The Rest of Australia: Fraser Island, Whitsunday Islands up to Cape Tribulation

When I left the Brisbane/Noosa area, I took a bus (the first and last one I had to take in Australia- I've been fortunate enough to have caught lifts up the entire east coast) from Noosa to Rainbow Beach. This is one of the two departure points to go to Fraser Island- the world's largest sand dune island. I stayed at a hostel called Dingo's and ended up working there for free accommodation and a discounted Fraser trip with some of the best people I could have possibly worked with. And by "work" I mean having fun doing things like serving dinner to about 60 hungry backpackers nightly, meeting buses and getting people to stay at Dingo's, stuffing envelopes, walking the manager's dog- whatever they needed, I did it. Although, deep down I think they were just being nice and wanted me to stick around so I got odd jobs. Whatever the reason, I wanted to stay and I wish I could have stayed longer.
I went to Fraser Island with a group of ten other random people. Basically, Dingo's gives you a 4x4, food and a tent and the 11 of you get on a car ferry and head to Fraser for 2 nights, 3 days. It is definitely the luck of the draw who you end up with in your group and unfortunately, I got stuck with some bad luck. There were five, young and rowdy UK boys vs. a couple Israelis and Germans. I literally fell in the middle as the 11th person and quickly took on the role of diplomat and mediator. Not very pleasant, but disaster was averted luckily the first night when we met up with other groups at the camp site and people could mingle with others outside our group. I met a great group of Irish and English that helped make the trip a great experience for me. As for jobs, I got out of putting up and taking down tents etc, because I was the cook for the group which is easier said than done. Cooking for 11 people when half of them are hovering over you as you try to cook a chicken stir fry and vegetarian options by the light of the jeep's headlights isn't the simplest of tasks. And, since it's a sand island, guess what gets into everything? One night, a guy gave us a few fish he had just caught and I tried my best to fillet it, but I was nearly gagging so the boys did it instead. It was a good trip despite the rough parts though: Fraser is beautiful, I saw dingos, an amazing lake (picture above) called Lake McKenzie, one of the most beautiful lookouts over the ocean called Indian Head where I saw whales, a couple rays and a shark. When we returned from Fraser, surprisingly with the 4x4 and ourselves still in one piece, I stayed at Dingo's a couple more nights and met a guy named Craig who was going up the coast. I caught a lift with him after a sad goodbye with the staff at Dingo's and we headed off to the town of 1770. Strange name I know, but I suppose that's when Captain Cook discovered it. It is a tiny town and Craig and I and a couple others went on a tour of the area via 'choppa'. There was a chopper with the American flag painted all over it so of course, I got that one. It was so much fun riding around that area with the ocean right there and passing groups of wallabies and kangaroos as we sped past. After 1770, we headed up to Townsville where I really wanted to dive the 1911 Yongala shipwreck. Although, due to the horrible and unusual rainy weather the northeast of Australia has been stuck in lately, I couldn't dive it. So instead, we headed up to Airlie Beach which is the launching point for the Whitsunday Islands. I went to the islands on a catamaran with about 25 other strangers for a 2 day/2 night tour on a boat called Wings. While the weather left much to be desired the whole time,I lucked out this time with my group- they were fantastic. I did one dive and snorkeled the rest of the time. The visibility was pretty good and coral and fish- amazing. The best beach I think I have possibly ever seen (and this was in the rain) was Whitehaven. It has the finest sand in the world and the whitest beaches I have ever seen (last photo). When I got back to Airlie, I luckily caught Craig as he was getting ready to head north again and so got back in the car for a lift. We arrived in Cairns and the weather was still bad. Every Aussie has been saying how strange it is for it to be raining, but, what can you do? Dive! I did a day trip out on the reef again from Cairns and on my second dive, I met my first turtles... What an experience! I literally massaged the back of this one turtle's neck and it would stop moving and tilt it's head back with each stroke and half close his eyes- if I stopped, it would turn to me and look right at me until I started again. Honestly, the whole time I was looking around to see if anyone else was witnessing this surreal experience with me, but when I realized the answer was no, it was even better. Later on in Cairns, I met up with a few people from the Whitsundays trip and others from Rainbow Beach and hung out with them while in town. Unfortunatelyely though, you can't swim in the ocean because its all mudflats with crocs, stingers (jellyfish) and sharks nearby. I went from Cairns up to Cape Tribulation and just got back today. What an amazing place AND it was completely sunny with not a cloud in the sky. It was the first time I had seen blue skies in weeks and everyone was in such high spirits. Cape Trib is one of the few places in the world where the rain forest meets the ocean and it is truly spectacular. I went on a croc cruise while I was up there and spotted two small crocs the guide hadn't seen and was promptly offered a job. Tempting, but in order to live in Cape Trib, you have to be a special 'Deliverance" breed, if you know what I mean. All the locals I met were really friendly, but it's a different way of life up there. They live in the jungle and are full of character and love their intoxicants at any hour of the day, typically 24 hours a day. I arrived back in Port Douglas and the next day, went on my final 10th and 11th dives in the Outer Ribbon Reefs. The weather was brilliant and the ribbon reefs were fantastic- they are the most untouched parts of the great barrier. I saw about 4 white-tipped reef sharks which was great, but a little unnerving... I just kept thinking 'I've made it 10 months with nothing bad happening and now watch me get eaten the day before I am meant to fly home'... It didn't help that one shark seemed to take a liking to me and kept eyeing me- gulp! But never fear, I made it out without contributing to a storyline for the sequel of 'Open Water' the movie. Also, there are Minke whales in the area and we watched them from the boat. Well, now I am in Cairns for one last night out with friends before I leave at 4am the next day to begin a long and rapidly approaching return to the States, to home:)
See you soon~

Half of Australia's East Coast: Melbourne to Brisbane

Upon arriving in Melbourne, I was fortunate enough to have a friend living there that I stayed with- Scottish Chris, who I travelled through Vietnam and Cambodia with a couple months back. There were also a slew of other friend living in Melbourne that I had met in Asia including Linda and Nick who I travelled with in northern Thailand, Pete who I got into my scooter accident with in Pai, Thailand; and finally Tuuli, who I met in Cambodia. I was in Melbourne for ANZAC Day which is a National Day of Remembrance in Australia and New Zealand in memory of those men who lost their lives on April 25th, 1915 during World War I. Chris, Tuuli and I went to the Dawn Service which was very moving and although it was a really early morning and a really long day, I'm glad I took part of such an important day.

