09/19/05: Stranger in a strange land (Final Update and Contact Info)

Hi everyone!

I'm back in Los Angeles and slowly adjusting back to "normal life"...it's quite the adjustment and while I'm dealing with the questions of who I want to be and what I want to do and what this trip meant to me, it's a little distracting to be staying with friends that happen to have the largest capacity TiVO on the market, DirectTV (with Sunday Ticket of course), every video game system I can think of, and a collection of several hundred DVDs each whispering to me "watch me...watch me..."

Before I forget, while I don't have a permanent address as of now I did manage to reactivate the cell-phone number that I had before. Please feel free to call for a chat or for offers of gainful employment (perhaps house-sitting that mansion in Hawaii). All inquiries should be directed to my agent - who incidentally happens to have the same telephone number and name. I look forward to seeingeveryone in the next few months as I get settled in.

But first to briefly update where I left you in London as I'm not willing to let go of the trip just yet. I had a wonderful experience in London seeing old friends from school and work and even friends we had met earlier in the trip. I attended a very interesting wedding of a friend from UCLA where the reception included traditional English barn dancing (think do-si-do), sing-along songs about the couple, and a skit about the past love-life of the groom (very, very funny and not anything I want incorporated when I someday get married...I don't want to make my Russian mail-order bride uncomfortable).

Seemingly, however, the fates needed to remind me why it was time to go home with my last two hostel experiences. The first was in London - where I shared a room with three random strangers for an evening. I got into the room after everyone was asleep - only to be awaken at 4 in the morning when one of the guests woke up suddenly and declared to his friend (sleeping in the bunk below), "dude! we feel asleep...we gotta get up and hit the bars".

Only to be answered "umm...we actually went out to two bars and got kicked out of both because of you. Then, I brought you back here and told you to stay in the room, only to find you later wandering thehallways in a T-shirt and nothing else on looking for people to talk to. Let's just say the hostel needed to be heavily convinced to let us stay." I just pulled my sheets tighter around my body, hugged the bag holding my camera and passport and went back to sleep.

The other hostel experience was in Amsterdam, where I only stayed a night (not for that!) to catch a plane the next morning. Only I didn't do my due diligence online and guaranteed my place at what turns out to be the Shelter Christian Hostel - designed to keep young men on the path of righteousness. What I found quite funny is that the shelter was surrounded on both sides by the ubiquitous windows housing"ladies-for-hire"...so quite literally there was a doorway that led up to the light or down to the depths of depravity. After a few hours in the bars, I returned to the hostel, chose the "good" door and went tothe common room of the hostel to read and relax only to walk into (and interrupt very publically and embarrasingly) a bible study in session. The embarrasing part was everyone asking "do you want to join us? no? are you sure because there's never a bad time to talk about jesus!".

I flew to Chicago from Amsterdam and visited my sister, brother-in-law, and their new son (and my new nephew) Emmett. It turns out he's very cute (I had serious doubts when I got the first pictures) and quite well-mannered. It also turns out my brother-in-law's sister is pregnant, my favorite dog had passed away, and my sister was living in a different house. Being in the routine with my family really gave me the sense of how much I had missed (in terms of life events) but also how much things were exactly the same as when I left...and there's certainly a bit of an expectation that if I've changed and learned so much...the world and everything else should be different as well.

So here I am...back in Los Angeles. Much thanks to everyone who read these updates, thought about me, or emailed me with encouragement or their own stories along the way. It made a HUGE impact to hear about home and the people I really care about. Most of all, much thanks to Deanna - an incredible friend, traveler, and personal psychiatrist...I can't imagine doing this with anyone else. China next?

09/15/05: Trip Locations

12 Sep 2005 Los Angeles, USA
06 Sep 2005 Chicago, USA
05 Sep 2005 Amsterdam, Netherlands
27 Aug 2005 London, England
21 Aug 2005 Istanbul, Turkey
20 Aug 2005 Selcuk (Ephesus), Turkey
17 Aug 2005 Bodrum, Turkey
16 Aug 2005 Dalaman, Turkey
15 Aug 2005 Oludeniz, Turkey
13 Aug 2005 Kaz, Turkey
12 Aug 2005 Olympos, Turkey
09 Aug 2005 Goreme (Capaddocia), Turkey
08 Aug 2005 Kahta (Mount Nemrut), Turkey
06 Aug 2005 Sanilurfa, Turkey
05 Aug 2005 Antakya, Turkey
02 Aug 2005 Aleppo, Syria
27 Jul 2005 Beirut, Lebanon
25 Jul 2005 Nahle, Lebanon
21 Jul 2005 Beirut, Lebanon
18 Jul 2005 Tripoli, Lebanon
15 Jul 2005 Tartus, Syria
14 Jul 2005 Palmyra, Syria
11 Jul 2005 Damascus, Syria
08 Jul 2005 Amman, Jordan
03 Jul 2005 Jerusalem, Israel
02 Jul 2005 Amman, Jordan
29 Jun 2005 Wadi Musa (Petra), Jordan
26 Jun 2005 Dahab, Egypt
25 Jun 2005 St. Katherine's (Mount Sinai), Egypt
23 Jun 2005 Alexandria, Egypt
20 Jun 2005 Siwa, Egypt
16 Jun 2005 Luxor, Egypt
14 Jun 2005 Aswan, Egypt
08 Jun 2005 Cairo, Egypt
05 Jun 2005 Dubai, United Arab Emirates
02 Jun 2005 Mumbai, India
28 May 2005 Goa, India
27 May 2005 Mangalore, India
24 May 2005 Kochi, India
23 May 2005 Alappuzha, India
17 May 2005 Varkala, India
16 May 2005 Trivandurum, India
14 May 2005 Kovalam, India
13 May 2005 Kanyakumari, India
12 May 2005 Madurai, India
08 May 2005 Pondicherry, India
06 May 2005 Mysore, India
01 May 2005 Mumbai, India
25 Apr 2005 Diu, India
22 Apr 2005 Udaipur, India
19 Apr 2005 Jodphur, India
16 Apr 2005 Jaisalmer, India
12 Apr 2005 Pushkar, India
09 Apr 2005 Jaipur, India
07 Apr 2005 Agra, India
06 Apr 2005 Orccha, India
04 Apr 2005 Khajuraho, India
03 Apr 2005 Satna, India
01 Apr 2005 Varanasi, India
27 Mar 2005 Delhi, India
26 Mar 2005 Bangkok, Thailand
21 Mar 2005 Ko PhaNgan, Thailand
17 Mar 2005 Ko Samui, Thailand
12 Mar 2005 Bangkok, Thailand
11 Mar 2005 Yangon, Myanmar
05 Mar 2005 Nyaungshwe (Inle Lake), Myanmar
28 Feb 2005 Kalaw (Trek), Myanmar
25 Feb 2005 Mandalay, Myanmar
23 Feb 2005 Bagan, Myanmar
21 Feb 2005 Pyay, Myanmar
19 Feb 2005 Yangon, Myanmar
18 Feb 2005 Bangkok, Thailand
15 Feb 2005 Pai (Trek), Thailand
11 Feb 2005 Chiang Mai, Thailand
08 Feb 2005 Chiang Rai, Thailand
07 Feb 2005 Huay Xai, Laos
06 Feb 2005 Pak Beng, Laos
31 Jan 2005 Luang Prabang, Laos
30 Jan 2005 Pak Mong, Laos
28 Jan 2005 Sam Neua, Laos
27 Jan 2005 Nam Neun, Laos
25 Jan 2005 Phonsavan, Laos
21 Jan 2005 Vang Vieng, Laos
16 Jan 2005 Vientiene, Laos
13 Jan 2005 Halong Bay, Vietnam
12 Jan 2005 Hanoi, Vietnam
11 Jan 2005 Lao Cai, Vietnam
09 Jan 2005 Sapa, Vietnam
08 Jan 2005 Tam Duong/Sin Ho, Vietnam
07 Jan 2005 Lai Chau, Vietnam
06 Jan 2005 Song La/Mai Chau, Vietnam
03 Jan 2005 Hanoi, Vietnam
30 Dec 2004 Hue, Vietnam
27 Dec 2004 Hoi An, Vietnam
21 Dec 2004 Dalat, Vietnam
17 Dec 2004 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
15 Dec 2004 Mekong Delta, Vietnam
10 Dec 2004 Phnom Penh, Cambodia
07 Dec 2004 Battambang, Cambodia
29 Dec 2004 Siem Riep (Angkor Temples), Cambodia
26 Nov 2004 Phuket, Thailand
20 Nov 2004 Bangkok, Thailand
16 Nov 2004 Phuket, Thailand
13 Nov 2004 Ko Phi Phi, Thailand
08 Nov 2004 Krabi, Thailand
04 Nov 2004 Langkawi, Malaysia
30 Oct 2004 Penang, Malaysia
28 Oct 2004 Singapore
22 Oct 2004 Ubud, Indonesia
19 Oct 2004 Lombok, Indonesia
16 Oct 2004 Kuta, Indonesia
13 Oct 2004 Singapore
11 Oct 2004 Los Angeles, USA

08/27/2005: Life in a treehouse and Coming Home!

Hello everyone!

I'm in London right now...last stop before heading home! For those of you who thought it would never happen and have written to me expressing this concern, I will thank you by coming and spending a week sleeping on your couch and complaining about how expensive everything is. Seriously, I am very excited to be coming home and will be back in Los Angeles on September 12th. I will definitely send out contact info when I figure it out myself and would love to see most of you.

But back to Turkey...from Cappadocia, I made my way to Olympos...on the Mediterranean Coast, which is famous for the "treehouses" you can stay in. From everything I read, it was a place to chill out and spend a day (or week) relaxing in the serenity of nature. When I arrived on my overnight bus, what I found was somewhat different than I expected.

First of all, I found out that at the time of my check-in, Kadir's (the oldest and most famous of the treehouse places) was housing over 300 people! Secondly, the "treehouses" looked more like the Saddle Ranch in Hollywood (think Old West flophouse) than Swiss Family Robinson. Lastly, as opposed to being a "chill" place, just about every person was under 30, in good shape (like I used to be), and showing it off...it was like hanging out in a nightclub. I spent the nighttalking to a girl from the Ukraine who planned power systems (what?) and a Turkish girl who had just completed her law studies (but unfortunately...not her English studies). Oh well. To top things off,I visited the Chimerae...a natural fire that burns on a hillside that reputedly ancient mariners could navigate by in ancient times. Unfortunately, after a 3 hour hike from Olympos, it looked to me like someone left a very, very small campfire burning...not impressed. Overall, Olympos was actually quite fun, but I got tired of the "scene"(thumping music at 3am and sleeping in a room with ten people) and left in the morning.

From Olympus, I made a few more stops along the coast...Kas, Oludeniz,Dalaman, and the infamous Bodrum. Interestingly enough, costs skyrocketed as I headed to tourist central and the "scene" changed from completely Italian to completely northern English...I've never spoken to so many people that speak English that I cannot understand.

The highlight of Kas was trying to get to the neighboring town of Ucagiz to visit a family that took care of a (most likely at the time) stoned friend of mine a long time ago. What this friend didn't tell me is that there isn't a bus from the highway drop-off...so you can walk the 19km or hitch a ride. After waiting for 30 minutes for the bus, I tried to hitch with all the nice looking cars and/or families...to no avail. Finally, I did catch a ride with a guy wearing a tank-top and inappropriately short pants towing a trailer behind a 15-year old car. Luckily he just drove and I didn't have to use my training to jump out of the car and roll to safety. The family in Ucagiz was really, really great and even offered me a job helping out on a charter boat if I wanted to earn some money and get a great Mediterranean coast cruise at the same time.

Bodrum was very cool as I was reunited with Deanna and we spent three days completely ignoring the budget and eating great dinners and going to nightclubs that had no business charging a 27 dollar cover...but hey...we paid so I guess the joke was on us. Here's a rule for the future: Never get lured by the "free wine and vodka until 1am" offer. It's a good bet you can't stomach what they give you.

From the coast, we made a quick stop in Ephesus...the old Roman capital of Asia Minor...and then on to Istanbul. Istanbul is absolutely wonderful for sites and has a very "alive" feeling. We were very lucky to be hosted by Deanna's b-school friend - who was very concerned that I see everything and that we meet many of his wonderful friends and family members. It happens that his uncle owns a hotel that happens to be located directly between Topkapi Palace (where the Ottoman Empire ruled the world) and Aya Sofia (the world's largest church for 1000 years) and a 30-second walk from the Blue Mosque, with its 6 minarets and incredible tiled interior. Istanbul is a wonderful city to see the mix of East and West, Old and New, Christianity and Islam...and as I wandered the streets on my last day in Istanbul I thought an appropriate "last stop" for my trip and re-entry to the West. My last "sight-see" was a cruise along the Bosphorus that literally finished with a crossing of the river from Asia to Europe. Wonderful symbolism but as I sat and tried to think profound thoughts, all that ran through my mind was "that's two hours of my life I'll never have back." In the end, perhaps I haven't changed at all.

08/10/2005: Into Turkey!

Hello everyone -

Since I last wrote, we've been enjoying the Beirut nightlife and generally not doing a whole lot in terms of sightseeing. BUT...eventually the 15-day visa ran out and it was time to go back to Syria. So, we spent three days in Aleppo wandering the medieval souqs. Deanna decided to head back to Beirut to meet up with friends, so I was now ready to put my extremely poor sense of direction and generally inadequate language skills to the test.

The highlight of Aleppo was definitely a visit to nearby Qa'laat Samaan or San Simeon. Although the name is familiar from Hearst Castle, this San Simeon (which may or may not be the same) has a very, very interesting past. It turns out that in the early days of Christianity,there were a lot of ascetics and desert wanderers who thought they could get closer to God by living in the worst conditions (better discomfort now than hell later) they could think of. Some would live in a cave, others in a cage suspended by a tree. One actually stood for "the rest of his life" wearing thick coverings to increase his suffering. St. Simeon was a stylite...who achieved his connection to God via sitting on a pillar. Apparently he started 3 meters above the ground, but as his disenchantment with other humans grew, he ended up10 meters high. Other stylites followed his example and according to a book I'm reading, it seems that all the hills in the area were covered with imitators. Very bizarre, but these early Christian visionaries were supposedly the celebrities of the Byzantine Era. Anyway, after Simeon's death, they built an amazing church around the pillar and you can still see most of the walls of the four Basilicas and the octagonal chamber surrounding the pillar. Very cool. Not so cool were fierce negotiations with the small-town drivers that ended with both parties feeling ripped off.

After the least efficient border crossing to date (waiting for an hour for a sheet of paper that allows me to buy a visa on the other side of the compound before returing to the original window to get stamped)...I arrived in Antakya, Turkey (ancient Antioch). Having a guidebook with no map of the city, I wandered for quite some time practicing my Turkish pronunciation asking random passers-by trying to find a specific hotel...only to find out that it had been sold, renovated, and was now three times the price it used to be. By this time, I had walked about a mile with my backpack so I caved in and stayed. I am hoping that I am not broke (or addicted to the luxury of AC) when I meet back up with Deanna.

From Antakya, I took a very long bus ride to Sanilurfa (Urfa or Edessain past times). Urfa is famous for being on the front of the Persian (Muslim) and Byzantine (Christian) empires and also for reputedly being the first city to convert to Christianity outside of Palestine. There's a fish pond here (beneath a citadel and next to a mosque) where they have considered the fish holy for over 2000 years...starting witha Syrian pagan cult of fertility (worshipping water and life), being translated into a Christian origin (Nimrod the Hunter tried to kill Abraham's son by slingshotting the baby into a fire only to have the fire transform into a pond and the fish served as a cradle), and finally being respected by Muslims as well. It's very interesting to see this tradition transcend specific religion.

At the park, I met a policeman, Sezai, who has been independently studying English for about 10 years. I had dinner at his house where we talked about all sorts of topics such as: the teachings of Mohammed, why English is a difficult language, how all the Turkish people love each other (notwithstanding the Armenian genocide and mass suppression of the Kurds - as a policeman, he really didn't want to discuss any "dissidents"), and finally...how if the man is "stronger" than the women, there is no reason that he shouldn't take another lover to spare his wife from the strain. As we were discussing this matter,he actually called his "girlfriend" and I got to have a conversation with Sezai translating. What exactly does one say in this situation? "Hi...have you met the kids?"

From Urfa, I paid a visit to Mt. Nemrut...a fantastic sight where an ancient king built his memorial as a massive set of statues of all the gods sitting next to one another (and surprise, surprise - the king himself is included as a god with Zeus and Hercules!). It's a wonderful sight at sunset but the highlight for me was riding in a van with four Kurdish and two Taiwanese (real ones) tourists. The busdriver encouraged the Taiwanese to sing (which they did), and then the Kurds thought a cultural display would be nice and they sang folksongs (beautifully...I think we had picked up a choirgroup) for the next hour and we had a discussion about how they wanted an autonomous state so the Turkish would stop suppressing their culture. About ten years ago, all Kurdish language, music, and television was banned in Turkey as the government is deathly afraid of separating the country. It turns out that the Kurds are the largest ethnic population in the world (25million) that do not have their own country. However, the Kurds I met do not want full independance as they don't trust the Iraqi Kurds one bit...I guess the lesson is there will be divisions in any group...human nature?

From Mt. Nemrut, I made my way to famous and fabulous Cappadocia. Everywhere in this area are "fairy chimneys" or huge rock formations rising 100 to 200 feet...and are soft enough that houses, hotels, and churches have been carved into the interiors. You look out over the horizon and there hundreds of these stuctures in any direction - it's an amazing effect. I walked around the "open air museum" in Goreme today which is a group of 10 or so churches carved into stone with amazing frescos painted within in the Byzantine style.

The downside of Cappadocia however is that it's tourist central...I think I've lost my ability to deal with them in any large number. This being August, I think there are more Italians in Turkey than in Italy right now. Everywhere I go, it seems that there are at least five large tour buses right along with me. It's maddening and I find myself thinking what would happen if I took a large rock and killed a tourguide...tempting. I think it's time to come home soon.

I hope everyone is well and not too hot. It got to 50 Celsius in Urfa while I was there! (120 degrees for my Farenheit friends). And of course everyone I met tells me..."you know this is the hottest place in Turkey?"...great.

07/29/2005: Dodging bombs and love at first sight in Lebanon

Hello everyone!

It's been a very eventful time since we've arrived in Lebanon with a few strange, wonderful, and scary experiences.

After arriving here in Lebanon, we spent three fairly ordinary days in Tripoli exploring northern Lebanon. There's a great souk (market) there where we saw how soap has been made for hundreds of years and they gave us free samples: "just try the jasmine! you'll love it...better than Body Shop"...which the soap might be if it didn't make me itch for two days afterwards. We also made a day-trip to the famed Cedars of Lebanon which were very nice and in an extremely scenic location but I'm not sure if I would want to relive the climbing 4km in flip-flops again.

The real excitement of Lebanon happens in Beirut of course. It's such a metropolitan, fun city where you can walk down the most modern street with glass and polished steel cafes and shops, turn a corner and see a building completely gutted with bullet holes and mortar attacks from the country's fifteen year civil war and problems with Israel. There's an uneasy peace here between the Christians and Muslims after having just forced out the Syrian army (that was "protecting Lebanon" a few months ago.

Our first morning in Beirut, we had planned to take a day-trip to Baalbek and then come back, get changed, and head out to experience Beirut's famed nightlife - centered around Rue Monot - an area with tons of bars, nightclubs, and restaurants. Baalbek is about two hours outside of Beirut and definitely one of the finest Roman ruins...a temple that's absolutely giant - definitely awe-inspiring and well worth the visit. While wandering the ruins, we also heard quite a bit of celebratory fireworks and what sounded to us like automatic gunfire in the distance. Baalbek is ALSO famous because it's the stronghold of the Hezbollah - a militant group dedicated to defending the country from Israel and other zionist supporting countries (like the US) - and classified by our government as a terrorist organization. Locally, it's a political organization that has a lot of support in the area...as we saw in the Hezbollah Museum in Baalbek - displaying their mission as well as the belongings, badges, and guns of about twenty of their "martyrs" that died for the cause. For me it was a little scary and Deanna and I decided to be Canadian again for the time being.

As we waited for the bus back, we met a Muslim family that split time between a village near Baalbek and Beirut. Our main translator was a very smart girl of 17 named Taagreed. They were SO nice to us and asked if we'd like to come to a party that evening in Beirut. Thinking that it would be a great way to experience something new, we readily agreed. It turns out that the party was the pre-event for a wedding the next day and was for women only. So instead of the party, I stayed with the uncle and brother-in-law...neither of whom spoke any English...and sat smoking the water-pipe with the neighbors...who also did not speak English. It was a long night, but the family was friendly and I took my part as the favorite visiting deaf-mute. What I did manage to figure out was that it was a very Hezbollah friendly part of Beirut and the Hezbollah does not encourage grown men wearing shorts...which of course I was wearing.

After the party (read Deanna's VERY interesting account of everything at www.offandaway.blogspot.com), we found out that Rue Monot (where we were supposed to have gone out that night) had suffered a car bomb explosion - theoretically timed to the day Condoleeza Rice was visiting Beirut. No one was killed, but when we went the next day we saw that all of the buildings on one intersection had been damaged with virtually every pane of glass on one-side of the street destroyed, I realized how lucky we were to not have been in the area. It's a bit ironic that while I was worried about hanging out in a Hezbollah friendly area of the city, that's what ultimately kept us safe.

SO...we went back the following night (because they liked us and also wanted to have an outing where we all (re: me) could participate). We rounded up the family and headed out to Fantasy World themepark...basically where all the traveling carnival equipment that's deemed unsafe goes to die. The family is SO hospitable that we just didn't want to disappoint them in any way...and therefore I found myself riding the tilt-o-whirl, swinging in a pirate ship, crashing bumper cars with a head-scarved 16-year old passenger, getting on and falling off the mechanical bull in quick succession, buying a balloon from an Arabic tele-tubbie for a tempermental but very cute three year old, and generally having a much better time than I'm willing to admit.

And...because the Lebanese are such incredible hosts (and very, very insistent), we found ourselves invited to spend a few nights at their family home in Nahle...near Baalbek where we had met Taagreed originally. Coming from a small family spread out over two countries, it was quite a different experience for me...I think we met no less than 50 people over the course of two days. We were paraded around the town, shown off to family members and strangers alike, fed 8 times aday, and taken to every local sight one might imagine. They were just so insistently nice that at times it got to be too much and I wanted to kill myself. I did rediscover the art of pretending to eat and then finding potted plants or windows to dispose of certain yogurt based foods I just could NOT stomach. I also had to put aside my cultural upbringing and learn to kiss men on the cheek multiple times in succession...and not to touch the women at all...not even shaking hands.

It was fascinating to get into the world of a small-town Muslim family...to see how important family is in all aspects of life, to see that each individual (or family) really decides his or herself upon how "religious" they will be - whether or not they prey, whether the girls cover their hair or not, whether to go to the mosque, etc... The other area where Deanna and I both got a little bit of insight was how the separation of marriageable boys and girls can lead to some rash decision-making.

One of the girls we spent a lot of time with was a 16-year old named Mouna. She didn't speak English very well, so I had fairly limited conversation with her but had spent a fair bit of time in her presence with Taagreed and Deanna. The day before we were leaving, I got a lot of questions from other women in the family whether I had a girlfriend, whether I had thought about staying in Lebanon, etc... That night Mouna gave me a flower, her picture, and a note written inside a Valentine's card. Basically she said many nice things and that she had a "big love" for me, that she had known as soon as we met, and not to ever forget her because she would never forget me. Honestly, I didn't know how to react. The things running through my head were:

1. She's 16.
2. I've never seen her without a headscarf.
3. She doesn't speak English. I don't speak Arabic.
4. She thinks I'm Canadien.
5. She's a devout Muslim. I don't believe in God.
6. She's 16.

Mouna is certainly a great girl (and I think "girl" is the right term here) and I do not wish to demean her with this account of events, but it was just so surreal. I think there's a real tendency to "jump" into things here because the sexes don't get to interact that much, rarely get to choose a partner...or get a very limited pool of candidates. From a family perspective, it may also have a little bit to do with getting a Greencard - we had some discussions earlier in the visit about what it takes to get visas to Canada (like I know?) starting with "say for example you married Mouna or Taagreed...".

I took Mouna aside later and explained to her while I was very flattered, there were just too many differences and issues, but any guy would be lucky to marry her. The next morning, I had to say all the same things to her sister since Mouna had understood perhaps 15% of what I said. Needless to say, I was pretty relieved when we got on the bus to Beirut. NOTE: Deanna has a great story that makes this one look completely trivial...read her blog...seriously.

So...back in Beirut and enjoying the nightlife that's a lot like LA in spots. We met a great bartender/future bar owner/potential partner who's showed us around the scene. I'm thinking about investing in a bar here...seems like a lot of potential for a place that's awakening from 30 years of civil war and Syria 'occupation'.

Hope everyone is well!

07/18/2005: Inside the axis of evil

Hello everyone -

Crossing the border from Jordan to Syria was a bit of a worry. In addition to the fact that it was SYRIA, we had also heard some stories about how having any evidence of an Israeli visit would earn you an immediate rejection at the border. So...the night before we had to throw away all our entrance tickets, newspapers, make sure to change all our Israeli money and also refrain from bookmarking or writing comments in the Israel section of our guidebooks - apparently they've checked in the past. Since I've collected money from each country we've visited, I hid a sheckel deep inside my bag and also took the slip of paper they stamped at the border (in lieu of stamping our passports) and hid it inside my shoe. I felt completely ridiculous, but better safe then sorry. I shouldn't have worried. Little did I realize that as we rode over the border (in a taxi with two local gentlemen who knew how things worked and happened to buy FAR more duty-free than they were allowed to take over the border) that instead of dealing with all the hassles of customs and waiting in a line, why not instead just drive to the front, slip the guard some extra cash and breeze on through? The extent of our "check" was the guard opening the trunk, grunting, and waving us through. Gotta love it.

Damascus is a wonderful city. Aside from the propaganda in the newspaper (headlines to the effect of: "US sponsors terror groups in Israel"), people have generally been friendly and we have not been hiding the fact that we're American. We did have a negative experience at the visa office "yes...I know a re-entry visa is expensive, but it's also very expensive and difficult for us to visit America"...case closed.

We paid a visit to an Ummayad Mosque which is the most beautiful mosque I've visited so far. The detail on the walls was absolutely gorgeous and there is a very real sense of serenity within the courtyard - but the real treat was that if you weren't dressed "appropriately" for the mosque (including head covering for women) they gave you a robe to wear over your clothes. I swear the brown robes with hoods looked exactly like Jedi robes so I had the weird feeling of being in a holy place with a bunch of Jedi walking around. And yes...I am taking my medication.

From Damascus, we went to the ancient Roman city of Palmyra and to be honest, it paled in comparison to Jerash in Jordan (mainly because it hadn't been restored). There's nothing like that empty feeling of "that's it?" after traveling for 5 hours on the hottest bus through the desert in 107 degree heat. We left the next morning and took a beeline to the Mediterranean Coast at Tartus.

In Tartus, we happened to sit at a restaurant whose owner heard we were from California and then called his friend - a Lebanese man who had lived in LA years before - to meet us and chat. Sam was an extremely friendly guy who spoke Arabic and English. The restaurant owner(Ghazi) spoke only Arabic and French. Deanna speaks English and French. I, shamefully, only speak English. It was an interesting "conversation" to say the least. But it did showcase for me the famed Middle Eastern hospitality. From our chance meeting and exchanging a few hours conversation, we ended up with:

a. arrangements (transport) to visit a famous Crusader castle where Ghazi would call the driver every two hours to make sure we were okay, and insist that we stop by for a lemonade when we return.
b. dinner at Sam's house (a very imposing modern castle with terraced garden and view over the valley)
c. an invitation to stay at Sam's house rather than book a hotel
d. an invitation to travel to Damascus and stay in Ghazi's villa for a few days
e. a ride across the border into Lebanon - in a nice Mercedes rather than our normal transport of buses manufactured before 1970

Just amazingly nice people...we actually did take a ride to Lebanon with Sam and his brother, and it's COMPLETELY different to cross the border with people that are important and friends with all the borderfolks. First of all, customs checks were pretty much non-existent. Secondly, instead of waiting in any line (not for important people apparently) we walked into the border patrol chief's office and were served coffee while Sam chatted with the gentlemen. In the meantime, someone came and collected our passports and took them for processing. And when we were getting dropped off at our hotel in Tripoli, Sam and his brother took us to a great breakfast and then apologized that they couldn't introduce us to a friend that could show us about Tripoli. Just great folks...but it was also a bit of a relief to be back on our own.

Okay...sorry for ramblings and I hope everyone is doing well. More on Lebanon after I experience the place a bit!

07/10/2005: Jerusalem!

Hello everyone, we're back in Jordan now after a quick side-trip into Israel. It was difficult to get there, but well worth it and definitely a highlight of the trip so far.

We made the border crossing at the King Hussein / Allenby Bridge which takes you from Western Jordan to the West Bank (yes that West Bank) in the Palestinian territories. Security was tight and actually less organized than I had imagined...but still very intimidating with every soldier carrying machine guns or an Uzi very casually. After scanning bags through an x-ray machine, they searched just about every single person's bag. For me, I got all the dirty laundry, CD's full of photos, boxers, books, and even a little stone statue I bought in Egypt spread out onto a table and swabbed for traces of explosive materials. It was a bit embarrasing as I hadn't done laundry in awhile...

From there, it was on to the passport check - where I was asked by an Israeli border officer about the presence of a Syrian visa in my passport, what my plans were in Israel, how long I had been traveling, and for what purpose. From what others tell me, we got off pretty light on the questioning, and it was less intimidating because the border officer was very cute... They only allowed us a 7-day visa as opposed to the normal 3-month visa...but at least they let us in. Overall, the process took about 4-hours.

The bus ride through the West Bank was very uneventful, but the rudimentary housing and lack of development made me very present to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. A gentlemen we had met told us to enjoy Jerusalem - while we could get in easily, he could not as the Palestinians in the West Bank are not allowed into Jerusalem. No easy answers here.

