Belize

So here I am in San Ignacio, the last stop in Belize before heading
into Guatumaula. I figured I might as well give you all an overview of
my time and a heads up of what I'll be doing.

We left Tulum, Mexico for Corozal, Belize after only being in Mexico
for four nights. Just crossing the border felt good as we entered
Belize, and we were not let down as we walked down the streets and
were greeted by every person we passed. Radom strangers coming up and
talking to us just to say hello was suddenly not uncommon or strange.
The people were just friendly.

Two nights in Corozal were rather uneventful, just hung out and saw
some of the lowkey local ruins, and ate some of the national cusuine,
which is meat and more meat, making things hard for my vegitarian
companion Jewel. We did meet an older couple (60something) who have
been traveling for the last 10 years. They're retired and have enough
income where they can live indefinately on the road. It sounded like a
great way to live out the end section of life. I hope I'm still that
mobile in 40some years.

From Corozal we went further into the country to the city of Orange
Walk. On the surface it seemed like a rather dull stop that we made
mainly for the close by ruins of Lamanai. We were quite surprised when
within a couple hours of arriving we found ourselves in the middle of
a campaign rally.A parade of propaganda and people supporting the
party went down main street, music blaring, and horns honking. We had
a couple locals come up to us and inform us of the political situation
in the country. Supposedly they have had the same government party
ruling for the last 10 years. From what we heard and read (from
various campaign signs.) the government monopolzed many of the
government resources and kept the profits for the wealthy. It was
quite an experience.

We took a tour of the ruins of Lamanai which was rather impressive.
The tour we took to get there was a 2 hour boat ride up the "New
River" to the site, which included stopping for every iguana the
capatain found so many of the tourists could take 20 or so pictures of
a lizard that will look like not much more then a leaf. We did stop
for some more interesting things, such as rare birds, crocodiles and
the local rum distillery. Once we got to the ruins we had a quick
picnic lunch and then a guided tour of the ruin site. One pyramid you
could climb to the top of which was at about 112ft and provided a
breathtaking panorama of the surronding jungle and river scenery. The
boat ride back was quicker and involved less iguanas to our relief.

After a second night in Orange Walk (much more peachful without the
rally) we headed out to Caye Chaulker via Belize City. The Belize City
portion was simple, get off the bus and catch a water taxi to the
island. Infact Belize city seemed like it could quite possibly be the
least exiting part of the country. It was dirty and nothing pretty.
Needless to say we have no regrets for passing it over.

We thought Caye Chaulker was going to be a nice little escape from
traveling for a few days, but we were mistaken once we arrived. It
isn't a horrible place to be, infact if you can afford the various
dive trips and cave tours it would be a very nice place to relax in
the sun, but for the budget traveler, they Caye's lack of a sandy
beaches, or cheap entertainment, meant wandering around the islands
many generic stores and reading on a dock.

Two nights of Caye Chaulker and we were off to more affordable climes.
We took a boat back to Belieze city (through a small tempest) and
headed south to Dangriga for one night (where we found out the results
of the election) and then off to a much smaller Island called Tabacco
Caye.

Tabacco Caye is a tiny island that you could probably walk around in
about 5 minutes. The big attraction there is that you can snorkel a
coral reef right off the shore, saving you from paying about 40USD a
person for a boat to take you out to any other reef. It was a pretty
neat place, laidback for sure. Being such a small island there were no
restauants or super markets, all your meals were included in the price
of you logding. A rather spiffy setup besides from the fact that you
are stuck with the same cook for your entire stay.

On Wednesday I head to Guatamual and the ruins of Tikal. Of course no
plans beyond that. I hope all of you are doing well.

=Logan, Belize

Mexico!

Well as some of you know and most all of you don't, this is the
beginning of yet another adventure through Central America and
possibly further south.

For all of you that is is news, I'm traveling with Jewel. We flew into
Cancun last Monday after the freak snowstorm hit the Rogue Valley.
Needless to say going from 10 inches of snow to a warm 70some degrees
was quite the treat. So I should be gone for at least 4 months with
the chance of taking longer depending on where my road will take me.

Currently I'm in the small town of Tulum on the Yucatan Peninsula.
Know for it's ruins and white sandy beaches. It attracts quite a few
tourists and a handful of backpackers. It seems to be a nice place but
at the same time it looks like a lot of travelers get distracted by
the beach and over look the ruins along with your desire to move on.

In a few days it looks as though we're heading down to Belize,
couldn't tell you exactly how long we'll be there or what we'll see,
but I'll keep you all updated as I go.

Well I hope all of you are doing well yourselves, I look forward to
answering your questions so feel free to e-mail me back.

=Logan, Mexico

Finally home at last!

 

So here I am, back in the small town of Ashland. I actually arrived last night at about 11:00. It's been nice being able to get to know my little brother, and meeting an exchange student that will be living here for the next few months. Readjusting I think will take some work, but it will come.

 

Please call me or stop by or something if you feel like it, it would be great to see all your friendly faces again. And to everybody I met on the road, thank you for making my trip so much more enjoyable. (SP?)

 

=Logan, Ashland, Oregon, USA

 

Across the Northland

Well I left you all waiting in the Bangkok Airport more or less, I was there for a couple hours having nothing else to do in Bangkok and then I got on the airplane. The first flight wasn't too bad at all, besides the fact that it was at the ungodly hour of two in the morning.

