Reviews

For those of you wondering how the 2 weeks volunteering in crocodile research went, here's the letter i'm sending to Earthwatch, maybe with some edits once i'm more awake.

An Open Letter to the Decision Makers at Earthwatch

I volunteered in the November 2009 expedition of Crocodiles of the Zambezi, run in the field by Audrey Detoeuf-Boulade and Kevin Wallace. The first time I met Audrey and Kevin was at the beginning of the expedition, and am writing to express my admiration for the two; they form a phenomenal, invaluable team.

Audrey and Kevin are both capable of handling a wide range of technical problems. Whether it is engine issues, food/lodging logistics, health concerns, or simply getting water, they are unfazed by the adversities of life in the bush, responsive to all problems that arise, and relentless in their pursuit of getting the work done. And both cook great meals, even with minimal utilities when necessary.

Along with fantastic field skills, both have the social and managerial skills to handle all manner of personal and personnel issues. They are enjoyable people to simply hold a conversation with but can take charge when needed. In handling employees, interacting with locals, or managing volunteers, Audrey and Kevin perfect that elusive combination of true professionals, great leaders, and wonderful friends.

And still there is more to Audrey and Kevin – they excel as scientists and teachers. Both show profound dedication to their fields, knowledge of their areas, a thirst to discover more, and a desire to better their environment. They are willing to explain all the details of their work yet are receptive to new ideas and suggestions. And while both demonstrate a deep understanding of the science, they are also capable of providing simplified explanations for the lay person. These are the kind of scientists that truly make the world a better place.

Thus, if Audrey and Kevin should ever ask Earthwatch for funding, please accept them without hesitation. And should they not come to you in the near future, it is in Earthwatch’s best interest to actively pursue them. This is a couple that will greatly benefit any organization they are associated with.


Sincerely,


Francisco Luis Roque

Yes, Kev and Auds are that cool.

Acid Spitting Beetle

By the next day, this blister was thrice as big and other blisters were forming on my leg and torso. I'm fine now, unfortunately other family members aren't. Goodbye, uncle.

From AA to ZZ

Greetings from Lusaka, Zambia. Yes, after a couple weeks of sleeping under 4 hours a night, losing 5 pounds, and general non-stop work either at WCC, house 1 2 or 3 (too bad only one of them is mine), i finally got to relax with 36 hours of travel and a doubling, possibly tripling, of my yearly cholesterol intake. Internet is pretty good here though about $2/hour, a little pricier than similar places. Maybe it's just the downward spiral of the dollar.

Some younger guy in AMS asked me if i had any tips for travelling long distances in a plane. He was on his first overseas voyage, a 12 hour flight to Hong Kong. Am i supposed to have some special knowledge by this point?

Lusaka is ok, but so far Kampala has been my favourite African city. Of course i've not been here long enough to make a real determination.

I fear i will ramble too much more should i continue this post.

Road Hazards

Narrowly missed biking over this frog, over by the UM Art & Architecture Building. I set the little thing into the convenient, small wetland area surrounding the parking lot. Hopefully it will quickly learn that the sidewalk is a dangerous place to be.

Speaking of wetlands, their animals and danger, i signed up to volunteer helping with crocodiles in November. If it pans out, i'll spend two weeks measuring, tagging and gathering other data about Nile Crocodiles in Zambia, along the border with Zimbabwe. After that i hope to make it up north to see my cousin who will be volunteering in Solwezi. And, hopefully, somewhere in there i'll find the time to take a peak at Victoria Falls and raft the Zambezi.

Airports

I think my niece would like this light installation at Schiphol. The haha's turn on/off seemingly randomly.

DXB is nice and mall-like.

Unfortunately DXB wireless, while free, is very poor. AMS wireless is expensive and strong.

Hello

Today Rex introduced me to the Google Chart API. I said "Hi" and an hour later had this. It's a little buggy, not necessarily 100% accurate and only projects to 2009.

Granite

Rode a train today, saw some pretty rocks stacked on top of each other. It was kinda nice & peaceful.

Masks

Finally finished finishing (applied a couple layers of Tung oil to protect the wood) the Congolese mask i bought in Uganda last year and placed it next to the mask i bought in Costa Rica this year. On the left is a mahogany fertility mask from the Songa tribe in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (possibly this place?). On the right is a Boruca ceremonial mask carved from balsa wood by Gonzalez. The Boruca mask was used in the "Danza de los Diablitos" ceremony which reenacts the European invasion and repression of the natives, and as the ceremony is very physical, the mask is missing a tooth.

More Sights

Rented a car and drove around the Costa Rican countryside for a few days. If you still think rollercoasters are fun, try driving through Latin American mountains sometime. Narrow bridges, cliffs, washouts, passing around mountain corners - American Mountains don't really compare, though if you find yourself doing an inversion while driving you may be wishing you were safely attached to a track.

Driving also provides the opportunity to stop where i want, and so have been able to take the following typical photos.




Standard volcano/lake scene. That's Arenal Volcano, which is visible from La Fortuna, provided you get there during the daytime, and which, if you ask "what city am i in?" while in Fortuna, you will be pointed out "didn't you see the volcano?", as if a volcano is visible from only one city.




Llanos de Cortes waterfall, just outside of Bagaces but far enough off the road that it is a very tranquil place to visit. It is one of the prettiest waterfalls i've seen.




Standard sunset beach scene, as seen from Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste.

Perspectives

Rafting down the Pacuare River in Costa Rica, swimming through the calmer parts, canyon walls and waterfalls on either side.





I've seen these scenes a million times from the riverbanks and overviews, never from in the river. It's quite a change of perspective and i enjoy the new take on old views.

It was relatively safe - our guide fell in the river within the first ten minutes but pulled himself back in quick enough, and a Spanish woman almost fell in but held on to the side and we pulled her in just before she was crushed between the raft and a very large boulder. Yup, safe enough for anyone to try.

Travel Plans

In Italy, and all i can think about is how much i'd rather be in Mexico or Zambia. Still, Rome is a nice enough place.

Yer out!

Had i been on that plane, there would have been one survivor - work has warned me that i'm not allowed to die or otherwise have anything bad happen to me. Instead, my relation to current events has me stranded in Zagreb for a day, a result of the immovable force known as the Italian strike. Had i been more on the ball, could have checked out Ljubljana, but in the wee hours of my Zagreb arrival, was not comprehending which country was on strike (how could i wonder?)

Wandered around Zagreb, a city i've wandered around in the past - at least this time an old man did not proposition me within the first ten minutes of my arrival. Went to a sculptor's museum and saw how a three dimensional artform can become a two dimensional work.

Added a couple k's of liquid to my pack, wonder how customs will like that.

Listened to a Belgian complain to me about graffiti, and brag that Belgium has none. That country's not even 12,000 square miles, probably can't find anything decent to tag - not that i support mindless sparypaint, the main variety found in these parts.

And now just wait. And wait. And wait, for the first post-strike train to Venice.

Everyone's Hero...

...except the hooligans. Bruce Lee was gone, having been desecrated after a football match. Back next season, after a thorough cleaning and repairs. Perhaps i will be too, if the Kosovo vote fairs well.

Rebirth

I remember my youth. So well, in fact, that my memory exagerates events exponentially, as any frequent and astute reader will be aware of. But even my over-active memories of my own experienced civil war are no match for the history lessons available by walking the streets of Mostar.

Sure, a number of buildings have been full repaired, no visible damage whatsoever. But a number of inhabited buildings still show the bullet holes and shell damage of recent history. And peppered between both of these, the empty husks of buildings, glass shattered, walls appearing as a strange war-time stucco.

Ah, life.

Is there an architecture school that teaches to build for civil war? To consider not just what the building will look like immediately upon completion, but upon destruction too? All my life i have been shown the end result, the death toll of countless buildings. Did the Colliseum architect, Pompeii's legions, the Mayans, the Khmer, consider what their structures would look like, covered with lava, dirt, trees, time?

Bucharest, Day 1

Slept 12 hours, despite the usual hostel racket. Finally no winesap worries, no koolwhip concerns. Wandered aroun the rest of the day. Hurried activities prior to my departure helped me forget my compass, but still i maintained a fair sense of direction. This town is nice enough, standard Eastern European city. More Belgrade than Prague.

I think the scale on my maps is off by a factor of two, else i'm terribly out of walking shape. Enough English spoken here, getting around is rather easy, though eating still a bit difficult. The language holds many similarities to Italian, but different enough i'm not sure what kind kind of chicken that was. Still, the language, coupled with the Roman alphabet, makes sign reading, and thus getting around, rather easy.

Safety First

Going through immigration as i'm leaving de, the officer asks, "Only in Germany for one day? Where are you going to now?" "To Bucharest." "Romania? Be Safe."

What's so dangerous about Romania? Oh, excepting maybe the roaming packs of stray dogs that even killed a tourist last year. Get some Thai over there, that problem's gone in a couple weeks. I've had my rabies shots and instictively protect my jugular... usually. I think i'll be ok.

Partial Arrival

Uneventful flight. The days leading to vacation left me so exhausted that i missed watching 2 movies i'd yet to see - listened to them as i slept, but from what i've learned in my class, that doesn't count.

In Frankfurt, managed to push the right buttons to get a train ticket from the airport. Don't know where exactly i am, just hopped on the first train. It's a lazy Sunday afternoon, i'm the only one in an Italian restaurant. Eating a penne boscaiola, though no meat. Pasta is a little overdone, but this is a Calabrese restaurant and i do not know their style.

