Goa concluded

Arambol was nice, but nothing really happened. I watched some movies at a bar, and walked the beach, I read, and also ate. That's it. I spent 4 days, and maybe it was too much, but I relaxed and enjoyed.

Then I headed to Panaji, which is the capitol. Again, not much there. It was very Portuguese, and was quiet and almost not Indian. I headed to old Goa see some somewhat impressive old churches, and then had a nice meal or two in Panaji. I also got to witness a festival at the main church, which was actually pretty crappy. There wasn't food, and there wasn't much to do. Just a bunch of vendors selling cloths and household goods. I did really like the meals, and found the traditional fish curries to be among the best meals I had the whole trip.

Overall Goa isn't so spectacular, but it's relaxing and kind of cool because it's different

Goa thus far

Well, I can honestly say I feel as though things are wrapping up. I think this is the most lonely I have felt the whole trip. I think what it comes down to is that when I'm busy I don't care if I'm with anyone, but to do nothing for three days is hard alone. I'm not too worried about it. I'll be home in less than a week, and then will have an even grater adventure to prepare for

The Bus to Goa

First let me say that no bus ride has been particularly enjoyable in India. They are all too bumpy, and I can't sleep at all. However, this one took the cake. I met these girls in the back of the bus where our beds were next to each other. They immediately began to complain that it was too bumpy. Well, what are we supposed to do about it? Oops, shouldn't have booked a bus ride after all. Well, they insisted on the bus manager moving them to the front, in one of the most ridiculous spectacles I have seen yet in my travels. After this the man tried to sell me their double bed for 200 more. I laughed him off. Well, the roller coaster of a ride continued, and about 2 hours later the man found my wallet on the floor. It had apparently fallen from my pocket while I was laying down. The man began by pocketing 50 Rupees from me, and then asked for a tip for picking my wallet up.

this was all laughable, and contributed to one horrible sleepless night

Hampi

As I come to the end of my travels (less than two weeks to go), I find myself just wanting to relax. Well, if relaxing is what I want, then Hampi is what I need. It is a beautiful area with thousands of boulders making up mountains all around the city and some of the most breath-taking landscapes i have ever seen. To add to this there are tons of ancient ruins around the city, which make for very peaceful walks.

I haven't done too much in the three days I've been here. I just walked and ate and took too many pictures. it's been great!

Tonight I have a bus to Goa, and from there I will make my way to my flight

Mumbai

I got to Mumbai to find what I really think is a nice city. Maybe it is the fact that I've been in India too long and my standards have been lowered a bit, but I thought the city was very European.It had monuments on all the streets, and little gardens and parks everywhere. It was fairly clean for India, and overall was just a pleasure to be in.

I spent my time with a woman in her mid 40s, just walking around and taking in the sights. The Victoria Terminal(main train station) was unbelievable. I also really loved the Gandhi museum.

I was eating well, and enjoying being civilization again. My only regret was leaving too soon, and not being able to see the slums. I could have used a fourth day there.

Either way, it was really nice

Ajanta

As I left my friends behind at the Udipur rail station I headed to Ajanta. It is a very6 famous set of caves with Buddhist carvings inside. I stayed in a town a few minutes outside the cave, and there was really nothing there. While the caves were nice, it may not have been worth the 2 1/2 days I dedicated to them.

However, they were nice

Rajastan...this is long overdue

ok, so I stopped updating this thing for a couple of weeks. My bad. I will do my best to capture 2 weeks in a giant post. However, I lament that I will certainly loose a ton of detail.

I got off the bus in Jaipur to me these two nice guys from Barcelona. After talking for a few moments we figured out that we had almost identical schedules planned out for the next two weeks, so I tagged along with them. They were two brothers. The oldest one was Andres, and the younger was Herman. I honestly got along with them really well, and was disappointed when we had to split up.

After just walking around Jaipur for a few hours, we found ourselves a little bored and not digging the city, so we grabbed a bus and headed to Pushkar (well, Ajmer...).

When we arrived in Ajmer, we found that it was impossible to get to Pushkar that night, and we would have to spend the night there. So, we got ourselves a room at the worst hotel I have ever seen, and then headed for a lovely dinner of vegetarian burgers and fake cheese pizza. Obviously,. we had to have fake ice cream for desert, as nothing else would suffice as a proper conclusion to our vegan meal.

The next day we saw the giant mosc in Ajmer, and headed to Pushkar for the camel festival. There we found thousands of camels that have been brought to both compete in different events as well as be sold and traded among camel enthusiasts. The whole scene was ridiculous, and very funny. On day 2 it rained, so we really did nothing except read and eat, but had a nice time regardless. The following day we watched the mustache competition (my favorite), and headed out to Jodhpur.

I think we all really liked Jodhpur, but the highlight was clearly when the three of us broke down and headed to McDonald's. It was so great to eat a familiar food, even if it was beefless, I enjoyed the fish sandwich and the fries. We also saw the palace, and what I think is the most impressive fort in the country. Overall it was a really nice city, and I regret that we headed out so soon, but our schedule demanded it.