 

That first flight wasn't too bad, tried to sleep since it was a 6 hours or so, but got nothing more then an hour or two. They gave us some really strange breakfast that consisted of instant noodles, shrimp and fish, with hot pepper paste and a croissant, Korean I guess...

 

We landed in Korea (ICN) at just after 9 am and I got ready for my 8 hour layover in the airport, finding out it's an hour to get into central Seoul. While I was trying to recover my forward boarding pass they told me I had a free hotel. I was slightly surprised but not willing to ask the details knowing that I didn't have any money to pay for it if they asked. So a Canadian guy I met and I got our private shuttle to the little 7 floor hotel. As we went he explained to me that most Korean airlines will provide a room if you have more then about 5 hours between their flights.

 

We made it to the hotel and it was honestly the nicest place I have ever stayed. It had a couch in the room, a couple beds, a fridge with juice, a computer with free Internet access, and a bathroom which was the most impressive I've ever seen. With more buttons on the toilet then buttons on a small remote, and more nozzles in the shower then I have in my entire house, it was definitely impressive. They also provided for us a free lunch buffet, it was only cafeteria grade food, but hell it was all you can eat! After lunch I took a nap for a few hours and was awakened completely surprised when my phone was ringing and I was told to come to the lobby. I got back on the shuttle and headed for the airport where I got my next Boarding pass.

 

The next plane was a good one, a 777, big, but not giant. It was nice, everyone had their own  TV and that gave me a pretty good chance to catch up on some of Hollywood movies I've missed out on like X-Men 3, and Mission Impossible, both good. I tried to sleep on that plane, but as soon as we were in the air I got a splitting headache and it felt like my temperature was through the roof. Sleeping was not an option so I resorted to those movies, and a game of chess with the computer on the plane. I beat it with a suicide pawn run across the board. The game lasted 7 mins which is probably the shortest I've ever played, but since I won I figured that my sickness wasn't destroying my brain at too rapid of a rate at least.

 

We landed in Seattle and as soon as we started the decent I felt better, and even better in the customs section, surprisingly. This is where the real problems started.

 

If you've never had an international layover in an American airport, then you haven't had to go through all the BS about taking your bad off the plane and sending them through customs. I got to know this very well. I got to me "Roberts" and "Charles" just one name mind you, even if the other customs call them John and Jeff... Anyway I was randomly selected because I haven't shaved in the last month and a half, so I guess I'm looking like a terrorist or a drug traffiker. So they unloaded my entire bag having me give explanations for every little piece or dirt they found. But the real killer was when they found the Lao Whiskey for my friends 21st B-day (Happy Birthday Jon!) And the Guinness can that has accompanied me since Ireland so many months ago. (Hate to break it to you this way Ethan...) Well since I was supposed to be in the States for about 45 mins in between two countries that I am legal to carry and consume alcohol, they had to "Do what is right." and make sure that I don't get in "trouble" with something that was never even supposed to come out of my bag until I was in a hostel or someplace in Canada.

 

They took the things, had me sign a paper saying that I was "okay" with them taking these things from me. (At this point they had my Passport and I had a feeling that not signing might make obtaining that again less than tidy.) I got the pleasure of repacking all of my things in  the customs area, and then going to catch my other flight, which I quickly found out had already left to Vancouver.

 

I wandered around the Seattle airport until I finally found the Air Canada window, and got to wait in line with all of the other "problem" travelers. I got up front and when I explained that it was the Custom guys that kept me from my plane they gave me a stand by pass and sent me to the gate. Luckily I got on the next flight North and everything was fine... for a couple hours.

 

I made it to Vancouver and the controller there was more then happy to have a little chat while I answered his questions, and was just all in all more friendly then his counterpart down south. So I continued to baggage claim, and waited. I waited for awhile, an hour all together at least, I even took a look at the other carousels just to make sure there wasn't a mistake, but my backpack never came through. I went to the Baggage claim manager and asked about it. He was puzzeled, telling me that the flight wasn't full and that even if I was flying stand-by the bag should have made it onto the plane. The guy was nice about it and when I told him I wasn't staying more then a night in Vancouver, so he offered to send it anywhere that I needed it to go. This was a mixed blessing, I didn't want to hitchhike with my large bag, so that was a plus, but at the same time, my warm cloaths were in there along with my sleeping bad and other supplies. In the whole I didn't mind at that point so I put down my home address and found it amussing that my bag would make it home before me. The best part was that I had bought a backpack for my little sister while I was in Bangkok and had carried it onto the plane, SO I did still have a pack I was just traveling much lighter. 

 

The first night in Vancouver I managed to find a cheap hostel and as fate would have it, I met up with an old Irish friend I met in Paris some 7 months ago or so. He was more or less the last person that I met on my travels to expect to meet with there, but that's traveling, eh? We hung out that evening and talked a little, that night I picked up some of the best pizza I've had in many months (still not that great) and then called it a night, at that point I had had about 5 hours of sleep in the 48 hours before, and I was not feeling well.

 

When I woke up the next morning I showered and took the bus as far out of Vancouver as I could figure out how, still pretty central but not as bad as downtown. I ended up waiting for almost 3 hours before getting my first ride, which only made worry a little bit about the rest of my day when it was a gay guy, telling my that he only picked me up because he really liked my beard and he was wondering if we could go back to his place for 20 mins or so... I was a little um... taken off gaurd is probably the best way to say how I felt, anyways, I explained to him I was straight, didn't plan on trying anything like that anytime soon, and I was actually hitchhiking to get to my girlfriends place. He asked a couple more time, which I had to politely deny and then her let me out.

