Cambodian Rocks

Stream of Conciousness

2010-12-06T18:27:00.002-07:00

I felt the need to get a few things down in print to see if they make sense a second time.

I watched a few movies today after a short day of unfullfilling (apparently it's not a word) work. Mostly comedies, Joe Rogan and Eddie Izzard, and a short bit about Hunter S Thomson. Oddly, I had seen all but the Izzard movie before, and I already had seen most of Eddie's shows. Knowing I had already seen them, I still watched them again, and realized that I had retained very little. I 'know' it, but I couldn't reproduce it. There seems to be this fuzziness between knowledge and practical usefulness.

Most comedians are thinkers, observers of the world, reporters who can perform.... Joe Rogan smokes pot, DMT, hallucinogens, and uses a sensory deprivation chamber... or whatever its called. All these things to expand his mind, and come up with new material that he has crafted in a stand up performance. This circle pays for itself for him. At this point, my musings, my knowledge, my skill don't pay for themselves. I've toyed with the idea of becoming a writer, a photographer, but never followed through completely.

Which brings me to Eddie. He worked for 10 years, in the shit, being told he wasn't good, and then got a "break" and made it big. It wasn't a break... he had just put in so much time and effort to make himself better and to be available when people realized. He would have died trying to make it big. Maybe not die, but not give up on his ambitions.

I've come to read a lot on atheism and spiritualism. My rationality and logic won't allow me to follow silly superstitions, yet the belief that what you are doing is right seems to be a key to these guys success. One in a million, I can hear myself saying... what about all the other shmucks who thought they were great and didn't make it. Well, they at least tried... What do I have to show for my efforts?

My travel stories.
My opinions on life.
My values.

All good things, but nothing there monetarily.

I don't want to write my biography now, but I do seem to reflect and wonder about my decisions and where they have led me to.

I think I want to have a little more motivation to enjoy to wonders of this world, because I don't feel it slipping away yet, but I know it will, so I hope to get ahead of the wave before I notice upon me.

Macabre shit...

And I'm quite happy with my decision to ask Julie to marry me. I'm relieved that there is no worry about it. It feels like the right decision and that I don't have to worry about it. But, worrying so much about myself can't help Julie with all her problems she carries with her.

So, say it again, more motivation... let's do something.

Faceblog?

2010-10-06T19:31:00.002-07:00

Musing the worthiness of keeping this blog around. It may die a natural death, or somehow be incorporated into something Googlesque. It is a bit of a time machine looking back to 2003 and thinking how cutting edge this was then.... So what will twitter be? Hopefully, mocked more than this.

Monetize? That seems unlikely for this 'blog'. I think a more streamlined approach to presenting a story, with pics and video, like your own multimedia magazine, would be a nice evolution for this service.

Who will read this indeed? or rather, who will spam the comments next?

website form

2009-10-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

Nepalorado

2009-04-03T20:04:00.001-07:00

(Preface: a note on how to read this. Anytime you see something italicized it should be read as an oxymoron... You might have to read it twice... see how many you get...)

Now then,

I know everyone nowadays seems to communicate through facebook, but all my contact info is still here in my email account. So instead, you get a personalized mass email.

Just a quick update on what I'm doing and then I'll get to the point of the email. I'm still moving around a bunch, but this is my 4th year in Colorado. I'm almost free from work again and will be planning plenty of trips, so I may be in your neck of the woods anytime this summer.

Between snowboarding 3-4 times a week, managing a ski shop, running a small business, and traveling the world having some serious fun, I still somehow have time during my working vacation to edit all my pictures and video into what is hopefully terribly good entertainment. All videos were recorded live and then edited either by me or my friend Mike Moore.

Last time I mailed out a dvd of my exploits to some of you. This time, I'll use that recently new internet invention, streaming video. The quality had to be reduced for streaming, so if you want an original copy, please email me back

So, here is a brief description and link(and the length in case you're too busy):

Nepalorado 2008 46min - True story, Mike and I went to Nepal for two months(May/june 2008). My favorite...

Trippin in the Southwest 2006 2hr 25min - Roadtrip down to Mexico, second best video, but a bit long. I'd recommend some popcorn before you tackle this one...

Utah Canyons 2007 26min - Yet another roadtrip out west, but a shorter distance. It's my least favorite, but they're all good in my unbiased opinion.

Breckenridge Gaper Day 2006 12min - Our one day to be a tourist... they're clearly misunderstood...

New England 2007 15min - Julie and I spend lots of time in a Ford Focus...our new used car we took just for this trip...

I hope you enjoy watching what was more than enjoyable to make. Please feel free to forward these links if you see anyone you know in the videos that might enjoy them. Take care and live it up...

--
Ben Hansen

"The oxymoron thing was a tribute to George Carlin.... miss you man...."

¡Todo sobre la Liga Mexicana de fútbol!
Estadisticas, resultados, calendario, fotos y más:
http://espanol.sports.yahoo.com/

FW: Exceptional Photos

2009-02-26T09:42:00.001-07:00

¿Quién necesidades duermen?

--- El jue 19-feb-09, robert hansen <bobbalouie@hotmail.com> escribió:

De: robert hansen <bobbalouie@hotmail.com>
Asunto: FW: Exceptional Photos
A: "Ben Hansen" <snowblizz@yahoo.com>, "LARRY E. GRANT" <cvrealty@msn.com>, "Inga Wilkerson" <inga_wilkerson@hotmail.com>
Fecha: jueves, 19 febrero, 2009, 11:32 pm

From: pamelajhansen@comcast.net
To: audrey.serafini@gmail.com; hansen.cynthia1@gmail.com; dianedefranco@comcast.net; dwightdolby@ewol.com; jserafini@gmail.com; MJMoreau@aol.com; russell@htva.net; pathansen@juno.com; bobbalouie@hotmail.com; tominnov@bellsouth.net; CathyDS@aol.com; mg326@comcast.net; reepicheep_the_valiant@yahoo.com
Subject: FW: Exceptional Photos
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:00:35 -0500

From: Jeuley Ortengren [mailto:jeuleyo@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 8:53 AM
To: Annie Ortengren; Beth Soycher; Bridget Plank; Darlyne Jackson; Diana Evans; Dottie Cunningham; Jeff Ortengren; Jewel Bryll; Judy Monette; Linda Newton; Mia McDermott; Mike Ortengren; Pam Mahoney; Pam Hansen; Patti Williams; Rita Law; Sheryl Pierson
Subject: Exceptional Photos

These are just more than exceptional – they are sensational! Enjoy!

Life is mostly froth and bubble;
Two things stand like stone.
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own.

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>¡Sé el Bello 51 de People en Español!
¡Es tu oportunidad de Brillar! br>Sube tus fotos ya http://www.51bello.com/

Heads or Tails?

2008-06-20T19:10:00.001-07:00

We had 15 days left before our flight back to the states, so we took all of the advice from travellers who had already been around the area. The Indian Himalayas and Langtang area of Nepal were high on our list, but we couldn't decide where to go. The monsoons were coming and changing flights plus getting an Indian visa is more complicated than quantum physics. So, we left it to the flip of a coin.... Nepal beat India.

But I couldn't make this too easy on myself, so I had a buffet of strange meat while there was no power in the city(which means no oven, but you can always cook with fire). Round 3 of stomach problems (The Kathmandu Quickstep, Delhi Belly, Montezuma's Revenge), this time with vomiting included. We either could take the long bus up and hike back to Kathmandu, or the short bus up to hike up to the mountains and ride the bus back. Mike graciously suggested the short bus first, and it would allow us to hike in the lowlands sooner so we might be able to miss the monsoons.

It was only 10km away, but the bus took 2 hours. I got the last seat in the back of the bus, next to a window(there were already stains down the side of the bus, so others had the same problem and thought the same thing). The only problem was the seats in the back were too small. I had my head out the window, but it was too small as well, so every big bump caused my head to bash into the side. I was airborn once a good 6-12 inches off the seat. We stopped to pick up more passengers and I couldn't take it any longer. I climbed out the window and onto the roof. The rest of the passengers thought this was hilarious, but the door guy yelled at me that I had to come back in. Apparently, only within the city limits is it taboo to be on top of the bus, once you are outside the city limits... no holds barred....

It didn't matter because we were stuck in traffic for 30 minutes because two buses couldn't get around each other and everyone piled in behind them to block the road. Watching guys stare at the buses with cigarettes to help them think was enough time for me to gain the strength to stand back in the bus(I had lost my seat and the bus was too full to get back to the back).

We had started late that day because it was supposed to be an easy day. It was 3pm by the time we arrived at the start of the trek, but I was so weak from vomiting I was walking at half my normal speed. There were no lodges once we got into the Shivapuri National Wildlife Watershed, which was only 30 minutes into the trek, so we had to keep going. My weakness got worse and I was literally pulling myself up with my hiking stick because my legs were jelly. There wasn't anything Mike could do but wait for me. It was sunset and we still hadn't crossed the pass that would allow us down to the next town we knew had a lodge. With our headlamps on(not on our heads because the bugs went straight for your eyes) we crossed the pass in the mist of fog and looked at our map. It showed we would leave the watershed and we figured there would be a gate or checkpost. We saw one, but no sign and barbed wire across the trail. Must be to keep the wildlife in and non paying
guest out, right?

Next came a pit... with bamboo spikes at the bottom. Yes, sharp pointy sticks in a hole in the ground the size of a bus. We expected poisoned darts and a huge rolling boulder next, e.g. Indiana Jones. But we walked around it and just saw more barbed wire across the trail and then heard some guy singing in the night. By this time we had guessed what this was, an army base. We were a little hesitant to alert our presence to a possible drunk and armed soldier late at night. But, he yelled out(in perfect english no less) that we needed to go back and down the other trail. We stumbled into town and the owner of a lodge was waiting up for us like we were expected.

We met two Swedes that informed us the Ganja La pass we intended to do was snowbound and impassable in certain areas unless you had climbing equipment. It was lower than the other passes we had done, but we kept hearing that a guide was needed and it couldn't be done in one day as we had hoped to do. So, now we couldn't do a circuit and would have to do an out and back hike. We first had to cross the Laurabina La at 4610m in the Gosainkund area where there was a Hindu holy lake.

We had a good laugh with our lodge owner when I shared my chocolate spead with him. He then told us the story of one of his male workers who found some unused tampons in a room and walked all around town asking what they were. Nepalis are very modest and no one would tell him until a few trekkers informed him of their purpose. All the light mood was good as I was now recovered from my sickness and wanted to get my strength back. We were a little disoriented from coming in during the night, but we were pointed in the right way and had long hike down and back up the next valley. On clear days we could have seen both the Annapurna and Everest ranges on either side of us. We did get a very nice sunset and views of what we thought might have been Everest.

Several cloudy and rainy days of hiking got us over the pass and to the Gosainkund lake. We could have pushed on, but we were hoping it would clear for some views... It didn't. We did get our 15 minute view, when suddenly the clouds will part and you have to run out to take pictures. Then the clouds come back in quickly and the views are gone. Even though this lake was a little warmer, and holier apparently, we skipped out on the skinny dipping. Our shortest day of the trip, a one hour trek down, was done in the rain and then we had to wait out the rest of the day in the dining room, drying out our clothes and playing endless games of cards and chess. Only when we couldn't hike for long hours did we realize there wasn't much to do in these lodges. Normally we just come in right at dinner time and eat and then crash into bed from exhaustion.

We now were in the Langtang Valley, but we had to lose nearly 2000m of elevation just so we could climb back up again. We made the trek up quickly in two days since we were still acclimatized from the pass. We acquired a trekking partner, a 12 year old kid who wanted us to eat at his lodge. The lodge was closed and he had to run off and find his sister to open it up. After a while she came and cooked us an awful meal of fried noodles(it's hard to mess up noodles, but it's been done twice to us now on this trip). To be fair, it's not the best season for growing any food up this high, and the harvests don't come in till the fall. So, there is no cheese or fruit and very few vegetables. Only the staples of rice, potatoes and whatever can be hauled up by the porters.

The sister said she had a lodge at the final town of Kyanjin Gompa, but it was closed so she would hike with us to open it up. It was raining and she hiked up the whole way with us and guilt tripped us into staying at her lodge. It was cheaper than the others, free actually since it is low season and the rooms are given away in order for the trekkers to stay and buy food. To our surprise, we were cooked probably the best Dal Bhat(the staple Nepali Meal), which included fresh morelle mushrooms and a spicier curry/dal sauce.

It would rain around 5am, but we had to be out and trekking by 6am in order to hit our cloudless window from 8-10am. First we walked all the way up valley to Gangchenpo and the border area. We were stopped by a washed out bridge, but managed to climb up the side of the glacier to see the pleasant meadows filled with horses and yaks below. Mike twisted an ankle in a stream crossing but soldiered on. We even had time to come back to visit the gompa and take a tour of the cheese factory, which would receive the yak milk in the next week to start making more cheese.

Our final day in the high country was our last chance to see some of the high peaks at a viewpoint above the town called Kyanjin Ri. The trail split early and we went different ways thinking we could get more pictures from different areas. Mike hiked to a set of prayer flags on the Langtang Valley side and I hiked to a saddle which was closer to the Langtang Glacier. We both made it to our areas by 9am, but the clouds came up within 5 minutes. It's amazing how fast they form and fly up the sides of the valley. We never met each other on the mountain and had to wander back on separate paths to Kyanjin gompa. Mike met a guy wanting a watch, but I had a watch I could easily part with. Mike thought I was behind him so he told the guy to look for me. I was probably 2 km away, on the other side of a range when i bumped into a guy looking for his yaks. He asked the time and I could tell he wanted the watch. I'm sure it wasn't the same guy, but I wouldn't doubt
the ability of a nepali to haul ass and find me just so he could have a watch.

We spent two days getting down the valley to the "road" at Syrabu Besi. We would take the 6-10 hour bus ride back to Kathmandu the next morning. The large difference in possible times is due to road conditions changing for landslides. We wandered around town and I jumped into a soccer match playing near a school. The game ended after 30 min when the ball(mostly deflated but still roundish) was kicked off the side and down into the river. One of the kids took this opportunity to show me his home and ask for sponsorship to help with his schooling. After living on the cheap and realizing the Langtang area had been cheaper than the other trekking areas, I reassessed my finances and decided I could part with $100 US. I asked him what this would get him. This amount would pay for his school supplies, admission(there is no free education system in Nepal), and boarding in Kathmandu for 3 months. Many times I have spent more than that on a night out or for a full
tank of gas. It's always humbling to know what money can get you in different parts of the world...

--
And now... it seems that all my good stories are bus stories... If I ever wrote a book, I would have to specialize on third world bus rides...

The 14 Hour Bus Ride From Syrabu Besi to Kathmandu:

The bus was a normal size bus this time, but the road was the mini version and dirt for over half the way back. We bought tickets with seats, but lucky us, our seats were in the back row. I wasn't going to squeeze in, so I jumped on the roof. This way I could look after our bags that were stored up there. We made it 5 minutes out of town and the bus got bogged down in the mud on a steep uphill. A few people got off to throw clay and rocks under the tires, but the bus just spun closer to the edge of the 100 meter dropoff. When he was within 3 feet of the edge, this prompted everyone to get off the bus and walk down the road so the less weight would help him up the steep slope. After 15 minutes the bus made it back on, and we all jumped back on.

I scraped my knuckle in the process and dipped into my medical bag for antiseptic and a band-aid. The rest of the Nepalis noticed this and I became the impromptu doctor of the bus, handing out what few things I had left. I was offered a small plum-like fruit in appreciation. It took two hours to get to the next town. We were all told to get off the top of the bus because the army checkpost was coming up. We had to show our national park receipts, the tourists at least, and then we were back on the top of the bus. 5 minutes down the road, mike yells up to me to ask if I have his passport. In the confusion, I thought the army guard had put his passport back his backpack, but I didn't check and I just gave the backpack back to mike. So, we stopped the whole bus and a motorcycle stopped to turn around and drive mike back. Our bus kept going, thinking that Mike would catch up on the motorcycle since the bus was so slow. He didn't need to as we were stopped in
the road by another bus with a broken axle. The other bus managed to stop right in the middle, blocked both directions. Our bus was scavenged for parts in order to get the broken down bus moving again. An hour later, the bus was fixed, but another bus had gotten stuck trying to pull off the side. Oh well, we didn't stop to help, as the other bus was empty.

With all the delays, we didn't make it to our scheduled lunchtime restaurant stop until 2pm. Dal Bhat was made in mass quantities and plopped down in front of you before you even sat down at the table. The sun was out now and baking the top of the bus, but I had lost my seat to the many newcomers now standing in the aisles. So, I had to stay on the top, but was entertained as we had 4 buses racing, NASCAR style, with everyone on top of the bus yelling and cheering on like spectators. Our driver was the most timid and we ended up last, plus with our lack of parts, we seemed to have a real hard time turning left. On the switchbacks we could make the right hand turns fine, but on the left hand turns we had to make three point turns, backing up precariously close to the edge.

We finally made it to Trisuli Bazaar by 5pm, but the driver thought this was the best time to work on the bus and try to fix the no-left-turn problem. This gave us enough time to wait for the rains to build up and start pouring down. We waited for close to 2 hours and it was dusk by the time the rain really started to come down. I had tried to find a seat next to the driver, but everytime he shifted into second gear, he'd smash me in the back. One french guy stayed on top through the downpours, and everyone kept trying to look up to see if he was still there.

Then came the river crossings. Two times we had to keep up speed and plow through standing water that had overflowed the water channels from the heavy rain. But on the third one we were stopped by other buses. After waiting for 30 minutes, it was decided that we would walk across the mud that had blocked the road to a bus on the other side, it would turn around, and the other bus' occupants would do the same to our bus. Did I mention it was pouring rain... So, now we have a bus full of soaked people and Mike and I were tired of squeezing into the back, so we just appropriated new seats since it was a new bus. This all sounds fine in text, but how do you turn around a 30 foot bus when the road isn't 30 feet wide? Our driver was going to try... We backed up about 20 meters, passing or forcing cars to move out of our way, when he stopped and went forward again.

It was then that we noticed buses come from the other direction. Wait, wasn't that our old empty bus going past us? Yup, the mudslide had been cleared and the road was open again. So, back out into the rain to switch back to our original bus. A few more hours were still needed to get into Kathmandu. We finally arrived at 9pm, 14 hours after we started, all to get 100km or 60 miles. We ended up sharing a taxi with the french couple we stole the seats on the bus from, but within 30 seconds the taxi got a puncture in the tire... Our driver was determined to keep our fare, so he managed to change the tire in under 5 minutes in the pouring rain. After such a long hard journey, we settled on a hotel called, "Hotel Easy"...

Killing 4 days in Kathmandu isn't hard if you like temples and shopping, but I'd already done that the previous 2 times we'd been here and there was little left to do. We bought our last few items and decided to visit our last temple, Pashupatinath. It was a Hindu temple and we walked through town for an hour to save some cash and see some different areas of town. We passed the circus tent blasting religious music into the air and then passed a few signs that said "Hindu Only". I thought Muslims were the exclusion religion, but it looks like Hindus want to join the club. We were then requested to buy tickets, but only tourists had to purchase them. Hindus were free, so I boldly claimed, "I am Hindu" and walked past the ticket counter. Mike followed and we had about 5 minutes before the "tourist police" came and asked us for our tickets. We played dumb, I stuck to my hindu story, and then just talked circles around them in hopes they would get bored of
us. They finally did, and we just walked away to continue our browsing. This was all over a $3.50 US ticket, but how about I charge all non-americans for reading this email. I'm not a big fan of exclusion...

Then the circus really began. Hindu's perform their cremations on a funeral pyre by the river. The hospital in next to the temple where the body is wrapped and cleansed in the river. It is then taken to one of the pyres lining the river. The ones closer to the temple cost more than the ones farther away. The body is then set upon a stack of wood and set alight. It was a slow burning fire and a little unnerving to realize the smoke we were breathing in used to be a human being. The ashes were then swept into the river to flow down and meet with the holy Ganges river. This was all conveyed to us by a small boy wanted to practice his english and show off his knowledge.

We watched all this from the other side of the river, on steps that overlooked the whole process. Along with us were other tourists, nepalis, and vendors(selling newspapers, cotton candy and Sardu's who want money for smearing a bindi on your forehead). It was morbid for me to watch the cremation process, but I understand the grieving process for the family. I don't understand the spectacle of it all.

We enjoyed our time in Nepal immensely, and regretted having to go home, but 27 hours of airplanes later... and we're back in america with it's $4 gallon of gas...

Our three trips to Annapurna, Khumbu, and Langtang consisted of 43 days of trekking, for a distance of 522km/324 miles, with an elevation gain of 20,300m/66,600 feet, and with a profound respect for the resourcefulness and strength of the Nepali People. The culture shock is slowly starting to sink in of having to re-adapt to my own culture and I already wish I was back travelling again.

"When Bush took office, gas cost $1.46" - Bumper sticker seen while driving back from the airport

______________________________________________
Enviado desde Correo Yahoo! La bandeja de entrada más inteligente.

Re: How to evict a king...

2008-06-05T23:04:00.000-07:00

Ooopppp!!!! :(

Seems I pressed the 'reply all' button by mistake on that last email to Ben. Apologies :P

Nige

Re: How to evict a king...

2008-06-05T23:00:00.001-07:00

Ben,

Nice to see you are back on the road again (where you belong you think?). Now I get to lots of good travel reading again, good to see. Actually, I am about to set of on a mini RTW trip (well almost RTW), taking in western Oz, singapore, malaysia, thailand, UAE, Ireland, london, spain, new york, Austin, belize (all in about 6 weeks!),and Brazil (where I will be hanging out for 6 months or so)... its been 7 years or so since we met in Bristol (if my memory serves me), so it is long overdue for me to get the cobwebs of my pack! Let me know if you are anywhere around these parts in July/August so I can buy you a beer.

Maybe even write a wee email or two myself.

Cheers

Kiwi Nige

2008/6/2 Ben Hansen <snowblizz@yahoo.com>:

After a night in Kathmandu(trust me it's not relaxing, it's just a bed with the cacophony of chickens, dogs, and every motorized horn possible keeping the air filled with noise), we were off on our flight to Lukla and hike in the Khumbu-Mt Everest region. Again, no taking off shoes, but I did have to give my big wooden stick for checked baggage. They guy next

How to evict a king...

2008-06-01T08:58:00.001-07:00

After a night in Kathmandu(trust me it's not relaxing, it's just a bed with the cacophony of chickens, dogs, and every motorized horn possible keeping the air filled with noise), we were off on our flight to Lukla and hike in the Khumbu-Mt Everest region. Again, no taking off shoes, but I did have to give my big wooden stick for checked baggage. They guy next to me had a wooden stick 2 feet shorter... his made it to carry on... size not functionality...

Our delightful aircraft was a 20 person fixed wing propeller plane. Not pressurized, no cockpit door(no sleeping on the job for these pilots, the flight is only 45 minutes long) and a flight attendant who passes out boiled sweets and cotton swabs for the noise of the engines. Landing on close to a 30 degree pitch in Lukla makes it a quick and abrupt landing. The flights are only in the morning when the good weather allows, so we were off to Everest at 7am for a quick start.

Mike had picked up a stomach bug in Pokhara and was still feeling the affects. We were starting at 2700 meters, so no need to climb up through the jungle this time. Many more yaks and the porters had the ingenious idea to use their hiking sticks, shaped like T's, as a prop under their wicker basket backpacks. After 2 days we made it to the Sherpa capital village called Namche Bazaar. Mike was in full on sick mode now and I sought out a pharmacy. After diagnosing him as having either giardia or bacterial intestinal problems, we drugged him up with Hydrochloric acid and giardia treatments, but it would take 2 days too take effect. While waiting for him to get better, I caught a head cold, which lovingly moved into my chest to develop bronchitis. Hacking up blood and bright green phlegm while trying to take a picture of a mountain seems foolish, but I guess that's what I did.

After ridiculing the woman who was puking on the Thorong-La pass in my last email, it would seem foolish for us to continue, but neither of our symptoms were for altitude sickness, so we could continue, just not under the most ideal conditions.

We were told of a few mountain passes that would allow a circuit route instead of the straight up path to base camp and back, so we headed up to Gokyo lakes(six of them along the glacier). We passed Macheremo where Reinhold Messner supposedly saw a yeti and one attacked some yaks. The local lodge owner we talked to was there in '74 when it supposedly happened, but he laughed it off when we asked about it. Clouds were constantly coming in by early afternoon, so most of our days consisted of us waking at 4am to see if the weather was clear. We climbed up twice for views of Everest and Cho Oyu. Cho Oyu Base Camp was deserted because of the the Chinese blockage of peaks over 6000m, but the whole area is a beautiful convergence of glaciers coming off the high peaks. Everest is probably the least photogenic mountain around, but it is the biggest, so it pulls the asian tourists with plenty of cameras. We had a group of 4 guys in the buff except american flag
thongs taking pictures to lighten the mood.

Our pass was called Cho La, and was the same height as Thorang-La, 5420m. We followed some porters in the fog until we saw a wall of snow and scree. They kept going up, in their fake chinese sneakers and light jackets, so we followed. On a map we saw, this section is called "slippery trail" because the sun never hits here and the snow accumulates. It was indeed slippery, but we made it over alright. By this time we had picked up another German trekker, Markus, who was travelling at our same pace(fast, even though I was still sick). He had been through India and was a better bargainer, so we just let him fight it out with the lodge owners and food vendors and we'd slip in expecting the same price.

Gorak Shep is the high village before Everest Base Camp, and we climbed up for another closer view of Sagaramatha, as the Nepalis call it. We could see base camp perched on the glacier and it's a 2 hour hike up to it. After reading climbing books, I had a picture of trash and oxygen bottles everywhere, but camp was exceptionally clean. They have recently had cleaning campaigns, so base camp is rather tidy for being perched on a grinding glacier. I've heard the higher camps are still messy, but most people won't see those.

We had heard there was a bakery tent, and found it to have quite possibly the best apple pie I have ever tasted. How these guys manage to bake at such high altitude is amazing. I saw the guy trying to knead frozen dough with a butcher knife. A group of Austrians came in and Markus translated their conversation for us. They had made the summit a few days earlier, and the one guy seemed pretty happy about it. But, they had "left" one of their members up on the mountain. Euphemism for "the guy died and we didn't have the energy to bring him down" They said they were on top without gloves because it was "warm", but obviously one of the expedition members didn't make it. It made me think how much I like climbing but that I don't need a silly statistic if one of my friends has to die in the process. Many of these sherpas climb 10 or more times to the summit and make endless trips caching up for the camps, but it's just a job for them. There is an overwhelming
feeling of "at your own risk" around camp, as people have more to be worried about than being nice to trekkers who wander through.

There was another pass to the Makalu peak area that was less used that we wanted to try. First we had to climb down to Lobuche, which turned out to be the coldest and most miserable lodge of our trip. The Everest Marathon was on the 29th of May, and they were using this area for the runners to acclimatize. Our tiny lodge turning into the medical tent and everyone with problems came into the dining hall for medications while we were trying to eat.

The next morning was too foggy to see across the glacier we had to cross, and we lost the path, so we just dead reckoned and aimed for a point on the other side. Markus stayed low and ended up in the moraine lake, while Mike and I attacked the loose sand/scree hills. We all made it across to see the clouds clear and give us great views of the whole Khumbu Valley. This pass was just as steep, but no snow. Little bouts of sunshine showed us some glacial lakes on the other side of the pass. After 10 days of no showers(they cost money for hot water, and our frugality prevented us from showering, unless a nearby stream allowed a hobo washing), we thought a dip in the lake would be refreshing.

Normally, Mike is the cold water specialist, but I had the enthusiasm today. Mike also proposed that a quick dip would cure my cold... the theory failed... After sounding confident, Mike decided against jumping in, but Markus and I got in and shamed Mike into joining us. Needless to say, none of us lasted more than 10 seconds in the water before gasping for air from the shock of the cold.

We had heard of a trekking mountain we wanted to climb, but only recently learned that Island Peak needed a permit to climb. The statistical 6000m or 20,000 ft mountain is sought after by amature climbers on their way up to the 8000m ranges. Instead we climbed to the base camp and saw the huge lake that had formed in the moraine.

It was now only down back to Namche and back up to a village where a huge Buddhist festival, Mani Rimdu had just ended. Our way through Tengboche saw a huge tent pitched for a speech by one of Sir Edmund Hillary's grandsons. We instead sat in the temple "puja" where the monks chant their mantras and prayers in harmonic chaos. It lasted over 2 hours, and was quite an extrodinary audio/trance feeling. A monk came over and accused mike of filming, but still pictures are allowed without a flash. While he politely explained his camera was only taking pictures, a film crew was walking around filming the whole thing. We had overheard the cameraman "donate" $100 in order to be allowed to film. Filler for whatever else he was filming must have been worth it, at least compared to our honest interest in what the monks were doing.

Thami was up the valley on the way to the old Tibetan trade route over the Nangpa-La pass. It was closed until recently, but opened up on the Nepali side until the pass with Tibet still being closed to foreigners. The village was recovering from the festival and we seemed to be the only ones in town. After shorting ourselves on meals to save money, we ordered 27 different meals to appease our hunger. The "didi" or woman of the house was a jovial lady with a slightly psycotically happy husband(this guy would laugh at anything, quite often). We found a dead moth in the sugar bowl and he started laughing and picked it up to show the rest of the family and laugh some more.

On our way down to Namche on May 29th, Tenzing-Hillary Everest Day, we caught the finish line of the marathon. Best time was 3 hours 53 minutes, and most of these guys had severe limps from the bashing of their knees from running down from Gorak Shep to Namche the full 26 miles. We even loaned our hiking sticks to a few of the runners to hobble down to the main part of town to their hotels or restaurants for the celebrations and music concert later that night.

Instead, we had a marathon 10 hour day down to Lukla to catch our flight, the same dinky ride off the cliff at Lukla. They use every inch of the runway and you get a pretty good g-force feeling as it banks up to gain altitude over the cliffs.

Upon entering Kathmandu again, everything seemed eerily quiet. We quickly learned, as there were few radios in the lodges we stayed at, that the monarchy had been disolved by the new government. The king has been given 15 days to leave the royal palace so they can turn it into a museum. The king was not widely like or the prince even less after the strange murders of the previous king in 2001. So, most people here are happy for him to go and are eager to see what the new republic of Nepal can provide. The prince is already gone, but the kind is supposedly taking astrologers' advice as to when the perfect time to leave is.