For me, walking into the Old City in Jerusalem was like entering a living storybook of all the images, names, places that I've heard of but never seen. I am awed by the sense of all that's happened here and the fact that just about every street has something that's holy to someone. On the same street you can see Hasidic Jews with men in their black suits and distinctive hats and women with covered hair, elbows, and knees, a church group from the United States, Eastern Orthodox priests in their black cassocks, a group of nuns in full habit, Muslim women covered with head-scarves, and police and army in and out of uniform.

It is easy to see why this has been the most contested city on earth over the centuries. There's just so much that's important to all the different religions in the same place. On the same morning, Deanna and I visited the Temple Mount, Wailing Wall, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Temple Mount is the 3rd most holy site in the Islamic faith (after Mecca and Medina) - where Mohammed ascended to heaven. The Wailing Wall is the last remnant of the first and second Jewish temples (where Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son) and the holiest Jewish site in the world. You can see many of the Hasidim (orthodox jews) praying with head against the wall and stuffing notes in the cracks of the wall as there is a belief it is a direct communication with God. The Church of the Holy Sepuchre is at the end of the path through the city Jesus walked to his crucification.

All of which is in stark contrast with West Jerusalem - a very hip, fun, ultra-modern place. Bars, restaurants, shops with pumping techno music, Israeli girls and guys in tight clothes wearing mp3 players and talking on their cellphones. We ventured to the New City with a great Kiwi guy we met crossing the border and a girl from Atlanta visiting Israel and proceeded to the "King of Shwarma" for one of the best meals I've had in awhile and followed it up by a visit to a local wateringhole. A very fun evening. We've met a lot of great people in Jerusalem, including quite a few that are immigrating to Israel or voluntarily entering the military here because they believe in the cause. Something I'm not sure I understand, but I wish them the best.

From Jerusalem, we headed back into Jordan for a few day-trips based in Amman. First, we took the obligatory trip to the Dead Sea. At 400 meters below sea level, it's the lowest spot on earth with 30% salt content (the ocean, by comparison is 3%). And of course tried to walk on the water (you can't), take pictures with all four limbs and head sticking high out of the water (you can), swim around (which we did but learned the hard way leads to 30% salt water in your eyes and mouth -disgusting), and rub mud on ourselves (theoretically theraputic but definitely oily, oily, oily). The real treat was seeing fully-clothed local women doing the same things.

A second day-trip from Amman brought us to Jerash - a well-restored ancient Roman city which (being the historically challenged individual that I am) brought back images from Gladiator and all great Roman movies past. The great thing about this ruin in contrast to the others I've seen (like in Rome) was that the entire city was still there and unblemished with modern structures built in. We stood between the colonnade in the cardo (main thoroughfare) and as I looked around I could see the hippodrome, temple of Zeus, an amphitheater, public fountain (nymphaeum), baths, and a huge temple to worship Artemis. Basically 360 degrees of Roman ruin views...very cool if you're into Roman history. Not so cool...taking a mini-bus to a bus to a mini-bus to a service taxi and walking the last bit to get back home. Somehow "getting there" and "getting back" seem to never be the same path in reverse here...or the same cost.

Okay, tomorrow we're off to Syria. We've registered with the state department website and hidden all of our Israeli money. If I don't write again within the next three weeks or so, send in George and the boys. Just tell them there might be oil near Damascus.

07/02/2005: Following the great names of history

Hi everyone!

When last I wrote we had just seen all the sights of Pharonic Egypt in Luxor and Aswan. From there we transported forward about 2000 years (and still to only 330 BC or so) and visited the Siwa Oasis in the middle of the Great Sea of Sand near the Egyptian/Libyan border. In Siwa, there is a famous Oracle that Alexander the Great reportedly visited to ask whether he was truly the descendant of God. Alexander also founded the city of...what else...Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast. Siwa, although a town of no more than 2000 people (and at least 4000 donkeys), also played host to Cleopatra (who apparently bathed in a cold spring nearby). More recently, the city has been inhabited by Bedouins. One incredible sight was the the "mud fort" built in the middle of the town...it's quite large and was literally washed away by the last torrential downpour. As you climb the fort sight you can see the remaning walls and windows made of quite solid dry mud...but looking misformed as it had melted into it's current form. Very cool. The other wonderful thing about Siwa was the view from the top of this fort...you could actually look out on all sides and see a (for the most part) green circle of vegetation and palm trees where the "oasis" exists. Outside of this circle was a great white and blue colored salt lake on one side, sand as far as the eye could see and dark mountains in the distance set off with a very blue sky.

From Siwa, we stopped off in Alexandria - where we wandered around the city lost (using our "guide" book to find two bars/restaurants that had been closed for some time), but got to enjoy a truly non-touristic Egyptian experience - mostly because there's nothing to do in the city. While we sat at a beachside cafe, Deanna did make the sighting of the trip - a women in full cloak and veil (completely covered) cavorting in the water with her friends (who were more liberally dressed in full cloak and head-scarf). Deanna claims that she actually dived underwater and came out with full outfit intact...what a different way of life.

From Alexandria, we made a very long, very difficult trek to the Sinai peninsula. First, we bought tickets on the train - so didn't actually have seats. Instead we squatted in the area between cars and were able to do an exhaustive survey of the different techniques of lighting cigarettes, inhaling, blowing out the smoke, etc... I may write a paper when I get back. From there, we caught a bus that let us on the vehicle, drove two blocks, and then waited two hours before leaving. We had our passports checked at least 5 times, our tickets checked 4 times (separate from passport checks), and arrived four hours behind schedule. And then we got to wake up at 2:30 am to hike up Mt. Sinai.

The climb starts at St. Katherine's Monastery...where THE burning bush is reputed to be (we couldn't verify given it was Sunday and the monastery was closed to visitors). We hiked two hours up the "easy camel path" to view sunrise from the place where Moses received the ten commandments from God. It wasn't "easy" by any means, especially as we were so tired - but it was easier than the way down (which are named the "Steps of Repentance" - perhaps for those who climb them). These "steps" were more like rock-climbing holds in some places and by the time we came down, I had a whole new appreciation for Moses carrying down two heavy stone tablets with the commandments (or if you are to believe the Simpson's version - only losing one tablet of the "15 commandments" on the way down). Side note: the flies in St. Katherine's have to be the worst I've ever experienced.

From St. Katherine's, we traveled to Dahab on the east coast of the Sinai peninsula. This is supposed to be one of if not the best scuba spots in the world. I wouldn't know as I don't dive, but we did go snorkeling in the appropriately named "Blue Hole" and it was pretty spectacular. As you swim from the shallow reef, the water all of a sudden drops from 5 meters (or so) to 100 meters deep. It's also called the blue hole because divers have died here in the past being sucked in by going "a little bit deeper".

From Dahab, it was time to take a boat ferry to Jordan...and unbelievably, the travel day was worse than our trip to the Sinai. This 3-hour trip turned into 8+ hours with a 3 1/2 hour departure delay and then the least organized exit from the boat (it took over an hour to get off the boat once it docked). One very cool thing about this ride however, is that as you leave Egypt the portion of the Red Sea you journey through is where Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia sit within 50km of coastline.

In Jordan, we went straight to Petra. For those of you unfamiliar with Petra, it's the part in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where they ride through the "Valley of the Crescent Moon" and then come upon the structure where the Holy Grail is kept. You walk from the visitor center through this narrow ravine cut between two high rock faces and then the face of the Tomb (called the Treasury) just towers in front of you. In this trip so far, it's the single most impressive sight for me...for those of you who ever get the chance to come to Jordan, it's absolutely incredible.

Tomorrow, we leave Amman (the capital of Jordan) to cross the border into Israel and spend three or four days in Jerusalem. I'm very excited and hoping we don't get hassled at the border because of our Syrian visas.

Best to everyone!

06/17/2005: Into the Middle East!

Hi everyone -

When last I wrote, we were leaving Mumbai in India for Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Sadly up until one week before we left India, I still had no idea where Dubai was on a map. I sincerely believe that after this trip I will have gained the geographical knowledge equivalent to the average 6th grader.

There was a massive change moving from the backwaters of India to one of the most modern cities in the world. The first thing we noticed was how wide the streets were and how CLEAN the place was - something in very short supply anywhere in India. The other thing I noticed was the diversity - there were many, many types of people including Africans, Arabs (wearing full "sheikh" gear I've only seen on TV when Bush visits his friends the Saudi royal family), Indians, and many, many Asians as well. It seems that Dubai does not have enough people to do all the work, so they import labor and intellect from all over the world. It's ultra-modern with amazing buildings, brand new busses, huge mega-malls, and skyscrapers all separated by patches of desert. Everything is the biggest, best, or first. For instance, they are building a map of the world in the sea of the shore to join a huge apartment, shopping, office complex being built around a fake harbor on reclaimed land. We passed the world's largest flag and the construction site of the largest indoor snow/ski park. Just because they can. One of Deanna's friends took us out for a night and we found it to be much swankier than anyplace else we've been on the trip so far - tons of nice bars, nightclubs, lounges, top-end restaurants - all full of ex-pats living it up. It made me think of LA actually...

One fun experience was our trip to the Burj al-Arab - as they call it "the world's first 7-star hotel". Technically it's classified as a5-star deluxe, but many magazines have named the place the best hotel in the world and with a personal butler for each suite I can believe it. If you've seen the picture of the hotel, it looks like the sail of a ship standing in front of the sea - except this sail is taller than the Eiffel Tower and changes colors as you watch. Deanna and I - wanting to see the hotel and arrive in style - took a public bus and got out in front of the hotel...at least our vehicle was bigger than most of the limos that drop guests off. We walked up to the very friendly security attendant. He (very nicely) asked if we were hotel guests when it was painfully clear we were not. The showed us the"visitors" guide showing the guidelines to entering the hotel. First, you have to make a reservation at least one day in advance (to visit the place). Second, you have to guarantee that you'll spend $50 per person on food or drink at any of the eating/drinking establishments in the hotel. Finally (the death knell for me) was the dress code. No sandals, tennis shoes, shorts, T-shirts...basically the only clothes I own at this point. We thanked him for his help and assured him that next time we were in Dubai we would stay as guests.