So, we found ourselves in Jaisalmer after two short days in Jodhpur. It is this incredible fort built in the middle of a sand desert. What makes it even cooler is the fact that it is still being used, and is currently occupied by thousands of residents. We decided that we should take a tour of some near by villages, and the best way to do so was to do it on camel back. So, we hired a guide and he took us out the next day. We visited a couple of different villages, all of varying cleanliness and modernity, and spent two nights in the sand. It was way better than the camel riding in Morocco, because I felt we were accomplishing something, and not just having a ride for tourists. However, on the mourning of the third day Andres got a little sick, and we asked to be taken back early. SO we road to the nearest village where a jeep picked us up. We at a little, and then went shopping, which seemed to cheer up Andres. I bought a few Camel skin laptop bags, and the fellas bought some other camel skin fair. Later that night, we headed on a bus for Udaipur.

Again, in Udaipur it was raining, which really ruins a city known for it's beauty. So, we stayed inside and really did nothing. We went to the mostly indoors city palace museum, but found ourselves unimpressed after seeing the one in Johdpur. The next day we rented bikes and biked around the lake. It would have been great and very beautiful had my bike not broken and forced me to walk the last 3ish miles back to town. Oh well, it was cool.

Me and the fellas bought a beer, and had a really nice good last meal together and then said our goodbyes. I really had a lot of fun with them in Rajastan, and wish we could have continued together longer, but we were heading different directions.

Now I head south!

Amritsar & the Golden Temple

So, I arrived very late at night, and found myself wondering the streets, because I couldn't get a tuck-tuck for a reasonable price. I finally found the Golden Temple (in hindsight it shouldn't have been that hard). Well, I found it and was shown to my absolutely free dorm. It is really cool, they just put up anyone who comes. They feed you as well, but as I fear to get sick, I obtained from the food. The temple it's self was magnificent. It really is everything it is made out to be, and more. To add to that, all the people are overly friendly. Each one asks me if there is anything they can do for me or anything I need. I have never been to a more hospitable place.

The rest of the city is just fair. There is a nice park and memorial from a British massacre that is quite nice. There is also a nice area of somewhat high end shops and restaurants.

The second attraction of the area is the India/Pakistan boarder. Each night they have a boarder closing ceremony, and each side is full with thousands of people who come to cheer on their nation. There are grand stands built, and a lot of flags, its almost like a giant pep rally side by side with your rival's pep rally. Really just odd.

Other than that, nothing much to say. I had a headache yesterday, which probably kept me from enjoying some of the city, but overall the temple is all that's going on here.

Rishekesh

Nice town. Full of hippies, and pot heads, but I enjoyed it. I met up with this German guy for a few days, and we just walked around and ate and enjoyed the relative cleanliness of the city.

It was a peaceful uneventful 4 days. Good food, nice company, and nice scenery but not much else. I think a big pot head would love it here, but as I have quit smoking a while ago I was less impressed with it all.

Agra

Well, I did it. I saw the Taj Mahala. It was pretty cool. I think it is one of the most impressive buildings I have ever seen. I got up for sunrise and watched it come across the building. Just a majestic site. I saw some of the other sights in Agra as well, which were pretty cool, like the baby taj, a mausoleum, and the Agra Fort. All of these were impressive.

I think the best part of Agra was just riding around on a rickshaw with this guy and getting a view of the city as a whole. It was really nice, however I had two confrontations during the day.

The first occurred when I went to pick up my bus ticket, only to find that the travel agent had sold my sleeper ticket to someone else, and wanted to give me a seat. Well, I got very angry, and was yelling at him. I insulted his Karma ( a huge deal here), and made it known that I was considering contacting the police. Obviously he was nervous and wanted to make it ok. So, we agreed that I would take the sitting seat, but he would refund all of my money, essentially giving my ticket to me for free.

The second was while I waited in line at the ATM. A small guy started to cut in front of everyone. Well, I wouldn't have that. So, I stuck my arm out to stop him. Well, he didn't like this and was pushing me. I was getting irritated but did nothing except tel him to wait in line. Then, he punched me in the back. Well, I was clearly angered by this. I was not about to get into a fight, but couldn't stand for that. So, I turned around and told him to stop. He replied by asking what I would do about it, and then shoved me again. So, I pushed him back. At this point everyone in line had backed away. I didn't really understand what was going on, and was fearful he had a knife or something. Why else was he so confident? However, I decided to just laugh him off. Well, he continues to try to push in front of me, and I insisted that I wouldn't allow it. So, eventually he hit me again. I hit him back (maybe a mistake, but enough was enough), and he then tried to kick me in the balls. He thankfully missed and now I was angered. So I tackled him to the ground. It's good to be a former linebacker, I slammed him down with all of my weight and power driving into the cement ground. I was about to get up, assuming I had made my point, when he all of a sudden spit at my face and yelled something I didn't quite understand, but I assume it was insulting. So, I flipped him around, and was about to break his arm off (something we were thought not to do in wrestling, but shown how to do it in order to avoid it). Well, he started top yell and scream, and I began to think I was taking this too far. Although I was really pissed, and had enough of this dude. It was at this point the other Indian men were ganging up on me, so I thought it best to just run! Later my rickshaw driver (who watched the whole thing but didn't intervene) told me I was in the right, and that this man was crazy. The only reason the other Indians interjected was that they thought I would really hurt the man. However, no one was of the opinion that I had done anything wrong.

