's a look at lovely Paihia where we've been stuck for the last couple of days. It's off to Auckland this afternoon.
Labels: Food, New Zealand, Videos
Daniel, hope you're having a good day at work. It was excellent to hear from you the other day. I appreciate the contribution towards keeping me fed. This morning I waited to hear whether the weather would allow me to go out for my first skydive over massive Lake Taupo (said to be the size of Singapore). At 9:45, everything was go. That's when my heart started pumping and I got a bit nervous.
Skydive Taupo sends a stretch limousine to pick you up which is really amusing. A few minutes later I was at the airport getting suited up and ready to be thrown out of a pink airplane. It was all very surreal and my brain couldn't register any of it.
Up in the sky the view was incredible. After dropping a few people off at 12,000 feet, we climbed another 3,000 to our jump point. At this height we even had to use oxygen masks for a bit. Then, before I could even think about it, we were out and soaring above the lake. It was unreal. I've had plenty of dreams of flying and this is probably as close as I've gotten to the really doing it. It felt like a pretty long ride up there (maybe too long as my guide's spinning made me a little queasy).
Back on earth, I've just finished cutting my YouTube video and I'm off to have a big meal, care of one Daniel L. of San Jose, CA (I ended up having salmon with poached eggs over a potato rosti... speaking of salmon, remember that one time we went fishing? That was the only time I've ever been fishing.). Thanks again and I'll see you in a few weeks.
You know, my mom is going to watch that and the first thing she's going to think is, "Why didn't you shave your ugly face!?"
Labels: Food, New Zealand, Videos
I had a lot on my mind today as I was stuck on a bus for seven or eight hours. I wanted to share some of it with you but my brain and eyeballs are tired. I'm hanging out in Christchurch (yawn) for a couple days. Maybe I'll try to get a haircut. Anyway, I'll update this entry with the stuff that swirled around in my head all day (I think I drooled on myself while napping on the bus... embarassing). For now, I give you views of the south island:
Yup, things by water are pretty.
P.S.- Anyone own a hotel in Honolulu? I need a room.
Labels: New Zealand, Videos
This morning I got up really early to head out to the AJ Hackett Nevis Highwire Bungy jump over a gorge near Queenstown. I've never really been too interested in bungy but seeing as it was practically born here in New Zealand, I decided to give it a try. Funny thing was, I wasn't at all nervous about it. I just hadn't experienced anything similar to jumping 400 feet off of something. It wasn't until they'd strapped the leg harnesses on that I started to wonder what I got myself into. Moments later, they attached the bungy cord and it was on. A bunch of tiny baby steps (as my legs were buckled together) and one giant leap for new kinds of experiences. I cut my expletive out of the video for the benefit of the children (and my mom's ears) but it's that first moment that the ground comes rushing towards you that you realize you may have gotten in over your head. If you're able to watch the YouTube video, you'll see the view from the camera I held in my hand (just for my YouTube fans) and footage shot by the AJ Hackett people.
Later in the afternoon, I did the Canyon Swing where you're taken to a platform about 100m above a river, dropped 60m, and swing 150kph through a 200m arc. My jump choice was the "Elvis" where I was hung facing the sky and dropped upside down. Pretty wild.
I was supposed to head off to Milford Sound tomorrow but the stupid Kiwi bus is booked up on Tuesday which means I need to rush back to Christchurch tomorrow. Argh! Milford's supposed to be beautiful but I'll be as happy as I can with the wonderful sights I've taken in on the South Island. Wednesday I fly up to Taupo to start a new tour of the east of the North Island. Lots of Maori cultural experiences are in store for me. And perhaps some surfing!
Labels: New Zealand, Videos
Happy Lunar New Year and Happy Ash Wednesday folks. I had a brilliant day out on the Franz Josef glacier doing my first ice-climb. I started my day at 7am, geared up and had a strenuous hike up onto the glacier. The rigid climbing shoes aren't the best footwear for hiking over rocks and my feet were hating me.
Armed with clamp on spikes and two ice axes, me and three other people roamed around crevasses and did five climbs up about 18 meters. The weather was great and the ice was challenging enough to leave me completely exhausted by 4pm. I loved it. It was probably one of the top ten things I've done on my world trip.
If I had any more money, I'd probably really get into rock climbing as well but the equipment for this sort of activity is outrageously expensive. Check out the new photos in the picasa gallery or see some footage on YouTube:
Labels: New Zealand, Videos
The other day in Nelson I went to check out Michael Clayton at the movies. The movie kind of beat me up a little. George Clooney got a nom for the role, right? Well deserved because by the end of that movie I felt as exhausted as his character seemed to be. But not so exhausted that I wasn't going to tackle the short hike up the hill in Nelson to reach the Centre of New Zealand.