Melbourne itself is an amazing city. It is a city where I really could see myself living- it's got a relaxed, friendly feel with an artistic vibe. There are also cultural events happening almost every weekend and great markets. When I left Melbourne, I got a lift up to Sydney with a German named Oliver. Getting lifts is a really popular way to get around Oz. Basically, people post offers and you give them a call and get a lift to where ever, just splitting the cost of petrol. So off I went to Sydney with Oliver and ended up staying in King's Cross which is by far the most, uh, colorful place I have ever been in my life... I think the number of junkies, dealers and prostitutes out number the amount of backpackers. Although, it is a really popular place for us to stay because of the nightlife and proximity to Sydney's sights. I was luck enough to find work at two different hostels there, cleaning for free accommodation. It saved me heaps of money although after cleaning about 20 toilets, I had to question my own principles! That said, Sydney or rather Australia in general is very expensive and saving money where ever I can is necessary. I saw all the sights including the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, Darling Harbour, Bondi and Manly Beaches, etc. I also had friends in Sydney that I had met in Asia including Welsh Danny from Cambodia, Nathan from Bangkok and the strangest encounter had to be seeing a guy I met in the Czech Republic four years ago randomly playing pool one night. I also met some really nice people in the hostels I worked at and have great memories of my time there. Although I also received the worse news of my trip while I was there. The day I was leaving Sydney, I got an email from my mom telling me our dog, Duke, had to be put down the night before. I wasn't expecting that and needless to say, it was and continues to be a heartache that I am trying to cope with.

I got a lift up the coast with two girls, Nic and Kris. Nic was Scottish and Kris was English and they were some of the nicest people I have had the pleasure of meeting on this trip. They were partners up until 2 weeks prior and thought having an extra person in the car might ease any awkwardness that might arise between them. Well, I was well entertained by them for the next two weeks as we headed up the coast towards Brisbane. They constantly bantered back and forth, putting each others' country down and taking the piss out of each other (crude, but that just means kidding around). We camped a few times at various places and although we had a fair bit of rain, we managed to have a great time. I think Byron Bay was one of my favorite spots on the way to Brisbane, but Brisbane itself was not the highlight of my trip, that's for sure. There just wasn't much to do there and I mainly hung out at the hostel and played pool for hours on end.

I said goodbye to Kris and Nic and promised to visit them in Glasgow and headed to the small town of Pomona and I will tell you why: While travelling in Asia, I met a few people who had done this mysterious 10 meditation course and they all told me I had to do it. So, I did it. I could write about this experience for then next 5 pages but will save you from that and just tell you a little bit. The first 3.5 days were spent focusing on breathing and not allowing yourself to think about the past or future, just the present. Harder said than done. Close your eyes and try to focus on your breathing without you mind drifting off about ANYTHING for 20 seconds and see if you can do it... Once you mastered that technique, called Anapana, rest of the time was spent focusing on the sensations in your body (aka PAIN after sitting for 1 hour not moving) and viewing all sensations objectively, in a detached way- this is Vipassana. I highly recommend it because while it is very difficult (up at 4am everyday, meditate for 12 hours a day and you only could eat 2 pieces of fruit after llam until breakfast the next morning at 6:3oam the next day, it was a really good experience. One of the best things about the center was there were kangaroos and little joeys that lived on the property that were very entertaining- thank God for them because you couldn't talk for 9 days, read or write and they were my only entertainment. Enough about that! You can read more about it at http://www.dhamma.org/ if you'd like.

After the meditation course, I headed to Noosa, a little north of Brisbane where it rained for a couple days. I went to the Steve Irwin Zoo which was good, although rather sad with the memorials for him. The weather hasn't been too nice as of late and am at Rainbow Beach which is near Fraser Island at the moment, waiting for better weather before I go to the island. I'm working here at Dingo's Hostel for free accommodation by meeting the buses as they role up and trying to get people to come stay at Dingo's. Easiest job I have ever had:) The weather is beginning to clear and I think I will be heading to Fraser in a day or so. Well, that's about it from Down Under:)

See you in less than a month! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

The Rest of New Zealand: Kepler Track to Picton

So, after skydiving in Te Anau, Jana and I prepared for the Kepler Track. It was a 2 night, three day beautiful 40 mile trek through the mountains in the fjordlands. We had a 1000 meter ascent the first day (ouch) and 400 the next day. We stayed in what are called "huts"with about 50 other people in basic bunks. The second day was actually sort of scary. We had to walk across the tops of the mountain ridges and the wind was so intense, we had to crouch down quite a bit to avoid being knocked off our feet and down the mountain. One family with younger kids had to turn back. The $3 poncho I bought in case of rain did nada against the rain that day and it was very cold with the wind. I was exceptionally happy when we reached the hut that night. The last day was beautiful as we walked through the valley. That night I met a guy in the campsite kitchen that read my palm. Very entertaining indeed... Looks like I have a few more years till I settle down!