Called in a reservation from the airport - i'll be staying at Butterfly Villa Hostel the first couple nights in Bucharest. I don't care much for hostels, despite enjoying each one i've stayed at, especially Backpacker's Hostel in Kampala. I recommend that over any $$$ hotel i've been in. Well, except maybe one in Switzerland.

I'm off to battle keyboards, and hopefully find my way back to the flughafen.

Ssh

Got ssh to work on my phone. For those of you who aren't jumping with joy right now, this means i can pretty much do all of my work from my phone. Sure, it's a little on the slow side, but i'm used to working from places like the Gobi Desert, Chanchamayo, and Kisoro, so it's not that slow.

Took a bit to figure out, mostly because i didn't do my research properly. Instead i contacted T-Mobile tech support, and they graciously helped me through my problems and directed me to the faq and forum i should have noticed in the first place.

Africa Photos

For lunch i had one of my favourite pitas and rewrote my script to make the montages more circular. Here is a comparison of various stages:




This montage is made up of 1502 photographs which is all i took on my last vacation. The center is photos of mountain gorillas, the edges are mostly birds around lakes. Now you've seen what i saw in east Africa.

I haven't sorted them yet, will do that over the weekend and then begin editing some 1000 photos from my last 3 trips.

Peru Montage, Take II

Ok, figuring out a simplistic spiral wasn't that tough, fit well into lunchtime:


The pattern (and the problems with the algo) becomes more apparent the smaller you go:


The images also need to be sorted better - using the mean instead of average of the pixel values should help a lot. Next time. And the time after that, maybe recognize the pattern inside each image.

Photos from Peru

Remember Christmas? I started looking through my photos from my Winter vacation.



Sure, same boring montage of the selected images as i did with the Mongolia photos. If my brain were up to it i'd montage them in a spiral fashion after some other Peruvian relics; for now the simplistic algorithm rules the night.

Either i've misplaced my photos from back in Lima or i didn't take any, who knows. Again as with the Mongolia photos, i'll get around to editing them Later.

Mongolia, revisited

Finally sorted through the images i took during my summer vacation in 2006 and made a montage from the unedited images. Sometime Later i'll get around to editing them all as well. I think i'm missing some, but maybe my memory is sketchy.

My Other Job

What i was working on before i left:


It's a two-sided picture frame, took me a few months (ideas come quick, real work is tough) but finished it before i left. The outside is a simple red oak with an inside groove wide enough to hold a piece of glass, white matte board, newspaper, black matte board, and the cut wood (also red oak veneer). The Japanese girls i met while traveling in Kenya said the characters were indeed very legible.


What i'm working on now:


Yes that's me, and from the length of the hair, the Cass beer in my hand and the dry, rocky plains surounding me, you can tell i'm in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia. Figured it was time i went through some of those old travel photos, not to mention i have a Plan for some of them.

(so the French guy we were travelling with says to me, "Why do you Americans feel the need to wear shirts and caps proclaiming where you're from?" I look at his Quechua brand jacket and bag and respond, "Why do you feel the need to advertise a native language from my home country?")

Bella Roma

Spent yesterday walking around and eating pizza at various sites - Vatican City, Piazza del Popolo, Termini, Villa Borghese, the Pantheon, the Colloseum.

Met Maudy (friend from high school) about the old times, the new times, the differences between the two, traveling, staying put, and all those things that you can only talk to with someone who knew you in high school and has also bounced around the world.

Were a couple relaxing days; even found a bar i went to once a few years ago that served a great pint of Guinness (and they still do), and a new bar that does the same.

Time to go home.

Moving Backwards

It rained the mornings of my last couple days in Ugandan, which slowed me down a little (no fun riding on the back of a moped in the rain). Eventually Monday afternoon came and i headed off to the airport. 2 hour flight to Addis Ababa, 4.5 hour wait there (and there's no place in transit to change money, and the food/drink joints don't take Ugandan Shillings or make change for large US bills), finally an 8 hour flight to Rome, arriving at 6am.

Somehow my bag gained 6kg and walking around downtown looking for the hostel i'm staying in is no fun, but i finally found the place, and it's nice enough, though i'm paying the same amount that i paid for 4 rooms and access to a pool in Nairobi.

I wonder why i'm in Rome again, it's a nice enough place, i like to wander around and sit and nap around town. A good lazy end to the vacation, i guess.

Sunday Stories

I was going to buy some fancy dishes and flatware. Other choice was hiring someone to paint my house. A high quality table saw, or a road bike for summer transport. Instead, i bought a ticket to Africa. Stupid work, making me take vacation. Will have to continue using the 3 mismatched plates and bowls, paint the house myself, hand saw everything (and rig my own jigs), and continue to bike to work on the same run-down mountain bike (hopefully a little better when i get back).

The French guy who manages Bussi Island tells me a story: he's running Bussi Island as a place to relax, and would like for the employees to relax too. He's tried: when the mid-afternoon sun comes out and the heat reaches its peak, he tells the gardner to take a break, come back in an hour. The guy disappears for the rest of the day. The next day, when the French guy asks what happened, the employee apologetically says, "Boss, i can't work with a break, i can't handle it, i need to only work from 6 - 7 straight." This lines up with something John told me, that Africans don't have the concept of vacation. Maybe i'm Ugandan at heart.

Nice Hike

Hell's Gate. A little less impressive than the name suggests, it's rather dusty. There's a nice gorge, and a side gorge off of that where part of Tomb Raider was filmed (second country i've seen that in). Not sure the Japanese girls were anticipating the roughness of hiking-through-riverbed (including jumping-through-small-waterfall).

After lunch, stopped at a souvenir shop and enjoyed the Japanese haggling for a bargain that wasn't there - it was an overpriced shop.

A couple hours later we were back in Nairobi.

Jimmy Stories

Get some beer in Jimmy, out come the good tourist stories. Note that by definition these stories may be prejudiced, stereotyped, anecdotal, etc, etc.

He mentions that you don't mess with the wishes of Israeli tourists - they want to do what they want, e.g. find their own way up the mountain, no need for a guide, or stop to camp in the middle of the savanah, forget the prepaid hotel. Don't cross one or all are against you. Do what they want no matter what, they'll always have your back and treat you well at the end. Each one carries a knife (who doesn't??) and for every ten there will be a gun that they brought via airplane (take it apart, each one takes a tenth of the parts).

Germans like to drink, will even want to skip the next day at the world famous park in order to head to the closest town for many beers.

Chinese tourists have few manners, each one will stop on his own time to go to the bathroom, even wanting to stop minutes after someone already stopped for this (and they don't bother walking off to the bush to piss, they'll go right in front of the bus). They like large lenses on their cameras, making you stop and turn off the vehicle, and yelling for everyone to stop moving so they can get the shot. And they bring their own food (don't try the noodles).

Japanese, always an old man who wants to sit right in the front of the bus, and always must have the seatbelt on. Luckily will translate for the rest of the bus (hey! that's one i know, somehow i managed to be the person who was able to best understand Irish, Japanese, Australian and Kenyan English and thus translate between the 7 others when necessary).

Beware pissing off matatu (east African minibus) drivers that you hire to drive you around, they may get you drunk, steal your money, and leave you in the middle of nowhere.

Good times in Kenya

Drive around Lake Nakuru park. Pink flamingos, rhinos (white), bufallos, girafes, baboons, rock hyrax, etc, etc. Is a very nice park, nice view, even has the remnants of a water road used in the fliming of Out of Africa (a popular movie in these parts).

After lunch, the Irish girls head off to climb Mount Kenya, a mountain that stradles the equator yet has numerous glaciers on top of it. The 3 of us go on to Lake Naivashu. We arrive early enough to wander around the town a bit. Jimmy, the driver, found a hotel for us and took off, saying he'd be back in 2.5 hours to take us to find food, so we have some time to walk.

And so i find myself leading 2 Japanese girls around a dirt poor town that i've never been in. Even better, they're both wearing facemasks (the thin white paper kind you see doctors wearing) and snapping photos of everything. After aimlessly walking around, we stop in a local joint (Jolly Pub, iirc) for a drink before supper. A nice enough place, the bar has bars around it to prevent people from reaching over and stealing everything. The pub even comes with the standard drunk, and he even speaks English about as well as the standard drunk in the States.

Missing Trades

Feel so much better - only felt ill this morning, not like i was dying.

Another game drive, then we head off. At one stop i trade my carbiner and 300KSh for a rosewood rhino - these folks like their trading, and i like that. The guy originally wanted 2500KSh for the rhino. The carbiner cost me about $1, so i think i did good. Except that i've no carbiner now.

Lily asks me if i can fix her tripod. Get as far as i can, then realise i need my leatherman for something neither a sword nor a club can do. Show her what to do once she has the appropriate tools. Reminds me that i helped fix Barbara's camera yesterday, and almost needed the leatherman's scissors for that. If i did now, i wouldn't be able to fix their camera either. Oh well, no need to guess what my fix purchase upon return will be. I'll have a number 2 engraved on the new one.

Lily takes off to look for Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda or Uganda. I've told her i've heard there's a long wait in those places, but none for seeing them in DRCongo, she doesn't want to go. The 5 of us contine on to a nice hotel in Nakuru. Nice, but still rough around the edgesç the sink drains into a pipe that runs into the wall, then down to a hole at the bottom of the wall, and from that hole, into a hole in the floor, the same hole the shower drains into.

A Note About the Leatherman

No, it's not stolen, or lost, that i am aware of.