Thank you again for providing me with my first meal on the South Island in Christchurch. I know you've been dying to get out here and you were here in spirit as I munched on an enormous avocado burger from some joint called Wisconsin (who's slogan is "Home of the best burgers in the world"). Hope your foot's doing well and the new job turns out to be what you're looking for. Share some of your global perspectives with those kids!
Labels: Food, New Zealand, Videos
I brushed up on some New Zealand history at the Te Papa museum in town before taking a walk around town a bit. I really want to find a kiwi, suckers are cute as koalas. Wellington is pretty laid back and the people seem really chilled out. I'm diggin' it. I wasn't able to escape my head just yet and stopped to sit by the water and reflect on my travels a bit. Then this randomly burped out of my head:
The Quay
I saw you walking
With your tank top, ready to pop
Towards the harbor in
Your tight jeans
Long hair tied back
In a pony tail.
I was ready to hail
You down, thinkin'
Man, she's hot.
Then I thought not
Because you lit up.
Made me want to throw up
My hands to say, stop!
You're far too lovely
To let those cigs scrap thee.
Lots of time on my hands as you can see. After another nap, I woke up and checked out Charlie Wilson's War starring Tom Hanks. Good flick. Took me away for a little while before I returned to the hostel and slapped this together. Yes, it's been a silly weird day in my brain.
NOTE TO MOM: Dear Mother, I've shipped a box of clothes and books to your home. Just toss it onto the pile of other things cluttering up my old room. Thanks!
Labels: New Zealand, Videos
I've been in ultra-pensive mode over the last few days. As some of you know, I can be really annoying to be around in that mode. Steph often asks, "Are you alright?" and Carlien tries to break my brood by physically forcing my mouth into a smile. Not good. When you confront a thinker's mood, it's like pointing out an amputated limb. Just don't do it, it's obvious something isn't as it was but the amputee will sort it out, no need for you to remind him. I can't help it. It's what I do. I think. Over-think even.
Australia is a pricey place coming off of Asia. Accommodations here run around $25-$35 per night in high season (now). Throw in the cost of food and the bank account starts sweating profusely. On top of that are the costs of 'experiences'. I missed my opportunity to dive the Great Barrier reef which is a shame but diving with boat charter and equipment can run close to $100/dive. I had dental work done in Thailand for less than that!
You start to fall into the "once in a lifetime" debate. This is where you say "when am I ever going to have a chance to do this again?" Or you think, when I'm sitting back home with a mortgage over my head, stuck in traffic, on the way to 40hr/wk grind, am I going to say, "Boy, I wish I hadn't spent that $150 to sail the Whitsundays in Australia because I could really use the cash right now for my latte and a new DVD." It's a tough call because you know the deeper in debt you plunge yourself into now, the bigger the struggle you'll face getting back on your feet back home. I've spoken to a few people who've done their round the world trips and they returned with $30,000+ debts... but they have no regrets other than they'd wished they had more time. Debts get repaid. Or you die. Either way, why worry so much?
I think I mentioned the Oz Experience before. It's this hop on, hop off budget bus tour that takes backpackers around Australia. I signed up for it to do a little more traveling with Steph and Carlien who were already booked on it when I met up with them in Cairns. Unfortunately, I haven't really enjoyed it all that much. After 8 months of backpacking, I'm pretty much over that scene. These buses drop you off in beach towns and try to push you into raucous bars where you're to drink 'til you do something stupid. The last couple of nights, I've found myself in a joint called Cheeky Monkeys. The first night we were greeted by a girl at the door who nodded to us, "you're staying at -blank- backpackers right?" We weren't but agreed anyway to obtain free entry. Later in the night, the wrist band we had entitled us to a free drink. Whatever. I had resigned myself to observing the scene soberly. I would do a sociological study of sorts, maybe gather some reconnaissance for future fiction.
I watched as girls and guys stripped down to their underwear (and less) to win prizes. Four sober college years kept me out of this sort of environment so I'd missed all of this type of silliness. It's a bit fascinating, kind of amusing, and a little bit depressing. As the night went on, I watched the inebriation before my eyes. For some, it was gradual, for others, much too fast. If you paid close enough attention, you could watch little dramas unfold as the boys and girls fraternized or fought. By the late hours of the night, I was a bit caught up in my own little mental soap opera and had to flee the scene.
