April 1, 2007 - Easy Riders

We had several recommendations from people we had met as well as from postings on Thorn Tree to do a motorcycle trip with the Easy Riders. This enterprising group of Vietnamese men has banded together to form a motorcycle gang/tour company. They are based out of Dalat and specialize in trips through the Central Highlands.

We decided that two days riding on a motorcycle would be more than enough for us so we signed up to have them take us on a tour through the Highlands and get us over to the coast for a stay in Nha Trang. Our guides were Hai and Hung and they were great. They strapped our backpacks to the motorcycles, buckled helmets to our heads and took off into the wild blue yonder.

We stopped several times along the way to see examples of how the locals make their living. We saw how coffee starts out as seedlings and progresses through the cycle of life until it finally reaches our cups. We saw how they've imported green house technology to grow massive amounts of roses and daisies. We saw how they take a stalk of bamboo, slice it into strips, dry it and then weave it into baskets. We saw how they make rice, rice noodles, rice paper and rice wine. We saw how they make bricks out of clay for building houses. And these are just some of the examples. I felt like I learned so much from being on this trip.

Our guides treated us to genuine local experiences by taking us to non-touristy restaurants and ordering all kinds of new dishes we had never tried. They also took us out for a night of beers and karaoke. It was so fun that we didn't even mind that a bunch of random locals kept coming in to stare at us while we performed. ;-)

While we were sad to part ways with our guides once we reached Nha Trang, we were more than happy to get off the motorcycles for good. We've clearly gone soft because we were really sore after only two days on the bikes. We learned a lot, we bonded with locals and we saw the beautiful countryside up close and personal. This was a great experience!

Easy ridin'

Buckled up

Gorgeous scenery

April 2, 2007 - Drunk Dreaming

Sarah and I rarely drink since we started this trip. Sounds contrary to what you'd expect, but it's true. So when we do have a drink or two, we can really tell a difference. The biggest difference is in our dreams. We have some crazy dreams when we have a bit of alcohol in our systems.

Sarah's dreams are the most vivid with all kinds of symbolism and strange imagery. Mine seem to be very deep and somewhat disturbing. I wonder if our dreams are actually the same dreams we have every night and the only difference is that the alcohol causes us to have a more shallow sleep in which we're able to remember the dreams we're having. I'm sure alcohol affects the amount of REM sleep a person has at night too. Regardless, it's really interesting to tell dream stories the next morning.

April 3, 2007 - Too Funny to go Unmentioned

Sarah and I have both been remarkably free of illness since our trip began. I had the death virus right after Mexico and we both got stricken down with food poisoning in Thailand, but other than that, all has been well. Therefore, our recent inability to poo for several days has left us baffled. We're eating decent meals and drinking plenty of coffee, but to no avail. We finally came to the point of needing to do something about it. Having visited pharmacies in Cambodia, we knew we'd need to go in armed with some translated words and some pictures of what we were looking for.

I went online and found one Vietnamese translator tool. I typed in my words and came up with some possible translations. However, when I tried to cross-reference the translation, nothing came up. So I went back to Google and did some more searching. To my utter amusement, when I typed in "constipation vietnamese translation", the only relevant link that appeared was a translation from a Harry Potter book. Apparently, some joke about "U NO POO" appeared in one of the books and this page provided an analysis of the treatment of puns when translating into Vietnamese. I'm not kidding.

I decided to embrace this translation and thanked the powers that be for a world in which Harry Potter and poo jokes are important enough to be translated into every language known to man. I look forward to the day when medical terminology reaches the same status. ;-)

Utterly grateful for him

April 4, 2007 - Vietnam Diving

Vietnam isn't known as a world-class scuba diving spot, but we'd heard that Nha Trang was a fun place to get underwater and check things out. We'd heard that Rainbow Divers was the best gig in town so we went over to talk to them. The owner was there and, with his all-powerful British accent, convinced us to sign up for a couple of dives the next day.

The boat was great. it was wooden - which is very Asian and quite unlike anything I'd experienced previously. The staff was really friendly and very professional. Sarah signed up to do two intro dives and got personal attention from one of the dive masters. I went down with a small group which was led by a dive master. I am so glad he was down there with us because he was able to see things that I would have never seen. Of all the cool things we saw, I was most impressed by the Lionfish and the Cuttlefish. I had never seen these two guys before and they were so pretty. It was fun to see them and watch them move around. Below are some pictures I found online (not taken by me).