Queenstown was the next stop. The drive there took us along a road overlooking the lake there and The Remarkables mountain range that disappear into the water. I think the name The Remarkables is the most fitting name for these mountains. They were truly remarkable...
Queenstown was a very touristy city, packed with tourist buses and a scene aimed for really young, party-hard tourists that I didn't really care for. I did meet a couple cool New Yorkers one night playing pool though. Other than that, the surrounding scenery is abut the only thing that really appealed to me. On our last night in QT, Jana and I parked the car for the night too close to the city and I woke up to a man handing me a paper through the car window, telling us we had 5 minutes to leave or we'd have a $4oo fine. Yikes! As we drove off, we counted numerous other vans and cars pulling out of their hiding spots after having been discovered and threatened by the same man. It really was comical at the time and boy, we all must have been a cite a for sore eyes to this guy. From there, we drove to nearby towns Arrowtown and Glenorchy. Both places were areas where a lot of the Lord of the Rings was filmed. It was Autumn and all the trees were changing colors, especially the beech trees which turned a brilliant yellow. Jana and I hiked through a beech forest. It was lovely and everything is covered in moss, but there was one eerie aspect- you couldn't hear one bird chirping. The possums and rats have killed off the majority of chicks and eaten bird eggs, that there are hardly any birds left in the south of the south island. It's amazing how much the lack of bird songs can change your perspective of a place. Arrowtown was a charming, quaint, old gold mining town scattered with old-English looking cottages.

Next stop, Wanaka. Supposedly, Shania Twain lives there. Nice town on the edge of an even nicer lake. Not a huge amount to do there if it's not ski season. We left Wanaka after 2 days and headed up the west coast to Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers. We did a guided glacier walk at Fox Glacier which was really great. There was a search and rescue team out there practicing drill too which was fascinating. Both glaciers were massive and the cliffs they carved in the surrounding mountains thousands of years ago, impressive.

At this point, I started to notice that I didn't have that much time left before I flew to Oz, so we got a move on up the west coast, stopping only at Pancake Rocks on the way north. Pancake Rocks are a geological beauty. They are a grouping of rocks that have distinct layers (resembling a stack of pancakes, hence the name) formed a long, long time ago. When it is high tide, the water roars through the blowholes and explodes out of the rock for a spectacular show.
Next stop, Golden Bay. The north of the south island is completely different from the south. Yes, it's still mountainous, but instead of vast lakes and stunning fjords, there are vineyards, orchards with fruit falling off the trees and picturesque rural scenery that I fell in love with. Golden Bay was the gem of the north for me. I did a day hike with Jana through Abel Tasman Nat. Park. At the end of our trek, we were let out onto a gorgeous, deserted cove. I noticed thousands of small mussels growing on the rocks on the beach. As I looked closer, I saw that not only were there small mussels, but also huge ones too. So I began to put at a few to see if they would come off the rocks; they did indeed and after stuffing Jana's scarf with about 2 dozen green lipped mussels, we headed back towards civilization. That night, after searching for a hostel that would let us use their kitchen, we found one. That night, we had the best dinner yet: Mussels, wine, bread and cheese. I think it tasted so good because of the mussel experience on the beach, not just the flavor. We found the best 'home' on Golden Bay. As we got into "bed" aka our sleeping bags in the car, we had the best view of the stars so far on this trip. As we woke up, we woke up to one of the best sunrises on this trip.
Next, we drove back down the Golden Bay coast to the city of Nelson and then Picton. In Picton, we joined the mail-route into the Marlborough Sounds. This boat we went on goes out 3 days a week to deliver supplies and mail to those people how live in the isolated sounds. It was a great experience to see how some of these people live and just how far away they are from, well, anything. Most families would pull up to the pier in a quad, pile their goods in it and head out. Amazing and inspiring how some of there people choose to live their lives. Jana and I also visited a couple vineyards in Blenhiem, south of Picton which was great- how could it not be with free tastings of top-notch wine? I had to say goodbye to Jana in Picton as I had to head south, back to Christchurch to fly out to Melbourne, Australia a couple days later. It was sad to leave her after all the experiences we had together in the past month, living in a tiny car together and basicly spending every waking moment together. I will ever be thankful I had that experience.

Nothing terribly eventful happened between Picton and Christchurch on the bus. I am now in Melbourne, Australia where I am staying with a friend I met in Laos and then travelled with in Vietnam and Cambodia- Chris, the Scotsman. He is living and working here in Melbourne. Yesterday, he and I went out with a girl named Tuuli that we met in Southeast Asia. She is from here and took us to a few great spots in the 'bush' and I spotted my first koala and then we saw a few kangaroos as well. Seeing koalas and kangaroos, a man playing the didgeridoo on the city streets for spare change and being given vegemite with my crackers after donating blood made me think: Ok, I'm in Australia!

G'day!

God's Country... New Zealand: Timaru to Milford Sound, South Island.