Well, that was Agra

Khajuraho

My time in Khajuraho was anything but typical. Yes, I went to the temples, and yes they were awesome! I think the most impressive archeological site I've ever seen. However, it was the rest of my experience that was noteworthy.

I made friends with a few local guys, who invited me to their home for their Diwali party. This was pretty much them eating and lighting fireworks. It was fun, a little dangerous, but overall great. The following day they took me to the real party.... the temples! Not the historic ones, but the ones in use. There we found hundreds of people dancing and having a great time! It was really a spectacle.

We ended by them inviting me to a family wedding in 2 1/2 weeks, which I told them I would think about. while it would be cool, I don't know if I want to give up a bunch of other cities to visit just to go to a wedding.

We'll see

Varnasi

WOW! Incredible! Other superlatives are needed to best describe this fabled city. I arrived late at night, and took a boat trip on the Ganges, which was very nice. The next day I was taken on motorcycle to all the temples, followed by strolling the gants and seeing a concert at night. The following day I woke up to watch the sunrise rituals, following this I went to Sarnath (where Lord Buddha gave his first sermon). Finally on my last day I went to the local Fort, which was a huge let down.

Overall I loved the city! Watching the crematoriums was mind blowing, and the whole scene in the morning was incredible. There was just a magic and a mastic in the air, and I was digging it. I think the only negative was the amount of people hounding me at all times. Please, leave me alone! But really, the city was a pleasure.

Interesting note, I have begun to get tiered of Indian food way too early...I will do anything to eat Pizza, and I don't like it!

Darjeeling

It was nice. Well the city was fine, but it was nice to not be in Kalkutta anymore. I liked everything, but honestly didn't do the city well. My stomach was still hurting me (finally it felt better the morning I left), and I didn't feel like doing much. I was sleeping 12 hours a day those 3 days and just getting myself together.

The views from the city are fine, and it is nice to be on the mountains. A little to cold at night, but it was fine.

That's really all I have for Darjeeling. It's just good to not be sick anymore.

Kalkutta

Yes, it was a dump...but more than a dump...it was the craziest thing I've ever seen. Picture a city built for about 2-3 million people as a port town and a central trading hub in the 19th century. At one time it was the jewel of the British empire, and considered it's second city after London. Then take that city, which, in it's day was very nice, and do nothing to maintain it in any way for 100 years (the British switched the capitol of India from here to Delhi in 1911, and the Indians kept it that way after their independence), don't fix the roads, maintain the pluming, fix the electricity, build modern facilities such as a hospitals, or do anything that a normal city would do over those 100 years. Sound good? Ok, that sounds terrible, but it gets worse....during those 100 years the population went from 2.5 million to about 16. It is a spectacle to say the least. You have to walk on the streets because the sidewalks are littered with naked people starving to death. I wish that was an exaggeration, but there were several dead bodies on the road just rotting. Also, just so you know, these naked starving people are of all ages from babies to the very elderly. There is a horrendous odder to the whole city which is somewhat masked by every shop burning incests outside it's doors. However, once in a while there are no incests, and the smell is unbearable. On top of that, the air is foggy with pollution, I was couching up black goop and was having stomach pains, from what I can only guess was the air, but who really knows. The streets are somewhere here, but I couldn't say exactly where, because cars just drive on roads made of garbage and human waste. I'm pretty sure there isn't a dump or even a garbage can in the city, only the streets, and it's awful. The food is also this way. I remember people telling me not to eat the street food before I came here. At the time, I figured it was good advice, but didn't think too much about it. Now that I've seen the food, all I can say is "DUHHHH!!!" it's like telling someone not to eat garbage, or sewage , of course I would never put that in my body! There was practically no redeeming factors about the city at all. In fact, what little tourist sights were there, were all built by the British, and were all in disarray since they left and to add to that they won't let you photograph them, so there is no evidence of anything nice in the city. I have actually been spending a ton of money, because I refuse to eat anywhere except the nicest of all nicest restaurants. Even those are kind of dirty, but I don't want to join my friends on the sidewalks, so I eat something. The buggers grab at me as I walk by, and plead with me. It is hard not to give money, but how could you choose who to give it to, the whole city are beggars. I ended up giving water and a few coins to one boy who was crying and just reaching for my water bottle. He was about 6 or 7, completely naked, and had apparently never bathed before. Honestly, I was in Hell! It was the most horrifying few days of my life, and I am so glad to be gone. I think those 2 1/2 days will haunt me for a long time.

