K&K's 205 Days Around the World

Home again, home again

2005-09-28T21:15:00.000-07:00

Eight months and many countries later and we've landed back in the T dot. Arrived yesterday afternoon to our smiling families waiting to greet us.

The last couple of weeks were fun-filled and relaxing. Never been big beach sitters but we quickly got into the swing of going from breakfast to our beach lounger and not moving much for the rest of the day. Beautiful white sandy beaches, warm turquoise water, it was an idyllic place to slow down and let our tired muscles heal.

And then a sloooooow 3 day journey with many stopovers en route to London. But we arrived at 1:30am and spent the next week drinking, eating, and visiting friends and family.

We're happy to be home. It has been an amazing 8 months. So amazing it's hard to sum up in a blog post. Especially as we sit here sorting through apartment listings and job postings :) But there's lots of time to go through all the photos and remember all the stories. Somewhere around 5000 photos between the two of us but don't worry we'll edit them before inviting anyone around to our new place...wherever that might be.

Looking forward to catching up with everyone in the next few weeks...the journey might be over but stay tuned for a last cut of photos...hopefully in the next few days.

k and k

Getting to the top of africa

2005-09-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

With the whole lost luggage fiasco we ended up with no break between safari and climbing kili...i just know you'll all be very sympathetic...lol... we arrived at the lodge from the safari and the briefing for kili was starting in 5 minutes. We met the group and got all our instructions. The most pertinent for us was the information about how much each person was allowed on the mountain - 15 kilos. No idea how 15 kilos translates into gear but we were told the guy in the morning would have a scale.

Bit of a frenetic morning with last minute packing, bag weighing (both of us well under 15 kilos), loading vehicles, and finally we're off. It was a longish drive to the starting point with a couple of stops on the way to do paperwork and hire a few extra porters.

We start hiking about 1pm and our group sets off at a blistering pace. Having been on the road for so many months we haven't exactly trained for this as intended. (In the past 3 months I've (kathryn) skipped rope twice and run 3 times in my hiking boots and called it 'kili training'...lame i know...). The road is incredibly dusty and it's not quite the slow scenic start we expected but we're happy to be on the way. We meet up with our guides and porters and take a break for our box lunch.

The afternoon is much better as we're off the road although it's still very very dusty. We can see the snow capped peak of kili in the distance but 8 days from now seems such a long way off at this point. We've decided to hike the Shira route as it's longer than Machame and Marangu which means more days to acclimatize. Plus it's described as harder trekking and more scenic which appeals. The nice thing is how far off the beaten path it is - much more secluded, in fact for the first 5 days we don't see any other groups at all.

A word about our group - there's 12 of us total. A surprisingly large canadian contingent, a good number of brits, and the always present aussie. It's a fun group and nice for us to be back with our peeps after so much independant travel and broken english conversations.

41 guides and porters. Yep - 41 people to get 12 tourists to the summit. And each day the porters practically run by us with tents and bags balanced on their heads getting to camp ahead of us to set everything up. Not only do we not carry our gear we don't even have to set up our own tents or do any cooking. We figure this is about the swankiest trekking we've ever done.

But it gets better...each morning we're woken with 'hello, how you sleep? coffee, tea?' and a warm mug with beverage of choice is handed in to us. Then half an hour later 'hello, washy wash water is ready' and a hot basin of water is placed just outside our tent. Basically for the entire trip we don't really have to think about anything. We're told when to wash, when to eat, when to walk...you get the idea.

What seems at the beginning to be fairly easy soon becomes hard. As we go up higher the temperature drops drastically and we're soon winter camping. At one site the snow comes down so much the porters have to brush it off the tents. Thank goodness i rented that down jacket!!! i wrap it around my feet each night in the sleeping bag and it makes getting through the night a bit more bearable.

For most of the week we're above the cloud cover which makes for some spectacular sunsets and very cold washes. The basin of warm water is hard pressed to get all the dirt off and we're a pretty grimy mess. i can honestly say i've never been so dirty in my life. and i did discover that hair reaches a terminal point after 4 days. it didn't really get any worse between day 4-8 of not washing it. At least that's what i think but it's not like i saw a mirror in all this time!!

On the 6th night we hike to the summit. we leave camp at midnight all bundled up and start going up. we have to climb 1200 metres to get to the top. we're all walking 'poley poley' (slowy slowy) in a line with our headlights shining. it is very steep and at this altitude it's very hard to keep your breath but the plan is to get to the top at sunset. we have 5 guides with us and the deep gutteral sound of them talking swahili breaks the night darkness. and a few hours in they treat us to some singing which is amazingly motivational. very african type of music with call and answer and a lot of 'kiliminjaro, hakuna matata' (which for those that have seen the lion king you'll recall means 'no problem'). with their singing it took on a bit of a spiritual feel...the sounds in the darkness of the night and the physical struggle going on with my body.

we made it to the first summit about 5:30am and the new moon was just peaking over the horizon and the first hint of sun was coming up. it was really cold and the guides quickly gave us hot water and tea and then started us walking again. The quick start was strategic on their part as we were walking before even realizing we were on to the actual highest point. Another 45mins (i think, not really sure) and we reached Uhuru peak. the last hour was other worldy - there really is no other way to describe it. walking the rim of a volcano with a glacier on one side and the sun coming up. about as close as i think i'll ever come to feeling like i'm on another planet.

we made it to the top at about 6:30 am and were both a bit overcome with emotion. it was unexpected to feel it so strongly but it had been a tough struggle getting here. pictures all around and then they moved us out pretty quickly. the cloud was moving in and i think they were concerned about getting us down before getting too cold and breathing in the moist air.

getting down was very painful. it wasn't a trail but instead we had to sort of ski through the scree (the loose rock and gravel). there was no way i could do it very fast as it requires unbelievable balance so Last, one of the guides basically came down the mountain with me and we skied the scree together, him holding me firmly the whole way down. every time i turned around kirk was coming down like he'd been doing this his whole life. My personal escort kept saying, 'kirk is fine kirk is fine' every time i looked behind me.

Back at camp we had a couple hours to sleep and then lunch, and then a painful 2 hours walk further down to another camp. and finally on the last day we walked the rest of the way down. it was steep and unbelievably painful on the muscles.

finally we arrived back at the lodge and had a few hours to clean up. and 'clean up' meant a lot of scrubbing to get all the dirt out. and of course that night was a big dinner where we all drank too much and had a great time reliving the highlights and forgetting all about the sore muscles.

And now we're doing some major R&R on a beach in Zanzibar. It's heavenly here with white sand beaches, turquoise water, and sunny days. We're staying in a hut right on the beach and have spent a few days doing nothing but lounging and napping. It's a perfect end to the tanzania adventure!

And of course we're starting to near the end of our travels. We have another week or so here and then a week in england before the final flight to toronto. but that's another thought for another day...for now i must go and find a cerveza for the serious card playing that is going to happen tonight. for those following the ongoing rummy score...at just over 11,000 points it's neck and neck with kirk up by a handful of points!!

see ya'll soon...

k and k

Tanzania....halfway through and it just keeps giving.

2005-09-04T03:10:00.000-07:00

What we expected to enjoy we've really loved, and what I thought would be rather easy has turned out to be one of the hardest things I've ever done.

We arrived in Tanzania a little over two weeks ago after the longest and most fustrating flight from Cairo to Kilimanjaro airport. I'll save most of the details for the bar but in short. We arrived at the airport in Cairo only to find that we'd been dropped at the wrong terminal. Got to the right terminal and found out that our confirmed tickets that we'd worked hard to confirm were in fact not confirmed at all and they weren't going to let us on the flight unless we took a connecting flight out of Ethopia on Sunday. Our safari was to start Sunday morning. Fifteen minutes before the fight left we agreed to take the Sunday flight for two reasons. First we figured we'd have better luck sorting this out at the head office in Ethiopia and second our Egypt visa expired in 7 hours.

Get to Ethopia and they say there's nothing they can do for us. It's 10:30pm now. Before we can leave the airport, we're 'In transit' so our bags have been shipped on ahead on us, we have a hotel assigned by Ethopian Airlines along with everyone else in transit. Kathryn asks a fellow who has been helping people around us if there's anything he can do about getting us on the 2:30am flight we were orginally confirmed on and our tickets show as confirmed. He agrees it's the airlines fault and so will help us. at 3am he returns with tickets for the next day directly from Ethopia to Kilimanjaro airport. We were to flight through Dar in Tanzania but that's fine we'll go direct to Arushia (Kilimanjaro Airport).

The new flight doesn't leave till noon the next day so they put us up at the Hilton and after looking for our bags, which they said they'd take off the 2:30am flight, we give up and get driven to the hotel at 5am. Little room service and we get three hours sleep and a hot shower.

Back at the airport at 9am and look in vain for our bags. The head of Lost and Found tells us to go to Arusia and fill in a lost luggage claim. 'But we leave Arusia tomorrow on a week safari'. We decide there's nothing we're going to do here and lets just keep moving forward.

Get to Arusia on one of the most turbulent flights I've ever been on. This is one of two times I've actually thought the plane might go down. There's nothing the Ethopian Airlines in Arusia can do for us except put an email notice in the system that our luggage is lost. At 6pm, our flight arrive a 3pm, we take a $50US cab to the hotel.

We have one extra day between the end of the safari and the Kili climb so we push back the safari one day in the hopes that our bags will be found the next day.

In there morning there's no word on the bags so we figure we should head down to the second hard clothes market and get something to wear while we're on safari for a week and the clothes we've had on since we went to the airport in Cario are starting to get a little tired. We pick-up some really fun stuff. My personal favourite is a Team Canada Roots shirt for the 2002 Salt Lake City games. Kathryn has since stolen that for her own use and I'm never going to see it again. But that's OK because that evening when WE called the Ehtopian Airlines office ours bags had arrived in Arushia. We picked them up the next morning while leaving on the safari.

This has become a little longer than I intended so here's the highlights of the last two weeks and we'll post more later.

The safari went to Lake Manyara National Park first and driving around in a 4x4 where the roof pops open so you can stand-up and look at the wildlife.......I felt like I was in Jurasic Park. There we saw Blue Monkeys, baboons, elephants, zebra, warthogs, hippos, buffalo, wildebeest, Dik Dik's and Impalas. As well we saw what came to be one of our favourite sights - giraffes. Three feet from the truck they towered over the roof by six feet. Giant animals that look very awkward but are surpisingly one the of the most graceful creatures I've ever seen.

Well I'm going to have to cut this short as we need to go sit by the pool after living in a tent for two weeks and getting on a seven hour bus ride to Dar Es Salaam tomorrow morning.

Short note on Kilimanjaro climb..........we made it! As I said one tof the hardest things I've done. Living in a tent at 3700M+ ASL for eight nights wasn't easy and then to climb 1800M in the middle of the night. In the end it was really worth it but we're licking our wounds today.

Take care all and will finish these stories soon.

K&K

on to tanzania

2005-08-19T02:12:00.000-07:00

our last day in egypt and we're just killing a couple of hours in the air conditioned internet room before heading to the airport.

we have spent a great last week here. it started with a true travel adventure out to a desert oases on the egyptian/libyian border. we rode the bus over 3 days stopping in Alexandria and Mersa Matrouh on the way. Bus journeys are always a bit painful as they're a bit too cramped for our long legs. In egypt we're also treated to very loud arabic music or kung fu movie, and sometimes we get hours of someone chanting the koran. it seems passengers just bring on tapes and the bus driver plays them. too bad we only had cd's, but i think regardless he might have refused putting on our music :)

The first leg of the journey to alexandria we witnessed a big emotional argument as the bus was oversold and 5 people didn't have tickets. the bus company wanted to get a few people off the bus and told them they'd made other arrangements for them. but the people didn't trust the company so refused to move. so we sat for just over an hour while all the yellng occured. (we got the short version from a guy who spoke english beside us). On the second leg they sold us seats at opposite ends of the bus so i (kathryn) ended up beside a very interesting girl, roudy, who is in 2nd year at university. it's always a treat to meet a local who speaks decent english and can answer all the questions you've been wanting to ask.

arriving at the oases the bus was met by the usual horde of taxi drivers. only this time they were 12 year old boys with donkey carts. it was a very remote town that reminded us a bit of stepping into the wild west. we spent 2 nights - looked about some ruins in town and then did a 4X4 desert excursion that included hunting for fossils and a hot spring dip before watching the sunset from the top of a dune. we threw in some extra fun by rolling down the side of a rather large dune until we were dizzy and laughing like 4 year olds.

we did "2 legs in one" on the return and journeyed back to alexandria for a few nights. and what a travellers dream come true. everywhere on the coast is busy with eyptian tourists and we knew finding a hotel would be a bit of a challenge. we wanted to find somewhere decent to catch up on some sleep before heading to tanzania and its adventures. because we took the stairs instead of waiting for the rickety elevator we got the last room in a great hotel. $32 CDN for a room with a balcony overlooking the mediterranean, air con, english movie channel, normal shower (as opposed to a spout coming out of the wall, and comfy beds. we slept, ate, watched movies and generally just took a break from sightseeing. left feeling refreshed and ready for more travel.

back in cairo we had 24 hours to find a camel ride, the one thing we hadn't done here in egypt yet. we became the cheesy tourists last night as we joined hordes of others riding camels into the desert near the pyramids to watch the sunset. a little terrifying as they do a huge swing movement getting up and down, the camels i mean. kirk looked so comfortable he could have been the guide. i just hung on really tight and after attempting the 'run' once suggested the walking pace was a bit more my speed.

we'll head to the airport in about an hour and off to tanzania. not sure how much internet we'll find there (and we'll be on safari and hikes for days at a time) so might not be able to post for a bit.

we have booked our return to toronto - sept. 27th is the big day. seems like we just left and yet have been gone for ages :)

hope all is well...
k & k

The final hurrah in Egypt

2005-08-11T09:18:00.000-07:00

One night in Hurghada was all that was needed. A strange mix of luxury resorts and the usual local flavour. A town where the europeans check in to their resort and don't leave until it's time to fly home. The tourists that do leave are the ones (usually female) looking for a little local action from the fellas. Combine this with a very conservative muslim society and it makes for some strange scenery.