Yesterday, I was irritable and tired of laying around (which is a big part of the backpacker "morning after"). I decided to have myself a bit of a hike up to the Byron Bay lighthouse. With an old 'On-the-Go' playlist blasting Radiohead, Ray LaMontagne, and Sigur Ros into my ears, I sweated my way to the "Most Easterly Point in Australia" before reaching the towering beacon on the hill. It was invigorating. For a few moments I forgot about the garbage below and remembered that I am enjoying freedom and beauty. I took a deep breath and looked at the crashing coastlines in the distance. And for a moment, I stopped thinking.
I spent the afternoon shootin' the breeze with Jordan and the girls around Southbank in Brisbane. We stopped into Kapsali's where I took a break from pasta and sandwiches to have a huge serving of Greek moussaka. Huge thanks to Jim for picking up the tab. Without you I may have spent another evening eating Kangaroo bolognese, not that there's anything wrong with that (it's tastier than you think!)
After three days of steady rain on Magnetic Island, the sun seems to have some out... just in time for us to leave to Airlie Beach. Fingers crossed that the sun will stay out through New Year's Eve as I'll be hopping on a sail boat through the Whitsunday Islands tomorrow afternoon through Wednesday. If another storm blows through, it could mean rough seas and green faces. Blech.
I found one more activity for a rainy day at the hostel:
I found one more activity for a rainy day at the hostel:
It's been pretty warm in Cairns this week. I've been taking it easy, bumming around the hostel or wandering around the small town. I've decided that diving up here is a bit over the budget so I'm hoping to find an opportunity to see another part of the reef down the coast. I'm booked on an Oz Experience bus that'll take me through places like Airlie Beach, the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Byron Bay, and on back to Sydney.
We get free dinners each evening (Chili con carne, spaghetti bolognese, or veggie pasta) which has been helpful as Australia is eating my money like a koala eats eucalyptus leaves. Unfortunately my dollars don't grow on trees. So I really appreciate the Christmas wishes that have shown up in my FeedTony account. Thank you Carol, John, Binh, and Tristan! Wish you were here. Humidity aside, it's a lovely area.
I took a Sunday drive up to Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation. Passing through lush rain forest and sugar cane fields, I felt a bit like I was in Hawaii. A local told me that a bunch of films shoot up there (Spielberg and Hanks are reported to have used it for the upcoming Pacific mini-series). The beach was nice with the ocean beckoning you to come in but there's no swimming there... if the crocodiles don't get you, there's a pretty good chance the jellyfish will. Ah so many things can hurt you in Oz, including the sun. Thankfully, I've been pretty good at laying on the sun block.
I've been running the air-conditioning in my room for hours everyday. It's December, right? Tomorrow is Christmas. You excited?
:couple new photos in the gallery:
With the hot weather in Australia, you get billions of bush flies. These things have been the worst part of visiting sights outside of the cities. From the Blue Mountains near Sydney to stops all along the Great Ocean Road in the south, these flies love tourists. If you stand still, hundreds gather on your back. They fly in your face, eyes, ears, whatever is exposed. On my tour, at least three people have accidentally eaten flies while we've taken in sights like the 12 Apostles. I realized that the flies are such a nuisance that no one sticks around the lookout points for very long. In a sense, they've become a bit of a crowd control tool. People run in, snap their photos, and run back to the tour buses. Anyway, I could keep ranting but I'll just show you some video.
Hi guys, I hope you're doing very well in Manhattan. Gotta love that city. Thanks for sending some funds my way. I've been on this tour of the Great Ocean Road along the southern end of Australia for the past few days. Think of it as a really beautiful scenic road like PCH in California. Except there are these unique landscapes unlike anything I've seen before. Yesterday, I had an opportunity to take a helicopter flight over the famous 12 Apostles rock formations along the coast. I'd never been up in a helicopter before and the tour group had a special price that I couldn't pass up. I was thinking of you guys up there above the water. It was beautiful. Check it out:
I've had a miserable cold the last few days in Sydney. I've tried taking it easy but I had to get out and about. Wednesday I jumped on the CityRail and met my friend Jamie for a nice glass of Apple/Orange juice. We decided to take a walk down to the famous Bondi Beach. It was a cloudy day but the weather was still pretty warm and clear of actual rain. We continued along the coast over to Bronte Beach where she's living. We had a delicious home-cooked dinner with her flatmate and her friend Sue. I sat by and listened to them discuss the relevance of different contemporary art pieces that they'd seen. Rather than chime in with "that sounds neato", I munched on chocolate cupcakes and sipped Penfold's Cabernet. It was nice to get out and breath some fresh air but I did a whole lot of walking (from Central Station to Bronte Beach and back to Bondi Junction... apparently, if you're from around here, that's pretty nutty). I got into some train mishaps here and there. Make sure you don't jump on trains that are about to terminate, security doesn't like it. Also, never trust security's directions (or any railworker it seems), they have no idea what train will get you home.