Bangkok

We finally made it to Bangkok after a miserable night on a bus. The night was almost salvaged by us getting tanked in a small town beforehand off of some cheap Asian rum we bought. Once in Bangkok, The fellas and Ravit (at this point it was only Moran, Tal, and Royi) wanted to get the most expensive place on the Kah-son. So, we stayed in a fairly nice hotel, and got ourselves together. Immediately we headed to the giant mall. I got my computer reformatted after picking up a virus at some internet cafe along the way. I also got myself a nice set of I-pod speakers. Soon after this, we lost Ravit, but it was probably for the best. We finished off the night with a nice dinner, and we watched Inglorious bastards at the hotel. Nice night.

The next day I was convinced to go shopping once again, obviously it sucked. Nothing in the country fits m. Those people are crazy small. So, I bought nothing, got pissed off, and wasted a day.

The next day I went off on my own. I went to the Palace, which was amazing, and saw a festival for the king's deceased father's 100th birthday. Anyway, pretty cool stuff. That night, Ravit and I got a nice Moroccan dinner, and we just sort of went to bed.

Somehow I was talked into going to the weekend market with Ravit the next day. Again, nothing fit me, and I was beginning to get really annoyed at the amount of shopping I was doing. We ended eventually, had one last meal, and Ravit went home...kind of sad.

The next day I went on a short day trip to Aythaya, the historical capitol of Thailand. It was nice, but kind of boring. I have just gotten sick of Buddhist temples and shrines. When I got back, I ran into Amit, my diving instructor, and we had dinner and went to a ping pong show. It was the least sexual strip show I've ever seen. It was just the Pussy circus, and the girls just took turns doing ridiculous tricks with their vagina.

The next day I hit up a flight to India....the real adventure begins

So, I didn't leave....

I ended up staying an extra two days in Koh-Tao. I was having so much fun with the Israeli guys, and Ravit, that I just stayed and hung out. We didn't do too much...

We went to the beach one day, and snorkeled. Then, we got drunk and partied that night. Overall it may have been the most fun I've ever had drinking.

The next day we went on a fun dive (now that we are all licensed to dive). It was nice at first, and really fun. However, during the ascent I got a crazy pain in my head. Instead of heading back down, we just went up. My head was just in blinding pain for about 5 hours after that. It was one of the most painful things I've ever endured. I went back, went to lay down, buy nothing would help it. Nothing that is until my diving teacher took me to a coffee shop. The herb reall helped and I felt great ever since.

The next day Ravit, 3 of the Israeli guys (Tal, Moran, and Royi) went to Bangkok....for real this time.

The Southern Thai Islands

I arrived late at night (8ish) to find Ko Pha-Kgan was well, Israel in Thailand. All the stores were in Hebrew, all the restaurants served falafel, everyone on the streets (even the locals) were speaking Hebrew. I don't know how or why this is the case, but it is. I met up with Ravit, and we had dinner, watched a tribal fire show, and headed to bed (no, nothing happened).

The next day we decided that we would both be in Israel soon enough, and that we should enjoy Thailand. So, we headed to Ko Tao to take scuba diving lessons. We found a company called Bans, which offered courses in Hebrew, so the two of us signed up to take lessons in Hebrew. We were joined by 2 Israeli guy, and obviously had an Israeli teacher.

Everything was in Hebrew, unless it was really important, and then it was repeated in English for me. The course was 4 days, with 4 dives, and a couple of classroom sessions. Overall it was fantastic. I really loved diving, and everything that went along with it. I wish it was less structured and we couple just go around, but I guess that's why you get a license.

While I hung out with Ravit a bunch, it was obvious that I wasn't getting anywhere. So, one night I went out with the Israeli guys. We ended up getting messages. However, the ladies refused to give me a message. They insisted that I get all the calluses off my feet first. While I didn't want to do that, thy eventually told me that they would do it for free as a part of the message, because I suppose I needed it done that badly. Well, soon enough there were 5 ladies working on me. one on each foot, one on each arm/shoulder, and another massaging my back. It was really hard to tell what was going on, because so much was happening at once. They ended the whole thing with a 30 minute foot massage, and then they stretched me out in every direction pretty much all at once (remember there were five of them, so I was being bent in just crazy directions). I don't know how to describe the whole thing, however I can say it was amazing. At the end, my feet looked great (like a normal person's), and my whole body felt great.

The next day I finished the course, watched a film of our dive, and went to dinner with the group. Ko Tao was nice, and honestly I felt like I accomplished something.

Well, off to Bangkok...

Chiang Mai

As I headed onto the plane to Thailand, I saw a Spanish man that was on the boat ride I had taken several days earlier. So, I went over to say hello. He didn't speak any English, so I tried my luck with Spanish, and we chatted a little. Once we landed, we headed to the same hostel, and I had dinner with him, and his other friend who spoke Spanish. We went to a market, and got some street food. Everything was pretty good. We separated for a little, and then met up later that night at a street festival which was like an outdoor beauty pageant.