If you see a leatherman with my name and website on it and it's not in my hands, please note i traded my leatherman and 700KSh for a Masai sword and club. Traded it with Alex, Tony's younger brother. Aren't those dandy Masai names?

Feel odd without my leatherman at my side, can only imagine that Alex feels the same without his weapons (though he should still have a spear handy). Feel a certain helplessness - without that tool, preparations, scenarios, change.

Tuesday, more pain.

Stomach still cramping. Drove around more bumpy roads, more gazelles, *beestes (gnu's, even), jackals, zebras, giraffes, elephants, and this time hippos, a single crocodile, and a few black rhinos in the Tanzanian distance.

Towards the end of the day we stopped at the Masai Mara village located just outside the park gate. 1000KSh gets us a grand tour of the place and allows photo-taking. Among other things, the money goes towards a school they built for the surrounding community, paying the 4 teachers (just elementary school, for anything else long distance travel and boarding is necessary). Still feel odd about taking photos of the people.

My stomach started feeling much better towards the end of the day.

Masai Mara Day 1

Despite being feverish and having a stomach ache to die for, managed to book myself this safari. 3 days Masai Mara, 1 day Nakuru, 1 day Naivashu. They picked me up at 8:30am (really didn't want to get out of bed, quite ill), after which (in order) we pickd up Lily (Australian, traveling for about a year) and Satoko and Ryoko (Japanese, travelling for 1 day), and then met Barbara and Joanne (Irish, travelling for a couple weeks). We arrived at the Masai Mara park around 4 and promptly saw elephants, zebras (note the soft "e"), lions, hyenas, giraffes, and all manner of gazelles and birds (though no one save me seemed interested in the birds, or any smaller creatures). Was a good day, though the bumpy ride did nothing for my terrible stomach ache (fever was left in Nairobi).

About that illness - yes something i ate in Kampala threw me for a rougher ride than any African road possibly could. I know i'm supposed to assume a fever is malaria, but think i've had food poisoning enough to recognize what it is. Luckily was feverish for just Saturday and Sunday - today only my stomach hurts. A lot. Felt like vomiting most of the time, but kept it away. Had to hold back other unwanted flows the rest of the time. Ah, how i love travelling.

Our campsite is a very nice place. Permanent (cement floors) large tents. Masai warrior guard, also keeps the campfire going (it's quite chilly at night). Running water, even hot. Would have electricity but the generator is out. I was expecting something more like the Mongolian Gobi Desert Excursion - by comparison this is very luxurious.

Kenya, Day 1

Early wake, though woke many times to the sounds of barking dogs. Felt better at first, but after breakfast slowly went downhill. Perhaps the milk or the juice? Short flight to Nairobi, but with this stomach, surely better than the 12 hour busride. Had emailed for a room reservation the night before, it went through. I've arranged for a safari starting tomorrow - the info desks at the airport are there to sell us stuff. Unsure of the details of the safari, was through a feverish haze, but i think it sounded good.

Walked around Nairobi a bit. Maybe not the best to do in this condition, supposed to be a bit dangerous, nicknamed "Nairobbery". Can it be that much worse than any other 3rd world city?

First impression: Nairobi is to Kampala as Bangkok is to Phnom Pehn.

Couple Points

Things i miss: my keyboard, my cats, my bike, making stuff.

Notable differences between Uganda and the States: bodaboda transport (cheap rides on the back of aggressively-driven mopeds/motorcycles), no street lights (remember Ann Arbor during the blackout?), very rough sidewalks (if there are any) with open 4+' holes in various places, very loose traffic rules, almost all Americans i meet are missionaries, or missionary-related.

More Kampala Walking

Back to that mall for some trinkets. Food Court is very different - first you sit in the court, various waiters bring you menus from the 6 food joints & you order from them. Eventually they bring you food (quite a wait just for a couple veggie spring rolls). I prefer the ordering-food-out-of-bus-window routine.

Tomorrow i fly to Nairobi, haven't arranged a hotel or anything there yet.

lazy friday too

Spent much time looking at crafts. Ate at a local joint run by a man named Abdullah. Says he spent 6 months in a Monroe jail, something to do with taking his kid back home, in disagreement with the mother in Detroit.

Bought a ticket to Nairobi for Sunday.

John picked me up later in the evening & ate dinner with his family at their home in Entebbe. The house is on a large plot of land, though he says it's small compared to older plots. They grow bananas, oranges, tangerines, mangoes, vegetables and chickens in the back.

Later in the evening his son (also named John) took me to Knight Riders, a local club that's not in the tour books and, according to John, has less prostitutes than the one that is. I slowly learn to play Ugandan pool (much more structured than rural Cambodian pool) and lost two games. Perhaps could have won the third, but there was none, too tired.

Slow day

Wandered around town. Found a mall. Ate some Indian food.

Kampala Return

Wake at 4:45am to catch the fast bus at 5. It stops by around 5:30 and we're off for Kampala. 30 minutes later the glass in the window by my seat falls out to the road, shattering. It's a cold ride through the mountains, but after some time the sun emerges and it's warmer. While we're still in the hills, the bus breaks down. Just overheated, the driver tweaks some tubes and we're off. For a few minutes. Eventually we reach Kabale - it's been a number of stops-to-let-the-bus-cool-down later, but here we can stop for some time while the radiator is replaced.

At least we fared better than one of the buses we were racing (yes racing. One of the other drivers even did the "On your mark...") - it got too close to the edge of the road and toppled into the ditch, luckily it was towards the mountain not towards the cliff (i wonder why there aren't crosses on the side of the road here, at the site of fatal accidents, like there are in Latin America. There are a lot of Christians here, can't believe they don't ever die on these roads).

The replacement radiator (not a new one) doesn't fit the same bolt holes inside the bus, so the mechanics clamp it to the old, broken radiator and place both in the bus. Took a couple hours, but we are happily off towards Kampala again, wind and dirt full force in my face.

After another couple hours, more problems. They forgot that buses need petrol to run; we're out. It doesn't take that long for another bus to bring us some fuel, but just filling up doesn't fix the problem. After a few tweaks, a few false starts, and a couple hours, we're again on our way.

17 hours after we started on the fast bus, we reach Kampala. I've half of Uganda on my face, and another bus experience to talk about.

In the Midst of Gorillas

Wake up at 5am, Daniel collects our passports and money. 30 minutes on the back of a pickup to the border, wait in Uganda as Daniel handles immigration for us, walk across to DR Congo, wait a bit more. Passports stamped a couple times, walk a bit to the Toyota Landcruiser that will drive us to the Park. We're joined by the driver and 2 armed (kalashnikov's) guards (soldiers? they're dressed as such and look to be 14 and 17 years old).

It's about a 1-2 hour drive through the Congo countryside until we stop and walk for 45 minutes to the Park. Beautiful countryside - rolling hills covered in lightly terraced farmland, few trees left.

Much of the road is lined by houses and storage baskets. The houses are the same style as those in Western Uganda - about halfway into the busride to Kisoro the brick houses started giving way to cheaper houses. Partially due to building material availability, i suppose, the houses are wooden frames with wooden furring strips (note the wood used is very rough, not treated, mostly regular 2x4 studs we might use but roughly hewn wood). That framework is filled in with rocks, then mud/clay is stuffed into the gaps, and if it's an important building, that is covered with a kind of plaster. A thatch roof or corrugated metal covers the small single room house. The storage baskets are large, 1 meter diameter, 3 meter tall reed woven baskets placed in a wooden frame to elevate them off the ground and give them a thatch cover.

The kids along this route are quite happy to see us, waving and yelling "jambo!" at us, sometimes asking for money. I wonder how many Congo kids will ever see an American. I wonder how many Americans will ever see a Congo kid.

3 long brick houses in a U shape form the Park's ranger station. We are met by a number of rangers and trackers, and a number of small children who've run from some surrounding houses to gawk at us. The ranger repeats what Daniel told us the night before, the Rules of Gorilla Trekking - only one hour with the gorillas, stay 7 meters away, beware the angry red ants, cough/sneeze facing away from the gorillas, etc, etc.

Then we're off, the 6 tourists, 2 armed (kalashnikov's & machetes) rangers, 1 machete-wielding tracker. 2 or 3 hour hike at around 2200-2500m (approximately 1.5 miles high), through thick jungle. There is a path but it is rather overgrown in many places. Other places are quite muddy - it isn't raining now but has recently and the air is heavy. The various plants lean over, brushing against us. The rangers cut most of the prickly ones back for our benefit, though be the end of the day we'll still have some spiky things sticking out of our arms. We see various small animals along the way - ants, beetles, mosquitos, moths, lizards, large snails, a centimeter-long worm-like creature that wants to burrow into my hand, etc, etc.

We reach another group of trackers and rangers, lead by Augustine, who tells us they left early in the day to locate this gorilla family's present location. Close by, a low rumble - one of the gorillas playing. They are but a few meters away, and after a few paces a young gorilla swings in to greet us.

The younger ones are curious, the older are hungry. The 200+ kg silverback roars, he's dug up the earth around a tree and is eating the red ants he's uncovered - these are medium sized ants, and aggressive, if you move too close to the tree they'll swarm over your feet. Up your boots, but your pants are tucked into your boots (as recommended by Daniel), so up your pants, and your undershirt is tucked into your pants (as recommended by me), so up your undershirt to your bare chest and back, where they proceed to inform you of their anger. Luckily few make the journey that far (side note: 5 hours later when we've returned to Kisoro, i'm finally taking off my boots, a few ants are still biting my boots, gnawing at the laces, making sure i got the message. Apparently they didn't get the message that the war was over).