 

Including Norman the Gay Real-Estate Agent, I got four rides before 13:00 in total then only took me about an hours worth or drive time. I finally got lucky when I was standing on an on-ramp and a Truck stopped for me. It was a Canadian Truck driver, who wasn't going too far (two hours) but I told him it would be the best ride I'd have all day, so we rode for awhile talking about various things until we got to a little truck stop where I grabbed some lunch and and went back on the on-ramp and waited for anothe 2 hours. Eventually a Native lady stopped, picked me up and took me an hour to the next big city, Kamloops.

 

In Kamloops it was starting to get dark, and I knew it would be just about impossible to get a ride all the way to Calgary so I checked in to a Motor Inn, and payed more for accomadation then I have at any other point I have at any other point in this trip. But I figured I still felt pretty bad, I saved alot of money in Thailand, and thye had a swimming pool. The room wasn't too bad, I actually got it for 10$ under the marked price. I watched some good ol' American programming and then fell off to sleep at 21:00. at about 1:15 I woke up, wide eyed and ready to go. Still adjusting to the time I guess, so I was extrmely happy when I woke up again just after 6:30 to get started on the day ahead.

 

That day wasn't too bad, I waited for about two hours and quickly got a four hour ride right away, it was an older guy who was on a construction management job, so he was actually getting paid to drive. You find out as you hitch more that the people picking you up are usually people that have hitched around quite abit them selves "back when they were your age..." I said to Jim I think his name was and then waited for just over an hour again and got a ride the rest of the way to Calgary from another older guy named Ron. He was a pretty nice guy, and actually took me all the way to the house I was staying at. That evening I stayed with one Maudes old friends from Quebec, pretty cool guy, quite but nice.

 

The next morning Maude's friend and his roommates all got up pretty early and were out the door by 6:45. I got a ride to the highway that goes right through town, and then I started walking. It was cold, it was raining, and it was windy. Having lost all of my cold weather gear with my backpack, I was frozen, and after about an hour and a ahlf of walking my toes went numb and I decided it might be wise to surrender to the airport, thinking that waiting for a ride would be nothing but a cold, wet, and miserable experience.

 

I caught a few busses that got me all the way to Calgary airport and I found my way to the WestJet counter. The cheapest they had for a flight to Regina was about $215... that is Canadian dollars, but it's still not that much cheaper then American. Honestly at this point in my trip I'm getting to the point where I don't really care about how much I spend on something like that, I'm just glad that I can get to my destination, in a good mood, safe, and dry.

 

My flight took to to Edmonton, before Regina, and the humor on the flight was the reason I payed so much I'm going to say, it was quite amusing, the stuff you only get from young male flight atendents. I did make it to Regina with no problems, not that I expected any with all of my controband already removed from me back in Seattle. And from the airport I walked to Maudes apartment. Regina is a pretty nice town and I think I'll enjoy taking a break here before heading back home, where who knows what will be going on.

 

=Logan, Canada

Almost Home

Has it really already been an entire month since my last update? Maybe longer... Oh well you guys can't complain!

 

Alright so I left you in Kanchanaburi, there I saw the Death railway, and the Brige over the river Kwai and stuff like that. From there we made our way to Ayutthaya which is the former capital of Thailand (or should I say Siam?) It was a cool place, alot of older ruins and stuff like that, it was definately nice to be in some ruins different from those I saw so much of in Europe.

 

From Ayutthaya we headed towards the "beautiful" Thai islands, we tryed to make it all in one go but we got waylaid at a city inbetween where we were happy to get out of the next day. The Island we made it to was Ko Samut, one of the smaller ones, and the closest to Bangkok, definately a nice little escape before maude had to head home. We spent our days reading on the beach and Maude desperately tried to get her last good tan in before heading back to Canada.

 

After a few day on the Island we grudgingly(sp?) made our way to Bangkok. Once there we found a little Guest House on an out of the way street right close to the Infamous Khao San Road. Our day in Bangkok were spent preparing maude for her flight and seeing the sights. Neither were very exciting, with the highlight being when we found an A&W in downtown Bangkok and treated ourselves to rootbeer floats. Actually we did have a good time wandering around and seeing stuff like the Grand Palace, which is the Buddhist counterpart to Vatican city. 

 

Maude flew out on the 17th, later in the evening and that left me free to sample all of the meaty street food I could think of. (Maude is vegitarian.) Sure I missed her, but thats life eh? I was now on my way to Laos.

 

Well the first day after she left I went to the train  station and headed to the city of Nakhon Ratchasima, where I speant a couple days hanging out and on sunday was able to go to the first Catholic Mass since Poland, it was interesting, but good. From there I made my way to the boreder city of Mukdahan and spent a night preparing myself for Laos (I also just arrived a little too late to make it accross the river.)

 

The next day I crossed over to the Lao city of Savannakhet where I stayed for a night and spent a good bit of time at an amazing restaurant called "Mamas Home" It's run by three sisters, and they treat you very nice, they watched my bad for me and took me to the bus station when it came time. They also thretened to steal me if I didn't bring Maude next time!

 

From Savannakhet I took a night bus up to Vientien where I had my first dorm experience since Malaysia. It was actually much appriciated since I was now traveling alone, and within the first day I met a pretty cool Canadian guy who's been on the road for 11 or 12 years now. He spent alot of time in China and had been getting to know Loas for a little while and had alot of stuff to talk about. We hung out for the few days I was there and I met some other guys, really nothing to do in Vientien if you're alone so it was nice.