Since Tibet is closed and the monsoons haven't hit yet, the country is still seeing plenty of foreigners lingering around. So, there are still plenty of people around while we hang out in Kathmandu. The hilarious attempt at a sex trade here is under the guise of 'shower dances'. The seedy night clubs with dancing on stages with stripper poles all advertise this additional option. Curiosity got the best of us and we popped into the Red Lips Dance Bar. We managed to ward off the waiter who kept trying to get us to buy the triple overpriced drinks and one of the dancers who sat down to get to know us. The local Nepali men danced on the stage more than the girls did(whose faces looked miserable, they just didn't want to dance). A fight broke out at the strategic time to allow us to escape without having to pay for our research trip. I never figured out the exact details of a shower dance, but we did see the shower nozzle above the stripper bar, so I'll leave
it to everyones imagination.

Our hotel has a view of the palace and is only a 5 minute walk to the gates. If all goes well with our plans to visit the Indian Himalayas, we won't be here when he leaves. I've never been evicted from an apartment, but it's hard to imagine what being evicted from a palace would be like....

We finished the trek quickly again: 16 days, roughly 100 miles, 2 passes at 5400m, and some of the most dramatic mountain scenery I've ever seen.

I'll leave you with a quote about the awe of nature, which I find confirmed while travelling throught these magical places(I'd also add looking upon the Himalaya in his list):

--
"What can be more soul shaking than peering through a 100-inch telescope at a distant galaxy, holding a 100-million-year-old fossil or a 500,000-year-old stone tool in one's hand, standing before the immense chasm of space and time that is the Grand Canyon, or listening to a scientist who gazed upon the face of the universe's creation and did not blink? That is deep and sacred science." - Michael Shermer

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Last Call Marketing, LLC

2007-05-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

Our first season of the bar guides was a success in Breckenridge. Mike, Jon and I plan to extend our services to 2 or 3 new locations for the 2007/2008 season. A possible year round flyer for locations that require it is in the works. Our website, Last Call Bar Guides is up and running. We are looking to streamline the flyer so that it is more easily updated and less work for the printing process.

I would like to thank all of you that have helped me and my new company to have a successful first year. I'm no millionaire yet, but this process has taught me so much and left me to believe that I could rely on this business for my livelyhood someday. I still have that urge to pack up and travel. It's funny that a wife, kids, or morgage didn't tie me down like I thought it would... it was business instead.

2006-12-24T19:14:00.000-07:00

Being in the ski industry, working on Christmas is a given. It's understood that these people are on vacation and you need to work. I've gotten used to it, and they get Christmas... I get all summer. I like the deal. Plus I don't buy into the whole commercialization deal either. This will be the second year that I ski on christmas day.

Fired and rehired

2006-11-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

I try to pride myself in my work, but my boss seems not to think so.

So, actually a clarification, he's not my boss... just the old manager here in Breckenridge. He didn't like the way I dealt with the shop, so he fired me. Sucks, but I had a week off to ski and look for other work. After a week, my actual boss calls me and says that he had no right to fire me and would I reconsider coming back to work.

Long story short, I'm back and should not have to deal with him anymore. So, the shop is mine again and I have some tough work ahead as the busy season is approaching.

Dead Computer

2006-08-24T11:58:00.001-07:00

So, my laptop died, more specifically it was the hard drive. I have yet to recover the data I'd been working on for 3 months off the hard drive. One of those things in life no one wants to go throught, but I should get through it.

I think a few years ago, I would have taken this a lot harder. I've learned not to live through my possesions, it was just stuff. That has helped me to not get too bitter about having to recover and redo work I've already spent too much time on already.

So, Summer in Colorado is great. Going to do some more camping before the snows come. Try the Maroon Bells hike, and hitch-hike to St. Louis for a wedding. That's the plan...

trying something here at the end... see if it works

Dead Computer

2006-08-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

Ben Hansen Photo Gallery

2006-08-04T13:47:00.000-07:00

So, I have quite a few picture galleries floating
around the internet and most of the photos are just
snapshots of where I've been.

Now I've tried to start a professional gallery where
people can buy prints, small or large, of my more
artistic photographs.

The address is :
http://benhansen.deviantart.com/store/

I'll be updating this website fairly often and
offering more prints for sale.

The best way for me to advertise if through word of
mouth. I don't expect to sell much, but every little
bit helps. There is no obligation for you to buy, but
if you think someone else might, please forward this
email to all your friends and have them take a look. I
would very much appreciate it.

If you have any questions or comments about the
website, please email me back at: snowblizz@yahoo.com

Enjoy

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Gaper Day Video

2006-07-09T19:31:00.000-07:00

So, Mike has put together a nice little video of our
year in Colorado. One little section, the funniest in
my opinion, is of Gaper Day.

Now, describing to a non-local what a gaper(GAY-per)
is is similar to a fraternaty telling everyone about
their secret handshake. Once everyone knows, those who
used to hold this knowledge lose thier specialness.
The story of the Gaper is not a state secret, so I
doubt it will lose any of its uniqeness by me telling
you about it.

No offense... but if anyone comes to visit, even close
friends, they are gapers until they get the style of
life here. It's just the way it is here.

There are a few explanations as to the origins of the
term. The two most likely candidates are when someone
gets a sunburn in between their hat and goggles, hence
the sunburn gap. Or it's just all the tourist who are
blown away by the beauty of this place, look up, gape,
gawk, and just get in the way of other people trying
to get about their business.

All the locals have to put up with bending over to
meet the tourists needs in seach of the almighty
dollar. Our only recourse it to ridicule those people
behind their backs and call them 'gapers'.

Now, it's not a term of endearment, but it's not a
racial slur either. We could slash their tires or spit
in their food, but instead we just talk behind their
backs and we get one release at the end of ski season:
Gaper Day... April 1st. It's near the end of the
season, so alot of people like to let loose. There is
no offical organization to set this off, just
tradition.

We lovingly mock the people who provide our livelihood
by dressing as they do... in the most gawdy, tacky,
ridiculous gear that you could imagine. It wouldn't be
possible if people didn't actually wear this stuff and
think it looks good.

You can view all the gaperishness here:

Large Version ~50meg:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1931546864572795941

Small Version ~23meg:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5369263763362946719

If you have high-speed internet, it shouldn't be a
problem to download. Enjoy, and I hope you get a laugh
out of it, because it was a blast to make. If you
really enjoyed it, please forward those links to your
friends, lighten their mood, and pass on the craziness
for others to enjoy.

----

Though men now possess the power to dominate and
exploit every corner of the natural world, nothing in
that fact implies that they have the right or the need
to do so - Edward Abbey

______________________________________________
LLama Gratis a cualquier PC del Mundo.
Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo por minuto.
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4th of July

2006-07-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

So, friends and I celebrated the 230th birthday of
American existance here in Colorado. How? Here's how:

Goto Denver: Think ChuckeCheese, Bush Gardens, and
food worse than Taco Bell... and you get CASA BONITA!!
http://www.casabonitadenver.com/

If you've seen the south park episode, you'll know
what I mean. You can download it here if you have a
few internet skillz.
http://rapidshare.de/files/9313983/711_-_Casa_Bonita.rar

So, it's basically a 8 year old's dream birthday
party, but we made the best of the horrible food and
roamed around the place, pretending we were 8 year
olds again.

Then to Red Rocks Amphitheater, my first time, to see
String Cheese Incident. They're a jam band, but I was
very impressed with Keller Williams and the whole
setup of the venue. Two giant red rock formations on
either side to create a natural amphitheater...
http://www.redrocksonline.com/

Then on 3rd of July I took the Subaru(the only
passenger car to make it up) to 4th of July Bowl. It's
a 13,000 foot peak, whuch is only drivable in the
summer when the ski slopes have melted and the dirt
road becomes visable.

So, we camped up right below the only skiable slope
left in the area, found a ski jump in the dark, cooked
some smores, and had a campfiring good time.

Then, bright eyed and hungover in the morning was the
hike up to the peak to ski during the 4th. Yes, I made
two runs in July. I'm ready for next season, and I
didn't realize how much I missed snowboarding. There
is a flag at the top, along with a few golf irons to
hit pebbles off the top. I dressed in my most
patriotic outfit I had.

Parades and fireworks were waiting back down in town
proper.

Let's just say it took until now to recover and write
this email...

Pictures attached, and It should only be a few more
days until I get the rest of my best pictures up for
you guys to peruse over at my gallery site.

Happy 4th of July...

My cousin forwarded me a mass email, which are usually
highly political, but that's ok, since mine are as
well. Anyway, I enjoyed this one, so I thought I'd
pass it on, since it's a independence theme
------------------
>>

THE 4TH OF JULY

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who
signed the
Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors,
and tortured
before
they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army;
another had two
sons
captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or
hardships of the
Revolutionary
War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their
fortunes, and their
sacred
honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were
merchants, nine were
farmers and large plantation owners; men of means,
well educated, but
they
signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full
well that the
penalty
would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and
trader, saw his ships
swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his
home and
properties to
pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he
was forced to move
his
family almost constantly. He served in the Congress
without pay, and
his
family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken
from him, and
poverty
was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery,
Hall, Clymer,
Walton,
Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted
that the British
General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for
his headquarters.
He
quietly urged General George Washington to open fire.
The home was
destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed.
The enemy jailed
his
wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she
was dying. Their 13
children fled for their lives. His fields and his
gristmill were laid
to
waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and
caves, returning
home to
find his wife dead and his children vanished.

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted,
but we shouldn't.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July
holiday and
silently
thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the
price they paid.

Remember: freedom is never free!

I hope you will show your support by sending this to
as many people as
you
can, please. It's time we get the word out that
patriotism is NOT a
sin, and
the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics,
and baseball
games .

Mexico Pictures uploaded

2006-07-02T19:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, it took me a lot longer than I wanted, but I've
finally uploaded some snapshots of our trip. I'm still
working on the nicer ones at my pay site, which I
should have ready in the next week or so.

Here they are, and there are a bunch, so I hope
everyone has the time to see them. I may upload a
slideshow type file soon as well...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/senecar/sets/72157594179843854/

Enjoy

______________________________________________
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Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo por minuto.
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Trippin in the Southwest Part 5

2006-06-26T09:14:00.000-07:00

This is ben writing again, just so you know:

So I paid all that extra insurance for mexico, but I
get a flat tire on our way to Vegas. We drove on a
dirt road through this Joshua Tree forest to try to
get to Grand Canyon West. Turns out there is mainly
helicoptor tours there and no lookout or hiking area.
So, On my way back I was going pretty fast and I
narrowly passed a tow truck out to pick up another
stranded car. I stopped twice thinking something was
wrong with the tire, but I couldn't find anything. As
soon as I hit paved road again, I noticed the bumping
in my front tire. I stopped and found a 2 inch screw
puncturing my tire. The air was releasing really
slowly, but I pulled it out and the tire went flat. My
friend John had suggested I carry Fix-a-flat with my
in Mexico, and I still had it.... Worthless product. I
followed the directions and the entire can didn't even
fill up the tire, and the top broke off.

So, time to put the spare on. Just as I'm unloading
all the junk in our trunk in order to get to the
spare, the tow truck that I passed stops to help. We
got everything fixed, but I had to drive at 40mph
until I got the tire plugged.

We drove over the Hoover Dam, which might be the last
time we ever do. They are building a huge bridge to
bypass the old road that goes directly over the dam,
to fight terrorism I assume. We stopped at Boulder
Beach on Lake Mead, a familiar spot we hit up 2 years
on the other road trip. And a familiar course of
events followed: too much beer, tequila and sun
ensued. We then drove to a nearby casino for $2
BJ's.......$2 black jack games, not what you're
thinking. Vegas was not kind to me, I was up $80 to
start but left $150 in the hole and I think Mike came
out even.

While driving into Vegas we stopped to get our tire
plugged at Discount Tire Co. I'd reccomend them, as
they fixed my tire for free. I'm not sure why, but I
didn't argue.

Our entire trip, we did not pay for a single night of
accomodation except for one night of camping at
Boulder Beach and two nights at the HoJo in Vegas.
Mike's manager from Breckenridge was supposed to hook
us up at the Hard Rock Casino, but he flaked out on
us. However, 42 out of 45 nights being free ain't too
bad.

We went to see Ciraue du Soleil again. This show was
Ka, and we assumed it was the fire show. There are
water, beatles, risque, and puppet type shows. Well,
it didn't have much fire, but it impressed us just as
well. Back to Freemont Street, but they weren't
showing the light show on the television ceiling.
Vegas is Vegas, if you've been here, then you know
what I mean. I'm glad we did it at the end of our
trip.

Valley of Fire State Park is just outside of Vegas and
was the only state park I remember paying for besides
Goblin Valley. It was well worth it as it has an
abundance of arches and wierd rock formations.
However, we decided to visit the park in the middle of
the day when temperatures reached 110 degrees F. Lake
Mead was in sight, but by the time we got out of the
park, we just wanted to make it up to Great Basin NP.
We made it about halfway when the sun set and se
stopped by this bridge and train tunnel. There was
just enough room to drive through the tunnel besides
the tracks, so I drove through thinking there might be
a campsite on the other side. There wasn't and I had
to drive back. We found another spot and 30 minutes
later the train finally did come through.

Great Basin is nothing like Vegas and the desert
climate. We climbed up to 10,000 ft and hiked to a
bristlecone pine forest through the snow. 110 degress
one day, and snow the next... a little bit shocking to
the system. Mike still didn't have any shoes and had
to hike through the snow in sandals. Bristlecone Pine
Trees are the longest living know plants, some living
for 5,000 years. The park is known for it's
bristlecone groves and we saw some nicley mangled
looking trees. We managed to come back down the
mountain just in time for a cave tour, Lehman Caves.
Not quite as spectacular as Carlesbad, but the caverns
are know for their shield formations.

Our last day was spent on the long haul driving back
to Breckenridge. We stopped in Moab again to drop what
we borrowed from Derek and Cindy. Didn't eat the 50
wings each at the brewery, but got down a respectable
20-25. We stopped in Arches to do the Delicate Arch
hike. It's quite nice when no on is around. On our way
out of the park, a dust storm hit and we had to drive
through sand and pebbles being pelted against my car.
Tumbleweeds were flying past and I was glad we were in
the car instead of being caught outside.

Again, no trouble from police, no speeding tickets...
that is until I get back to Breckenridge. There is a
part of Highway 9 we call 'the gauntlet'. Police stake
out this area trying to nab drunk drivers. They will
pull you over for any reason in order to assess your
sobriety. I had a short in my headlights so that
everytime I hit a pothole, my right light goes on or
off. Well, it was off when I passed Officer Dunworth.
I held my tounge, and got off with a warning. I feel
safer already.

So, we're both back in Breckenridge for a while. We
wanted to ski when we got back in June, but the last
ski resort had just closed. Plenty to do around here,
just now we don't have to sleep outside all the time.

Stats:

6500 miles roundtrip

482 dollars in gas, roughly 30mpg

45 days on the road

Places visited:

Cochise national forest
Saguaro national park
Mt Lemmon national forest
Coronado national forest
Organ Pipe cactus national monument
Prescott national forest
Tonto national forest
Tonto national monument
Sunset Crater Volcano national monument
Meteor Crator
Grand Staircase-Escalante national monument
Grand Canyon national park
Valley of Fires state park
Lake Mead national rec area
Tuzigoot national monument
Slide Rock state park
Montezuma Castle national monument
Montezuma Well national monument
Arches national park
Canyonlands national park
Capitol Reef national park
Goblin Valley state park
Fishlake national forest
Navajo reservation
Walnut Canyon national monument
Oak Creek Canyon national forest
arcosanti hippie commune

mexico-
Parque del Barranca del Cobre
Parque Basasaechi
Cumbres de Majalca national park

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Trippin in the Southwest Part 4

2006-06-18T17:56:00.000-07:00

Back into the USofA

So across the Mexico / US border and we've finally
made it back to the land of accurate road signs and
fattening - sized portions of food. YEah! We miss
the Mexican food already.

First stop - Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument - a
20 minute drive from the border. There's a loop dirt
road - closed. Okay then, we'll try the visitor
center. The nice ranger ladies advise us that the
eastern portion of the park is well open but that loop
road near the border is not - due to the current
"situation" w/ everything that is going on w/ illegals
in the US. President Bush - 1 / Mexicans - 0./
American tourists - negative 1. Even the paved roads
we hit up in the park had border patrol on them. We
head north after a nice hike and trip thru the park
and head to Why, Arizona. WHY? a simple name for a
town. But bound to get some jokes. Well there's the
Why Not Gift Shop - hahaha so clever! East of Why we
head back towards Tuscon, stopping for some $3+ a
gallon gas on the way of course. At the gas station
were 2 border patrol SUV's and a huge greyhound type
bus - but instead of Greyhound on the side it reads
"Department of Homeland Security". I was talking to
my friend Jon on the phone at the time and was telling
him about all this and he said we should go up to the
bus and ask for a T-shirt! We definitely should've.
$3.20 a gallon? That's the cost of a gallon of gas
these days!? No son - that's the cost....of freedom!
Oh - i never thought of it that way before. $3.20 a
gallon - that IS the cost of freedom!

On the way to Tuscon we came across a search
helicopter hovering over us and the highway, making
circles wherever it spotted illegals. We saw a border
patrol van w/ 4 illegals sitting on the side of the
road and then one dude running about 10 miles up, just
jogging, he knew he was caught. The helicopter made
its circles and took off - then a humvee zooms past us
and catches up to the guy. Ever see the movie - "A
Day w/out a Mexican" where they act like Mexicans
don't exist ?? It's pretty good - and pretty much
documents the fact that half of our country would not
operate. Very true.

Back in Tuscon, now hanging w/ Eric, his girl Evin,
and our old friend Nate. Go to
http://www.denenmusic.com to check out his stuff - a
good friend and saver of lives in lightning storms, he
was playing in Tuscon that night on his southwest
roadtrip of his own. We went to the Nimbus brewing
co. to hear him play and sample some delicious micro
brew.

We said our goodbyes, bombed it back to Phoenix,
snagged the laptop and headed north thru Prescott and
actually drove thru the dark for a change just to make
it up north to Supai so that we could head out early.

Havasu Canyon
----------------------------------------

Why head out early?? Because we had the greatest hike
/ camp / outdoory thing you can ever do in your life
ahead of us for the 4 next days. We had heard the
stories, seen a photo or two in passing - but nothing,
i mean nothing will prepare you for the beauty you can
find just a few short hours drive from Phoenix,
Flagstaff or Vegas. We're talking about Havasu Falls
and the Havasupai Reservation. We had been saving
this for an end of trip thing and it worked out
insanely well.

So if you come out here - rent a car, fly into one of
your destination cities i listed above, and pack up
some camping gear. Drive to Supai on a 68 mile road
towards the Grand Canyon and park at the parking lot.
You better get there early because you have a 10 mile
hike ahead of you - and out in these parts w/ the
heat, you don't want to start any later than 8am. So
we started at 9am. We hike down into a western
section of the Grand Canyon. Beautiful as any section
of this enourmous slice in the Earth's crust. Hike
past all the tourists clambering their way back up
from a long memorial day weekend. The parking lot was
packed to the brim. Luckily we were hiking down that
Monday of the Memorial Day holiday - the day all the
others were coming out. It's dusty, hot, you got
horses going by carrying gear, coolers, you name it.
Helicopters roar overhead, making back and forth runs
from the parking lot to the reservation 10 miles away.
Some people hike out w/ packs, some put them on the
mules. It's $75 per mule for 4 packs. I think the
helicopter transport is like $150 per person. What
would Abbey do? Say screw all of that and hike down.
This is the outdoors, not Disneyland. It sucks that
there are so many people out and that we have all this
going on around us, but once camp is set up it more
than makes up for the sideshow. As you hike down thru
this canyon it gets narrower and narrower until it
fans out into the reservation. That's where cataract
creek comes flowing in and you have this oasis in the
desert.

All the places we've been we've never seen such clear
enticing water in our lives. The reservation and
anything that borders the creek on the 2 mile jaunt to
the campground is dotted in greens of cottonwood trees
that create the utmost tranquility. We press on
through the sand and heat - pay our money at the
campground reservation area and hike down to the
campground. There are 4 main waterfalls in the
canyon, all w/in 4 or 5 miles of each other. The
first is Navajo, then Havasu, then Mooney, then
Beaver. We see the top of Navajo thru the trees
before the campground but press on to get the 30 lbs.
or so off our backs. We then come up to a rockface
that all of a sudden drops a few hundred feet - over
the side, roaring into an aqua blue pool below which
is Havasu falls. The sheer beauty of it makes you
want to weep - and we're just completely blown away.
We've been alot of places all over this world and seen
more than your fare share of intense and magnificent
waterfalls(Hanging lake in colorado and Erawan Falls
in Thailand have similar aqua blue waters from the
travertine in the water that creates the pools and
damns) - but this place has all of them beat -
combined - hands down.

Giddy w/ what we know in our heads will be our
playground for the next 4 days we find a campspot
quick. We want it to be a good, tranquil spot, but
we're tired from the hike. We find a decent one near
the crystal clear creek and set up our stuff and head
back to the falls for a swim. The water is cold - but
we don't care one bit. It's heaven on earth at the
bottom of this towering falls. The surrounding
cottonwoods and grassy areas and beaches make for the
most enchanting oasis on earth. We can die happy.

Ben's tired and goes back to camp. I press on towards
Navajo falls, cutting through the trees and find a
secluded oasis that most people pass up for the bigger
falls. The swimming here is just as good, and the
waterfall is still a little slice of visual heaven.

We make an easy day of relaxing near the creek and 2
first falls, knowing full well the next 2 days we will
see Mooney and Beaver and explore further downcanyon.

The next day we do just that. But first we are woken
up by church groups and obnoxious pre-teen boys and
girls making a commotion near our peaceful site.
There should be a code of ethics when you're in the
woods. Don't disturb your neighbors after the
sunlight is extinguished - and give them adequate rest
- lets say 9am before getting obnoxiously loud. We
prefer to gently awake by the sounds of rushing creek
water entering our dreams and maybe the smell of a
neighbors breakfast grumbling our bellies so that our
eyes open slowly.

A man meets us at our tent when we get up. Tells us
that a group of 67 - yes, 67 people are all moving
w/in 20 yards of us and he hopes we dont mind. We
grin and make small talk "oh no, that's fine, sure,
yeah, we don't mind" then on the side "Ben - we're
moving, pack the tent up" Within 10 minutes we have
our tent and bags packed again and walking downcanyon
- "the site is yours now mister" "are you sure" yeah
- it'll give your group more "space".

We walk another mile past everyone's campsite until we
reach the boundary, then find seclusion near the
river, noone will come down this far - and we throw
the tent there. no groups, no people - our site. And
what's this??? 1 minute walk from our site and we
come to another rock face w/ another sheer drop.
We've found the top of Mooney Falls!

After this whole debacle with the moving sites we
started out later than we wanted to. Our intention -
walking the 14 miles roundtrip down the canyon, taking
in Mooney and Beaver falls as well as walking all the
way to the colorado river and the bottom of the Grand
Canyon.

One of the indian kids about our age comes up to our
tent to check our camping permit. We ask him about
the hike down - he tells us he usually starts at 5am
as it takes all day. Oops! It's now 10:30 or so.
Late start - but we'll see how it goes. We head down,
take some photos of the top of beautiful Mooney falls,
almost identical to Havasu falls but as if the colors
are backwards. The canyon is different and the water
is more greenish. It's like the same but opposite.
Anyways - the trail down - i can't even describe, just
go there and do it. You will see. Basically it
involves crawling through dynamite blasted tunnels and
ladders wet from waterfall mist and clambering down
soaken muddy rock. It's the craziest thing. But once
you reach the bottom, it's once again heaven. Mooney
became our falls - Havasu was for the rest of the
campground, this one was ours. So great, and less
crowded. Downcanyon we go - trudging through the
water is the best thing on earth - its crystal clear
and there is beauty and small waterfalls around every
corner. The travertine terraces that make every
corner look like a chinese garden of picturesque
tranquility. Small fish are everywhere and the sand
down there is salmon colored. A feast for the eyes.

We soon find a small grotto and are pretty hot at
midday at this point. Ben says, "I think I gotta get
in for a swim." I'm with him. But on - what is
this??!? Hell yes! It's a rope swing!!! I try it
out first. Tarzan in the desert - deep splash and
easy swim out. Can this get any better?? Ben grabs
it, does a huge looping swing and a backflip off of
the end. Screw the hike down, let's stay here!
Forever! We try - but the hike is still in the back
of our minds. Okay, later i say - we have ALL day
tomorrow for a lazy day, none of this 14mile hiking -
we're coming back! agreed.

So we hike on down and across the creek again. By the
time we would eventually reach the colorado river in
the bottom of the grand canyon we would cross the
creek 11 times. The sound of lizards scurrying away
from the path through dried leaves sounds oddly
similar to a rattle snake. We were bombing it through
the high brush and couldn't see our feet, but we had
to make up time. We hike through wild fields of
grapevines (not yet in season) and across the creek
again and again, we come across some more swimming
holes with rock jumping and more enticing moments we
hit up to get out of the heat. At one point we have
to climb up a rock face using a rope because it's so
steep. (on the way back, we instead decided to use
the rope to lower our pack and then cliff-jumped into
a swimming hole below in order to return safely). We
pass by Beaver falls - a gorgeous spot but we need to
make time down to the river and its far down below, so
we skip it and press on. Eventually we reach the
confluence w/ the Colorado River and reach the bottom
of the Grand Canyon one last time - coming around full
circle in this trip and taking a dip in that fresh
water we did in the easternmost section of this great
chasm.

We hike it back and make it back out of the canyon and
up the ladders and waterfall tunnels and back to
campsite before dinner. Hiking this much sure makes
dinner all that much better after a long day.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our last full day down in the canyon was probably the
most enjoyable of the whole trip. It wasn't strange or
adrenaline filled, just relaxing and tranquil. We
climbed down the jungle gym of tunnels and ladders of
Mooney Falls again and hiked to a side canyon we
called Fern Canyon. It was a short hike because it
choked off to an 80 ft climb up slickrock. There were
ferns and it reminded us of Ireland, minus the
leprechauns.

Then and easy stroll back down through the pools to
the rope swing. When we had last left the rope swing,
it was an old rope with knots and a stick tied to the
bottom, but no someone had left springy rope with a
rubber loop to hold onto. I must have jumped 12-15
times, while ben was content to be the cameraman and
document my swings. After wondering back up through
the canyon, we noticed some steel ladders leading up
to what we assume were cliff dwellings. We could never
actually find the bottom of the ladders, and I don't
think the Indians wanted the tourists climbing up
there.

The Mesquite Trees were in blossom and they smell just
like honeysuckles. Coming from a hot desert to a
tropical jungle is such a mindtrip, but we sucked in
every scent, sight, and sound there was in that place.
I wandered off back up to Havasu falls while ben made
dinner and suddenly people started showing up. One of
the scout leaders had about 100 kids in a little
amphatheater telling stories, and there were plenty
more running around the upper camp. I quickly returned
to end a relaxing day with a meal, a game of Rummi,
and finish a few chapters in my book.

We hike it out, after 9am again, cuz it's too easy to
sleep in and stay forever. It's so hot at noon by the
time we finally get back to the car that we are happy
to pay $2 for a soda from the rasta indian living in
the RV in the parking lot.

We continue on to Vegas....

______________________________________________
LLama Gratis a cualquier PC del Mundo.
Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo por minuto.
http://es.voice.yahoo.com

Trippin in the Southwest Part 3

2006-06-13T15:23:00.000-07:00

These next 2 emails, just so you know, Mike is
writing. It's been a long trip and its alot to sum
up, so he is going to take over for parts 3 and 4 - I
will summarize the end of the trip w/ the 5th part...
it may take a while to read as well, there's a lot to
go over...

MEXICO

So we pick up our insurance and get to the border -
park the car, go inside, and deal with visa details -
and from here, basically, is where our use of the
english language goes out the friggin window! From now
until the day before we return back to the US we only
find 1 or 2 people in all of Mexico that we run across
that speak any resemblance to English. Now I took 4
years of Spanish in high school - made AP spanish in
fact - Ben took French - but between the 2 of us we
had no idea what the hell was happening from the
start. The visa agent asks us, "how long you here
for?" we say "2 weeks" he says "ok 6 months" we say
"OK". Then its 50 cents, then $21, then $51 - whatever
it is, we pay it and get the hell out of there. Border
towns are scary, we ask at a gas station "tienes
mapas??" and get "no adfkladlfjdfkjldasfkjl" something
i cannot process - so basically there are no good maps
of Mexico. We have an old US atlas that has Mexico but
alot is missing, so we just go on that - and blind
faith. Even the main highways, there are no signs, so
you just feel it out. "That way is east - go that way"
then all of a sudden, or 30 minutes later "Look,
Mexico highway 2 - we're going the right way !!!" and
on we go....

So rolling hills and desert just like AZ we head
southeast towards Chihuahua city, the capital, w/
intentions on hitting up a national park along the
way. We drive and drive and drive, 1 inch on our map
scale for Mexico is like 75 miles, whereas all the
states we've been in 1 inch = 30 or 40 miles at most.
Long days of driving, then all of a sudden I ask -
"Que es este agua Benjamin???" Ben replies, "No se'
senor". What is the water that i see hitting our
windshield and hood, washing off all that Utah /
Arizona backroad dirt we had successfully piled up
inches thick on all sides of the car creating a nice
two-tone shade??? Que Milagro!!! este es la lluvia!!!
the rain - i think that is the word - that water that
falls out of the sky that i've heard so much about but
havent seen since we both moved from Denver to
Breckenridge. Since Dec. 2005 we hadn't spent a day w/
rain yet - all of a sudden the Subaru was engulfed in
rain for a whole 5-10 minutes as we sped east into the
dark clouds and lightning.

yes. Lightning! Mike's favorite kind of weather! not
really - the scar on my left arm starts twitching like
it senses the kinetic energy. There are storms on all
sides of us but so far off it presents no significant
danger. So we see the crazy catholic statue off the
side of the road and up a hill (Mexico is dotted with
these things all over) and head up for a photo. At the
top we take in the looming weather in the distance,
set up the tripod, and get some shots of storms clouds
rubbing up against each other and giving off that
all-powerful force. Purple and bright, sometimes
orange. Scary stuff.