Back to the gorillas: it's like being in a zoo, except there are no bars, nothing separating you from them. No guarantee what they'll do, swing down to grab your hat, run past you to go get some other food, sit and idly ponder their day. They're peaceful, happy to eat and play and wonder why we're just standing around. Wonderful animals, are they any different from my cats?

Passport

New stamps in my passport.

Kisoro, Uganda

11 hour bus ride. Mostly fine - packed, dirty,relatively uncomfortable seats, lots of stops, but fine - though the last 2 hours was dirt road. In a small border town now (or, close to border). No street lights here, but few in Kampala as well. There is one shop offering internet access until 9pm - it is slow access, though not as slow as in the Gobi Desert. This town has internet access, wonder if there's a similar placce in Continental, OH, this town is a little smaller than there.

We've yet to meet Daniel, the man who is supposed to be arranging the Gorilla trek for us. Instead we have met 2 Polish travellers who will be joining us. There isn't much to do here, which is ok, we've been up a long time and surely will have to wake early for the trek.

One of the Polish fellows has a bottle of Waragi (local gin) and some tonic, after some drinks and some food we'll all sleep well.

Day 5 remainder

There are 3 others going with me to see the Mountain Gorillas - An Australian couple from Adelaide and a fellow originally from the Netherlands. Tomorrow we'll be heading to some small town in the West, the next day we trek to see the gorillas, and the following day we head back to Kampala.

After finally waking today, i just wandered around town, found a decent collection of crafts shops and bought my niece a t-shirt. Will but trinkets for others towards the end of my trip, just wanted to make sure she's got something first, she's at a potentially braty age (what age isn't?).

Day 5

Slept for about 13 hours, with minimal interruptions. My body is sore and bruised from yesterday's rafting, with a couple minor cuts (one girl in our raft got a little banged up - hit the rocks while flailing underwater and got3 nice cuts on her leg). Maybe i'll look into walking around downtown this afternoon.

I've heard there will be a number (4? 5? 6?) of us heading west to see the Gorillas tomorrow. Should cut down on one or two of the costs a little. Did i mention they're picky about their bills here? Many places don't accept US $100 bills from before 2000, which about half my bills are (guess they're progressive here).

There was a good variety of people rafting yesterday, including people from CIDA, a variety of Americans (half volunteers in and around Uganda, half on vacation), Australians, South Africans, and a variety of others i don't remember. lots of discussions and arguments about politics and volunteering and social conditions in general. People care, or want to sound like they care, it's great. The raft i was on was comprised solely of Americans, perhaps some conspiracy, perhaps because the rafts were organized by "wild" and "mild" levels, and we all wanted as wild as possible. Our guide - Graham, an Irish fellow - seemed to be the functional manager of the place. Was a great guide, he instilled both confidence and adventure into the experience and it would not have been the same without him.

Enough talk of yesterday, time to get my feet wet today (it's been raining all day).

Rafting

It's a roller coaster ride with no guarantee of safety. You kind of know which way the raft will go, but even the guide has no certainty of exactly what will happen. and once you're thrown off the raft, or the raft flips and everyone is flailing about under water, there's no guarantee how long you'll be under water or how bruised/cut you'll get. Still, its not really very dangerous - the guides first walk you through the basics and after some practice on the slower moving parts of the river, you're ready for category 5. On the Nile, there's enough water flowing through the rapids that as long as you tuck in your limbs and don't panic too much, you should be safe. It was one of the best experiences of my live - rollercoasters used to bore me, now they'll surely put me to sleep.

When i returned i received an unfortunate letter from John - a cousin of his died today and he will be travelling to the funeral tomorrow, so our plans have been cancelled. Not sure what i'll do.

Day three

Made my way to Kmapala, to the Backpacker's Motel. A minibus with 16-17 people, much more comfortable than the Cambodian pickup with 27 people hanging off the sides. It's a rather nice place, this hostel. A campground in Kampala, along with a numbre of dorms and singles and doubles in buildings, a bar/restaurant, and even decent internet access. There are some monkeys in the trees out back (one even showered me with tree debris while hopping overhead as i was writing this - better than pelting me with feces), i guess seeing monkeys here is like seeing deer in downtown Ann Arbor (yes, i have).

The phone system here is similar to that in Mongolia, either you have a cel phone or you walk to a local vendor-person and pay for their phone service - they have to repeatedly add minutes to their phone from calling cards they purchase, and charge you a little more than the cards to make a profit - their system of payphones. he transport is similar to Cambodia - bodaboda are the mopeds you take around, though not as daringly as in Phnom penh (perhaps the police are more restrictive here?).

Walked just down the hill andgot ahold of John. He stopped by and we talked a bit, i gave him the rum from Amin (8 year reserve, special blend i kpicked up in Amsterdam). When he left the receptionist said "you're in good hands". I lead a blessed life.
Tomorrow i go rafting on the Nile, category 5 rapids, i guess that's a lot? I've never been rafting before, can't be any worse than my father's driving (at least when he was younger).

John has invited me to spend the afternoon with his family on sunday, and then on monday i am headed towest to go see the mountain gorillas, a former cryptozoological creature. Mokele mbembe, are you next?

Day Two

Wandered around Entebbe for a bit. A walk through a 100-year old botanical garden - imagine the arb in Uganda. They have chipmunks here, and even herons and egrets; I could be in Michigan except for the monkeys.

The local beer is ok, typical of the pilsners you find in 3rd world countries. There's a great Chinese restaurant in Entebbe, i ate there twice. Missed John Make-Mukasa (my boss's friend), the hotel didn't know what room i was in when he stopped by.

I'm rather nervous here, wondering how long my money will last, what i'll do next, how i'll get there, what i'm doing here.

Day one

8 + 8 hours (approximately) fly time and i'm walking across the tarmac towards Ugandan Immigration. The airport is more rundown than even Cambodia's Ratanakiri branch, which, despite being a dirt-paved runway and wooden building, was quite well-maintained. Still the lines are short and 20-30 minutes later i'm staring into a mass of African faces smiling and holding signs of various hotels - i don't spot mine.

It's different than Peru, where the instant you leave customs a horde of taxi drivers assault you for the privilege of driving you onwards (note - that's similar to to Ulaan Bataar, except they're more obviously drunk there). Instead, in Uganda a beautiful smiling black woman kindly asks, "what hotel are you looking for?" And she promptly finds the man i'm looking for, despite her being from some other hotel. Thank you, ma'am.

And for the record, only four: Shooter (c'mon Mark, you can do better, did you just need the money?), Breach (somehow it barely clung to a suspenseful feeling), Flags of our Fathers (Band of Brothers, now in Asia!), and Letters From Iwo Jima (wonder what they thought of this in Japan, or Korea).

Flight

Uganda, June 5, 2007. I bought my ticket over the weekend.

No, i'm not going due to watching a recent film about the place; i'd heard of Idi Amin before even watching Mississippi Masala. I'm going because i want to get back to Africa.

My current plan is to circle Lake Victoria counter-clockwise. I've a contact in Uganda thanks to my boss, an Ugandan immigrant. From there i'll travel to the border with DRoC, peer across, and wonder where that last great cryptozoological creature is, let him know i'll catch up to him soon enough. South to Rwanda, witness the river in that country. East to one of the tourist hotspots, look at a nice crater. North, but not too far north, not too far east, or i'd be back where i started. But to Kenya nonetheless; i used to have some friends from there, still have a spearhead she gave me. And back across the river, maybe do some white-water rafting (if you're gonna do it for the first time, might as well be at the source of the Nile, eh?), maybe fish some Nile perch, maybe just enjoy the land. At least that's the current plan - it will probably change substaintially once my feet touch African soil again.

And don't worry, i've already told my brother what to do with the life insurance money (yes, WCC gets a scholarship in my name, to support those who travel - now i really gotta watch my back, everyone's gonna want me dead).

It should be a great trip. Maybe when i get back, if the ceiling mural is done, i'll finally have that house-warming party.

Peru 2006

The differences are many, from the daily trash pickups, enough casinos to rival Vegas (tragamonedas - i hear the Chinese tourists especially enjoy them), walled houses/barred windows (no wonder the Dead always rise in the States, they'd never make it here), political graffiti, etc, etc. It's a little bit difficult to describe all the differences between such a foreign country and the US, sometimes so much so that it's difficult to even spot them - when i travel here i know that it is so incredibly different yet it is taxing to try to describe why.

Rome, 2006

Frank and i went biking some 50+ km through the countryside by Frankfurt. We covered all kinds of terrain and were quite exhausted afterwards, and running so late that we missed all but Brazil's last goal. The France-Korea match was rather nice to watch, though - we sat surrounded by a bunch of Koreans cheering "De Ha Mingu" (sp?) among other things, and their enthusiam was wonderful.

Got home at around 1am, which left 30 minutes to pack and make it to the train stop to catch the 30 minute train back into Frankfurt (which i just made, thanks Frank!), where i waited about 35 minutes for a 2 hour bus ride to the Hahn airport, for the 2 hour flight to Rome, Ciampino, and took a 1 hour bus to catch the 30 minute metro ride to Termini, the central train station. Been up for a while now, but i'm right close to Termini in the same internet cafe that i always go to in Rome. I don't think the employee recognizes me, but i recognizes her, she's the same Peruvian woman who was working here before.