 

From there I caught a bus to Vang Vieng, on the bus ride I met a pretty cool American guy, we got along pretty well and ended up sharing a room when we arrived. Vang Vieng however, is an absolute pit of scum... well maybe not that bad but for an example, you can go into a bar which no longer has booths, but kinda reclined seats, and while you lay there you can watch Friends, and order a joint, opium, or even mushrooms off of the menu. Sadly that's normal there. Me and Josh (The American) spent one day inner-tubing, down the river, pretty good way to relax and get away from the hardships of traveling, but you still have to put up with the hell the place has become. (I'm sorry if I sound so negative about the place, and would like to comment that the use of any such narcotics is ones own choice, and I have nothing against that. But seriously, Friends?)

 

We made it out of Vang Vieng just intime to keep my sanity and headed up to Luang Prabang. A pretty cool town, laid back like the rest of Laos, and not touristy to the point of sickness. They had a pretty cool night market there with quite a bit of Hmong handicrafts, definately cool. One day me and Josh rented bikes, and even though they were one-speed-wonders that did not stop me from taking it through mud bits and down rocky paths, We made it out to some small villages where they kids were playing with thier flip-flops and all they wanted from us was to shake my hand and touch my hair.

 

I left Luang Prabang and headed off towards the lacking town of Luang Nam Tha. The bus ride there was 8 hours, and consisted of going over the mountains and through several small villages where the modern world seems to have passed them a centry or two ago. On the trip I had a Lao girl claiming my shoulder as a pillow, but who can complain, thats the way life goes out there. Once I actually made it to luand Nam Tha I discovered that I didn't want to be there, but as luck would have it I met an old Aussie who told me he met some people who were chartering a truck to the Thai Border, earlier that evening I found out that the b us to the border is much more of a "maybe" thing everyday. So I met these people who were chartering the truck and they were happy to have me tag along, along with two other Solvanian girls.

 

The next morning we all met up and loaded up the truck. Four people up front (An American couple and Brit and a Kiwi that was a couple too.) And three of us in the back with the bags (Me and the two Solvanian girls.) The ride wasn't too bad for the first 10 minutes, then we realized why we needed the truck. The road was much more of a deforested mud path with pleanty of puddles pushing 7 or 8 inches, and many more places where the 4 wheel drive was what was getting us through. There was also a number of times where the giant bulldozers would have to clear a clean path for us as we got there. After about 8 hours of this (sunburned and muddy) the steering broke. We piled out of the truck and got to see how one of the front wheels detached itself from the steering column. To out luck we were at a place where they were working on the road with diggers, and they were able to pull us out of the way while our driver fixed it. And in a few minutes we found out why the diggers were there. They literally had to pull cars and truck over the mountain since it was too muddy and too steep to drive. Apparently the company that hired out the truck and driver promised the two couples that they would be there before 6 so they could get over the border. we didn't arrive until after 6 and they couples were more then a little upset. We stayed in the border city of Huay Xai, I shared a room with the Solvanian girls, (Had my own bed of course!) and the next day we made the crossing.

 

On the other side we me and the Couples made our way to Chaing Mai, where we hung out for a few days, it was a nice place to just hang out, much smaller and alot more enjoyable then Bangkok in my opinion.

 

From Chaing Mai I headed down to Sokoathai, a nifty little town with some of the largest ancient Thai ruins close by, I spent a day doing the ruins. That evening I was feeling rather lonely, so I decided to head out and go watch the sunset over some rice paddies. As I walked out into the middle of nowhere I was intercepted by some Thai villagers wanting me to come and have a drink of their Whiskey with them. I decided there wasn't any harm, so I went over. There was a good size family of them over there (now that I think back between 12 and 15 people!) They laughed at me when  I tried to say some Thai words, and touched my beard and hair and looked at my large feet. It was very entertaining, and as the night got later (and I missed the sunset) they offered me dinner, I accepted and had some of the best (and most authentic) Thai food I've had yet. After that they drove me on a motor bike back to my Guest House, and I was left blinking, trying to figure out what happened.

 

The next day I went back to Bangkok, I was dreading Bangkok, but really looking forward to flying. And when I arrived at the bus station I was disliking Bangkok more then ever. They have almost no cheap way of getting into town from any of their transport hubs, and this forced me to hire a motorbike and driver to take me back to Khao San Road. It was an experiance, me with my bags, and such on the back of this motorbike weaving in and out of traffic while cars narrowly avoid clipping me and my bags. But yeah, it was fun.

 

So hear I have been, waiting, and making my final preperation before I fly tonight, well actually tomorrow, but at 2 in the morning whos counting, eh? But yes it is hard to imagine that I'll be flying back to north America after so much time abroad. Even when I think of it I get emotional, for some reason or another, it seems so strange, almost like it can't really be happening. Alright, but all that mish-mush aside, I'm flying at 2 to Korea (South) and wait there for a long 8 hours before contin ueing on my way to Seattle and then  finally Vancouver, BC. From there I'll hitch or maybe Buy a car and drive to Northern Canada to visit Maude in Regina. I'll be there for two or three weeks and then somehow I'll make my way home. I can hardly wait!

 

When many of you read this e-mail I'll probably be in an Airplane or waiting in an airport somewhere. So yeah... I miss all of you guys and can't wait to see you!