As is always the case, we met some very cool people on our dive boat. It was fun to talk to other travellers and we met up with one of the girls for dinner after napping on the beach for a few hours.

Dive boat'

Great view

Lionfish

Cuttlefish

April 5, 2007 - Costume Idea

We've come up with a fantastic idea for Bay to Breakers next year! We'll all wear asian outfits and conical hats (hats have been purchased and shipped back to the states already). We'll walk down the street in a group, pushing past people and hawking our wares (likely to be chopsticks collected from take-out).

We'll suspend 2 baskets from a stick and carry our portable restaurant (beer, bowls and stools) with us. From time to time, we'll whip out our portable stools (sitting no more than 4 inches off the ground), pass out bowls and pour drinks for everyone dining at the portable restaurant (mostly us but others are welcome too).

Sarah and I had matching ao dais (traditional Vietnamese costumes) made so we think we should go to Burning Man next year and use these costumes and the same portable restaurant theme. I think it'll be perfect!

Tiny Her and Stormy have gotten into the act already. We bought hats for them and, since we're not there to force the hats on their heads long enough to snap a photo, Sarah has created a rendering of what they are sure to look like. I've never met cats who like to dress up more than these two. Crazy.

Inspiration

Hats

Vietnamese if you please

April 6, 2007 - Made to Order

We had heard that Hoi An was a great place to have clothes made. We hadn't really considered this possibility, but the more we thought about it, the better it sounded. We really wanted to have some costumes made (particularly the ao dais) and we were also in need of some everyday wear like pants and skirts.

When we got there, we were overwhelmed by the number of tailors in operation. It was hard to know how to decide on which one to go with. In the end, we just picked shops who had the materials or patterns we liked. We ended up getting clothes made in three different shops and it was difficult to stop there. Once you get going, you just want to keep buying more!

The process was pretty easy. They had us pick out the materials and style we wanted and then measured us. Overnight, they sewed the clothes together. In the morning, we went in to see how they fit. A few tweaks were always required, but that was easy for them to deal with. Sometimes they even did it right there while we waited and tried again. Other items were more of a challenge. In particular, the asian dresses were difficult because they work best on people with no hips and curves. Our bodies presented quite a challenge!

We only got a few hours to revel in our new purchases before we had to box them up and ship them home. It's going to be so fun to unpack those when we return to San Francisco!

Getting fitted

Measurements

Pretty colors

Leslie's Ao Dai

Sarah's Ao Dai

April 7, 2007 - Lost Ticket and Communism

Let me start by saying that Vietnam Airlines is the only airline allowed to offer domestic flights within Vietnam. That means that there is absolutely no competition. You are forced to fly at limited times offered by this one carrier and you must pay whatever rate they deem appropriate. To sum it up, you just take what you're given and deal with it.

For the most part, this works out fine. Although we had to plan our entire trip around erratic flight availability, the flights are affordable and much quicker and more comfortable than taking the train or bus. However, when Sarah mistakenly lost her plane ticket for our flight from Hue to Hanoi, I knew we were in trouble. We spoke with the attendants at the check in counter and explained the situation. Even though they had Sarah's name and passport information in their computer, they wouldn't check her in because she didn't have a ticket. She was forced to buy a whole new ticket. To appease us, they said that we could file a claim with Vietnam Airlines to get the money back. When we asked how long that would take, the man said (without a hint of humor) that it would take 12 months.

What incensed me most about this situation is that they didn't even try to help. They had the information right in front of them and could have verified it with Sarah's passport, but they wouldn't. It is an inability to think for oneself and an unwillingness to try. Those seem to be traits valued by communist countries. I find it sad.

April 8, 2007 - Boat Lovers

We got to Hanoi late at night, went directly to our hotel and then left bright and early the next day for a trip to Halong Bay. We arranged this boat tour with Handspan, a local tour operator. We were driven by bus for about four hours before we reached the bay. We boarded the Dragon's Pearl and were delighted with what we found. The wooden ship was clean and comfortable. It had large community areas for lounging and viewing the beautiful scenery and our room was great. In fact, it was nicer than the hotel we stayed in the night before.

As is becoming habit, we made many friends while onboard the Dragon's Pearl. I think we just really like boats. There's a real comraderie about being on a boat together. You just bond with people. I think it's partially because you have more time to get to know people and also because you're all doing the same thing and therefore must have something in common. Whatever the reasons, Sarah and I have officially determined that we are boat lovers.