The next day, Fran (the first Spanish guy), and myself rented a motor bike, and headed to the top of the mountain. The temple up there was nice, and the royal palace was also very nice, but the best part of the day was after we wanted to return the bike, we discovered that we had too much fuel in it. So, the logical thing was to suck it out with a hose, bottle it, and try to sell it. Eventually we did, and had a good time trying.

I met up with the Israeli guy I met in Vientiane and him, along with a Polish girl who knew Fran, Fran, and myself went for a two day elephant trek. It was pretty cool. The animals were so docile, and just wonderful to be around. It was really one of the great pleasures of the trip so far. I really liked being around the animals.

The next day I headed to the islands to meet up with Ravit.

Nong Khiaw & Muang Ngoi Neua

From Luang Prabang I headed up a 3 hour bus ride north to Nong Khiaw. There was really nothing in this city. I mean that in a peaceful way, and not in a boring way. I just kind of enjoyed the day. I met and had lunch with a motley crew while there. I had lunch with a mother and son from Vancouver, a retired couple from Sydney, and a British girl about my age. It was very pleasant, just odd. After lunch I just walked the streets a little, read on my gorgeous balcony, and took a nap. I followed this by grabbing dinner with the retired couple and the British girl. It was just really nice.

The next day the British girl and myself took a boat up river to Muang Ngoi Neua. This was a truly spectacular city. It isn't accessible by road, and has no electricity. I met a couple of guys from Australia there, a dude from New York,a guy from England, and a Canadian who has been living in China for a while. This was the ultimate chill spot. We just sat, drank, ate, and sang. Apparently the guy from England, the guy from Canada, and both Australians were musicians, and all of the coincidentally were traveling with guitars. Apparently everyone was into classic 70rock, and we spent hours singing old Neil Young songs. I impressed everyone with my ability to recite almost all of his songs. So, after a few beers, I had no issue acting as lead vocals. All in all it was just incredible, but nightfall we were hanging out by candle light, and really just having a great time.

The next day we headed back to Luang Prabang by boat. This may have been the highlight of everything so far. The whole 6 hour ride was just so beautiful, I'm not really sure what else to say other than the pictures don't even come close to doing it justice. It is just something everyone needs to see and do for themselves on day.

When we got back, I headed to the same hostel, showered, relaxed, and then met the same guys (the British girl stayed up north). We had dinner, and a few more beers, and just enjoyed one of the most charming little places in the world.

The next day I had breakfast, and headed to a flight to Chiang Mai Thailand. Everything so far has just been great!

Lao...the first couple of days

I arrived in Vientiane and instantly met a nice Israeli couple. We had dinner at this small market, walked around a little and called it a night.

The next day I spent the morning wondering the streets seeing a bunch of stuff, none of which was that interesting. Then I had lunch in a nice restaurant, and headed back to the hostel. II then rented a motorbike. I was attempting to see this Buddha forest, but I searched and searched and searched for 4 hours and never found it. However, I had a great time just driving around the city on motorbike searching for this thing, but while doing that I really saw a lot of very rural areas. It turned out to be a great use of the day. When I got back, I had dinner alone, then ran into the Israeli couple from the day before, and had another dinner with them...what I won't do for friends. We ended calling it a night from there.

The next day I woke up early very ill. I had some stomach issues from something. II couldn't get off of the toilet. I had to fly to Luang Prabang, so I did, but I felt like shit! I got there, and walked around all day, but hadn't eaten, and could barley stay awake. As I returned around 7 to the hostel, I met some Americans and a Chinese guy, who invited me to dinner. I went, but didn't really eat. After this I just went to bed.

I then woke u feeling better, so I joined the people I met the night before to go to a waterfall. It was very nice, but nothing special. Honestly Loa seems like nothing special. I like it and all, but I'm not as impressed as I was with Vietnam.

We'll see what happens

Sapa

Sapa was the coolest thing I've ever done. I was there with some people I met along the way (a gay couple made up of a man from Portland and another from Munich, along with this really cool Israeli girl), and we found a woman who lived out of town in a small mountain village just outside the main town of Sapa. She invited us to stay with her, and we ended up sleeping with her family.

It was incredible! In the mountain, in a small one room shack with a dirt floor. I couldn't ask for a more authentic experience. I loved it. I helped the men pick rice for a while, and then went for a walk with a few women from the town. Only the first lady we met spoke any English, but everyone wanted to come meet me and my friends. The Israeli girl and I helped make dinner, and prepare the animals (I ate vegetarian for kosher purposes), which was an experience in it's self. I really don't know what else to say... it was like living in the discovery channel for 2 days.

Our guide did everything herself. She made all the food, built the home, worked the land, made the cloths, took care of the children, and had the energy to run around the mountains with us. She did this all while 8 months pregnant. She was just an amazing woman. Apparently, her husband is very bad to her and lazy. She even showed us a scar from where he attacked her. It was so sad, because this was one of the most remarkable women I've ever met!