 

=Logan, Thailand

 

P.S. In the Korean Airport they have free internet, so send me an e-mail to keep me busy while I'm there!  

SE Asia

Leaving Chengdu I said goodbye to my family and the closest thing I could call home that I have had for the last 6 months. I really enjoyed it and hope that I can visit them again in the near future.

 

From Chengdu we took the longest train ride I have ever had to Hong Kong. Well not to Hong Kong but the majority of the distance. The plane to go to Hong Kong was actually totally unplanned. We originally wanted to go south to Kunming and then to Vietnam, but there were several reasons we opted for a flight from Macau to Kuala Lumpur.

 

Anywhos the train to Hong Kong was a 40 hour trip with the only seat available being some first class sleeper seats. As a last resort to get out of Chungdu we bought them since after you do the math, two nights on the train for 90 USD is actually quite cheap in comparison to what you would pay in a western country. The 40 hours really weren't too bad, we had AC, cards, and our portable chess set. We killed the time with mainly Gin Rummy and Crazy 8's. The train only took us to the Chinese city formerly known as Canton, I think it is Guangzhou now... Anyways, arriving there we then loaded up on a bus that shuttled us to the "border" of China and Hong Kong. It's rather neat you get to more or less just walk over the border through the border check points.

 

Once inside Hong Kong we took the "Local" train to the only place we could that of that would have cheaper accommodation. We were quickly lost. TO solve the problem I found the friendliest person around, which happened to be a Mormon, and asked if he knew of a cheap place. He didn't but he quickly directed me to a free Internet place, shook, my hand and gave me a flier. The flier didn't make it too far, but the tip for free Internet was gold. We quickly found the address of a cheap place to stay and after a short Metro ride we were there. The man running the place seemed more then eager to give us a room, and showed up the private double room for 150 Hong Kong dollars a night. We told him we were fine with the 60 doallar dorm but he insisted we take a private room. After just a little bit of confusion we bought a room for 100 dollars with one bunk bed, no window, but a glorious Air Con. We spent several days in Hong Kong, and compared to China it is quite a bit different. Instead of just dropping your trash on the ground you actually have to put it in a waste basket, or face a steep fine. This place was spotless, and really something you have to see. The giant buildings that make up the skyline are even more magnificent when lit up at night. One of the strangest things you encounter in the Central town area is the complete lack of outdoor walkways. The entire city has more or less been made into a giant mall that is located in the base of skyscrapers all linked by various indoor bridges. After a few days in Hong Kong we took a ferry to Macau.

 

Macau was interesting. It reminded me more of the portion of Spain I saw then China, and seeing everything written in Portuguese as well as Chinese is kinda fun. The city has a couple interesting sights, but truly it is more of the Las Vegas of Asia, as some travel books would say. After just the afternoon we made our way to the Airport to await our flight at 2:45 in the AM. The flight to KL was fine, we arrived nice and early and started the day with a McDonalds Breakfast. (I know McD's is a horrible thing but when you haven't had food for a while and it's the only thing you forgive yourself. Plus Maude was bought off by the free coffee refills.) The KL airport is about 75 km from the city, so we were able to enjoy an hour bus ride into the city. From there we took the Mono-rail to Our hostel which cost about 5$ a night. KL is a pretty cool city, really rather small compared to the other Asian giants, but it is a size just big enough for me. KL has a couple sights such as the Petronus(sp?) Towers, and the KL Tower, some of the tallest structures in the world. While we were there we went to some supposedly famous caves where a monkey didn't like me taking my picture and hit me.

 

After KL both Maude and I were looking for a nice beach to relax on for a day or two before we hit up Singapore. We randomly chose a spot on the map that was actually labelled "beach" and we made a days effort to get there. Once there we quickly found out that this "beach" was much like something you would find on the side of a harbor, Polluted, rocky, and no one but locals. The "beach" was no longer then 5 yards and all the children in the water were fully dressed. We decided that this wasn't the spot for us, and made our way back to the main city where we found out we would have to wait a night before continuing to Singapore.

 

In Singapore it didn't take much time to find a place to stay. Quite honestly I didn't know what to think about Singapore before I got there. It was not what I expected, quite comparable to Hong Kong. We spent a few days there wanting to get away from the city, filling our days in the botanical gardens or the museums. 

 

From Singapore we went straight to Tiomen Island. A good sized Island of the SE coast of Malaysia. We fell in love with it almost the first day we were there. Maude found another girl from Quebec who owned a restaurant on the Island and immediately became friends. We spent our days sitting on the beach reading, or swimming in the warm bath like water. It was amazing. When we wanted to get back to the mainland, we loaded up onto a pretty good sized boat and as soon as we do it starts blowing wind and pouring rain. Within fifteen minutes the boat starts going through some waves that I would rather not spend the next few hours in. These waves are giant, we'd go up them and come down on the other side and the boat would drop to the point that the window next to my seat was totally under the water. We kept going, and there were several points where it felt like the boat was in the air. After a good bit water started coming in through the "Emergency door" and getting all of our luggage rather wet. We stopped at another port still on the Island, and I started throwing up in the little plastic bag that the boat staff had handed out several minutes before. Maude got herself off the boat but I was so busy throwing up I almost missed it. Everyone around me were saying "Oh, it looks like you're going all the way." Looking out the window the dock was leaving me. I got real upset and just kept throwing up. Luckily I wasn't the only one that wanted off the boat and in a few more seconds we were back on the dock. I got off and we checked into another room and waited until the next day to head back.