For us it was a stop over point to take the ferry to Dahab, located on the gulf of Aqaba. Also a tourist haven but attracting the backpacker/diving crowd. Very laid back and enough scantily clad tourists that I was able to wear shorts for the first time in weeks. (It's been a little surprising how conservative everywhere since we left China has been, especially for women of course). We spent a few days in Dahab finalizing details for Tanzania and enjoying the R & R. A big diver spot with lots of 'have ya done the blue hole' and 'how many times ya been down'? We did visit the blue hole but with snorkeling gear and it totally rocked. Could see way down, we reckon about 20 feet and lots of different fish.

Another big highlight was climbing mount sinai, where moses is reported to have received the 10 commandments, and St. Catherine monastery. The neat thing was we left Dahab at 11pm...sorry egyptian time meant we actually left at 11:40pm...lol... Arrived at the mountain about 1:15am and started climbing with headlamps. The number of stars was stunning and we were surrounded with desert mountains that we could only partially make out in the darkness. And of course we kept passing the camel touts, hearing a camel bray in the dark is one helluva indescribable sound. We arrived at the top about 4:30am after stopping for a pita bread, peanut butter, and honey break just before the summit. Along with others we rented a mattress and put on all our cold weather gear and snuggled up waiting for sunrise. Just had to wait an hour and a thin red line appeared in the distance. Watching it get brighter and more colourful until the tip of the sun appeared to ooohs and ahhhs all around. The way down was a bit chaotic with tourists and camels all vying for space on the trail. Was a beautiful early morning walk and fun to see where we'd walked up in the dark the night before.

From Dahab we returned via bus to Cairo. The usual 9 hours to go 400km (although more like 250km as the crow flies). We returned to the same hostel we'd stayed at before in Cairo and the familiarity was a nice reprieve from the usual hectic arrival into a new city. We stayed one day in Cairo organizing our tanzania travel and then ventured off on the bus again. This time we're headed west into a desert oases. It's about 18 hours round trip on the bus and we've decided to take 3 days to get there. The bus rides are never dull but often a bit draining so we like to break it up a bit. Tomorrow we do the final bus leg into the Siwa Oases where we'll spend 2 nights and then return to Cairo via Alexandria.

And then it's off to Tanzania for a safari and to climb mount kiliminjaro. And of course a few days on the beach to recover from all this travel!!!

hope all is well in your worlds...
k & k

egypt - where all it takes is a little baksheesh

2005-08-02T01:47:00.000-07:00

ahhhh the serenity of Frankfurt. we spent 3 days eating, sleeping, and doing odd jobs like laundry and buying film. walked along the rheine, saw a movie (the wedding crashers), and spent a night at a jazz club.

rested, rejuvenated, and clean we got back on the road and headed to egypt. our first few days were spent in cairo figuring out how it all works in this country. we were pleasantly surprised to find the touts average one per 2 blocks which is significantly less than in previous countries. combined with the fact there are sidewalks it makes it very easy to walk about town. the biggest challenge is the constant battle with the money. there's one price for everything and it's 'whatever we can get out of these tourists'. even the smallest of transactions like buying a bottle of water is a negotiation. and the constant baksheesh - the term refers to a tip and everyone wants a piece - is trying at times. the guy who tells you to take your shoes off at a mosque, the security guard collecting tickets into a tomb, at one point our taxi driver paid off a security guard at the side of the road. no idea what service he rendered but he got his take.

the cairo museum was first rate and our first glimpse of ancient egyptian history. the dates with each exhibit indicated how old it all was but we both found it didn't really impact us until we got to the pyramids and the reality of all this being built thousands of years BC truly sank in. spent an awesome day at the pyramids - scorching hot and desert all around us as we wandered around and climbed down into one of the tombs. a hot steep descent down a makeshift ladder into an airless tomb meant we didn't stay long before climbing back out. after visiting the Giza pyramids (the most popular ones) we drove to dahshur about 20km down the road. a tour bus was just leaving and by the time we climbed down to the bottom we were the only ones there which made it very peaceful and just a little spooky.

also spent a day in islamic cairo in a couple of mosques and wandering through the market. in the main mosque we climbed the minaret and had a view of the whole city. walking down an alley way we found a smaller mosque that we ducked into and found it much nicer with its stained glass and hanging lanterns. by this time we were a little savvier so when the guy at the door told us to pay the entrance fee we refused until he could produce a ticket. not surprisingly there was no ticket and he was just some guy working his territory. we agreed on some baksheesh on the way out and walked in. spent another day in the old coptic area to visit the fortress town of babylon, where the holy family is thought to have taken refuge.

saw one of the best live performances of all time. a troupe of whirling dervishes were in town and performing at the citadel. loud music played on ancient instruments and then the dervish comes onstage in his colourful skirts. he twirled for 1/2 hour without stopping and the skirts are moved around and he sort of dances to the music all while twirling.

signed up for the one week tour up and down the nile. usually we travel independantly but we decided a week of 'scooby doo' travel and following the pink umbrella sounded kinda nice. the overnight train from cairo to aswan was the usual sleepless night in cramped quarters. arriving in aswan we had a couple of days and for sightseeing. highlight was getting up at 3am to join the convoy of vehicles going to the sun temple of abu simbel and the neighbouring temple of nefereti. best baksheesh story yet - i'm in the bathroom and kirk is waiting just down the road by the curb. standing there waiting and a military officer comes up to him and says 'give me a pound' and keeps repeating it until kirk walks away.

we decided to take a cruise down the nile instead of the local felucca boat. traded adventure for comfort and very happy we did as the cruise was so much fun. very relaxing as we drifted down the nile watching it all roll by. amazing to see the greenery right on the shores of the nile and then just brown desert as far as the eye can see. docked in town on the last night we got off the boat to find some reasonably priced beverages. bought egyptian gin which takes suspiciously like rye. mixed with a little coke or 7-up it kinda smells like turpentine and tastes like generic moonshine. our last night we sat on deck sipping our cheap drinks and overlooking the nile.

have now spent a couple days in luxor. yesterday we visited the valley of the kings and went in a few of the tombs. was the first time we'd seen hieroglyphics with the original paintwork still intact. didn't go in king tut's tomb as it was a hefty extra charge and our guide said was not as nice as the others since it had been prepared so quickly. just kicking about town today sorting out our next leg to tanzania. tomorrow we head up the coast to hurghada where we hope to find some beach time and snorkelling.

until next time...

k & k

High speed connection in Germany makes for lots of photos from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and India

2005-07-21T04:39:00.000-07:00

Photo 1 - Waiting for the bus at the side of the road in Thailand
Photo 2 - Icing down that tourist tattoo from the motorcycle
Photo 3 - I could be in the office right now.
Photo 4 - Oh natural wet and wide water land
Photo 5 - I am really becoming comfortable with these open back taxis Photo 6 - We're Kirk and Kathryn and we're with the tour. The one that's going to see the fish this afternoon.
Photo 7 - Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.
Photo 8 - Don't inhale - there is a poison dart in that blow pipe. Don't make me laugh when I'm doing this.
Photo 9 - Kathryn amongst all the tea in Malaysia
Photo 10 - Playing in front of the Kuala Lumpur twin towers.
Photo 11 - Hanging out in Singapore.
Photo 12 - King of the orchid garden in Singapore
Photo 13 - Queen of the orchid garden in Singapore
Photo 14 - Sunset in the botanical gardens Singapore
Photo 15 - The biggest shuttlecock in the world
Photo 16 - Put me in coach
Photo 17 - Slings in Singapore
Photo 18 - The Bay of Bengal creeps in fast!
Photo 19 - Sound and light show in India. The sound was all in Hindi but we enjoyed the lights.
Photo 20 - Yeah sure you can have your photo taken with us
Photo 21 - Bend down and make sure we get in the picture when the timer goes off
Photo 22 - The money shot
Photo 23 - Our nine year old tout
Photo 24 - Thank you India
Photo 25 - (we just have no words for this one)
Photo 26 - The two of us at the royal palace in Bangkok
Photo 27 - The Thai beaches...........
Photo 28 - Hiking around the island of Ko Summi
Photo 29 - The Beach in Thailand
Photo 30 - Playing at the twin towers in KL still
Photo 31 - Kirk goes Bollywood at the film studio tour
Photo 32 - Man you can ride the train here with the door open
Photo 33 - We're up with the sun after a night on the train
Photo 34 - The shortest guides we've had all trip
Photo 35 - Holy Cow

india...from Chennai to Delhi and points inbetween

2005-07-08T04:41:00.000-07:00

We arrived in India at 10am on June 28th and it's been quite the experience ever since the cab ride from the airport.

In the customs line we had our first taste of an Indian queue, which means you don't line up at all, but got through suprisingly quickly. Inside the airport we bought 'prepaid' taxi tickets to the hotel and when we got out to the car it looked like it'd driven out here from the 1930's. It was a big old car, can't tell you what kind, but I think it was the same one that Ward Cleaver had on Leave It to Beaver. Hope and start it up and an odd statue on the dashboard starts flashing violently in blue and red. The driving is back to the Chinese style and we both just look out the window rather than at what's coming toward us. Makes me laugh when I think of the guy in the airport ushering me over to the rent a car counter.

The next day we make out way down to a coffee/breakfast cafe we've read about in the LP. The walk it quite long as the sidewalks (well not really sidewalks but where a sidewalk would go if there was one) are a little crowded with people selling things or people laying on them. At one point we walk past the driveway and are able to see around the 6' high walls where a dozen people have envelopes and packages in their hands and are walking around piles of the same. We stop and both say to each other at the same time after looking at the sign on the building, 'they're sorting the mail'.

After breakfast it's over to the art gallery and the national museum. I personally enjoy the art collection a little more than the one we saw in Singapore. The collection is small but there are a lot more local and national artists hung. The gallery is also in one of the nicest pieces of architecture that I've seen all trip. We look at the carving collection in the main building and talk about how much history there is here after looking at some pieces from 700AD. From here it's a little walk downtown which wears us out pretty quickly with all the traffic and noise. That evening we arrange train tickets and order in what has become the staple manner for a couple of days, 'can't you recommend something?'. Every time we've done this the waiter has been great and gets us something that isn't to spicy and gives us a knife and fork as well.

The next day in Chennai we toured the AMD movie studios and watched the filming of a Bollywood musical called 'Powerful Man'. From here we went across town to the beach for lunch and talked to the owner about how far the tsunami had come up here. After that we toured a Theosopical Society where all relgions are accepted and live together in a compound that contains a church, a mosque, a Buddhist shrine and a Hindu temple.

The next day we're off on our first train trip in India. At first we're a little trepidatious we've seen the pictures of hundreds of people hanging on to the train and sitting on the top. After waiting around the station with hundreds of others we board the air-con seats car and it's actually very relaxing. The windows are a little tinted, which makes it a hard to see the scenery, but the trip is very pleasant. The landscape is bone dry and brown. Every once and a while there's a palm tree that sticks out because it is the only thing with colour. Later we met a fellow that tells us there has been very little rain in this area for the last three years and we see huge riverbeds, which the train takes three minutes to pass over on a bridge, that are completely dried up.

We arrive in Tirupathi about 4pm and get into our standard routine when arriving somewhere new....figure out how we're going to leave. After arranging the train tickets and getting a hotel we head out to a sound and light show at Chandragiri Fort which was built in the 15th century. The sound is in Hindi but we have a great time and the tuk tuk ride there is like being at Canada's Wonderland.