Now I'm off to wander around Rome, again. Probably nothing too fancy, like the Vatican or the Colloseum, but something less dramatic like the outskirts, to see all the crazy apartment buildings they have there.

I've a lot of older posts i should make, but don't have the time right now. Look for old posts later on, i have to backdate a bunch of them.

birthday party

My mom's wanted a new cuckoo clock for quite some years, so as she's close to der Schwarzwald (where cuckoo clocks are made) now's her chance to get one. Siegfried drove us to the area, with Heinz (who says he needed a new head after last night) coming along as a translator. While there, we saw what claims to be the largest cuckoo clock in the world cuckoo at 2pm. Think i got it on video too.

Afterwards we walked around the largest waterfalls in Germany as well as through some other small towns in the area. On each small town's central plaza is an area where a large screen has been set up. When a football game is on, the plaza fills up with people coming to watch it on the big screen and enjoy the many shops set up around it. Also, the town buildings are lined with German and other flags. I've heard various Europeans say how strange it is to see U.S. streets lined with U.S. flags, but the World Cup changes everything, being partiotic takes on a new meaning. It's a wonderfully festive time town throughout the country.


We returned around supper time and Dorle made me some good vegan fried rice with tofu, and i was told that Rebecca had invited me to a party to celebrate her and a cousin's recent birthdays. The party was a gathering of 30 or so locals in their 20's, along with a lot of local beers and buckets of sangria with long straws in it.

It was a great party, and luckily for me plenty of people spoke some degree of English and spoke with me throughout the night. At times everyone started speaking German (or Schwabian (sp?), to be exact) but i just sat back and enjoyed the interpersonal interactions.

Ended up getting home around 3:30-4am, another well-worth it long night.

Just like the ketchup

6:30am taxi to Chinggis Khaan Airport. 3 hour wait, then 6 hours aboard an Aeroflot Russian airplane with very small seats and the largest bathroom i've ever seen on a plane. 5 hour wait in Moscow airport, a dingy little place with poor organization. 3 hour flight to Frankfurt and my father greets me holding a bag of clothes. Frank is around the corner and Siegfried's outside fretting over the car. Franks bids goodbye (for now) and we head off to Backnang.

2 days ago i was racing across the Gobi Desert at 40 kmph listening to Cloud Nine Music; now i am racing on the Autobahn at 200+ kmph listening to an automated German voice giving directions.

Heinz is a jolly old man having a family gathering. I meet a plethora of people that i met 25 years ago but do not remember, and i meet Rebecca, a cousin (almost everyone here is a cousin of mine, to some degree) who was only in her mother's womb when we were last in Germany.

Many beers later i am (at my mother's request) drunkeningly explaining all the photos and people in my mom's photo album to Rebecca. Eventually everyone heads off, and we get driven to Siegfried's.

The Omen

The last day of Desert travel was a little more uneventful than the rest; my mind is too blanked out (maybe overwhelmed by my stench?) to think of much more to say; i also have to rush through a few errands before the end of the day. If all goes well, i'll be in Frankfurt in about 30 hours.

One good point to mention - on the way back we passed by some tourists heading out of UB for 20 days (desert and western forests). One of them was Italian, from Rome. Figure that's a good omen.

Go Go Gobi

After an hour of broken paved road the driver veers off onto a dirt road. In places the road diverges into two or more paths, only to converge a hundred feet ahead. It is bumpy and dusty, and the further out we go, the windier and chillier it becomes. The landscape slowly changes from small, rolling hills, no trees, some grass, to flatter, broken sandy land with sparse plant clumps. The sky is blue with some clouds, at times a few drops sprinkle down.

There is very little traffic past the paved road - we will meet no more than 5 vehicles today.

After some time the dirt road turns into a dirt trail - at points the tracks of other vehicles are barely visible. The trail is little smoother than the surrounding landscape, your only reason for following it is that someone else did.

At one point the car starts to overheat. We stop and let it cool down, then drive a while longer. The driver stops at one of the few gers that dot the area and asks the inhabitants something, then we're off. A couple turns later he backtracks to follow a different set of vehicle tracks, and we finally end up at a well. I think this is what he asked about at the ger.

Along the way we've stopped at a few ovoo (shamanistic piles of rocks and trinkets generally in high places), a shrine, at various points just to see the landscape (or because the old Russian jeep needed some work), and at a small town. Now the driver moves into the desert, no tracks to follow, and after another 30 minutes we arrive at the ger we'll be sleeping in tonight.

As dusk descends, the wind begins to die down. Perhaps the temperature differential of the sun's heat against cold ground creates the wind.

We are served soup comprised of pasta, some vegetables, and small pieces of either mutton or marmot.

After dinner we walk into the desert for a bit, eventually going our separate ways. I see some lizards, a few wolf spiders, lots of beatles, some small birds, and a strange insect, looks like a stink bug coloured white and tan. When i can no longer see the campsite, i stop and listen: some wind, and a few birds chirping. It is a very empty place.

Looking up, there is still cloud cover, and no planes. It's like 9/12/2001 - no planes, and no cloud streaks from where the planes had flown. It is quite a different, beautiful sight to behold.

Only in a few spots were there running wires. A few gers we passwed have solar panels on top, some have satellite dishes out front. The owner's ger at our current campsite has both.

I fall asleep easily at night, and wake up easily to kill the multitude of insects that are crawling all over me. I think they are mostly harmless beetles, but i try to kill while i still can.

Frankfurt, Rome

Forgot to mention that i bought a ticket to Frankfurt for the 15th. I'm flying Aeroflot, the Russian airline. The ticket lady asked me if i had life insurance when i said i'd take the Aeroflot ticket - something she didn't ask when i mentioned i wanted the MIAT ticket. Looking up Aeroflot, they have a spotty record, though they've been ok the past 13 years. That's good, right? Ask me in a couple weeks...

I've also a plane ticket out of Rome on the 21st, so most everything is arranged, just need to get out of Gobi alive (and on time) and figure out the leg between DE and IT.

Until 1 week, drink a pint or two for me.

First Days

Haven't done much in Ulaanbataar, just lounged about, walked a lot, drank a lot of beer, and eaten a lot of animal products.

I ordered Kale soup, it came with mutton.

I ordered tofu and rice, the tofu came with chicken.

Luckily beer comes sans animal products, at least none that i am aware of (unlike Guinness).

I've been staying in a hostel that costs a whole $5 a night. In Cambodia that got me a room by myself, with AC (w/o AC was $3). I wish there were less people here, i am too antisocial for this. It doesn't help that a lot of the folks here talk the same as the folks at home, wanting to drink and dance and watch movies all night and make a big event of it. Did i come to Mongolia just to live the same as at home?

There are some folks here that are a little different than the rest, like the 50 year old Taiwanese man who is here researching business prospects (and staying at a hostel...). He claims to have made a fortune in the past via investments in Central America, but that he gave his riches away to his sister and girlfriend. Hmmm, i'm a little old to believe everything everyone tells me.


Tomorrow i head into the Gobi Desert as part of a group arranged via the hostel. There are 3 other tourists - one French man who speaks decent English with an accent, and a Korean couple that speaks very little English, though understand a little bit more. There will also be a driver, but i doubt he will speak much English. I will be gone for 7 days 6 nights, unless something Very Bad happens.
We were told that there is a 99% chance the vehicle will break down, but that in most cases the driver will have it fixed in at most 1 hour. Hopefully i won't have to hike back, but i'm taking my gps unit just in case.

Among other desert experiences, we will ride horses and camels and stay will locals for most of the trip. And we're supposed to take enough water and half the food we will need (the other half to be provided). If it comes down to it, i hope i remember what i read in those books, how to find food and water in rough terrain - i should have brought my cat, just in case the End does draw nigh.

Wish i'd taken the train

4200m and -10°C outside. I've been higher and colder before. Part of the plane wing (fuel tank?) has been shaking since takeoff; as long as it stays on for another 2 hours i'll be fine.

6400m and -25°C. The height of some of the highest peaks in Peru, and i've been colder. The mountains outside are awesome fog covered creatures, and wooded.

Still rising - the landscape is clear, no fog like Beijing, and the mountains are dry, some green interspersed throughout. In the distance, the fog covered mountains are still visible. The plane part that was shaking no longer is, and is still on the plane.

Levelling off, i see a sloped dam with a fat, winding lake behind it. The river bed in front is thick and dry, appears silt-covered. Perhaps a recently built dam?

Further, rolling hills and terraces throughout - straight lines of differing contrasts cutting through the curved hills. Small towns abound, projecting small roads like sun rays. There are a few circular farms like the ones found in the far midwest and west of the U.S. One or two factories.

Small sand dunes and a few bushes. Only one road cutting through them, very small settlements of but a few houses, and Mr. Bean is playing on tv. A few lakes as well, but no rivers visible - perhaps collected rainwater from infrequent storms?

Only sand, we follow a river but i can't tell whether or not it's dry. Keep my eye on it; if we crash i'll make my way towards it.

Sand doesn't even look wind-blown now. Either it's not sand or it is hot, dry, and no wind down there. This must be Gobi.

Beginning approach to Ulaanbaatar, still dry outside, but some vegetation. I see a few white dots - Ger camps? I guess they are real...

Hills now, and a winding dragon-like river - lots of extending rivulets - with many more collections of white dots speckled about.

Real buildings in increasing density along the riverside, forest along the mountainside, and spots of snow? Perhaps i shouldn't be wearing shorts.