So, where did I leave off? First of all, I would just like to say New Zealand is everything I expected it to be. The people are really friendly and welcoming and the country has the most stunning scenery I have ever seen. There is something that will make you say Wow! around each turn in the road and the topography changes about a quick as the weather. For the sake of time (and energy) I will list where we have been and the highlights of that area, but before I start, I will tell you a wee bit (Kiwis use 'wee' all the time because of Scottish influences) about my new travel companion, Jana, and where we have been staying. Jana is a 25 year old budding artist with great talent from Berlin. She bought a 1994, two-door hatchback, red Opal which has been home to us for almost 3 weeks now. It has no radio so as our entertainment, we honk at hundreds of sheep along the side of the road and watch them look up and take-off running in the other direction (it may not sound that funny, but trust me, it really is!). At night, we either A) recline the seats in the Opal as far as we can and get in our sleeping bags, B) camp (weather depending) or C) crash at people's houses. Although, A) seems to be the most common. We typically start looking for our "home" or spot to park the car for the night before it gets dark. It usually is an alcove on the side of a highway because if you want to stay at a campsite you have to pay quite a bit and we refuse to do that. Most people who travel NZ buy a van or car and do what we are doing. You can only imagine what the past couple weeks have been like! Btw, I take pictures every day of where on the road we have slept that night so that would be why you see a lot of pictures of Jana's car!
Ok, now for where we've been!
First stop-
Omaru, a small, quaint town on the coast. It was full of garden shops, fish and chips take-aways (Kiwis love fried food), camping gear shops and cafes. We visited a yellow-eyed penguin colony, one of the rarest penguins in the world. We camped there that night next to a herd of sheep... Literally, right next to them. A fence separated us but they were very close and sounded more like pigs with their snorting!
Next stop-
Dunedin, an appealing student town with a heavy Scottish influence. Also, it is home to the world's steepest street and it was indeed very steep! It made the Guinness Book of World Records. Jana refused to drive up it. Also part of Dunedin is the Ortago Peninsula which launches off the tip of town and at the end of the forever snaking road, you can view Albatrosses but we didn't due to the fog:(
Next-
The Catlins, this is an area of the southwest coast of the south island that took us about 3/4 days to get through. The weather is as rough as the coastline, but spectacular nonetheless.
- Lots of seals and sea lions on the coast and you can get really close if you are quite enough, but they smell so bad that you really don't want to!
- Nugget Point- a lighthouse on the coast with a spattering of rocks jutting out of the water (thus, nuggets) and the sunset there was gorgeous. Also, randomly saw a guy there that I had met in South Africa.
- Tramped (hiked in Kiwi language) through a temperate rain forest (all over the Southland) which let out to the beach- really nice hike.
- Curio Bay- a bay covered in petrified tree stumps and logs. - Slope Point- the most southern point in NZ- wicked winds from the Artic and rain so didn't stay longer than we had to for a quick pic.
- Cathedral Caves- caves with cathedral ceilings on the beach that can only be accessed at low-tide.
- Lots of waterfalls and blowholes too...
Next stop-
Riverton, a small, sleepy seaside town with greasy, HUGE fried NZ mussels and oysters and a packed car full of French-Canadians that Jana and I camped with that night.
Next stop-
Fjordland!
Went to Lake Manapouri (second(?) deepest lake in NZ- some 440 meters deep at the middle)where we decided at the last minute to do an overnight cruise of Doubtful Sound. The Fjordland has many sounds and Doubtful is near the bottom, away from the more touristy Milford Sound. Strangely enough, I met someone on the cruise that knew someone I knew from England. Small world again! The cruise was amazing, the scenery dramatic, the Tasman Sea at sunset brilliant and the dolphins keeping us company was perfect.
Next- Milford Sound. Jana, Alistair (who was friends with that someone I know) and I headed north to Milford, just for the ride itself and it was the best drive I have seen so far in NZ. We stopped along the way at the Mirror Lakes that reflect the mountains perfectly. That night we all had wine and a good, warm dinner (anything warm is better than the bread/crackers/cheese/Vegemite/etc dinners we have!) We camped there and woke up to the 'Dawn Chorus' of the bell birds and Alistair left in the morning. Jana and I headed back down south to Queenstown (the Remarkables Mountain Range there is truly remarkable!) and Glenorchy where some of the Lord of the Rings was filmed. Then we headed to Te Anau where we booked a tramp through the fjordlands on the Kepler Track, one of NZ's "Great Hikes". It's a three day, two night hike through the Southern Alps of the fjordlands. The story of the trek will have to wait till next time though because I have to stop here for two reasons: A) I only have pictures uploaded to this point and B) I don't have time to write about all the rest! But before I go though, I will tell you we went skydiving over the Fjordlands- omg... 12,000 ft/4000 meters with a 48 second free fall. I have a DVD of it so if you're keen, I can show you when I get home.

One word: Whoa!

Me after the jump with my instructor:)

Malaysia, Singapore and the start of New Zealand

When I finally left Thailand and went to Malaysia, my first port of entry was the city of Georgetown on the island of Penang. Malaysia itself is a Muslim country and Penang is a really interesting mix of Chinese, Indians and Malay people. I got the impression that Penang is a strange sort of place. Maybe I owed my first impression to the bizarre hostel I stayed at, with the oddest mix of people I think I have ever come across. Bizarre is how I ultimately felt about the whole island, but hey, maybe I didn't give it much of a chance. I also discovered that Malaysia is not too easy to navigate on your own when it isn't tourist season. I made it straight across to the Perhentian Islands on the east coast near the Thai border after some difficulty. The Prehentian Islands were amazing- I think they were up to par if not better than the islands of Thailand. Actually, they were better. I took a speed boat from the mainland to the islands and we were going so fast over choppy water that we were actually airborne at times and completely drenched when we reached the shore 45 minutes later. Upon reaching the shore of the small island, I fell out of the speed boat (literally, first I fell backwards on my tailbone bruising it badly, then I stood up, regained some composer and then lost it and my dignity as I fell forward into the ocean). Luckily the restaurant directly on the beach where the boat dropped us was only half full... Everyone sitting there had a great view of my acrobatics and a guy named Laine from Toronto (I travelled with him in Vietnam/Cambodia), recognising my gracefulness, came running over from the restaurant to say hello and pick me out of the water. It was really good to see him and catch up on the last couple months. I went diving the next day with him and a couple others and my dive master, Alisha was great. We hit it off and I came back the next day to do a shipwreck dive. We went down about 23 meters and she showed us so many things- blue-spotted rays, giant barracuda (can't really miss those though... yikes!), puffer fish and many other things. I spotted a moray eel for which I was quite proud:) I hung out at the dive hut the next day too, played with their pet monkey Babu and did some snorkeling. The Coral Bay side of the Island is where I did the diving and snorkeling but I was staying on Long Beach, which is on the other side. There was a path that connected the two beaches that takes you through the jungle. Other than the giant mosquitoes that you needed an entire bottle of repellent if you wanted to get out with half a pint of blood left in you, you also had the ever so friendly monitor lizards that are about 2 meters long... nice walk though... really...