Dragon's Pearl

Sarah

Leslie and Ben

April 9, 2007 - Little Differences

Since coming to Vietnam, we have learned so much about Vietnamese culture, language, history, geography and politics. I feel so grateful to experience these things first-hand. There are obvious, major differences between our culture and theirs. But, like John Travolta said, it's the little differences that really make an impact. Here are some of the little differences we've noticed:

• Walking across the street - Vietnam is not exactly "pedestrian friendly". Traffic is constantly flowing and moving in every direction imaginable. There are no lights and crosswalks mean nothing to the motorists. Crossing the street is a leap of faith. You basically have to wade out into oncoming traffic and continue moving across the road. You must not alter your pace and you must not stop in the middle of the road. Just trust that you will not be hit. It's best to move in a group if possible. If not, clinging to one another is helpful for both the "safety in numbers" theory as well as for sustained courage.
• Loving and affectionate - The people, especially the younger ones, are so loving and affectionate with one another. Young girls walking down the street will often be holding hands and even young men will have their arms around each other. They show each other much kindness and affection and it's lovely to see.
• Constant honking - At home, it's considered rude and impatient to honk your horn (unless in the case of an emergency). Not true here. They honk continuously. They believe that they are keeping people safe by honking to announce their presence. This could very well be true considering that the roads are very narrow and there aren't clealry defined rules of the road. A woman told us a story that their bus had a flat tire one day, but the tour kept going. The next day the bus had a leak in the radiator, but the tour kept going. The next day, the horn stopped working and the tour couldn't possibly continue under those circumstances. :-)
• Bartering - Everything is negotiable here. This is such a foreign concept to us. We're used to paying whatever is on the pricetag with no questions asked. Here it's part of their culture to haggle back and forth. It's an art form really. You have to be something of an actor to get a good deal. You have to evoke incredulity at the initial price, then you have to offer up half that amount and act like you'd be doing them a favor to take it for that amount, then you have to shake your head in disgust at the counter offer they give you and start to walk away. If you were anywhere close to the mark, they'll come after you with something slightly higher. Only then can you smile and giggle over the rush of a hard-earned victory.
• Trash everywhere - There are no trashcans anywhere. People throw everything on the ground. They throw out food, dirty water, wrappers and anything else you can think of. They throw it right out on the street. It's a pity. I'm not sure why this is okay for these people. They have to walk through it everyday. You'd think they'd get sick of walking through filth, but it just seems to be part of their lifestyle. It was very discouraging. I wonder if littering is a natural instinct and people have to be taught to throw things in the trash. I remember when I was young I used to like to spit my gum out the car window. My mom would get so angry at me and tell me not to do it again. Then she started pulling the car over and making me get out to pick the gum up. It was then that I stopped spitting my gum out the car window.
• Strong family unit - The Vietnamese families really stick together. They often live together for most or all of their lives. And it's not just immediate family, it's aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. They all know each other and help each other. I wish had a little more of this in our country. We pretty much go it alone. People move out as soon possible and often move to different parts of the country where it's no longer possible to be involved in each other's lives. I think we're starting to feel the affects of this in our country. There's a sense of being disconnected and alone. We have to shoulder so much of the burden of daily living on our own. That can wear a person down.
• Won't take no for an answer - When we walk down the street, we are constantly asked to buy things or services. We say no, but it doesn't end there. They follow us down the street and continue to ask the same question. I'm not sure why they are so persistent. If I wanted to buy another Lonely Planet guidebook, I would have said so the first time. Why ask me over and over again? I would love some insight into this behavior because I so don't get it. However, I was thinking that we could use some of these street vendors to help sell some Raptiva. ;-)
• Scooters - At home, we love our cars. We all have one of our own and we drive them everywhere. People don't really have cars here - they have scooters. There are 4 million people living in Hanoi and 2.5 million scooters. That's a lot of scooters. You know how big a scooter is... not very. But that doesn't stop them from piling 3, 4 even 5 people on these things and driving down the road - kids and babies included! It's absolutely amazing. Not only that, but they manage to haul around all sorts of gear as well. We've seen cages full of chickens, nearly 100 animal-shaped balloons, 6-ft tall panes of glass, televisions, microwaves in boxes and so much more. It's really quite impressive. Do you think a scooter would work in SF? Somehow I think not. Too cold and too many hills... too bad.

April 12, 2007 - Ho Hum Hanoi

Hanoi didn't really work out for us. We were a bit overwhelmed by the crazy traffic that we had to wade through and a bit put off by all the dirt and trash everywhere. The spitting was bad in the rest of Vietnam, but it was absolutely horrible in Hanoi. Walking down the street was really just a game of frogger to avoid incoming loogies.