We finally find a spot before dark to pull of and camp
- just as the clouds let up enough to show up a
magnificent orage glow of sunset straight out of the
florescent part of the crayola crayon set. Morning
comes, we head south to Cumbres de Majalca National
Park - we still dont know what that means, for some
reason we never got it translated. Probably because it
wasnt much of a national park - it was as if they set
it up to be one, set up a pay booth at the beginning,
set up signs and picnic spots, then noone came
probably because noone in Mexico cares about that crap
or has better things to deal w/ - like the garbage.

Let me just go on a rant to say that i've been in 3rd
world countries and never seen so much garbage
everywhere in my life than i've seen in Mexico.
Period. End of rant.

So we pull up to find a pay booth, we get out our
cash, and find a broken window and noone there. We
drive past. Up and into this canyon and out the other
side of the park where theres a crazy village w/ some
weird rocks. Then, we drive back and thru, stop to
picnic w/ not a soul in sight. And drive out. We drive
to ciudad Chihahuaha and find it it to be a sprawling
mess that we cant make much out of. We find a pretty
church, stroll around the block to what Ben thought
was another church, but find out it is a huge prison -
and get the mess out of there. But not w/out some
cheap Tecate.

Tecate, Sol, Modelo, Bohemia, all good beer, cheap
mexican beer. But good beer. But dont try to buy the
big 22oz bottles, because little 13 year old girls
running businesses cant communicate w/ you enough to
let you know why you cannot buy it. We just owned up
to the fact that we could only buy cans. Later we find
that its the whole deposit bottle thing and she can
tell we dont live in her town, are just passing thru,
and will not return the bottles, therefore we will
have to pay more for deposit on the bottle and lose
out on the money. I guess you're expected to buy cans
and just pitch the empty can on the side of the road
like the rest of the garbage. Only kidding, we dispose
of everything properly. Anyways, we find a campspot
after some great mexican food and sleep at about 7000
ft. above sea level 30 min outside of the town of
Creel, which will be our departure point for the main
reason we came to Mexico.

My goal of this trip was to see the parts of Utah I
missed before on roadtrip 2004 and hit up the area
south of the Grand Canyon in AZ because before I had
only seen the north rim. Ben added Mexico to this trip
due to his passion for being a vagabond in 3rd world
countries - a mysterious passion but not all too alien
to the both of us. I wised up to this addition to the
trip when we researched pictures of a small speck on
our incomplete atlas map called Barranca del Cobre or
"Copper Canyon". Not too many Mexicans make websites,
the ones that are out there on Copper were made by
American tourists and most weren't updated. But the
photos we could find blew us away. A canyon 4 times
the size of the Grand Canyon in scale and depth, in
the middle of nowhere in Mexico.

Creel is the hub. We roll up - see a sign outside a
tour place that says Lonely Planet recommended their
tour office and pop inside to find the only english
speaking person we'll find in Mexico our entire trip.
Yolanda.

Yolanda is quite the character. We roll into her shop
to find out she and her husband run it and she's
originally from Oklahoma, but pretty much a gypsy
since then. She's got books, maps and info on the
canyon and alot of advice on where to go but is very
strange about everything. We ask about hikes. She
recommends either the 6 day extremely strenuous hike
or the 3 day easy hike (the only 2 she's been on in
the canyon we presume). You have to take these hikes
w/ a native indian guide (not a Sioux, not a Navajo)
but a Tarahumara indian native to the canyon. He wont
speak any english but he will guide you she says. We
rule out the 6 day on the fact that we're feeling lazy
and I don't have good hiking shoes anymore and plus we
just dont have the time. The 3 day is to some hot
springs - and my vision of me, Ben, and some naked
native indian sitting in a hot spring in the searing
heat was not what i had in mind. So we got some info
and left - or tried....

All of a sudden this old lady walks in, Ronnie. The
walls of the shop are lined w/ little knickknacks and
wooden carvings and such, which Yolonda seems to be
selling for her. Ronnie starts ranting to Yolanda,
then asks about rent $$ - then starts to get
beligerent when Yolanda tries to blow her off. The
conversation escalates until Yolanda is saying
"alright Ronnie, do I need to call the cops again?"
They keep going back and forth and back and forth, Ben
and i sitting there throwing glances over and wanting
to get out before a catfight begins when finally
Yolanda gets her to leave against her will, and slams
the door. With a tear in her eye she watches her out
the window and tells us how she's the crazy lady of
the town and yada yada yada, all of a sudden Ronnie is
outside the window and Yolanda is freaking about not
locking the back door. She then tells me to get down
as Ben is peering out the window laughing and walks up
behind me and grabs my t-shirt and pulls me to the
ground - completely serious that she didnt want crazy
lady to see anyone was still in the shop. Ben complies
and joins Yolanda and I in cowering underneath a
bookshelf. So, we are now being holed up in this
lady's shop until crazy Ronnie gets a ride into town
w/ some Mexican dude. We get our info and get out of
there.

So basically we decide to skip the hikes and just
venture out on our own, because there are roads, paved
and unpaved into the hearts of the 4 canyons. So a
full day of driving yielded us a drive from 7500 feet
all the way on dirt roads to 1000 ft and brought us to
the bottom of Batopilas canyon and into the heart of
an awe inspiring area where we had basically driven a
6000 ft. decent into the bottom (think having a road
that will drive you to the bottom of the Grand Canyon,
only more dramatic) and then through to these towns of
a few hundred people. Ben and I end up in the town of
Batopilas w/ an hour to kill before dark and
sweltering heat and nothing to drink but our water
which has been heated from the sun of the long day's
drive. We want some beer, and some food. We dont care
where. We pull through, much of the amazement to
everyone in town that's probably never seen a subaru
before, only trucks...finally decide on a place that
says "se vende comida" and stop in. Knock on the door
and a little girl in her pajamas stares back at us.
Then Ben steps on the balcony and says, "Si' comida?
donde es madre o padre?" Finally mom, in her pajamas
as well, comes in and tells us to sit at her kitchen
table. Her dark kitchen is a strange experience to be
in but comforting nonetheless. We plead that we just
wanted food and beer and she opens the refrigerator to
reveal two 12-packs of Tecate and rips us 2 off of the
plastic rings. Sweet bliss! 4 seconds later we ask
"Senora?? Uno mas ?" Si, of course, we can drink as
much as we please, it's a restaurant! we call it
"grandma's house" because that's what it felt like. We
didn't know what we'd be eating, but we were happy,
and even more when we received one of the best mexican
dishes i've eaten to this day, polished off w/ a few
more Tecates, paid her $10 US a piece and went on to
camp by the river in the bottom of this 7500 ft.
canyon. Our first choice was thwarted by the stench of
a dead cow rotting in the bushes and a trucker and his
family trying to bathe in the river. We moved on and
once again were woken up by braying donkeys.

Out of Batopilas Canyon and onto Sinforosa Canyon
where after a long drive we roll up to...nothing, a
small village, w/ a ranch. We're confused until a man
walks over, we ask him where this canyon (the size of
the grand canyon) is and he points to the gate, says
its 15 pesos (just under $1.50) per person to get in -
no problems there and we drive thru the gate and thru
this man's backyard and onto a huge friggin gash in
the earth. Beautiful lookout, lots of little lookout
towers and Mexican families pic-nic-ing. I spot a
bridge down below, a hiking bridge, we drive down a
huge embankment w/ many switchbacks to get to it to
find a pretty tranquil spot w/ a sweet suspension
bridge (how much do you trust Mexican reinforced
steel??). Well we did - but getting the car back up
and out of the canyon, quite the ordeal in 1st gear,
Ben handbraking and revving up to 5-6000rpm and
releasing the brake to inch forward several several
times- but we made it. Back towards Creel but not
before seeing a sign for hot springs - or we assume.
So 6 miles on backroads turns out to be an hours worth
of driving, and right before we're about to give up,
around the bend in the mountain appears a village. A
man appears at the gate where we have to park our car
and tells us its another $2 or so per person for the
hot springs - we decide to check it out and find 4
full size swimming polls of different levels of
elevation and temperature all in this picturesque
valley. A nice dip to end a long day. Then camping
amongst the donkeys, cows and whatever else what
outside of our tent that night munching on loud crisp
pine-coney type things.

On to Creel and then south the other way, down to
Divisadero, to the main tourist trainstop. See, when
most tourists come to Copper Canyon they fly in to Los
Mochis and get the train through this area to see a
view or 2 of the canyon, take some photos and move on,
back to Los Mochis or on to Chihahuaha. So we arrive
at what is typically known as "Copper Canyon" but is
actually the convergence of 3 of the main
canyons(Oteros, Urique, and Cobre) and the view was
quite simply amazing. There is a train stop there, a
very nice hotel, lots of people trying to get you to
buy their tourist crap and ladies screaming at us to
buy their mexican pita instead of the other lady's. We
get a pita from the only lady who didnt scream and
walk into the lodge. No one is there, but its
gorgeous. It has a bar that has huge windows that look
out into the canyon with hummingbird feeders all
around the windows. A few $2 beers later we decide to
go out to the car and pack up our stuff. Yolanda back
in Creel said the best part to ride the train was from
Divisadero (where we presently are and drove to) down
to Temoris. So we take her (crazy) advice and make
this plan. But Ben and i being so frugal while
travelling decide not to pay for a place to stay (we
havent yet up until this point) and we're going to
take daypacks w/ our stuff to sleep (mats, bags, etc.)
and some water (and tequila) and just show up in town
and probably hang out and sleep outside of town by the
river.

So we pack our stuff up, while the town children watch
and giggle and ooh and aah in amazement when we do
simple things like open our cooler to get food out or
turn a light on in the car, etc. They particularly
liked the indiana jones whip Ben bought in Juarez.
I'm thinking - this car is getting stolen or broken in
to for sure. Those little kids are gonna tell their
big brothers all the cool stuff they saw in our car...
The train takes off and we're headed south. There is
apparently no food or drink allowed on the train but
there's a burrito guy roaming the isles selling his
homemade food along w/ tomales. Ben busts out his
bottle of Agave tequila and we swig the thing clean -
all the while the train is loaded w/ armed guards w/
AK-47s just so noone hijacks the train, i guess. I
think their real job was to harrass any cute single
women they found instead of protect the train. Finally
after many a stop we end up in Temoris where almost
everyone gets off, so we do as well. When we get off
we say to ourselves "where the hell are we??" and
watch everyone reboard onto pickups or buses and
drives off, leaving the 2 of us, 2 gringos, in this
bumf*ck little trainstop town in the middle of
nowhere.....

... let the madness set in.

We have a good laugh about it to ourselves, figuring
we're up for a long night. I secretly curse Yolanda
and her advice under my breath and we venture off thru
town, 2 little dirt streets and walk into chickens,
dogs, trash, and some natives. Then we see a little
shop, ask about food, and the guy says "cerveza??"
and points. We turn around and painted on this white
building is our favorite word - Tecate. We run up like
school children on the last day of school - some woman
sees us and walks up, opens a fridge bin and reveals
100s of Tecate beers - at $1 a piece!! we'll take 5 we
say - and how long are you open?? another 2 hours???
great! we'll be back! and we stroll off to the river
w/ our beer and smiles. WE sit at the river, take off
our packs, crack open some beer and enjoy the scenery,
away from town, but only about 200 yards away. Now
what do we do??? drink here until night comes, find a
spot away from the rocks and throw down our mats?? not
unlike any other night on this trip... we drink and
talk and keep making jaunts back into the village to
get more beer and then that weird wet clear liquid
from the sky comes back and finds us for the second
time in 6 months.... and now its raining, lightly,
heavier, then cats and dogs! uh, what do we do. well?
have a laugh, and then grab the tarp Ben so cleverly
brought and try to string it up(the rain is blowing
mostly horizontally rather than downwards) - this part
we have on video because our tarp job was oh so
humorous, but it managed to keep us somewhat dry and
keep us in the mood to finish the beer. The rain
eventually passed over as always and we headed into
town for more beer. By this time we're starving and
we stop back in the shop. Comida?? Si!?! We sit down
for another meal that we have no idea what we're
getting because the shopkeeper woman and her son have
taken to us and decided to cook us a meal. The
highlight of this meal was the little red pepper balls
you add to your tortilla wrap. The lady says only use
one, so Ben throws 7 on there, just for a laugh.
They're not hot unless you directly bit one and the
contents will explode into a fireball in your mouth. I
walk out to the river to take photos of the sunset
over the canyon walls - sunsets are always best after
a good rain, they only get really colorful if theres a
lot of moisture in the air. Now the lady and her son
(Rosa and Mario) and this crazy guy (Tito) who pointed
us to the beer are all around chatting with us. The
son is our age and thinks we're pretty funny - then
pulls his car around and shows off his suburban w/ his
modified extra bass sound system and blasts crazy
mexican music so loud you could have heard it back in
the states. So i eat, drunkenly, another great home
cooked meal while absurdly loud Mexican music blasts 3
feet from my ears. Meanwhile the crazy guy sitting at
the table next to us, Tito, has taken to us and we're
trying to talk to him about what's up w/ this town.
When we got in, i failed to mention, we heard gunshots
going off, somewhere in town, like there was a firing
range. Tito asked if we wanted to shoot guns - i told
him, what do we shoot?? All of this got jumbled in the
Eng / Span. translation and i kept making them laugh
by telling them that i'd like to shoot a cat (i'm a
dog lover). So i would say, "Me gusta perros, pero no
me gusta gatos" (i like dogs, but not cats) and then
told him i wanted to shoot a cat (not really). That
would get a good laugh. Then i would make a motion
like a machine gun and make the gunfire noise. ak- ak
- ak. Gato!

Great meal, increasing drunkeness, and increasingly
drunken Tito all ended up in absurdity and we were all
wasted having a laugh at the fact that we call couldnt
understand each other. We just wanted to pay the lady
for the meal but she kept saying not to worry about it
until tomorrow. Then Tito offered for us to sleep at
his place. Ben sets up our beds on a concrete floor,
not noticing until morning that there are prison bars
on the windows. But Ben drags me to Tito's and we
couldnt care less, we need sleep, badly, its been fun,
but we need sleep. So we sleep.... for two hours -
tops...

At precisely 4am by my watch - i'm woken up by the
sound of dogs barking all over the village. Barking
loudly and crazily, all at the sound of each other,
causing such a disturbance that i can't sleep. Then
when all the dogs finally shut up - a final dog comes
out near our place and starts up - now he is just
barking, by himself, out into the night. The barking
is so loud that its echoing off the canyon walls in
the distance and returning and he thinks there is
another dog out there - so this dog barks and barks
and barks for a straight hour, right outside our place
until i just cant take it. Now i've turned my desire
to shoot cats onto this lone dog and in my hungover
sleep can only think about a muzzle and throwing this
dog in the river so that i can get some sleep.
Finally, Tito wakes up, stumbles around his place -
at this point i just want him to shoot the dog, but he
doesnt. Instead - he's up for the morning - and
decides to blast mexican pop songs as loud as his
stereo (the only thing he owns in his place) will go.
So now, the loudest mexican pop music i've ever heard
is penetrating through every wall and all i can say is
"you've got to be _____ing kidding me". Then Tito
stumbles in, flips on the light and has 2 Tecates in
his hand and says something about "bailando" which
means "dancing" and i'm like Wha!? NO! Ben!!! get your
ass up and dance so this crazy fool will leave us
alone!!! Get up now! Dance so he will turn off this
music! So Ben gets up and drinks and dances with Tito
and Juan (his other drinking buddy). Little old ladies
cover their ears as they walk past on the street, but
nothing seems out of the ordinary for them. Mario
doesn't want to be outdone, so he pulls out his
suburban and rocks the entire house. Had to be well
over 100 decibles. The bass is so loud, i thought it
would shatter the windows. Tito wants to drive us
around in his truck to see the old town, but Ben
manages to avoid being driven off a steep cliff by
going back into our room and trying to sleep. With
more beer in his hand, Tito tries to wake us up again,
but he finally gives up and drives off to work or
whatever it is that he does. I nearly make a shoe
trade with a Caballero who had made flip flops out of
old tires and some rope, but decides to keep mine
instead. Ben says he would have made the trade except
they didn't fit his feet. What brand of sandal is
that? Nike, Chaco, Birkenstock... nah, Goodyear.

We decide to go for a hike to the mountain pass to get
over our hangovers and kill time before the train
comes. So we go for it, hit the pass, and hike up into
.... Temoris Viejo or old Temoris - which is
apparently the big lively town Yolanda talked about
and turned out to be quite nice. She failed to mention
the town over the mtn. pass...and the other town - but
we found it, in enough time to get back by train, find
our car in one piece, and find out way out of the
canyon area and back towards the highway.

The next morning we headed for one last national park,
Basaseachi. We hoped to find a Cascada here, a
beautiful waterfall we saw in pictures....but
apparently there's no water until after august when
all the storms come through for monsoon season which
is high season for this place. It was a beautiful
canyon but no waterfall. So - west, through many a
mountain and on towards the coast.

San Carlos, Mexico - touristy, but peaceful. We found
some great scenery, some gnarly rock formations
towering over the coastal waters, and a tranquil
beach. We set up our stuff and then Ben goes for
beer. He comes back and tells me he's found a better
beach - i tell him thats great news, because i walked
along the beach and was stunned to find some dead fish
skeletons and a huge beached seal that had been
decaying in the heat. Yum.

So beer and onto the new beach - yes! paradise found!
White sands, free camping on the beach, clean water,
and town not far away for fresh supply of cerveza.
We've got everything we need. So much so that we
decided to stay for not 1, not 2, but 3 nights and 4
days before leaving. While here our daily life
consisted of going into town twice a day to replenish
beer and ice supplies (best thing about Mexico, free
ice w/ beer purchase), consume way too much, get way
too much sun, cook out at the car, play our music,
play some cards, throw the frisbee, chat w/ our
mexican neighbors Dachy and Roche(most of the words we
didn't know we used the dust caked rear window as a
blackboard to write on) and cause havoc only our own
health. And so it was, day after day we loved our
spot and would go back any day. When the time came to
leave we did not want to but continued north past
Hermosillo, and on to Rocky Point a.k.a. Puerto
Penasco a.k.a. gringo tourist hell- we were not
amused. We basically stopped in town, decided there
were too many americans and too many people that spoke
english for a change - so we slipped outside of town
and hung out w/ the locals and watched some mexican
kids play soccer just outside a travelling circus. A
nights sleep and out thru the border in the morning -
only to get glanced at and have the border patrolman
say - you guys are good, go ahead. Way too easy. Our
running joke was that whenever we got stopped at a
military checkpoint, we were asked what was in the
car, but never what was in the carry case on top of
the car. Instead of camping gear, we imagined a little
mexican hiding up there. Sure enough, we could have
smuggled one of them in.

So, no need for the mexican car insurance, no flat
tires on the numerous dirt roads, no montezuma's
revenge from the water, and no unfriendly people. For
all the trouble we're going through to keep mexicans
out of our country, I reckon more americans should see
what we saw. We'd go back anytime, and I hope there
isn't a giant wall blocking our way...

Next up: Havasupai Reservation...

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Trippin in the Southwest Part 2

2006-06-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

So, last we left you with this little adventure we
were just coming into Phoenix, AZ to drop this
electronic contraption of a laptop off at Ben's
cousins' house. Mike, being a little worried about
safety of belongings and of personal health in Mexico
wanted at least our photographs to survive this trip -
as a last reminder of a happy time while we rot away
in a Mexican prison - or whatever might come in the
near future.

So on the way to Mexico we are hot and sweaty - as you
do in the southwest in mid May, and desperate to jump
in a body of water, any water, a puddle would do. We
look on the map - there are rivers that feed to and
fro from a big lake called Lake Pleasant. Sounds
nice! Pleasant in fact! But we're dying...the
Phoenecian sun is unbearable and anything w/in 100
miles of this sprawling capital city seems to just
bake, including us. We drive and drive and find every
body of water on our map to be bone dry. So finally
we go for this massive lake. A little tip for anyone
trying to get into state parks: they don't charge
admission fees after sunset. So Mike and I camped out
with some rednecks hooting and hollering in their
anchored boats in a little bay behind our campsite.
But that wasn't too bothersome. What was strange was
the donkeys. Yes, this state park had wild donkeys
wandering around, and they make for an interesting
alarm clock. Along with coyotes and ducks, the donkeys
woke us up at sunrise (5am).

On our way out of Phoenix, we were introduced to
Ceragem("Did you Ceragem today?" goes the slogan).
It's basically a mechanical massage bed with jade
rollers and heat. There are demo centers in strip
malls all over the country. They say they don't push
you to pay per session, just buy a bed after you see
the benefits. We were the only people there under 60,
and they play an infomercial(partially in a Korean pop
song) for 40 minutes while the rollers work your back
and front. Then, you have the option to sit on a
smaller roller, which the lady said was good for your
prostate. That's marketing speak for: stick this hot
thing up your butt. All very interesting, but I don't
think I'll be buying a bed anytime soon. Look it up
though - http://www.ceragem.com/ - there is bound to
be a free center near you. Don't be thrown off if you
feel like you're walking in on a Scientology seminar.
The heated prostate ball is well worth a free visit!

Ok, east of Phoenix is the Superstition Wilderness.
There is a National Monument there but we got there
too late, and were told about some other ruins. It was
a 20 mile trip down a pretty tough dirt road. I
couldn't make the last 1.5 miles, so we set off on our
hike. There were no trail markings, just a description
we got from the internet. So, after a lot of
scrambling and route finding, I turn back to ask mike
if he sees the ruins. He looks at me and says they're
right above you. Sure enough, they were hidden in an
overhang right above us. When I turned back around and
looked down, I saw something rather unique. I had
found a 500 year old Salado Indian pottery piece. We
examined the rest of the ruins and Mike found one as
well, along with corn cobs, metates(stone used for
grinding grains). No arrowheads, but a secluded and
little known area. Our hike back down was pretty
tough. The trail was loose scree and Mike was still in
his sandals after losing his shoe in the Escalante
River and had to go pretty slow. Mike ended up losing
his balance down many a scree slope, pitching over
rocks and cactus. I wandered ahead and found out
later that he was picking cactus needles out of his
hands and legs. He finally found a stick in an attempt
to brace himself on the descent downwards, and ended
up falling really bad even with the stick - basically
it looked like a grizzly bear and a wolverine had
their way with his legs by the time we reached Tuscon
- a bloody scabby mess. Then we head to Tucson to
visit our old college friend Eric.

Eric is an avid climber and brought us up to Mt.
Lemmon outside of Tucson to do some climbing. Mike and
I both climbed up 5.7 and 5.8 pitches. In difficulty
terms, they were pretty intermediate and we were
top-roped with eric taking the lead and cleaning. Fun,
but I know I'd have to practice a whole lot more to
get any better at equipment climbing. Tuscon nightlife
is pretty wild. We listened to a band, that was
playing out of a short school bus. There was no room
insided except for the musicians so you had to either
dance on top of the bus or out in the street.

Saguaro National Park is on both sides of the park,
but they closed the eastern section to repave the
road. We still saw some sweet succulants and desert
habitat. We somehow lucked out at the fact that
Saguaros in May near Tuscon are blooming their flowers
this time of year which happens to be the Arizona
state flower.

We quickly drove through Tombstone, walked the main
street, and got the hell outta dodge... er, well got
the hell outta tombstone. You have to pay to see the
O.K. Corral, and I've seen enough cheezy re-enactments
of the shootout.

Then off to Cochise Stronghold for our last day before
entering Mexico. The Cochise Stronghold is an area SE
of Tuscon heading towards the US / MEX border which is
flat desert all around and then thousand foot granite
and limestone towering rocks jutting out of the earth.
We found a tiny Javalina skull(like a wild boar),
named it Cochise, and it became the protector of the
car while we headed towards Mexico.

So, camped out at Chochise, we wake up and get to the
US / MEx border town of Douglas where Mexican car
insurance is needed. Just in case you didnt know -
when you drive to Mexico your US insurance that some
insurance company has charged you out the ass for
(especially if you speed) is no longer valid when
entering this third world country. Makes perfect
sense. So you are required to purchase extra insurance
for the time you spend in their country (North
America) unless you dont mind walking out and finding
that your car is sitting on bricks with everything
stolen out of 4 broken windows. On a side note -
nothing extra is required to enter our country, North
America, and to go across the border into the north -
that crazy place called Canada.

next up - Mexico !!

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Trippin' in the Southwest

2006-05-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

Ski season is over... it actually ended April 18th for
me, but Breckenridge stayed open util April 23rd.

I tried to write an email before i left on this trip,
but things got pretty crazy and i never got around to
it. Instead, here are mike's words about the end of
season:

------------------------------------------------------

WeLL - it's shoulder season here in Breck - Mud
Season, vacation time for most of us seasonal
employees. Ben's ski shop is closed - my hotel is
open, but i'm out bitches...gone to the great
southwest for 6 weeks. We leave - tomorrow.

This past week has been epic - well, more than epic.
If you can think of a better word for something that
transcends epicness of a vast scale i would like to
get some feedback because Ben and i have been
searching for the right word.

Parties, bonfires, kegs and riding at A-basin in 60
degree weather, knee or waist deep powder days,
bikinis in the snow, dressing up in ridiculous attire
more times than i ever did as a child, insanely
incredible live music ventures back to Denver,
Boulder, etc., and more random moments than you can
shake a stick at all have summed up one of the
craziest winters i never could have imagined.

Tomorrow night we should be in Moab, then alot of Utah
hiking - slot canyons and what have you - then onto
the Grand Canyon where we will attempt to reach the
bottom and see it for all its glory - then alot of
desert hiking in Arizona working our way down to
Sedona and then Tucson - then onto Mexico where we
will hope to not be ambushed and killed. Back up and
around to Havasu Falls, Vegas and loop it back home.
Very very hot weather awaits, entirely not what we're
used to. Our internal thermometers were reset this
winter - skiing in -20degree at the base / -40 degree
at the top - that was the coldest day i experienced -
made all the rest of the days at 0 - 5 degree seem
normal and 20 degrees plus was warm, damn warm,
t-shirt weather.... 90 degrees in the shade in
Arizona is going to feel like a convection oven. I
hope to come back brown.

Hopefully i am going to make it back to VA for my
nephews 4th birthday on the weekend of the 10th of
June - i hope to see some of you, if not, there are
some weddings in the near future for some friends who
fell into that trap (only kidding). If you can, meet
up w/ us in vegas near the 1st of june - if not - come
out to Breck in the summer and camp out w/ the black
bears and ben and i.

-------------------------------------------------------

Here are mine again:

So begins the crazyiness and absolute joy of freedom
again. Mike and I have decided to take a month long
trip down through utah, arizona, mexico, back to
vegas, and home again in coloroado.

We have grand plans of making a dvd or something of a
slide show for the winter season, and most likely what
will become of this spring trip. I've just bought an
800 dollar digital camera, and mike has a pretty good
camcorder, so theres plenty of electronics filling our
car. The subaru is going to make this journey instead
of mikes larger and roomier honda element. But, fair
is fair, since we took his car last time, and it is
jut the two of us this time. The subaru has faired
nicely so far.

So far, we've partied hard the last few days of the
ski season, having a keg on the 'beach' at A-basin,
throwing a house warming party at the end of the
season... go figure, and then skiing the last skiable
day at breck and then heading off for moab, ut to see
our old college friend, Derek. He lives just outside
of moab in a yurt he and his wife built. they showed
us around moab, to the moab brewery which does 15 cent
wings(mike plans to eat 50 on our way back through),
and then the long drive back to his place. They don't
like to advertise where they live, and we were on of
the first to visit the new land. It's an amazing
place, something that i would not think that two
people could manage on their own. But Derek and cindy
are more than resourceful enough. I helped fix a
generator, learned to slackrope walk(think tightrope
walking), came up with design ideas for making the
yurt more energy efficient, played outside darts and
washers, and tried some mountain biking around the
property. Everything starts out as crazy ideas, but
they manage to make things work. While I'm on the trip
and have internet access, i'm looking into how to make
juniper gin. They have loads of juniper trees around,
and it is possible to make gin out of their berries.

So, after we sobered up, we heading south through many
a slot canyon. Canyonlands and Capitol Reef(the
northern cathedral valley) where we saw the Temple of
the Moon and Sun right as the sun was setting. We hit
a state park as well, goblin valley, and saw the
hoodoos and little wild horse canyon, a 9 mile loop
through some nice wide slot canyons. We hiked the
escalante river to see Phipps Arch. There were three
river crossings and mike dropped his shoe on the last
one. The current was fast, at least faster than i
could run after the shoe. so he hike out of the trail
with just one shoe. Then to lower calf creek falls,
where we took a very very cold shower.

Then down to Hole in the Rock road in Escalante/Grand
Staircase national monument. We squeezed through
peekaboo and spooky slot canyons, which i had done
last august. we tried a different route, and tried to
get another slot canyon in that day, but it required
some technical climbing and it was damn hot. Instead,
we drove on to Broken Bow Arch, which is huge. The
cottonwood trees were just releasing their seeds, so
it looked like snow in the canyon.

The next day was a day trip down and out of Coyote
Gulch. I had attempted this one as well last august,
but couldn't find the one way down. Instead, this time
we did the trail in reverse and went down what was
called 'crack in the wall', hiked upstream, and
climbed out a 45 degree slope up. It was absolutely
beautiful, pictographs, 3 arches, gorgeous scenery
everywhere. Then the long walk back to the car in open
desert and full sun for 2 miles.

Then to Buckskin Gulch and 'the wave'. The water pools
in buckskin were so cold that after getting through
them, we just kept walking down the canyon hoping to
find a way out so we didn;t have to come back through.
no luck as it was getting late and we had to get out
of the canyon before dark. The wave requires a lottery
to get a permit, which we didn;t want to wait for, so
we just gps'ed the location and drove on down the road
and dead reckoned it. my coordinates weren't quite
right, so we found 'the wave 2'. not as good as the
overly photographed one, but the canyon down to the
touristy section was nice.

Finally into Arizona, we drove through Page, and this
was our first real experience with civilization the
whole trip. After finding that it was too late to pay
for antelope canyon, which is run by the navajo tribe,
we went to waterholes canyon. It's accessed right off
a bridge, and a car had fallen into the ravine and
gotten lodged there. So, to get into the canyon, you
now have to climb down this car. The canyon got too
steep and we headed back to antelope. The indians had
all gone home, so we poached the canyon and did our
own tour of the lower section.

the next day we paid for the upper section, but it had
lost its awe appeal since we'd seen so many already.
But we had the Grand Canyon waiting for us. We did the
touristy things in the late afternoon and talked to
the ranger about a loop hike. I had wanted to do a
similar hike that my mom and dad did back in 1975.
However, it was booked up and overcrowded. Instead we
did the Tanner-Escalanted-New Hance loop. 30 miles of
absolute splendor. We camped on beaches everynight for
3 nights right by the colorado river. Saw two
rattlesnakes. Well over 10000 feet in elevation
gain/loss during the hike. It was so tough carrying
all that weight since we had mostly been dayhiking,
but the destination each day was more than worth it.
On our hike out we me a nice couple that was from
flagstaff. they told us of a nice brewery to visit,
and the girl ended up missing her bus, so we all hung
out. We were going to stay with her at a hostel next
to the brewery, but frugality overcame us, since we
haven't paid for a place to say yet in two weeks, and
we drove out to meteor crator and camped just outside.

If you've seen the movie starman, the end scene is
shot here and i visited here with my parents when i
was a child. It just looks like another mountain, but
to think how it was made is pretty awsome.

Sedona, Az must be where all the people from Vail go
when winter is over. There are huge houses here and
you have to pay to park at all the trailheads. We saw
three arches in one day, and did 8 miles of hiking all
in 3 different hikes.

Visited Montezuma's well and castle, both very
interesting old indian cliff dwellings. Right next to
the area is Arcosanti. This hippie commune tried to
develop there, but they are still trying to get the
funding going and merge urban architecture into
nature. The word of the day is arcology = architecture
+ ecology.

Sagaruo cactus are starting to pop up all around now
that we are near Phoenix. Going to camp in what we
hope is a lake filled with water. The river feeding it
was completely dry, and it's pretty hot here already
in May. Plus, I need a shower

We're making good time, and all we have left to do is
vist my cousin in phoenix, our friend in tuscon, and
then drive on down to mexico... more updates and
hopefully pictures to come....

ben.

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Mexico ahora

2006-04-04T11:29:00.000-07:00

Alright, enough with the depressing posts. People die, so I've learned, but I'm still living life. I am going to continue that life down in Mexico for a while. Mike and I are going to leave right after the mountain here closes and head down for another mini-roadtrip.

Here's the plan so far:

1 week in Utah- visit our friend Derek in Moab, do some slot canyon hikes
1 week in Northern Arizona - Grand Canyon hike, Lake Havasupai falls
1 week in Southern Arizona - visit Eric D in Tucson, hike some more
2 weeks in Chihuahua and Sonora States Mexico - Hike Copper Canyon, drink tequila
A few nights of debauchery in Vegas, and then drive back to Breckenridge for some Summer skiing at A-Basin.

Summer jobs will hopefully be waiting for us, but if not, then it's back to Denver or off to some other exciting place.

My uncle Dave

2006-03-29T20:38:00.000-07:00

I just got news that my uncle committed suicide the other day. I thought I'd write a few things to try and figure out what all this means to me.

First off, he seemed to have everything. He and his wife were always the wealthy ones of the family. He owned a ferarri, was building a fighter plane, had a huge house in Florida, and lived a comfortable life. Growing up, my family would always go down for Christmas and visit them. I caught my first fish in his lagoon behind his house. I never saw that he was depressed or that anything was wrong.

He had just divorced his wife and was going to marry a new woman when this all happened. I find out now that he'd been taking medication all his life and this was an ongoing struggle.

I always thought that being rich and having cool stuff would make me happy, but it didn't work for Dave. I'm happy in what I do, where I'm at, but I can't see it being so bad that death looks like a good option. My ex-girlfriend had depression and I couldn't relate to her problems either. I don't know that I want to understand it any better, but I absolutely do know that I don't want anyone else I love to kill themselves.

I am sad, but I will remember my uncle in a good light, and I hope to keep living the way I like without having to carry this burden of sadness with me as well.

Ginger Monkey Murder

2006-02-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

I thought long and hard about sending this email, but
here is the short of it: A bar owner I knew in Phnom
Penn, Cambodia was murdered last week. You can read
the stories here...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_midlands/4747500.stm

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/article_1131955.php/British_bar_owner_murdered_in_Cambodia

So why did I send you all this email?

I don't want sympathy for someone you don't know, I
don't want prayer, I don't want pity, I don't want you
to think poorly of a country you haven't been to...

I want you to know that fucked up things happen all
the time... in this case, the worst that can happen to
someone. I only knew Dave in passing while I lived in
Cambodia. The Ginger Monkey was my favorite bar, and
Dave was a great guy to know because he was just like
all us other expats... trying to make a living a
little differently than our friends at home. Knowing
that that bar will never be the same saddens me, and
Dave will be missed by the people he helped make
comfortable in a strange land.

What struck me the most about hearing the news was
thinking how much I still love that place. All my fond
memories, all my hardships, and my real education are
tied to the culture and lifestyles of the places that
were unfamiliar to my upbringing. Asia, Africa,
Europe... all taught me in different ways about
culture, humility, compassion. I learned all this
while bad shit was going on around me all the time.

I know by sending this to some of you, that you will
never want to go to Cambodia now. Your reasoning for
this is your own, and I have no right to judge you for
this. But this is exactly what I don't want to happen.
I want you to go to places that are different from
your own.

I say all this because I am planning a trip to Mexico,
where I hear on the news that banditos and drug
dealers are killing tourists. Will you worry about me?
Will you think I am being reckless and irresponsible?

I know there are different levels of comparison; Iraq
isn't equal to Mexico in danger. But putting fear and
doubt into other peoples mind is slowly becoming the
worst traits people possess. It only leads to
manipulation... and I'm back to my point, which is
that I am inadvertantly subjecting you to negative
events by sending you this email.

I'll put it simply:
Bad things happen, they just do. I don't pretend that
they don't, but I also don't believe that only bad
things happen. Don't take so much stock in hearesy, go
find out for yourself. You'll be a much happier person
if you do.

Take that line of reasoning and I hope it helps in
some way. I'll be sure to have some more uplifting
stories to tell soon.

ben.

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My Skinny Pinky

2006-01-23T09:54:00.000-07:00

What happens when flesh meets stone? Stone wins...

I was working in the shop on the 17th, tuning skis,
and got a little careless. Our grinding machine is a
beast, bigger than a kitchen oven, with a grinding
stone and sandpaper belt. I have to spin dry the stone
every evening and clean down the machine. I am
supposed to do these things independantly of each
other, but i was trying to get stuff done quicker, so
i was cleaning while the machine was on.

The rag i was using got caught by the stone, and
pulled my hand into the spinning stone. My right pinky
was the first to hit and the stone pinched it against
some metal and pulled off a good chunk of the tip. The
piece was never found... ground into oblivion. The cut
was down to the bone...It's so strange to look at your
own bones, and i couldn't resist the urge to poke at
it a little bit. I was definately in shock, but i
managed to dress it and get to the hospital.

Once there, they assessed that they couldn't do
anything for me and that I needed a hand specialist. I
would have surgery at 8 the next morning. So, they
dressed it, gave me some pain pills, and said good
luck.

The next morning, I called the doctor, but he couldn't
setup the surgery until my workman's comp claim was
filed. so, i had to call the company, get transfered,
be asked to write stuff down, have my cell phone die,
and pretty much any other Catch-22 you can think of.
So, 24 hours later, cursing the insurance companies, I
finally got to surgery.

The doctor is known as one of the best hand surgeons
in the world. Vail gets lots of sports injuries, and
lots of famous atheletes have used this guy. He
couldn't look at the injury until i was under
anethesia, so he laid out my 3 options:
1. Amputation... why start with the worst?
2. Skin graft... from my ass or my forearm
3. Web the fingers together to grow back, then cut
apart.

When I woke up, they had done #2 from my forearm.

So, I didn't miss a day of work, but now i can't do
any heavy lifting. What's worse is I can't drink.
What's worst of all is I can't ski. Sure enough, we
got two great powder days and I had to look out from
my couch at the slopes while I recovered.

So, overall, I'm doing fine, and feeling pretty lucky.
I've heard stories of people losing fingers, and a guy
lost two fingers from the same type of accident this
week. As great as it is out here, people get injured
all the time, and I guess this is just my time, but
hopefully the last time.

later.

______________________________________________
LLama Gratis a cualquier PC del Mundo.
Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo por minuto.
http://es.voice.yahoo.com

My arctic winter in Colorado

2005-12-09T16:31:00.000-07:00

After 2 months in Dever working for a temp agency, I'm
now where I belong... In the mountains! I've moved to
Breckenridge, Co to work as an assistant manager at a
ski rental shop. Life truly is better up here. Trying
to drive back and forth from denver would not have
been easy and I wouldn't have gotten to use my ski
pass as much. As is looks now, I should be able to ski
100+ days this season because we've gotten dumped on
with some arctic weather and over 3 feet of snow in
the last week. I've already been to Keystone's 36
hours of skiing, where they stay open 2 days and a
night. The best part is skiing while the sun come up.
I've also checked out Vail and Beaver Creek. Both are
incredibly vast, nothing like the Virginia mountains
I'm used to. There are actually 4 mountains
side-by-side here in breckenridge, but Vail has 4 or
more front to back. The backsides all being bowls and
open powder skiing. I'd never ridden powder before,
but I hope to ride plenty more.

Just to give you an idea of what I do, here goes:

I live in a nice house with a view on a windy road 2
miles up from breck. We only have a wood stove for
heat, so I try to get out of the house as soon as
possible and down to the ski shop to warm up. It was
-8 F not counting windchill yesterday. I heard it was
-40 in Yellowstone, that's cold!

It's still early season, even though we have more snow
than most anywhere else in the country. So, I usually
get 2-3 hours to go riding, and then come back to
bullshit with customers and work on personal boards.
Everyone barters here for services, and locals try to
help each other out because its such a high cost of
living up here. I've tuned a few boards for friends
and gotten beer as payment. I ate for free in Vail
because I helped someone out in the shop and they told
me to look them up when I was in Vail. (I also manager
to jump off a 10+ cliff into powder, and I'm still
waiting to get the video of it.) All the ski shop
people in our company, with 10 or so shops all in
different towns, operate an open couch policy. Since
our passes are good most places, all we need is a
place to sleep if its a long drive.

The town of Breckenridge is very quaint and my shop is
just off main street. The whole area is very laid
back, and pretty much anything goes to keep the
tourist happy(Gapers as their called here).

Yesterday was my day off, and Mike and I decided to go
to Beaver Creek, which is a very expensive mountain
targeted towards an older crowd. However, our pass
works there all the same, and at 3pm every day, the
resort bakes chocholate chip cookies and gives them
out to all the guests at the bottom of the lifts.
After driving back to Summit Country, we stopped in
one of many local brew-pubs and tried the local grog.
While looking through the local paper we saw a glass
blowing company that had an open house. After meeting
the owner, he decided we were perfect interns, and
started teaching us how to blow glass. I made a
flower/alien looking piece, and mike helped to make a
Pilsner beer glass. Pics will be up soon, I'll let you
know where to find them.

Needless to say, I love it out here, and because of
where I and Mike work, we can get discounts for
accomodation, and I can get free rentals as long as
its not a holiday.

So, here's all my info if anyone is in the area:

Resortquest Ski and Sport - River Mountain Lodge
location
970-547-3411:office
970-393-0430:my cell

House:
1142 Boreas Pass Rd.
Breckenridge, Co, 80424

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 3302
Breckenridge, Co, 80424

take care

______________________________________________
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1GB de capacidad, nuevos servicios y más seguridad
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Thanksgiving

2005-11-26T16:59:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Virginia for 10 days. I got to see my brother and uncle, which hasn't happend for at least 2 years now. Thanksgiving is always what we make of it, and it was full of food this time.

I've gotten a job out in Breckenridge, Co as a manager of a ski shop. Should be a nice job for the season and I hope to get over 100 days of skiing in as well.

Don't know if I get internet access out there, but I should be able to update every so often.

Beer Looter Dude Photoshop Pictures

2005-11-08T13:33:00.000-07:00

yeah, what else is there to say? Metablogging, everything needs a name.

New Mexico, Texas, Mexico

2005-11-01T17:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I've done it again. Shirked responsibility and
gone travelling to New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico.

Mike had a wedding to attend in Jackson, Mississippi
but couldn't get any cheap flights out of Denver. His
nearest airport was Albuquerque, and it was the
perfect excuse for me to drive down there.

So, we both left 2 days early to get down there and
camp before his flight. Gambled a little in Cripple
Creek, Co. We were the only people under 50 there.
Only slots, and no table games... We won't be going
back.

Camped near Taos, which was a nice introduction to the
Adobe style houses. Then off to El
Malpais(http://www.nps.gov/elma/) and El
Morro(http://www.nps.gov/elmo/). Snatch grabbed me and
started gasping for air when he saw a tarantula spider
while we were looking at the inscriptions and
petroglyphs in El Morro. It was a short night camping
because he had to be back at the airport by 5am.

I ended up driving all day to southern New Mexico. I
stopped in Lincoln, NM, home of Billy the Kid, and
Roswell, NM. The Alien Museum was informative, but
highly speculative. I was entertained, for free, so no
complaints. Finally I made it to Carlesbad
Caverns(http://www.nps.gov/cave/) to see the Mexican
Freetail Bats leave the cave entrance at dusk.

My favorite park of the trip was next, Guadalupe
Mountains NP(http://www.nps.gov/gumo/). This area of
Texas has deciduous trees in a valley in the
mountains. It's desert salt flats everywhere else, but
I hit the park at just the right time to see the
leaves
change. I hiked almost 15 miles that day, both out and
back hikes, but well worth it. Texas has no BLM lands,
so no free camping. I ended up sleeping in the car,
but was woken 3 times by passing motorist to ask if I
was alright. No trouble, just concerned Texans.

Next.... MEXICO!!!! Cuidad Juarez and El Paso straddle
the Rio grande, and there is such a striking
difference between the two. I parked on the USA side,
paid 35cents to walk over the bridge, and was never
stopped for ID. It reminded me of Morocco, a poor
place where every dollar is sacred. I ended up buying
some dirt cheap tequila, a mexican poncho, and a whip.
Why? Why not... I wasn't checked for ID on the way
back either. I guess the white face is enough. So, for
all you drug runners out there, this is the place.

I just made it in time to get my backcountry permit to
White Sands NP(http://www.nps.gov/whsa/). No missle
testing while I was there, but the shooting stars were
in full strength. The Leonids shower is still a few
weeks away, but I saw plenty already. Started on the
tequila and took some silly pictures in my new attire.
All good fun.

Next morning was the long drive back up to the
airport, but first... The Gila Wilderness in Western
New Mexico. I saw some cliff dwellings, and the ranger
was more than happy to keep me longer than I wanted by
spouting every fact about the Gila Wilderness that she
new. So, now I know that Geronimo was born here and
wolves are known to roam the area. I was also told
that the forest roads were too rough and 'impossible
to drive this late in the day without getting stuck in
darkness'. That just sounded too much like a
challenge, and you don't ever tell me something is
impossible. My only other problem was that I only had
half a tank, and no service for 120 miles. Screw it,
let's go.

The whole wilderness area feels like the George
Washington Forest in Virginia, and the roads are
similar. Switchback dirt roads with nice pull offs for
some great camping. But I had no time to stop, let
alone slow down for corners. I'm proud to say that I
can now do a power slide in a Subaru Outback wagon.
Once I got out of the high mountains, it was flat
cattle land, but still dirt roads. The Very Large
Array of satellite dishes was just outside the
wilderness, and I was trying to get there before
sunset. I managed to hit 88 miles an hour on dirt
roads(any Back to the Future fans get that
reference?). Only once did a calf wander on the road,
but I decided to slow down after that.

That was all the fun for me because it was time to
pick up Snatch at the airport and drive home. Long
drive, but it's snowed again in Denver, and one of the
resorts has opened up. Snowboarding time!!!

Pictures up at Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/senecar/sets/1270470/

I'll get a job someday...

--------
My favorite quotes of the trip:

"Whenever we destroy beauty, or whenever we substitute
something man-made and artificial for a natural
feature of the earth, we have retarded some part of
our spiritual growth." - Rachel Carson

While hiking in Guadalupe, I passed an older couple
twice. I told them a nice spot to see if they hurried,
and the lady said, "Honey, we're old, we don't rush."

While in Carlsbad Caverns, an older couple was in
front of me and didn't know I was behind them. There
are railings to keep you away from formations. The
lady was talking about the smooth railing:
Lady said, "Wow, this feels like a penis!"
Man said, "Well, don't put your mouth on it."

______________________________________________
Renovamos el Correo Yahoo!
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On a clear day, you can see forever - Utah Trip

2005-10-07T14:53:00.000-07:00

I had no idea Utah was so beautiful, and I only saw
half of it in 5 days.

I moved out to Denver, Co at the beginning of Sept.
I've been staying with my friend Mike, who has also
just moved out here. I'm still in transition, looking
for permanent housing and a new job. But, while I'm
free from restrictions, I thought I'd take a little
road trip out to Utah and see some of the national
parks I missed on my epic road trip last year.

First, I popped up to Ft. Collins to see a free
music/bike festival, called the Tour de Fat, held at
the New Belgium Brewery. The instructions were to wear
a costume, it didn't say what. So, Mike and I just put
on whatever looked crazy and showed up very
underdressed. The bikes that people brought were all
modified in some way, and there was a place to ride a
few of them. All interesting, but not very practical.

I ended up borrowing most of Mike's camping equipment,
and drove all night through Colorado's I-70 on my own.
It rained the whole 5 hours! My windsheild wipers were
never off the highest setting. But, in the end, I made
it out to Zion National Park. It was too late to do
the 'narrows hike', so I climbed up to Angel's
Landing, the last part being a 36 in. wide ridge walk
with 1000ft drops on both sides. Great views of the
Virgin river carving out the canyon below.

The next day, I made it out early to start the hike.
The first mile is paved, but the vally gets too narrow
to put a path in, so the river becomes your path. I
ended up hiking 4 miles upstream to a waterfall that
had no apparent source. The side slot canyons are
sometimes just cracks in the rock, and that was where
this water was coming from. I was the only one I saw
to get this far back in the canyon. All that rain from
the day before meant the river was pretty high, but I
never had to swim. I spent nearly all day in the cold
water, and I ended up getting a slight cold the next
day. But, I met two guys from my university, JMU, and
they were out doing a road trip as well. They told me
plenty of places to see next time. One that I can pass
on is Havasupie Indian Reservation at the south end of
the grand canyon. It's supposed to be one of the nices
waterfalls in the area. Next Time!!

Bryce Canyon was next, and I ended up walking along
the Navajo loop trail. I met a couple from Liverpool.
Small world. Bryce has some interesting Hoodoo's or
weathered tower columns.

It was then off to Escalante/Grand Staircase National
Monument, the newest one in the US. Lake Powel has
been receeding due to a long drought, so many new
hikes have opened up since they first damned the
Colorado river. I found two awsome slot canyons called
Spooky and Peekaboo. Spooky was so narrow, that I had
to drop my backpack and come back for it later. Later
meant 2 hours because I tried to wander around the
desert, and it can get very disorientating coming in
and out of the canyons. But, I made it back in time to
drive out to see Coyote Gulch. I couldn't climb down
into this canyon, it's 150 ft canyon walls are a
little too much for me, but there is a hike down there
that I would like to do in the future.

I quickly drove through Capitol Reef NP, which
probably had more to offer than I saw. They did have a
honesty orchard. You picked your own apples, weighed
them, and then depositied the money in a little drop
box.

I drove back to Aspen to meet Mike. We are planning a
hike called the Maroon Bells, but we are unsure of the
12,000 ft passes, which can fill with snow very early
in the season. So, it's either this weekend, or next
summer. But first, we did 2 small hikes to 2
waterfalls. We only found 1 of the waterfalls, but it
was worth it. It's called Hanging Lake, and it
reminded me of waterfalls in Thailand, just with cold
water. Our second waterfall was hard to get to. 8
miles of really really bad rocky roads. But, the
Subaru made it. We walked for 5 miles, but found no
waterfall. Some horses found us and started walking
towards us. No stampeed, but they just checked us out
and went along their way. We decided to sleep out side
with no tent, just mats and sleeping bags. It was
clear all night and we woke up with frost on the
outside of our bags.

It started raining before we could do our third
planned hike at the Devil's Causeway, and we were both
pretty tired. Mike had to go back to Ft. Collins to
pick up his wallet that he lost at some point. Someone
returned it with all the contents to the police, so
there are still good people in this world.

Now it's back to getting a job. I seem to keep puting
this off longer and longer, but it has to be done,
right?

So, for all of you wanting to see the pictures, here
they are...

Utah and Colorado pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/senecar/sets/1091231/

Tour De Fat pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/senecar/sets/1091219/

I can feel that it's different out here in Colorado.
The spirit of people is much higher, because everyone
seems to be into some kind of activity, usually
associated with the outdoors. I can say that I fit
that mold as well. Anytime work or relationship
problems arise, the mountains are a short drive away
to go clear your head. It is that good out here!

--
My favorite quotes along the way:

'On a clear day, you can see forever'
'Damn the potatoes, Full speed ahead'

__________________________________________________
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Log jammin

2005-10-07T12:12:00.000-07:00

Log jammin
Originally uploaded by senecar.

Hanging Lake, just off of I-70. It's about an hour hike up a pretty steep trail, but if you saw this at the end, it's all worth it.

Banditos

2005-10-07T12:08:00.000-07:00

Banditos
Originally uploaded by senecar.

Nice shot from Tour de Fat

Pictures of my Harley Trip Aug 28 - Sept 2

2005-09-03T11:41:00.000-07:00

Map of the trip, Started and ended in Lynchburg, 1109 miles

Start of my trip, Sunday Morning

The bike posed in front of my parents new house

Sophia practicing to be a biker chick

My old house, with new ugly green shutters

My kitchen looking over Fontana Lake

My view of the clouds breaking on Fontana

My kitchen on top of the Great Smokey Mountains

Sun rays

More Sun Rays

Yet More Sunrays

Looking out from Clingman Dome, clouds on the bottom instead of on top

Blue Mountains

Cades Cove, Smokey Mountain Valley

Jump Spot

My outhouse

My bear-proof shelter at Mt. Collins

Fontana Dam picnic spot

Picture Frame?

Deal's Gap, start of the Dragon

End of the Dragon, or start from the Tennessee side

Tree of Shame

Remains of Katrina

Church camping spot

Debris from Katrina

My campsite for the storm

View from inside just after the storm ends

Horse on Main St. in Erwin Tennessee

Hillsville Flea Market, largest on the east coast... worthless achievment

Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Panoramic view of Great Smokey Mountains

Panoramic view from the Top of Clingman's Dome

Hurricane Katrina and pigeon shitless gloves

2005-09-02T17:33:00.000-07:00

First off, for those of you who don't know, my brother lives in New Orleans. He is fine, his stuff is not. He has a second story apartment, so the floods might not have damaged his place, but he doesn't know about the looters. His job has relocated him to Baton Rouge, he'll be living there until this mess is over.

Second, this email isn't meant to be political, but I have to say one thing. I've been totally oblivious to all of the events of the last 5 days. I was camping in the mountains, riding my bike, and trying to clear my head about what to do with my life now. That's fine for me, I have no responsibilities, but I am not the President, who does have those responsibilities to protect and oversee the people of this country. He should not be fucking playing golf on holiday and posing for those 'Gee I'm really concerned' photo ops...

http://www.infowars.com/articles/us/katrina_bush_hurricane_president.htm

Needless to say, this pisses me off even more about having to come back to this country....
rant over...

Thirdly, this will be a long email... if you just want the pictures or the short story, goto my blog at:

http://benhansen.blogspot.com

But, if you've got the time, enjoy....

--------------------------

So, I left for my motorcycle trip on Sunday morning, just as my brother called to tell us he had left the city, but was stuck in traffic. This was the last news I heard until Friday, except a brief clip from the weather channel in a restaurant.

I headed down to Winston Salem, NC to visit an old friend I met in Spain. She's been married, had a daughter, and is expecting one more since I last saw her... busy girl! They put me up and I had a great time(they spoiled me a little by buying dinner for me, when I'd be eating snack bars and liptons instant dinners the rest of the trip...) Their daughter Sophia really liked the bike, and kept saying 'Bike, Bike!' until her mother allowed her to sit and explore the bike.
--
Monday- I drove on down to Newton, NC. I grew up here until I was 13. I have fond memories of the town, and seeing the place after a 10 year absence was a shock and pleasure both at the same time. Somehow, everything seemed tiny. I guess as a little kid, everything seems so big. I couldn't recapture all of my youth in only the hour I was there, but the new owners of the house were kind enough to give me a walk-thru and I saw my old room as well.

Then off to the Blue Ridge Parkway and down it to its termination at Cherokee, NC where the Great Smokey Mountains are located. However, Hurricane Katrina caught up with me and I had to camp down in a field at 3000 ft altitude because I could see the storm clouds coming my way. I just setup the tent when the rains started.... and they didn't finish for 12 hours.
--
Tuesday- I spent most of the night, listening to rain hit the tent, seeing lightning but hearing no thunder, and I twice had to run out of the tent to fix the rain-fly because the wind ripped it off. The rain was actually warm, and it had a slightly salty taste... weird, huh?

By noon, it had stopped enought for me to pack up and try to get down off the mountains. However, the road went back up first before coming down to Ashville. Well, I got dumped on by sheets of rain, and blown around by 40mph gusts. I know this because I had to stop at the visitor center to warm up and dry off by their wood burning stove. They had a weather guage there, and I watched to flick to 35-40 mph gusts.

I made it down to Ashville to dry off in a Sonic Drive-In parking lot. That was the toughest driving in harsh weather I've ever had to do. The bike ride in Cambodia was tough, but this was me-against-nature type of difficulties.

I then drove on to Cherokee, but was told the main road was closed because of downed trees. So, I had to drive around for hours trying to find a spot to camp. I found a nice little church, but it wasn't hidden enough. I ended up on the side of some side road pull-off and camped there.
--
Wednesday- Always, Always... after a storm, the weather front clears the air of humidity, and you usually get absolutely beautiful weather. This was true of today... and the rest of the trip.

I cooked my breakfast at a roadside picnic area, absolutely beautiful. I drove to Fontana Dam and took a nice nap, with a view. Then on to Deal's Gap.

Now, for a little backstory... Deal's gap is just a road... a very curvy road... so much that people flock here just to drive on it. It even has websites dedicated to it. The stretch of road is called "The Tail of the Dragon"... sounds more like a heavy metal tune. You can view them here:

http://www.tailofthedragon.com
http://www.tailofthedragon.com/maps_dragon_road.html
http://www.killboy.com

So, I rode the Dragon three times... lots of fun! The sports bikes there quite are fast and looked almost horizontal going around those bends.

I stopped at the biker bar to have a 'dragon burger'... ok, it was a biker resort, but biker bar sounds so much cooler. While I had been riding through the rain, my gloves got wet and the dye soaked through to turn my skin black, or very dark blue.

While I was sitting enjoying my burger, another biker came up and said, "Pigeon Shit!!"... That was it, no introduction, just "Pigeon Shit!!". I had an idea where he was going with this..
So I said, "Oh, you mean the dye on my hands is made from pigeon poop."
He said, "Yeah, you gotta get you some gloves like these, they're Pigeon Shitless".

When I was in Morocco, I saw the tanneries and they told me what the dye was made of, but anyone who wasn't aware of this information would have been clueless, which I think most of the people around me were...

So, I was now in Tennessee, and took some scenic roads into the Smokies. I went on a one-way loop road into Cade's Cove, which was a large valley within the park. Saw a great cliff jumping spot, but I had no swim suit, and soggy underwear and motorcycles don't go well together!

I made it to the Tenn side visitor center to find that the road had just opened up, so I reserved a spot at one of the bear-proof shelters and rode up to the top of the road. No bears, just a noisy mouse to keep me up most of the night.
--
Thursday- I was planning on climbing Clingman's Dome, highest point in Tennessee, at sunrise, but I overslept. Still, I made it before the masses arrived, and it was beautiful to see all the clouds still below the mountains. I cooked breakfast again, and decided to head back home. I went down to the nearest town, Gatlinburg, which is a tourist trap, and had to pay $3.50 for gas... Damn this town is expensive I thought... still unaware of what was happening.

I did over 300 miles(that's alot for a sportster harley!) to get to Mt Rogers Park. I stopped at a lot of towns my father came through when he hiked the Appalachian Trail... all very quaint.

Found a nice dirt road and camped out under shooting stars!
--
Friday- Mt Rogers trail is a 9 mile round trip, and there isn't even a viewing area at the top... just a little geological marker... kind of a letdown. But, the train was nice and good to exercise the legs instead of sitting down all the time. I was going to try to get home by tonight, which was another 300 miles at least. I had no idea of time because my cell phone's batteries had long ago died. So, I passed through this town of Hillsville, which by chance has the largest Flea Market on the East coast... Who knew? Not me, but I got stuck in the traffic for a few minutes.

I made it home by 7:30 to be filled in about what was happening in the world again... Back to Reality!!!
---------------------------------------

So, I drove 1109 miles in 6 days. Filled the tank over 20 times, with the price almost always over $3/gallon. And congradulations if you've managed to read this far!

If you want to look at the pictures, goto:

http://www.printroom.com/ViewAlbum.asp?shopperid=PJWL17CU5V0K8H53D21TXPNPEMPQ3GUC&userid=Senecar&album_id=201959
or
http://benhansen.blogspot.com

My favorite quotes along the way:

"Four wheels moves the body,
Two wheels moves the soul."

"Does a bear shit on the Pope?"

"Pigeon Shitless Gloves"
------------

Playing Chicken with a Hurricane

2005-08-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

Go figure... I've been putting off my epic motorcycle
trip for almost two weeks now, and now that I'm ready,
there's a hurricane coming.

I've scaled down the trip a lot, I was going to ride
all the way out to Colorado on the Harley-Davidson,
but I couldn't find anywhere cheap to fix up the
motorcycle. So, I've done what I could myself, and I'm
only going to go into the local Appalachian Mountains
of Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennesse. My ultimate
destination is the Great Smokey Mountains National
Park. My ultimate road is also located just outside
the park. It's called "The Dragon". Its a longs
switchback overpass with 318 curves in an 11 mile
stretch. I'll also do two or three day hikes along the
way. The Appalachian Trail follows this section, so my
father knows it well and has given me his list of
highlights to check out while I'm there.

I'm meeting an old friend of mine that I met in Spain.
She now lives in Winston-Salem. I also may head down
to Newton, NC... the place where I grew up. I haven't
been there in over 10 years.

So, that puts me in the mountains on Monday and
Tuesday, and the remains of the storm should be
dumping all the rain at just the wrong time. So, this
may be a soggy camping event, but hopefully not a
soggy riding one. I should be back in 4 days, but if I
have to ride out the storm, it could last a week.

take care, and pray for sunshine....

ben.

2005-08-27T20:23:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, this came from a phamphlet in England. I thought it was just pagan enough, with some nice tribal effects.

2005-08-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

This isn't really a canal, no boats. It's just a sculpted water feature, but it's in Holland so it's automatically a canal, ok...

Rotterdam Roller Rink

2005-08-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

I've made it back home to the States, and my trip home
from England to Virginia occurred as follows:

The beginning
-------------

Aug 9th, 2005 :4am . Wake up to catch a 6am flight. I
am flying Easyjet to Amsterdam(explained later). I'm
only allowed 20kg baggage allowance and its a £4 per
kilo fine. I'm sentimental about most of my
stuff(Read: stingy), So...

How to avoid the fine? Wear all the clothes possible
and put everything heavy into the carry-on bag! I wore
4 t-shirts, sweater, leather jacket, and two pair of
jeans(cuz the denim was heavier than the corduroy). My
carry-on bag weighed over 7 kilo, mostly books, and I
also had a 'purse'(the website allows women to carry
purses, so why can't I?).

Well, obviously sweating my balls off, I made it past
a dumbfounded security guard. My steel-toed shoes set
off the metal detectors so I got frisked with all the
clothes on. No alarm bells went off, so off I went to
de-layer in the toilet and board the plane with lots
and lots of carry-on luggage.

----------

My flight from Liverpool to Amsterdam was only 50
minutes in the air, but it took 3 hours with all the
security and logistics fuss. So, its 9am when I get to
Amsterdam.

I had to fly to amsterdam because it was the only
leaving hub that my standby ticket flew from. If you
want to check out how cheap it is see:

http://www.airtech.com

(Hack: If you want to see the list of flights without
having to pay for the voucher first, just go to the
Flightlist section and type in ANY 6 digit number!
High-tech hacking here!!!)

Now, before you exclaim how cheap it looks, you must
remember that you always get what you pay for. It's
high season for flights to and from Europe, so there
was little chance of me getting a flight on the first
try. I knew this, and expected to wait 2-3 days. I've
lived in an airport before, in fact it was this very
airport, so I knew where to go to sleep.

So, I got to the check-in counter to see a queue of
people already waiting. AirTech used to use dozens of
airlines, but nowadays, they only use IcelandAir. So,
about 20 broke, haggard looking backpackers are all
wanting to fly on a plane that maybe has 1 or 2 seats
free. Airlines always overbook flights on the
assumption that a few people don't show. Well, us
standby voucher(no, its not a ticket yet) holders are
hoping for lots of people not to show.

Now, I started asking questions and some people had
been there as lond as 2 weeks! Most had been there an
average of 4-6 days. Those that flew quicker were the
ones who stayed by the counter all day waiting for any
news of available seats. The rest went off to hostels
to come back the next day.

IcelandAir has a mandatory stopover in Reykjavik, but
both legs must be booked before a ticket can be issued
and there is only one flight a day out of Amsterdam at
2pm.

So, that's what I was up against. The ticket counter
guy was sick of seeing us, but by 1pm, only about 6 of
us remained. He did some magic at the keys, and said
he could book 3 of us on Thursday the 11th, but we had
to decide who goes first. Our options were Boston,
Baltimore, and Minneapolis. The first in line only
wanted NYC, so they passed. Next guy took Boston. I
wanted Baltimore, but I wasn't next....

Well, let's just say I used some kind of jedi-mind
trick to convince the guy wanting to go to NYC that
he'd be better off flying to Minneapolis than
Baltimore. How I did it? I really don't know, I just
guess I can be persuasive sometimes. By the way, would
anyone here like to hear info on some cheap car
insurance.... nah, nevermind.

So, 2 days to kill. Where to go? I've been to
Amsterdam, and I was not really in the mood to be
surrounded by drugged up tourists. A fellow Airtecher
had just come from Rotterdam, and knew of a cheap
hostel. So off I go on the train to Rotterdam.

---------

Aug 10th.

The hostel is called the De Mafkees. It's been
coverted from an old Roller rink. The main room has
over 100 beds in it, and a honeymoon sweet if you can
prove you're in love. It's a groovy atmoshphere. I
walked the whole city, bought some cheese, waffles,
and excellent beer. I met some travelling architects
who admiring all that Holland offers for architectural
eye-candy. We found a canal, and I had the urge to
play jump-the-brook. I cleared a 10ft canal(my guess),
and I'm waiting for the pictures from you, Viktor.

----------

Aug 11th.

So, the airport looks so much less imposing when you
have a confirmed ticket in your hand and loads of
other people are looking at you with resentment
because they still have to wait a few days for
tickets. My bags now weighed a total of 30 kg.

Our flight to Iceland was smooth and while waiting in
line for customs I heard this on the PA:

"Any passengers flying to Baltimore who would be
willing to give up their seats will be given 200Euros,
free accomodation, food and transportation to and from
the airport. Those interested please come to the
service desk."

Yeah!!!! that sounds great, as I had wanted to see
iceland anyway, and I'm in no hurry to get home, but
wait... shit, I'm stuck in line for customs. Always
when you're in a hurry some person in front of you
misplaces their passport and has to startup an
in-depth conversation with a custom official who
couldn't give a damn. I finally make it through and
rush to the desk.

"Sorry, we've had 4 people already offer their seats."
DAMN!!! I had to suffer with this on my mind while the
only in-flight movie was 'Monster In-Law'. Unless I
need to get to Iceland, I doubt I'll ever fly
IcelandAir again.

I didn't have time to organize anyone to meet me in
Baltimore because I didn't know when I'd be there
either. So, I took the wrong train to Baltimore Penn
Station instead of DC Union Station. Killed 2 hours
with heavy bags to lug around. But I made it back to
DC to miss the only Amtrak train back to Lynchburg, Va
where my parents live, so my only option left was
Greyhound....

It's now 2am Aug 12th...

Come on, you know where this story is going right.
Long hours on an overcrowded bus, stuck next to a
ridiculously obese sweaty fat-man, trying to sleep
over the sound of machinegun snooring.... Yep, I can
always count on it happening to me. Again, you get
what you pay for. I'm not complaining, just letting
you relive the horror.

Only when you are away from a country for so long,
that the stereotypes that seem insulting to you when
others point them out, suddenly become painfully
obvious. I can't think of one 'obese' or mildly plump
person on this mailing list.

My alloted seat was even more cramped because it was
jammed behind the drivers seat by plexiglass dividers.
The guy next to me was a nice guy, going the same way
as me and we made pleasant conversation. But, no
amount of courtesy can make the hours go quicker when
he falls alseep and his belly rolls of fat start to
ooze my way. As soon as his skin comes into contact
with my arm(of course no amount of clothing could
contain it!) the moisture pours onto me. The Air-con
is on pretty high, but this guy is still sweating
buckets. So, I have to keep jabbing this guy away, he
taughtens his stomach muscles to try to keep the blob
at bay. But, as soon as he doses off, it wanders my
way again. After 4 hours, I had to change buses, and
luckily found a slightly less fatter passenger to
fight over seat space.

I've made it home, written this email to stave off jet
lag by trying to stay awake a bit longer. My blog
should start to have pictures soon.

http://benhansen.blogspot.com

74 hours from Liverpool to Lychburg the hard way.

My parents need some help with finalizing some stuff
with the house. I'm in pond-withdrawl, but my mom
thinks she wants another, this time smaller, pond in
the back yard. It's something to do, right?

take care.

---
ben back in America

2005-08-12T08:56:00.000-07:00

My dorm room in a dissused old skaking rink

My blue dream

2005-07-13T02:25:00.000-07:00

I had a very strange dream last night. It involved cliff jumping with my family, and my favorite blue turbine I bought in Morocco.

So, I thought I would put up my link to the story I wrote for Bootsnall.com

http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/03-11/three-meters-of-snow-morocco.html

Just a premenition, but might as well do a little something about it.

Women Drivers

2005-06-20T08:18:00.000-07:00

Nasra has been driving for about one month now and she's driving around the local park here where all the other learners go. Unfortunately this means that a lot of impatient other drivers try to overtake and zoom around the slow drivers. One of these drivers decided to pull right out in front of Nasra. She reacted by turning the wheel and barely missing the other car. She was shaken and I had to driver us home, but she's still up for continuing with getting her license.

It's been about 26 degrees here lately and everyone is complaining about how hot it is. All the customers come into out bar with sweat on their foreheads and I have to inform them that our bar has run out of ice! Things are still like a body with no head there, the management has no clue on the daily workings of the bar.

Looking forward to getting out in nature a bit, but nasra has overexhurted herself and gotten shin splints, so she's having to rest(or join a gym so she can do non-impact training instead).

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

2005-05-25T05:38:00.000-07:00

That means : St. Mary's Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the red cave...

Naz and I are going to Snowdonia or the Peak District. Not that they are close to each other, but they are the relatively close places for a nice day out from Lowerpool.

I've climbed Snowden before, and quite liked the experience, and with our training last year across the states, I think she'll be up for it. There is that crazy town on the way and one of the first ever built suspension bridges, the Menai Bridge, so it's educational as well!

Still working in da Pub. Weather is weird. My parents close on our old house in Forest, Va tomorrow. My cherished and beloved hand-dug pond will be sold as well. I think it's the thing I'll miss the most. It was a lovely house, but really too much for just my parents alone to keep up. Nasra has been to her interview for Nursing, and she'll find out in a few weeks if she was accepted.

That should do it for now.

Springpool

2005-04-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

Barcelona went well, I just want to get a few quick words in because it's starting to get nice outside and I want to get out of the house.

I've applied for broadband, which if I can get, will allow me to update the web page more often, and hopefully start attaching pictures.

How not to see Andorra

2005-03-25T06:30:00.000-07:00

Nasra and I rented a car, but the stipulations stated that we could not drive over 400 km. From Barcelona to Andorra is just about that distance, but not the little circuit that goes into France. I didn't figure this out until we got there(o.k., I got lost and had to back-track, thus losing 'clicks'). The whole region is beautiful.

I just saw a program on the best cities to live in all over the world. Barcelona was voted #1. I wouldn't have voted it that high, but it was nice nonetheless.

New 6 month visa, hey hey I guess I will stay..

Barcelona

2005-02-17T08:04:00.000-07:00

I will be going to Barcelona on March 11th - 16th with Nasra for a little vacation.

My left elbow made it on television

2005-01-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

Yes Yes, hold back your excitement.

I was working in the bar early on Jan 23rd, when a news crew came in and asked if they could film. I asked my manager, she asked her manager, and who knows how high up it went, but in the end, we got the thumbs up!

The reason for the shoot was England has now allowed bars and pubs to have 24-hour licenses. Luckily, our bar is not going to apply. No matter what you think about British drinking, I assure you that there are not hords of youths trying to get into a bar at 4am on a Tuesday!

So, I work with a scottish guy, and as luck would have it, he is an aspiring actor. Not his luck, mind you, because as a part of his acting union rules, he cannot appear on television without written permission from his union... So, that meant I would be used in the clip.

When I say I would be used, the cameraman just wanted an intro clip for the evening news, and all he wanted was a lonely guy drinking a pint and staring off into the distance.....

I would provide that pint! (I wanted it to be Guiness, but they used a plain Lager... Carling)

Yes, they did three takes, and one was a wide angle that caught a bit of my side as I served him his pint(it was paid for beforehand, so all I did was pour and serve).

I've seen this clip used several times(ok, two times) as this seems to be a hot topic recently and drinking and england seem to be better than iraq. I haven't taped it, and I don't have access to any video capture cards, so you'll just have to use your imagination.

Happy Christmas and Boxing Day

2004-12-29T07:39:00.000-07:00

News from the little island...

IT SNOWED ON CHRISTMAS!!!!! (Plus hail)

It never snows here, unless I'm here.

I had a wonderful Christmas at home. Nasra's sister and husband cooked us a vegetarian dinner, while the rest of the family had lamb. Nasra's father showed up, and it didn't make the rest of the family too uncomfortable. Kohei, my japanese friend now living in liverpool, also made an appearance. It didn't start snowing until late at night, and I found a few local kids on our street to have some snowball fights with.

Here in england, the day after christmas is called Boxing Day. I remember loads of british in the school in Cambodia trying to describe it. Well, I've been here for it, and I still don't understand it. It's pretty much ' the day after christmas '... there you go.

I had to work that night and it will probably be my last big weekend bartending job. I've been moved to daytime shifts, which is great for my ears and lungs(No loud DJ and less smokers). The environment was getting to me and I now have options for other jobs because......

I have gotten a National Insurance number... How? Just by asking.

I applied for one, not lying or falsifying anything on the application forms, and sent it in. They sent back a number. So now I can officially work in england. I don't have a work permit, but businesses never ask for one, they just ask for your national insurance number. All I must do now is keep my tourist visa up to date by taking a ferry to ireland every six months!!! Hardly a loop-hole, more like just an oversight. But I'm not complaining.

Pint of Guiness?

2004-12-09T04:01:00.000-07:00

Finally landed a bartending job, at least for two weeks.

That was the deal I struck up with the manager. I applied for a National Insurance number(think Social Security # in the US), and whilst that application is being processed I am allowed to work.

I knew I'd find a loophole. This is a short term solution to my lazy ass vagabond ways. Everytime I look somewhere else for a real job, there are just too many catches.

Meanwhile, it's been fun at the bar. It's pretty posh, but locals still come in to hit on the girls. It's damn near impossible to hear what they are saying with the dj blaring Kylie Minogue. I have enough trouble understanding the accent here....

Frustration

2004-11-30T04:20:00.000-07:00

I have always been told, by teachers and television, about how lucky I am to have been born an American...

Fuck That!

My current situation has proven this to be false. Wanting to work in England has led me in circles trying to find a cheap and quick way to gain citizenship/work permit status.

If only my grandmother had registered herself as Irish, I could regain my ancestry rights and become Irish.

This is more of a lament rather than a call for help, as I know there is no other help for me without having to go through the long and painful process of UK naturalisation.

USA states visited

2004-11-12T06:20:00.000-07:00

create your own personalized map of the USA

fits in window, huh? dunno when I'll get back to North Dakota?

2004-11-08T07:50:00.000-07:00

create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide

Fuct

2004-11-04T06:38:00.000-07:00

Bush is in... what else can be said?

FUCK!!!

2004-10-31T06:13:00.000-07:00

Some of the favorite signs we saw on our USA trip
--------------------------------------------------

Flickr

2004-10-29T04:52:00.000-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

USA

2004-09-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

Finally have time to post, but looks like few people check here anyways.

I'm in Bakersfield, California. Staying with a friend of Snatch and living indoors... Yeah, nice break from the tent. However, its hot as hell here in the valley, reminds me of Cambodia.

In the next week or two, there should be a plethera of photos available, so you'll see what I've been up to.

Lake District

2004-06-04T06:23:00.000-07:00

Nasra and I went to the Lake District in Cumbria over the weekend. It was a nice getaway for the both of us.

I missed visiting the 'lakes' 3 years ago, and for good reasons. Hostels and B&B's are basically the same price, so why live in bunks when you can stay with your girlfriend? However, the lovely British Bank holidays coincided with our trip, so it was very difficult to find accomodation.

However, we settled in a little town called Ambleside. There were three nice lakes to wander around, and a good selection of hikes. Every walk here is pretty clearly laid out, but I took us on a few different paths not in the guidebooks. A few angry dogs, and confused sheep, but nice hill walking nonetheless.

Pictures up soon.

Liverpool, England

2004-05-11T07:46:00.000-07:00

I am now back in England, and I've had a week to readjust and get reacquainted with this city.

I visited here briefly on my way from Wales to York about three years ago. As I walk through the city, certain things flashback in my memory, and the deja-vu feeling is very strong.

I left Bangkok an hour late, and my luggage was about 4kg over the limit. So, while standing in line, I opened up my backpack and threw out a few things. My hammock, toiletries, and some dirty socks were left in the terminal for anyone who wanted them. It was a 12 hour flight, and the only strange thing to report was the flight attendants spraying aresol cans throughout the plane as we were about to land. The couple next to me joked that we were being de-loused. Some SARS or bird flu precaution I assume.

Nasra met me at the train station early in the morning. It was pleasant out, but cold enough so that I could see my breath. A big change from Cambodia. I was pretty jet lagged, so I relaxed in the house and by the next day, I was ready to do some sightseeing. Nasra's house in quite close to Penny Lane, which is a rather unimpressive road. I posed in front of the Cavern Club, and thus my Beatles sightseeing was fulfilled.

Nasra's house is like all other English homes... Row housing, all brick, with ancient looking chimneys. It's very tall, and her room is on the top floor. So, I get quite a workout going up and down the stairs all the time. Her sister, nephew and brother all live in the house with her mother. Her mother is a lovely woman, who insists on cooking me dinner every evening. I try to cook some of my meals and give the place some American flavor, but I've yet to get close to the kitchen.

Nasra and I have been walking a lot. There are 3 very nice parks all very close, so we walk a lot. The weather has been grey, but nothing that seems to stop anyone else from going about their business. In the week I've been here, its only rained all day once, and when it does rain, its usually in the morning.

The one thing I remember from Liverpool from the last time I visited was the Anglican Church. It is a massive square cathederal. Nasra and I were going up to the top of the chapel to take pictures, but she dropped the camera in a toilet. It is still not working, but I have a spare camera I will have to use until I can fix the other one. She was quite upset about it, but anytime you drop something in a toilet, you gotta laugh about it.

So, the last few days I've been asking around about temp agencies and where to get work. The usual runaround is happening, but it's the same thing that happened in Cambodia, so I'm just going to give myself some more time.

Not the same exciting posts as usual, but I'm happy to be back with my girlfriend.

take it easy.

Riding on top of trains and Petting Tigers in Thailand

2004-04-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

Well, there is plenty to report.

I left Phnom Penn at 6am in the morning on the 25th. I could have taken a bus straight to Bangkok... but where is the fun in that? Instead, I opted for the train... the only train. A few months ago I tried to take the train south, but was informed that there was only one working train and it went to Battambang, in the northwest of Cambodia. Battambang is the second largest city and is maybe 300km from Phnom Penn, but it takes 12 hours by train, and maybe 6 by bus. Yes, the train really does go that slow.

But the whole point in taking the train, is that you can ride on top of the train. Cambodia = No Rules. So, as soon as the train started moving, I locked up my backpacks(yes, I now have two) and went to the gap between cars and climbed up the ladder. It was fairly empty up there, but there were 3 kids all yelling at me. I was on my hands and knees, and tried to stand up to wave at them, as they were jumping up and down and screaming something at me in Khmer. Just then, an electrical wire smacked me in the back of the head. It jerked my hat off, but luckily it didn't snag me. The shack towns that live next to the tracks all have personally made telephone and electrical poles and wires all over the place. No tunnels, but plenty of hazards. So, I lost my hat, but I used my Krama instead. A few times, the tree branches scraped along top of the roof.

Description of the roof:
1. Tin = hot in the sun.
2. It was slightly rounded, but there were air vents on the side to grab on to if you started slipping off the edge.
3. The conductor actually came up to the roof to check my ticket. He was well impressed.
4. There were maybe 3 passenger cars, and 3 cargo cars, but each were used to carry both people and cargo.
5. There was maybe a 3-5 foot gap inbetween cars, and a precise jump was required to move up and down the train.
6. Since the train went pretty slow, it was easy to stand up and face forwards, looking for things to knock you off.

Situations on the roof:

1. Young boys were paid by the conductor or train company(not the government, I don't think) to haul things on and off the roof. It was mostly lumber, but there were bags of produce and other things as well. Anytime the train stopped, there would be lumber laid next to the tracks and people would pick them up and the young boys would pull them up. At first all the lumber was perpendicular to the train, but a few got caught and fell off, almost taking a few people with it. The conductor saw this and started yelling at the boys(who didn't wear shoes for better tracktion, but the heat of the tin must have hurt). They lined them up parallel this time with no problem.

2. There were food and drink vendors who walked up and down the cars selling their wares. If you wanted something cold to drink or hot to eat, you had to wait for the train to stop. People would chuck things up to the roof(maybe 20-25 feet high) and then you throw down your money. A few times the vendors didn't make the toss high enough... fun to watch.

3. There was a lady carrying a baby, begging for money. They use these babies for sympathy, and it is really a depressing sight. I usually get a little angry when I see it, because I know the babies are usually not from the woman carrying it. Plus, I have heard that the babies are drugged, because you never hear them cry, and they are always semi-concious. Anyway, the lady couldn't jump the gap with the baby in her arms, so one of the young boys and to follow her and jump across with the baby.

4. The last 50-100km were really rought. I've never felt a train rock from side to side so much. From the noise, it sounded like some of the wheels actually came off the track. Really lound crashes and bangs. Plus it was getting dark, so I waited for the train to stop and climbed back down into the passenger car.

5. Inside, I was invited to stay at a school with a young girl, who was learning to be a teacher. I was also invited to go to a pagoda with a monk. The same monk kept offering me cigarettes... Vow of Chastity, but cigarettes and cell phones are fine... seems backwards to me. Anyways, he gave me ice cream and fried frog instead. Interesting texture contrast...

--------
I have to say that the whole experience was tiring, but well worth it. I slept very well in Battambang, after having trouble fining a room because of a UN convention.

The taxi pickup ride was the same as I've done before. I met 3 Aussie girls, who had never crossed the Poipet border before, so I acted as a guide for them. The border crossing was uneventful, but we had to wait 2 hours for a bus. Plenty of time to play cards, and fend off Cambodia beggers on the Thai side.

Bangkok is the same as ever. I ran into a friend on Kho San Road, who was taking a little holiday from his guesthouse business. We ended up watching the Arsenal game, but drank a little too much.

The next day was spent wandering the city looking for my travel agent to pick up my airplane ticket. The streets are numbered strangly, and the address given to me was actually two side streets off the street that was listed, plus no sign. Dodgy, but I got the ticket. So, I caught a bus to Kanchanaburi, sight of the Bridge over the River Kwai.

I got into town just in time to catch the sunset over the bridge. The clouds were actually green! We'll see how the pictures come out. I rented a moto and cruised around town, but most of the fun happened the next day. I didn't get much sleep because my guesthouse is next to a different bridge, and the bungalow I am at is on pillings above the river, marsh. So, anytime a big truck goes over the bridge, my whole room shakes. Plus there is a disco next door as well.

I still woke early enough to beat the heat and get to Erawan Falls. The area reminds me of Yellowstone Park in Wyoming. The limestone or whatever type of rock, forms pools, with little areas where the water falls from pool to pool. There are 7 levels to the falls, all about 1.5 km apart. It is a fairly steep climb, but well worth the effort. It is dry season so the water level was a bit low, but pretty nevertheless. There were fish that nipped at my feet. It would have been cute, if I didn't have a scab on my foot that they constantly attacked.

Then I went to the dam where the Thais were still celebrating Thai New Year. I got doused with water while still riding the bike. Luckily, my digital camera escaped damage. I got dragged into dancing with a bunch of ladies, but everyone there seemed to enjoy watching me try to dance.

After that, I went on to Prathat Cave. It was in the middle of the park on a dirt road, so it didn't get much tourist action. When I got to the cave, there were no rangers there. A donation was required, but I had already paid for the waterfall, so I put on my own headlamp and walked into the cave. It was a commercial cave, with installed lights, but I couldn't figure out how to turn them on. I didn't go in to far and didn't see much. When I came back out, there was a little kid asking for money. He sure didn't look like he worked there, so I just moved on. He ended up throwing rocks at me... I guess you get both sides, kindness and bitterness.

So, it was a 50km ride to the Tiger Temple, and they only let the tigers out from 3:30-5:00. It was 3:00 when I left, and just when I needed to go fast, a few thunderstorms appeared. I was already wet from the festival, but the rain stings when it hits you going 100km/hr. So, I made it to the temple at 4:15 since I rode through two storms without stopping.

The tiger temple is a sanctuary for abandoned animals. Their claim to fame is the tigers. However, I had more trouble with the water buffalo trying to spear me that any tiger trying to bite me. The monks give a little tour of the other animals, then they lead you down into a ravine where the tigers lay around. The monks spray water on them, to tame them I guess. The tigers are all sleepy, and yawn quite a lot. All this gives great photographic opportunity, because a yawn and a roar look similar. There were 4 tigers, two were occupied chewing on some sandals. I squatted in the middle while a monk took my picture. I got to pet two of them on their back, but was told to stay away from the head. The lead monk even smacked the tiger on his tounge when it yawned. All good fun, yeah?

All great experiences, and I plan to explore the mountains here for another day, and then back to Bangkok to wait for my flight back to England.

Day 1 - Dirtbike Cambodia

2004-04-18T05:28:00.000-07:00

There are two groups for this trip. One group is going to a wedding for a guy named Dave near Kompong Cham, which is on the way to where we are going. The other group will meet us on Sunday in Kampong Thom and then onward north. They are the more experience group.

So, here is the updated roster:

Wedding
-----------
Big Shawn - Aussie
Sean - British
Simon - British
Mike - KhmerAmerican
Ben - Dunno

Hardcore guys
------------------
Francois - French
John - American
Tim - British
Dara - Khmer
Henry - French

Everyone except Simon and I are decked out in gear. All we have are crash helmets. Everyone else has boots, elbow and knee pads, chest plates, and one guy has a kidney support belt! Supposedly all the bouncing doesn't do your internal organs much good. At the end of this trip, I wish I had all that stuff. I actually rented my bike from Francois, so he knows my bike very well, and will be able to help fix any problems that arise.

So, on Friday, I only had 3 of my 6 classes on my last day. Most of it was spent dancing.

It took 3 hours in the dark after work to get to Dave's wife's village. There was a support van with other friends in it, plus 5 dirtbikes. Everyone in the van said they felt like royalty with a bodyguard convoy following them. The van went much slower, so we were constantly overtaking them. Fun way to start the trip. When we got to the village, it was late, so most went to sleep, but a few stayed up drinking and dancing.

Day 2 - Wedding

2004-04-18T05:15:00.000-07:00

DAY 2 - Wedding

We all woke at 7am to do the fruit carrying ceremony. 36 different types of fruit in baskets, all delivered to the door. Then a large lull in the day, until 1pm for dinner. So, most of us went to Kampong Cham to look around. The rest of the crew all got guesthouse, but some of us decided to stay in the village. Big dinner, but another lull until 7pm.

So, Vinh and I decide to go off to take some pictures of the rubber plantation. It's a huge area, and right in the middle, my rear tire goes flat. So, I kick Vinh off, and slowly ride it out of the plantation. Once at the road, I search for someone to fix it. We are out in the middle of nowhere, and there aren't many houses around. Vinh is far behind me walking on his own, but I do end up getting flagged down by some villagers. They spent 2 hours trying to fix it. I think they did alright.

We both get back for the cake cutting and flower throwing ceremony. Again, silly string makes the cake tast funny... little bit like soap. We drank and danced most of the night. The music was live, and quite nice when no one was singing.

Day 3 - Tbeng Mean Chay

2004-04-18T05:10:00.000-07:00

Day 3 - Tbeng Mean Chay

I wake up to find.... my rear wheel is flat again. After letting the few remaining wedding guests look and shrug at me, I decided to just ride the flat all the way to Kampong Cham.... 30km away. Oddly enough, the tire worked better when I went fast. The dirt road was rough, but the asphalt road was fine. I find a shop and the rear tube is shredded, so I have to buy another one.

Everyone else is ready, so we are off. Maybe 5km out of town, Chris tries to overtake a van and his engine seizes! Not the best place for that to happen. So, his bike is done. Luckily, within 2 minutes we flag down a pickup truck to take the bike back to Phnom Penn. Turns out one of the passengers is one of Shawn's students. So, they took the bike back for free.

We set off again, but I get a THIRD puncture... Now something is wrong here. So, this time I sit a watch the mechanic. He does all the same stuff, but this guy checks the tred and pulls out a nail! Go figure, check for a nail... wonder why the other guys didn't think of that?

So, now we are late, and we haul it up to Kampong Thom to meet the rest of the gang. They are itching to get going on some hard trail, so they go ahead. Simon, Sean, Mike and I are left behind to take the easy straight dirt road to Tbeng Mean Chey where we will all meet.

On the way we run into a huge thunderstorm... not as bad as the one I was in in Kirirom, but heavy heavy rain. Some of the road got washed out, and going through the puddles was fun. The was was actually hot, not cool or warm, but HOT. The falling rain was warm, but it stung when it hit, so it wasn't that much fun.

Turns out that the other guys got a few flats as well, so that slowed them up. We actually made it to town before them. Quaint little town, but quite nice and clean air. I'm already a little tired from the ride, and these have been easy roads...

Day 4 - Prasat Preah Vihear

2004-04-18T04:53:00.000-07:00

Day 4 - Prasat Preah Vihear

Big Shawn is sick, so we don't leave until 9:30. The original plan was for Simon and me to take the easy road, while the rest of the group took the sand road. Anyone who has ever ridden a dirt bike on sand knows that it ain't easy. The catch is: the faster you go, the easier it is, but the faster you go, the harder you crash...

We had to cross a major stream, so Simon and I decided it would be easier to continue rather than turn back. It turned out the Mike had a harder time than us anyway. He must have fallen 6 times. Twice he was trapped under the bike, but he had boots and padding, so he was fine. I never fell, but I went REALLY slow. The rest of the group had to wait up. We came to another crossing. It took us a while to pass, but I cooled off in the river. We passed a few more fun spots where I caught a little air. Basically a 3 meter dip where a stream used to be. So, fast down and up the enbankment. At the top, the front wheel is already up, so just keep giving it gas, and you can do an easy wheelie.

We get to Chaom Khsant, and rest for 2 hours. We all get rooms and leave our big bags, and off to the mountain temple, Preah Vihear. Sean and Shawn felt bad, so they didn't come. Simon was at the back, and ended up getting lost. We waited for him at the base of the mountain for an hour. I got impatient, and decided to go alone. There was some lady trying to swindle some money from tourists, saying that if you bought a ticket at the bottom it would be cheaper than at the top. I knew this was a scam, but some of the others wanted to pay. While they all argued, I went around the gate and drove on... Again... lesson on Karma....

The road up the mountain is RIDICULOUS!! Normal mountain roads in the US always try to keep the grade under 20 degrees. This road had some sections greater than 45 degrees. That might not sound so bad, but this is not asphalt, just large boulders and rocks in your way. Going up a road like this is all about momentum. You lose it, you fall. I lost it twice. John had to come help me clutch start the bike, but I made it up after putting the bike down twice. It wasn't much of a fall, the bike took most of the damage since by the time you stop moving up, you are practically at a stand still and the bike falls from there. Mike and Tim couldn't even make it up and had to turn back.

We only had 45 minutes at the top, because it was getting dark and getting down the mountain would be impossible in the dark... well not for the hardcore guys. There were mines everywhere, and big signs saying what to look out for.

It turns out we could have stayed with the monks for free, or slept in the temple if we had brought hammocks. But, we all wanted to get down. Simon, Henry, and I went first. I fell twice and Henry waited for me, but Simon kept going. Simon even kept going past Tim and Mike who were waiting at the bottom for us with dinner. The rest of the guys decided to try to come back down in the dark... they made it fine.

So, Simon got lost again because there was a tricky turn that you can only see coming from one direction. It turns out that he took the right way, but thought it was wrong and turned back. We all stayed and had dinner... 3 chickens and a lizard.

We ended up finding Simon at some village, where he had booked a room because he thought he was lost. They were dancing in the street, and he was drinking with them. He decided to drive back... bad decision.

Maybe 3km from our town, he wiped out on a bridge, skidded along the wooden boards. A few nails cut him, but he was alright. When he went down, he took Mike with him. Both of them were lucky not to be more seriously hurt. So, we were all glad to be back in the town. Well, mostly, because at 10pm they shut the electricity off for the whole town. No electricity = No fans. It was HOT. Very little sleep.

Day 5 - Koh Ker Krash

2004-04-18T04:27:00.000-07:00

Day 5 - Koh Ker Krash

Now, Sean is sick and wants to go home. After much persuasion from the rest of the group, we all set out together to goto Koh Ker. It was briefly the captial of ancient Cambodia. It's claim to fame is it's secluded location and a pyramid temple. We all stopped in Kulen, about 30km from the temple. There we fueled up and snacked on frog and monkey. No kidding...

Back to a story on Karma:
--------------------------------

After finishing our meal and trying to figure out the bill, I go to get fuel. I ask for 3 litres, and know the price. The lady quotes me a higher price. I give what I feel is right and start to ride off. Henry stops me and says that the lady put more than 3 liters in and wants more money. After arguing with the lady, through Henry, I pay the lady, but I am in a frustrated mood. The rest of the group goes off on the road to Koh Ker. Only Simon is behind me. Tim is directly in front of me. I am trying to keep up with Tim, which I knew better than trying. The road was actually quite smooth, but still dirt and rock, so I was going pretty fast, somewhere between 50-80 km/hr(this is an estimate since no rental in all of cambodia has a working speedometer, odometer, or anything else that locals deem nonessential).

So I am still daydreaming and thinking about what has just happened when I look up and see a sharp left turn after a bride. I took the wrong line into the turn, I was too far to the left to safely turn. I use my front brake to try to slow down quickly, but because of the mechanic making the brakes too tight, I use too much pressure and the front brake locks...

So, for those of you who don't know what happens when the front brake locks = you crash. There is NOTHING you can do. The entire front end jerked my hands off the handlebars. I tried to grab them again, but the bike had already started to go down. I moved the handlebars straight again, but by this time it jerked again and I was going off the road down into a ditch. I had the heavy backpack on, so it was not easy to jump off the bike, but somehow I did. I landed on my right side and skidded, mostly on the bag, for maybe 10 meters.

After the dust settled, my shoes were missing, and I was checking myself for injuries. 3 slight road rash cuts on my palm, hip, and ankle. Nothing broken. Oddly enough, all I could think about is where the hell my shoes went. This was just in front of a village, so all the villagers were running at me. I jump to my feet to show I'm alright, but I have to fend them off from grabbing me and trying to console me... I guess.

Then Simon comes into the picture. He shoos away all the villagers, picks my bike up and starts it with 2 kicks, then turns it off, and comes to help clean my wounds...The villagers loved this part. We used bottled water to wash away the dirt from the cuts. Not surprisingly, it stung very bad everytime he poured water on me. I would give a little yelp of pain, then there would be a laugh from the croud. Simon noticed this and started to make a game of it...

1.pour water
2.make Ben scream
3.make villagers laugh
4.repeat

It was almost like we was a conductor, and used to water to make painful music. I was all in good fun, and it actually helped me keep my mind off things, as I was quite angry that I got in the accident in the first place. So, I put iodine and bandaged up myself and tried to start the bike again... won't start.

Plus, the kick pedal is now jammed. Simon started it fine, so we know it runs, but we can's kick it now, and no electric starter. This is all in direct sunlight, so I am getting a little dehydrated. Quick thinking results in me digging through my backpack to get my hammock out to use as a tow rope. A few villagers try to push start it, but we need more speed. So, Simon drags me out of the village(a relief to get away from all those staring eyes), but the bike still won't clutch start.

It's been almost 45 minutes, and finally Shawn and John come back to see what's wrong. Just as well, because the road got tough, and Simon could not have towed me the whole way. John is a magician with my bike... well mostly because he had boots and could kick it harder than me. He unjammed the kickstarter, and managed to start the bike. The next 15km were over seriously damaged bridges. We're talking huge holes in the middle, and the bike must follow a single plank to get to the other side. Again, if I had the time I would have stopped to take pictures, because even now I can't believe I made it over some of those bridges.

So, after regrouping, and reassuring everyone I was alright to continue, we get to a little town 8km outside of the temple. Most of the hardcore guys want to find harder roads instead of visiting the temple. Only Henry and I want to see the temple. Mike, Sean, and Simon go on to Siem Reap, and the others look for the hard track. Tim stays behind to look after my big back, which has my took kit....

Of course, my front wheel locks again, but I don't have a wrench to loosen the screw to fix the problem. So, Henry must go all the way back while I find a shaded spot to wait. Finding a shady spot is not as easy as it sounds. You must find a spot ON THE ROAD. This is still a heavily mined area, and you aren't supposed to leave the track. Luckily, I didn't have to wait too long. It turns out that the government is in the process of builing a big road from Siem Reap to Koh Ker, right on top of where the tough road used to be. So, the hardcore guys decided to come see the temple. Luckily, Francois fixed my bike again, and we were off. So, it a year or two, the whole route we went will be unnessesary, as package tourists will be able to take the bus.... but our way was definately more fun.

The temple was awsome. Two AK-47 armed soldiers accompanied us up and down the pyramid temple. We were the only people there, which was a surprise... it being Khmer New Year. We tipped the guards and they took us on a tour, trough mined areas, to other minor temple sites. But, nothing was as spectacular as standing on top of the pyramid.

It was getting late, and Dara and I were at the back of the group. We missed a turn and ended up loosing 30 minutes... time that would be important later. So, most of the road back to Siem Reap was smooth, but maybe 40km from the main road, it started to get dark. I had to slow down, and then my entire body started to shut down. The adrenaline and energy were completely gone, and I almost collapsed off the bike a few time. All the tough technical riding I did was nothing compared to a simple road with potholes while it is dark and the rider is tired. So, Francios helped by setting a pace and resting with me every 10km. It was nice to stop, because we did so in front of houses that were decorated with candles leading up the stairs to a big star, all lit up like Christmas. It was very pretty.

I somehow gathered enough strength to get to Siem Reap. Everyone else had dinner, but I went straight to bed. I found a cheap $3/night place in the middle of a busy time of year... go figure.

Day 6 - Recovery

2004-04-18T03:44:00.000-07:00

Day 6 - Recovery

I've never slept so deeply before. A bomb couldn't have woken me up. I slept till noon, and then went to the FCC-Foriegn Correspondants Club. Don't let the name fool you, it's open to anyone with money. They had a pool, and a river view, so it sounded like a good place to relax all day.

Except for the mango trees. We picked the day that all the mangos decided to fall. Several fell into the pool. The chair I was laying on had an umbrella. Good thing, because several hit the umbrella. But, on the bright side... free food.

At dinner, the rest of the group decided to continue the trip onto the Cardamom Mountains. I would have loved to go, but it was more technical and three times as difficult. So, there was no was I could continue in my condition. Just as well, since I hadn't seen Angkor Wat and the other temples yet.

Day 7 - Angkor Wat

2004-04-18T03:38:00.000-07:00

Day 7 - Angkor Wat

I got up early, feeling more rested. I managed to make it to Angkor Wat with 5 minutes to spare before sunrise. About 200 other people had the same idea, but there was plenty of room to get the sunrise shots.

Having the dirtbike was a blessing. It was extremely hot all day. Walking around was easy, as long as you could find shade. But the best part was, I could just hop on the bike anytime and ride around to cool off. Plus, I saw all the major temples before noon. So, I ended up going around the circuit again and catching the smaller sites. There is a mini-mountain that most people go to for sunsets. I went around 3pm, and ended up sleeping in one of the little rubble areas that no one goes to. I listened to the sparrows swoosh by. I've seen them before, but never heard them. The make quite a loud sound, cutting through the air.

After sunset, and about 200 pictures later, I went back into town. It was the last day of New Year, but everything was pretty quiet. I went to a bar called the Dead Fish Bar. Their claim to fame is that they have a crocodile pit beneath the bar. You can feed them while sitting on your stool. They were little crocs, and a bit lazy, but still a novel idea. Slept sound again.

Day 8 - Back Home

2004-04-18T03:19:00.000-07:00

Day 8 - Back Home

I went to go see the crocodiles again at the Dead Fish Bar. Most bars are closed, but this one is enough of a tourist attraction to stay open longer.

It was a long, lonely, boring 6 hour ride back to Phnom Penn. The trip ended on a calmer note, but that was fine by me, as I had plenty to reflect upon. Plus, I ended up sleeping for almost two days straight. I had to pay $20 extra for the damage done to the bike, but the damage done to me... free!

Bike Trip - Dodge 'em Mines

2004-04-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

I am going on a dirt bike tour with a bunch of teachers and expats out into the provinces for Khmer New Year. Expect lots of photos and crazy stories when I get back.

Well, I went to a meeting(actually, we went to a bar that had a map of cambodia) where the trip was organized. Here is the roster:

My teacher friends
----------
Simon-British
Sean-British
Chris-Britsh
Mike-KhmerAmerican

We are all pretty much the amatures of the dirt bike gang. I'm sure we will be at the back of the pack playing catch up.

Others
-------
Sean-Aussie - NGO
Francois-French - Motorbike shop owner(where I got rented my bike)
Dara-Khmer - Mechanic
Vitou-Khmer - Guide
Adrian-British - No job
John-American - ex HALO Trust worker http://www.halotrust.org
Tim-British - Organizer of the trip, NGO

---------------

So, the second group has all brought body armour, knee and elbow pads, and who knows what else... this is their hobby, and they are well equiped. John will be a blessing, because the area we are going is heavily mined. We may even get to go watch some of the deminers work. I promise I won't throw any rocks at any metal I see...

I'm going to my fourth wedding! I leave Friday night to attend a wedding with the other teachers. The other group will meet us on Sunday.

We are going to Preah Vihear province, in north central Cambodia. It also has a temple that the Thais and Khmers have been fighting over ownership. The temple lies right on the border, but technically it is in Cambodia.

Then to Kulen, which was temporarily the Capital of the Khmer Empire. Now, it is nothing but a squat little village. The main religious grounds are located at Koh Ker. This temple was demined in the last 2 years, and gets very few visitors. It is within 100 km of Angkor wat, but is not accessible from the west. Instead, you must go 300km out of your way, on very bad roads(but good in the minds of dirtbike riders).

After, our group will probably split. I hope to goto Ratanakiri, but there are lots of other places, daytrips, or temples to visit. High on the list are: the gold and diamond mines, Yet Laou Lake(supposed to be beautiful), and Pol Pot's burial spot.

Have fun, cuz it won't be as much as I'm having...

Pagoda Party

2004-04-04T18:54:00.000-07:00

My good friend Tin invited me to his pagoda where they were having a grand opening of sorts to commemorate their new building. The site has been a monastery for a long time, but they finally got some foreign money to finance a large Wat. The No. ! backer was American, so I was particularly popular... except for the family I met whose house was destroyed by american bombs. We were only 60 km from Phnom Penn, and at least 150 from the Vietnam border... so it goes to show how far into Cambodia the bombing campaign went.

The ceremony consisted of lots of fireworks and firecrackers. Many small denomination donations were given, and it was a gathering for lots of families to come back to their homelands. The ceremony coincided with the weekend before Khmer New Year, which is generally a time to reflect on people who have pasted away.

I went out into the fields, where they bury their dead in the Chinese fashion. A huge mound of dirt, with one side pointing in a certain direction. We sacrificed a pig, and made offerings of beer and coke(hey, its all these people have). Some beer mysteriously went missing, and I could hear the parents yelling at the children. I've been to this place 3 times now. It is so peaceful and beautiful. There is a very shallow lake, with people walking out to the middle to fish for clams. The rice fields are green where there is water, and the water lotus flowers add a nice purple color to all the brown dead grass. The palm trees are a powerful tree, and the dead leaves hang down from the top of the tree, but don't fall off. They rustle in the wind and it is sometimes the only sound to be heard.

It's not so easy to get to this place, especially by small moped. My back has paid the price, and I need to be in shape for next weeks bike trip to Ratanakiri, the last jungle area in Cambodia. I'll give you an update before I leave on the big trip...

Another lesson in Karma

2004-03-29T00:18:00.000-07:00

Well, the way Saturday went, I figured Sunday would be just as fun. As usual with my friends. I was up and ready at 9am, but somehow we didn't leave Phnom Penn until 1pm.

Our plan was to go to Mekong Island, as the expats call it, or Silk Island as the locals call it(or at least what they market it as). It's very clost to the city, but far enough that you feel like you are miles away from anything. It is a long island in the middle of the Mekong River, that has a sandy beach at the north end. The locals plop a few bamboo huts right on the waters edge, and serve food and push their wares.

On our drive to the beach, a woman came running out into the street screaming bloody murder. I pictured her with a kitchen knife in her hand, but it was only silk scarfs. What a sales tactic. Scare the crap out of barangs into buying something.

So, there were 5 of us all together that took the trip. Two small motos and one big moto. We all parked out on the sand and setup on one of the huts. The children immediately swarmed all over us, and we had a fun time trowing them around on the innertubes. The water was quite warm, and only a few times did we see sewage float by. It is not clean by any standard, but I think being here so long has built up my toxicity levels.

We hear tires screeching, and I see a car has gotten stuck in the sand. The tide came in and sunk a few cars. 3 to be exact. So, the Khmers couldn't quite figure out how to get the cars unstuck. We showed them how to dig under the tires, and stick pieces of wood for traction. After getting the first car unstuck, we were recruited by the other groups to help them. This lasted for almost 2 hours. Most of our time there was spent helping others get unstuck from the sand. When we wanted to leave, we had to stay and help. Fortunatly, a well off khmer in an SUV came and towed the rest out. So, on our way back, my friend Simon, on the big bike, decided to dry his clothes on the back of his bike. Great Idea!

His shirt and shorts got stuck in the wheel and eventually got sucked into the drive chain and into the engine. His bike seized and he almost crashed. His shorts were wedged in their tight, and our little knife couldn't cut all the way in. Luckily, one of the trucks that we helped earlier passed us and stopped to give a hand. They had lots of tools, and we took the casings off and ripped the clothing out.

See what happens when you are nice to others... it comes back to you!

Dry Season Hail Storm

2004-03-27T07:53:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, such a strange day. I wanted to goto Kirirom National Park today. I started a little later than planned, which means it is hotter. Yesterday, I took 4 showers during the day. I crashed a NGO party last night, so maybe that's part of the reason I was a little slow getting organized.

3 other teachers are leaving the same time I am, so we all came up with the brilliant idea of having a going away party..... in the train station! Bribe enough people, and you can do anything in this country. We are trying to decide how big the party should be. We can use the space ourselves, or try to make it a huge party... with lights, DJ's, the whole thing. Tomorrow, we are all meeting to iron out the details

So, I rented a 125cc bike, twice. I drove off with it before i noticed that everytime I idled, it would stop running. So, I had to drive back and exchange the bike. My new bike had a very stiff brake lever. All the rentals are crap.

I got off to a good start, but I saw a sign for the park about 25km before i should have seen any sign. So, i go off and check it out. 100km later, i realize its not the right way. But, i found this beautiful little lake where they were harvesting Lotus flowers. Beautiful water lillies, plus you can eat the seeds.

I didn't make it to the park until 2:30. Since I didn't have much time, i was able to bargain the ticket entrance fee down a dollar. Still, 4 dollars was well worth it because I saw.... A FOREST!!! I know that doesn't sound like much, but there aren't any natural ones around here, and I haven't seen any since North Thailand.

Mountain roads are always fun, these were fun because I get the extra pot-holes to manuever around. I was covered from head to tow in clothing to keep the sun off my skin. But as soon as i crested the hill, i see clouds... dark ones... Thunderclouds!! Now its still dry season, and it is not supposed to rain until May or June, but they always say that mountains create their own weather.

There is supposed to be a mediocre waterfall somewhere in the park, but since it is dry seans, the water flow is low. I goto another scenic area, and I notice a lot of people dressed up in leaves. They are wearing bikinis(strange for Khmers, they normally wear their clothes to go swimming) with leaves attached. Kinda like a hula skirt. I then notice that there is a cameraman, and they are filming a movie. I then notice that the women aren't exactly women... LADYBOYS! Transvestite movie! I reluctantly take my clothes off to go swimming in the stream, it was actually a pond.

While all of this is going on, i hear thunder... strange. I remember my friend Snatch, he was struck by lightning on a mountain, so i get nervous and start to head down. Within 30 seconds, the clouds start to dump rain on me. It's cold rain, then its hail. I had a minute of hail pelting me before I found a food vendor stand to hide in. I waited out the storm in the hut with about 5 other khmers. Their first question was where was i from, second question.. was i married. Always trying to marry off their daughters to a foriegner... The lightning and thunder was LOUD. You know you are close to lightning when you start to hear the thunder in one ear, and then it finishes in the other ear. 2 bolts struck within 200 yards, because there was no gap between sight and sound... It was a pretty intense storm. i was pretty high up, so it didn't stop raining for almost 2 hours. Even then it was still raining a little. Coming down the mountain i could feel the rain heating up. At the top it was cold, but at the bottom it had turned into warm rain.

A long dark ride back to phnom penn, but there wasn't any rain in the city, just in the mountains. If it weren't for the entrance fee, I'd go all the time. It's the closest real piece of nature. I can't wait for Khmer New Year, when i get to do the same thing for a whole week in North Cambodia, where there is even wilder jungle and forest.

So, getting lost, Ladybody movie, hailstorm... not your average day, huh?

Monk chauffeur

2004-03-21T04:45:00.000-07:00

What an incredible weekend. On Friday I finished a hellish 8 hour day(long for Cambodia). I was going to meet some friends at a pool bar(just a bar with a swimming pool), but through no fault of my own, we followed the wrong person and drove around the city for almost an hour trying to find it. So instead, I ended up at a favorite bar where they were having a late St. Patrick's day party. No Guiness, but it was still fun.

To recover from the hangover, I went to The Phnom Penn Water Park. Yes, there is a water park, with the most important feature, The Lazy River. Nothing like floating on an innertube around with a beer. There was an NGO that had taken a field trip with a bunch of orphan kids. Otherwise, no other westerners were there, so I was a novelty. The place is right below the final approach path for the few airplane that land at Phnom Penn Airport, so I never got to nap.

Afterwards, I was invited to a Baby Shower(pretty much the same description as my wedding post). Lots of drinking. I was forced to dance with some army captain, but all in good fun. A really cute kid, and I got to bless it by tying a piece of string around its tiny little hand. I went with a few other backpackers, but things got ugly when they refused to give money for the food and beer. Don't know what they were thinking, but I ended up having to pay for two of them. So, it was a little more expensive than i expected, but worth it. Late night was spent at a friends birthday party that really sucked, but everyone at the party agreed, so we all comforted each other by telling each other how much it sucked. We were all obligated to be there because I knew they bar owner and I haven't been around in a while.

So, Sunday, the big day. I rent a moped and head off for a replication of Angkor Wat. I had no description of where it was, and like everywhere in Cambodia, no english signs. Plus, the actual road turned out to not even be signposted in Khmer. Anyways, after asking a few friendly locals, I find the correct road. I see a huge wat, with a lot of khmer cars, so I check it out...

Now, I stop in the wat and a friendly Monk starts up a conversation. His name is Tep, and he is the main english teacher for this Wat. There are 125 monks that live there, and he teaches about 40 of them. I met most of them and let them practice their english. In appreciation, Tep asks if I would like to take him to see his Mango tree farm. Sure! So, I rode out on my moped alone, so he hopes on the back and off we go... Me, driving a monk around... kinda funny.

This needs a little more description. Monks wear the bright orange saffron robes, so it is not easy for them to ride the bike. Most men straddle the bike, while most women sit sidesaddle, off to one side. Because the monks have the robe, they must sit sidesaddle as well. So its an odd sight to see a man riding like that. Plus the sight of some Barang driving around a monk must have confused many of the locals.

So, he takes me to his field where his grandmother spends all day guarding the trees. She has another home, but she spends all day there. I don't like the bitter mangos, but out of respect I forced a few down with a smile on my face even though I wanted to spit them all out.

There are two holy mountains(hills, only 500 meters high) right next to his farm, so we take the moto up and he serves as a guide for me. i have my own personal monk guide! Then i see it... The replication of the main Angkor Wat Temple. It's real size, for some reason i was thinking it was miniature. Turns out some well off Khmer made a lot of money in America, and gave a grant to build this duplication. Just down the road is a Temple he built as well. Its a strange temple, it doesn't look like all the other pagodas, it has some definite Western architecture in it.

So, after acting like a tourist and taking a few pictures, we head back to his Wat. Tep fed me traditional Khmer Soup, and I entertained his students for a little while longer. Then, i got blessed by the head monk. Usually they use leaves and sprinkle water on your forhead. This monk decided to use a wooden laddle, and used it to apply water to my eyebrows. My forehead is now holy. I tried to leave a small donation, since Tep had bought me a soda and soup, but he refused. FIRST TIME IN CAMBODIA THAT A KHMER REFUSED MONEY!!!!!! He gave me his business card(yes, he had a personal business card!) and asked that I come back soon. There's not much else out there, but if I find time, it should be fun.

Tonle Bati

2004-03-16T02:06:00.000-07:00

Well, been slacking on the pictures, but I should have them up in the next week. because....

I went away for the weekend again. Went south to Tonle Bati, and Wat Tamao. Both were lovely, but it is HOT and the sun is BRUTAL!. Got a little sunburnt. Luckily, there is a lake at Tonle Bati, and the cool water was a blessing.

The best thing about Tonle Bati, apart from the 7th century ruins, is the huts over the lakes. There is a thin wooden plank maybe 50 feet from the shore towards the middle of the lake. It is no easy task to walk out on, and even harder to walk back... because they serve beer in the huts. Nothing like getting so drunk that you can't leave your hut without falling in. I think the khmers don't mind, and it is sort of a game for them. They get such a kick out of laughing at others fall in. But inevitably, everyone who drinks usually falls in. The wooden planks are taken out each wet season, so they are not built to last, just to last a few months...

The only bad thing is that foriegners must pay $3.00 while Khmers must pay $.25. The foreign rip-off price is prevelant in Asia, so you just have to get used to it.

Wat Tamao was a little farther south, and I went there first since i missed the turnoff for Tonle Bati. Saw the strangest murals... will have to see the picture to understand...

So, its around 40 degrees Celcius everyday now. I have been cursing how much time I spend at school, but it is actually nice since they have A/C there and I don't use mine at home.

Take it easy!

320km Wedding

2004-03-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

I rented a 125cc honda dirtbike for $5/day, and went with another teacher and his khmer girlfriend. Sean has been here for 1 year, but had not been on the road we were doing. It was a 300+ km loop towards the Vietnam border, following the Mekong River most of the way. A counterclockwise loop allowed us to leave Phnom Penn downriver, and come back down river from the opposite direction.

I thought having a khmer with us would help with communication with the locals, but she was a bit quiet, and Sean and I stumbled(I stumbled more) through the language barrier. Distances are very confusing, because NO dirtbike has a working odometer or tacometer, so it's done by time of day. Plus road conditions vary, so you never go the same speed all the time. I thought we were lost, but we found a nice road leading through Preyveng(same as my moto drivers), and found the provincial capital town. We ate by a huge lake that had dried up, and the locals said they have to move their houses when the rains come.

The weather is changing here, and the winds were gusty and persistant. I had to ride at a 20 degree angle just to drive straight.

We suddenly came upon a forest(very rare in the lowlands). All the trees were lined up, so it was some kind of tree farm. There were little dirt roads, and the locals were using them, so we cut off the main road and got lost in a maze of trees. We later figured out they were rubber trees. Every tree had a diagonal cut, and we could see the rubber draining out off a leaf into a bowl. No one seemed to mind us driving through.

Onto Kampong Cham, with the largest bridge in Cambodia. Very impressive. Relaxed and had a drive on the beach... yes river beach. During low water, there is a beach, where the locals lay wooden planks down so you can drive across. We went over a very sketchy bridge, but it held our heavy bikes and we made it safely across.

There is a pagoda complex there. Translated into english, it is Man mountain and woman mountain. (Woman mountain is taller!). Actually, there were smaller pagodas, and we went to one, looked like Noah's Ark. The whole thing was shaped like a boat(no two pairs of animals, must monkeys).

Sean and his girlfriend wanted to go home, so I went back to Kampong Cham and found a nice place in an abandoned Muslim Mosque and setup the hammock for the night. No problems with people bothering me.

The next day, I looked at the map for the area, and strangly enough, the map labels the pagodas as castles. I asked about another 'castle', and the guy said that the one i hadn't visited yet was used by a khmer as a castle, no monks. However, it was still on the map, so I went to check it out. It was gated up, but I could see it from the road. Only in cambodia can you buy history and shut it off to everyone. However, if you've seen one pagoda, there is little difference between them. One of the places from yesterday looked very old, but had been built ONE year ago. They just built it to look old.

So, by midday, I made it back to Phnom Penn, and as soon as I got back, I got a call from Tin, my moto guy. He wanted to know if I would come to another wedding. This one was in Phnom Penn, and was mostly just food. It was another moto guy who was getting married, so it was full of moto drivers. The food was excellent: Khmer sushi, lobster, prawn soup, fried frog legs, and some kind of fruit dessert. The best part was instead of rice being thrown at the bride and groom, it was flowers and Silly String. With all the rice they grow here, its strange they don't use it for ceremony purposes. But hey, nothing beats Silly String.

Lotsa fun. Pictures to come later...

Preyveng Wedding

2004-03-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

Went to my first official wedding on Saturday, and I never even learned the names of the bride and groom.

I went with Tin and an English backpacker, Dan. We went to the same villages I had been to on Chinese new year. The wedding was in a different village, but looked much the same as all the rest.

Climbed to the top of a pagoda, on a very sketchy ladder. at the top, I met the construction workers. It seems that constructions workers all over the world have the same mindset, all women are to be ogled at. In america, it is the catcall or whistle. In cambodia, they build naked female models on the pillars. I find it ironic that they are building a religious building, yet they put pornographic images in the ceiling where no monks will go. They got the most fun out of putting the nipples on the bust of the girls. They would paint, look at me and laugh, then start over again... hours of fun, nipples are...

Climbing up the ladder was easy, down was much harder. Especially since I was only wearing a krama, or scarf skirt.

The wedding was very secluded, and the music seemed muffled because it was in a depression. Usually, you can hear the music from 2km away. The food is always the highlight of the wedding. Excellent noodle salad, along with baby bamboo and mushrooms, with assorted meat.

Of course, since Dan and I were the only barangs, we were ushered up to do Apsara dancing. Absurdly easy dance, and boring after about 2 minutes, but the Khmers love it, so we danced as long as they did.

We were given a special table seperate from the rest of the guests, but most seemed to flock around our table. A mandatory donation is needed to eat at the wedding, but you can come at watch for free. I ended up giving $15, just beacause the food and beer was well worth it. Plus, a wedding is a good excuse to drink too much, and the khmers take this to a new level. I was dragged from house to house and paraded in front of the elder villagers, who poked and prodded and asked lots of questions. They seemed to be most interested in my arm and leg hair. They pulled quite a lot, since they couldn't quite tell if it was real or not.

After lots and lots of drinking, the next day was relegated to relaxing by the river and lake. Again, we went clamming and fishing again.

Lots of fun...

Kampong Trach

2004-02-21T04:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I only had one class per day this week, because the school gave all part-time students a week off. So what did that mean for me? I gave my hours to another teacher, and I got a 7 day holiday!

I started on Tuesday around Phnom Penn, shopping and getting all those boring chores done. I have to goto the market here at least once every three days, mostly to stock up on vegetables, they don't last long in my fridge.

So, I went to the train station, to try to get a ticket to Kampot, which is south of PP, about 6 hours by train, but only 125km. That gives an average of 20km/h... pretty slow. However, the train(according to lonely planet, and the local newspaper) only runs every other day. On tuesday, I asked if the train left today, and the lady said, "No, cancelled today"

Naturally, I assume that means the next day the train will run, so I spent the rest of tuesday packing all the essentials:

Food - Snickers Bars, tuna cans, and peanut butter
Shelter - Hammock
Clothes - One pair of clothing(what I was wearing), plus two Krama's(scarfs), and a rain jacket(I know it's dry season, but wait till the end of the story)

Wednesday: I get up at 5am, because the train leaves anytime between 6 and 6:30, or whenever the train is full(never). However, I only see one train. One train goes north, the other goes south. Aparently the ticket lady meant the South train was cancelled forever. Frustrated, I hop back on my moto and goto the market where the pickup trucks leave. For twice the price(a whopping $1.50) I get the bumpy dusty mini-van ride to Kampot instead of sitting on top of a train roof, enjoying the scenery(a less whopping $.75). Bummer.

Kampot is a picturesque little river(inland bay, more likely) town, but I had been before, so I quickly rented a moto(I bargained down to $2.50/day) an headed off. I stopped by where the fishing ships were offloading. There was a little food stand there, and I sampled the local seafood. Excellent stuff, compared to the usual Khmer food(I cannot use the word cuisine, because it's not).

So, I head off to Kep, the old French seaside resort. It used to be the number 1 place for Khmer and French upper class to take their holidays, but Sihanoukville has usurpted it. There are plenty of run down, decreped, concrete buildings(yeah, more places for me to sleep). If you remember my Bokor story, very much the same, as Bokor is only 40km away from Kampot in the other direction.

Kep was nice, I rode on possibly the only one-way road in Cambodia(it was only one-way for foriegners, I saw Khmers drive the other way, no problem). Nice excuse for the police to extort more money, but I knew the trick beforehand, and the police were non-confrontational. The beach was black rock, and not to pleasant water. But nice views of islands off the coast.

So, long day, but I decided to goto Kampong Trach, another 25km east, very close to the Vietnam border. There are mountains that shoot straight up from the rice fields all over the place. I took plenty of pictures(probably up at printroom tomorrow). The closest one was 2km north, and there are famous caves that the Khmer Rouge used to hide out in. I went exploring around until dusk, then tried to find a place to sleep.

Many of you might remember my passion(or financial stubborness) for sleeping in exotic(free) places. Well, I found a shack, the locals use them as temporary rest shelters(when in rice fields) or shop fronts(when on roads). I found one on the road, with no roof, so I assumed that no one would be using it. I setup my hammock, and local kids came and stared at me(as they all do here). Soon, I had an audience of people, dumbly staring at me. An elder Khmer came forward and started talking. I stated my intentions, in Khmer(I had studied the exact conversation I would use), but they didn't seem to understand. He started asking for money, so I just packed up and angrily rode off.

I rode for only 3 or 4 km, off into the rice fields, where I found a palm tree grove. The trees were fairly far apart, so I had to use my moto as one base for the hammock. It was a light moped, so I kept sagging to the ground. I retried my rope in a single strand, so it was longer, but less strong. It worked but I could hear some of the strands popping and straining under my weight. It didn't really matter, because the same elder had followed me into the fields. This time he had a machete, or some kind of sickle in his hands. He asked for money again, but this time I didn't argue, I just packed up and rode off again. It was amazing how friendly and nice he sounded, but he was holding a machete and had a gang with him, so, I caught their drift.

Really angry now, I rode back in the direction I came from, in the dark now. I had already scoped out all the locations, and knew that there weren't any. So, I went back to the closest mountain to Kampong Trach. There was a monestary very close to there. I had wanted to spend the next day exploring the other side, but I had no choice now. I went towards the monestarty, but passed a large cave first. It was large enough to drive my moto into, so I went maybe 20 meters in. There was a little campsite inside. I didn't bring my sleeping bag, as its pretty warm most of the night(it only gets chilly from 3am until sunrise at 6am. So, the first night I slept in the cave.

I've seen moto drivers sleeping on their motos. They swing their legs over the handlebars, and sleep on the seat cushion. I tried this before the ground, and I don't know how they do it. I almost fell twice, the bike started to lean, and I was still awake, so I jumped off. If I was asleep, I would have fallen hard.

Anyways, the bats were zooming in and out of the cave. I sat outside(where stragely enough, I saw fireworks in the distance). The bats would zoom so close to me. The trick is to hold really still. Because if you move, their radar can't react fast enough and they hit you. If you hold still, they think you are a rock and avoid you. This doesn't mean they won't shit on you, but I came out of the cave fairly clean.

In the morning, I was woken up by some monks. Word travelled fast, a barang by himself, and they were asking me all kinds of questions. I followed them to their wat, and they cooked me some noodles. I signed a book, with 3 other foriegn names in it, and headed off again.

This time I passed a gravel making machine. Stranger still, I passed Khmers sitting on piles of rocks with hammers. Ther were hitting the rocks and making gravel. They had one palm leave for shelter from the sun, and they all hit in a steady rythym. I thought of the Flintstones when I saw them. I talked to one near a cave entrance, and all he could do was beg for money. At least he mentioned bei(rice), or food, so had him take a few pictures of me, plus some of him, and gave hime some money for the problem. His boss came(probably because he didn't hear him hitting the rocks) and started yelling. I hope I didn't cost him his job, but he probably had to share the money I gave him. There were children all over the place, too. I wasn't sure if they were working or playing, but I wouldn't put it past this company(chinese) to do it. There is a lot of resentment towards the chinese here, because they all live in the same town, but they are richer and segregate themselves from the khmers. They have different schools, homes, and even markets.

So, I found the cave where the Khmer rouge were... More of a system of cannon, gun, and mortar holes in the rocks. I was at the Rock of Gibralter, and it was very similar to that. I got a little lost and had to use the train tracks as a guide to get home. Since the Kampot line is no longer running, the locals have little plank cars that use boat motors to scoot along the tracks. It's better than using the roads, and cheap. However, the moto is too heavy, only bicycles. Plus there is a moto track alongside the railroad track.

I made it back to Kampong Trach a little early, so I decided to check out the Vietnam border. I chose the one that foriegners are not allowed to cross. The border guards were very confused as to why I was there. I just wanted to take a picture of the vietnamese flag, and they said no. I took one anyway, and they tried to take my camera away. I tricked them into thinking I erased the picture, and left. People just don't understand sometimes...

I took the long way back to Kep, even though it was geographically shorted. I passed many salt lakes, and the whole area had that strong fish-salt smell. I saw two large wats on hills, and one monk showed me around. He was pretty young, but I find all the monks speak english very well, and they want to practice when foriegners arrive. He was most friendly and served me tea and dried fish. The local school was in the wat, and the children all played around me.

I made it back to Kep, and remembered a nice abandonded building where the roof was still intact. There was also a ramp to the roof, so I could store the moto up there with no one able to see it. I watched the stars for a little while, and then strung up my hammock. The stars went away, and it started to rain... IT STARTED TO RAIN!!

Now, this is the dry season, but along the coast it sometimes sprinkles. I felt rain for maybe 2 minutes, not enought to even get my clothes wet. I haven't seen rain for nearly 3 months, and it was a nice reminder. Surprisingly, I had no problem from the police or knife-weilding farmers... slept great.

Friday: I left Kep early, and went to another cave complex. The caves here are unimpressive, but better than nothing. I had a few hours to kill in Kampot, so I went towards Bokor mountain. There was a zoo there, so I decided to check it out. I found it, but there were no animals... and the guards tried to charge me entrance fee. I said I was just driving through. He said the road ends, I said, I know... I go to end and come back... While he was trying to figure this out, I drove off. Beyond the zoo there was.... get this... a garden farm..... Now, I saw little plots of land, with flowers and plants, all seperated by concrete walk-ways. I have no clue why it was there, but by the condition of the road, I assume not many people made the trek up there. Interesting, but confusing as well.

Turned in the moto and caught a pickup truck to Sihanoukville...

A lesson on Karma:

I knew the price for the pickup. The tout knew I knew the correct price. However, he also knew that there were not any other trucks leaving for a while, and the rule is, when the truck is full(really full, i sat on coolers hanging off the rear tailgate) it leaves. So it could have been another 2 hours before they found enough people... So, I paid double the price(a whopping $2.00).

One girl on the truck took offense to me putting my shoes on her luggage. Now, everything on the truck gets covered in a layer of dust, so I don't know what her problem was. Plus the tout who overcharged me was not giving me much room to sit. He yelled at me for grabbing the wrong hand hold, and was just generally nasty.

So, right as we are about to get to the main road, another girl gets sick and vomits(or tries to vomit.. it looked like clear jelly and snot) off the side of the truck. Going as fast as we were, it carried back up and splattered all over the nasty girl and tout sitting on the edge of the truck..... MESS WITH ME=GET VOMMITED ON.

So, Sihanoukville was depressing. My favoirite bungalow was shut down by the tourist police and was no longer letting people stay for free. A golf course is moving in, so it looks like I won't be visiting there anymore. Just too depressing and too many tourists.

Got back to Phnom Penn a little earlier than I expected, but the caves and mountains and sea were all worth it.

More pictures at printroom

Moto Accident #2 and #3

2004-02-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

I was not in accident #2, but was an observer. #3 was me by myself the next day....

The story goes:

On friday i went out with Vinh and company. We ended
up at someones house, where i met Paul, nice guy from
Brighton(not gay). Vinh and Paul left early. We get a
phone call 5 mins later from vinh saying he was in an
accident. We all rush there to see Paul lying on the
ground, head wound and broken leg, but vinh doesn't
have a scratch on him. Apparently a van had pulled out
in front of them and vinh put the bike down. Paul was
more drunk of the two, i think he just flopped while
vinh rolled. Similar to my accident where i was better than
the moto guy.

So, we get an ambulance to Calmette hospital, where we
are told it will be $120 for the ambulance ride, plus
they have no xray, and will not do anything until they
see a credit card. Luckily, there was a guy daniel, our
savior, who spoke broken french and khmer, and was
able to find a decent human being who would not try to
rip us off out of money while our friend is in pain in
the next room. There is an organization called SOS,
right next to the us embassy, so we decide to take him
there. However, Calmette will not release paul until
we pay. We negotiate down to $42, which all but cleans
us out, we were almost ready to pawn watches and
jewellry since we didn't have cash in hand...

I'm sober by now, and somehow vinh's moto doesn't have
a scratch on it. So, i take it to go get Pauls credit
card. He is a little incoherant, so I take a friend and
we goto Freedom Cafe at the end of Boeng kak road.
Ater waking up the guards and convincing them we were
not robbers, they let us in. We tore the room apart, but
didn't find the credit card. We found his money belt,
and thought that would be enough. Back to calmette,
and paul is a little more coherent. Calmette says not
enough cash, they still need credit card imprint. By
now, he has been there for almost 2 hours. It almost
got violent. Paul told me where to find cc, and i
leave again. It was not fun trying to wake the guards
up again, but i found it. I come back to calmette and
everyone is gone. They try to grab the credit card
from me, but i make a break for it and leave.

I knew where they were going, so i meet them there,
and they said the had to pick paul up, with a broken
leg and concussion, and carry him to the street where
they had called a car taxi. Pretty dramatic stuff. If
i had given them the credit card, who knows what they
would have done.

So, vinh stayed with him all night, and they flew him
to bangkok on Sat....

--

So that was not even my moto accident. After dealing with all that,
I needed to get out of the city, i had missed the train, so i rented a
big 250cc moto and went to udong.... I know what you
are thinking... After all that and I get back on a
bigger motorcycle... I know, but I have a
lack of fear about these things

So, I go along the Tonle Sap river, beautiful
villages, but the road turns into a bridge I was not
willing to cross, i turn back. i can see wat udong, but
the road wraps around. There are lots of access roads
to the rice fields, so I shortcut through them.

In rice fields, there is a slight raised border to
the fields to hold in the water. Now with the water
gone, the path usually cuts a small hole in the
border, just enought for the wheels to go through at
the same level as the bottom of the field.

I went through plenty of them with no problem. But
there were a few times the foot pegs hit, so i was
keeping my feet up. However, i went past a border with
grass on it. I let my feet hit the grass and there was
a hidden tree stump in there. My foot was pinched
between the stump and foot pedal. i cursed and
screamed, much to the confusion to the cambodias
working the fields.

It hurt like hell, but I could still walk, so I
continued onto udong. I only hurt the top part of my foot. Like I dropped a bowling ball on it or something similar. I climbed up, broken foot and
all, and had a conversation with a gay monk. That or
he was just the most flamboyant monk I've ever met. I sat there until the sun was about to set. I hobbled over to the other side and watched the sun
set. The fan kids weren't too bad, and I had a few
conversations with the monks...

Getting home was not easy, because the bike had to be
kickstarted with my broken foot. No electric started,
of course.

After two days, the swelling has stopped and I can walk, with a limp. At least I knew better than go to the hospital...

Lunar New Year

2004-02-05T19:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I forgot one... There are now 4 new years here in Cambodia....

Yesterday was the lunar new year. It is mostly celebrated in the countryside, but if you give the chinese/khmers a reason to celebrate, then out comes the drums and whistles. Any excuse to make noise, and they will make as much as possible. Same as Chinese new year, there are trucks(with men in drag... ugly drag) and children running after it. I watched for a bit, and had water thrown on me... I guess being blessed by a man wearing a dress is a good thing...

I have finals this and next week, so it will be busy at school. But, I don't write the tests, i just grade them. So, its a lot of mindless work, but the pay is the same.

Also, I have been walking past the same lady on my way to work. I call her the Scale Lady. Not because she has nasty skin... No, her job is to carry around a bathroom weight scale and charge people money for them to weigh themselves... brilliant idea!

Gong Xi Fa Cai

2004-01-25T23:23:00.000-07:00

I want to wish you all a Happy Chinese New Year (Gong Xi Fa Cai). As you may remember, I am not Chinese, but while I'm here, I feel I should join along with the festivities. It's the #2 new year, with one more to go in April. I get three new years for the hangover price of 10. There are pictures included in the text below, if you want to follow along just click on the highlighted text.

My bicycle was stolen last friday, so I have been walking to school. It's nicer, because it's dark and cool. I pass a pagoda, and have been meeting lots of the monks that do their morning exercises. I'm looking for a new one, but since they only cost at most $20, I'm not in any rush.

I was supposed to teach class on Wednesday, but all the students took an unofficial holiday, which would be Chinese new year's eve. Some students gave me (Ta eiell) or Red Pockets. Tradition is that you put a small amount of money in and give to friends and family.

So, I went with Tin, my moto friend to the countryside. It was good to get out of the city, because I live next to a chinese school, and all the kids were beating on drums and dancing and generally making as much noise as they could. Lots of firecrackers as well.

Tin's village is in the Preahsan province, and his wife's village is on the border for Kondal and Kompong Cham provinces. They are separated by a branch of the Mekong River, and most of the prosperous villages are along this side river. Tin's village is not on the river, and much poorer. All the roads are very bad and were not easy to navigate

I first was introduced to his uncle who runs a lumber business. Tin has more relatives than I could keep track of. In the morning on new years eve, food and fake money is offered as a sacrifice in a temporary alter for all family members that have died. They showed me the ritual, and I followed suit. It was very peaceful, and a nice gesture.

After that, it was a non-stop drinking marathon.... Rice wine as well. I was the only foreigner within 40 miles, so I was the novelty celebrity for the weekend. Drinking with Khmers is full-on, as they drink in a circle, and if you break the circle or refuse a drink, they are very offended and will forcefully make you drink. So, after hours of trying not to drink, I finally gave in and got very drunk. Tin was my interpreter the whole time, so I didn't speak much Khmer. After it got dark, it turned into Halloween. We went around from house to house(all the ones Tin knew) and went inside, said hello, took a shot of rice wine, and then accepted bananas, mangos, and rice wrapped in banana leaf. We had so much booty, we had to go home twice and start over again. It was like being a kid again, just no candy.

Chinese New Year was spend recovering and travelling to Tin's village. His mother and cousin were very poor, so could not celebrate or offer food. Instead, we went to Tin's brother's place, and organized a shared party with a group of houses. I paid the huge sum of $10 for food and drink. It's amazing that that was all that was needed. A duck was slaughtered in my honor, and I helped prepare it for cooking. Everything was festive until the conversation moved to Pol Pot. Both men had their fathers murdered by them, and they asked my opinion. I tried to console them, but nothing Tin translated seemed to make sense to them, and things got a little tense. His cousin had water dumped on him to sober him up. Tin understood and we left for a little while, some kids followed me and walked in his pagoda where he had been a monk. There was a mural that was dedicated to Tin(for a small fee) along with other murals from the villagers

The monks were flying a kite that made music by vibrating a string on the kite. The pagoda was very peaceful and it was a nice change to stop drinking. However, Tin came back and said that I was invited to the big dance in the center of town. News had spread quickly about my arrival.

We entered a square with a stage and HUGE speakers. For such a poor village, they didn't skimp on the sound system. I was forced onstage and had to give a short speech. Tin translated for me, but everyone just stared and gawked at me. A few people, mostly kids, came up and wanted to dance with me. This all went of for what seemed hours. Tin's brother was having a party, and we were supposed to drive to another village to meet his party.

However, Tin's moped does not have a working headlight(like most of the bikes around). So, there was no electricity or moon, so there was no way that I could see. Tin said he could do it, but we didn't make it more than 100 meters out of the city before he crashed. This sobered him up a little, and we headed back to his mom's.

The next day was spend coming back to his wife's village, and wandering around the rice fields, lake, and river. I was shown how to fish for clams. Basically, I just wade in the shallow end and dig into the dirt and grab the clams. The lake had bigger clams, but were harder to find. The river had more, and we must have collected 10kg. There were some fishermen nearby, and they showed me all the different kinds of fish they caught. Most were catfish or silverfish, but they got a few crabs and one Blowfish.

This whole time, Tin's uncle had sold a house....Start Working Finish Now not in the ordinary manner you would think. He built a prototype house across from his house. Another village had come and wanted to buy it. So instead of selling them the lumber, they wanted the prototype house. They dismantled it, dragged the lumber to a boat and floated it off. They did all this in about a day. Seems strange to built a house twice...

I was supposed to come back Saturday, but on our way home, we had to cross a ferry. At the ferry was the home of the district police chief. He saw me and invited us up to his party. Impossible to say no... Tin new him and it was like we had to pay homage to him. Corruption was very obvious, as his was the nicest house around and all he was was a police chief. Then came in the military man... Pah Ti(which translates into Father). If there ever was a Khmer version of the Godfather, this guy was it. He was fat, missing an eye, and has that cocky walk about him. The entire house bent over backwards to serve him beer, food, or make me answer the questions he asked of me. It was getting dark and the ferry was about to close but the Godfather wanted me to stay... so I stayed.

So, we ended up having to drive back(in the dark again) very slowly. This time I had my little headlamp, which did very little for the potholes, but at least I could see where the road went.

The next day, we loaded up our clams, went a different way home so as to miss Pah Ti, and fried up the clams back at Tins house in Phnom Penn. The drum trucks were still going around and making the general noise that they had been before.

Who wants a wedding?

2004-01-16T02:49:00.000-07:00

It seems there is a wedding here everyday outside my apt. The running joke is that there is some guy out there selling weddings by the bulk, if you buy more than 3, you get a discount on the 4th. Weddings in Cambodia are a quick affair. A tent is thrown up in the street(blocking the whole street so no cars can pass). This is done at 5 or 6am, a monk comes to say the blessings, food is served, and by noon, the tents are being brought down. After, all the guest go to a restaurant and get really drunk and sing keraoke.

This usually goes on on weekends and holidays. Last Wednesday I was invited to goto one. However, this was not a Khmer wedding, but rather a marriage between an american man and chinese woman, performed by an english priest, and the reception was at a French resort outside of Phnom Penn. The reception was nice, and after the food and drink, the bride and groom jumped in the pool and the guests followed. I like the idea of a pool party after your wedding.

I've been working like crazy teaching. I'm up to 40 hours a week. The money is great, but I thought the whole idea of getting out here was to be able to not need to work so hard. But, I can't complain about the money coming in, so I will slowly drop the hours, as long as I can keep awake from 6am until 8pm(my hours at school, including breaks).

Bokor Mtn. New Year's Rave

2004-01-07T04:08:00.000-07:00

I've been to the World Trade Center in NYC for the millennium new year's party, and I have to say, that New Years in Cambodia topped anything I've ever done before.

I asked for time off from work, so I would have time to get down to the party from Phnom Penn. Asking for time off is pretty easy, no questions asked, just make sure you do it a week in advance.

Bokor National park is about 100km south of Phnom Penn. It's highest peak is Bokor mountain at around 1170m. There is an old french casino there that is in disrepair since the 1950's. The Khmer rouge used the compound to shoot mortars down at the ships that passes in the sea below. If anyone has seen the movie The Shining

A flyer for the party can be found here:
Bokor New Year's Eve

So, 3 other friends rented a taxi and we made it to Kampot, where we changed taxi's and picked up 2 more people. I must describe our taxi driver, although we never got his real name, but we yelled, "slow down" quite a lot. It is 7km on paved road to the national park entrance, and 37 up a road that used to be paved, but now also has fallen into disrepair. It normally takes 2-3 hours to get up, but our taxi guy made it up in 1.45 hours. We were passing(on a single track road) SUV's and 4-wheel drive vehicles in our toyota camery.

We made it to the casino just before sunset, and we went to the roof to look below and see the boat trollers going out to sea. There were about 200 people there when we arrived and probably double that came later. Mostly westerners, but the Khmers were there as well.

The music started at 7pm, and didn't stop until 9:30am. There were 4 dj's and people were dancing all night. There was a chill out room in the basement where some people slept if they didn't have tents to camp outside. I ended up on the roof most of the night, watching the stars, and feel the entire building vibrate beneath my feet from the music. A few people went to check out the Khmer rouge gun turret that was still standing, but I waited until daylight to go check it out. There was also a church, and a place called the black palace, that were just extra buildings in ruin on the top of the mountain.

With the help of some caffeine drinks, I was able to stay up the entire night. Our lovable taxi driver, who we had paid to wait for us, had decided to take some other people down to earn some extra money. So, we were screwed out of a ride down. However, there were loads of people going down, and we quickly found a few seats in the back of a minivan. There was a produce truck carrying almost 50 people, for free, unfortunately was going the other direction. It took almost 3 hours to get down, as the minivan driver was not as harsh on his vehicle.

I spent New Years day travelling to Sihanookvile, where a nice cozy beach was waiting. After 30 hours of being awake, I slept very soundly, when I could have been laying on the beach.

Also, my visa had to be changed(a long story, very frustrating), so I had to take a ferry to the Thai border. This cost a bit more, as the local bus mafia had doubled the bus prices so it was just as cheap to take the ferry. I'm glad I did, because it was quicker, cheaper, and more scenic. I now have a visa that can be extended indefinitely, so I can stay in cambodia as long as I have money to pay for the visa.

Pics of Bokor will be up soon... Now that I am teaching, I am usually too tired to do anything after work other than eat and goto sleep. Plus, finding an internet cafe that has all the software tools in once place has proven harder to find than expected.... but it will get done eventually...

Cockroach moto crash

2003-12-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

To start with: I was in a moped accident on December 19th. Since I am still posting to the website, you can assume that I am not dead.

December 19th was a Friday, and I had just finished 35 hours for the week, a hefty sum for most teachers around here. I planned to meet some other western travellers, but one of the moto guys, Mr. Long, called me up and said they were going to eat snake... they have learned how to drag me into a restaurant to drink, then only later to find out that there is no snake left.

So, there were 5 Khmers, me and an Australian guy visiting from Saigon. We went to our regular restaurant, drank some rice wine, and ate eel(the closest snake substitute)soup again. I was still supposed to meet someone at 10:00, so I rounded up the troops to gather more people to goto a Khmer nightclub for the rest of the night. One of the Moto drivers was too drunk to drive, so the australian guy drove him. My guy was semi-drunk, but he would not let me drive his moto... pride thing I guess. Plus, he has a birth-deformed hand, so it makes it more difficult for him to drive.

Just as we were about to leave the restaurant, a little girl with some very random fried insects for sale came up to us. She had crickets, grasshoppers, preying mantises, and cockroaches. We sampled all but the crickets, as I'd already had some before. The grasshopper and mantis were both much more chewey than the crickets had been, but I was pretty hesitant about the cockroaches. They were smaller and you had to peel the wings in a special way. After the australian guy bought one, I was shamed into getting one as well. 100 reil for 1, or about 2 or 3 US cents apiece. They were quite crunchy and not altogether bad. Seeing that we didn't throw them up, the little girl offered us a huge bag for 1000 reil. Seeing the bargain, and shock effect of presenting a bagful of cockroaches to our waiting friends, I bought the bag.

Off we went... until one of the moto guys blew threw a red light.... this is not uncommon here, but only when the crosstraffic is light. The rest of us stopped and were waiting to turn left. There was a big "no left turn sign" ahead of us, but again, Cambodians don't pay much attention to road signs. The traffic pattern here is to try an jump the light. You can see the other directions light turn yellow, and even before the crosstraffic stops, we were going and trying to cut in front of oncoming traffic from the opposite direction. There are no left-green arrows, so you either jump the light, or wait a long time....

unfortunately, a Toyota Landcruiser was timing the light from the other direction and didn't stop or slow down at the light. So, we are cutting across traffic, with a huge SUV coming straight for us, I'm carrying a bag of cockroaches, and my moto driver has no fingers on his right hand. You can see where this is going right?

----

So, luckily my moto guy guns the gas and we are not hit head-on, but instead the rear wheel is clipped. The bike is spun around, and the moto guy lands right on his head. My many years of mountain biking, snowboarding, and motorcycle riding have prepared me well for this moment....

instincts tell you to brace the fall with your hands, but after seeing so many broken wrists in snowboarding falls, I remember quickly. As soon as i hit the ground, I tuck my hands in and do a roll, and pop up onto my feet before the bike even stops skidding. Now, I estimate that we were going 10-15 kmh max, but the landcruiser was going much faster than that... The instant the bike started to go out of control, I threw my hands up to try to keep my balance... and in the same motion... threw to bag of cockroaches in the air...

Now, I was pretty upset: First, that I had little cuts on my hands and arms... nothing gushing, but little bits of asphalt stuck under the skin is not pleasant. Second, that this would ruin the rest of the night. And finally, that I dropped my bag of cockroaches...

The moto guy was worse off than me, and his bike wasn't going anywhere, so I go off on the sidewalk to try and calm down. I am walking around and telling everyone to keep away from me. Now, by some chance of luck, another english teacher I've met here in Phnom Penn, Vinh, happens to be driving by at that moment and stops to ask me what happened.... But first a side note:

---------------------------
Khmer road accidents
---------------------------

When two khmers get into an accident, they quickly assess the damage, pay each other, and get the hell away from the crash scene if both motos or cars are still running. The reason: A typical accident will cost $5-20, but if a policeman comes to the scene, the cost will be 3-5 times higher. Only because the policeman wants money from the victims so that he won't file a report or arrest them.

If a westerner is involved, it is their fault. Sometimes, even if a westerner was near the accident, it is their fault. A good samaritan trying to help someone can quickly find a mob of Khmers demanding money for the injured person.

Also, there are no ambulances to come an pick you up. If you look like you don't have money, then you lay in the street and bleed until someone can prove that you will pay for the transport to the hospital. Also, it is a sick fascination with khmers(and all people I guess), to see someone hurt. But here, it goes to extremes. A mob will form in under 20 seconds. Within 5 seconds of our crash we had 20 people huddled around our bike and just staring. No one will do anything except stare and point at you. In one minute, I saw a huge group of people all yelling and pointing, but not helping my moto friend who was bleeding on the street. The other moto guys I knew were trying to get the bike started so they could get out of there, but after they found that to be a futile effort, they came to see if we were ok. Nice to see what the priorities are.

-----------------------

So, not knowing this information at the time, I want to stick around and make sure everyone is ok. Vinh, who knows better, throws me on the back of his moto, and we race off the scene. I was told if I stayed, I would have had to pay upwards of $50 for sitting on the back of a moto and nearly getting killed, all while doing nothing wrong other than having white skin. Sounds perfectly normal, right?

I see a moto accident almost everyday here, but most people never think it will happen to them. Now that a minor one has happened and I've escaped in one piece, I feel like I will be more aware of the motodrivers, and use my bicycle more often. I seem to be a better driver, and if anything happens, at least I know that I was in control so I would be the only one to blame.

I've got a wedding and a rave on top of a mountain to attend in the next week, so there should be some more uplifting stories coming....

Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year.

Teaching in Cambodia

2003-12-18T06:51:00.000-07:00

I had a bunch of other things I wanted to mention, but they might be better understood if I ramble on a bit about my teaching duties. So, here they are:

I've been teaching now for 3 weeks. In that time, NO ONE has sat in on any of my classes. I could be teaching them how to speak German for all the attention the director gives his teachers. There are maybe 15 western teachers and 15 Khmer teachers. The school is 3 years old, which is pretty good as far as private english schools go. The director, Kwesi, is pretty aloof, and I don't think I've ever seen him frown or move faster than a stroll. His saying goes, "nothing here is going to raise my bloodpressure".

I have 10 classes:
2 children
2 grammar
2 beginner
3 intermediate
1 chinese

I have not had all those classes since the beginning. Each class is 1 hour long, and a few are 1 hour 30 minutes. I get new classes and lose old classes everyday. This week, I've had 4 new classes given to me, most of the time the same day and with only 1-2 hours to prepare. There are always Khmer teachers to fill in if the school cannot get a foreign teacher. Plus, the Khmers cost less than foreigners.

The school here is run like a business, with the children seen as customers. As long as they are happy, they come back and pay more money to the school. What makes the students happy is different in each case. Some of the kids are rich chinese kids who don't want to be there. So, they never participate and never learn. But, somehow(I know how), they magically always pass their exams and move up a level. More money under the table, but it really doesn't help the kid speak english any better. Fortunately, most of my kids are pretty good. I only have 2 classes that give me any trouble. One is the large kids class. I don't think they know the english word for 'quiet'. I keep yelling at them, but they keep talking. I am not allowed to reprimand them, as that would make them angry and not pay money to the school. So, I am told to 'deal with it'. Lately that has been giving the kid candy and telling him to go outside and play.

Sometimes, I don't even get to stay in a class more than 1 day. A few times, I just get sent in so the kids see a foreign face. They ask me loads of questions, all of which are fun for me to answer. I've never been so popular. Outside of the school, things have changed as well. The moto drivers were really annoying me, but now they see me in my teacher's uniform(dress shirt and tie) and ask me questions instead of pestering me to go to the shooting range or killing fields. They see that I'm here for the long term and not as a tourist, and it's not so stressful walking around the city(as long as I'm dressed up).

I teach at 6am all the way up until 8pm. There are large blocks of time in between that I get off, usually from 11-3, so that I can get chores done, or go home and sleep. The school caps the number of hours per week at 30, and I have reached that. Since I am a new teacher, I don't get the best schedule, but people come and go, and the longer I stay, the more I can customize my schedule. It takes 30 min walking, and 10-15 by bicycle, and about 5-10 by moto.

Still, the difference I see coming to work, say from 6am, 11am, 5-7pm... it all feels like a different city. My morning classes are pretty relaxing, and oddly enough, my kids classes are all in the evening.

I'll be stuck at my pay rate of $8/hr for a while, but my expenses here are done with after I get my visa sorted out. After working for 1 week, pretty much all my expenses are paid off. But, now that I know the city, I think I may start venturing off into the country on the weekends. Renting a motorcycle is $3-6 a day, and will get you to some really interesting places. All the landmine scare tactics don't seem to be in effect around phnom penn, as its pretty safe to go anywhere.

There may be another side job opportunity, but it's still being worked out... I'll let you know when I do...

More life in Phnom Penn

2003-12-09T06:56:00.000-07:00

Visa Hell
---------

My tourist visa ran out on Dec 5th. So, on the 4th I decided to try to find out where I could get an extension. The 'official' crazy rules for cambodia are: $20 for tourist visa, but you can only extend once. So, $40 should get you a 2 month visa. Now, you don't need a business visa to work in Cambodia, no one checks. Since business visa's are $25 for one month, most people use up the tourist visas first since they are cheaper. The business visa can be extended indefinitely, but a 1 year visa is the longest time period you can get.

1 month is $25
6 month is $75
12 month is $150

So, it saves money to get the longer ones. However, at those prices, the 'government' or whoever the hell gets ahold of your passport needs 1 month to process the visa. This means I would be without my passport for a month. I need it for bank withdrawals, motorcycle rentals, and just peace of mind. The reason for this is that you cannot change from a tourist visa to business visa within the country. The passport must physically leave the country and come back in.... Bear with me.... Now if you pay double the official price, magically it only takes 1 or 2 days to get your passport back. So for $250 I get a 1 year visa. Also, Thailand is the only border that has the visas at the border.

So, what appears to be the process is: I will physically have to take another trip to Thailand and bargain with the border guards to get my tourist visa changed to a business one. Also if they try to overcharge me(they will), I will have to try to find a cheap place to do month by month, instead of the whole year visa...... I tried to goto my embassy to ask about this, but the khmer guard working outside only knew the phrase "Come back at 2:00". I asked him who the president of Cambodia was? same answer, I asked him if I could date his sister, same answer....

Again, if you can figure out the reasoning behind all of this, you're a better person then me.

-----

There is a huge Olympic stadium close to my house. I thought it was closed, but walking back from work, I saw a bunch of monks and citizens going in. It is still used as a exercise park, and it's close to the tallest non-building site in the city. One of the oddest things to do to earn money I've seen was inside of the stadium. There was a lady with a bathroom scale, charging for people to weigh themselves. I guess where you find people exercising, it makes sense. Beautiful sunset, and no little kids trying to sell you stuff....

Speaking of which, I had a pic-nic in front of the royal palace, and about 5 shoeshine boys came and tried to shine my sandals. After I told them it wouldn't work, they stuck around and played hackey-sac for a while. We drew the attention of the police, who then chased the kids away. After he left, we resumed our game and about 20 people gathered(I assume impressed that the police didn't have any effect on us). Biggest game of hackey I've ever seen. The circle must have had 30 people at one point.

------

Last week, there was a wedding/funeral(I can never tell the difference, people wear white to both, and they are both festive, like an Irish wake). Yesterday, however, they set up a big tent right under my apartment balcony. I went away for 3 hours and when I came back, they were already starting to take it down. It took them a long time to put up, and I don't see how they could have had the festivities that quickly.

However, even stranger was the house that used to be across they street. Mid-day, I walked by and saw some guys on the roof, tearing off shingles. By the next day, the entire house was gone.... nothing left, not even foundation. Wood, brick and concrete were all gone. I am still amazed at how fast they tore it down.

-----
On my way to the market where I eat dinner everyday, I have to pass by a little stall outside a house. There is a big group of cyclo drivers that hang out outside. The reason for this is, this is where they shower and bath. The owner puts out buckets of water, and they bath, right on the street. I've noticed at night, that they setup their cyclos in groups, hang hammocks, and sleep outside. I guess if you have no home, you need a bath house or someplace to shower.

Also, while I was at a bar on the river, I saw the most awful moto accident. I was on the 4th floor looking down on the street, and saw the accident happen. A white sedan was parked and the rear door opened. One moto guy swerved to miss and hit another guy coming from the other direction head on. Both guys flew over the bikes and landed hard on the ground. Within, 5 seconds, the sedan quickly drove away. A huge crowd of people stood around and pointed, but never touched the guys. One guy jumped over the guys and looked like he was performing Voodoo. This went on for 20 minutes until a policeman arrived and started directing traffic. Now, no one has helped or touched the 2 guys laying in the street, but the cop is directing traffic. Being such a shock to western thinking, many of the tourists got upset and asked where the ambulance was. When they were told that the guy didn't look like he could pay for one, so none was called... well, that upset a lot of people. So, again, a pool was collected so that the ambulance would come and see to their injuries. Much like my time in Morocco, if you get hurt, you are not guaranteed help.

I have a bunch of news about my teaching, but I will leave that for the new post.

later....

Life in Phnom Penh

2003-12-03T05:51:00.000-07:00

Been busy lately, so this will entry will try to catch everyone up...

Nov 15th was the day I found my apartment. It is geographically located in the center of town. I am on the top floor, 3 stories up. I have a balcony, den, A/C bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. Very tall ceilings, so no chance of me bumping my head. $150 per month, plus electricity. I get water, cable, gas, and a personal guard at the gate for free. The family that owns the building is Korean, and they use most of their home as storage for products(mostly beer) that get shipped in and out to somewhere. So, I pass by them everyday and they let me in and out of the building. I am paying a little more than I wanted, but it came fully furnished, which most other apartments did not do. The only drawbacks of the place are: there is a disco across the street that plays cheesy music and khmer kereoke, there is a pig slaughter house near and you can hear pigs squealing, and the dust seems to settle everywhere, so things are always dirty. But the wind cools things down, so i don't mind the dirt so much

I have had friends, Omri, Steve, Nasra, stay over at my place, so I needed an extra key made. I couldn't explain to the family what I wanted(they speak no english). So, I went out to the market to look for a locksmith. A moto guy had a little locksmith workshop on the back of his bike. For $.50 I got a copy made. Back in the states, they use a machine to copy the etchings on the key. Not in Cambodia... The guy got out a file, eyeballed it, and started filing away. He banged out an exact copy.

The sun comes up at 5:30 in the morning and sets about 5:30 in the evening. So, most people are up at 4 or 5 in the morning, and by 7 it is very busy. Being by myself, I got up when everyone else did. However, with all my friends staying over and sleeping in, 11:00 seems to be the earliest time we get outside... The problem with that is, that most of the people here take a siesta from 11-3. It's too damn hot. Much like Morocco, everything officially is open, but no one will acknowledge your presence or serve you. So, most people sleep. Restaurants fall into this category(except markets), so you can't even eat during this time. At least not in the cheap places.

Speaking of food... Add cow brain and eyeball to the list. I keep going out asking for the snake soup, but no restaurant ever seems to keep much snake in stock. The duck fetus soup is another dish I've been told to try. But when I'm not grossing out my traveler friends, I usually eat rice and meat at the street vender stalls. A medium size plate only costs $.50, and you get free tea and peanuts if you sit at their temporary tables. The food is fine, and I can try something new everyday.

-------------------------
"You want boom-boom?"
-------------------------

I had been in Phnom Penn for nearly 3 weeks and had not been to the Heart of Darkness(know as "the heart" by the locals). It is really nothing much to describe, just a little bar with a pool table and dance floor. However, there is about a 5:1 ratio of prostitutes to tourist. They are called bar girls or taxi girls, because they have to pay to get in, while westerners get in free. Literally within 5 seconds of walking in the door, a girl walks up and asks, "You want boom boom"? It's not looked down upon so much in this culture, but the novelty of sitting back and watching these girls fight over the guys was entertaining. They will slap and push each other around trying to get closer to the men so they can negotiate a price. I've been told there is a shooting there about every 6 months, and the police come and threaten to close it down. It is so popular though, so it seems that will never happen. I've been there once, and the novelty was all I was looking for. The cambodian nightclubs have and much more energetic and interesting atmosphere.

So, I've been walking(a near impossible task due to the frustration brought upon by the hundreds of moto drivers than annoy the hell out of me asking if i want a ride) the entire time here in phnom penn. I decided that I could see some of the outskirts of town if I rented a moped. $3, no insurance or helmet. Not 5 minutes of driving and I get stopped by the traffic police. Now, the way cambodians drive, I assumed there were no laws. They drive on the left or right, or wherever there are not potholes. For all the madness and chaotic driving patterns, after a while, it all makes sense. The traffic rarely stops, and everything flows at a steady slow pace. The main reason being that all the mopeds are really old and poorly maintained.

Anyway, I was told that the police will try to weasel some money from tourists. The most you should pay was $1. I got stopped for an illegal left turn. If I had actually turned left within 500 meters from where the policeman was, maybe I could justify whatever he was trying to tell me. The fact was, I was driving straight and never turned left. I think that was the only english he knew, so that is the crime that everyone commits... turning left. Anyway we started out at a $20 fine, but I started to get angry and if it were not for the army soldier with the ak-47, I probably would have just driven off. I've been told that you just ignore the traffic cops, they don't have guns, and they won't chase you. So, I worked him down to $1.50 after 20 minutes and vowed not to rent a moto for a while.

There seems to be a traffic accident everyday here. Just today, there was a guy laying in the middle of the street after he crashed his moto. A mob of rubberneckers had surrounded him, but no one was helping him. A policeman showed up, but all he did was direct traffic. No ambulance ever came, and the guy was in and out of consciousness and looked pretty beat up.

--------------------------
How to work in Cambodia
--------------------------

So, I had contacted a school APIS about work and was told there would need people all the time. I talked to a guy named Steve. When I got here, I called him up, but he was working for a different school. However, he was very helpful and gave me loads of contacts to follow up on. I went to at least 20 schools. Pretty much the standard response was, "We are in the middle of the semester, come back later". I only had an email address, and was told that it was necessary to have a mobile phone so they could contact you. What happens is a teacher decides to leave, and they go through a list of people and will call up whoever is available. So, all that work for nothing because I didn't have a phone. I quickly bought a phone and had to go back to all the same schools to drop off my cell number.

No luck for almost 2 weeks, but I had my friends over, so I was spending alot of time with them instead of looking for work. I finally found a school that would offer me hours, but the director was a creep. He kept asking if I knew any american girls who wanted to work. So, I got the impression that if any showed up, I would quickly lose my job. But, since I had nothing else lined up, I said I'd sit in on a couple of classes. I was told by the other teachers that the director gives you a list of kids who have already passed the tests, before you even give them the test. It just shows how deep some of the bribery and corruption goes here. Plus, I was told that the schools don't always pay the teachers on time, or at all at some places. Just when I was about to sign the teaching contract, APIS calls me up and asks if I can come in for interview.

Kwesi is the name of the new director, and he called me in at 9:00am. This school is not run by a Khmer, so most of the shady business doesn't go on here. I talked to him for maybe 3 minutes and he says, "When can you start?" I said as soon as possible. He said, "We have a class starting at 1:00pm today, you can have that class."

So, they gave me a uniform, showed me how to clock in, gave me the lesson books, and threw me into a classroom of about 6 kids, age 15-25. I had no experience and no clue what to do. I basically answered all the kids questions, because when a new teacher comes, they want to know all about you. So, I really didn't even teach the first day, just talked to them.

Now, after 3 days of working there, I have been given more hours, and I teach elementary kids too. I have to give a test every week, but most of the kids just want to play games and talk.

That should be enough for now, at least until I figure out more about the schools and how many hours I eventually end up teaching. More to come!!!

The story of Lek Tin Votaa

2003-11-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

I have mentioned briefly about my moto driver. Over the last week I have heard bits and pieces from his life, and if I am to believe it all, it is a story that must be repeated. I know touts and scam artists, and I don't believe his story is in any way meant to suck more money out of my wallet. So here it is:

Lek Tin Votaa was born in 1968 in eastern Cambodia. His family was poor, and he had 3 older brothers. When he was 7, in 1975, the Khmer Rouge came to his village and displaced them to another part of Cambodia. Along with many people from other parts of the country, a new village was formed. He had 1 meal of 10 spoon fulls of rice a day, nothing else. He had to wear a black uniform, wake at 6am to work in the fields. No breakfast or lunch. At 3pm they went to 'school' which was the propaganda lessons. This went on until 1978 when Pol Pot started killing off most of the population. His father had his hands tied behind his back and was thrown down a well where he drowned. He witnessed all this with his family. In 1979 the Vietnamese came and 'liberated' them, but not before stealing the crops and livestock. The raised the bodies from the well and reburied most of the adult male population of the village. In 1980, he went back to school and worked for a rich family until 1987. The khmer rouge were still around, so the temporary government held a draft. The would select 1 male from every family to volunteer for the army. Since Tin was the youngest child and had no wife or children, he volunteered.

He was trained for 1 year, then off to fight the khmer rouge in the northwest of Cambodia. Off 1500 in his unit, only 670 came back alive. His friend stepped on a landmine in front of him, and the scrapnel hit him in the foot and back(I saw the scars). However, the gunfire was not the problem, malaria was. He got sick and was helicoptered back to Phnom Penn where it took 3 months to recover. His family was informed that he was dead. They held a funeral for him. He did not die though, he was shipped back to the front lines to fight until 1991.

By then he had 3 stripes(I don't know the equivelent in american army, I think captain) and because his education, was allowed to leave the front lines. He was not allowed to leave the army though. He went home to see his family who all thought he was dead. After reuniting with his family, he did not want to go back to the army. So, the only way to get out of his duty was to join the buddhist monks. For 2 years, until 1993 when the UN came, he was a monk.

After he worked making bricks, serving as a laborer for rich families, and now as a moto driver. His wife is 12 years younger than him, so has no memories of the khmer rouge, and it shows in how each other acts. Tin will never waste food or drink, because he remembers how hungry and weak he was when he was forced to work in the fields.

I've met his family and relative from his village. They are all kind and very friendly, but I can sense the hardship they have went through. Tin is the only one who has spoken to me about what happened to him, and only after spending 2 weeks getting to know him.

--

This is only part of the story, as he says there are other things he does not want to tell me. Since he has lived in Phnom Penn, he has told me how much the city has changed. He worked as a moto driver for the first guesthouses that started to accept foriegn tourists. He seems to have much anger about the guest house situation now, because they have quickly forgotten him, and his loyalty was not repaid. There is a large group of moto drivers that I know now. They all seem to have their own story. It is hard for me to judge them as I have only known them a little while. The situation that has been thrust upon them is beyond my knowledge, but I can tell you what I see them do. Nothing... They wait, sometimes all day, for 1 tourist to drive around, and maybe they make 1$us. They never take cambodia for fares because they know they can latch onto tourists and get them to pay. However, since I am staying for a long time, the moto guys I know have taught me the language, helped me find an apartment, and many other services which otherwise I would have paid triple price if they didn't do the negotiating and bargaining. So, each of us gets something out of the arrangement.

I'm still looking for permanent work, but some fellow travellers have arrived in the city, and I am acting as the unofficial guide since I know the city better than most of the moto drivers...

--
"The rewards of the journey far outweigh the risk of leaving the harbor" - Unknown

Cambodian disco and bathroom massage

2003-11-14T23:58:00.000-07:00

So, after the boat races and eating really random stuff, I decided to move to the lakeside guest house and relax a little. I get there and order a Fried pumpkin beef & rice. I get a very bad case of food poisoning. Just goes to show you that its not really how careful you are, just who didn't wash their hands when preparing your food. The street vendors are said to have the worst food, but at least you can see them cook it right in front of you. So, me getting sick just proves the point again.

That pretty much laid me up for 3 days. I must say, I was in a good place to have to be stuck all the time. Watching movies and sitting by the lake. Only slightly interrupted by vomiting every hour or two.

After I felt better, I started my job search. My contact had changed companies, so I was no longer guaranteed some hours. Instead, I was given a list of schools to goto. All of them are pretty much on the same semester, which doesn't start until later Nov. So, I'm having to take tests and talk to people with just a possibility of a position opening up. Not very reassuring, but I've learned a lot about pay rates and what to expect. The computer classes all seem to be taught in Khmer, so it will be tougher for me to find an english computer teaching job.

So, disgruntled about not working right away, I became worried about looking for an apartment and having to sign a 6month lease. But, I went looking anyways.

Prices range from $25/month for a very small room with no amenities to $250/month for your own house. I've looked at apartments that still had chickens feeding inside. Some apartments are above little family storefronts. I've met plenty of families that want to rent out a room with them, and this seems to be an interesting way to interact and learn the language better. I can stay in guesthouses longterm as well, but I'm sure the noise will get to me.

The few nice places I've found are in the 100-150 range, because they know foreigners will pay more, but I'm sure that since I don't have to commit yet, I can shop around. In the meanwhile, I found a quite guesthouse with rooms for $2 per night. The only hassle is dealing with the moto drivers every morning asking me the same damn questions about going to the killing fields and shooting ranges.

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Cambodian Disco
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I met another moto driver, Long, who was a cousin of Atins. He asked about my stomach and I said I was fine, but was only eating crackers and drinking sugar water. He said he had the perfect cure. He wouldn't tell me, but we drove out of the city a little, and into a small market.

We sat down at a restaurant booth, and he ordered a soup. There was an argument about it, and Long seemed to be upset. He said they didn't have the right soup, but another one very similar would do. I asked what the soup was and he finally told me: Eel Soup

He wanted Snake soup, but eel was all they had. Our table got our own little stove, and a pot of chopped up eel. We got to cook it ourselves. Again, more people joined in and hovered around me, the tourist attraction. The soup was good, highly spiced, so I could have been eating anything. Plus, the rice wine seemed to loosen me up a bit.

Long was impressed, so he tried to order more stuff to see if I could handle it. He said if I got sick again, I had to pay for the food, but anything he ordered, I had to try. First came the fried crickets. A little girl had a platefull of the them, and she showed me how to peel off the wings, then chomp the head and body holding onto the legs. Second came a beef and ant plate. There was some seaweed greens and chopped beef and ants all mixed together. Again, it was well spiced, so I couldn't really taste the ants. I was told there was snake blood to drink, but it never showed up...

After impressing everyone, Long wanted to take me to the disco. However, he had drank much more wine than me, so he said he didn't want to drive. I offered to drive and after convincing him of my motorcycle skills, he agreed.

Now, after riding in Thailand and Cambodia, I've learned why they drive so much slower in Cambodia. Their bikes are Shit!!! Long's bike had no headlight, horn, turnsignals, frontbrakes, and i could only downshift. Most bikes stay in 4th all the time anyways. So, I drove the drunk moto driver home... and he didn't even pay me... not that I expected it, since I got a free meal.

So we got to the disco really early, and it was not what I expected. It was a big room with couches lined up in rows, all facing the stage where there was a band. We got front row seats!

The best way I can describe the experience is a really bad middle school dance. There was a little dance area up front, and every once in a while, a group of boys or girls would come up and dance with themselves. Never touching or getting to close to each other. The music is best described as Jimi Hendrix and Santana, mixed with Indian whirling dervish.... really really fast beat music, and Khmer singing.

Bonus: If anyone has seen the Saturday Night Live skit with Christopher Walken about Blue Oyster Cult, then you may better appreciate what I'm talking about. Along with the mixture of music, there was the COWBELL GUY!!
He was right in rhythm, but the cowbell was so loud that that was all I could focus on, plus I couldn't stop laughing thinking about Will Farrell smacking the cowbell. I kept screaming, "No more cowbell". But, again, I seemed to be the only foreigner, so my opinion didn't matter much.

To escape the cowbell, I went to the bathroom...

Again, a side note: In America, males are subtly taught certain rules for how to act in a bathroom. They are as follows:
1. If there is a row of urinals, only pick a urinal next to another guy if no others are available and toilets are full as well. Otherwise, move a good distance away.
2. Eyes should stay up, stare at wall directly in front of you.
3. Keep conversation to minimum, unless you know the person.
4. Never ever ever TOUCH anyone anywhere.

Failure to follow these rules will imply homosexuality and the consequences from the homophobic american male will likely be harsh...

So with that in mind... I walk into the bathroom and see a bathroom attendant. We have these in certain posh restaurants, so I was not surprised, thinking he would hand me a towel or cologne when i wash my hands. Instead, while I'm standing at the urinal, taking a leak... he come behind me and starts massaging my shoulders. My first reaction was to turn around and yell, "What the fuck?" But since I was still pissing, I could not do this. Then he does some Thai massage techniques, and I figure this is what bathroom attendants must do in Cambodia. I was still a little concerned, so I rushed out without tipping the guy.

I asked Long if that was supposed to happen in the bathroom. He told me yes, and seemed to enjoy that it shocked me so much. So, the next time I had to goto the bathroom, I was prepared and let the guy massage me. I've thought about it, and I guess its not so much different from what american women do when they goto the bathroom together. But I have no insight into that world, yet...

Birthday in Bangkok

2003-11-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

Big post... lots to tell...

On Nov 2nd, I made it back to Chaing Mai, rented a bike, and drove 100km to the top of Doi Inthanon, 2565m, Thailands highest mountain. That's right, road right up to the summit! It's misty up there, so you can't see anything most of the time, just the radar towers. There are 3 spectacular waterfalls along the way, and they were more interesting than the novelty of bagging another highest peak.

The chaing mai hostel 'lost' most of my clothes, so I know what birthday presents I want.

Khoa San Road is definitely an interesting place to turn 25... First, you're guaranteed to get really drunk. Second, I met at least a dozen different people on the Thailand circuit, that were going back home or on a visa run. From what I remember, there were about 7 of us, barhopping, racing tuk-tuk's around the city, and I got a helium-balloon added version of happy birthday sung to me by one bar. Somewhere in there too, I ate a scorpion...

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Onwards to Cambodia
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So, somehow, I managed to get a bus to the border town of Trat, and the next day I went to Hat Lek, where the border crossing is. Beautiful seeing the ocean most of the way there.

Attention Travelers!!!! You CAN make it through the border by only paying 1000baht... no backsheesh.

I was told many times(where have I hear this before) that it was impossible not to pay 1200. Just put the 1000(or 20$ US) on the table and wait, they will get tired of you, and they won't not let you into the country.

So, 8 hours to get to Phnom Penn... must be a long way...nope. 300km, but the roads not capped, so there are potholes that can swallow bikes and small cars. Plus 4 ferry crossings and a very careful driver make for a slow trip. Even when we got to the paved road, it wasn't much better.

I've said this many times, but somehow, I have a 6th sense about when to arrive in a certain place without any previous research into the matter. Phnom Penn turned out the same. The water festival was going on, which was not the watergun fights I thought they were. Instead it was the boat racing and Independence Day celebrations. I had met 2 South Africans and an Aussie, and were sharing rooms with them. We quickly met a moto driver, Atin, who became our guide to the city.

First he took us to the shooting range, where we all shared shooting an AK-47. The bazooka was a little much, and there were no Japanese businessmen there to watch. I was told they can spend thousands there running through the list of weapons. My only concern was where the money goes after it passes into the military hands.

Then to the Killing Fields, which is just to depressing to describe. If you've seen the movie, you know what its all about.

Nov 7-9 was the festival, and Atin had us meet him at his house(plankboard one-room dwelling in reclaimed refugee camp). We met his family and relative that had come in from their village to cheer on their boat. Every village enters their own boat, and two boats race each other 2 times a day. There are over 300 boats, and the course down the Tonle Sap river is maybe 1.5km. Then they turn around and have to paddle back up the river.

So, Atin took us to the other side of the river, outside the city, where all the local villages setup camp to cheer their boats. The rest of the tourists all stay along the riverside inside the city. So, we were somewhat of an oddity, and I never saw another tourist. The races are held during the day, so it has a Kentucky Derby kind of feel to the event. Which means people drink all day, and all night. They drink rice wine, and alot of it.

We kept getting fed more and more wine, and Atin and I both got uniforms so we could race in their village boat. When we got to the boat, we were kicked out because we were too drunk to paddle. They take things seriously, and we would have made their boat loose. So, we had to swim back to a big boat, were people were dancing on the top. Fireworks, dancing, and drinking on a really sketchy boat was the end of the evening.

The next two days seemed to repeat that pattern: Eat at Atins home, drink with the villagers, dance on the boats....

Somehow, the King of Cambodia has decided to extend the festival 2 more days... Kinda cool to be able to make up your own holidays.

More stories later of job and apartment searching....

I'm published!!!!

2003-11-01T02:27:00.000-07:00

Sort of, at least online other than my blog. Once again, you can read a story I submitted 3 months ago about my trip in Morocco at:

Bootsnall.com

So, I made it out of Pai without staying too long, just the right amount of time. I heading to Chaing Dao, not knowing that it was the same place I had been on my 3 day trek. Anyways, on advice from another American traveler, i tried to check into a certain guesthouse. This guy knew the villages and chiefs and hooked up the other guy. Well, it turns out that was low season when no treks were booked, so he was just in touristy villages with no tourists. Now they were booked, and they owner wanted to book me into a trek. When I told him I wanted to go alone, the mood changed, and suddenly all his information contradicted himself and what I was told earlier. Money seems to have that effect on people.

So, i booked a room next door at a place called Malee's. The lady there was the first to own a guesthouse in the area to accept foreigners, so she knew a lot. She told me 2 villages to look for, and I just set out on my own.

There is something about Asia, where Nobody walks. They all have scooters. So when they see a Farang(thai term for foreigner) walking, and not taking a taxi or tuktuk, I think it throws them off. I have said how friendly Ireland was for hitchhiking, but this is a new level. So far, I have been picked up by a school bus, jeep, motorcycle, produce truck, and family truck... all for free. So my 15km trek to the villages was less than 3 walking and the rest I rode along.

My first village was not too friendly, but not touristy either. It was only 2pm, so I kept walking. My next village was a lisu tribe. The little children saw me from 500m away and came running to sell me stuff. Obviously this was not the village for me. Next was a Karen village. We were told the road went no farther, and it was getting dark. So, we(I met two Italians along the way) found a family that would take us in and cook dinner. Little did we know this village was a stop-over for some of the trekkers. We heard them come in and stay up all night. Most villagers goto sleep at 8 or 9, and get up at 3 or 4am. The trekkers seem to be a noise problem.

Not that the chickens, cows, and buddha bells are noisy in the morning. So, I got up at 5am, and set off looking for another village.

I apparently walked through a national forest(which foreigners are supposed to pay 200 baht for entrance), and came out the other end at my favorite village. I sort of surprised them since I came in from the fields and not by the road. They weren't touristy, and they smiled!!! Found it!

So, I signlanguaged with an old man, who seemed to know what I wanted. He fed me some soup and then fried up some maggots or grubs. I tried a few and asked to got work in the fields. Instead, 3 boys lead me off into the woods with guns... These were long single shot bb or pellet guns for birds. We hunted for bird for a while, but never shot anything. Back in the village, more people seemed to hear about me, as there were plenty of people around...

A side note... I didn't take any pictures of this, because in the last three villages I think they expect it, and I wanted to prove to these people that I didn't just want their pictures, but to understand their daily routine.

After playing with the kids and showing them how to juggle rocks, the first old man came up to me and led me to his motorcycle. I signaled that I wanted to stay overnight, but he said 'Chaing Dao' and I took it that someone from the village was going that way. So, I didn't get to stay the night and spend more time with them.

Overall, the last village was worthwhile, but the impact of tourism on these villages is more harmful than beneficial I believe. As always, I enjoyed the physical aspect of climbing through the jungle and having to bushwhack my way through to overlooks off the trail.

I plan to head back to Bangkok for my birthday, and then maybe a day or two on an island right next to Cambodia. Then off to work.

I did upload a few more pics at printroom, but internet is really slow, and i have over 200 meg of photos. So, you may have to wait till i find a library in Phnom penn.

Captain Danger

2003-10-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

After the trek, I headed northwest to Pai(another backpacker vortex). Some people I met here had been staying for 6 months when they only planned for a week. I met a belgian traveller named Werner, and we decided to rent motorbikes, 125cc for $2.50 for 24 hours... not bad. The roads here are switchbacks and very steep, which meant they were a lot of fun on the bikes. We ended up doing nearly 300km in the one day. We hit 3 caves, a waterfall, the long-neck Karen Villagers, and plenty of views of incredible scenery.

Naz and and Isralei traveller, Dan, convinced me yet again to do a guided trek, except this time it would be whitewater rafting. I had been 4 times this summer in America, and each time was progressivly harder. The problem with the Pai and Khong rivers is that nothing is rated over Class III, and since it was not rainy season, it would be hard to break a Class II.

However, the raftig company had a kyack, really a large plastic duckie for technical terms. They asked if I had ever ridden one before. I hadn't, but said I had, and they let me us that instead of going in the raft...

The river was pretty tame, so just like on the bamboo raft, the guides decided to jump from boat to boat and try to flip them. Since the rafts were heavy, they came after me most often. We passed hot springs, cobra snakes, vibrantly colored birds, and a cliff jumping spot, 10 meters.

There were two boats, and one boat had 2 guides(one had never been before and was getting trained), but on the other boat was Captain Danger(real name Thep). He had more people on the boat, but he went after every rock and hydrolic there was. He found a good one and threw three people out of the boat. Naz got sucked under the boat, and was not very happy until the end of the trip. Thep and I both ended up on they duckie, and we both managed to stand up(very hard to do). Thep wanted to practice flipping the duckie, which was nearly impossible, so he let me guide the raft the rest of the way back. I had never guided a raft either, but picked it up really quickly. There was nothing more than a class II, and I took easy routes, but the laid back atmosphere made the trip worthwhile.

Internet speeds in Pai are very slow, so I will not be able to upload pictures for a little while. I plan to goto Chaing Dao, and live with the villagers. I met another american who did the same thing, but it seems now there are more tourists in the area, and it will be harder to find a secluded village. It looks like I will end up spending my birthday living in a village somewhere. Then the trip back to Bangkok and Phnom Penn will have to be figured out...

l will try to send out an email, again to those of you not reading the blog with more detailed information. Plus some of the new travelers I have met do not know about this blog yet either.

later....