After the Perhentians, I went Taman Negara National Park in the middle of the country. A couple key phrases to tell you all I need to know about that trip:
110% humidity
Beautiful rain forest Good trekking
Lots of rodents/reptiles
Wobbly canopy walk 45 meters up (very scary)
Floating restaurants on the river
Hot
Humid
Hot and Humid, left after 2 days...

The trip out of Taman Negara to Kuala Lumpur was nearly impossible. I refused to pay the amount that travel agencies were charging tourists to get there and decided to do it myself. Well, this is kind of how things went:
- Took Bus A to Destination A
- At Destination A, bus was sold out to Destination B
- Commence Plan B: took Bus B to Destination C
- Bus from Destination C to Destination D, sold out...
- Commence Plan C: took bus from Destination C to Destination E
- Bus from Destination E to Final Destination (KL), sold out...
- Insert curse words here.
- Commence Plan D: get into taxi with three Muslim girls and head to KL.
- Arrive KL some hours later, dropped far, far away from where I wanted to go, get on the LRT (above ground train) and get to Chinatown.

KL was a cool city, but there wasn't too much to do there, or maybe the heat and 6+ months of travelling was beginning to catch up to me. I think Chinatown was where the most action/tourists are. I have seen a lot of different street food/vendors on my trip through southeast Asia, but nothing, NOTHING like KL. There was more variety than anything I have ever seen. Lots of Chinese, Malay and Indian food of every sort. I took the LRT to the Petronas Towers at night which were impressive. There are 5 levels to the towers, representing the 5 levels of Islam. When you stand at the bottom, you can't see the top.

From Kuala Lumpur, I went to Singapore to stay with Agustin and Alexandra, his wife. Agustin is my brother Jim's friend from high school and it was great to see him and Alex. A few years back, I was backpacking through eastern and central Europe and was in Krakow, Poland at the right time and went to their wedding. I hadn't seen them since then and I had a fantastic time with them in Singapore. I explored the city in one day, going to Little India and the financial district. It pored buckets but still was a nice and CLEAN city. I had heard before I went that it was incredibly clean, so I was on a mission to find at least one piece of trash on the street. I never saw any. None. They also don't sell gum in Singapore because people throw it on sideways, etc. It is a very organized, expensive and clean city.

After saying goodbye to Alex and Agustin, I went to the airport and headed out to New Zealand. Well, sort of... I went from Singapore to Darwin, Darwin to Cairns, Cairns to Sydney, Sydney to Christchurch. It was a long couple days. I was in Christchurch for the first few days and now am in Timaru, south of Christchurch by about 3 or 4 hours. I met a German girl here named Yana and she has a car! We are leaving tomorrow to travel down south for the next couple weeks. I am really excited. The people here are incredibly friendly. Last night at the hostel I am staying at, the owner served up fresh abalone he caught in the ocean. It was amazing. I had never had it before and it is normally incredibly expensive, but as he says, the ocean is his grocery store. Tonight, we are having green-bone fish another guy speared yesterday. I love this country already!

Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) Cambodia through Southern Thailand

Hello, hello again!
Let's see, where did I leave off? I believe it was in Siem Reap, Cambodia. I really enjoyed Siem Reap for many reasons. It was easy to navigate on foot, with a huge market in the middle and well laid out streets. The people there were great- very friendly and always had genuine a smile on their faces. There wasn't a big city feel at all, unlike Phenom Penh. There was a center there for the street children (which there are A LOT of unfortunately in Siem Reap). I visited the classroom there, played with them and watched them get their 'lice wash'. I wanted to volunteer my time there but it was unlike the shelters in Goa because none of the kids lived there and so they just dropped in occasionally for lunch and a quick wash and then they were out again begging or rag-picking. So other than playing with them for a bit, there wasn't much else I could do. A friend of mine, Chris from Scotland (who I had been travelling with since Vietnam) and I decided to rent bikes and ride to Angkor Wat to see all the temples. I think it was about 99 degrees that day and we had to stop pretty often to hide in the shade. It was pretty brutal. The temples themselves, built by the Khmer civilization in the 12th century, are truly remarkable. The only thing that put a damper on the experience was the tourists... specifically the bus loads of Japanese tourists. They were EVERYWHERE. Regardless, we saw a gorgeous sunset and temples galour. After Seim Reap, I caught the bus to Bangkok. That bus ride goes down in history as the worst bus trip ever. Besides the heat, the dust, the bumpy road and crapped conditions, it is notoriously a horrible bus trip, but to make it even more fun, our bus broke down. Not only did both back tires blow, but they only had one spare to put on. This took a good hour and a half, as we hacky sacked and waited on the road to get back in. You don't want to wander of the road because there are still many unexploded mines and bombs that litter the countryside. So after the spare was put on, we all clamored back on the bus, applauding the achievement of our brilliant drivers. The next problem occured about a minute later when they went to start the engine and it was dead. Out of the bus we go again for another hour or so! Finally, we get the ok and get back on the bus (no applause this time) and we go about 20 minutes and stop at a roadside repair shop. Everyone out again! This time it took about 2 hours because every time the reflated a tire, they would pop it. It took them awhile to get that right. In the meantime, I had a great time at a local shop with a family of Cambodians and some of the sweetest children I have ever seen. We finally got on the bus and what was supposed to be a 5/6 hour trip has now become a 15 hour trip. Chris and I arrive in Poipet (the cesspool of Cambodian/the world) and are rushing to cross the border and get on the last bus to Bangkok. We finally make it on and there were no more seats left for me, so I had to sit next to the driver in a foldout chair. I kept nodding off and didn't want to jeopardize the safety of the passengers by falling onto the driver, so I just crawled into the aisle and fell asleep. Desperate times... I said goodbye to Chris in Bangkok and headed south to Koh Phang Yang. I met up with a couple Canadians there that I had met in Vietnam. The island itself was beautiful, just as soon as you got out of Haad Rin, the Full Moon Party area. I rented a scooter and went up the entire west coast and watched one of the most amazing sunsets from a restaurant high on a hill overlooking the ocean. I left that part of the island the next day and went up the east coast to Haad Thien. It was beautiful there and the beaches were clean, quiet and lovely. I met a couple from San Fan, Zach and Rannie and a girl named Mary from Minnesota. I hung out with those 3 for the next week and had a blast. I left Ko Phang Yang for Ko Tao and started my open water PADI course as soon as I got there. My instructor's name was Jonas and he had done over 7,000 dives, so I felt like I was in good hands! I met a really nice Aussie named Elisha who was doing the course as well. Diving itself is an amazing experience and I can't wait to do it again here in Malaysia. You don't even realize how much is underwater until you are 18 meters down- it is simply another world. Elisha and I went snorkeling in Shark Bay too- I think we must have seen about 15/20 Black-tip Reef Sharks. It was great! I never thought I would ever swim with sharks, but there I was, not very far from them. They are docile sharks and are interested in fish, not us, so they just swim on by as if we weren't there. I met a large group of Germans in Ko Tao including a 'unique' guy named Chris (hi Chris!) and we hung out with them nearly every night. Germans and Sweds make up the majority of the tourists in southern Thailand- esp. Sweds! After Ko Tao, I went briefly to Krabi and then to Ko Phi Phi, a couple of the places hardest hit by the tsunami. You could see evidence because there was so much construction going on. I met a Canadian girl named Bailey on the ferry over and we instantly hit it off. We went on a half day snorkeling trip around the Phi Phi islands, including Maya Bay where the movie 'The Beach' was filmed. It was beautiful. Phi Phi itself was expensive and so after a few days, we headed to Ko Lanta, further south. The island is primarily Muslim because of it's close proximity to Malaysia. The two of us rented a scooter there and went cruising around looking for different beaches. I don't think either of us were truly impressed with the island since things were so spread out and you had to use a scooter to get anywhere. After a couple nights on Ko Lanta, I said goodbye to Bailey and headed to Penang, an island in Malaysia where I am now. It is a Muslim country and has a really interesting mix here in Penang of Malay, Indian and Chinese people. I like it here and wish I had more time to see more of the island, but I have to move on to the Prehenthian Islands on the east coast tonight!

Till next time~

Vietnam through Cambodia

That 22 hour bus ride turned out to be 27 hours. It was entertaining though as the drivers started piling enormous packages in the back of the bus, so much that you literally had to climb over the bags to get in your seat. If you left the bus for too long, your seat would be taken with a big burlap sack that then you had to move on top of the other bags.

When I finally arrived in Hanoi, I immediately met a few people who invited me out with them for dinner... Not the normal kind of dinner. Let's just say "ruff, ruff". It was one of the nastiest things I have ever had. The next day I set out for Halong Bay (where the dragon meets the sea). The bay is absolutely breath-taking. There are thousands of limestone islands dotting this amazing, turquoise water. We visited a couple caves and a lagoon where Tomorrow Never Dies was filmed. I spent the night on our 'junk' boat and had my own room for a change! What a luxury. The next day, I went kayaking with an Aussie guy that wasn't quite right in the head. Throughout the bay, there are floating houses where the fishermen and their families live. the guy in the kayak, Thomas, wanted to get a better look at how they lived so he paddled us so close that three big dogs nearly jumped on us. It was really frightening because they we slightly above us and they were really angry. I pushed away as quick as possible and got the heck out of the kayak with Thomas. When I left Halong Bay, I headed back to Hanoi and then south to Hoi An on the coast, midway down the country. Hoi An was a cute, small town that is famous for cheap, tailor-made clothes. There is a heavy french influence throughout the architecture of Vietnam which adds a definite charm.

Speaking of charm, I should say that before heading to Vietnam (esp the north), people warned me that I would certainly have something stolen and that the Vietnamese people were not friendly. In reality though, I found the people to be the nicest people I have ever met while travelling. I made it through Vietnam without having anything stolen and loved the locals. If you smiled or said hello (sin chow) you got friendly responses all the time. I loved it there and spent nearly a month in Vietnam. There is most definitely a heavy communistic feel to it, especially in the north with the billboards. I should also mention that the whole time I have been travelling, I run into people I met a month ago or a week ago. There is a clockwise or counter clockwise route most backpackers are on, so it isn't too surprising that you see someone you met in Laos over a month ago, here in Siem Reap, Cambodia, like I just did.

After Hoi An, I went further south to Nha Trang, a big beach town, which was great for a few reasons: The beach, the beach and the beach. There was also plenty of nightlife and I became friends with a few people at one particular bar called "Why Not". The only unfortunate aspect of Nha Trang were the prostitutes. In Bangkok and other big cities, they typically wait until a guy is really drunk, takes them home and then robs them. Whereas in Nha Trang they were much more aggressive. If you walked home alone at night, all of a sudden you'd be surrounded by 3 scooters (5 hookers and a pimp) and the women would get off and surround you and grab you wallet, camera, anything they could get their greedy little hands on. This happened to a lot of guys. After spending a few days there, I went to a town called Dalat. I literally spent one night and left. It was not very nice at all. So instead, I went to a small fishing village called Mui Ne and met up with friend there. The beach was really nice and I spent an entire afternoon playing with 2 Vietnamese children. Later that afternoon, I biked with an Italian guy 15kms to the red sand dunes. I stopped briefly at a harbor and the 2 kids I had been with earlier were there. They grabbed me by the hand and took me to their small home in the nearby village. The whole village came over to see us and we had a fantastic time. The little girl got on the back of my bike (Asian style!) and the little boy got on the front of Federico's bike and we headed to the dunes. The dunes were beautiful at sunset and having the kids with us made it all the better. We returned them to their Auntie and headed back to town. I did have a couple strange incidents in Mui Ne unfortunately, but if I write about them, I would be worrying my family unnecessarily so I will save those stories for another time!

From Mui Ne, I headed down to Ho Chi Mihn City (HCMC/Siagon). I wasn't crazy about the place- it was massive with tons of traffic (10 million scooters call HCMC home), a lot of dodgy old white men with young Vietnamese girls. I did however visit the Chu Chi Tunnels that the Viet Cong used during the "American" War, as they call it. It was really difficult to see the traps used on our soldiers and after awhile, I just wandered off and did my own thing. It was interesting to see their perspective, although, something made me feel sick to my stomach. Fro instance, we had to watch a film about a young Viet Cong girl who received many awards, including 'Brave American Killer Hero' and things like that, with happy music playing in the background as you watch them smiling as they gun down our troops. Not very pleasant...

While in HCMC, I also visited a bizarre 'church/temple/pagoda/I don't know what' where they combine 5 main religions of the world to make their own religion. It was really strange to say the least.

I left HCMC for Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Cambodia is incredibly poverty stricken and resembles India in many ways. There are many street children, shanty housing and a very poor sewage system, if there is one at all. I arrived in Phnom Penh which was surprisingly big and very very, dirty/dusty. I think it would be fair to say that Cambodia is a large dust-bowl. Everything is covered by layers of dust from the dirt roads. It isn't the most aesthetically beautiful country I have ever seen, although the Khmer people make up for it's appearance. I finished the book "The Killing Fields" before I arrived and it gave me a great perspective on what these people have endured in the past 25/30 years with the genocide that wiped out millions of them. They are kind people that love a good joke. I visited the killing fields (where the executions of men, woman and children/infants occurred) where there are mass graves. There was one memorial there with 8,000 skulls. Because the Khmer Rouge wanted to save ammunition, you can see the evidence on the skull of the use of pick axes, machetes, etc. I won't even get into how they killed the babies because it is just too awful. Before these people were executed, typically they were held in S-21, a former high school in Phnom Penh and tortured before they were taken to the killing fields. I could go on and on about what was inside S-21 and the pictures there of what happened, but once again, I don't want to. I left for Siem Reap a few days later and visited Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. It was truly amazing that these temples have survived almost 1000 years- you can still see the details in the carved stone and 80% of the structures still are standing and in really good shape (pictures in the next batch!). I rode my bike with a Scottish guy named Chris that I had met in Laos and randomly met again in Vietnam. Riding around in the heat to the temples during the day was almost unbearable and we had to stop several times to recover. We caught the sunset though and it was really nice. While I was in Siem Reap, I found a shelter where the street children come to learn and relax. It was run by Friends International and I spent as much time there as I could- it reminded me so much of the kids I worked with in India, I loved it.

I left Cambodia the other day on what was supposed to be a 10 hour bus ride. This trip was honestly the worst bus ride I have ever been on- even worse than the 27 hour one from Laos to Vietnam. It took us 16 hours and this included the following:

1. Dirt and rock road- no pavement. It was so violently bumpy that I had one of the worst headaches I've ever had.

2. No AC and having all the windows in the bus open did not cool you down at all and only succeeded in covering you in a thick layer of dust from all the dirt in the air (I had to shower twice to try to get all the dirt off and still wasn't totally rid of the filth).

3. The two back right tires blew out (right under me). They "fixed" only one of the 2 needed tires with the only spare they had. We applauded until the driver went to start the engine and the engine was dead. Finally, it was jumped somehow and I just prayed the tires would somehow ground any electrical current should they mess something up.

Total time spent playing hacky-sack on the side of the road, dying of heat during all this= aprox. 2 hours.

4. Then, just when you think we are on own way to Bangkok, we had to stop at the side-of-the-road mechanic for another 3 hours to have the bus fixed properly...

5. Arriving at the border crossing in Poipet, Cambodia (a.k.a. the cesspool of the world). Chris and I had to walk about 2kms with our packs to the border through this filthy, filthy, stinking, most disgusting city I have ever been through to get to the Thai border.

6. I barely made the bus and was the last one on one of these huge tour buses. The only seat left was front and center next to the driver. I was so exhausted that after awhile, I finally just laid down in the middle of the isle and fell asleep!

So if you are ever feeling slightly envious that I'm over here travelling and seeing all these great things (blah, blah, blah) it's true, BUT, just remember, I see and experience all the bad parts about it too.

Since I leave for the islands in southern Thailand in a couple days, I feel like I am leaving the heart of Southeast Asia. so I feel the need to review some of my experiences in Southeast Asia-

Let's start with language:

Here are a couple phonetically correct phrases in case you go to a Vietnamese or Thai or whatever restaurant, you can impress the staff!

Thai:

Hello= So wah dee kah

Thank you= Kah poon kah

Lao:

Hello= Saw wah dee

Thank you very much= Cop chai lie-lie

Vietnamese:

Hello= Sin chow

Good bye= Tam beert

Thank you= Come un

You're crazy/insane= Coom coom, ding ding (use with caution)

Khmer/Cambodian:

Hello= Su se day

Thank you= Ah coon

Strangest things I have eaten in Southeast Asia:

Crickets

Silkworms

Dog

Frog

Log (just kidding- it rhymed)

And strangely enough, a bizarre type of coffee called Weasel Coffee... Just Google it if you really want to know...

Anyways, that's all I've got left in me to write.

xxoo

Chrissy!