 

After Tiomen we headed up the the Perhintians(SP?) A spot which almost every traveler says you have to go. Once we made it we realized that it had more or less been converted into an overcrowded tourist trap, but that's the price of paradise, eh? Actually it wasn't too bad, I bought some snorkeling gear and swam in the coral with manta rays and rainbow fish. 

 

From there we headed up to Thailand, where we literaly walked over the border, cars driving by and everything, over a bridge that we could look down and see people crossing by less than legal means. Pretty cool really. On the Thailand side we found a cheap place to stay and waited for the next day when we got on a train to go North. We were surprisingly tired of beaches and wanted to get to a mainland spot to avoid them and the backpacking beach bums. The train was horrible. First off we had 3rd class due to that being the only available seat, and second we had to ride for about 20 hours. The third class seat wasn't as bad as it could have been but try sleeping on a bench built for one and a half people while you are sharing it with someone. Needless to say I didn't sleep much that night and my but still hurts for the haul. 

 

That was two days ago now. We're at Kanchaniburi (SP?) Anywho it is the place the Bridge over the River Kwai is located. It's a pretty neat place, we've just been hanging around and doing the tourist things again before we move on tomorrow. Maude leaves on the 17th back to Germany and then Montreal. It will be interesting traveling alone again, I'd rather not, I enjoy sharing the experiences with someone but you can't always get what you want, eh? I still have no solid return date, but I am definitely looking for flights towards The North American continent. I've started to actually miss home, and I know there are more then a handful of you that would like to see me sometime soon. 

 

=Logan, Thailand

 

P.S. I really enjoy receiving e-mails, so if you enjoy reading this please say so. Don't think you're wasting my time, if you are I just will read them later!   

Still Alive

I have a feeling sending off an e-mail telling you all that I'm heading over to an area of the world that isn't so peachy and then not sending out another e-mail until 3 weeks later is not such a good idea on my part. So yes this time I really do apologize. I know that many of you will say that I have no need to apologize but I am anyway since I have had more then a few chances to write an update since then.

 

Alright, so I left you all in Prague or Berlin or somewhere tat I am not too sure about so we'll start where I know you have never heard about which would be the airplane flying to Moscow.

 

The flight to Moscow was perfectly fine, we had no worries, and even being a Russian airline it really wasn't too bad. When we arrived in the Airport Maude and I had some trouble trying to figure out exactly where we were supposed to go, there was no one really leading us around or telling us where we needed to go. So after a bit we found the "International Tansfer/Transit" line. We stood there for awhile while we waited for an actual worker to come. For a bit I was slightly worried, thinking that we were too late to be delt with, it was almost 10:00 PM by this time. After a bit a lady approched us, speaking decent English and took us into the international waiting area. She told us to check into the Transit office at 7:00 AM the next morning. For the rest of the night we attempted to sleep on steel benches in the cold Moscow airport. It wasn't nearly as bad as one would think spending the night in the Moscow Airport would be. The next morning we come to the "Transit" office at the correct time, just for the worker to tell us to come back in 30 mins, we spend the time looking at all the duty free watches and pens that cost more then the amount of money I will be spending on this entire trip. After the time was up, the lady had us wait in a room that would have been much nicer to sleep in then where we were while she checked our passports, like we were criminals or maybe exiles or deportees or something. After another bit we met two other ladies coming from Berlin like us, and we got a private escort through the airport, as we had to go to the "other" terminal which is situated way across the airfield. So it was just four of us, Me, Maude, and the two German ladies, and we get our very own bus all the way around the Airfield to the "other" terminal. On our way we passed several planes that were missing engines, and another few that looked like old soviet bomber converted to passenger planes. At that point I was just really wishing that my plane was going to be able to fly. So we waited in another room for what seemed hours, in over-stuffed couches just begging us to sleep, we all agreed with the couches at one point or another until finally we were sent through a security check, more thorough then that of an American airport, and then onto another "private" bus out to the airplane we were flying in. To my relief it had all of its engines.

 

The flight from Moscow to Almaty (former capital of Kazakhstan) was quite nice actually. The staff on the plane was very accomadating and was more then willing to help us out. They gave us several different things such as headphones and eye covers to make the flight just a bit easier. That flight went almost flawless up until the point when we heard the pilot announce that due to some random reason we would be landing in Astana. Both Maude and I looked at each other rather confused and started brain-storming how we'd get to China in the 3 days I had left on my Kazak visa. As the plane landed I got ready to confront the flight crew about our problem when I noticed that the big sign over the airport did infact say "Alma-ata" (Kazak for Almaty). maude didn't see the sign and when I walked past all the flight staff without saying more then "thank you" she got slightly alarmed until I reassured her that we were infact in the right place. Customs was easy, stamp in my passport and a digital photo taken of me then a wave through.