The next day we head up the sacrad mountain of Tirumala which bosts more pilgrims than Jerusalem, Rome or Mecca. Haven't been to any of these three but I'd have to say this is no false claim. We watched hundreds of pilgrims work there way to the front of lines to crack coconuts over metal angles and pour the milk over gods along with the flowers they'd bought. The line to pass through the temple, which we didn't do, was five hours long and this was after you'd got your ticket the night before. Walking through the gardens a number of locals wanted to have their photo taken with us. A couple were too shy to ask but we know the inquisitive look while holding the camera from China and invited them over. That evening I was more than happy to find the local sports network was carrying the opening stage of the Tour De France.

The next day we spent on our way to Vijayawada. Which was chosen for no other reason than is was a reasonable about of time on the train heading in the general direction we were going. Well this kinda backfired on us. True to our usual MO we arrived and immediately went to get train tickets for the next day. Just after we found out that there were no seats out of Vijayawada for 3 days the ticket counter closed. the sign said open until 8pm but apparently that doesn't apply on a Sunday. Feeling a little stuck we got a room, had dinner and decided we were not going to take a bus after visiting the bus terminal.

Back to the train station the next morning at 7:30am. At 8am we're able to arrange foreign tourist tickets on the wait list. We're told to take these over to the rail masters office. Walk the two blocks over there, up to the second floor, ask a third person if they know where the rail masters office is and find he's not in 'till 10:30am. OK it's 8:30am so back to the hotel for breakfast. 10:00am make our way back to the rail masters office. He has us fill in the same form we did to buy the tickets and says go back to the window where we bought the tickets at noon. Back to the hotel to check-out, hoping that we're actually going to get tickets and not tempting fate by taking our bags as we still just have wait list tickets. back to the train station at 11:30am. Kathryn gets in the 'Ladies, seniors, handicapped and freedom fighters' line and is able to get to the front for twelve on the dot. I'm not making any plans to get on a train 'till we have the tickets in hand as I've thought we'd have tickets three times now and it still hasn't happened. She gets them. We spend a couple hours in a coffee shop and the train pulls in at 3:40pm.

Twenty-one hours later we're in Kolkata. The landscape slowly changed as we traveled North and become more green and much like the rice fields we saw in Thailand. We arrived at the train station about 4:30pm and the traffic on the way to the hotel makes New York traffic look like a small town weekend festival. We've read Kolkata is the centre of the arts in India and this does appear to be the case. We visit the Modern Art museum and look into seeing a play but on the night we want to go they're holding a dicussion, in English, about one of the Hindi gods. We decided to exercise our brains a little differently and go out to see War of the Worlds. If someone talking softly during a movie upsets you...don't see a movie in India. The movie starts and then people start to show-up and sit down. Then the yelling and hollering starts. Which OK this is a blockbuster premier so in a way it's kinda fun. Then forty-five minutes into the movie there's an abrupt stop between sceens and a twenty minute intermission. You'd think this is when people would be using their cell phones but they've been talking on them at full volume since the movie began. There's three commercials and two movie trailers and the movie starts abruptly again. Different and fun in the end. plus we find our favourite Indian restaurant next door...Domino's pizza. Spend five nights in Kolkata and decide it's time to go when the waiters at the Blue Sky Cafe, the place we go for breakfast, starts putting down our coffee and OJ before we've even ordered.

Next we're off to Bodhgaya where Buddha completed achieved enlightenment. The bodhi tree that stand there today is related to the one he sat under. sister seed maybe? The temple that has been built there is one of the most impressive pieces of architecture we've seen in India and there's a real peaceful feeling within the temple grounds. On the day we arrive we're invited to watch as a half-dozen monks from Thailand are being ordained. Quietly at the back we watch as the new monks are given their robes by emotional family members. The evening before we leave we watch a procession in the street of about 100 people dancing under lights that are powered by a generator on wheels. The group consists of men in the middle dancing like they're young punk rockers pushing each other back and forth while the women look on from outside the circle. There's a Dr. Seuss style bike at the back of the group which has four large speakers that blast a two minute song. Once the song has played through the group moves about 15 feet down the road, the song starts up again, the dancing mosh pit ensues until the song is done and then the whole thing starts over again. It takes about half an hour to move past our window.

Next stop in Varanasi which is the most sacred city in India and where Hindi's travel to wash themselves in the Ganges river and, if they can afford it when they die, be cremated beside the river and then dumped into it. We stay at a hotel that has a balcony that overlooks the river and both Kathryn and I comment that there is an air of awe here. While walking around the small 4 foot wide lanes in the old city I come across a cremation ceramony and watch as the body, wrapped in bright yellow fabric, is dipped into the water and carried up to the incineration room. The cost is determined by the weight of the wood it takes to cremate the body and this amounts to about 300 rupees or 10 dollars Canadian.

Next we'd like to go to Agra, to see the Taj Mahal, but we can't get train tickets till a day before we're to fly out of New Delhi. The train ride is also fifteen hours and we've already done 2 overnight train journeys. so we decide to fly to New Dehli and take a day trip to Agra. In Delhi we stay in the second worst hotel of the trip but pass the time reasonablely easily. One day we walk around the southern part of the city and visit the museum of Modern Art. The next day we visit a mosque with a courtyard that'll hold 25,000 people and by far the largest in India. After that it's over to the Red Fort which is built of red sandstone which we return to in the evening for the sound and light show. The next day we take our day trip to Agra and meet an Indian couple that are about our age and are visiting the Taj with their two sons. The Taj is one of the few sights in the world that really lives up to the billing. You can see if from a distance but you can't see it when you enter the gates. Security is heavy and you enter a large courtyard that is enclosed by large red sandstone walls. Walking down the path when you turn right you see through the archway in the wall the classic image of the fountains and the ponds that lead up the white marble palace. Kathryn and I both picked this as our favourite experience in India.

We leave today and are just spending the day relaxing and awaiting to head up to the airport for our 2:30am flight. India has not been what we expected it to be but as a fellow we met on a train said "most people do come with one idea of India and leave with another". We've decided to spend a couple of days in Frankfurt before starting the final leg of our travels in Africa.

the journey through malaysia

2005-07-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

Malaysia was by far the easiest country we've travelled through so far. A lot of english spoken and decent amenities in most places we ventured. Although not so keen on kirk being called 'sir' and 'boss' and me just being invisible! We crossed into the country on a ferry from Thailand, landing on Langkawi island. Spent a couple of nights there and did a 'wicked cool' snorkelling trip. Tons of colourful fish and great clarity. Also some black tipped sharks and a baracuda. Was pretty thankful we didn't see the baracuda while under the water. Seeing him from the deck at feeding time was enough. swimming with the sharks was a bit freaky but they just swam on by us. Kirk got a little nibble from a sandfish. Our guide said he must have put his foot down near the nest of eggs and the momma fish was protecting them.

From Langkawi we made our way south stopping in a place called the Cameron Highlands. Deep in the mountains and quite high up so very temperate climate. We did a one day trip that involved a 2 hour trek into the jungle to see the worlds largest flower (the name escapes me right now). Our guide wasn't feeling so great so sent us into the jungle with the machete carrying trekker from the local hill tribe. I reassured myself the machete was for cutting down a walking stick and clearing the brush and had nothing to do with the big snakes likely watching our every move. Rest of the day was visiting a tea plantation and strawberry farm.

Kuala Lumpur was interesting but incredibly un-pedestrian friendly. 6 lane highways everywhere with nowhere to cross. At one point we ended up in the lobby of a big hotel surveying the roads below trying to spot how we could get across. Ended up using our Beijing street crossing skills and going frogger style. Took in a very funny play - sort of an indian version of 'my big fat greek wedding'.

From KL it was down to singapore for a few very relaxing days before heading to india. Had our first major delay on the train to Singapore. a few hours in the train just stopped and sat for 3 hours. asked someone in a uniform and he said we were waiting for an engine. not sure how we'd managed to get 3 hours down the track already?!? finally on our way again and pulled into singapore just in time for rush hour traffic. train station was surprisingly unimpressive - we'd expected some grandiose station being such a big and wealthy city. Huge lineup at the taxi stand so we headed out and figured we'd walk to the subway or until we could find a cab. thankfully one stopped for us not too far away. don't think she was supposed to stop there but good for us that she did. many many rules in singapore: no smoking in public (even outside), no spitting, no jaywalking, yada yada. makes for a very clean and organized city. the sterility would probably drive me a bit crazy living there but it was sweet luxury for 3 days after travelling through the rest of asia.

seems the main things to do in singapore are shop and eat. very pedestrian friendly with air conditioned malls lining most major roads. and lots of interesting things along the way. little art exhibits and interesting buildings. saw an art house film, visited a couple of the city parks, and both got new sandals as we'd worn out the ones we'd started this trip with. saw a local sporting event - badminton no less!!! (stop laughing john and tim :P) it was the singapore open badminton tournament and it was free to watch the qualifying rounds. neat to see the high level of play but also neat to see the crowd. a couple of young school girls came in and got all giggly and excited when their favourite player was called to the court. Went to a patio bar for a drink one night and they were showing the tournament on the big screen tv.

so now we're in calcutta, india. we flew into chennai (madras) and have worked our way north on some very hard to come by train tickets. but it's getting late so will save the india story for next time.

k & k

ps - don't have the current rummy score on me but a couple of nights in a dead end town and a 20 hour train ride has seen kirk making a multi-hundred point comeback. think he only needs another 160 or so to take the lead.

Rummy Dilemma - Any Experts Out There?

2005-06-28T02:07:00.000-07:00

Help! We've run into unknown territory on the rummy scene.

Here's the deets:

- we each had one card left in our hand
- 3 cards on the discard pile
- no cards left to pick up from the face down deck.

I picked up the last card but couldn't go out. Kirk needed the card in my hand to go out. so we were at a stalemate and no more cards to pick from the pile. what is the official ruling?

(we just counted the points and called it a game)

Current score - KL 7465, KB 7005

Just had singapore slings on a patio in singapore. (they still call them singapore slings here instead of just slings). we're on our way to india tonight. in fact we need to leave for the airport in about 5 minutes. so ciao for now!

k and k

A Day in the Life

2005-06-18T19:30:00.000-07:00

So it started like any other day. Waking up "Whaddya wanna do today?". OK not really...but just a very slight exaggeration. We were staying in Thaleh Ban National Park which is on the border of Thailand and Malaysia. Had read about fantastic scenery and amazing wildlife. The former was warranted and if you count bugs in the room the latter would also hold true. But unfortunately there wasn't really any hiking trails. Well there might have been but since there was no map we couldn't really venture too far into the jungle. So it was nice but not wonderful and we decided to see if we could bug out a night early. But of course we decided this mid afternoon...

The day had started with us renting a scooter from one of the girls that worked at the park. The waterfalls and caves they touted as attractions were a decent way from the main gate and bungalows. It wasn't an easy transaction and it seemed to create much conversation between the 6 girls working behind the desk. But finally with 2 helmets in hand we had the key.

Kirk started her up, put her into first, and stall. D'oh. Try again. Kick the lever thingy, rev the gas, knock it into first, and 'what the heck?'. Scooters are the main form of transport here so all this starting and stalling activity was creating much giggling among the 6 girls. A guy came over and explained about the clutch. Ahhhh...the clutch...of course. The other scooters we've rented have been at least semi-automatic. OK. Quick change of drivers as I (kathryn) have driven standard cars and how different can having the clutch on your left hand instead of your left foot possibly be? A bit of a lurch and a start and we were off. With many more giggles as women driving men in this part of the world is definitely not an everyday occurence.

Visited some average falls. Realizing we've seen Niagara and Foz Du Iguazu so a bit biased in our falls viewing. Was fun sitting on a rock with the water coming down upon us. Definitely can't do that at Niagara!

*Note: Mom you might want to skip this paragraph...really we're fine :)* Had a rather sudden meeting with the muffler as we ascended one very steep dirt path. Everything was going great as I'd figured out how to downshift by this point. Until we got kinda stuck in 2nd gear when we needed first. Much like grinding it out on a road bike it was too late to change as losing any momentum would not have been good. Applied brakes but with the steepness of the hill the bike slid away a bit - until it hit my calf and left a lovely "falang tattoo" to match kirks from a previous scooter ride! Funnily enough it's the exact same spot I always get the greasy crank mark from my road bike. We were at the cold waterfall within 10 minutes and the cold water definitely helped it cool down and not blister quite as much. Kirk managed to get away not too bad on this one...I think because he'd already been initiated.

So at this point - 2:30ish we decide to see if they'll let us check out early. We're off the beaten path so there's not really any public transport. Supposedly there's a Sawgnthaew (pick up truck with bench seats in the back) that goes to and from the market but we hadn't seen it and according to our guidebook it stopped at 1pm. We weren't too sure if the park told us there'd be a Sawngthaew...language issues...but we distinctly heard we could just flag down a car going that way so we decided to go for it.