It was really something else. The best part was that we didn't pay to stay in this woman's home. I think in her mind, we payed by helping her husband to work the rice fields a little, but little did she know we all would have paid hundreds for the experience. This woman (who coincidentally was named Set, and since they can't pronounce a "th" correctly, she thought we had the same name) even gave me two gifts when I left. She gave me a pillow case that she sewed herself, and a pair of shoes that she said was too big for her husband. she reminded me a lot of Bubbie. She kept forcing more noodles on my plate, she hated waste no matter what it was, and she had just the identical laugh to Bubbies. I tried to tell her that, but she really didn't understand.

It honestly seemed like these people may have enjoyed our time together more than the we did, but I'm not sure if that's even possible. I left after just two days, but it was the best thing I've ever done in my life.

Halong Bay

Halong bay was spectacular! I can talk about the events, but throughout the whole thing was just this ridiculous backdrop. It was the prettiest place I've ever been I got there alone, and was meeting people on the 3 hour bus ride to the boat. Once I got there, they switched me into a different group, at first I was annoyed because I made friends with the first group, but it turned out to be the best thing I could have done.

I loved the second group. There were six Israelis, two British girls, an Aussie, a German, and a guy from Austria. We all became great friends. The moment we walked on the boat we had lunch, which was fine, but clearly of low quality. Quickly after lunch We went upstairs and started chatting. I think the Israelis all loved me because I was speaking Hebrew with them. I kind of surprised myself how well I was able to speak, I didn't expect to remember that much, but once I started it all came back to me.

We came to a small cave, where we needed to get into a smaller boat and then go inside where there was a little lagoon separate from the rest of the bay. It was fun, and then our small boat exploded, leaving all sorts of black shmutz all over me and one of the Israeli girls. We eventually got saved by another boat, but not before we had a few laughs about the situation.

That night we drank on the deck. It was nice. However, the German and Austrian got so drunk that they jumped off the deck off of the boat into the bay. As soon as they hit the water, it began to rain so hard we needed to go inside. However, the boys couldn't get back into the boat. So, I had to go outside in a mansoon and lift them into the boat. Overall everyone was safe, but it was a mess.

After they got back in the boat, we went into the British girls room, for the after party. The Austrian guy (Christoff) was getting out of control. He eventually stripped naked and was walking around the boat going into peoples' rooms that weren't friends with us. I went to sleep soon after. I was sharing a room with Christoff and Martin (the German Guy), but they were up messing around, and I wanted to enjoy the next day.

About a half an hour after I went to bed, Christoff came in, stripped naked, and fell on his bed. It seemed about right, and I didn't care, so I went back to sleep. However, about an hour after that, Martin came in and began to yell at Christoff in German. They were sharing a big bed, while I had my own twin size. So, Martin was understandably angry that Christoff not only took up the whole bed, but was totally nude as well. After about 5 minutes of them yelling in German (Christoff now standing, totally nude), Martin looked at me and asked in English "Why is he naked?". I couldn't help but crack up. It was all very humorous.

The next day the boat took us Kayaking, which was fine, but not that cool. Soon after that it dropped us off on an Island and we went hiking. I walked with two of the Israeli girls: Shira and Ravit. It was such a hard trail, and I made the horrible mistake of wearing flip flops and swim shorts. Soon the sort
s tore, so that wasn't an issue anymore, but the flip-flops bothered me the whole time. I really loved the company, but the trail was hard, and not that cool or different from other nature hikes. We got to the top, and it was actually a very nice view, but probably not worth sacrificing my shorts.

As we left, we headed back to the hotel (not sleeping on the boat this night). It was a really crappy hotel, and I was forced to share a room with this English guy I didn't know, because they only had two person rooms. After we ate, Ravit, Shira, Lauren (the Aussie), and Noy (the third Israeli girl) went to the beach. Like everything in the bay, it was so spectacular. I just can't get over how beautiful it all was.

We went back to shower and have dinner, which again was very low quality. After dinner, Ravit and myself went to find her an internet cafe, where she bought plane tickets for herself. We walked a while after that, and found like 20 brothels, which was odd. Later she went to bed, but not before I developed a small crush on her (she really was just hot, and sort of out of my league).

After that I headed downstairs to find my friends from the first bus. They were playing drinking games, and while I didn't want to play, I was happy to chill, and reconnect with my friends. We stayed up a while, and the English guy who I was with ended up going to get a hooker. the rest of us just went to bed (some less sober than others).

The next day we went back to Hanoi, but not before Ravit (the hot Israeli), Ashton and a guy named Torston (Ashton and Torston were gay men from Portland and Munich respectively) agreed to head to Sapa for a couple of days. Little did I know what would await.

Hanoi

I got into Hanoi at about 5am today. I took a short nap, and hit the road at about 7. The town is so, so, so nice. I like it much more than Saigon. It is much prettier. There is a giant lake in the center of town, with a temple. The rest of the streets are just so much calmer. Still Asian, and busy, but calmer. I went and saw the Ho Chi Min Mausoleum and museum, which was really cool. Then I was walking back and a monsoon hit. So, I'm not sure what will happen tonight. I booked a 3 day cruise of holong bay tomorrow, so that should be great, but tonight I may be laying low.