City density, and some strange shapes by factories - conical but no point, and large. I'd say nuclear power, but not here, and they don't appear cement (later i realise they are next to the power plants, all which appear to be coal based).

Landing gear down, we're on final approach. Looks like only a single runway, and the airport has only 2 gates.

I'm in Mongolia now.

Beijing Extras

In many ways the city reminds me of a Latin American city; it is dirty and poor with pockets of wealth mixed in. A fancy modern building lines up one one end with a 4 lane paved road lined with other modern buildings, and on the other side with a half dirt, half paved barely single lane road lined with shacks and poorer houses.

Half the taller buildings look like typical 50's and 60's communist generic block structures found throughout the world. The other half look very modern, each one a different experiment in space, lighting, etc. Many make extensive use of fancy atriums, facades, decorative tops, and more. As there are quite a few tall buildings in Beijing, i imagine an architecture class could learn quite a bit from what's been worked with here. The cityscape is also peppered with cranes, implying that in a few years there will be even more interesting buildings.

There are many cyclists here, and lanes dedicated to the cyclists, but in practice these become largely irrelevant; cars are very aggressive and the throngs of cyclists must fend for themselves.

One final (for now) note: aqui son muchas chicas que parecen a mi prima; her nickname is truly appropriate.

Beijing Day two

One of those planned tour deals, similar to the ones i took in Peru. The main events were the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall, but the tour also included stops at a jade factory and a school of traditional Chinese medicine. Neither of the latter two would have been bad, except that in these circumstances the stops were geared solely towards selling us stuff.

The tactic reminded me of Bangkok's more devious methods, where the taxi driver insisted that the Royal Palace was closed and that we should visit a jewelry shop. I wonder if the scam will propagate to Peru, and if it does, how long it will take to get there. What is the velocity of scams?

The scams left me with but two hours to walk 7km through to the highest point of the Badaling section of the Great Wall, and 7km back. There is a lift that takes tourists most of the way, but using that didn't seem right - workers bodies are buried in this wall, having toiled to death building it. Least i could do was walk along part of it. Parts of the wall slope at 45, 60 ° angles. Parts of these slopes have steps, parts don't. Walking the non-sloped parts reminded me of climbing around sandstone in Utah.

I made it to the top and back with 20 minutes to spare, and had plenty of time to shoot, look, sit, and ponder. Cycling throughout the year has paid off.

Beijing Day One

Make it to the hotel in time to find the channel the Pistons are playing on, in time to watch everything but the first couple minutes, in time to watch them lose.

Luckily they lose in time for me to make it to the MIAT office before they close, and am able to purchase my ticket to Ulaanbataar.

From the MIAT office, which i'd taken a taxi to, i decide to walk to Tiananmen Square, or at least try to. If i travelled with others, would they be so lenient as to spend their first day (of only 2) in Beijing wandering around, not sure if they would see "the sights"?
Is this Barbara's answer?

Tiananmen Square is just down the road - i've a pretty good sense of direction. I'm one day early, but can still feel the tension. The square, and indeed most of Beijing attractions, is covered by cameras and guards. Are other places in the world like that now?

The Forbidden Palace is across the way form the Square; each side of the Square holds a major attraction. The Palace is a huge complex that delivers less corruption to the surounding cities, similar to what a capital does.

The restaurant i eat at has such delicacies as dried fungus, fried ass, and twice cooked dog in pot (at least the labels claim these tasty treats). I get the taro pineapple in sweet and sour sauce. There are lots of food vendors on the side street; though i didn't check them out thoroughly i think they had some corn on the cob - not quite a traditional Chinese dish - in case the pineapple is filled with cat (not quite the end of the world yet). The chef is making what i think is dumpling pastry, and a fish in the aquarium has been staring at me since i arrived.

First Day in

4:40am
Walk through the Bird Flu Quarrantine folks, waiting for the immigration oficer to grunt at me in disgust, like the Japanese fellow did for not having an address i was staying at. She doesn't.

4:55am
I see my bag, i'll grab it and walk through customs and they'll say nothing to me, barely even look at me as i walk by.

5:00am
I'm really in China now. Too early for the Hotel Reservation place at the airport, but up ahead is a 24 hour cafe with what appears to be a fairly well-stocked bar.

5:15am
It's hot - 21°C or so - and the chinese noodles (with beef, oops) are steaming hot too. Hopefully they know how to make a Bloody Mary here - that should cool me down a bit (hey, i's 5:15pm MI time!) I eat while wondering where i'll stay tonight, what i'll do in the upcoming days.

5:30am
A couple Spaniards walk in, and a Chinese man, all speaking Spanish. At LAX, China Airways flights depart from the same concourse as TACA, and on the flight here were a substantial number of Spanish speakers. I wonder if the language will follow me around the world (probably will - we notice what we want).

5:45am
Finished soup, waiting for waitress.

5:50am
Mumbling my way through explaining a Bloody Mary - she doesn't get it. How can a waitress not know "vodka" or "Smirnoff" or "Absolut" when there's a bottle of it behind her? Tsing Tao it is, and i'm back to pondering the more important, pressing issues at hand, like where i'll watch the game that's scheduled to start in just over 2 hours, if my time-math is right.

6:05am
Trying to remember the 2 Chinese characters i tried to memomorized on the plane: "exit" and "open". Still remember a couple of phrases in Serbian, which impresses a couple friends, and a few in Khmer, which impresses no one (yet!). I also wonder how long til my accent kicks in. During the Belgrade trip, it took under 2 days for me to start speaking with a latino accent.

6:06am
A large group of airport employees has gathered outside, a woman speaking to them. The Spaniards are speaking about garlic manufacturing and processing. I'm wondering what work e-mails await me - if i had my way, i'd still handle all the mail i normally do, but i don't know that they could take the delay (ok, as is there will be a delay anyways). I like my job, and love being able to do so much from around the world. If i had my way, this is all i'd do - travel the world and put in hours wherever i am.

6:20am
The employees are going their separate ways and i notice there is now someone at the hotel reservation counter. Must go ask for a hotel with the Pistons - at this point i still don't know they'll disappoint all of us.

6:22am
Just finished my first Chinese beer in China. Now to find a place to stay.

California CA

"Fourth quarter, 82 76, Pistons." [crowd cheers]
The pilot was nice enough to read us the score once a quarter, though no true fan would have been flying last night, and no one should have doubted the outcome.

It's a little nice to be gone; the moment i stepped on the plane, all my fears and apprehensions dissipated. I'm no longer worried about what i'll do for a place to stay, where i'll eat, what i'll do, how i'll get home. Those are now problems to solve, not problems to worry about, and as such i am sure i will solve them.

My niece had a little flag for me - a small sign that read "I [heart] [photo of me looking goofy]", topped by a small heart balloon. I think that's the first time i've gotten off the plane to be greeted by someone with a sign.

Around the World

Tomorrow i leave for LA. I'll be there for just over a day, visiting my brother and family, after which i'll head to Beijing. There i'll see Tiananmen Square, the world's largest public square and site of the infamous 1989 protests. Maybe stop in and say hi to Mao, resting in eternal frozen state, and ask him "Why?"

From Beijing i'll hopefully train it up to Ulaanbataar, where i'll horseback ride along the same steppes as the greatest horseback rider of all time. After 1-2 weeks i'll try to make my way to Europe (hopefully by plane not horse) to see my parents and extended family in Germany, and then down to Rome to see a couple friends. If all goes well, i'll be heading back to DTW on the 21st, 58 days under those other folks.

For a bit i was stressing about the cost of this trip, but then a friend of mine mentioned some yoga workshop that headed to Peru for a week, at a cost of $3600, not including airfare. There's no way i'll spend more than that on this trip, unless i get real drunk. Or lost. Or bored. Or mugged.

Prague Bar, last night

Here's a journey into a very nice Prague cellar bar. Lots of atmosphere; the movie has been gamma-corrected since it is very dark inside. It's about 6MB large; the original was 20MB.

All my regular readers will be happy to know that on my last night in Prague i managed to help one of those makeup-wearing girls with dreds. She was missing a man, i found her one that was lying on the bathroom floor of the bar in the aforementioned movie.

Krakow Summary

Day 1 - Walked a few klicks to see Poland's largest air museum.
Day 2 - Slept in, wandered around the castle but couldn't find an easy way to breach its walls. Hired 1000 men-at-arms to help me but by the time they arrived i was asleep again; i never made it inside the castle.
Day 3 - Went to Auschwitz Museum. Didn't make it to Birkenau. Worked for about an hour.
Day 4 - Walked through the plaza and saw some nativity scene special event (the Szopki competition), then went on to the Jewish section. Missed the right train for the salt mines. Bought souvenirs and trinkets. Worked for a few hours.

Yes i flew thousands of miles to Krakow, trained 30+ km to Oswecizm, walk another 1.5km to the museum, but couldn't make the extra 3km to Birkenau (would have been late). Also missed the salt mines due to the Szopki. Maybe next time.

Anectodal Evidence, Part III

Europe: where even the women with dreds wear makeup.

But what do i know - i've been wearing the same clothes for well over a week.

Anecdotal Evidence, Part II

Many years ago, a little after the Wawel Castle was first built, it was discovered that a dragon lived under the hill at the base of the castle. In a spectacular fight, some dude killed the dragon, and the dragon went on to become the symbol of the town. Nowadays a big Polish guy dresses up in a bright green dragon costume and introduces himself to all the people in the streets, saying hello, shaking hands, having his photo taken: the famous Krakow Dragon.