I was completely exhausted but I'd signed up for a tour on Thursday morning. So after four hours of sleep I jammed back to Central station to catch the Wonderbus to the Blue Mountains. It was a pretty misty day that clouded any nice views of the Jameson Valley but the hike through the Jurassic rainforest was pretty nice. Some of the flora and fauna have been around for millions of years. We zoomed over to a lookout point to see a famous rock formation called the Three Sisters that's been very sacred to the Aboriginal people. It was too cloudy for a proper picture but as the mist rolled through these sistas peeked out to say hello. The flies around these mountains are mad. They're all over the place and they stick to you like flies on... well you know. If you stand still, you'll easily find your back covered with about 40 flies. It becomes pretty comedic to watch tourists waving their arms around non-stop as they try to snap photos of rocks in the fog.
Afterwards, we shot over to Featherdale Wildlife Park. This is where I got my first glimpse of really goofy looking Australian animals. They're so different from the wildlife we're used to back in North America. They're mutants that move around really funny and they're all terribly cute and fascinating. I had the requisite photo with a koala and monkeyed around with kangaroos, emus, and wallabies. One of my favorites was the Tasmanian Devil which ran laps around its little enclosure non-stop. Someone let that little fella out... and domesticate him back in the States, I want one.
We made a brief stop at a boutique winery in Hunter Valley to sample some wines and cheese before riding over to the Olympic stadium and catching a ferry back to Sydney Harbor. It was a pretty full day and I'm still a bit tired from it all. Have a look at the photo gallery for a few snapshots. I'm running out of Picasa web space which is pretty annoying. I'll have to figure out a solution for that later (yes, I should have chosen Flickr or something).
Today, I checked out some Vietnamese markets around town and in an hour or two, I'll head to Sydney to meet some travel buddies from my Spain and China trips. Phew.
Note: I was feeling a bit under the weather and apologize for the shoddiness of the video and my mispronunciation of every single language.
India, Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia. Four months. That's all I was able to take to hit Asia. And it was nowhere near enough time to do even one of those countries properly. But I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to sample sometimes just a couple of days of each land and culture. There were some very beautiful and perfect days during the Asia trip as well as many rough and completely miserable moments.
The amazing: Gazing at the Taj Mahal, zooming through the night amongst the karsts of Guilin, walking through the neon blazed streets of Shanghai, reaching the summit of Mt. Fuji, sliding through the rice terraces of Sapa, gliding along with a whale shark in Ko Tao, waking up to the sight of Angkor Wat at sunrise, racing around the backroads of Pai...
The not so good: Broken nose and teeth in the Muay Thai ring, misery on the beach in Ko Phangan, food poisoning at Cat Ba, saying goodbye...
The trip wouldn't have been as fruitful and pleasant as it was without the support from friends and family around the world. You helped me through those rough days and made the great ones even greater. Special thanks to all of you who've contributed through FeedTony.com or have helped me out while I've been in your towns and homes:
Mom, Charley, Walt, Binh, Caroline, Ankush, Natasha, Eric, Harai, Madeli, the Raikers, Phil, Rich, Pin, Azad, Ana & Bao, Scott, Shilpa, Seema, Greg, Laura, Ben, Erica & Anton, Kvit, My L., Myleen, Holly, My N., Amy & Dan, Valentina, Melissa, Tristan, Linh, Sonia & Martin, Carlien, Steph, Mai, Giao, Be and the family in Vietnam.
I know I've fallen behind on personal thank you's, please forgive me but this traveling thing keeps you pretty busy sometimes :) I've received a few more generous contributions from Kat, Ker, and Yajara. I'll be using these very quickly in Australia and New Zealand. Can you believe it? I'm heading to Australia and New Zealand now! Talk to you in a couple of days.
-Tony
P.S.- How you goin'? I'm posting this from Sydney, Australia!
Carlien had really wanted to rent a motorbike to cruise around Pai. There were some waterfalls, hot springs, and beautiful landscapes nearby. I was a bit apprehensive seeing as I hadn't driven any sort of vehicle in seven months and hadn't ridden any type of motorcycle in maybe 8 years. But who am I to say no to a beautiful girl?
At breakfast, we heard a loud crash down the street. Some tourist had crashed a motorbike into one of the women cooking food along the street. A short while later when we went hunting for motorbikes to rent, word had already spread through the little town. The couple renting our bike said, "Are you sure you can drive it, if not, we will not give it to you." I assured them I'd driven one before, a manual dirt bike in fact (though only once and many years earlier). Despite the look of fear and doubt on my face, they handed us the key to our Typhoon-R 125.