Hoi An

So, I arrived yesterday late at night to Hoi An after two just crazy days in a very busy Saigon. While i was driving into town, i saw hundreds if not thousands of people in the streets. They were all watching performers in dragon costumes dance to drums. It was the full moon festival. Everyone was watching, and the streets were packed and no one could move through....it was really cool.

Then today I headed to the beach, where a man tried to offer me a free blow job, the issue was he would be performing it. Obvioulsy, I turned it down.

Upon my arrival back in town I headed out to town where the streets are lined with custom clothing vendors. I just felt like I should be getting something because that's what this town is known for. So, I bought some $13 custom made cotton casual pants. I kind of needed another pair anyways, and its a souvenir...so now I have it.

Tomorrow I am taking a long...long journey to Hanoi.

Catherine Floyed from London

Ok, I’m not sure if writing this much is good or not. I think it’s helping me collect my thoughts, and express them, which is good. However, I think at a certain point it’s overkill. Either way, such a significant event happened last night/this morning, I felt the need to write about it.

I was chatting with my roommate back at the hostel, and we were really getting along. I figured I had done enough damage outside, and I could just stay in and save myself from any dangerous situations. So, we just were talking, and talking, and talking for about 4 hours (she was also smoking hot, with a crazy body, nice tits, and a great ass which I saw via panty shots all night under her t-shirt several times). At this point I get ideas….oh yea, ideas. So, I make a move to her bed, and kind of do some light touching. I was hoping to feel out the situation. She seemed receptive. So I did a little more, and again, she seemed receptive. She ends up going t the rest room, and then telling me she needs to sleep. I go to my bed and lay down. This was not being receptive, but I’m foolishly not that put off by it. After a while we continue to chat, and I am continuously making her crack up. So, with the lights off, I proclaim screw it, walk over, and kiss her.

Well, she wasn’t into it, and seemed kind of annoyed (can’t blame her) that I tried. I spent the next half hour trying to make light of the situation, and smooth it over.

We fell asleep, and she was gone when I woke up. She left me a note, and was overall very nice. Hopefully my next sexual advance won’t be met with “what are you doing?”

Oh God...Day 1 and my mother would be so pissed!

To be fair, I'm upset at myself. It's funny, because you tell yourself you're not stupid, but here I am acting really stupid. I mean really stupid. I mean scary stupid. However, I'm glad I made it out safe, because it is probably the thing I needed to scare myself straight. Or at least I hope so....

so, immediately after I left the little cafe where I wrote the last post, I ran into a man, who for some reason was talking to me. He asked me where I was from, and tried to start a conversation. Well, this isn't the first time this has happened to me, and I have a standard plan to get people to stop and eave me alone. I just reply in Hebrew as if I didn't speak and English. I guess I could use gibberish, but it is easier for me to do it this way, because I think it sounds less fake. Well, in this case, he replied back in Hebrew, which is crazy for an Asian guy. Obviously this peaked my interest so I spoke with him a little.

He took me to a little sidewalk cafe, and bought me a drink. I was embarrassed, so I kept up the lie about being from Israel, and he couldn't hold an entire conversation in Hebrew so we switched to English. We chatted, and he and his two female friends (all of which older, so nothing sexual) all spoke English really well. After what was clearly too short of a time, he took me back to his house. I guess I went because I had such a good experience with a local a few hours earlier, and I was still on a trusting high from that....Needless to say this was a HUGE mistake!

Once we got to his house, he invited me in, and fed me (although I ate very little, as I had just eaten). he began to tell me his job, which he claimed was as a manager of casinos. I didn't question, as it was certainly possible, and what do I care. He then told me he knew how to cheat the system and for us to win a lot of money. I wasn't interested, and told him so, but he said he just wanted to show me how it worked. I was suspicious, but figured I had no cash on me, and what was the worst this man could do (I guess shoot me or something, but I didn't think about it at the time). We went over his "system" once, and then he said we could play together in Phenom-Pen (where I told him I was going next). He was excited about the $200,000 we could make together. This whole thing was very odd. Why would he want to go in with me, a complete stranger? I asked him, and he claimed to have only done this once before, but didn't like his partner. Why would he trust me, a relative stranger, with this kind of money. The whole thing didn't add up. I took his phone number to be polite, said I would call him, and tried to excuse myself.

He then all of a sudden had a "high roller" come in the room. First, this man was no "high roller", he was wearing the cheapest suite/shirt/tie combination I had ever seen. Obviously they didn't expect for me to have a vast knowledge of mens' clothing. However, I do, and this dude was broke! This man claimed to be filthy rich, and wanted to bet big. He also by the way, was the most flaming homosexual I had ever seen, like a comic book character. He was unreal. My new "friend" said that he would spot me money to play with him, no matter how much. I reluctantly played, but was now really nervous.