Nothing like hanging on the side of the stinkin' hot highway in Southern Thailand not sure if you're going to find a ride...lol... Didn't have to wait long before a pick up truck pulled out of the park we had been staying in. Maintenance guys? Maybe, but unlikely with such a big fancy truck. Security? maybe, but the drunken state of the front passenger would indicate otherwise. Whoever they were it was reassuring they were coming from the park and had a truck. So we dumped our bags in the back and got inside (extended cab) for the ride. One guy spoke nominal english. Enough to say "we just stop to visit my friend". Figuring it was something dodgy we kept to ourselves and held back from joining them around the table. If it was dodgy it was pretty quick as nothing seemed out of sorts and we were on our way again shortly.

And then another stop. And our new friend says "man die" and poses as if in a coffin. OK. Interesting. There's a marque tent and lots of tables and chairs set up. Maybe he means we dine? Because why would our ride bring us to a funeral? Nope, he really does mean a man has died.

Suddenly we're sitting at a plastic garden table and plates of food are being put down. The local whisky 'samsung' is being liberally poured. And everyone is smiling as our friends explain to the curious onlookers that we're from Canada.

Rose, a woman who speaks unbelievably good english joins us and we have a good chat as we eat some of the food and avoid the whiskey. She is determined to show us her house at the end of the lane so we join her for more convo in her front room. Meeting her gave us some context to what was turning into a very interesting experience as we could ask lots of questions. (We had just wanted to get the 20km down the road when we started this adventure!). It was a buddhist death and required 5 days of eating, drinking, chanting before the body was cremated. Rose is Muslim and she showed us photos of her family's Muslimm ceremonies. Being so close to the Malaysian border there is both a large Buddhist and Muslim contingent.

At one point while sitting around with others Rose asked if we were Christians. Hmmm...answering the religion question in a heavy buddhist/muslim area and having it translated for the whole table. Didn't expect this today! We jumped in with our .02 on spirituality. I think it was understood. Maybe a little?

Seems our ride wasn't taking us any further into town. Many Ka Poon Ka/Krup (thank you's) later to the pick-up truck guys and our bags were propped up against the tent. A couple hours later Rose and her friend drove us the short distance in to town, even coming in to ensure we were properly set up in a hotel. This was after we declined house stays with both of them. Was great meeting them but convo was running dry and we really needed a shower. Would have loved to hear the chanting but it didn't happen until after we'd left. On our way out we paid our respects to the wife and another family member of the deceased. Hands clasped and a bow of the head is how people show respect here so we did that and thanked them. Thanking them seemed slightly odd (instead of a form of sorry) but as usual we just followed others lead.

This day is only one of many and yet it stands out for us - it's a bit more extreme than usual but so like most of our days - challenging, interesting, and completely unexpected.

p.s Quick thailand update below...

p.p.s current rummy score...kathryn - 5815 (yee haw!), kirk - 5555

k & k

The quick summary of thailand

2005-06-18T04:00:00.000-07:00

Sitting in an internet cafe in a mall - kids playing very loud video games so this is going to be quick...

6 nights in bangkok was all we could take. scams, touts, and dodgy massage parlours abound. but still had a great time seeing the grand palace, taking river taxis, and finding a great jazz club with a kick *ss blues singer.

And from bangkok to ko samui - a brilliant island located in the gulf of thailand. 6 nights staying right on the beach. Snorkelling, riding scooters aroudn the island, and an afternoon at the spa. (he's trying to be manly and keep it a secret but i think kirk has become addicted to clay facials).

and then down to Thaleh Ban national park via Hat Yai where we chilled out in the air conditioning and watched Mr. and Mrs. Smith movie.

now we're in malaysia...but that's a different story for another time...

hope all is well -

k and k

Playing in Chiang Mai

2005-06-05T07:38:00.000-07:00

Chiang Mai was just what the travel doctor ordered. We spent 9 days there, more than we've spent anywhere else I think, and came away very relaxed. If China was travel than Thailand has been a vaction. After spending the first three days just looking around and buying some light cotton clothing at the night market we started touring.

Sunday night we went to a Wat (Buddhist version of church) and attended a MonkChat. For about a hour a monk who was 23 talked with us and two locals about what it was to be a monk and Buddhism. He started when he was 12, most all do, and left his parents and family at his parents urging. The Wat's serve as a bit of a school/university for the kids and they will take two or three religous courses, one of which will be Buddhist studies, along with all the other standard school classes.

On Monday we took a Thai cooking class where we made four main courses and what has become one of Kathryn's fave desserts....sweet sticky rice and mango. The class was in the instructor's home and we were the only two in the class that day. Having it in Yui's, the teacher's, house was nice as we were able to get a look into the average Thai's life. We did three dishes before lunch, a rice dish, a soup and a noodle dish before we left for a tour of the local market. During the tour Yui pointed out all the things we'd been eating for the last five weeks and put names to them for us. More importantly she pointed out of the items in the Thai dishes that were strictly for flavour and not to be consumed. After the market we returned to do a stir-fry and have the sticky rice with mango.

The next day we started our two night hike in the national park about 100k outside Chiang Mai. Before the hiking we visited a hillside village tribe that had imigrated to Northern Thailand from Tibet. The whole village was about 300 people but number of families much less as husband's take several wives. Village is 50/50 buddhist and christian and very harmonious. Interfaith marriages have 2 ceremonies so everyone can take part. After about another hour in the back of the pick-up truck we arrived at the trailhead. The elevation was about 750m and the temperture was 35 degres C. I took about four steps and was drenched with sweat. At one point the guide picked a plant and cracked the stem in two, blowing on the liquid that drained out he made bubbles like we do with soap. After about three hours walking we arrived at a Karen village where we spent the night. We slept in a hut that looked like it was built by a group in Survivor...one of the ones that knew a little about what they were doing. It started to rain about 8pm and we went to bed shortly after the curry chicken dinner. A couple of hands of cards and that was it. (editor's note - kirk kicked my (kathryn) *ss and skyrocketed in points in a mere 2 hands and then decided he was too tired to play anymore)

Awoke to the sound of 30 roosters crowing in a call and answer fashion at 4am. This lasted to about 6:30am when we got up. The next day we hiked for about an hour before we arrived at the clearing where the elephants and their handlers were waiting for us. The two we rode were 40 years old and their skin felt like rice paper but was very mushy. As we walked though the jungle everytime we crossed a stream the elephant took a drink and lost the branch of leaves it was carrying with it's trunk to swat the flies away with. It would stop for a moment on the other side of the stream and rip a new branch off a tree with it trunk like it was snapping a toothpick. Hiked for another hour after the ride and arrived at a waterfall where we swam and spent the night.

The next day we hiked up and out of the vally we'd stayed in the night before in sweltering heat and humidity. A dog that lived at the camp we'd stayed in the night before followed us to the end of the trail running ahead, prowling around in the bushes and then running past us again when we least expected it. Scared us to death a couple of times. About an hour and half later we arrived at the end of the trail and went to have lunch. During lunch it started to rain and we decided to hop in the truck and go to the start of the bamboo rafting. Only when we walked out of the restaurant did we realize we had to ride in the back of the pick-up, standing-up and holding onto a rollbar in the rain. Just as we started down the road the rain became torrential. At least it didn't really matter how wet we got sitting on the bamboo rafts now. The guide took us down the river and amazingly our bungee corded raft stayed together. Thankfully the rain subsided about half way through.

The next couple of days we spent looking around Chiang Mai. Sunday there was a huge market, must have been more than a thousand vendors with their wares spread out on blankets at the side of the roads that were closed for the occasion. One afternoon we rented a motor scooter and went to a town known for making parasols and Kathryn tried her hand at making paper from scratch. After that we looked for a town that is known for its silk manufactors but we couldn't find it so we drove into the country side and explored the foot hills covered in palm trees around Chiang Mai.

After that we made our way down to Phitsanulok. Getting back on the road again was a bit of a shock to the system. We'd been told many buses that go all day. Our day went something like this:

9:30am - arrive at bus station.

9:50am - figure out next bus is at 12:20.

9:55am - confirm with tourist info that is really the correct information.

9:56am - buy tickets.

wait the couple of hours in a couple of spots seeking a hint of a breeze.

12:10pm - make our way to the platform. ticket has a big 2 on it and the sign on platform 2 says Phitsanulok (our destination).

12:20 - look around anxiously and figure bus must be late.

12:22 - ask person inside and realize bus has left from platform 7 where the sign says bangkok.

12:25-12:26 - say many words i can't repeat here

12:40 - get tickets on the next bus at 5:30. not sure if she's going to charge us for them or not. decide to leave our big packs behind the ticket counter. put the odds at 80% they'll still be there when we get back.

spend a few hours hanging out in town. checked out a street kids art festival that was pretty cool.

5:00 - get back to station

5:05 - confirm and reconfirm platform

5:06 - realize this bus is the lowest class which means hard seats and no air-con.

5:07 - apply buddhist principles and practice the art of zen...or something like that.

5:30 - happy to find bus isn't that full and the fans are doing a fair job at keeping the air moving.

11:30pm - arrive in phitsanulok and happy to find a taxi still at the station.

12 midnight - get to hotel and crossing fingers they have room. they do. currently with a rather large guest. but he's soon expelled by brave kirk and his can of raid.

12:05 - fall into bed and realize our week in Chiang Mai has made us soft. it's been a long day.

but a new morning is refreshing. we spent the day on rented scooters and drove into the countryside. After driving along a winding road that lead up three smallish mountains we stopped at a waterfall where Thai's that were visiting from southern Thialand offered us some of the lunch they were having and wanted us to take their picture standing with one of the two of us. It was a little odd as they approached us and wanted us to use our camera to take of photo of them with us. Odd but fun. The next stop was a bamboo forest where I got a nice falang (Thai for tourist or foreigner) tattoo when I touched by leg against the scooter muffler. OUCH!After riding though a wildlife reserve we started back as Kathryn's bike was running out of gas. As luck would have it we were on a stretch of road where there was very little in the way of gas stations, or much else, and it was starting to rain. We kept riding for about 20 minutes and then the rain started to get really bad. At this point I pulled off the road as I couldn't see much with my glasses dripping with water. As soon as I pulled off the road and applied a little brake the tires started to slide and down went the bike. I jumped off but held the bike up enough so the mirror didn't get broken off. (editor's note - he got top scores for the stylish descent!) We waited with a local that didn't speak any English, so we just kept smiling at each other, in a little bus shelter at the side of the road for about an hour till the rain subsided enough that we could start to look for gas again. We passed one place that looked like it only sold boat gas and then it started to rain again. Pulling along side Kathryn says she's OK with the rain but running on fumes for sure. Another 10 minutes and we pass two girls sitting under a canopy just off the road who have a oil barrel with gas written on it. Stop, discuss it and decide boat gas or not we'd better give this one a go. They argue between themelves which of the two types of gas they would give us and test what little we have by putting a straw in the tank. It appears to the the right choice as we make it to the 7-11 (which is an institution here) 20 minutes down the road. It's about 6pm now, it gets dark at about 7:30pm, and we have about 60k back to town and the rain is coming in again. Do we wait to see if it passes or try to get back before dark? OK it's back before dark. Through the rain, down the mountains, around the lame dog at the side of the road, through three sections of road that are washed out and we make it back into town about 15 minutes after nightfall. Soaking wet it takes us an hour to find someone from the bike rental shop so we can return the bikes as we're leaving the next day. What a great day!

Next stop Lopburi. I, Kirk, wanted to stop here and see the architectural ruins and the monkeys that live in the streets. It's a quiet town and despite the bugs that infest our hotel room we really enjoy our stay here. (kirk was ever the brave hero with his can of 7-11 raid!) Walking around the ruins of a 17th century royal palace I stop and played hacky sack with a group of 14 year old school kids. The old legs remembered a few tricks and props were thrown out at the end with a thumbs-up and 'you're good' from the kids. The monkeys have taken over this town and hang from the electrical wires and second floor of shops. You spend a lot of time looking up for a number of reasons.

The next morning we catch the train to Bangkok. And there's more as we're now down south on Ko Samui - an island in the gulf of thailand - but we're typed out for tonight. One of these days we'll get this thing all caught up :)

K and K

Japan and China in pictures

2005-05-26T21:31:00.000-07:00

Photo 1 - Friendship Bears in Tokyo
Photo 2 - Posing with the famous bridge at the Royal Palace (Tokyo)
Photo 3 - Kirk & Wall - still at the Royal Palace
Photo 4 - OMG I'm in Tiananmen Square
Photo 5 - Hanging out in the Forbidden City
Photo 6 - A smoggy view of the Forbidden City
Photo 7 - Another self portrait in the back of a rickshaw
Photo 8 - Walking the Wall
Photo 9 - A sunny day at the Summer Palace
Photo 10 - A taste of Beijing Opera
Photo 11 - The many bikes of Beijing
Photo 12 - Us with a few hundred warriors
Photo 13 - Cuddling up by an ancient stone tablet
Photo 14 - What's in this tea anyway?!?
Photo 15 - Duck that head! Tiger Leaping Gorge hike
Photo 16 - OK so that hot pepper was a little hotter than i thought
Photo 17 - A coke with a view. First stop up Emai Shan mountain.
Photo 18 - These noodles are great! Lunch stop at a monastery on Emai Shan.
Photo 19 - Lots of monkeys at Emai. (yes ame i got that close to take the picture!!)
Photo 20 - Still walking up Emai Shan
Photo 21 - To beard or not to beard? It was the question until the heat of Thailand where it all came off.
Photo 22 - I'll never complain about the weight of my pack again.
Photo 23 - Last in the monkey line
Photo 24 - After a wet bed and dodgy stomachs we make it to the bottom of Emai Shan
Photo 25 - Demonstrating the digital camera for some kids in Lijang China
Photo 26 - Two young girls in Lijang
Photo 27 - Language lessons and our favourite meal in China with Mr. OK
Photo 28 - On the bouncy bus in rural china
Photo 29 - Another scene from our rural journey through China
Photo 30 - Picture perfect day at Leaping Tiger Gorge
Photo 31 - The courtyard and view from our host family
Photo 32 - Just an average day of riding along by the rice fields

Happy Birthday Kirk!!!

2005-05-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

ah thailand...been here about 15 hours so far and we're loving it! the joy of amenities after rural china :) flew here on a purple plane and they gave us a purple flower - had to know it was going to be sweet!

a quick recap of our last week in china:

Dali - arrived with the thought of staying one night but one look at the pedestrian walkways, old cobblestone streets, and relaxing guesthouse and we decided to take an extra night. Lots of shops and tourists which we tend to avoid but in this case it meant we could look around without getting hassled all the time. Spent the 2nd day on rented bikes (Giant bikes no less bobbie!) and rode down to the lake past farmers working in their rice paddies. Afternoon consisted of bootleg CD shopping (shameful i know) and generally hanging out. Finally got a taxi out to the 'site', 3 pagodas, but it had closed for the day. Tried to sneak in with a chinese tourist group but i guess we stood out just a little too much...lol...so we walked the perimeter instead and looked at the top of the pagodas. Great town for hanging out, relaxing, and lots of card playing...can't give an update on the score as we left that piece of paper in the hotel...it's still a closely contested game though.

From Dali we went to Kunming to arrange our plane tickets to Thailand. Ended up with a bit more time than expected but day after day of beautiful sunshine kept us outside and happy. Spent Kirk's birthday wandering around the stone forest. A forest of limestone that local legend says the immortals created for young lovers looking for privacy. Hundreds and hundreds of local tourists made for a bit of mayhem but eventually we got off the beaten path and had a good long walk through the stones. Figured the sign that said "Caution periphery area" meant there'd be less tourists - we didn't see one other person other than a couple of local farmers that had rice paddies in the area. Celebrated Kirk's birthday dinner at Wei's pizzeria and then beers on a patio.

Just outside of Kunming is a town known for their flowers - apparently producing 400,000 roses a day. figured it would be colourful to walk around such a place so we hopped on the local bus and made our way out there. Found the markets but not a rose to be seen. Walked behind all the buildings and found the farm area - plot after plot of garden indicated we'd find some flowers here. Not so much. Saw lots of potatoes and celery. And locals looking at us in disbelief that we were walking through the work area.

Just getting our bearings today and figuring out the next few days in Chiang Mai - options include trekking, rafting, elephant riding, cooking school, thai massage, chat with a buddhist monk, and visiting buddhist wats. But the most important thing is happening tonight - the finale to Kirk's birthday - the new star wars movie is playing in the local cinema! (Thankfully on one of our many treks he spent hours filling me in on storyline and characters so i'd be ready when we found the new release in english).

OK guess that wasn't so quick but once i start typing...

hope all is well in your worlds!

K&K

ps - we can see our blog and comments again.

Yackety Yak - The Yak Yaks Back

2005-05-10T05:13:00.000-07:00

yes all - the non meat eater is now chowing down on Yak. And any other type of meat he can get in China. An actual quote from dinner the other night "I'm sticking to the beef". And in that same meal he petted the fur on a dead mountain goat carcas the owner showed us. We have the chinese characters for rice, beef, and vegetables written down so we can point to them in restaurants. Seems the beef is really just any kind of meat that isn't chicken. but at least we're getting protein and our stomachs only talk back occasionally :)

Have just passed a very interesting week taking the buses down through some very remote countryside. The route is known as the back door to Yunnan (the province we're now in) and as close to Tibetan culture as is possible within China. (We looked into getting to Tibet but wasn't easy and didn't seem we'd be able to get out of Lhasa into the surrounding countryside).

Four very interesting bus rides our sore butts finally made it to the end of the route in Zhongdian:
- The first day was a real tight squeeze as our legs didn't actually fit in the space. We had to sit sideways for 5 hours as we progressed down the windy bumpy road in what seemed more like a tin can than a bus.

- Second day we had that inch more room that let us just tuck our legs in. A 8 hour journey to go 250km was gruelling, breathtaking, and sometimes just outright frightening. Well in to the mountain stages we were making our way up and down the mountains. Sheer drop offs on our right and cliff going straight up on our left. A number of passes over 4000 metres with the highest at 4927 metres. Two small babies on the bus and the parents had pillows of oxygen for them. Another young girl (4 or 5) who was sick a couple of times. And of course the never ending chain smoking. Being so high up it was cold so the windows were shut most of the time. A bit of a crazy scene as we went over the first high pass - the baby attached to oxygen, the young girl being held horizontally out the window with her pigtails flying around her face, and the air in the bus blue with smoke.

- Third day we sat at the very back and it was the bumpiest day yet. Not helped by the 2 beer bottles that had been left on our seats. We tried to secure them but they just kept crashing about and finally rolled to the front where they were ignored. The window beside us kept popping open and just staying upright to walk the 2 steps and close it was an adventure. And finally the 2 seats beside us came right off their post and skidded sideways. Between keeping ourselves from bouncing in the seats, the windows closed, the beer bottles from flying, and holding the seats from going all the way sideways we had our hands full. After the beer bottles went crashing to the front we got the giggles and figured the rest of the passengers would just figure we'd drunk the beer ourselves...I wish!

- Last bus ride was thankfully only half a day and we arrived a little bruised and very dirty (the dust and grimy buses combined with the lack of hot water.)

For all the roughness along the way it was way up there in terms of top notch scenery. The usual snow peaked mountains and green lush valleys. But also the traditional Tibetan people that have made this part of china their home. Lots of colourful stone houses, traditional dress, and local food. And the nomadic tribes with their black tents and herds of Yak that the bus had to slow down for.

We stopped in Litang for a laundry day and found a bizarre old world meets new. The only town for miles it's where farmers come to sell their stuff and outlying folks come to stock up. We thought the number of people (mostly men) hanging around was a little odd...a real vagrant scene. And the number of these people wearing big old school shades from the 70's was also strange. But suddenly it all made so much sense - the drug scene was running rampant. Made very clear when P. Diddy hisself showed up with his posse in the little place where we were eating yak meat dumplings. A strange town but we were out on the next bus in the morning on our way to Zhongdian.

And now we're at Leaping Tiger Gorge or Tiger Leaping Gorge depending on which sign you read. Just finished the best hike we've done in China - and in fact is the highlight of being in China for me (kathryn). Kirk is beside me and is defering his favourite selection until we finish here..."let's not get carried away" he says. Anyway, it was up high in the mountains and then along a ridge with the river running down below. Stayed with a great friendly family in a guesthouse last night and had fun with another 2 travellers we met up with. Spent the evening in the courtyard with the chickens, dog, and cat drinking beer (us not the animals) and yapping about various things.

Catching a bus tomorrow morning to Dali where we'll spend a day or two and then down to Kunding, the capital of Yunnan.

bye for now,
k&k

ps - kirk made a brilliant one night rummy come-back and took the lead. Until i convinced him to play again :) current score - Kirk 1995, Kathryn 2060.

the many many stairs of emai shan

2005-05-03T03:09:00.000-07:00

we're fresh off the mountain and having a relaxing afternoon - first the hot shower, then the good food, and now resting our tired musles while we catch up on email. so here's the scene on Emai Shan...

It's one of the four sacred buddhist mountains in this area. 3000 metres to the top with temples and monastery's along the way. Much different from hiking we've done as the entire way is paved. Sounds easy eh? Ha! Paved with stairs that go on and on and on (one part that has 99 switchbacks).

We start on day 1 with a bus ride and cable car up to 1000 metres. Packs on and we start the trek. We arrive at our planned destination for the night at 4pm (ish). Quads aren't screaming too bad so we decide to walk on. Get to the next main area that has rooms and (perhaps foolishly) decided to walk on. The 'let's just see what's up the road' bug kinda got us as we ended up at the very top of the mountain just as the cable car going down closed for the night (this greatly reduced our negotiating ability for a room). First hotel was full but we did find a place down the road. Don't really want to relive it too much but let's just say it was by far the worst nights accomodation we've had so far. We'd expected a bit of dampness being at the top of a mountain and all but the beds in this place were wet. So wet that i (kathryn) slept (actually neither of us really slept at all) in all goretex - yep, full on rain pants and jacket.

The next morning the entire place was buzzing at 5:30am as the big thing is too see the sunrise. unfortunately with the mist this is a fairly rare occurence. however that's no deterent and someone was banging on our door yelling something early in the morning. we decided to skip it as we were tired, cranky, and both starting to feel some misgivings in our stomach.

A few hours and whole lot of "Do you have the T.P?" later we started to make our way down. After a shaky start it was a great day hiking. Green lush jungle mountains and once we got past the cable car station much fewer people on the trail. Finished the day around 4pm and booked a room at a monastery. Sitting on the bed and peeling off stinky socks we were treated to the sounds of the monks chanting and praying 2 doors down from us. And unlike most, this monastery had hot water. What a treat! And if we ever end up in a turkish prison we won't be surprised by the shower facilities :) Spent a great couple of hours sitting around on the grounds and relaxing. Ate our noodles in the courtyard and played a few rounds of rummy. Currently the ATW rummy score is KL 1010 and KB 880.

The bells starting gonging about 4:30am and so started our last day on the mountain. Started with a very steep climb down. Slow going as the stone steps were wet and our feet are huge compared to the size of the steps. Too bad it was a little misty as we were climbing down into the valleys and surrounded by the mountains. But it was still very cool. Passed through the last of the monkey zones. On the one hand it's wicked to see monkey's up close in their natural environment. On the other hand it seemed a bit zoo like with the monkey's being fed dorito's and constantly teased.

One of the most amazing things going up is seeing the porters that take up the food and drink to the hotels/vendors lining the mountain. Everything that goes up is taken on the back - either a yoke like contraption with a basket on either side or a backpack like thing that is built up to 4 feet tall. not surprisingly water, coke, etc gets more expensive the further up you go. There are also porters that will put you in a seat like apparatus with bamboo poles and carry you up.

We started a new system for learning chinese on the mountain. Not sure if we've mentioned in previous posts but we get stared at an unbelievable amount here and people are often taking our photo. Many people don't ask for the photo but for those that do we ask for one chinese word in return. Of course it only really works if they speak a bit of english to know what we're saying. And for those that just stare we say Ni Hao (hello) and smile. It usually takes them completely off guard and often creates a lot of giggling. But it's kinda hard not to do something when being stared at. Many of the little kids want to say hello in english as it's one of the few words they know. So we have many conversations that are just a bunch of hello's.

Back on the road again tomorrow and heading to the province of Yunnan...

kandk

Into the heart of big red.

2005-04-30T02:56:00.000-07:00

Last time we checked out travelers were in Beijing. The next stop was Datong to see the Cloud Ridge Caves. These caves contain over 50,000 Buddhist statues carved into the walls 1500 years ago. But first a little about getting to Datong.

We took the train. The trains in China are all circa 70's and feel circa 30's. There are usually four classes of travel, soft-sleeper (first class), hard-sleep, soft-seat and hard-seat. We had a hard-seat and it was. Getting to our car after walking past 20 other cars, this is the longest train I have ever seen, the seat numbers read 158, 157, 156... We thought we were in the wrong car till we walked to the end and found seats 5 and 6 (realizing there were over one hundred and fifty people in the car). With the windows closed up tight the cigarette smoking started as soon as the train pulled out. On our hard-seat there were three of us on a bench covered with green vinyl. Six hours later we arrived in Datong. We've upgraded to the soft-sleeper since as our journeys have been 18 hours. These are private cabins with four beds and both times we've had very kinda elderly couples as our cabin parters. Kathryn spent her second night ever on the top bunk and didn't fall out in the evening when she got up. The same can't be said for her first night at the top in Toyko.

Before we boarded the 18 hour train to Xian we stopped for lunch in Datong. The restaurant was a 'hotpot', (which we figured out a day later) and not really knowing what to order as the menu was all in Chinese the head waitress took over for us (thankfully). She ordered plates of thinly sliced beef, muchrooms, pork balls, squid (we think) and an assortment of side dishes. After that she cranked up the burner and started boiling the soy sauce (?) and vegetable broth. All the above went in. She took it out put it in a bowl of peanut sauce she had prepared for us and onto our plates. These are the moments you travel for. She would have none of our tipping and we were glad that we have at least learned the word for thank you which we said profusely as we left.

The 18 hour sleeper to Xian was a much better trip that our first train experience. In Xian we saw the Terracotta warriers. A highlight for both of us. We went to the Forest of Steles Museum which is the worlds heaviest library. There are over 2300 engraved stone tablets that are 4 feet wide by 10 feet tall and one foot thick. There's a tablet that marks the earlist known mention of Christianity in China in 781AD.

From here we moved on to Cheng Du and spent a day outside the city climbing the holy Taoist mountain of Qingcheng Shan. I can't say how many steps there were but it took us three hours to climb to the top. We took the cablecar down. It was great to spend a day outside the city and getting some exercise. The day before we rented bikes in Cheng Du and rode around the town. (the 'town' has 3.4 million people...this is small for China). Being on bikes again was great even though the bikes weren't that great. Two days later our butts still hurt. We moved up a notch in the traffic hierarchy as well, from pedestrian to bike rider. The car is at the top. Traffic here is a schizophrenic ballet. And of course we ended up out at rush hour. Imagine a crossroad...50ish bikes on one side and 50 on the other. The bike light goes green. The cars keep coming until the 100 bikers surging into the middle force them to stop. 100 bikes meet in a very confined space. chaos reigns but somehow everyone makes it across, slightly bumped and sounding their bell. but every now and then the bikes pass each other like teeth in a zipper doing up (to borrow laura's phrase) and it's pure poetry. Stopped for tea in the park, listened to music and watched some women practice the fan dance.

From here we moved on to Leshan by bus and felt like we'd arrived in a 'town' rather than a city. As we got off the town bus three boys 6 years old all wanted to say hi and walking home last night a girl about 5 wanted to talk with us after her mother had told her it was OK. She asked us if we spoke english, if we liked the NBA and did we know Yao Ming. The next morning we took the ferry ride to see the Grand Buddha carved in the side of a mountain. He's 71 meters high and has 7 meter long ears.

Today we arrived in Emei Shan to climb the sacred mountain for three days and then we'll make our way west towards Tibet and then down to the province of Yunnan.

We've been keeping some list and wanted to share some with you.

Food we've seen on a stick
- fruit covered in gelatin
- 1/4 pineapple
- strawberry's dipped in chocolate
- intricate designed sugar candy
- corn
- octopus
- starfish
- squid
- all sorts of unidentified meat cubes
- watermelon
- plantain

Food we've eaten on a stick
- strawberry's dipped in chocolate

Things we've seen carried on a bike (a pedal bike, not motor!)
- 2 T.V's
- baskets and baskets of flowers
- oildrum stove cooking corn, potatoes, chicken
- hot pot
- sofa and a side chair
- big slab of cake
- pregnant wife
- girlfriends, babies...basically all manner of people
- 3 people
- full jugs of water for water coolers
- propane tanks
- bushels of vegetables
- 50ish brooms
- bags and bags of plastic bottles stacked 4 feet high
- fridge
- bike repair shop
- and our favourite...a person holding his motorized scooter on his lap.

Things kirk has bumped his head on...
- Shower bar, Rio de Janeiro
- Bus bar, Rio de Janeiro
- another shower bar, Paraty brazil
- cave somewhere
- top of doorway, porthole - Navimag Ferry
- roof of hostel - top bunk Tokyo, Japan
- street sign - Beijing (ed comment: this was a doozie, surprised he didn't see stars!)
- door of variety store - Datong, China
- roof of sleeper in train - somewhere between Bejing and Xi'an
- window opening of train - somewhere between Xi'an and Chengdu
- bed light above bed on wall - Xi'an, china
- ceiling in stairwell - Chengdu, China
- bus ceiling - Cheng Du, China

off to find some dinner and get our packs ready for starting the hike tomorrow...

k and k

today we crossed 6 lanes of beijing traffic frogger style and didn't get squished

2005-04-20T00:16:00.000-07:00

yes we're in china now! 27 hours of flying and we finally arrived (a little bleary eyed) in Tokyo and then a short 3 hour flight a couple days later to China. but first...to finish off Chile. Our last couple of days were a little tough going. being a foreigner in santiago is like walking around with a bulls eye. We were targeted 3 times (that we know of) for theft and the last time they were successful. Basically a group on the subway that pushed between and separated us and then as the doors opened pushed and shoved until I (kathryn) had to put my arms up for protection. in that instant my wallet was gone. I knew right away, in fact more or less knew while it was happening so could tell kirk. We got off and found Kirk's bag wide open but thankfully nothing gone. A little money, soccer tickets, and cards so fairly easy to fix. But we were definitely ready to get out of that city. Having to be on edge constantly was getting tiring.

Perhaps because of the Santiago chaos but Tokyo seemed like some surreal experience out of a science fiction novel. Spotlessly clean, beautiful, efficient, organized, friendly...all words that come to mind. Best summed up by our subway experience - a crazy mess of lines and stations but really incredibly user friendly with the maps and directions given. Marks on the wall indicate where the doors will open and people line up. Yes that's right...line up for the subway! and when the doors open they move to the side and let people out and then proceed to board.

Our visit in Tokyo was brief at just under 2 days but we'd decided to focus on China as it's much less expensive. We did have a great dinner at a small local restaurant. Thankfully a fellow patron spoke a little english and was able to help us get some chicken and vegetables. They asked why we'd come in this place (it was def off the tourist hub) and thought it hilarious when i told them "because we're hungry and people sitting in here must mean it's good".

Flew in to Beijing the night before the planned demonstration in Tianamen square (all to do with the current china/japan friction) but other than taking a little long at the border control it was pretty painless. The flight - what a treat! Personal screens with choice of movies, games, or music. Cameras on the outside of the plane to see what was going on. And tasty food! Sure beat the previous flight where they'd just kept the lights off and told us to rest for 27 hours.

We've been enjoying Beijing. Less sterile than Tokyo, much safer than Santiago and lots to see. Crossing the road is always interesting. The green walk signal comes on but... bikes, taxis, rickshaws, motorbikes, and cars turning right all seem to have the right of way so it's a 'every person for themself and meet you on the other side policy'.

Standing in Tianamen square on our first day was really awesome. The vastness of it and actually standing in it made the fact we're in China very real. The next day was the forbidden city - those emperors sure knew how to live! And yesterday we hiked the great wall from Jingshanling to Simitai. Steep ups and downs over bits that have been rebuilt as well as pieces that have been left in decay. A great experience and we really enjoyed getting out of the city and doing a hike. Today we made our way to the Summer Palace and then walked around a Hutong - a community where all the houses join together and lead into courtyards and communal space. Many of them are expected to be destroyed before the olympics, unfortunate as apparently 1/4 of the population lives in a Hutong.

Domestic tourism has taken off here so there are many chinese tourists. Foreigners seem to be a bit of a curiousity to them. Perhaps our size? Or we're the only ones wearing sandals? Anyway we've had our photo taken twice by the local tourists!

Tonight is our last night here before we move on to Datong which is a 6 hour train journey on a 'hard seat train'. We just stocked up on chocolate for the journey :)

One note about this blog - we can post but we can't see it or comments. We think it's because of restricted sites (similarily we can access lonely planet site but not the discussion forum). so if you have anything to say please email us :)

until next time...

Some photos and new post below.

2005-04-09T15:43:00.000-07:00

Photo 1 - A Rainy Hike in Tierra Del Fuego
Photo 2 - Starting the trek in Los Glaciers National Park
Photo 3 - Yes we are as cold as we look!
Photo 4 - The glacier sighting
Photo 5 - Hiking towards Fitz Roy - that big peak in the background
Photo 6 - Fitz (that mammoth peak) and Kirk (that dot on the hill)
Photo 7 - Finally...gasp...the top...Torres Del Pain
Photo 8 - A river runs through it...Torres Del Paine that is
Photo 9 - View from the lunch spot (still Torres Del Paine)
Photo 10 - More Fitz
Photo 11 - Views & landscape from the hiking trail
Photo 12 - Hiking back from the Torres Del Paine peak
Photo 13 - Navimag - Our home for 4 nights
Photo 14 - Up in time to see the sunrise...who would have thought it possible?!
Photo 15 - So apparently El Calafate isn´t so much a town. Huh.
Photo 16 - Ground floor view of the volcano we climbed
Photo 17 - Black sand beach
Photo 18 - At the top of the active volcano
Photo 19 - The volcano says hi
Photo 20 - The Mapuche Ruka
Photo 21 - Getting the wool ready for weaving
Photo 22 - The pre-train chill
Photo 23 - Heavy police presence in Santiago
Photo 24 - Overlooking Santiago
Photo 25 - Really...is any title necessary?
Photo 26 - Taking in the Vuelta De Chile
Photo 27 - The Bilz Pap taste test
Photo 28 - The Pap Rocks!
Photo 29 - Soaking up the picnic
Photo 30 - Another day ends
Photo 31 - An Easter Island Moai statue now located in Valparaiso
Photo 32 - Oh yeah - I´m in the Pacific
Photo 33 - Dipping in the Pacific - not so warm
Photo 34 - Riding up the funicular
Photo 35 - Sunshine on top of self tanning lotion...good times
Photo 36 - Now that´s my kind of street sign

The Volcano speaks

2005-04-06T18:25:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile so lets try to bring you up to speed quickly.

On March 29th we set out to climb the volcano in Pucon. It is called the Villarrica volcano but it is closer to Pucon. We left our hostel to catch a bus at 6:45am and the bus did arrive at 7 to pick us up (we were wondering about whether it would actually be there or not). Over to the main office in Pucon to be suited up and the dozen of us were off.

There was a large group of about 8 from Spain, three girls from Germany and an American mother who was doing the climb on her own while her husband stayed with the kids for the day (nice!). We got to know Jan pretty well during the day - she was down here with their 14 year old adopted son from Chile.

It took about an hour to drive to the start of the hike which was at about 1400m above sea level. Here we took a ski lift up to 1800m where we started the hiking with about 5 other groups also doing the climb that day. The first half hour consisted of climbing though volcanic rock that became more granular the higher we went and the steeper the slope became. At 2000m we took a 30 minute break - everyone had a big drink and took a couple of layers of fleece off.

The next portion took us up to 2400m which we covered in a little less than an hour and there were a number of people that would have done the stint in two segments if they had the choice. One of the girls from Spain had to stop for about 20 minutes as the altitude was getting to her a bit and another girl from Germany wasn´t having too good a time of it. At the rest stop she noted that she thought she was in better shape than this but I think the altitude affects different people in different ways and at different times as well.

The next portion was on snow and I thought during the break the guide would tell everyone to put on the crampons we had all been carrying. But that wasn´t the case. He just said lets go, gave a a short schpiel on how to stop ourselves with the ice axe if we fell and started sliding down the mountain.

We climbed through the snow for about 40 minutes and then through volcanic rock for about another 15 minutes before the top. Just before reaching the top we could hear a thunderous noise, felt a little rocking and looked up on the crest of the top to see particles in the air along with a lot of smoke. This happened a couple more times before we reached the top. When we did our guide said the volcano was particularly active today. Kathryn was sure they had poured too much baking soda in that morning, and he didn´t want to take us over to the windward side.

We looked around for about half an hour, had some lunch and watch lava spew out the crater which was receeded within the ringed top about 20 meters. The smell of sulpher was pretty stong and could have become overpowering if we were on the windward side. A look out of the eastern side to see the volcanos and mountain tops in Argentina and it was time to head down.

We had read in the brochure that ´we´d start sliding down at 3pm´ and thought the ´sliding´was a mis-translated word. When we got back to the snow area we were given a short instruction on how to slow ourselves with the ice axe and how to stop ourselves if we got going to fast. There was a half cyclinder depression in the snow that you sat in and then yoú´d push off and start sliding down on your ass. This was no mis-translation.