We tried to take in some culture by visiting some sights. We made the mistake of going to the Ho Chi Minh museum. We are far too jaded to take a guided tour of a museum dedicated to a man who is honored for forcing communism on an entire country. We were appalled at the one-sided story we were told and left feeling irritated that the government would go to such lengths to control how the people think. But guess what - that happens in the US too. It happens everywhere. We're just lucky enough to hear both sides and decide for ourselves where the truth lies.

We did end up finding some cool things. The Temple of Literature is a lovely compound dedicated to scholars. I love seeing a culture that truly honors education and learning. We also enjoyed taking in a show at the water puppet theatre. This is an ancient tradition going back to when farmers would enact stories with puppets in the rice fields. It was fun to watch the show and interesting to hear the stories that are passed down from generation to generation.

I think that we just weren't in the mood for Hanoi. It's not such a bad place. We just weren't open to it. When you're traveling, a lot depends on how you feel and who you meet. We ended up needing a lot of downtime and spent time chilling in our room on our "raft" as Sarah called it. Sometimes it's just nice to stay in and watch a movie or go to the cafe down the street and eat fatty cakes. And that's okay.

Uncle Ho

Our raft

Fatty cakes

April 15, 2007 - Sawatdee Bee Mai! (Happy New Year)

We arrived in Thailand at the perfect time - the last day of Songkran (Thai New Year). This three-day festival is an all-out celebration. People go home to spend time with their families, they go to the wats to pay tribute to the buddha and they throw water everywhere. I couldn't think of anything similar that we have in the states. Our festivals are pretty short and pretty tame in comparison to this. I mean, don't get me wrong, we have Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and we have the Super Bowl, but it's just not the same.

Sarah and I went out in the morning to see if we could get a Thai massage before joining in the festivities. Not only were all the businesses closed for the holiday, but we got ambushed as we were walking down the street. Kids were chasing us down the street with water pistols. You don't realize how fast you can run in flip flops until you really need to! We jumped in a tuk tuk to seek refuge. As we were driving down the street, a tuk tuk coming the opposite direction threw a huge bucket of water right in our faces. We were absolutely stunned! We looked at each with mouths agape and then quickly shut them to prevent more water going into our sensitive systems. At that we took the "can't beat 'em, join 'em" attitude and stopped off at the store to buy some guns and load up on water. We inched our way back to the guesthouse and the ambush was in full force.

Our people had set up stations on either side of the road to douse passers-by with buckets of water. We were quickly annointed by our own crew and then joined in the effort to get the rest of Chiang Mai wet. We had so much fun. We laughed and giggled and screamed like school girls!

We wanted to go down to the moat to see the main action and it just so happened that our Thai neighbors were loading up their truck with people and buckets of water and heading down. They invited us to join them and we jumped on the tailgate. I have never seen such chaos in all my days. People were everywhere - in cars, on scooters, in the back of trucks, walking down the street, flanking the sidewalks and even in the moat itself. We were not prepared for the deluge of water being shot at us from every direction. We couldn't keep our eyes open or our mouths closed! It was crazy. We fought off attacks as best we could, but I think we swallowed half the moat that day. The coolest thing was that everyone was smiling and happy and no one was doing anything out of malice. It was all a celebration and they welcomed us into their tradition with open arms (with a bucket in each hand).

Water fight!

Stopping traffic

Armed and ready

April 16, 2007 - Thai Cooking Class

Thai food is extraordinary. So many unique spices and ingredients coming together in perfect unison. As some of you know, I'm no cook. Never have been and have never been upset about it. But being on this trip and having to eat out for every meal every day has made me want to cook a meal from time to time.

Sarah and I signed up to take a class with Smart Cooks and we got lucky to get a professional like Nancy to teach us the Thai secrets. She took us to the market to pick out our ingredients and then took us in hand through seven dishes. We made pad thai, spring rolls, curry paste, stir fry, sticky rice and mango, papaya salad and coconut milk soup. Everything turned out delicious and I was surprised by how much fun I had. When you've got time, cooking is great. It's quite a challenge but so rewarding when it turns out well. I think I'll try out my new skills when I get home. Of course, that's 8 months from now and I'm like a leaf in the wind with my interests these days, but it's good to have goals!

Pro at work

Excellent teacher

Visual proof

I totally made these!