As we played, and I won every hand (except one Blackjack on his part), the money creeping up. Eventually we were betting thousands on each hand. However, I had never put in a penny, and couldn't loose cash (unless they beat me, and it was becoming a real possibility at this point). I knew this was a scam, and I knew I was going to be in trouble soon, but I didn't know what to do to get out. Well, I declared my last hand, and tat I wanted to go. The other guy bet $30,000. This was silly. I don't even have that much to loose. When my new Friend said he would guarantee it from me, the other guy demanded cash. So, I said that I would get it form my hotel (I had no intention of getting money, I just wanted to leave). The other guy just said to call him when I come back and get it, as he was going to go to his boy toy for a while. His words not mine.

That man left, and my friend said he was going to come up with the cash for us to cover, because he wanted to split these winnings. However, just in case he can't, he wants me to scrounged up a couple thousand to cover the part of the 16,000 we are short and he can't find(I had put in about 4,000 from my "winnings", and my friend was able to put in 10K, but the man demanded it all in cash). Ah-Ha, the cam. Finally I found how he makes his money. I refused to do that. He kind of gave me a lecture on trust, at which point I just knew this was a scam. So, I insisted that I would not. He then told me I needed to go. He wanted me to contact him in 2 hours to come back to finish the game, in case he found the 16,000. This made sense, because he would need to continue our scam. However, I left with the clear intention of not contacting him....ever....oh god, never.

I went straight back to the hostel, where I am so, so, so, so ,so happy to be safe, unhurt, with all my money. That was a really bad situation, and if I expect to have 83 more days here in Asia, I need to be smarter.

Day #1

Well, I’m here! Saigon is pretty cool o far, although getting here was a huge pain in the ass. I was late leaving Chicago, and then we had to made a detour and stop in Beijing to re-fuel due to weather in the Pacific. This caused a 15 hour flight to be more like 19 hours. Then I had to sprint to get into the connecting flight, because it was leaving about 10 minutes after my first flight landed. I made it! Unfortunately we sat in the runway for over an hour, so my sprint, while necessary, seemed like a huge waste.

Anyway, I am here, and digging HCMC (Ho Chi Mihn City). I saw the “American War” Museum, which was cool, but crazy bias, and totally against the US. It was just a monument to anti American propaganda. Then I saw Independence Palace, which is where the communist regime set up after the US left. After this I just kind of walked around. The Architecture is kind of cool; its Asia meets France, which makes sense. Everything kind of reminds me of Chengdu. It has some big buildings, and a lot of commerce, but it isn’t as western as the east coast of China….which is obviously kind of cool.

As I walked I took a break, and ended up meeting this local guy named Hi. He introduced me to his friends, and after chatting for a few minutes they invited me to play a card game with them. It was called Tien Len... or so I think, it was hard to understand. The game goes in a circle, where you put a poker hand down and it goes around the circle seeing if anyone has the same hand (pair, triples, straight of any number of cards greater than three, single card) but a higher version of it. If no one does, you can put down another hand. First to get rid of his cards wins. The odd thing was that if you only a put single card, a 2 is the highest don’t ask me why, but those are the rules. Anyway, it was really fun, and something I’ll being back with me.

The traffic is nuts! There are no signs, much like china its all a big jumble. You take your life in your hands every time you cross the street, so I hope I don’t die I guess…..it really isn’t safe.

As for the food, its cheap! I had lunch for $.40, but as a big fat American it was a little small. It also was kind of plain. Just noodles in a broth with a leafy green vegetable. Nothing else in the soup. I could have used variety. So, for about $1 I went to another place 3 or 4 hours later and had some rice noodles with all sorts of crap in there. I think I’m going to lose a ton of wet, because all the food is so health. Where are the hot dogs? I’m also walking a ton, so the 219lbs I left at should come down quite a bit.

Tomorrow I have a half day here in Saigon, and then I head to Hoi An for 2 nights, so that should be much smaller, slower, and authentic.

Bon Voyage Former Life

As I sit in my office four days before I embark on incredible life changing events, I can’t help feeling somewhat sad. I truly enjoyed my life in Chicago, and the US in general. I had a good job, which paid me well, plus it was interesting and thought provoking. I had a lot of friends from diverse backgrounds and social groups. I had a good amount of family here in Chicago. Overall my life wasn’t too bad. However, I have decided that if I didn’t mix it up and try to do something cool and different, that I never would and that it is important to take myself out of my comfort zone and try to gain new perspectives and experiences. This desire has lead me towards my decision to leave that all behind, and experience the world a little more.

I have done some traveling in the past. I’ve been throughout Europe, China, Panama, and Morocco. I apologize, mostly to myself, for my last two blogs sort of falling apart. I was traveling with others and they really weren’t respectful of my desire to sit for a while and type, consequently many of my experiences and thoughts went undocumented. However, I am determined to keep a blog on this trip, as it will be my longest, and I will be alone the entire time. My travels start me in Viet Nam, and from there I plan to go to Laos, Thailand, and India. My trip will be about 3 months, and at its conclusion I will be relocating myself on a more permanent basis to Israel, but that’s another adventure altogether.

I don’t know what to expect, and I don’t know what will happen, but I’m sure whether it’s for the better or not, this will be a life changing event (let’s just hope just not life ending).