It was driving around the crowded streets in town that made me nervous. They drive on the left in Thailand which threw a little confusion into the mix. Once we were out on the open road though, things were smooth sailing. We road down the 1095 to the local hot springs but quickly turned around after finding out that admission was 400 baht (the motorbike cost 100-baht to rent for 24 hours!) We continued to the waterfall but read that it was a 5 hour hike on foot. No time for that, besides, we had a motorbike. Finally we found Pai Canyon which was a short climb from the road side. The canyon has these amazing footpaths running through it that rise hundreds of feet from the bottom. We walked out to a few of them to get some photos but my slippery shoes made me worry about taking a tumble so we wandered around a bit, had some snacks and headed back out on the road.
We road up and down the hills around Pai, riding through villages and passing by resorts, farmland, and elephant parks. As long as we had gasoline, we kept on going. North of Pai airport, we got lost a bit through some beautiful countryside before somehow ending up on the familiar path back to town. At the end of the day, we returned with smiles [and bugs] on our faces and hunger in our stomachs. It was a shame to have to leave the next morning but time had run out.
Cheesy music added for full effect.
At breakfast, we heard a loud crash down the street. Some tourist had crashed a motorbike into one of the women cooking food along the street. A short while later when we went hunting for motorbikes to rent, word had already spread through the little town. The couple renting our bike said, "Are you sure you can drive it, if not, we will not give it to you." I assured them I'd driven one before, a manual dirt bike in fact (though only once and many years earlier). Despite the look of fear and doubt on my face, they handed us the key to our Typhoon-R 125.
It was driving around the crowded streets in town that made me nervous. They drive on the left in Thailand which threw a little confusion into the mix. Once we were out on the open road though, things were smooth sailing. We road down the 1095 to the local hot springs but quickly turned around after finding out that admission was 400 baht (the motorbike cost 100-baht to rent for 24 hours!) We continued to the waterfall but read that it was a 5 hour hike on foot. No time for that, besides, we had a motorbike. Finally we found Pai Canyon which was a short climb from the road side. The canyon has these amazing footpaths running through it that rise hundreds of feet from the bottom. We walked out to a few of them to get some photos but my slippery shoes made me worry about taking a tumble so we wandered around a bit, had some snacks and headed back out on the road.
We road up and down the hills around Pai, riding through villages and passing by resorts, farmland, and elephant parks. As long as we had gasoline, we kept on going. North of Pai airport, we got lost a bit through some beautiful countryside before somehow ending up on the familiar path back to town. At the end of the day, we returned with smiles [and bugs] on our faces and hunger in our stomachs. It was a shame to have to leave the next morning but time had run out.
Cheesy music added for full effect.
We went on a great one day trek in Chiang Mai yesterday. Hiking, elephant rides, waterfalls, cage rides, white water rafting, bamboo rafting, pad thai in the jungle... We had a fun group from Holland, Bangkok, and India. It was one of those days where you're just laughing non-stop. Lanna, our guide, loved us so much he took us out for dinner at Riverside restaurant and to a joint called Heaven Beach. Good times. Woke up a bit sore today from mad paddling, Carlien and I got oil massages. Nice. Tomorrow, we head out to Pai for a couple of days.
The twelve hour night bus (we're getting pretty sick of these) dropped us off at a gas station in Chiang Mai before sunrise. Disoriented and groggy, we jumped in a pickup truck to some guesthouse where we were given a brief orientation on the city center and offered rooms. We opted to walk 15 minutes into the old city to try to find some guesthouses that were recommended to us. After getting a bit lost (most of the building numbers are in Thai or something) we both agreed to grab a room in the Na Inn, mostly because we liked the sign. It's a comfy place which meant a comfortable nap til the afternoon.
We woke up and followed Lonely Planet to Heuan Phen Restaurant to sample Northern Thai cuisine. I had Northern egg noodles with a curry paste. Kind of a noodle soup, slightly spicy served with pork (they were out of chicken), crispy noodle things on top, small onions, and some pickled veggie. It was one of the most delicious dishes I've sampled in Asia. I'm going to have to find a place that serves it in the States.