From Dubai, we flew to Cairo. Not nearly as modern or over the top as Dubai, it's still a very fun place with great food (shwarma - meatgrilled on a spit...yum), horrible traffic (we've seen more accidents here than the rest of the trip combined) and amazing sights. In addition to seeing the oldest monument in the world (Pyramid of Zoser -3100 BC - over 5,000 years old!), the incredible pyramids at Giza (and the highly claustrophobic climb inside), the Sphinx, the blackened, shrunken mummies that still have hair in the Egypt museum, and an entire city built to house the dead - Cairo is a vibrant city with tons going on.

One problem we have run into is the incredible amount of bureaucracy in this area. We went to the Syrian Embassy to get a visa...a bit of a daunting experience in the first place as one of the gentlemen we had the pleasure of working with clearly did not like Americans. They told us that they would issue us a visa, but only if we were "Egyptian residents" as they were only set-up to service Egyptians. We, of course, assumed we would not be visiting Syria until they told us we could become "residents" by visiting Egyptian immigration and paying $4! A bit confused, but wanting to check it out, we went to the incredibly large, confusing, and mostly Arabic signed Egyptian immigration office to join about four-hundred other confused people there for a multitude of reasons. From window 38, we were told we needed an application, which we got, filled out, went to window 14 only to be told we needed to pay at window 43 before we could come back to window 14 and that we needed photocopies of our passport which we could get outside the building and then wait at least one hour to get processed. Three hours, endless frustration, and many, many questions later we had our 6-month "touristic residence" stamps. Of course, at that point, the Syrian embassy was closed for the weekend (here Thursday and Friday) and we would have to wait until Sunday. We did eventually get a 2-week visa to visit Syria for the extremely low price of 660 Egyptian pounds ($120) which I'm sure has the added "F America" tax.

From Cairo, we took an overnight train (for once a fairly nice experience) to Aswan in Upper Egypt (which is southern Egypt but the "upper" Nile hence "upper Egypt"). From there, we had the pleasure of getting up at 3AM to join a bus convoy (apparently there have been problems with tourists being attacked in the distant past) to Abu Simbel near the Sudan border. Abu Simbel is simply incredible. There's four huge sitting statues (100 ft tall) of Ramses II in front of his temple and the hieroglyphics and carvings on the walls are simply amazing. As Deanna said, it's almost surreal how big and well-preserved these pieces are...like Vegas but for real. The negative part of the trip was the 3AM wake-up and seeing countless (otherwise educated) people posing like idiots in the "Walk like an Egyptian" pose. A great way to absorb the single most impressive sight in Egypt.

In Aswan, we got to experience the downside of Egypt a bit more. First was a horrendous experience just trying to get a towel from the front desk at our "hotel". We asked once and were told that they would be available after 5pm. We asked at 5pm, and someone was sent up with 2-rolls of toilet paper. We asked before we went to dinner, when we came back from dinner and were told 5-minutes. Two hours later, I went down to the desk and was told where they got towels was "closed". The next morning, we asked for towels and were told "we'll try". That afternoon, they brought up...lo and behold...two more rolls of toilet paper. Sigh. At least no one asked for a tip.

We're now in Luxor, home of the Valley of Kings, Queens, and Karnak Temple which we're looking forward to very much. So far, we've only seen the mummification museum where we got to see all the instruments used to scrape out the brain and jars to keep the organs when they've been removed from the body. But the highlight of the museum has to be the mummified cat on display - really creepy but very cool.

We may be visiting a desert Oasis and then going to the Sinai peninsula to follow in Moses footsteps and perhaps do some diving in the Red Sea.

Hope everyone is well. I've uploaded all of the India pictures on the ofoto site in case you have a few hours to pass instead of working.

06/02/2005: Leaving India

Hi everyone -

Hope you are well. We're back in Mumbai (Bombay) for a few days before we fly out of here and head to Egypt. Deanna and I are both a bit sad to leave India but with the monsoon rains starting very soon and train tickets completely booked by all the Indian families traveling during school break, our original plan of heading north to the Himalayan region to pal around with the Sikhs and the Dalai Lama (Ladakh, Amritsar, McLeod-Ganj) was looking to involve over a week of actual time on buses and we just couldn't do it. Next time though...

When I last wrote, we were deep in Southern India. From Varkala, we traveled north to Kollam where we caught a boat through the backwaters of Kerala. While in Kollam, we were in an auto-rickshaw driving to the boat jetty when we were forced to stop for what looked like a parade - a parade of horrors that is! When Deanna and I looked more closely at the marchers, we saw a gentlemen pulling a large sled/chariot and seeming to be a bit "crazy" - the man was connected to the sled (as we found out later) by hooks through his skin. He was followed by several gentlemen walking on "shoes" which were a bed of nails. And following them were a line of marchers with their mouths open with both cheeks pierced with a thin wooden "spear". The finale really took the cake though - it was a man suspended from a wooden structure by hooks through the skin on his back...ouch. According to the Discovery special we happened to catch a few days later, it's a Hindu festival to show their devotion and apparently as some of the participants enter a trance they don't bleed and don't hurt.

After the excitement of the parade, the backwaters boatride was very relaxing indeed. Many people don't take the public boat - they hire a houseboat and just spend 2-3 days floating down the river lined with palm trees, small huts, and friendly local people going about their business. Having spent a LOT of time floating on boats in many places during this trip, we decided 8 hours on a boat was enough for us although I would have liked having a cooler of beer and a personal chef on-board. If you've never done this kind of trip however, Kerala is absolutely gorgeous (I'd have to say the most beautiful place in India) and is highly recommended.

In Kochi - which is a really great former Portugese fort city - we had a wonderful time. We went to see a performance of the local dance form- Kathakali - which I had very low expectations for but the demonstration beforehand was actually quite interesting. We also went to see a local martial arts demonstration. Deanna and I were the only guests and therefore sitting rather near the stage - a great view until they demonstrated a weapon which is best described as a hand-held whip of helicopter blades. I was trying not to flinch, but as safety tends to be a bit lax over here I admit I was nervous.

From Kerala, we headed northwards to Goa...stopping along the way in Mangalore to break up a very long bus journey. Nothing of note except that we went to see the new Star Wars movie. I should have suspected something was up because of the hand-drawn black marker signs advertising the theater, or when the driver dropped us off in front of an office complex rather than a theater...but it finally became apparent George Lucas wasn't getting any royalties when the movie came on and the film time-code was emblazoned across the top of the picture. Other than the poor sound, poor color, and the film time-code blocking our view - the movie was better than I thought it would be.

After another overnight bus, we reached Goa. Just in time to close it down...literally. In the three days we spent in Goa, all the beachshack restaurants closed one by one...our waiter actually asked "do you want another beer? we close until October after tonight". It was really sad to watch everyone board up as if a hurricane was coming- but I understood better when we got caught in the heavy rain (on a scooter no less) and the first truck that passed us completely deluged us in their tire-spray from ankles to eyes".

me: "Deanna...do you see the turnoff for the hotel?"
D: "I can't see a thing with this water in my eyes!"
me: "me either" (gulp)

Good times.

Well...a farewell to India then. We're in Mumbai and outside of arranging our tickets (a bureaucratic, inefficient mess between Northwest, KLM, and Emirates Air), we're planning to eat good Indian food and watch one last Bollywood flick before we leave on June 5th.

Wishing everyone the best.

05/21/05: Into Kerala

Hello everyone!

Since my last email, we left the former French colony of Pondicherry and headed back to "real India" (in some ways good, in many ways bad). Madurai is another temple town (there's lots of them here in Tamil Nadu) but what I'll really remember about Madurai is our first encounter with monsoon-type rain. We had just entered a palace ruin to a light rain when the skies just opened up and let loose. It has to be in my Top 5 hardest rains ever list (and I do have one). For a little while, the novelty of the situation was fun...after an hour, it was boring...after an hour and a half we were getting pretty desperate. Finally, the rain let up (a bit) and we dashed around the corner to find a taxi or autorickshaw. To no avail. Instead we found ourselves wading in almost knee deep water as we walked down the street. I tried not to think about the typical contents of streets in India (trash and cowshit) or the state of the sewer system (non-existant) or about all the cuts, scrapes, and mosquito bites I have on my legs getting exposed to the nasty water. I simply cannot imagine how this region copes when it rains everyday like this for 4 straight months...my guess is southern India turns into one big pond.

From Madurai, we headed to Kanyakumari - at the very southern tip of India, where three "oceans" meet - the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean, and Arabian Sea. It's a very cool place and there were a lot of Indian families there playing and enjoying the twilight. Families here in the south seem a lot friendlier - asking us to take pictures (of them for them, of us for them, or of us and them for them or us...got it?) and generally smiling more and saying hi. I think the difference is education (90% literacy in Kerala) and tourism (ie. rip-offs and touts) being a much smaller portion of the economy. Many places we can actually walk around without the incessant begging or offers of "come see my store? what do you want? it's free to look..." One other interesting note in Madurai - men have to take their shirts off to go into the temple. I would have thought that would deter fat men from entering, but from my survey of the people there, no such luck.

From Kanyakumari, Deanna and I headed north into Kerala and then parted ways temporarily. She is taking a course, and I decided "why should I try to improve myself when I can just sit around all day instead?" So that's what I did. I spent a week in the area around Thiruvananthapuram (the easier British name is "Trivandrum")...mostly at two beaches. The first was called Kovalam, and is quite nice. This being low season (it's way too hot except for fools like us), there are some tremendous deals to be had on accomodation. I've managed to find nice (for here) beachfront or sea view places between 125 and 250 Rupees ($3-6)...incredible. Of course, the downside is that there's no one here to talk to. I went to dinner the other night and it was just me, the waiter, a chef (this I'm assuming but it's possible the waiter cooked the food as well given how it tasted), and not one other person in this place that could accomodate 80 people. Luckily, they were showing a movie so I didn't die of boredom. Unluckily, it was xXx2: The Next Level and Ice Cube isn't half the actor that he is a rapper (with the exception of Friday of course). I found myself hanging out with the guy that worked at the hotel - since it was low season he could just leave the desk and hang out at the bar next door. This guy's name was Lalu (I thought that was a camel name!), he was 23, and much, much wiser than I at 31. After debating the merits of arranged marriages, I am considering his offer that his mother find me a wife.

The other really interesting thing in Kovalam was watching their traditional fishing method (yeah I told you there wasn't much to do). A boat goes and casts a net about 250 meters from shore and then a group of men stand in a line and pull the net in. There's between 15 and 20 men pulling on the rope and to keep time, they actually sing as they work. It's really cool and brought to mind cartoons where everyone sings as they work in the coal mines.

From Kovalam, I took the bus to Trivandrum and then went to the other bus station to get to Varkala - the next beach. As I waited, an old woman communicated that she was going to Varkala as well...which was a HUGE relief to me considering all the signs on the buses (and there area constant stream of buses pulling in and leaving) were in Tamil rather than English. Unfortunately I didn't realize I had found one of the few illiterate Indians down here. Eventually we got on a bus - after I memorized how "Varkala" looks in the Tamil script and ran to ask the bus driver - but I swear we missed a bus that looked exactly the same an hour before:

me: "is that Varkala?"
her (looking directly at sign that says Varkala in Tamil): "mm...not Varkala"

Anyway, we made it eventually. I am greatly looking forward to Deanna's return and then we're taking a backwaters cruise and then heading north to Goa and then way north to Himachel Pradesh (near the Himalayas).

Hope everyone is well -

05/10/05: It's really hot down here...

Hello everyone,

We're in Pondicherry, India near the region of Tamil Nadu - this is the area in Southeast India hardest hit by the Tsunami last December although the city of Pondicherry was spared the damage the coastlines to the north sustained. We had the humbling experience of discussing the Tsunami with our waiter one evening who lost his entire family and home (father, mother, three sisters). He also lost his teaching certificate (he taught English previously) and - as the Indian government bureaucracy will only accept the original - he is working as a waiter (at 1/10th his former pay) to save up to pay for another certificate. It's so frustrating that someone who's had to deal with so much must also be punished by an inflexible system. We tried to help with a cash donation - but it just seems like such a small gesture in the scope of what he is going through.

Pondicherry is a former French colony - and quite beautiful with widestreets, great architecture and friendly people. Unfortunately, when we arrived at 5am in the morning off of an incredibly hot and sticky bus ride (compounded by having a few drinks before we got onto the bus)- there was no vacancy in the first 4 places we looked at (after much banging on the doors far too early for sane people to be awake). The silver lining was that we ended up in a very nice boutique hotel where our room overlooks a nice garden and is gorgeous even including a wooden swing and a daybed inside the room. And a good thing...because it's far too hot to leave the room here. The weather here reminds me of living on the coast of Mississippi in the middle of summer with 100 degree temperatures and 98% humidity where you have to change shirts four times a day. The good news: I have four shirts. The bad news: I only have four shirts.

When last I wrote, we were in Udaipur with a crew of old and new friends from our camel trek. From Udaipur, we left Rajastan and headed for the former Portugese colony/island (everyone had a piece of India at one time seemingly) of Diu off the coast of Gujarat northwest ofMumbai. Diu was an Indian resort town, complete with a not so nice beach - but with so little traffic it was the perfect place for us to rent motorbikes and zip around the island. Deanna, Josie, Tim, myself, and two other guys (Antonio and Basil) we met in Diu easily made up the least intimidating biker gang in the world. It would have helped the image if we hadn't run out of gas twice in the middle of nowhere (not so cool to have your “gang” all pushing their motorbikes up a hill).

From Diu, the gang (Josie, Tim, Deanna, and myself) headed for Mumbai (Bombay). The city is really great - so cosmopolitan and such a mix of Western billboard advertisements and every store you could find at home mixed with traditional India - we went to an overpass where you can look down on the dhobi ghat - where all the laundry in the city is taken to be beaten clean (literally smashed against stone in soapy water)...it's an awesome sight as in the morning there can be 5,000 washers at work. It's also a very expensive city (relative to the rest of India). The first morning we were in Mumbai, we got up before 7am and headed to the Gateway of India to find the “laughterclub”. This club was founded by a doctor who believed in the theory that “laughter is the best medicine” and we just had to check it out. We found a group of elderly folks standing in a circle and doing different laughing exercises - laughing from deep down, laughing like a movie villain, laughing while swinging your arms, etc... - it was strange but laugher is contagious and it really did seem like a nice way to start the day (for other people that is...I wasn't about to wake up for it again). The other highlight of India was going out for Tim's birthday - we made a reservation at a great restaurant (Indigo) and then thought we'd hit the great Bombay nightlife - which apparently isn't so happening on Monday nights but we still managed to have a really great time helped in no small part by great company and our good friend alcohol. So no Bollywood A-lister sightings...next time though.

From Mumbai, we sadly said goodbye to Tim and Josie and jumped on a 25 hour train ride (for once, a really comfortable journey - we sprang for the A/C car) all the way to the city of Mysore in southern/central India. This is an area where the Muslim maharaja's were not under the direct control (for the most part) of either the Mughal empire or the British. There is an absolutely fantastic palace in Mysore - room after room whose pictures belong in a coffee table book. I think it's my favorite palace in India (and on this trip so far for that matter). The only problem is it's summer vacation and there are thousands upon thousands of Indian tourists in the city trying to see exactly what you are - and they don't believe in waiting in lines of any sort. This was again the case when we visited the Chamundi temple where we were pulled out of line and suspiciously given VIP treatment which all became clear...when we were asked for a donation - which we gave. And then led to the rooftop of the temple for a great view of the city when we were approached by the priest and marked on the forehead...and of course asked for a donation - which we gave. Finally, we were about to leave and then the “guide” mentioned that all our offerings were for the temple - not him personally...and we were asked for a fee. I refused the outrageous amount asked for and got into a slight argument with the “guide” over ethics and the nuances of the word “donation”. It was very disheartening to leave a holy place like a temple feeling cheated - but I did slight penance when an Indian family (actually waiting in a line) asked me to help them get some communal water that was on our side of the rope barrier - after pouring out four cups and serving them on a tray - I felt much better. It's the small things.

Okay - back to Pondicherry after the bus ride, we've had a great time eating the good food and trying to stay indoors. We visited an ashram(temple) devoted to Sri Aurobindo and “The Mother” who are definitely heads of a cult in my mind. The ashram owns several hotels, a printing press, and even started a colony (commune) of an “ideal village” on the outskirts of Pondicherry where everyone works together for the common good. I think we'll check it out today - send help if you don't hear from me in the next month. It's rather fascinating though that people are still following the teachings of this couple - one of whom died in 1950 and the other in 1973 - particularly when their philosophy doesn't sound too compelling.

From here, we're heading to the Southernmost tip of India and then planning to travel north up the western coast through Kerala and then Goa. I haven't had a chance to upload pictures as I have not found a good connection...I'll definitely try to remedy the situation soon. Hope everyone is doing well!

04/23/05: The deserts of Rajastan

Hi everyone -

I'm in Udaipur, India right now, being the last stop of our tour of Rajastan. It will be nice to get out of the desert, but everyone tells us that the rest of India is just as hot and much more humid. We'll see what happens.

When I last wrote, we were relaxing in Pushkar (the land of no eggs, meat, or alcohol and surprisingly great). From there, we journeyed west to Jaisalmer - famous for it's great fort which people actually still live within. We actually stayed in a guesthouse inside the fort which was really a neat experience. Looking directly out my window, I could see the outermost walls of the fort. Looking down however, I could see a giant garbage dump where cows and dogs and all manner of animals scavenged for food.

In Jaisalmer, we signed up for a camel trek into the desert with a night spent sleeping under the stars on a sand dune. Forgetting everything I learned from my last camel trek in Morocco, I signed up for a two-day/one-night trek. What I learned from the camel trek:
1. The desert is really, really hot and dry.
2. Oasis does not mean palm trees and a pool of water. It means 5 trees somewhat near to each other, a lot of camel dung, and moving every ten minutes to escape the blazing sun.
3. Any camel the guides call "Tiger" and then start laughing should really should be named "Pokey".
4. Good company and beer make any conditions bearable. Deanna, our long-lost friend Tim, and new "Britisher" friend Josie were a lot more fun than I was.
5. I can't go one day without drinking Pepsi. We walked into a village in the desert, completely parched and having only (by this point) hot water to drink. He offered us luke-warm Pepsi at a 400% markup and it was money well-spent.
6. Buying a cowboy hat doesn't make you a cowboy. In fact, it just made me look stupid. Deanna and Tim's actually look quite good. I had more of the "Jackie Chan in Shanghai Noon" look.
7. Riding a camel hurts.

From Jaisalmer, we took a bus to Jodphur...famous for...another fort. In Jodphur, the majority of the houses in the town are painted blue - which makes for a very impressive sight from the fort walls high above the city. There are so many forts in Rajastan that it begs the question of what they were actually protecting? Many of the forts (e.g. in Jaisalmer) were never taken over but mainly I think because it's completely in the middle of nowhere, protecting nothing strategic(the middle of the desert). Still, the Rajput people had a code of honor and chivalry in a similar vein to the more famous knights in Europe. In fact, there was a tradition that when the fort was certain to be taken, the men would don saffron (death color) robes and ride out for the final battle and certain death. Meanwhile the women would commit ritual suicide - leaving no survivors to be ruled by the victorious invaders. That's conviction.

From Jodphur, we moved on to Udaipur. Udaipur is famous for a beautiful lake and many palaces either around the lake or on islands in the middle of the lake. The city was immortalized in the James Bondfilm Octopussy, in which the villainess's base was filmed at the Lake Palace. Unfortunately it hasn't rained in this area for three years, so instead I can see a vast field of dirt, trash, and grazing cows surrounding this beautiful palace. Normally, you can only approach this palace (now a 5-star hotel) by boat. Today we just walked across the "lake" and asked if we could take a look around. The answer...only if you spend a minimum amount at the bar (equal to just more than two nights at our current hotel). I sensed that the employees of the hotel were sad that their lake which once kept the rifraff (ie. me) out no longer serves its noble purpose. Luckily, all the guest houses show Octopussy every single night - so we could get a sense of what it normally looks like).

Okay - from here we head into Gujarat and to the former Portugese island of Diu. It's a small beach island and happens to be the only place in Gujarat where you can buy alcohol...whew!

I hope everyone is doing well.

04/12/05: Anything that doesn't kill you...

Hello all,

When last I wrote, we were leaving Varanasi for Khajuraho. Khajuraho is famous for some incredibly detailed Hindu temples - especially the finely detailed facial expressions. The temples are also famous for having a lot of erotic carvings - many of the positions in the Kamasutra are carved around the temples...current scholars think that it may have been a "how-to" for the Brahmin (priest-caste) students who studied at the all-boy schools in the area in preparation for marrying them off. Which is an interesting theory considering they actually show images of villagers shunning those practicing bestiality...a good lesson. Very interesting place.

In Khajuraho, we befriended one of the workers at the hotel whose nickname was "Ganga" (like the river). He was an incredibly nice guy and also managed to make us feel very welcome and provided a lot of information without having a shady "angle" to make money off of us. He invited us to his home for dinner - which was an awesome experience and very authentic in seeing how some of the poorer people live. Ganga's entire family (he, his wife, three kids) lived in a very small hut no larger than 8'x 10'. In the same "complex", his mother and father, brother and sister and all of their kids also resided. They had no running water and no continuous electricity (they actually stole electricity from the city in the evenings) as it was too expensive. As I helped him wash the fish for the curry (on a rock set in the ground!), I couldn't help but think how lucky we have it.

From Khajuraho, we continued our tour through the small town of Orccha and then on to Agra. In Agra, we went and saw the Taj Mahal - and although I knew what it looked like, it was really incredible to see with my own eyes. Many people have told me that no matter what you're expecting, the Taj will match your expectations and for me that really was true.

In terms of the other sights of Agra, I got to view them on Deanna's camera because I felt too sick to tour around the city. I somehow managed to pick-up a chest infection - with a horrible bone-wracking cough - and was too obstinate to pay a visit to the doctor until a bit later. So instead I just suffered through it for awhile (as did Deanna as it's pretty difficult to sleep when someone is coughing up a lung all night). Anyway...I did finally go see a doctor and am feeling much better as the drugs he prescribed (what they are...I have no idea) are starting to kick-in.

From Agra, we headed west into the desert province of Rajastan...definitely a unique part of India. At one point, the entire city of Jaipur was within a wall and all the buildings were painted pink with the exception of royal buildings which were yellow. It's a really neat effect although the city is a bit run-down. We were fortunate enough to witness the Ganguar festival - which celebrates the marriage of Shiva and Parvati. To a person of my limited knowledge that means so very little...but I did get to see 100 elephants, tons of camels and horses in a parade...that counts for something.

We're now in Pushkar, a small town of about 10,000 people surrounding a beautiful lake. The city is so laid back - I almost feel like I'm in a different country here - especially because it's a stictly vegetarian, no alcohol, no eggs served in the city. I think we'll stay as long as we can take the strict diet...

Yesterday was 6 months since we left the US! I thought I'd be home around now, but there's just so much left to see.

04/03/05: A brand new experience

Hello to everyone from India!

We arrived in Delhi a few days ago and it's been such a shock...everything is so different from SE Asia (and anywhere else I've ever been). There's just so much to adjust to. First off, Delhi is an absolutely huge city (17 Million and counting) and certainly feels that way. It's super-crowded and you can't even walk down the street without dodging bicycle carts, autorickshaws, beggars, cows roaming, shit and trash in the street and every manner of vendor cart selling food, belts, cold drinks, etc... It's just an assault on your senses - so many new things I haven't seen, new smells (both good and very, very bad), and the very loud sounds of people honking horns and generally trying not to kill anyone in the street.

So far I have seen:
1. Cows drinking from water fountains.
2. Monkeys sitting on cable lines and balconys...
3. Monkeys actually going to the bathroom off the balcony.
4. Dogs having sex in the middle of the street.
5. Goat heads for sale in the market next to the other goat parts.
A real menagerie.

We took a one-day tour around the city and did see some amazing things. The Red Fort, Qutb Minar, Humayun's Tomb are all worthy of the press they get...absolutely stunning and of huge, huge scale. Unfortunately, our guide wasn't the best. He was an older man who was very set in his presentation...wasn't very into answering questions. He also didn't really like to walk...so instead he would tell us "everything we need to know" and then say "be back in 30 minutes"). Towards the end of the trip, he actually asked "are you tired? would you rather see the Red Fort from the outside or the inside? we could just drive by." Luckily, he made up for his lack of guide skills with an extremely nationalistic and obnoxious attitude. "India is best! Where are you from? USA? Here are the reasons India is better than USA! 1. Free education and food here for all. 2. Divorce rate is 0%. I hear that in your country it's 50%. 3. We have 7 holy rivers and 7 holy mountains. Who else has this? No...clearly India is #1." And then he turned to why you can't trust the Muslims. It was quite infuriating.

To get his thoughts on Islam out of our heads, we visited the Jama Masjid - the largest Mosque in India. You can actually climb to the top of one of the minaret's and get a great view of the Red Fort on one side...and from the other three you just look out as far as you possibly can and just see the warren of streets that is Delhi stretching out as far as you can see. Pretty amazing. Also amazing is that the mosque's courtyard can accomodate 25,000 people during prayer. Wow.

From Delhi, we took a train to the ancient city of Varanasi - where they cremate bodies in ghats on the Ganges river - open to public view. Apparently, if you die here, you are released from the endless cycle of death and rebirth...so a very popular place to die. They have a fire burning which is reputed to have been burning for 5,000 years continuously. The cremation ceremony basically starts with the body being wrapped in a colorful cloth depending upon the type/caste of person who has passed, and then dipped in the Ganges for purification, and then laid upon cords of wood and burned for several hours. The ashes are then spread into the river. You can guess how clean the river is... For several types of persons (lepers for instance) the body is not burned...just thrown into the river. The amazing thing is that, being a holy river, 60,000 people a day bathe in the Ganges both from a practical standpoint (get clean) and a spiritual standpoint(purification). It's still rather disturbing to watch cows lazing about in the river upstream of where people are bathing and brushing their teeth. We did witness a Hindu ceremony on the river one evening where (completely not knowing what was going on...of course) we ended up floating candles down the Ganges and then getting a red mark placed upon our foreheads by what I think was a holy man.

From here, we're off to Khajuraho - the site of ancient Hindu temples. I'm currently fighting off a bit of food poisoning...hopefully it goes away soon. For all the difficulties of this new country, I am seeing many brand new things and hopefully will be able to get over the culture shock and enjoy the experience.

Best to everyone.

03/26/05: Taking a vacation from the trip

Hi everyone -

We're back in Bangkok (yes again) awaiting our flight tomorrow to Delhi, India. I'm definitely sad to be leaving SouthEast Asia...but at the same time very excited to go someplace completely new and different. And I suppose that given the SE Asia swing was supposed to only last 3 months and here we are at 5 1/2 - I can't complain at all.

SO...and don't hate Deanna and I for this, but after leaving Myanmar we decided that it was time for a little vacation (yes...from the trip...I know, I know...save the hate email). So we spent 4 days in Bangkok and then went down to the islands in the Gulf of Thailand - Ko Samui and Ko Pha-Ngan. And what a wonderful break it was.

First in Bangkok, we met up with our friend Ian (a.k.a the guy that capsized on our Halong Bay trip) as well as Tim from Luang Prabang and Inle Lake. We went out for a night on the town (okay several)resulting in some very funny pictures - and Mom I haven't taken up smoking...it's for effect in the pictures. Tim's the one with the real problem. And those are HIS sunglasses...really. We also paid a visit to the BED supper and dance club. For a small fee of 600B (about $15 but a fortune here to get inside a bar) we got to feel like celebrities and walk on a red carpet past a line of folks wanting to see who entered the club. Very atmospheric and fun until four "larger" western girls in tight jeans decide to dance at the railing in front of us and "drop it like it's hot". Not only was it unsightly (and how), but I'm not sure the club was structurally prepared for their dancing...we had to get out before the place fell down.

In Ko Samui, we stayed on Chaweng Beach...in the heart of all the nightlife and had a great time. It reminded me a lot of Patong in Phuket (all bars, CD sellers, travel agents, and seedy nightclubs and bars) with a better beachfront. Exactly what I was looking for. I decided that I hadn't gotten any sun for a long time so I decided to make it a beach day and "catch up" the day after we got there. Bad judgement, bad timing, bad application of suntan lotion. Three hours later I was closer to red than tan...but didn't hurt. That came later. I am still undergoing mass amounts of involuntary exfoliation.

From Ko Samui, we headed to Ko Pha-Ngan for the infamous Full Moon Party. Just me, Deanna, and 15,000 of our closest friends partying on a beach from 10pm until 8am. Actually, we stayed on a part of the island in the North (near Thong Sala) which was absolutely fantastic. A bungalow on stilts that faced the ocean and was about 20 feet from the water at high-tide. Even better, there were hammocks underneath the bungalow where I wiled away many hours thinking about such world issues and the crisis in Iraq and what I was going to eat for dinner. It's a fantastic place and probably my favorite beach on this trip so far - I'm promising myself I'll come back. And for 500 Baht per night...about $13.

The full-moon party itself was quite a trip. There really are thousands of people on a stretch of Had Rin (sunrise) beach and every single establishment has about 30 speakers larger than I am set-up and pumping their techno/trance as loud as they possibly can. People are dancing with their glowsticks or sitting around in small groups sharing buckets of alcoholic drinks or watching some professionals twirling burning batons and such. Everyone is SO friendly (which may just have something to do with the available mushrooms or alcohol). We were waiting in line to buy a drink and happened to meet a few British girls who were so kind as to apply glowing body paint. At first I think the intention was to give me whiskers (or something) but it quickly turned into a solid pink mask...unfortunate. Anyway, after spending some time drinking with my new best friends from Belgium - it turns out that it's already 6:30am. The trick is that they put Shark and Red Bull into the buckets...what more do you need to stay up? Definitely a good time. Nothing I ever have to do again though...

Well...onto India. As we've both started to read-up on the subcontinent, we've found there's just SO much to do and see. We'll do our best. Right now the plan is: Delhi - Varanasi (cremations on the Ganges) - Khurajo (sculpture) - Orccha - Agra (Taj Mahal) and then onto Rajastan. I think we'll make an assessment there as to head for theHimalayan north or go way south to Kerala and work out way back to Bombay.

03/09/05: From Kalaw to Inle Lake

Hello Everyone!

So I've just spent 20 of the last 24 hours in bed recovering from some sort of flu or fever but I'm feeling much, much better now and thought I would spend a relaxing afternoon inside from the elements and send an update. It seems that the reports of "no internet access" are exaggerated for Myanmar...I think it goes to show that repressive government or not, it's very difficult to stop progress and the exchange of ideas.

When I last wrote, we were in Mandalay...one of the dustiest, hottest places I've ever been. From there we took a long bus-ride to Kalaw which is in the hills (and has a much nicer climate). It's really a beautiful place...the British used Kalaw as a vacation spot of sorts to escape the heat. There we met a high-60 year old gentlemen named "Sam"who ran a trekking/guide service. I have never been so impressed with someone's character as much as I am with Sam. He runs his guide service in the most responsible way (e.g. no gifts to turn village kids into beggars, no staying in monasteries (where food and accomodation are free but many people then do not contribute to even make up the cost)) - and then gives back to the villages as much as he can. Sam has hired a health-care professional to visit the 80-something villages that his treks run through to visit the different villages and provide basic services. He has also begun a program where village children live at his house and go to school...completely paid for by him. Sam was just an outstanding individual and Deanna and I were quickly sold that this was the right guide service for us for a three-day trek from Kalaw to Inle Lake.

Our specific trek guide was Sam's nephew, Tay-Zar...who was very well educated - pretty good English, majoring in French at University, and speaking three village dialects - and provided a lot of detailed information about what we were seeing. Beyond all of the "guide"information, I also spent a lot of time speaking to him about music - his great love - and he shared a lot about his opinions of the Myanmar government and controlling ideas. In the last month, the government has stopped all sales of English language music, movies, and books. Tay-Zar talked about how this hurt him as music and movies are how he learns English pronunciation, but also how the government is trying to control foreign/outside thought and ideas by restricting information even further. One difference in talking to Tay-Zar versus some of the other Myanmar people I've spoken to is that he was a bit more "textured" in his opinion of the government...he recognized that they were not the right answer but that the next regime might be even worse or the price that people would have to pay for independance might be too great.

The first night we stayed in a Pa-O village. The women dress in black outfits with colorful head-coverings...designed to resemble the look of a dragon. The Pa-O legends tell of their people being born from the egg of a dragon - what a great heritage! In the village, I was struck again by how young the Pa-O children take responsibility...seeing 8-year old girls pounding rice with what looked like a giant mortar and pestle. To get enough force to break the rice from the husks, these girls would literally have to lift the wooden pestle to the full extent of their reach. Much to the amusement of two little girls, I took my turn pounding rice and found it to be a little more difficult than I had thought - even being two feet taller and three times their weight. I couldn't tell if they were laughing because:
a. I was a foreigner with bad clothes.
b. I was a man doing women's work.
c. I was talking to them while pounding rice (which later I found is traditionally the time in this village when young men approach young women they're interested in marrying!)
d. All of the above.

After dinner, we were invited by a local family to visit in their house. We entered their home into a room with a fireplace in the center of the room and no apparent ventilation for the smoke. Much to my surprise, it was a very pleasant experience...apparently the smoke is absorbed by the bamboo or escapes somehow. A normal Pa-O family is four to five kids...but this family consisted of Mom, Dad (who was absent that night), and eight daughters! According to our hostess, they kept trying for a boy until they finally decided (after 8!) that it just wasn't going to happen. Our guide (who acted as a great translator as well) asked the 22-year old daughter why she wasn't married yet and she joked that if she was like her mom, she needed to wait until she was older before starting to have kids to keep the total number down. It was a really fun night.

The folks we went trekking with were also great - Dani and Anna...from California and Denmark, respectively. Dani and Anna had been traveling together for a few weeks and then were determined to learn all the countries, capitals, of the world and the 50 US States. It was a bit humbling that I had never heard of half the countries they mentioned...but even more humbling to realize that I didn't know the capital of Montana or Alabama or several others. We've hung out with them here in Inle Lake and had a great time...also meeting another American, Tim from Minnesota, who we had met previously in Luang Prabang. A hilarious guy (and walking medicine chest), we're hoping to meet up with him in Bangkok and then India where he's going next as well.

Inle lake has been very interesting but a bit of a let-down from what I was expecting...mostly because I thought we could stay closer to the lake itself as opposed to a few km's away. We did take an all-day tour around the lake and saw some very interesting things. One attraction here at Inle is all the floating gardens...the villagers saw out huge pieces of dirt and land and place them in the lake (with bamboo poles jammed through to hold the pieces together) and use this "new land" to grow tomatoes, other vegetables, and flowers. Another attraction is the distinctive way they paddle - standing balanced on one leg and using the other leg to paddle - you really have to see it to understand how it works. The balance and grace the fisherman show is pretty amazing - in one fishing method used here, the fisherman paddles very slowly looking for oxygen bubbles, and then when they see a fish drop a basket with a net inside on top of (around) the fish. The fisherman then stands precariously with one foot on the basket and one foot on the boat while he inserts a spear through the top of the basket, thrashes around to make the fish move, and draws the net closed with a string tied around his toe! It's like a ballet really.

The other highlight of Inle...although it's more of a novelty...is a monastery they call "Jumping Cat Monastery". The monks in this monastery have actually trained their cats (about of them) to jump through hoops. While it's funny just to see cats jumping through hoops, much of the hilarity comes from the thought of what would possess someone (much less monks) to undergo trying to train cats -perhaps it teaches the monks discipline or how to conquer the impossible. If I don't find what I'm looking for when I come back to the US, I may just shave my head (even more) and don the robe to traincats.

Hope everyone is well. I'll upload all the Myanmar pictures when I return to Bangkok on the 13th of March!

02/27/05: The Marvels of Myanmar

Hello all! So we're safely in Mandalay, Myanmar and happened to find the one internet location in the whole of the city (or so it seems)...so I thought I would take the opportunity to write before I forgot everything that happened in the last week or so.

Myanmar (formerly Burma) is incredible. I think both Deanna and I felt that it might be too similar to the rest of SE Asia (and hence not that interesting at this point in the trip) but we were taken completely by surprise. Perhaps because of the oppressive government here, the country has really kept it's uniqueness and beauty. For those of you planning a trip and wanting to go someplace different, Myanmar is certainly worthy of consideration.

The first thing I noticed when we arrived in Yangon/Rangoon was just how different the people were here. There are many Indians, Pakistanis, Chinese, as well as the native (Bamar) people and indigenous ethnic minorities. It makes for quite a mix. The men here traditionally wear longyi (skirts) like the rest of SE Asia did at one time before the tradition died out. Here they still do. Deanna has been relentlessly working on me to buy and wear my longyi...that and the incredibly hot temperatures should have me converting at some point. I can assure you that no pictures are forthcoming. Another immediately noticeable cosmetic difference here is that the women wear a "makeup" that protects their skin from the sun which is from a ground-up tree. It's very noticeable (yellow on the skin) and I had not seen anything like it outside of Myanmar. The people here are also (for the most-part) unspoiled, extremely friendly, and very open to meeting foreigners. The english spoken (by who we've interacted with) has been very good.

The government plays a huge role here. We've talked to several people who quietly discuss the lack of education, opportunity, and freedom in Myanmar and how there's little hope of change anytime soon. Contrary to my normal bitching about the US government (and election results)it's been humbling to hear how lucky these people think we are. The government presence still plays a large part in everyday life. First, you can change dollars into kyat (local currency) at the airport for the "official" rate of 450 kyat to the dollar...or change money on the blackmarket for 900 kyat to the dollar. The downside is that since it's illegal, the moneychangers all ask you surreptitiously "change money?" and when you say yes...they invite you into a teahouse where the money is handed to you under the table to be counted and then passing the US dollars back. It really feels like a drug deal...but since it's illegal for most Myanmar people to hold US dollars, that's how it works.

There is also far fewer motorized vehicles here compared with the other countries that we visited. The standard mode of transport for shorter trips seems to be trishaw (a bicycle with a side-car...one seat facing forward and one facing back). Deanna and I took trishaws in the littletown of Pyay to see some old ruins...it's really difficult to sit next to a man peddling for all he's worth up hills when I weigh two times as much as he does. I felt quite guilty and also felt like transport doesn't get anymore elemental than human power...until he dropped us off and we rode the OX-cart. Possibly the only less comfortable mode of transport than the trishaw. And did I mention dusty? I don't think that I've ever been more uncomfortable in my life in the 100 degree heat, not being able to breathe, and not being covered from the sun. Who needs the beach?

From Pyay, we visited Bagan. Bagan is an ancient capital where thousands of pagodas/temples were built. It is absolutely PHENOMENAL. When you climb one of the temples at sunset, there are 360 degrees of temple structures surrounding you. Absolutely stunning and I think the government is possibly the only reason this does not get the billing of an Angkor Wat or the pyramids (I'll let you know when I've been through Egypt). It's one of the most atmopheric places you can ever visit...like out of a movie. One overriding theme in Myanmar seems to be "built it bigger than anyone else"...more temples, bigger buddhas, more gold...it's pretty incredible.

Now we are currently in Mandalay in the north/central portion of Myanmar. We've had several great experiences here...we visited a monastery in Amarapura where all the monks come in from their "alms" round of collecting food to eat their meal at 10:30 in the morning. There are over 1000 monks all silently filing into the monastery...into the dining room, and silently eating their meal. There are also over 200 tourists...not so silent, not so respectful, many off of tour buses (hate them!) and willing to step through the monk's lines to take pictures. We made friends with one of the teacher monks and after the tourists left (got their picture I guess) he actually invited us to eat at the monastery and gave a personal tour to Deanna and I of the grounds, his living quarters (mat on the floor), and a lot of insight into education and the government oppression in Myanmar. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and one I will always remember.

Well enough for now. We are on a bus tomorrow to Kalaw, and then visiting Inle Lake before slowly making our way back to Yangon. I'm a little sad to be on the homestretch of SE Asia, but starting to get excited about India!

I hope everyone is well.