Northern Thailand through Laos

Well, I didn't end up going too far south in Thailand just yet. I went with Linda and Nick about 5 hours south of Bangkok to hang out at the beach for a few days. Unfortunately, a typhoon had swept through about a week prior so it was really windy and you definitely couldn't swim. Nevertheless, if you could ignore the prostitutes that seemed to be everywhere preying on drunken Englishmen on their way home from the bar, it was a decent time. Afterwards, Linda and I said goodbye to Nick in Bangkok and headed north to Chaing Mai for Christmas. Chaing Mai is an interesting place and I bet it was probably quite beautiful about ten years ago. It has a great night market and is easy to navigate on foot, unfortunately though, the traffic is very heavy and it is very difficult to avoid hitting cars while on a bike that has bad brakes... I sort of hit a car while trying to work my way through the fast pace traffic, falling off my bike and injuring my left foot in the process. I was on crutches the next day (which happened to be my birthday:( and have since been given several nicknames, mainly Gimpy and Cripple. I did, however, get prayed over but a very drunken Thai woman who blew on my face and placed her hands on me, trying to heal my foot. Too bad it didn't work! However, even though I was on crutches, I had a great birthday. Ivan surprised me with a birthday cake that said "Happy Birthday Christine!" It was really thoughtful and totally unexpected- it really made my day. I left Chaing Mai the following day and headed northeast to a small hippie town called Pai. I spent Christmas there with Linda and Ivan and we had a gift exchange on Christmas morning. It was really good to be able to spend Christmas with good friends- it made it just a little bit easier being away from home. Since I had pulled tendons in the arch of my foot, I thought renting a scooter would be the easiest way to see the area around Pai. So I hopped on the back of a scooter with a guy named Peter and a few others and we set off. It seemed as though I must have acquired some bad karma along my travels because as we were slowing to cross a bridge, the gears gave out and we did a fishtail on the gravel and bit it. I luckily didn't land on my hurt foot, but I did land on my knee instead. So, I with my very attractive, bloody knee and Peter with his badly skinned palm, we got back on the p.o.s and rode back to Pai. The next day, I am almost embarrassed to say we thought we would try it again with a different bike. Well, it seemed as though we were gluttons for punishment as our scooter died about an hour outside of Pai and we had to hitch a ride back to town. After all this, I decided to head back to Chaing Mai with Peter for New Year's and give the city one more chance. When I first got there, I went straight to the hospital and had x-rays of my foot and got meds, etc. When I got a "noting bwoken" I went ON A SCOOTER (I know...) with Peter and we rode around CM. We got back in one piece and that night, we went out for New Year's Eve. We were at a bar when we heard about the 3 bombings in Bangkok and bomb threats in Chaing Mai. Unnerving to say the least, but it really got bad when we heard a really loud noise and the sound of things crashing and breaking coming from the other side of the deck we were all standing on. Everyone panicked and rushed inside, but as it turns out, it wasn't a bomb but a half collapsed deck. Not safe either, but better that than the alternative. As it turns out, a couple days after I left Chaing Mai, there were several bombings too. The Thai government is really good at keeping things hush, hush though, if this is news to you.

After New Year's Eve, I took a bus to the Laos/Thailand border and got on a 2 day boat to Luang Prabang in Laos. The Mekong River was beautiful, the boat was cramped and the company good fun. Laos is a beautiful, green country, with limestone mountains that seem to jut up from nowhere. The people are friendly, always saying "Saw-wah-dee" which means hello, although, since it has only recently opened it's borders, it still has a long way to go... What I mean by that is the people of Laos (some, not all) really are just after the Farang's (white people aka white people) $, especially the police who watch intently for pot-smokers and then blackmail them out of hundreds of US$. They try to cheat you often and aside from that, there is a good chance you will be stared at and laughed at quite frequently by the men, children and some women. That being said, the majority are still a really nice group of people who are incredibly friendly (even to Americans who only in the past 30some/40 years bombed their country to an unimaginable extent), but they just aren't used to having a bunch of white people marching around their villages. Fair enough...

Luang Prabang was a nice town on the Mekong river with waterfalls nearby and good trekking. I actually met an American couple at one of the waterfalls and long story short, I ended up babysitting their two kids that night for $25 USD- nice! While in LP, I got up early on several occasions to watch the monks/novices as they walk through the streets at dawn, collecting alms (rice mostly) from the locals. They only eat twice a day,- in the early morning and then again at 11:30am and then that is it for the day. It is a really wonderful experience to watch them proceed through the empty streets in their orange clocks. The novices are anywhere from 12-19 years old and they come to Luang Prabang from all over Laos to become a novice. The main reason is so they can get a free education, but some decide to stay and become a monk after the age of 19. LP also has a great night market and food stalls where we made it a habit to go to these vegetarian buffet places for only 5000 Kip (.50 cents US) for dinner each night. There was a lot to see outside the town including beautiful waterfalls that I visited via bike. I ran into Ivan again here in LP and we decided to head north to a small village called Nong Khiaw. I stayed in bamboo bungalows overlooking the Mekong. Really cold at night (as with most places north of Bangkok), but hot, hot, hot during the day. It was a beautiful place (pictures in the next batch!) with a bridge over the river and mountains surrounding us. We took an hour boat ride to the next town up, Muang Noi(?) which was ever smaller than Nong Khiaw. We stayed there for two days, went on a hike to a nearby village (my foot is doing much better thanks to a Canadian named Brian who sold me his magnetic insoles that are miracle workers!), met a hilarious Scottish girl there and just had a great time. After returning to Nong Khiaw, I caught a bus back to Luang Prabang, picked up my visa for Vietnam and I headed south to Vang Vieng. The scenery was gorgeous, with more limestone peaks and a river that runs by the town. I did a full day of kayaking down the river with a few other people and we went in a water cave on an inter tube, pulling yourself along a rope that went from wall to wall. The day before I had gone deep into a cave and then deeper down a ladder into this gray water. It was a definite psychological test and I passed, although I was relieved that I didn't have to retake it again the next day in the tubs! The town of Vang Vieng isn't that wonderful- very touristy. I mean touristy as in all the restaurants play re-runs of 'Friends' all day long. I admit I may have watched an episode or two, but that was only because it reminded me of home, which was quite nice. I now am in Vientiane and just said goodbye for good to Ivan, a long time travel companion. Tonight, I catch a overnight/day/freaking forever 22 hour bus to Hanoi, Vietnam.

Should be fun! La Khon!