The first descent was about 100 vertical meters. Not too bad and you never got going too fast. OK this is going to be fine. The next one started with the curve in the first part of the descent and as soon as you went around the curve you suddenly went from slowing yourself to trying to stop yourself. Every so often your axe would catch a piece of ice just under the snow and either the axe would be pulled out of your hands or your shoulder would be pulled out the socket. Kathryn opted for the former and leaving her ice axe at the top she slid the rest of the way free form.

Two more sliding descents and I decided it was easier and drier to walk down rather than slide anymore. By this point it was only a couple more minutes and we were back on rock. We descended to the chairlift, which wasn´t operating any more, and made our way back to the bus in about an hour.

After the drive back to the office to drop off our gear we were ready for them to call the bus to take us back. He called the other office said sorry they can´t send the bus, ít´s impossible´. A little chat about the fact the we´d already paid for the service and we just decided to take the town bus back. We got back to the cottage about 8pm, had dinner and went to bed early.

and some other stuff...

- had some fun chatting with a bunch of 11 year old school girls who called out "hable ingles?" (do you speak english) as we walked by. i glanced back and about 8 of them came running over. they just wanted to know where we were from and talk to us and were thrilled when kirk pulled out his camera. gave them each a canada pin which they put on their school uniforms and gave us each the traditional kiss on the cheek good bye.

- hung out for half a day in a mapuche (native) community. sat in the ruka (traditional hut), shared mate (a tea like drink), ate sopipillas cooked over the open fire and walked around their grounds. was a little limited as our spanish language skills aren´t really up to a full on discussion about their way of life. but we learned a bit about their community, land, and traditions.

- took the overnight train to santiago. paid to upgrade to reclining seats and it was the sweatest peach. not exactly full-on sleep but not bad for overnight travel.

-in santiago we´ve witnessed the crowds gathering as it was clear the pope was at the end. caught the last stage in the cycling - ´vuelta de chile´. been through a couple of art museums. spent a couple of days in the beach towns on the pacific coast. and tonight we´re heading out for some live jazz.

- bought sunscreen and 2 days later discovered it was actually self-tanning bronzing lotion. as a liberal user of sunscreen kathryn now has lovely orange splotches and kirk is definitely on the bronzed side (thankfully not as red as in the shrimp dinner photo!)

tomorrow is wine tasting and sunday is hopefully catching a soccer game. and then off to china (via tokyo).

ciao for now!

A quiet (and rainy) day in Villaricca

2005-03-28T17:30:00.000-08:00

WARNING: this is looooooooooooooong! having a couple of restful days in Villaricca, a small town just north of the patagonia region. today´s big adventure was journeying out to a black sand beach. More like rocks than sand really but interesting as we expect it was volcanic rock. Unfortunately a sudden downpour and 2 crazy mangy dogs that wouldn´t leave us alone made it a short trip. But the local bus rides are always fun. And even better when you have a picnic onboard!

So what´s been happening...well the ferry ride from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt was an experience and a half. It´s a cargo ferry that realized backpackers were looking to get up the coast and retrofitted the ferry to accomodate 200ish passengers. So the trip starts with walking on to the cargo elevator, a big platform that the trucks use to load cargo, and elevated up to the passenger level. The accomodations were pretty decent. A slightly too short bunk but warm blankets and hot water in the bathrooms. We lucked into a 4 person bunk, not really too sure how or why since we´d paid for the cheaper 16 person option. But logistics and plans changing at every turn doesn´t really surprise us anymore and we were happy with our very nice and quiet bunkmates.

After all the passengers are loaded the cargo (many many cows) are put onboard. Thankfully us passengers had a little more wiggle room than the cows - and we had to remember that when squashed up in the overpacked common room!

The journey was cold and windy but there really isn´t any better way to get a feel for this part of Chile. The ferry makes it´s way through the channels and fjords and the scenery is stunning. Lots of wildlife - birds, sea lions, and we think we saw a glimpse of a whale! also a good opportunity for stargazing and one of the crew pointed out some constellations for us.

There is one open water section that had 70% of the passengers grabbing the sick bags the crew were passing out. There was no problem getting a seat for dinner that night! Although we both were slightly green and opted out of any food. Thankfully we both just squeaked through managing to keep our cookies down. The crew were amazing - they put on coveralls and spent hours running around helping people to bed and constantly cleaning up after the sickies.

Arriving in Puerto Montt we decided it was going to be ´date´ night and found the local cinema. 2 movies we´d seen and 2 horror/thriller flicks so we opted for to join the kids at "Robots". Unfortunately when i´d asked if the movies were in english the cashier probably didn´t expect us to be going to a kids movie. There we were - all set up with popcorn and cokes and a bunch of spanish speaking cartoon characters! Kirk left to do a quick scout around and discovered that the thriller had just started next door. So we grabbed our stuff and made a quick move. (can´t remember the name but it was the one about using EVP to communicate with the dead).

Next stop was Osorno where we planned to get set up for our next big trek. 3 nights, 4 days in PN Puyehue (Park National). Most of our treks have started in towns that see a number of travellers and are all set up to rent gear. This one turned out to be a little different but it was definitely a highlight for both of us. We asked a couple of people and they seemed to indicate we could rent stuff in El Caulle at the trailhead...at least that was our understanding of the butchered english/spanish convo. The bus dropped us at El Caulle - a town which consists of a sign, a farm, and a restaurant. As we stood on the side of the road watching the bus depart we got a bit of a sinking feeling. And as expected we end up back on the bus journeying the 2 hours back to town. we find a hostal and the next morning make our way to the park office in town.

and this is where the fun starts :) we meet a guy in the office who is patient enough to speak relatively slowly and make a good effort to understand my version of spanish. He makes a call and from what i can make out he´s arranged for his friend to lend us his camping gear. we get in his car and drive to the friend´s office. sure enough 15 minutes later the friend shows up fully kitted out (apparently he just left work to go home and get the stuff). and just like that he gives us a tent, 2 sleeping bags, cookgear, and a phone number to call him when we return on saturday. still amazed at this turn of events and humbled by the generosity we make our way back to El Caulle.

by the time we get back to the trailhead it´s 5:30 ish - a little late to be starting the trek up to the first camp spot but by this point it´s a relief to be on our way. this trek is basically up a volcano and then traverses around the volcano to some natural hotsprings and geisers. so we go up, and up, and up. We climb for just over 2 hours with the daylight fading quickly around us. Eventually it becomes to difficult to climb and follow the trail even with our lights. We come to a small flat spot in the middle of the climb and decide we better stop for the night. There´s no water but with a litre and half we´re ok to make dinner and continue on in the morning. Two fellow trekkers we´d passed earlier arrive and decide to pitch their tent for the night as well. The morning brings renewed strength and we climb the last 40 minutes to the camping site relatively quickly. We stop to fill up with water and make coffee and we´re on our way to the hot springs. Definitely one of the most interesting days hiking - we´re above the treeline and on the side of a volcano. Rocky, barren, and desolate the surrounding cloud cover gives it all a mystical and surreal feel. It´s a bit how i picture walking on the moon - except without the weight of the pack on our backs! At one point the fog is so dense we have to wait for it to clear to find the trail marker. At one clear spot we see where the lava has flowed in a river down the mountain. 5 hours later we arrive and set up camp. The naturally formed hot springs are a must try! The bottom is a bit sludgy but we each take a quick dip and wash off the day´s dirt. The next day is a 12km round trip out to the geisers - a bit of a trek considering we have to walk the 15km back to the camping spot. but so worth it. a big steamy (and stinky!) pot coming out of the earth. and as we retrace our steps back the cloud has lifted and it´s a brilliant sunny day. the andes are spread out all around us and every turn opens up another spectacular vista. this park seems less popular than others in this region but it was definitely a highlight for both of us. neat terrain, great scenery, and challenging trekking.

We get back to town and eventually figure out our friend Ronald has left his phone with his nephew who collects the camping stuff and wine we´ve included as a thank you. The nephew is 15ish and hanging out with a friend - they have the google translator up on the computer and we have some fun using it to communicate.

we´ve been in villaricca for a couple of days chilling out. tomorrow we´re doing a day hike up an active volcano. it´s on ice and requires crampons so should be interesting. then we´re heading up another 100km or so north to just below santiago.

well done if you´ve made it this far! i´ve run out of things to say and our laundry should be ready in another half hour so will sign off...until next time...

Some Photos From the Road

2005-03-16T11:44:00.000-08:00

Ah the digital age.

Photo 1 - The Boy in Ipanema
Photo 2 - local fishing entertains the gringos
Photo 3 - Paraty Beach
Photo 4 - shrimp dinner cooked in a pumpkin! decadent indeed.
Photo 5 - let´s try this self timer thingy
Photo 6 - take 2 on that self timer thingy
Photo 7 - hiking the gold trail through the rain forest
Photo 8 - i love my oscar neimuyer (sp?) musuem
Photo 9 - thumbs up to this train ride!
Photo 10 - hiking marumbi lunch break
Photo 11 - trailhead in marumbi
Photo 12 - love this siesta custom!
Photo 13 - foz do iguarzu
Photo 14 - more foz
Photo 15 - k and k at the foz
Photo 16 - a nice one of the foz
Photo 17 - kirkie in his floppy hat
Photo 18 - k at patagonia street
Photo 19 - another k at patagonia street
Photo 20 - kathy goes to jail
Photo 21 - in the slammer!
Photo 22 - sea lions as seen from our boat
Photo 23 - penguins at the end of the world
Photo 24 - paraty beach

feeling the Pain in the Paine

2005-03-15T06:32:00.001-08:00

We crossed the border into Chile eating all the fruit and dairy we could manage before we had to turn it over the customs officer. Many others on the bus were doing the same thing and all the fruit entered Chile partially digested.

On the buses down here you move from one unpaved road to another except for the occasional reprieve on a paved road that seems to be in the middle of nowhere. The wind must have been 50km/hr and two people that were traveling on their bikes put them in the middle of the road to stop the bus and get on as they just couldn't ride or walk any further.

We just left Terra Del Paine national park after spending three nights camping and hiking. Kathryn did her longest hike with a fully loaded pack (16.5k) in a very impressive 6.5 hours. The tourist dollars raised in this park support all the other national parks within Chile.

The arrangements couldn’t have been easier. We pulled into our hostel, Adventure Patagonia, little plug here, and they arrange all the camping gear, the transport and help us decide on the route.

The first day was spent getting to the park, setting up camp and hiking the 10k to the renouned lookout over the Terra Del Paine mountains. (http://www.terra-australis.com.br/terra-australis/galeria/galeria34.htm) The first part of the hike was straight up the side of a mountain about 500m where the path started into the valley. After that we walked along the side of the mountain for about 3km to a campground and hut. Took a break near the crystal clear glacier river and drank straight out of the stream. No ice (or purifying drops) required. The trail then ran along the river under forest cover till starting up to the viewing point. The climb up the viewing point was about 400m and took about 45 minutes. All rock and a little hard to follow the path. Stayed at the top for about half an hour but it was really cold and we wanted to get into camp at a reasonable hour. Arrived back at camp about 7.30pm, had dinner, sat by the fire for about half and hour and want to bed before the big hike.

Started the long day around 10am and walked through rolling grass hills and we played a name the movie/song game. For the first half of the day the trail followed the coast of a turquoise lake on one side and 2000m peaks on the other. There was one river crossing that we had to do and that was a little tricky but not has hard as the pass we had to climb before lunch. It was another 500m climb but this time it was with full packs and assent was much quicker than the day before. It took us about half and hour to climb and we stopped for an hour lunch after that. Another climb right after lunch but this one was only about 300m and then into a shaded mountain side trail. From here the trail slowly worked its way back down to the lake to the point we were walking on a rock beach. Then, as usual, we climbed again. Two more climbs and a little descent and we were at our campsite for the night.

The next day we walked up the Fraser valley to a viewing point that is surrounded on three sides by peaks that are 1800m and higher. The hike took us through forest before moving up into alpine rock and cold winds. We made the ascent in two hours and got down in only an hour and forty minutes. Back at camp we decided to move on to the next camp, rather than spend the night at one the busiest camp areas we’ve been in, a quick soup and pack up and at three we’re on the trail again. Walking around two small lakes and descending in a valley where the campground is on the shoreline of the lake we hiked along the day before. We arrived here about half and hour before the rain started and considered but decided not to stay in the hostel that's $27US a night per person. We make dinner in a small hut provided for the campers with about 30 others and chat with a brother and sister from Australia. The cold Kathryn felt coming on the day before is getting a little worse and she heads to bed about 10pm.

In the morning Kathryn hasn’t been able to sleep all night and we decide not to do the final leg and head back to town to recover. I find out there’s a boat leaving in 10 minutes and we do a record fast bug out and break camp and make the ferry. The bus that meets the ferry isn’t scheduled to go back to the town till 1pm but we’re able to sit in a little tea house with a fireplace and wait. After 6 hours we cover the 200km back to town and find a nicer hotel than we have been staying in to recover.