Chiang Mai has endless travel agencies on just about every street. We walked around a bit and randomly stopped into one to look into a trek, a bus to Pai, and perhaps a quick way into Laos. There were too many options, too many prices, and nowhere near enough days to do everything. (unbeknownst to us, there's a huge Loi Krathong festival taking place here where lotus shaped banana leaf boats are floated down the river with incense, thousands of paper lanterns are flown up into the night sky, fireworks are lit off on every street, candles shine in along sidewalks, and parades are held this weekend) We deliberated over banana pancakes and hot drinks at a nearby cafe and have decided to hang out in Chiang Mai for the festivities until Monday when we'll take a day trek in the mountains. The rest of the week we'll check out Pai and on Friday, we'll shoot back to Bangkok where the girls will head on to Malaysia and I'll figure out my next move.
In the evening we followed a parade to the river and watched people light lanterns into the air and fire off bottle rockets and pop off fire crackers. We couldn't help but want to jump in on the action.
It wasn't until we'd sent our lantern up into the sky that we figured out why people were doing it... to venerate Buddha with light and send away your grudges and anger from the past year. At the night bazaar we did a bit of shopping around and had some more noodles at the food center. All of the walking (and getting a bit lost) had us in bed by midnight. Today we'll check out the Sunday market and enjoy some more Loi Krathong madness.
Stepping off of the plane in Siem Reap, I was reminded of the little island airport in Kerkyra, Greece. The sun was bright, the weather warm and pleasant. Inside, passengers filled out visa apps, paid their $20USD, and watched as passports were passed down a line of immigration officers for processing. At the other end of the counter, passengers lined up waiting for their names to be mispronounced with a Cambodian twang.
After changing some Vietnamese Dong to Cambodian Riels, I made my way out to find a tuk tuk driver holding a sign that read: TONY SWARTHOUT from CARLIEN and STEPH. Barang was the friendly driver's name and he led me to a two-wheeled rickshaw type thing, towed behind a motorcycle. Another SE Asian form of transport to add to the list. At the Family Hotel, I quickly checked into my room and pulled some clothes to throw into laundry service. My cargo shorts hadn't been washed in ages, food staining the front and mud spots staining the back. I accidentally locked my keys in the room. Not a big deal unless the caretaker doesn't have a spare key, which was the case discovered after ten minutes of going through a tangled bunch of keys. Finally, a couple of guys worked a window open and used a long stick to fish the keys from my bed. I wondered why I have such clumsy luck sometimes.
After sorting that out, I went up and met the girls. We headed to the Red Piano for lunch. I had a pile of Belgian fries and Lok Lak, Cambodian stir-fried beef with garlic, onions, and pepper sauce. A hefty meal provided by my friends AMY & DAN. A couple of hours later we tuk tuk'd over to Bakheng to watch the sunset. It could have been a magical experience if not for the hundreds of tourists swarming on top of this temple on a hill. Still, it was a nice first taste of Angkor's ancient ruins.
In the evening we stopped off for ice cream and free wifi at De La Paix cafe. They serve the worst homemade ice cream I've ever tasted in my life. Hideous and expensive. Turns out that the US dollar is the predominant currency used in Cambodia. This drives the prices up for everything. Using Riel instead of dollars sort of makes everyone sigh like you're being difficult. I wasn't used to seeing my home currency used for transactions. It made spending ultra real.
The next morning we woke up to head to Angkor Wat at 5am to catch the sunrise. This was miserably early. You'd think that this might me a good time to 'beat the crowds' but everyone's been told that sunrise at Angkor Wat is a magical experience. It wasn't. We were too tired and irritable to hang out with tourist groups laughing and shouting and snapping photos at 5:30 in the morning. The crowds reminded us of being in Europe in the dead of tourist season. We made our way around to three or four other temples the rest of the morning, some completely empty and others swarming with people. By noon we were hot and sleepy so we called it a day and napped the afternoon away.
In the evening we at at the Temple Bar which offered a free Apsara dancing show. I'd ordered some strange Cambodian dish, mainly because it contained morning glory and I wanted to know what that was. I'm still not sure. I've noticed that I get really excited when there's something weird on a menu or if we see some weird fruit at a market. Custard apples, jack fruit, dragon fruit, lok lak, larb gai, curry of every color... unfortunately, food poisoning has made me a bit less daring when it comes to tasting things like dog or duck embryo (sorry Dan).
In the morning we hopped a 7am bus through the bumpy and dusty roads of Cambodia to the border of Thailand. We switched buses on the other side and spent a few more hours making our way to Bangkok. Steph's left to Koh Phangan to meet her friend and I'm heading to Chiang Mai this evening with Carlien for a few days. But right now, it's time to hunt for knock-off Rolex watches and cheap t-shirts.
Boats and Tigers and Bridges, Kwai
6 Comments Published by Tony on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 at 6:33 AM.
Had an exhausting day touring the Floating Markets, the bridge over the River Kwai, and the Tiger Temples. Check out the Thailand photo album for pictures. I'm going to bed. Tomorrow afternoon, back to Ho Chi Minh City.
More Thai Boxing, From Outside of the Ring
0 Comments Published by Tony on Sunday, November 11, 2007 at 7:02 PM.
We shopped around MBK in Bangkok for a few hours yesterday, checked into a swanky hotel , and in the evening caught some Thai boxing matches (not my decision). We had ring side seats which turned out to be roach side seats. Three cock roaches refused to get off of my brother's chair so the attendant swapped it out. Hilarious. It was an interesting experience catching a fight from outside of the ropes. I realized that I'd never been to a boxing match before. Watching a young kid get kicked in the head and crumble to the floor made me feel a bit ill. I cringed, remembering what it was like to be smacked in the face. It was hard not to think about my own fight and where I'd gone wrong. Still, the betting action inside the stadium was a fun sight and I can cross Thai boxing off of the to see list I suppose.
Afterwards we wandered the Khaosan area to grab some street food and do some people watching. This morning I rushed out to the Vietnam embassy once again and secured my visa for the next leg of my trip. The multiple entry visa costs more than all of previous visas combined. Charley keeps telling me not to worry about money ("You can't take it with you") but I can't shake the whole backpacker mentality where every dollar means so much. Sure I'll go back and make more money in the States but right now, if I can stretch my cents a bit, it means seeing more before I actually have to return to the job.
I'm still sleepy.
Charley and I are in Bangkok. I'm sleepy.
Love,
Tony
P.S.- My travel map is updated, it shows you some of the routes I've traveled round the globe.
My brother Charley has joined me here in Ho Chi Minh City. He pretty much spent the first day in bed. We chatted while I sorted through the supply drop my mom sent along and put together the 12 pounds of extra baggage I was happily shipping back with him to the States.
The next day, we hung around our cousins' camera shop, visited a friend from the States, and checked out the War Remnants museum. There, I went through a pretty cool collection of photos from the Vietnam/American War. We were spooked by recreations of war prisons and impressed by displays of large weaponry. Outside, we joked around with people trying to sell books and motorbike rides. My brother's been handing candy to everyone on the streets. When someone tries to sell us something, we give them candy and try to charge them for it. Hilarity ensues.
We had haircuts in the evening, dinner with the family, and later in the evening, our friends Sonia and Martin picked us up for a drink at Allez Boo in the Pham Ngu Lao area. Big thanks to Sonia and Martin for buying me a Bulgogi burger at Lotteria. It hit the spot.
Next stop for the Brothers Bui: Bangkok.
That Beach from "The Beach"
2 Comments Published by Tony on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 at 11:36 PM.
My friends and I took a boat ride out to a few of the smaller islands around Ko Phi Phi. The highlights were monkeys and a lie on the beach that was used in that Leonardo DiCaprio film some years back called "The Beach". It's just as lovely in real life, even though Virginie Ledoyen wasn't prancing around in a bikini. The snorkeling around here is supposed to be nice but a slight ailment is keeping me from underwater activities for a while.
The other night we stopped at a place called Tin Tin's and watched a rodeo on ESPN while we waited for the night's Muay Thai fights to start. Here's some footage of one of the fights...
I've continued to enjoy meals of Larb Gai, Pad Thai, Salmon, and Brown, Green, and Red Curries. Thanks again to Erica & Anton, Ben, Ana & Bao, Binh, Kvit, and Seema for their contributions. Just a quick note: I do not depend on Feedtony.com contributions to travel. The site started out as an idea I had over dinner with my cousins Carol and John. But as family members asked me how they could get funds to me in an emergency, I decided to set up the site. My hope was to provide a little way for friends and family to be a part of my travel experience. The extra funds give me a little freedom to choose whether I'll be eating veggie rice (cheap) or rice and prawns (more expensive). The concept was to virtually have dinner with you. I'm not looking for fame and fortune. If you know me, you know that I'd rather have money go to a variety of other organizations and causes that I volunteer with or have contributed to. The focus is on fun and good spirits. Traveling the world, I've found joy and I'm trying to share it with you.
We finished our Advanced Open Water Diver course the other day. We had some amazing dives- Navigational, Buoyancy, Naturalist, Night, Deep (30m!). Incredible stuff. Sharks, snakes, rays, puffer fish. I paid an absurd amount of money on our Open Water dive video so I've put up six minutes of it on YouTube:
Celebrating with Erica and Anton
22 Comments Published by Tony on Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 1:24 AM.
The dive groups got together last night and went out to dinner in Sairee beach last night. I had lobster and marlin (speaking of Marlin, I found Nemo at the bottom of the ocean on my last dive as well as the whale shark. Clown fish, just as cute as Pixar's version) and a banana pancake with ice cream to celebrate. Tasty tasty. I'll try to find more food on a stick, guys. Stay tuned.
Hey Seema! After I went out on my first ocean water dive, my friends and I went for a meal at place called Whitening (I don't know why they call it that but in Asia, I keep running across 'whitening' creams... sometimes I can't find sunblock that doesn't 'whiten' while it protects). After diving, I get these burps that taste like plastic (from breathing scuba air). Pretty gross. I had a nice BBQ meal and a stroll around town before some dessert. No more plastic burps. Thank you so much for the support. A good meal was exactly what I needed after the exhausting dive.
Hey Kvit, Thailand's been great and your support has gone far. I've been enjoying cheap breakfasts before diving and wonderful noodle, rice, and curry dishes. One of my favorites is massaman curry at Pranee's Kitchen here in Ko Tao. We've been diving for the last few days and in the evenings we're completely worn out. Sorry for the laziness in the following video but hanging out at the bottom of a swimming pool and doing classroom time gets exhausting. At least at the end of the day, there's a beautiful sunset to look at and the peace of a tropical island to help us unwind. Sorry about the comments getting out of hand but you obviously know that people who hastily post responses without seeing the full picture get things mixed up. I hope none of you caught up in that comment chaos feel hurt. Let's just get back to living life to the fullest and enjoying every moment.
I ran out of blank pages in one of my passports so I took a taxi to the US Embassy today. I got there at 2:05pm. American services ended at 2pm. Aggravating. Fortunately, the Vietnamese Embassy next door hooked me up with a 'non-sticker' visa. I didn't know I could get one of those.
My friend Kvit has sponsored several of my meals here in Thailand and recommended checking out a mall food court called MBK. Since things went so well with the Vietnam visa, I had myself a Vietnamese lunch. Later in the evening I took a bunch of ladies out for dinner at the Siam Paragon Food Court. This isn't your American mall food court. This is gourmet. Everything you could want. Delicious. For dessert we all bought a slice of cake and did a nibble rotation. It was crazy good. Anyway, this cafe is closing so here's the vid. Thank you Kvit and Ben. More to come.
Tomorrow, Carlien, Steph, and I are heading to Ko Tao to get our diving certification. Wish me luck.
All Good Things Must Come to an End
4 Comments Published by Tony on Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 1:01 AM.
The 24 hour train trip from Shanghai to Guilin wasn't as painful as I
imagined it could have been. I spent lots of time catching up on sleep,
being subjected to special effects make-up, and watching Singin in the
Rain on my ipod. Before we knew it we were on a bus to Yangshuo.
imagined it could have been. I spent lots of time catching up on sleep,
being subjected to special effects make-up, and watching Singin in the
Rain on my ipod. Before we knew it we were on a bus to Yangshuo.
Yangshuo is this amazing little area tucked away amongst these
beautiful karsts- steep limestone mounds covered with trees, 100 to 300
meters high. The town is filled with loads of tourists with spa
services, night clubs, cafes, and western style restaurants serving
their needs. But everything's pretty laid back. The first night the
group had dinner at Lucy's cafe. I had a delicious meal of fish, rice,
and veggies provided by my bud, Holly (Thanks again, Holly!) We
celebrated one of our group member's birthdays with cake and a trip to
Monkey Jane's Bar. This led to dancing and another late night.
But it was up early the next morning to do some caving. We hopped
three buses across town to take a trek through a few mountains,
stopping off to jump in a huge pool of mud. Very dirty, very fun. The
funny part of the cave tour was having the guide stop us every 10 yards
to show us a rock formation that supposedly looked like something. (a
turtle, a woman bathing, a monkey carrying a baby...) It was a rock
Rorschach test.
No time for a nap after that, the group got together for a boat ride
on the Li River where we took in some amazing views of the karsts
(views apparently so beautiful that they use them on the 20 Yuan note
and a pack of cigarettes!), watched a man go fishing using trained
birds (the birds catch the fish but can't eat them because their
throats are tied shut, so the guy just swoops them up and empties the
fish into his basket... yup), and feasted on chicken, tofu, roasted
peppers, pumpkin, taro chips, pork, and stir fry veggies (why do I keep
adding things in parentheses?).
The tour is definitely been one of the highlights of my trip around
the world. I've had a great taste of China that's already left me
wanting to come back and have a little more. I've met a great bunch of
friends and with less than a week left, it's going to be tough getting
back onto my solo trek.