April 17, 2007 - Day of Beauty

Sarah and I really wanted to get Thai massages to ease our aching backs and stiff necks. We found a lovely place down the road from the climbing shop and got fantastic massages. We thought we might as well get pedicures while we were there (because everyone wants pretty toes when climbing rocks). As we sat and enjoyed the pedicure, we thought it might be nice to get a facial. So we got ugly for the sake of getting pretty again. Because of course a facial is going to get rid of all the new wrinkles we've developed from spending so much time in the sun. Yep.

After all of that, we went to the local yoga studio for a nice stretching session. We worked our hamstrings to the point of popping but felt fantastic afterwards. So good in fact that we took ourselves down to the night market for a bit of shopping. Of course, the first thing we bought were Thai outfits so we'll have even more costumes when we get home. We've already decided that we'll need to throw a party every couple weeks when we get home just so we'll get a chance to wear all our new ethnic-wear.

Beauty in progress

Thai massage

New costume

Night market fun

April 19, 2007 - Elephant Nature Center

We had read about an amazing place called the Elephant Nature Center just outside of Chiang Mai. Lek is a Thai woman who grew up loving elephants. It has become her mission to rescue elephants in jeopardy, to educate people about the atrocities committed against elephants in Southeast Asia and change legislation and the way people think about how animals should be treated.

The center has over 30 elephants right now, in addition to 37 dogs, 22 cats and 2 cows. All have been abused or abandoned and are now being nursed and loved back to health by Lek and her crew of volunteers. We got to watch these elephants doing what they do best - just being elephants. We learned so much about these beautiful creatures. They are remarkably like humans in the way the live in communities, nurture their young, tease each other, support each other, throw fits when they don't get their way, cry for the loss of their friends and suffer when they are mistreated. It was a joy to watch them interact and a special delight to see the babies in action. We also got involved with feeding and bathing them which was fun because we got to get so close to these wonderous beings.

We also learned about the plight of the Asian elephant. These poor animals are systematically tortured by their owners in order to "break" them. I'm not going to describe the torture here because it makes me sick to know that human beings are capable of hurting animals in this way. But I do want people to know that these animals are tortured and used for logging work and tourist treks.

You can help put an end to this by not going on an elephant trek. If enough tourists express their feelings that they are not interest in abusing animals for their pleasure, then it will help stop the brutality that exists today. In addition, elephants aren't built to carry heavy loads on their backs. It literally breaks their back and causes excruciating pain to carry people in baskets. In addition, the baskets cause gaping sores on the elephants body that rarely get medical treatment. So please do your part by saying no to elephant trekking. Besides, it's much more fun to sit and watch these animals play than it is to sit on their backs and look at the back of their heads all day.

Lovely

Amazing woman

So sweet

Poor angel

April 21, 2007 - Climbing On... Trying to Anyway

We haven't been climbing for about a month but managed to get out to the crag two days during our stay in Chiang Mai. It was a little disheartening to realize how much I've slipped in my climbing level just from taking a bit of time off. However, I have to say that I didn't really push myself to climb many difficult routes when we were in Tonsai. I'm not really sure why that is. However, based on my performance on a two-pitch climb rated 6a/6a+, I think a little training plan is in order. I struggled so much on that 6a+. I literally climbed from bolt to bolt and had poor Sarah take in as much rope as possible as I sat at each bolt to figure out how to get to the next one. Sad. I don't want to beat myself up, but I will devote myself to working on harder projects once we get to Morocco and Italy where we'll be able to cimb more regularly.

Limeston cliffs

Starting pitch 2

April 23, 2007 - Nepal - Not Exactly on Orange Alert

Our flight from Bangkok to Kathmandu was fine (except for all the Indian men who literally turned around in their seats and stared at us the entire flight). We landed and went to get our visa... and that's when the fun began.

We had to pay $30 for the visa and we didn't have that much money. They had an ATM at the airport, but it was downstairs and outside the building. But no problem they said - just walk on out the security gates, get the money and come back in. Hmmm. We were certain that this would not fly. Why would they let us walk through three security stations and then come back again the same way we went out? But they did. No one asked us a single question. We walked forwards and backwards through all kinds of "security", we left the building, we set off alarms... nothing. We kept looking over our shoulder expecting armed guards to be running us down any minute. Nope. Nothing.

We got our money and got back in the "Without Visa" line upstairs only to find out that they didn't accept Nepali rupees. Hmmm. Strange that. So I went to exchange rupees for dollars and got back in line once again. Once at the front, we were promptly ejected from line to go fill out yet another form.

As usual, we had all kinds of process improvement ideas for them, but we kept them to ourselves. And again, we invoked the "We've got nothing but time" mantra to ward off popped blood vessels. All said and done, we got our visas and were allowed into the country with an interesting story already under our belts.

Kathmandu airport

Warm welcome

April 23, 2007 - 1 Hour, 15 Minutes and 57 Years

When we left Thailand, it was 8:00am in the year 2007. When we got to Nepal, it was 9:15am in the year 2064. How strange. I had never heard of a 15 minute time difference. It must be difficult for them to be that different from the rest of the world. It makes sense to have smaller gradations of time differnece depending on when the sun rises and sets in certain areas, but it certainly makes things confusing from a global perspective. Think about the stock market and international calls and, above all, television programming. How confusing to have BBC Worldwide start at 8:15 instead of 8:00.

In addition to this 15 minute craziness, they have to deal with a 57 year difference as well. Their calendar is called Bikram Sambat and begins the year King Bikram Adittiya began ruling Nepal. Talk about ego-centric. This must be difficult for the locals to deal with, especially in such a tourism-driven country where they have to think of time in Western terms. So in one way, Nepal is ahead of the times, but in other ways, far behind.

April 24, 2007 - Janaandolan II

One year ago today, the people of Nepal successfully ousted the corrupt King Ganendra from power. This success is called Janaandolan II and means "People's Movement II" (there was another one several years previous). After 10 years of repeated protests, the Nepali people's victory resulted in an 8 party coalition government in charge of making decisions. The Maoists are also part of this coalition government and by putting down arms, have helped boost tourism in Nepal - particularly in the Annapurna region they held hostage for so many years.

Despite the victory, the Nepali people are frustrated one year later. As is typically true of coalition governments, progress is slow. It's difficult to get decisions made and funding isn't reaching much-needed areas and people. The Nepali people seem resigned to this new state of affairs, but love watching the weekly television programs that satirize the bumbling government officials. Progress might be slow but the outlook is good as long as the people are watching and keeping their elected officials in check.

People power

April 24, 2007 - Prison Break

When we started this trip, our worst fear was that we would end up in prison somewhere and have to spend several years in detention for a crime of which we were surely innocent. So we came up with a prison break scheme for each country. Here are our schemes to date (please note: the assumption is always that only one of us has been imprisoned. In my mind, that is always Sarah. Turns out that she believes it will always be me. But the plans work regardless of who is actually behind bars.

Thailand - The Flip Flop Ruse

This Monty Python inspired plan involves a handful of Westerners who we convince to aid us in the rescue attempt. We all wear flip flops on our feet and on our hands in order to sound like an absolute herd of rescuers. With our enornous size advantage (helped along by moonlit shadows) and all the flippety flopping, the Thai prison guards are sure to "run away, run away" in fear, thus allowing the successful reclamation of the one imprisoned.

Plan B: If the guards are not fleeing in terror at the sounds and size of those approaching, plan B is to have someone start yelling "Ao Nang, Ao Nang" repeatedly until the guards are inspired to come and take a longtail boat to Ao Nang (the repeated yelling really works).

Cambodia - Street Vendors

No one is more persistent or distracting than the young street vendors in Cambodia. They follow you down the street to try to get you to buy another copy of the same book you have in your hand. And sometimes it works. These children will be an integral component of the Cambodian prison break. Their job is to enter the prison grounds (en masse) selling books, bracelets, snacks, etc. They will overwhelm the guards with their repeated requests of "you buy, you buy?" and they will pepper the guards with questions. I will ride a skateboard type contraption in the middle of the throng. Once properly distracted, I will sneak into the prison and get Sarah. Meanwhile, the kids will play their version of duck, duck, goose and get the guards involved. This should keep them distracted until I am able to rescue Sarah. Once we're at the doors, I will give the signal and the kids will break up the game and come to surround us again so we can escape via the skateboard method.

Vietnam - Domino Decoy

This little jewel was inspired by none other than Ho Chi Minh himself. As we learned at the HCM museum, when Ho and co were plotting their communist plans, they would pretend to play dominoes so the government would believe them to be leisurely gents taking in a bit of social enjoyment as opposed to men planning the demise of French colonial rule and a 30 year war to bring communism to the country. It sounds unlikely, but there is clearly a precedent for success with this plan.