This morning Kathryn is feeling much better for getting back to a warm bed and one or two more days of rest and she should be in top shape to take the ferry ride through the fjords to Puerta Montt.

and now from kathryn...what kirk didn´t tell you in the above post...hehe... We have spent 8ish days camping/trekking in the last couple of weeks. that kirk is camp guru has become abudantly clear.

scene 1 - we arrive in camp and fellow hikers tell us they´ve spotted a fox and therefore are going to hang their food. being from bear country this is all too familiar with us and kirk does his usual nalgene bottle tied to a rope trick and gets us a great food line. a few hours later the same guy spots our food line and obviously highly impressed asks us how in the world we managed to get it so high!

scene 2 - first night in Terra del Paine park we fall into the usual stereotypical roles. woman makes dinner, man makes fire. suddenly a few kids from the next site are sitting around our fire. it´s obvious the one kid is in a bit of a bad way - evidenced by his girlfriend shoving cookies down his throat and literally stripping him down and putting his long johns on for him. the few minutes of warming up by the fire turns into a half hour with a number of people coming and going. enough is enough. kirk makes it clear we´re not looking to have a party at which all but 2 of them move on. at this point kirk has to stoke our rapidly dwindling fire and has to tell the kid to move so he can get in there. we point out where all the free firewood is located but it seems they don´t know a lot about fire building.

scene 3 - same night we´re about to go to bed so getting water ready to put on our fire when people from another camp come over and ask if they can boil water on our fire. geez.

scene 4 - after dinner on the 2nd night we´re sitting on the rocks by the river when a girl comes over and asks kirk what he thinks of the hike the next day. a long conversation about elevation and the trail ensues.

and in addition to being king of the camp he´s not a bad nurse either as i´m feeling much better now!

this is not the amazing race

2005-03-09T13:50:00.000-08:00

realized we never actually explained our change of plans. we had a boardroom meeting in a coffee shop a couple of weeks ago and decided there was just no way we wanted to keep a pace that would let us see all we´d planned in south america in 6 weeks. so we decided to work our way down the coast of brazil and into southern chile. instead of rushing through chile up to peru we´re taking the time down here in patagonia and will work our way slowly up to santiago. figure we´ll hit northern chile, peru, and bolivia next time...

sore muscles, skanky clothes...it´s time for a rest day

2005-03-09T13:24:00.000-08:00

just out of the patagonia backcountry. a little town (and by little i mean no paved roads and a downtown of 2 streets) called El Chalten located in Los Glaciares National Park. we geared up with a rental tent, sleeping bags, and cooking stove and hiked up to Glaciar Grande. My (kathryn) first glaciar experience and it totally rocked. We camped out just below the glaciar lake and that was a bit of a test. The rental gear - not so much. but a fine winter camping experience...which is easy to say now we´re warm again :)

The next day we decided to do the trek up to the lookout and then bug out, stay in the hostel, and do the second hike from town. from town it was a serious 22km (round trip) hike with the last hour described as the most challenging in the park and going straight up. but the view at the top - no words really. we were at 7200 feet looking at Fitz Roy - the highest peak around these parts and surrounded by the mountains, glaciar lakes, and an almost surreal quietness.

but a shirt that had gone 7 days in a row and socks that were about to walk off of their own accord means today is a bit of a rest day. time to eat well, sleep lots, and get to the laundry mat. speaking of eating well...kirk chowed down on his first burger in 17 years last night. news indeed. had to fuel up somehow and it´s pretty hard to find much else beside beef and ham here.

ps - the bus ride into El Chalten was fun. 5 hours to do 220 km´s (or thereabouts). whole thing on a non-paved road full of potholes. arrived at 11:30pm in the pouring rain. bus pulled into a hotel parking lot at which it was eventually determined everyone had to "get off". thankfully only a 20 minute trudge through the rain to find a room.

It´s the end of the world as we know it.

2005-03-01T18:57:00.000-08:00

After an interesting day we´ve arrived in Ushuaia Argentina. It feels like a scene out of Northern Exposure....uh I mean Southern Exposure.

We left Foz Do Iguarcu and I wrote in my journal that I couldn´t describe it but it doesn´t really matter as it´s totally unforgettable. Have a look at some of the photos on this site and you´ll know what I mean. http://www.curitiba-brazil.com/iguacu-falls.htm We only had time to go to the Argentina side but that was enough as the Brazil side is kinda like the American side of Niagara Falls.....best viewed from Canada and the best views of all the Falls are from Canada. The park takes a full day to visit and lots of water is very necessary. The temperure was 40 degrees C in downtown Foz and some of the hikes up to the viewing areas were just too much for some people (but not for us hardy canadians though...hehe!!).

Two days ago we found out that we could buy cheap tickets to Ushuaia if we flew out of the airport in Argentina - only caveat was you had to buy them in Argentina. There was also an airport on the Brazilian side of the border but tickets were twice as much. So we decided to hop on the bus and head out for the airport on Sunday. (plus local bus experiences are always an adventure!) Went pretty well except we had to take a cab to the airport from the Argentian bus station as there was no bus service to the airport on Sunday. We found out today that there´s no bus service to the airport anyday from that bus station. We get our tickets, get back, see the falls yesterday and we´re ready to go.

We leave the hostel about 9am because we have to mail stuff home (and experience tells us everything takes 3 or 4 times longer than expected), catch the bus to Brazilian customs, stop at the Argentian customs and then get to the airport by noon. After an hour and twenty minutes in the post office we´re walking to catch the bus at 10:30am. OK...little concerned but here comes our bus so all is good. Get to the Brazilian customs and think we´re doing well because we catch-on to the fact the bus driver is going to give us a pass to get the next bus as he isn´t going to wait for us to clear customs.

We find the customs officer and he askes us number of things we don´t understand in Portguese. Another fellow with a stack of Canadian passports comes over to us and says the border guard has asked him to ask us a few questions. Odd but OK. First do we have our passports....check....do we have our entry papers......what was that? When we came into the country there was a piece of paper they gave us when we cleared customs. Kathryn was able to pull hers out of her pocket with an incredible stroke of foresight. I´d pitched mine in the garbage at the airport with my baggage claim and the boarding pass. The solution, go back downtown to the bank and buy a replacement piece of paper for $55US (165 Real). With this we surely would miss the plane. The customs office kept shrugging and saying something we think was ´Too bad. Too bad´ and we kept giving him the ´That was that you said. I don´t understand what you mean. Can we not pay you.´ After Kathryn worked on him for a bit he said ´Five dollars´. OK give him five US dollars. He says ¨No no 5´. Can you write it down? Oh $55! After giving him the money he suddenly spoke a little english and the winning quote from brazil was him saying "I take the money to the bank for you". Yeah OK, whatever. $55 US cash and passport stamps all around. We make it to the airport on time and we´re off to Ushuaia!

Highlights from the road

2005-02-26T13:05:00.000-08:00

the fun continues in a smallish (relative to other cities here) down the coast and inland a bit from Rio - Foz Do Iguarco. Tomorrow we're off to see falls that according to the reports are taller than niagara and bigger than victoria. or maybe it was the other way around. either way it sounds dramatic. but that's tomorrow. today we're having a chill day in town - laundry, internet, and sweet sweet sleep.

we've just spent a couple of neat jungle days in Curitiba. Day 1 was taking an old train through the mountains (stunning views) and arriving in a small town where we decided to tube down a river. you know you've left north america when there's no waiver in sight and you're handed a tube, helmet, life jacket, and a couple pieces advice in portugese - something about feet first and walk the section just after the big rock. As kirk said "finding a big rock in the river is like finding a guy in a suit in new york". some serious rapids and i expect lower water than usual as we took a bit of a beating. As kirk's first time down a river in any kind of flotation device he fared very well. His butt however is another story...

Next day was taking the train to a national park for some jungle hiking. We were the only ones to get off the train at this stop so we knew we were in for some fun. The rain had made hiking up impossible so the park warden set us off on a slightly different route. he walked with us the first 15 minutes and then gave us instructions for the rest. the trail was the path used before roads and trains in the mountains (this park isn't accessible by road). some serious hiking with a lot of elevation traversed. Two river crossings which were fun on the way out and even more fun on the way back in the pouring rain. train picked us up on the way back and we arrived in the bus station kinda wet, muddy, and so so hungry. found dinner in the bus station as nothing close by but they had just what we needed. and the waitress understood kirk's clucking and waving of his arms to mean that he wanted chicken. Frango seems to be the word for chicken but sometimes it also means ham - making for some interesting meals.

speaking of interesting meals - i finally caved and agreed to eat peanut butter for lunch. it's cheap, nourishing, yada yada. When we went to open it at our picnic spot we discovered it was caramel. nothing like a caramel and banana sandwich to fill the spot!

next stop punto arenas...

The beach is the word.

2005-02-21T14:39:00.000-08:00

well we've left Rio and we`ve been in Paraty for three nights. Tomorrow it`s on to Sao Paulo. But lets back up for a minute. Rio was great but I think we`re both good if we don´t see it again soon. Friday morning we hiked up to the tram that takes you to the Christ statue on the mountain that overlooks Rio. One of the landmark Rio sights. After we`d hiked about 400 vertical meters a car stopped on the road beside us and a gentleman said he`d give us a ride to the base as it wasn`t safe to walk in this area....well thanks but we`re really not into getting into a car with someone we don`t know. Before he pulled into his drive he said don`t walk any further up the mountain into the shanty town, only walk down. While we we´re talking with him a SUV had stopped and as we walked further the woman driving asked if we were going to the tram and also offered us a drive. Figuring it was a little safer with her (and odd that 2 people seemed concerned) we got in and she said the area is fine but she offered to drive us as it was a long way. We were happy to receive the ride because by the time we had taken the tram to the top there was about 20 minutes before the afternoon clouds moved in.

From there we went on to ride another tram that went down into the centre of town and were told by another woman to watch our backs. This was communicated to us by her pointing to her eye, then her back and then us. All was fine but the tram only ran at rush hour and we ended up taking the bus down. Think we climbed about 2 vertical km that day.

Dinner in the heart of the city and the centre of the night life in Rio. Then it was a hour and half bus ride back to the hotel. Got on the bus going the wrong way but saw a lot of the city.

The bus trip out to Paraty was about 4 hours and 3 of that was along the coast weaving in and out of inlets and up and down lush green covered mountains. Paraty has consisted of beach and hiking the Gold Trail today. Think we`ve been to the beach three or four times and we both can`t stop commenting to each other how ridicuosly warm the ocean water is.
And a quart of beer is a dollar fifty Canadian. Things are tough but we`re managing.

We took the local bus to the head of the Gold Trail and that was an adventure in and of itself. First we found out that they had come off day light savings down here about two days ago but the funny thing is it hasn`t made a difference at all. The trail took about a hour to hike one-way and the 45 minutes to come down. Huge lizards sunning themselves as we walked though. Down off the mountain and back to the beach before dinner. We`ve arranged to have dinner cooked at the inn we`re staying at and they`re going to do local fish for us. Going to set us back five dollars Canadian each. The night before last we had a local dish which consisted of shrimp and a local cheese cooked and served in a pumpkin. We`ll be looking for Dave to recreate this when we get back.

OK we should be off for dinner as we`ve already gained our hour today.

Take care all.

update from the coffee/pastry man

2005-02-17T06:13:00.000-08:00

his hotmail is kirk_bean@hotmail.com

livin la vida loca...or something like that...

2005-02-17T06:03:00.000-08:00

Hi from Rio! we~re in shorts and sandals and heading to the beach. sweet days indeed. (sorry ~bout the punctuation but i can~t find an apostrophe on this keyboard).

so the story about why our email addy~s don~t work is a long one. and not all that interesting. suffice to say the email addy~s we said we~d be using no longer work. my new one is kathrynlagden@hotmail.com. kirk is outside drinking what we think might be a large espresso and eating a pastry. but i~m sure he~ll put a note up once he~s set up.

thanks for the bday wishes. spent it atop a mountain watching the lights of the city come on. and then to a portugese restaurant for vino and fish.

the beach beckons...

The fridge magnet numbers say 4 more days.

2005-02-11T13:36:00.000-08:00

We were talking this morning about how the fridge magnets once read 41 days and that seemed close and far away. Four more days just seems like it’s on top of you. We were both up last night between 4am and 6:30am with either excitement or anxiety…or both.

Here’s a map of the route. The dates beside the cities are when we fly out. In the case of Rio de Janeiro, our first stop, that’s the date we fly in. The dotted lines are flights and the solid lines are our intended overland route.

It’s Kathryn’s last day in the office, it’s 4:46pm, she says she has zero items in her mailbox and has just received a great sendoff from the colleagues. 6pm this evening should be really sweet for her.