 

Leaving the airport could have gone a little smoother then it did, as soon as we left the secure area, we had a mob of taxi drivers approch us, all of them wanting us to take their cab. Not knowing any better, we "agreed" on the price of 500 tenge (the local currency) and loaded our stuff up. I immediately knew something was wrong when I saw a whole line of taxis outside with the drivers in the cars, by this point there wasn't much that we could have done, and in no time this man was speeding towards the train station. Driving in Almaty was deffinately a bit different compared to any of the countries I've been in, where one yeilds very little to street lights or the car lanes. We arrived at the train station and the driver continued to quote the price as 5000 tenge, which is about 33 Euros. I was angry, and started asking why, and telling him that we agreed on 500. He just made no backed remarks such as "I said 500 a kilometer, and is was 20 kilometers." (Good math buddy...) "This is a very nice car, an gas is very expensive." (We drove past a number of gas stations and gas was never more then 100 tenge.) After quite a bit of argueing, and me raising my voice a bit to this man, I got tired of it and we got the price down to 3000... which is still too much, but, what can you do, eh? Luckly we were taken to the correct train station and once inside, we actually had a rather easy time getting the ticket the to Urumqi. To our dismay, the only ticket that would get us to China before my visa expired was leaving later that evening. So we spent the rest of our day looking around the city as much as we could and shopping for supplies we would need for a 34 hour train ride. We had an interesting experience in a restaurant while we had dinner where the waiter wanted out autograph. When the time to take the train came we loaded up and made our selves at home with two other ladies, neither of which spoke very much English.

 

The train ride was rather long and uneventful. We spent the night on the rain in beds that were smaller than anything I have ever slept on. The next day we spent the majority of it looking out the windows at the desert with a number of random stops in small villages where no one got on or off. On the train I actually met an american man who had been living in Almaty with his family for the past two years and was going to China for businesse. at about 3:30 that day the train stopped, for a couple hours before that we had been able to see the Chinese border running along side our train. At the stop they took our passports, unloaded everybody, and then after a short while the train drove away. It ended up that they were changing the wheels on the train, the Soviet rails are not the same size as the Chinese, and every train going through has to go through this process. We waited for another few hours until finally our train came back. At this point we were allowed back on the train and this is when the checks started. Three of them just on the Kazak side of the border, various soldiers coming through and rumaging through our stuff, and all of the hiding places on the train. And for some odd reason they really didn't like my water bottle, giving me strange looks, and asking me questions about it. That took much longer then was comfortable on a train whose climate is completely controlled by the outside air. Which being in the desert kept the inside of the train at "Hot". After we got our passports back the train drove for what must not have been more then a couple kilometers when we stopped once again. This time we were in China. And the entry they gave us was great, the Chinese anthem bellowing out at the train, and more then a handful of gaurds stading at salut as the train slowed to a halt. Here they took our passports and did all of the exact same checks that the soilders on the Kazak side performed, and came to the exact same conclusions. As they finished processing our passports and visas they let us out of the train to wait in the courtyard area infront of the train station. As soon as I got out of the train I just felt so much better then I did in Kazakhstan, and was very happy that I was planning on being there for such a long time. After a bit they loaded us back up and gave us our passports. Everything was right on track, off to Urumqi.

 

We woke up after just a few hours of sleep and got ready to arrive, there were a few Chinese people on the train that could not take themselves from the window they were so glad to be "home". When we finally did arrive in the station it was kinda bizarre the major differences that the Chinese rail stations have compare to the european ones.Security it extremely tight, you can't get off the train without a ticket, and you can't even get into the main part of the station without a ticket and putting your things through a security x-ray. Another thing is that like most Chinese architechiture the stations are absolutely massive. We exited the station and deffinately felt more then a little lost. Looking around from sign to sign we could see much more Arbic script then English, an with our packs on we not only drew attention but moreorless a crowd. So we start walking aimlessly hoping that we will be able to find a cheap place to stay when a number of people approach us panamiming if we needed a place to stay. After a few minutes of hard work at trying to communicate we took their offer and had our first experience of driving in China. In China the drivers are actually surprisingly good, there are amost no collisions and you only slightly need to pay attention to the road. Many Chinese drivers use their horns much more then what would seem acceptable in western countries (even Paris) but they use it not out of anger, but much more as a way to notify others when they are in your path, or when you enter their lane, or even just to say thanks for letting me pass. The Hotel we were taken to was not the nicest, but then again living in Hostels for the last 6 months has more then lowered my standards for living. We took the room for 100 RMB which comes out to be about 10 Euros. This price was for Maude and I both, we had our own room, with a real toilet, and almost a shower. I have paid much more for that for hostels that barely reach the same standard.

 