So some helpful Vietnamese people and I set up a table and play dominoes just outside the prison gate. The guards inside the gate come out to tell us to leave. We overtake the guards, tie them up and don their uniforms. We move the domino game inside the prison gate. People inside the prison see that guards are playing dominoes with a bunch of locals. They go out to break up the fun. We overtake these guards, tie them up and don their uniforms. This plan is repeated until everyone in the rescue team has a guard uniform. When that happens, we will go into Sarah's cell, explain that she is wanted for questioning and escort her out. At some point, we might have to start running for it.

There is a lot of over-taking required in this plan and it is possible that the "domino decoy" could fail. Fear not. Plan B has been devised and it is even more complex than the Domino Decoy. I won't go into detail, but know that a gorilla costume, a singing telegram, an ao dai and durian will all be used as weapons of mass distraction.

Nepal - Buddha

This might seem wrong to use the buddha to break someone out of prison, but the assumption is that Sarah has been wrongly imprisoned. So I think buddha would understand. So we'll need to wait for a Buddhist holiday or festival for this prison break. These happen frequently so it shouldn't be a problem. This plan is to dress up in one of the masks seen in monastaries and used in celebrations. I'll wear the disguise and Dambar and Kaka will carry me on a cart through the streets and to the prison. Once in the prison, we'll get Sarah out of the cell and have her put on the mask and costume. I will change into traditional Nepali wear and casually walk out of the prison. Although I'll look a bit odd with my light skin and hair, I will start hocking up snot and spitting it out on the floor and they will be convinced that no westerner could do that and there won't be any problems.

India - Trojan Cow

Since the cow is a revered animal for Hindus and since Buddhists and Seiks can't harm animals per their religious beliefs, we will come up with some sort of "Trojan Cow" plan as yet to be determined, but sure to work.

Seems likely

Trojan Cow

April 26, 2007 - Worst Day Yet

To start our trek, we had to get from Kathmandu to Besishahar by bus. This experience turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. We arrived at the "bus station" and made our way to the back parking lot. We passed several tourist buses and my worst fears were confirmed when we headed straight for the most dilapidated buses I've ever seen sat by itself. The inside was absolutely appalling. Everything was old and filthy and we couldn't even see out the windows because of the scum and dirt coating them. We sat there and the bus somehow found the will to move. As we crawled along, people from the street were jumping on the bus and crowding into the aisles. At the prospect of spending 6 hours like this, I asked Dambar if there were any other options. He sprung into action and arranged for us to jump off the bus and wait on the side of the road for an hour in order to catch another bus. Surprisingly, this option sounded better than our current situation so we did that.

We waited for a short while and then Dambar came back, having found a passenger van we could all ride in for a few hours. It was clean and comfortable and even had shock absorbers. We rolled in luxury for four hours, lulled to sleep by the heat, the lack of air and the hum of the road.

Unfortunately, this joy ended and we had to change vehicles once again for the remaining 2 hours to Besishahar. This time they put us up front with the driver who liked to open his door ever 4-5 minutes to hock a snot ball and spit it out on the road. However, it would have been fine except that the exhaust pipe wsa apparently pointed directly into the vehicle. We were absolutely dying from the fumes. I seriously feared lasting brain damage (tests have been inconclusive).

Rickety transport

Filthy inside

Side of the road

April 27, 2007 - The Trek Begins

We started from Besishahar and walked about 7 hours to Bahundada. It was so different from what I expected. First of all, it was hot! Really hot. When I think of trekking in Nepal, I don't expect to be in shorts and tshirts and sweating buckets. Also, we trekked through many villages. There were many people going about their daily business and you could stop along the way to get a softdrink or a snack if you wanted. I thought we'd be in the middle of nowhere and would only pass by the occasional small village. The views were also unexpected. We passed rolling hills and terraced crop fields and the white water river is constantly rolling along either in sight or sound. Occastionally, we caught a glimpse of one of the towering Himalayan peaks in the distance.

Sometimes villagers will walk alongside us for a while. Many of them are interested in us and give us a "namaste" in greeting. More often, our trail companions are the hard working mules who are carrying goods to the villages. We feel sorry for these little guys because they seem to have such a hard life. But we clamour to the safe side of the trail when we see them coming because they'll just push you over the side if you're in their way. Sweet muffins.

Drawing a map

Beautiful view

Starting strong

April 27, 2007 - Dambar, our Guide

We organized our trek and guide through Snow Leopard Trekking Company. My friend Tim did a trip with them a few years ago and recommended them as well as his guide Dambar. Both Sarah and I second these recommendations so let me know if you'd like their contact info.

Dambar is a joy to be around. He has an effusive personality and a never-ending store of energy. He greets passersby with gusto and always seems to make friends along the way. He was always doing silly things to make us laugh - demonstrating a monk prostrating himself from Tibet to Dharamsala, singing silly songs, doing slap-stick impressions, giving piggyback rides and chasing farm animals.

On top of that, he has an excellent command of the English language and is an expert on Nepal history, geography and culture. He taught us so much Nepali that we delighted villages in every town we passed as we demonstrated our new-found knowledge. We also learned gobs about Nepali culture, tradition, politics and religion.

In addition to all that, he took excellent care of us. We were a tad needy on this trip with several bouts of sickness and exhaustion. He was always there for us, whether to rub our aching muscles, carry heavy things in our bags, get us a room with an attached bathroom, squeeze the puke out of us or catch us before we tumbled down a steep hill. I'm so grateful that we had such a wonderful guide or became a good friend.

Waiting for mules

Tibetan monk crawl

Piggyback ride

Always smiling

Staring at himself

April 27, 2007 - Binod, our Porter

Binod was our porter for this trip. He is Dambar's uncle or "kaka" in Nepali. We thought it was funny that the 26-year old baby of the group was Dambar's uncle so we all called him Kaka for the entire trip and that's also how people came to know him and refer to him while we hiked.

Binod is a sweet and thoughtful person. He doesn't speak fluent English, but enough to get by. We had so much fun with him and were glad that he and Dambar had each other, just like Sarah and I had each other.

Strong porter

Loving the iPod

Friend to all

April 27, 2007 - Divination

When we were in Kathmandu, I found a book on Astrology and Divination. I think this is really interesting and couldn't resist the feeling of being a Hogwarts student, so I picked up the book for a bit of fun.

I am a rat (1972) and Sarah is a dog (1970) and our compatability chart (in the book) reads, "A good team. The rat's control and the dog's loyalty make a good combination, although they both like to talk a lot so the relationship could be a noisy one." So perfectly true!

We had a lot of fun reading our palms but didn't anticipate how much the guides would enjoy reading their own palms. They gathered around the book and had a great time looking at what everything means. We are all infinitely fascinated in ourselves.

Palmistry

Guides get into it

April 28, 2007 - Trail of Poo

Our second day of trekking started out fine. We were all in good spirits and only had 150 meters elevation gain for our 6 hour trek. We had our usual dahl baht for lunch (this is what the guides and porters eat for every lunch and dinner meal during the entire trek). When we started walking again, I could tell that something was not right. Both Sarah and I were really gassy and my stomach was cramping up. I feared the worst and the worst arrived.

As I was clutching my aching belly and telling Dambar about the predicament, I looked over and Sarah had "crazy eyes" and was frantically mouthing words of urgency to me. I hussled Dambar out of sight and Sarah ran up the hill for a round of poopers. We started walking up the hill again and my stomach was hurting terribly. So I tore up the hillside as Sarah stood lookout for me. As I'm squatting, she is all of a sudden overcome and raced further uphill for another round of poopers.

We moaned and groaned the remaining hour and a half and then blessedly arrived at the guesthouse where poopers-a-plenty happened the rest of the evening. I guess it was something we ate.

April 30, 2007 - Prayer Wheels

Most villages have prayer wheels placed at the gates of the village. These are Buddhist prayer wheels that people spin and chant "Om Mani Padme Hum" as they pass through the gates. Every time we pass (always keeping them on our right side because that's where Buddha sits), I say a little prayer for my friends and family. I know that some friends are hoping for specific things to come about in their lives and I'm putting our requests that they all receive those wishes. I also say a little prayer for Sarah and me because there are things we're hoping for as well. Since Annapurna is the spiritual energy center of the planet, I woldn't be surprised if all these good wishes come true.

Saying a prayer

Om Mani Padme Hum

Prayer tower

April 30, 2007 - Stand Up, Be Proud...

shout your name out loud, we are Americans! Sarah and I were a little worried about being American and traveling around the world right now. W and his attempts to democratize the world and preach family values to the masses is giving the rest of us a bad name. However, we actually haven't had any difficulty at all - mostly peole making comments that we agree with whole heartedly.

But we were surprised by the warm reception we've gotten in Nepal, simply for being American. The Nepali people think so highly of Americans and the opportunities our country affords us. But also, the people we meet on the trail seem to think well of us also. Lots of "American beauty" comments but also praise of the forward-thinking and amazing opportunities that Americans have. One Austrian said it best, "We love your people, hate your government." I can live with that.

It's all good