In Bangkok, he would shake your hand and then mention the $10 "hand shaking fee".

In Cuzco, he would ask you to take a photo of him with you and then mention the $10 "photo fee".

But in Krakow, he just tries to figure out what language to speak to you, and says "Hi! I'm the Krakow Dragon!"

Planes, Computers

Hiked a little over 4km to see Poland's largest air museum, which is free on Monday. Unfortunately i got there very late due to a mishap with some bad Chinese/Vietnamese food, and only had 30 minutes to shoot as much as i could before closing time. There were a variety of Soviet and Polish aircraft, and even a couple US, UK and German planes (older, WWII era). I saw nothing that made it stand out other than the quantity - there was one large hangar full of planes and the outside field had a couple rows of old fighter planes. None of them looked to be in pristine condition, and i didn't see a fantastic find, like a downed F-117 or the Enola Gay, but perhaps i don't realise the rarity of what i was seeing. The only other people there was a school tour, looked to be 13 year olds.

I think it's funny that on my first day in Krakow i walk 1.5 hours to an air museum before seeing the traditional castles or art museums in the area, but i have yet to make it to the Yankee Air Museum so close to where i live. I did check my email before venturing out.

A lot of the net cafes in Prague use linux. Even the free net access at the hotel i stayed at was run on a debian-based system (the others used fedora). A couple were using W98 and W2K, but i was told that linux is quit popular with the net cafes. It looked like most of them were set up to discard changes upon reboot, and they seemed to be running recent versions of software, implying either an auto-patch mechanism set up, or some a person-service that did this for the places. The only place i've been to in Krakow uses WinXP; i'll have to check out some other places tomorrow.

I wonder if someone sells a packaged linux that provides these services, or if there's a free distro out there that does all this already. Doesn't seem that it would be that difficult to set up an OpenBSD install cd to be a kiosk-type workstation, but perhaps browser plugin issues would prevent this from happening.

Reasons for Travelling

Travelled from Prague to Krakow by train last night; arrived at 5:30am and spent the dawn walking around the city centre. The snow i missed in Michigan greeted me in Krakow, and the parks and old churches here look quite nice in the morning light. Still, after a couple hours of walking and photographing, i was a bit cold.

In Prague i was fortunate enough to meet Pam, an old friend, who happens to be teaching English there. I stayed the first few nights in a hotel, but once i reached Pam i spent a couple nights on her couch.

Sometimes i wonder why i travel, what the point is, what there is to see, to experience.
Pam was arguing about the differences between digital and analog photography, mostly that digital is evil, an argument highlighted by the demise of her digital camera. I asked to take a look at her camera - the problem was that four of the pins in the compact flash slot were bent so as to not make contact with the card, thus disabling the camera. A couple small flathead screwdrivers or some extreme needlenose pliers would fix the problem, but unfortunately those were not available. Instead i used scissors (taken apart using a larger screwdriver), a bent paperclip (custom bent for the job), a wobbly knife, and my handy flashlight. After a little over an hour i managed to wiggle the pins into place and now her camera works again. I must admit i did not think i was going to be able to fix that, and having done so is oddly one of the top highlights of the trip, possibly even of the year.

On Sunday Pam and a number of friends went to Pilsen to have a Thanksgiving dinner with another American teacher living there. She invited me along and i accepted. The woman in Pilsen, Kristin, cooked a variety of dishes, and since Pam had told her about my eating habits, a number of the dishes were vegan.
Years ago i started having issues with Thanksgiving - i've never really had the traditionally American upbringing in this regards, but something special/different has happened for most of them. Some were quite good, like the first i spent in the States, in my brother's apartment, eating his first attempt at Spaghetti alla Carbonara (i loved it). Others were wierd, like the last i spent in Rome with my mother (where was my father again?) or the time my brother and i helped my mother move.
Lately they had just been getting real sad, but the past couple years have seen a turnaround.
2 years ago i travelled to Cambodia and spent Thanksgiving eating rice and vegetables in some village. Last year i was in Rome and ate turkey with Maudi, an old friend from high school (yes, turkey - it was that kind of situation). This year i stumbled into a vegan dinner in Pilsen, Czech Republic, including vegan stuffing and vegan apple pie, and local moonshine. This was not the kind of dinner i expected, and was a great, wonderful time.

Perhaps next year i will even be able to again spend this holiday in the States.

One of the main reasons i travel is to spend some time alone - truely alone, when even the words are unfamiliar. But everywhere i go is someone i know. Along with meeting Pam on this trip i have also met someone whose best friend runs a business (along with Mark's brother) in Ann Arbor, and another fellow from Canton, MI. Even Cambodia held people i knew.

Perhaps the world is telling me i am not alone; i wonder what friend i will meet when i go to Rwanda.

Anecdotal Differences

I threw away a ziploc bag today. It was in good condition, only a little dirty with some crumbs inside. In Cambodia, someone would probably fish the bag out of my trash and use it at home, but here i imagine it will be buried in a garbage heap or get incinerated.

Poorer countries seem so much more resourceful in their recycling efforts - no need to spend vast resources recycling plastics into new plastics, just reuse the old containers, like litre bottles measure and hold gasoline for sale, or float in the river to indicate where the fisherman's net is, or get used as sleds or line walkways (unfortunate flip side: no need to compost your throwaways, the poorest folks will take it from the trash and eat it, and no worries about disease or health - they're poor people after all).

Prague Initial Observations.

Arrived in Prague easily after the flight delays out of DTW. Got here a few hours behind schedule, but as i did not know what i was doing once i got here, it didn't really matter (was a bit more tired than i would have been, but otherwise no big deal).

This town seems rather safe; it is quite unlikely that i would get mugged here. My reasoning behind this? All the buses i have been on still have their emergency mini-hammers on them. I don't remember ever being on a bus (excepting a very, very new bus) that still had its mini-hammers - they are too easy a target for anyone feeling onery. If Czechs don't even feel onery enough to steal the mini-hammers, then this must be a safe place.

So far Prague seems very similar to Belgrade or Zagreb, well maybe inbetween those two (Zagreb seeming a wealthier town and Belgrade a poorer one). A hilly city, old fanciful buildings mixed with newer, plain buildings, a smattering of ornate churches, and a number of stark commie-era Things. The sidewalks are either broken cement or well-kept mosaic stone (these being simple patterns and usually accompanied by cobblestone roads). Haven't explored too much, just a few klicks around my hotel. Tomorrow i'll try to make it to some tourist areas.

Leaving Detroit

On my way to Prague for my birthday, on the first plane from DTW to Frankfurt. A few minutes after i get on the plane i fall asleep, before we even leave the terminal. I wake up as the plane is heading back to the DTW terminal. For a few seconds i think that i am returning from my trip, and perhaps i drank so much absinthe that i forgot the whole thing, but i feel my face and do not feel the wrinkles of old age (30+) so know that we have yet to leave.

Pieces keep falling off the plane, and we keep needing to have them fixed (only in the States, too many lawsuits).

A couple hours later the flight will leave and hours after that it will land uneventfully in Frankfurt. I will need to make other arrangements to get to Prague, but these will all be paid for by NWA, increasing their debt. The only real problem i will face is feelings of depression at missing the 3 inches of snow that will fall in Ann Arbor on my birthday.

Fame, Fortune and Everything that Goes With It

Online movie by Rex, where i play a supporting role. Note how well i play the part of the Uninterested Employee.

While you're at YouTube, be sure to check out the Man dancing. Yes, it is just a man, dancing, around the world, and yes, you should be jealous of him.

Three Divided by Four

I've finished editing just over 450 photos from my last trip.
Here are some teasers.

Initial Images

I took over 1000 images while on my last vacation. Yesterday i did a first pass through them and came up with 600+ potentials. Here is a montage of the initial selection. In case you are interested, here is a montage of all the trip photos.

Just Another 9 to 5 day

Yes, Wednesday was just another 9 to 5 day, except that in this case it was 9pm Tuesday until 5pm Wednesday, and that after working 8am-6pm on Tuesday. I get home Wednesday, sleep for a couple hours, eat, then find new problems and work again from 10pm until a little after midnight. In a 40 hour period, i put in 32 hours of work, a new record for me (though i think i also did a straight 30 hours of work once).

It's so good to be back from vacation, where i stayed up for 40 hours straight just sitting in airports and train stations. Which reminds me, i meant to write a couple follow up trip posts but haven't had the time, due to work. Maybe tomorrow.

Notice the lack of a plane at my gate. It is 16 minutes past the time my flight was supposed to leave and they have yet to make an announcement about what is going on.

US Airways sucks - even the Serbian train system is much better than this.

The mess at Philly. This airport made Lima's processing look good.

But friends i have seen the perfection of airport terminals and its name is Munich Airport Terminal 2. More on that later.

Missing in Action

Things i miss:
- my bike.
- /etc.
- my computers.

Things i don't miss:
- work.
- hearing the English language.


(note: "things i don't miss" may reflect that i still get enough of those while on vacation)

Wrapping Things Up

Almost by chance, I happened to meet Kirsten in Zurich and spent some good time with her in CH, exploring a bit of Bern and Zurich, the buildings, the birds, the drug addicts, the food, the art bears, etc, etc.

I took the nighttrain to Vienna, met a nice Norwegian family in my train compartment, and slept as best i could in the closed quarters, only getting lightly hit in the face a couple times.

Now am in Vienna exploring the internet cafes. Net access is quite expensive in Zurich - 5 francs for 30 minutes, but in Vienna i found a place that is 3€ for 1 hour, first hour free if you buy a drink. Still more expensive than Rome, but work will reimburse me, yes?

I have no map or tourbook of Vienna, but spent a couple minutes exploring some stuff online. It is doubtful that i will see any of the popular sites, but i enjoy exploring the other sides of things anyways.

And yes, if i see some little guy selling bad paintings on the street, i'll be sure to buy one.

I wonder how many times that joke has been made.

Old New Buildings

Of all the coincidental occurences, a friend i made the last time i was in Rome happens to now intern at my father's old work - the WFP, which is headquartered in Rome. I asked her if i could see her office (surely a strange request) because the offices had moved since my father worked there, and she obliged. She gave very good directions and once i arrived, showed through the new office buidling that she describes as "spiky", a very accurate description for an angular, 3-winged triangle building with a facade consisting of long poles reminiscent of cactus leaves.

Thanks, Dunja!

Changes

Looking for a birthday present for my niece, i tried to find a toy store i remembered in EUR. Unfortunately i could not find the store; it seems a McDonald's has replaced it.

When we lived there, EUR had 1 McDonald's. Now it has at least 3, each less than a 10 minutes walk from the other.

Bella Roma, un'Altro Volta

I've been waiting to have some good penne all'arrabiatta again.

Was a 21 hour trip by boat and train from Bar to Bari, but felt longer since i had to leave the hotel 10 hours before the boat left.

Did i mention anything about Montenegro? It already seems like a separate country than Serbia, even though technically they are still the same (option to separate comes due next year). Quite a lot of beach-goers, of course. The landscape is qutie nice on the (very lengthy) train ride down, nice mountain landscape towards the latter quarter of the trip.

One note about Serbia & Montenegro - they definitely aren't tourist places, or at least i couldn't find any tourist shoppes in Belgrade or Bar. I wanted to buy the typical tourist t-shirt from one of the places, but all i found in Bar was a shirt with a patch sewn onto it. Perhaps there aren't yet enough tourists to have a tourist shoppe? Someone could corner the market right now.

My stomach is tired of growling, so i am off to find a plate of pasta, and see if that one pub still offers good Guinness.

Quick Bit

Made it to Bar, Montenegro. The trainride down was over 9 hours long; i hear it is 45 minutes by plane. On the plane i met a couple folks who spoke some English (at least they knew more English than i know Serbian) and i got to converse for the first time in a week and a half (aside from online, that is). A choice quote from Oliver, the musician: "While we were bombed, i played basketball. When they bomb the bridges, we put festival and i sing music on the other bridges. When the rockets went across the sky, we get on the buildings and cheer and clap for our soldiers."

On the topic of the rocket's red glare, i also got to see fireworks Friday night in Belgrade. No, i mean real fireworks, not NATO fireworks. I don't think they were celebrating the U.S. (or Canadian) independence day, i think they were related to some festival going on.

The best independence day fireworks i ever saw occured a few years ago, while i was driving out west. I was 10-20 miles east of Denver, CO, heading towards the city. Though mile-high, the city lies nestled on a plateau before the Rockies really begin. It was around 10pm and four separate communities were having simultaneous firework shows. Each show was separated by maybe 10 miles, so to me it looked like the whole horizon was having one very big show. All firework shows should be that encompassing.

More Random Thoughts on Beograd

Belgrade isn't really a tourist town. I had to search to find places that sold postcards, and only found them at the Zoo and the Aviation Musuem. That museum was quite nice - all the other F-16's and F-117's i've seen have been intact, not shot down. The museum has much more than the shot down planes and missiles, there are also airplanes dating from the beginnings of aviation, WWI, WWII, and modern plans. Most are even in quite good condition.

Still, it is good to see the shot down planes and missiles, then come back to the city and see the blown up buildings.

In the northern part of the city, on top a hill, is a large castle, the Kalmegdan, which is probably the most popular tourist attraction - it is the only thing a local could tell me to see when i asked about the city. It is quite a fair-sized castle with good views of the rest of the city. Inside there are some war machines from WWI and WWII - some small tanks and artillery. Part of the castle has been rennovated into a zoo, with the castle walls serving as parts of the walls for some animals, like the bears and tigers. Among the many birds they have caged are some snakes (python, boa, anaconda ("there's snakes out there this big??")), bears, wolves and dogs, like the German Shephard and Pit Bull. Those dogs didn't look too happy.

Beograd also has a nice cable-stayed bridge . I walked around for hours trying to get a nice shot of it and only got soaking wet and a half-decent photograph. I've spent a good deal of time walking around, partially because i've been lost, partially because i've let myself get lost, and all because i wanted to see what the cty was like.

Now i have to go catch a train to a city in Montenegro, from which i will hopefully be able to get a ferry across to Italy. I'm not yet too confident on how that will turn out.

Oh, in case you watch the news, those bombings took place about 150 miles away, and i don't plan on going close to there.

Any Vegans Still Alive in Belgrade?

A note to any vegans thinking of traveling to Belgrade - don't bother trying to eat. You are better off taking up smoking and drinking lots of beer; these vices will help stave off hunger. Belgrade is one of those places where vegetable soup comes with more meat than vegetables.

You could just buy fruits and bread in the grocery stores, but i don't trust those either. Better to drink and smoke.

Belgrade, Second Impressions

Walking around town, Belgrade seems like a strange mixture of Lima and Roma, with a bunch of blown up buildings added into the mix, and all set in the hills of Pittsburgh. It is really phenomenal to see the destroyed buidlings - and i should probably (carefully) verify with someone that those are from NATO bombings and not some other disaster (6 years seems a long time to not recover from such things, but it has taken Managua even longer to clean up their last big earthquake). I wonder how much of my taxes went towards destroying the city i am now visiting?

An interesting quote from the current wikipedia Belgrade entry:

Belgrade was under some form of attack some 54 times since AD 1, or every 37 years on average. This means that, statistically, every citizen of Belgrade has seen two attacks on the city in his/her life.

The cars here are also very different - after my time in Rome i am used to seeing small European cars, but i do not recall seeing these small Eastern European cars. The most phenomenal one is the Lada Niva 4x4, which is like a miniaturized version of the Ford Bronco. It is awesome and might even fit nicely into the back of my (future) Toyota Tacoma. There are of course all models of Yugo and plenty of them, and some nice looking Skodas as well. Yugo is by far predominant, which isn't at all surprising.

Before i forget to mention it, local beer (pivo) in these parts is very good, though the Zagreb beer i had was a little better than the Serbian beer i've had so far.

I think i may have also forgotten to mention my amazement that the airplane food was vegan (i ordered vegetarian), even providing margarine and a vegan dressing - quite impressive. Since then i've had to eat bread and water if i wanted to have close to a guarantee of vegan food, though there was a restaurant close to the Cathedral in Zagreb that had a good selection of vegetarian dishes and was open late.

Belgrade First Impressions

Arrived safely in Belgrade, was an uneventful trip. The city is a little
strange, but i haven't had a chance to fully explore. Right next to the
Hotel Rex (place i'm staying) is an area that is barricaded off, surrounded by guards, and has signs showing "no photographing". I think they are keeping a pen of undead back there, will try to investigate later.

The barricaded section reminds me of El Salvador when it was really bad,
which is to say when we lived there, which is to say it's a little scary.

I don't think the whole town is really bad, i think that it's more a holdover from the past few years, and hopefully that thought will be a reality when i return home safely.

Only one way to find out - i have to go explore a little more.

Day one, or is it Two, or Three?

Munich, the gate next to mine, the plane was heading to Belgrade. Figured that was a Good Omen. The plane to Berne was a small propeller deal, reminded me of the plane i took to Ratanakiri, though the AC vented air wasn't visible and mildew- smelling. Berne airport reminded me even more of that distant Cambodian outpost - sure, the runway was paved here, and the building made out of cement, and airconditioned at that, but the size and feel was similar, and it was out in the middle of nowhere. A taxi from the airport to the city centre was a nice affair, through farmlands and around rollerbladers, and expensive too.

I waited 5 hours in Berne so i could catch the 7pm train to Zurich and save some time on my tickets (7pm is next day travel, if you're travelling overnight). During that wait i explored the city, and among other things found a nice place where drug deals go down - i think that's what all parks are for.

Zurich, 1.5 hour wait, enough time to buy some beer for the train ride and eat some pasta. I got on the wrong train car, though the right train. Apparently the car i was in only went somewhere in Austria, i had to move 5 cars ahead to go to Zagreb - no problem. The seats were quite uncomfortable, but cheap, as in i spent no extra money (sleeping cars cost up to €50 more). Long ride, empty car, constantly being woken up by ticket checker dude or passport stamping man.

Crossing the border into Croatia (or Hrvatska, as the natives spell it, hence the .hr internet address), the train stops for quite some time, not sure why, but then at the last possible minute a woman says (not so much in spoken word as in hand gestures and facial expression) that this train isn't heading to Zagreb any more, we need to change train. No problem, i changed train, though the one i left was heading to Belgrade - Good Omen part II.

I've spent my time in Zagreb mostly sleeping, have slept more in the past 2 days than i have all year, i think.

One question: who do i contact about adding some new fields to the CIA world factbook? I think every country needs a BPPT (Beautiful People Per Thousand) category, possibly one for various age groups and sex. Hrvatska would rank quite high in the 20-30 y.o. woman BPPT.

It's pouring outside and the cat in me doesn't want to get wet, guess i'll spend some time reading through misc@ mail.