We only stayed in Urumqi for one night. That was all we really needed. The dirty parts were really dirty, and the clean parts were infact clean. The buildings were all Chinese, and if you have never been to China this does not mean like the old Chinse style. The air was dirty, with every street vender and little restaurant still burning coal. Leaving was not too dificult. We bought a train ticket towards the center of China, with our lack of Chinese a stranger helped us, and bought us a "Hard Sleeper" which cosists of about 60 bunks stacked 6 to a compartment 3 high, all open air to the rest of the train car. It was deffinately something different. Maude and I sat at one of the few "tables" in the aisle and played card games for most of the trip, while the beutiful desert passed by outside the window. We spent one night on that train, and the next day arrived in Lanzhou. Here we knew we wern't staying long, and as soon as we arrived we went to the ticket center and atemptted to order a ticket north to a smaller city that is situated much closer to the older section of the Great Wall. We looked lost in the giant ticket all, and to our delight a Chinese man quickly came to our assistance. He bought us tickets for Yinchaun, telling us it was going to be a 4 hour trip, he also asked us if we wanted a sleeper or seats. It being a 4 hour trip we took the seats. So after he talked to the ticket lady he told us that the next train for Yinchaun was leaving a 10:00PM the next evening and wouldn't arrive until 7:00AM. We were quite alright with this snd got the tickets. After we exited the ticket hall, the Chinese man (we later learned his English name to be David) invited us out to eat lunch with him. We agreed and in just a little while we were eating a full Chinese meal with all the extras, while David told us the proper way to eat each thing and gave us assistance with our chop-sticks. For the rest of that day David showed us around a little bit of the city, until he took us to a Hotel he said was "Cheap, but nice..." I thought it was going to be something similar to what we had in Urumqi, nut as we walked towards the Hotel, I could distinctly see the 4 stars mounted right below the name. I again David how much it was going to be, worried that we would be paying the upwards of 80$ for our room, he ruassured me that it would not be too much. We went to the counter and he started talking to the person at the desk, and he reported in a very sad tone that it cost more then he thought and he would e happy to find us a cheaper one. He said that this place the cheapest room was 200 RMB. When Maude and I heard this I thnk we were staring up at the 10 meter tall ceiling, and we both told him that it would be alright for us to pay that much for a hotel. Both Maude and I were thinking of how much of a deal we were getting. David left us that evening only after arranging to meet up with us again the following day so he could show us more of the city. That evening we went walking around and ran into another American. He was absolutly exstatic to see us. He told us he had been there for two weeks and had not seen another american for that long. He then invited us out to have pizza, reporting that two weeks of nothing but Chinese food will get you sick of it. Wer had dinner with him and could tell that he was more then happy for us to join him. And before we left him he told us tht if we ever needed to we could stay with him at his appartment. The next day we met up with David at 11:00 and spent the entire day with us, he bought us various Chinese snacks and took us just about anywhere we could think of. I think we exauhsted him with all the walkng we could manage, and by the end of the day he was absolutly burnt out.

 

The night we left Lanzhou was a long night, mostly because we ordered the seat. Maude and I thought that David would have ordered us a hard sleeper once he found out it was an overnight train, but to out dismay he still got us the seat. Now this isn't any seat this was the "Hard Seat" the cheapest ticket you can get, and it consists of plywood at a 90 degree angle with a thin layer of padding attached. Needless to say neither Maude or I slept very well, or much that night. The next morning I could not feel my butt for a good 30 mins. Exitng the train station proved to be a feat, and as we walked out we were hit by one of the most insistant hotel runners on the face of this planet. We tried to tell him that we didn't need a hotel, and that we were going back to Lanzhou that evening, that we just wanted to see the Great Wall and then we were going to head back. But this man could not understnd that we didn't want a room. He then got a translator, who, when we told her that we just wnted to see the Great Wall she simply replied that the Great Wall is in Beijing. We escaped into the ticket hall when we realized that we would not get anywhere with these people. Inside the ticket hall we had no better luck, when after a few minutes the hotel runner came inside with two different translators who had no better luck. Finally a railway official interrupted, disbanded the crowd, and we succefully got the point accross that we wanted to see the Great Wall in Yinchaun. The Railway official took us to the firstclass waiting area, and in a few minutes a English speaking tour guide named "Jon" came to help us. We told him what we wanted and he got everything ready for us. We took a cab out to the section of the Wall which is about 40 mins out of town, and we spent an hour looking around, while he answered any questons about the Wall we could think of asking. This section of the wall is really neat, nothing like the pictures, dirt and ancient brick, absolutly falling apart in the years it has been exposed to the weather. On our way back to town, the cab driver told us (through Jon) that the next train back to Lanzhou wasn't until much later that night. We asked if there was any other way and Jon suggested the bus to us. For a small fee extra the cab driver took us to the bus station and Jon ordered us the tickets back to Lanzhou. The bus ride was much nicer then the overnight train ride and only took about half the time.

 

Back in Lanzhou we met back up with the American we had met during the time we were there before. His name is Mike and he's teaching English there for a year among other things. The entire time we were there he was more than happy to have us stay with him, and to my dilema I did not have a knit hat to leave with him, like I have with every other one of my hosts. We had a good time talking with him and hanging out. We spent the night at his appartment and the next day we caught the train to Chengdu.

 

The train ride to Chengdu was much like the one from Urumqi to Lanzhou, with the biggest difference being a problem at the security check going into the station where a man mistakenly took Maudes bag instead of his own. Not being able to locate her bag Maude went moreorless hysterical and it took a bit of pushing to get her onto the train. To our luckonly after a few minutes of train movement the man approached us in our train car holding her bag. Maude was more then happy to see it, and the only other problems we had were trying to tell the man that his bag was still in the station.

 

Arriving in Chengdu definatly lifted my spirits a bit. It was so nice to see my family who I usually only am able to see once every two years if I'm lucky, and when that comes around never for more then a few days. And well that's where we have been for the last two weeks. While we have been here we have taken various trips to nearby destinations such as the worlds largest Buddah and Snow Mountain (A mountain which seemingly has stairs up into the clouds and even after 6 hours of climbing you'll still be wondering where the top is.) I have enjoyed my time here and am planning to leave in the next week sometime, but due to Chinese holiday getting anywhere that we actually need to get is rather difficult, and just waiting for an open spot on a train will take about 10 days, which we really don't have with our limited visas.

 

So yes, that is the last few weeks in a hurry, I hope you enjoyed it, and as a bonus I will attach a link to some pictures I have taken, nothing extremely special, just a couple from Kazakhstan, and on the train. A couple from various Chinese cities, and of course the Great Wall.

 

=Logan, China

 

Pictures!:

http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=53881152370915078/l=109015159/g=41976832/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB