Time

I think time must be one of the largest jokes the universe ever played on us. There are so many philosophies, mentalities, songs, poems, physics lessons, methods of measuring...phrases...

It's about time
One day at a time
Time will only tell
I don't have time
Time waits for no man
Time flies
Time and time again...

and the funny thing is there all true because the word time is such an arbitrary, multi faceted way of labeling something we all perceive differently. A person with a terminal diagnosis might say 'how much time do I have?' or 'it's my time'. I might ask 'do I have time for a cigarette' or say 'time to quit'. Is it all the same time? Physics aside, time seems to run in a linear path, for most of us who aren't higher than a koala on eucalyptus leaves. We 'make time' or look back on 'lost time', we can 'time things perfectly' or 'not be on time' at all. Because time is a really a way of neatly placing the activities we engage in a box, we can introduce prepositions like 'I've been here before' or 'we'll talk about it later, because now is not the time'. Boring endeavours seem to slow down time. Exciting ones never last long enough. That seems a bit unfair. The thing is, as fickle as a word it seems, time seems to be the most important concept of all...time. If we 'don't make good use of our time' we're inefficient. If we 'just can't find the time' we're too busy. You can't ignore time. Then again you can't really focus on it for very long with any real conviction, because time on it's own is nothing. There are bunches of nerves in your brain that tell you what time you need to eat, what time you need to sleep, what light is refracting from the digital clock onto your retinas telling you what time of day it is. Is that time? It takes time to fall in love. Sometimes it doesn't. Ants can't tell time. But they have a very strict schedule. It takes time to memorize something. It seems like it takes less time to forget it. You can have 'the time of your life' or you can have 'the worst time ever'. You can say 'remember that time...' or it's time to move on' or it's 'timeless' or it's 'time we got rid of that'. Time speeds up as you get older (does that mean time slows down as you get younger?). Or maybe there are just more memories to condense so it seems that way. You can't just pluck a relative moment from your short stock of film reel, you have to sift through a warehouse of dusty life snapshots. each time realizing how many more you've accumulated. Maybe. Time can make you really sad. Or it can make you really happy. I get sad when I look back on 'the good times' but i'm ecstatic about the 'times ahead'. I wish there was an unlimited lifetime to do everything possible. There isn't, but that's what makes it so special. 'My time is precious'. So yours. I've said time 52 times. Time to go to bed.

Life 2.0

This will most likely be the last the post on this blog, as the riveting adventures of trans-national travel and ludicrous party injuries have come to end...for the time being.

I won't meander on with all the cool things about being down under, mostly because I haven't experienced them yet. It is a general requirement to show up with your work visa having some funds to carry you through your job search and accommodation. Of course, after some heavy travelling and spending throughout the summer, without even a solid plan to come to this continent, I showed up with zero dollars. A lot of living necessities have been propped up by MasterCard, but any form of secondary luxuries have pretty much been kai-boshed. This includes

Drinking alcohol
Eating anything fancier than a MacDonald's cheeseburger
Touring the city
Buying shirts that don't stink like the jungle
Laundry
Haircuts
etc

My initial plan was to roll into Melbourne, work mornings at a hostel for a free room, and jump behind a sweet bar for the nights. Good in theory, but there are about 2500 other backpackers with the exact same plan, so the positions tend to be grossly over-saturated. Luckily I hit the ground running and signed on with a marketing company within a couple days. The interview, people and pay structure were fantastic, but guess which component was just not going to work out...the WORK. It basically consisted of going door to door asking Australians if they wanted to switch to a specific energy company from the numerous retailers that flood the market. Some answers and reactions to give you a taste of how much I was enjoying this:

Now listen, you people come around here every day, leave me ALONE!
Piss off mate, I'm watching the news!
What do you want?....*4 minute scripted pitch*....No
Don't come any closer, I have a big dog
*4 minute scripted pitch* What are you selling? Vacuums?
Door slam x 100-200

You get the gist. For some reason I stuck with this torture for 5 days, at one point going about 300kms outside the city on a 'road trip' only to quit mid day. Needless to say, it didn't work out.

I figure people always need to be moving or at least doing something so they won't go mental. I am a huge advocate for sitting around watching whole seasons of shows with Doritos and a 2L of coca-cola, but those days should be far and few between. Without motion we tend to stagnate and have too much time for our thoughts to collect and form a giant pile of bullshit. This is what's currently happening to me.

I did manage to latch onto a bar tending gig in a cozy little western/eastern inspired restaurant so all is looking good. The next 3-4 months will hopefully be focused on recouping my massive travelling tab and getting to know Melbourne city, which is a wonderful place. Small town suburbs straddle a bustling inner city, augmented by miles of beach with about 200 million cafes, shops and restaurants. I must say it is difficult looking at summer time photos from back home, as it is 'see your breath weather' here....BUT, as soon as Canada turns back into winter jacket time, it will be kite boarding time here.

So, as you can see the adventures aside from the day to day life have come to a stand still, but join us next time for 'Down and out, Down Under....Life up the Australian Coast'

Thanks for reading everybody!

Josh Purdy
2010

ola earthlings

Hello everyone!

No, I'm am not dead, in a coma or forgotten how to use the internet. In all honesty, not too much exciting has happened in about 2 weeks+. Now I know that sounds crazy being around the other side of the world, and you make your own adventure blah blah blah but here's a quick cap of my last week in Bali.

After returning from the Gili Islands, a night where I proceeded to stay up all night for the sunrise (among other things), I was absolutely knackered out. No worries, says I, as I can nap on the boat ride back. False. There were literally times when I thought the bottom of the hull was going to crack in half off some of these waves. Other than not being able to nap, I found the 4 feet of air pretty exciting. Unfortunately there were a few passengers that didn't share these sentiments, and ended up puking in complimentary paper bags. It was pretty hideous, people retching like they were on the verge of death while everyone around him or her pretends nothing is happening. After getting off the boat, I made my way back to Kuta beach where I rented a surfboard and DVD player and did absolutely NOTHING for one whole week. It was by the far the loneliest, cheapest, soberest, cozy time I have had during this vacation, although I started to forget how to talk to humans and socialize.

The reason for this hermit-esque behaviour was the dwindling funds and overall fatigue from being a deadly party animal for 3 months straight. In a way, it was really nice just to hang out by myself, go over some things in my brain and watch 25 DVDs (i counted at the end). Also I went from a F- surfer to about D+. So there's that.

The last week in Bali was also a bit of a waiting game, as I put in the application for my Australian work visa on a friday, and didn't hear a peep from this certain company until wednesday. (do YOU want to go to Australia!?? Only 2 days processing, call us NOW!!!) So, near the end of my stint on this lovely, touristed island I prepared my flights into Australia, where I have made one of the biggest blunders of the vacation, which is saying a lot read: cracked head, crashed motorbike, smashed toe, budgeting etc

Follow me on this. There is the island Bali, which is in the country of Indonesia. Bali has an airport, a fairly prominent and busy one called Denpasar (code:DPS). Indonesia, the previosuly mentioned country, also has an island called Borneo, and on this island there is a town called Balikpapan, which also has an airport, albeit a much smaller and less used one (code:BPN). In all my wisdom I typed in 'Bali' for the departing flight, quickly selected the first airport that popped up and proceeded with the booking. Of course, when you book from a small, no name airport compared to a fairly moderate sized one, the price jumps astronomically. Picture flying to LA from Fredericton, instead of flying out of Montreal. Same same. So a flight that could have cost 350$ ending up being 730$ from one, tiny, idiotic, mentally challenged, ridiculous typo. Lesson learned? I hope so.

After sorting that out there was a 4 hour wait in the Bali airport, whereupon I received a delicious flight and movie on the way to Singapore. Now, the connecting flight was with Emirates and WOW! These guys know how to fly, I got baked perch in a black olive sauce, mashed potatoes, some excellent wine, a hot towel and 5 hours later, breakfast! Tons of media to get through as well! Worth the 400$ difference made by my booking mistake? Not at all! But it was tasty.

I touched down in Melbourne about three days ago, to a frigid 10 degrees as I can feel my tan running for the hills. It's quite a big city and I don't have my bearings whatsoever, but I know where the McDick's and 7-11 are from the hostel, so enough to survive. Job hunting is one of my least favorite things in the world, because when I apply to a place I know I would be good doing that task, but THEY don't know that. Perhaps a scented cover letter, or a fruitcake sent to the employer? Ughhhhhh.

To be honest, just for one second, lately I've been feeling a little disconnected from this whole 'see the world, be a nomad, get any old job' attitude, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's because I don't have any money and Australia costs about 3 x 10^8 more money than even the priciest places in SE Asia. As soon as a job gets under way, my attitude will be back to the appropriate cloud (#9), and I will meet some friends, get an aussie wife/green card, and figure out how to ride the trams. I know if I was sitting at home resuming my academic pursuits I would say, why the hell aren't I in Australia right now?

Life is a peach, meant to be picked by broke backpackers on Australian farms.

Cheers, mate.

And the days go by....

I must make this quick as I'm on a deserted island and the internet rates are astronomic!...(deserted?)

After bangkok, I caught the express shuttle to the BKK airport for 130 bhat...read: 1050 my first afternoon in bangkok! My goodness the things I have learned. The flight went smoothly, although my backpack was 2 kilos over AirAsia's limit, so for a few frightening hours I was separated from my long time friend, the backpack. Although I did receive it back on Bali with full contents and structural integrity, the already peeling Canadian flag decal was gone.

Was this some sort cosmic sign highlighting my ex patriotism? or perhaps just careless handling/pasting of the decal. Either way, no longer do people realize my home country from 100 meters away bursting into 'CANADAAAAA! Vancouver or Toronto?!'....'neither bro, but close' i would reply. I will take it as a sign as my separation from all the things I hold dear from back home including, but not limited to:

Driving a car
Tim Hortons
My friends
Dolan's Pub
Keiths Beer
Free Internet
Having an income

Back to current events though! There is a certain vision I have of the next destinations, a daguerreotype in my mind if you will, and sometimes that vision is exceeded, and sometimes it is let down. Bali has been a looming fascination of my mine since day one, not only as the last stop on my adventure but from the numerous personal accounts I receive from fellow travellers.

I must say, and this is very pre-mature (that's what she said), I was let down. I was told to go to a beach called 'Uluwatu', good surf, lively, cheap. After paying the 14$ to get down there, I quickly realized that the surf was impossible but for the most X-treme australian bros, there was not much going on other than surfboard shops, and no accommodation. Disappointed but not dejected, I was picked up by a lovely indonesian couple on their 'second honeymoon' They drove me to the main beach, called Kuta, where I hit the pavement looking for anything costing less than 12$. Failing that, I booked a grungy room for that price, and set my feet towards the town. I have seen and breathed touristy, but this certain beach takes the cake.

'Masssssage?'
'Please buy somtingggg'
'Girl, man?, you want girl?'
'You want shirt boss? cheap cheap?'
'Come in look, I have guns!'
'Marijuana man? good price for you'
'Surf lesson boss? Come on, come on!'
etc etc etc

Don't let me bore you with my over-touristed whining, but you get the drift. In fairness, Kuta is the worst of the worst if you come to Bali, and if I can I will get on a scooter (the deadly scooter!) and check out the rest of the island. Apparently there are monkeys in the center of the island that will scratch you and steal your shit, so that sounds like something I would really be interested in. I did get to surf yesterday morning, and it was pretty fantastic. 'Bra, i was getting like 6 foot left handers, but it was tight because the righters were crushing my jam!'...or something like that. Kuta beach mostly entailed me eating pringles and buying new release DVDs for a dollar, not super exciting, but you must understand my bank account and brain account are both completely overdrawn at the moment.

Thus leading to the current island, gili T! I had heard few things about this particular stomping ground, but after 4 hours here is my take. It is extremely refreshing that motorized vehicles are outlawed, everything being drawn by horse and carriage or plain old bicycle. Things are mentally expensive, almost parallel with back home. (Imagine paying 6 dollars for a grando burrito on the beach, outrageous!) So my time here is short, but tomorrow entails some crystal water snorkeling, some sea side snoozing/reading, and perhaps try to make friends. I have mostly tried to cut alcohol out of my diet due to monetary restrictions, which tend to make for some quieter nights. This is not a problem because I can almost hear my sanity returning!

Currently there is an Australian work visa in the process, so after this tiny hole in the wall island, I will head back to Bali, onto the Malaysian airport and into Melbourne to start another adventure! Where do you find time to further your 'real life' Josh? It doesn't get much more real than this, bro. One love!

josh

I-lands

YO!

It feels like a really long time since I dusted off the keyboard and gave some updates, and after reading the last post I feel like I didn't leave on a very high note.

My head healed up nicely, although the stitches are still in there (you could say I've grown quite attached to them). There is some god somewhere though that finds it neccessary to inflict a new and painful wound on me every week...the Deity of carelessness perhaps. More on this later.

After the first day in Siem Reap we made two whole hearted attempts to get to Angkor Wat and it's surrounding temples, both falling through due to bad tuks tuks, bad waking up skills and massive hangovers (surprised ya?) Siem Reap turned out to be a wonderful little town, having a good mix of cultural attractions and touristy night life and restaurants. For some reason I found it necessary to eat Mexican food 4 nights in a row, which I have narrowed down as my favorite genre of meal (perhaps mexico after this?) Let me give two descriptions of the Angkor Wat. One how a person who was really interested would say and one how well.....ya.

1) As we rose with the dawn, anticipation tingled through us we prepared to watch the sun rise over the '8th wonder of the world' A short taxi ride took us to the main gate where we payed a paltry 20$ to see one of the most amazing historic and architectural pieces of human ingenuity. As we sat on the open expanse of field waiting for the sun rise, droves of eager tourists followed suite. There was a hushed silence as the morning sun crested the main spires of the temples, presenting a real life post card that was only made for you, and you alone. We spent hours combing through the old wats, admiring the intricate carvings and sprawling array of temples, never letting the shutter on the camera close once. The pictures will always be there, but the feeling of walking down thousands of years history cannot be recreated by any photo album.

2) Rolling out of bed at 4:30am with a dry mouth, still mostly asleep and with no ambition whatsoever we grumpily crawled into the tuk tuk for a solid 5$, where we roll up to a gate that's demanding 20$ to see the temples. So, the sun isn't even up yet and the daily budget has been spent. Sick. We wait in a big courtyard while starry eyed tourists get there foolishly large zoom lenses ready waiting for sunrise, allegedly the best time of day to check out this dusty old hunk of rocks. 35 minutes later we realized the sun had come up, but the cloud cover was thick so we just didn't notice. Perfect! We wander around as the heats gets ever more unbearable, until 2 hours in we look at each other and say...let's get OUT OF HERE!. A few more touristy booths where I bought an extremely homosexual looking hemp man-satchel and a beer, and that was the end of Angkor WHAT THE HELL?

It's not to say the Angkor Wat wasn't impressive, because it definitely was, I just think that on this trip I have enjoyed the 'doing' and 'socializing' aspect much more than the sight seeing...it's hot, you get absolutely wiped out after a few hours, and they begin to all look the same. A few photos and maybe a quick chat about how 'TOTALLY AWESOME!' it is and I was good to go. Call me a poor tourist but honesty is key is any blog.

After Siem Reap, and a goodbye to my favorite mexican restaurant, we took an easy bus ride to Bangkok where I had to say a weepy farewell to Nick, who I had been traveling with for over a month! Friends will be made, partied with and split, but not forgotten. As he went back to London for a somewhat normal return to life, I turned around and walked back down khao san road. Now, the first time I came to Bangkok almost 3 months ago, bright eyed and full of wonder I stopped to talk to all the touts, taxis, scammers, hookers, fortune tellers, shop keeps, pan handlers, rig-a-ma-rollers and pretty much anyone who asked for a minute of my time. With 3 months of traveling experience (including thefts, rip offs, problems, languages etc) I found myself a changed man in a 'same-same' city.

It's funny how such a short time can shift your attitude on so many things. My first night in thailand, with a full bank account and trust in peoples' honesty, I bought everything without a second thought, was led down an alley by a lady boy for a good 8 minutes while a politely told 'her' I wasn't interested, and just balked at the favorable exchange rate we westerners receive. Now, especially coming from Vietnam, I am fully grossed out at the prices, cringe at the staggering drunken fools who are so pleased with themselves for 'travelling' (to give you an idea, khao san has a ipod shop, macDonalds and Burger King all in a row), and miss the the honest smiles you get in some of the worse off countries. But hey, let me get off my high horse and say I really really really enjoyed my Whopper with cheese....I also got the chance to tell a lady boy to piss off, called a taxi driver 'crazy' for charging 10$ from across town and bought absolutely nothing. Call it jaded, broke or tired...possibly all three.

But to more current events! Two buses and one ferry later found me on Kho Phangan, the site of the infamous 'Full Moon Party'. Unfortunately I did not time it properly and had to miss out on the 7000+ people, drug and alcohol fueled extravaganza...a shame. But no worries! Looking to bank (literally $$$) on the success of that party, the island throws a 'Half Moon Party' twice a month. This one was thrown in the jungle, had about 1000 people and we mostly just sat around and talked about how drugs and alcohol are destroying the youth of today. It was really insightful, if not a little opposing as to what I thought it would be....as every English person I met likes to put it I'm 'taking the piss'. It was a massive party with full on body paint, three DJ's, overpriced buckets and a torrential downpour...I think I really enjoyed it but you would have to ask the people dodging my flailing arm dance.

Of course, no week on this trip would be regular if I didn't wound myself somehow...so here it is. After the party I felt like a really wasn't experiencing enough scenery for these beautiful islands, so I hop on my scooter with an excellently labeled map....(thumbs down emoticon)....and hit the trails. About half an hour in, I thump down a hard trodden road looking for a waterfall, only to come across some horrendous pot holes. Now you may say 'Josh, you made it down Vietnam on a motorcycle without a scratch! Surely these small sandy potholes were no problem for you?' They were, and don't call me Surely.

Breaking much to hard the sand grated between the tires and as the bike went skidding out from under me. I bounced along the gravel a couple times getting some fantastic road (if you can even call it a road) rash down my arm and leg. Once again fellow readers, I will live, luckily I have a solid stock of anti biotics left over from my head ordeal. What feels absolutely riveting though is climbing into this salt water with a leg that looks like the surface of Mars. The leg was the least of the crash though. The bike, in my opinion (which doesn't count for shit to any local, I've found), could have a 5 minute buff job a little paint touch up and been sorted out. Clearly that is not the way it works. Other than these crazy moon parties, the biggest business on Koh Phangan is renting scooters to tourists, letting them scratch them up a bit, then charging them for brand new parts...not local prices. White people prices. Think of it as reverse racism.

With a little uneasiness, I rolled the bike up to the rental hotel, thinking they were going to ring me for 50-75$ Ouch! That price range was obviously something from my dreams, as the grand total (after my pity discount) was 180$. Now why not just walk? Mostly because my passport was locked in the office, and thai people will beat the living hell out if things get too heated. Not my kind of party.

Anyways, bitter as I am about that....this too shall pass. I am currently sitting on one of the most beautiful islands I have ever seen, learning the graceful art of SCUBA diving with four nights accommodation included. Brilliant coral, pools, people and food surround...The instructors are the most english blokes I have met yet, real good sort 'Arrigh brufva, now once you're in tha wa'er, make sure ya don' hol' yer feckin breff, or your lungs are gunna straigh' pop like, ya?'

I must say I am getting a little homesick as I see FB pictures pop up from the summer festivities, and I hope everyone back home (BC and NB bros) are sponging as much joy out of life as I am. And to people who aren't, your life is yours. Grab 1500$ and come down here for a month...I'm sure it'll be the smallest regret you ever have <----(Glass half empty sentence?)

Back to Bangkok for a quick stopover, then Indonesia until my dwindling resources run out. I am still on the fence about work there or Australia, perhaps one of those things you decide when you meet a cute Aussie girl...right mate?
The sun is shining, and I got a hot date with a chicken kabob and big beer. One love!

On splitting hairs...

Just a quick blog blerb on the current situation....

When we were playing in the pool back in vietnam we created these moves called 'porpoise dives'. It's basically where you put your hands at your sides and flap your body like a dolphin jumping from the ocean, and normally it works very well....except for tonight. It's 8:15 in the morning and I just got back to the hostel from the hospital....funny how they sound so alike jaja?

As i was attempting a porpoise dive in the wee morning hours, without realizing how shallow this pool was, amid the claps and cheers of my peers I jettisoned through the water just like my dolphin counterparts....quickly I realized, through an enormous smash of my head on the pool bottom, the water wasn't going to accommodate any of what I was trying to do and as a little blood filled the water i knew I was screwed. At first I touched my head and a got a fingertip of blood and thought 'no worries' but the surrounding crowd reminded me head injuries are not to be taken lightly. So off to the hospital we go where I get my FIRST STITCHES EVER! Two to the head, antiseptic, three tetanus shots (this is cambodia after all) and they send me on my way. All I can say is thank god for spell checker at the moment because my typing is a mess. Doctor said everything will be fine, just take some anti-inflammatories, chill out, and no more porpoise dives for a bit. Injuries are a dime a dozen on this route, and my medical worries are only equal to my whiny email to the travel insurance company asking them to fit the suture bill. Just thought I'd do quick 'medical check up' before I sleep off this nasty sew up. Also...there is a heinous bandage on my head at the moment, but every time I pull at it feels like the stitches will come out...is this a permanent fixture all you medical professionals? Ciao Ciao

Same Same, but more cambodian...

Greetings Earthlings!





It's been a solid 10 days since the last post, I think there may be alot to report but I will let my fingers dance across the keyboard and see what happens.

For a real kick, I should look if this keyboard can right in the Khmer language, which is what they speak in Cambodia. I was tres happy about the progress of my broken, half english vietnamese but once again I have switched countries and had to say bye bye to the 6 or 7 stock phrases I depended on daily. With vietnamese I thought it would be a real hole in one seeing as how they use our letters, but I was very mistaken. Try pronouncing the word 'Nguyen' and see if anyone knows what your talking about. Now that I'm back to a 'swirly letter country' you can look at a shop sign and have zero idea what it actually sells, which is no bother because travelling is basically about not knowing where you are or what you're doing. Not Americans though, they need a GPS, pop up map, 5 lonely planets and extra rations and water purification tablets in case they head down the wrong street for 3 minutes.

Back to the task at hand, I will look back at Vietnam with a bucket full of mixed emotions. I believe the last post commented on the bane of my existence named 'Laura', the motorcycle I purchased back in Hanoi. If you're wondering where the name came from, it's was christianed by the guy I bought it off. Basically the chap was macking this girl named Laura in Saigon for a good chunk of the night, until it came to make out hour and she told him to piss off. The next morning he painted her name on the motorbike figuring some Laura owed him a good ride.

He was a fellow Canadian and in all my naivety, I gladly handed over 300$ thinking 'shucks!..that's great for this cool bike!' Through the high definition window that is hindsight, it was retarded to a)buy that brand of motorcycle b)not buy it from a proper shop c)believe I could make it down and entire country 'sur la moto' only spending 300 buck-a-roos. The dirty ol girl guzzled the gas, broke down every day, stank of petrol to the high heavens and basically told me to get bent every morning I tried to start her up. There were multiple times when my kick-start would just hang there like a flaccid....something...so I had to get my mates to push me to about 5 kms/h so I could pump it into second gear and rip off that way, looking like a gigantic wank while little vietnamese people blew by me on their scooters. All in all it was a little over a 500$ investment in my patience and sanity...but although I bitch about it now I will look back on our top gear tour with the fondest of memories, and have some excellent stories/advice to share with the people of the world. (seriously, if you want to motorbike vietnam drop me a line and I will give you the expansive list of do's and don'ts,as well as try an relate what this amazing country looks like while you drive through it)

There were points when you just sucked in your breath and said 'oh my god, everything was worth it for this one moment of beauty'. When we were coming down from Hue, a city in central vietnam, we went around a corner that to my right had gigantic mountains covered in jungle, then to my left the Pacific ocean stretching farther than I can even think about. Moments like those, my blood and petrol soaked socks, gas stained clothes and sweaty helmet bore no issue.

I stretched my vietnam visa to the very last day, as Nick and myself went a spree trying to sell of these albatross bikes in Saigon. Luckily, Nick pawned his off for a cool 200$, therefore being able to eat and have a beer, although I was only able to sell mine for scraps for 75$. Turns out the serial numbers didn't match the registration which depreciates it by about one million percent.

So on the bus yesterday, we excitedly roll into Cambodia, meet some friends we were chasing down vietnam for 3 WEEKS! (okay meet you in 2 days...bike broken...k meet you in 4 days...k you're in a different country...bike broken) and have a wee night out. Today we went to the S-21 war museum, which after months of partying and reveling is quite a sobering experience. I wish I could explain more about the Khmer Rouge situation but I'm not that well versed in it and wouldn't like to make any errors. Just know that there was some hideous shit that went on in this country, as you will see when I put up some pictures. 'Killing fields' tomorrow, couple palace visits and we're off to Angkor Wat tomorrow night! Luckily I picked up a new camera, found one with hot, dusty old temples setting...so perfect.

A friend I met in thailand is actually teaching english at an orphanage here, and he says it's really great. I am interested but time is money, which I'm running out of the latter. Unfortunately the money hungry motorbike threw the budget for a little loop, so I may have to scratch some things of the itinerary and head straight to Bali. Tough life right? The people, the weather, the food and yes even the motorcycle have been something out of a dream and I wouldn't trade it for anything...well maybe 300$ and a McDonalds big xtra with cheese, but that's it.

Thanks for reading.

Josh

Down vietnam on a shoe string.....of patience

The past couple weeks have been a myriad of contradictions.

Ultimate highs and bottomless lows, healthy brown glow to peeling skin off in pieces, the freedom of the open road and the never ending slew of mechanic stop offs, having 'millions' in local currency to losing it all to pickpocketing...

In traveling, as well as life, it would be naive to assume that every day is going to be a peach. As soon as you get off the well beaten track and try and do things on your own, that's exactly what you are, on your own. My sanity would have literally been left in among the banana trees up north if not for my traveling mates, as we've all had each others back since we left Hanoi. The last post commented on day one and tribulations experienced in that short time span. Take that theme and multiply it by by the past two weeks and you basically have our motorcycling adventure. It's not to say that it's been all bad, but if you had one of those funny little law scales and balanced the pros and cons the con side would be severely faltered. I could bitch about it for a few paragraphs but in short it went like this.

Day 1-2 -> Break down, spend two days at mechanic
Day 3-4 -> Make it to a hole in the wall town called Yen Cat, where two out of four bikes break down again. Also my bag fell off the back of the bike and smashed my camera

Day 5 -> Eventually make it to a 'big' town (60,000 ppl) where we say 'F THIS' and put the bikes and ourselves on a train for 35$. Train takes 12 hours. Very good seafood pizza.

Day 6-11 -> Arrive in Hue. Absolutely relish the fact we are back in a big city, where the option to eat something other than rice or noodles is open to us. Party our butts of, talk to pretty girls, watch HBO and do a few rides around the city (which is absolutely beautiful! Like, omg, there are giant lotus flowers like floating in the surrounding inlets, and those inlets lead to like the ocean where you can like, totes watch the sun dip down behind this gorge illuminated bridge, while like the impending storm comes in from the west with freakin craze lightning and thunder OMG!!)...also got robbed for about 15$ during this time. Was thumbing for some money from my wallet, and some little wanker comes up grabs a handful and makes off. If you're reading this little vietnamese fellow, really lame move brother.

Day 12 -> After a 800,000 dong (40$US) motorbike overhaul we are back in working condition,
and with heads high, helmets on, freshly showered we set of. We get about 4km out of town when one of the previous shit bikes, waitttttttt for it......BREAKS DOWN AGAIN!

So another night spent in Hue where I meet a fantastic bunch of vietamese dudes and we drink beers, talk about there families and Canada and all sorts of rubbish and what a great time....until I realize my wallet is no longer in my pocket. (Insert sad face) Luckily the wallet was found a few feet away under a little bike taxi thing...with about 70$ missing. At first I looked at it like 'goddamn vietnam', but that's the wrong attitude. There are thousands of people here looking to squeeze an extra buck out of you, legally or illegally, but on the other side of the coin there are multitudes of people who will, and have, help you without a blink of an eye. People are just people, no matter where you are on the globe.

One motorbike got sent back to Hanoi for scraps, so I was driving double yesterday with one of the boys on the back...a solid 200 pounds, but the scenery here made up for way more than the fact I was shifting gears like my life depended on it....which it did. Now that my bike is back in complete working order (thank you Hue mechanic) I'm optomistic about the rest of the drive down, but word to the wise...don't buy an old shitty bike just because it looks cool or that's what people do, because thus far we've basically been doing a tour of the mechanics in Vietnam, instead of actual vietnam. Pick yourself up a cute little honda wave, put on your pink helmet and hit the road, because I'm sure you'll make it more than 100kms without a break down, once a day, every day. The bike total is now up to about 420$ with purcahse, gas and repairs but you can't put a price on adventure. Well, you can, but I literally can't think about it, because it makes me want to vomit.

So at the moment, we are getting a squad of scooters to tour around Hoi An, perhaps get a nice shirt made and go have a margarita, if we can find the beach....(that gigantic body of water with sand on it). I do love vietnam very much, and when my trip is over I'm going to put some serious consideration into teaching english in Hanoi. Peaccccce Out!

From Groundhog Day to Grounded

Goooooooood Morning Vietnam!

Bonjour everyone, time for a bit catch up!

I'm just reading over my last post and giving my head a shake for the time I said I was going to leave, and the time I actually did leave. After Halong Bay, salty and sunny and partied out, I planned to buy a motorcycle and hit the road. Two days turned into almost two weeks because I got lost in a flurry rooftop barbecues, 50 cent beers and the good vibe that is Hanoi city.

I highly reccomend Hanoi backpacker hostel because, even though the rooms are a whopping 6 bucks, the energy and party on that street is just stellar. I will admit it is not 'real' vietnam, which I am currently in, typing on a keyboard that spits out vietnamese, but it offers up the same party with new faces each night. People of all walks of life gather on the rooftop bar, kick back with happy hour beers and burgers and make multitudes of friends. I'd say the first 3 nights would have been plenty but then I had a birthday coming up so why not stay a couple more nights? Then I gained some travelling partners, so why not stay a couple more? Then I had to buy a motorycle, so a little bit more time wouldn't hurt....No worries! People eventually came up and asked 'Hey, how much for the water?' and I would say 'Oh sorry I know I blend into the wallpaper perfectly, but I don't actually work here' So you can see the excellent trap that I had fallen into....Groundhog Day, only I'm Bill Murray from Canada, eh, with a much higher capacity for late nights and cheap rum. It would have been much easier to leave if it was the same hum drum every night, but new faces equals new conversations and adventures! A special thanks to Chau (and Leah and Martha!) for showing me around and hanging out, you are an excellent scooter driver and host!

The day finally came when we left the backpacker district (FINALLY!), and as we sat in a row getting some photos, aviators on, looking cool as a can of baked beans, I think one out of four bikes would start up. Tres embarassing oui? I actually had to go the ghetto route of getting a push down the hill then kicking it into gear, like some Kazikstani moto taxi rolling into town to buy oats. My mates are Nick, Ben and Spencer and they are a solid travelling crew because I'm beginning to realize patience is a virtue when you plan on biking the whole of vietnam on a 12 year old, 300$ motorcycle. No one has lost there cool yet, even though we have travelled only 120 km in almost two days. We've been to the mechanic four times today and he is an absolute gem ...for all you people that break down in Mai Chau go see the dude across from the market/football field, a regular miracle worker.

It is now pissing rain, getting dark and there is some intense lightning happening over the surrounding mountains...so I'm going to go out on a limb and say we are NOT going anywhere tonight. C'est La vie mes amis. Even when things don't go as planned, you find yourself eating shaved beef soup and drinking beer with your buddies, playing with little vietnamese kids, or doing quick language lessons with the locals. Life is good. Until next time.

Hanoi & Ha Long

sin chow! long time no chit chat...

I'd like to say my lack of updates is a direct result of being too busy, but that would be false and unfair to people who depend on blog posts to gauge if I'm still alive (family, god etc.)...yes god reads my blog inbetween business meetings.

A lot of people on the road say that there comes a point, usually after a month or so, that your interest in your own blog starts to wane as you get absorbed by your trip and just can't be bothered with the recollection of already fuzzy memories. I hope I won't casually slip into that bracket and let this board collect virtual dust.

I believe the last post was from Vang Vieng, which is crazy because it's been a good two weeks. One thing about SE Asia is that you can take a wad of money, throw it at someone and make things happen. This is what I did for my vietnam visa, dropping a cool 60$ for same day return, which actually took two days. Money well spent. I caught the bus into the capital of Laos, Vientiene, which is, once again, a quaint but bustling former french colony town. Not a horrible lot to do I'm afraid, with a 11:00 curfew, but I enjoyed some delicious baguettes by the river as I contemplated my next move. Already having my visa, the next question was how did I want to get to Hanoi, Vietnam.

Option 1 - 20 hour bus ride with a 5 hour stop over at the border while we waited for it to open
Option 2 - 1h30min flight with an in flight meal

We're talking a difference of 18$ vs 140$ and which one did you think this frugal independent traveler took? If you guessed the cheaper one you would be wrong, as I marched into a booking agency and asked them to get me on a flight that day at 2:00. Why you ask....still not sure myself...but mostly because I don't think there is enough valium I can safely take to knock me out for a full day, as well the popular moniker for the cheaper option 'The Death Bus'.

Making friends on the plane, we got a taxi to the backpackers circuit to plunker down and recharge, although Hanoi is a massive city, almost on par with bangkok, and I really wish I could make you see the sheer chaos that is these streets. No one really follows traffic lights, if there is any, there are more scooters than humans, somehow, and the number one rule is the bigger vehicle has the right away. Finding out the dorm rooms were full, we hopped over to a hotel for a whopping 8$ a piece with air con, hot shower and HBO! A little slice of heaven.

Day 2 or 3 here, with sleep in my eyes and little ambition I threw another wad of money at the reception desk and said get me to Ha Long bay! For anyone that hasn't heard of it, it's this eerily beautiful bay on the east coast of vietnam that is crawling with tourists, fisherman, birds of prey and deserted islands. Again, being frugal, I sprang for the deluxe tour, which included three incredible meals a day, our own house boat, a multitude of scandalous parties and watersports. Here's a short list of the goings on, and if anyone's in the neighborhood I highly recommend doing this because I had the time of my life!

-Jumping of the boat in the perfect temperature salt water
-Brushing up my wakeboarding skills (bailing incredible hard while attempting a sick 180 bro)
-Skinny dipping with phosphorant algae, although I don't know if actually was that or the moon reflecting of the water (drunk fool)
-Sneaking through underground caves making a gollum voice (preccccccccccious.....)
- Kings cup/Ring of Fire/Beer Slut with some debaucherous results that probably don't fit into the context of this blog.

This tour really depends on the guide and the people you're with and we lucked out on both. really good posse, we all got on well and no one got punched or drowned! Bonus. There's adverts everywhere saying 'Ha Long party guide, do YOU have what it takes' Basically, these guys do 4 or 5 of these tours a month, cruise around the ocean with accomodation, drink and food included and ring the gong when it's time to eat. Sound amazing? I'm sure it is, but the other side is having to smile, get liquored and pretty much repeat the exact same conversations 27 out of 30 days a month. Our tour guide was on his last run, probably for sanity's sake if not to give his liver a break.

Tanned, hungover and with a gaggle of new friends we weasled our way back into Hanoi where I've been living groundhog day for...god knows how many days. Wake up, coffee and a cigarette, internet, have a chat with people outside, try and learn some vietnamese and then up to the roof bar for dinner and two for one beers. It's great, but being stuck in a time loop for anything is a bit shit, so it's almost time to get out of dodge. Luckily my escape is imminent, as that same tour guide and I are buying motorcycles on thursday an working our way down Vietnam easy rider style...I don't think it's enough time to grow a handlebar moustache but I'm trying my very hardest. Hue, Hoi An, couple of random spots, sell the bike in Saigon and on to Cambodia this month...budgeting is out the window, but my pace through these countries is way faster than I planned so Less time = more money spent....yaaa.

I will fight the LIBS (Losing interest in the blog syndrome) as I work my way down, and maybe even get some photos up! Happy 'World No Tobacco day' everyone! Josh out.

Vang Vieng

Well! It must be time for an update, I must apologize for my lack of authorship this past week as I have been literally lost in a whirlwind of buckets, techno and motorcycles. Sounds fun? It is!

I arrived in Vang Vieng on monday, after a harrowing mini bus ride that claimed the lives of two piglets crossing the street. I asked if anyone knew what Canadian bacon was, which didn't go over very well. We finally arrived 6 hours later, and with heads high and our 'independent backpacker' attitude flaunting walked off into the woods while dogs and bugs chased us. We finally relented and got a taxi, where we are currently sharing sharing a 3 bed room with wonderful air conditioning and and even better view of the limestone cliffs overlooking the river.

First impressions of Vang Vieng...picture the biggest college party you've ever been to, add about 1000 people and not even close. There are people roaming around with no shirts and intoxicated grins stumbling the streets at all hours, while local Laotians return the smiles with a somewhat forced demeanor. This is a place where people bring a couple thousand of there dollars, especially euros and pounds, and party like there life depended on it. It all seems a bit soul-less, but tourism is booming and my god is it a blast.

The first night we got acquainted with the city, which is about 4 streets long, then made our way down to the bar below for some poisonous buckets. Buckets, by the way, are basically sand pails with a pint of local whiskey and red bull or something of the sort. You can get them for about 2$ and they are the bane of everyone's brain cells in this mental town. There are also the options of 'happy shakes', which simulate shifting vision and ridiculous conversations, but if shakes aren't your bag than order a vegetarian pizza, which my friend quickly realized spares no expense on the 'mushroom' topping. The party doesn't wind down until about 4 or 5am, and I honestly don't know how people do it. I usually pride myself on my partying abilities, but this town has honestly kicked my butt.

The second day we hit the infamous tubing, which was an equal mix of fun and terror. There are swings where you climb 30 feet up a tree and drop yourself in the river. Combine this with free whiskey shots and hundreds of young, retarded revelers and you got yourself a PARTY! I tried to get in on beer pong and the guy somberly looks at me and goes 'just a minute man, some girl just died' Shocked, I looked over the rail and see a girl holding her arm crying from a bump off the swing. I turn around and tell him it's all good, where we jump right into a deadly game of pong. Just a taste of the attitude on this murky, ridiculous river. We didn't actually buy any tubes, because you have to get them back down the river by 6:00, and we barely made it a third of the way by 7...even though my floating skills are top notch, my not getting sucked into bamboo bars with free drinks skills aren't that great.

The second day I am sorely not proud of, but please don't judge me until you've tried to boogie in this town, it takes a lot out of your soul. We woke up around noon, holed up in one of the bars that constantly reruns Friends, and sat there for 7 HOURS. We kept trying to get up but then just moved to purchase another sandwich and coca cola. Yuck. But I do like friends and sandwiches, so not a total loss.

As far as yesterday goes, I was making arrangements to get out of dodge, before I end up working at one of these bars and sleeping all day, yelling at people to come to such and such bar for a such and such drink. There are heaps westerners in that gig, and I salute there tenacity, but the road is long you can party just as easily, if not infinitely more expensively, back home. I rushed a Vietnam visa for 60 bucks, which I wasn't stoked about, but at least I will have it and not have to sit in some consulate twiddling my thumbs for three days. Tomorrow I have a kayaking tour that will take us down to the capital of Laos, Vientiane. and then a cheap (relatively) flight to Hanoi, Vietnam. The kayaking takes two days and takes your through rapids and gives you more SANDWICHES. And I do love rapids and sandwiches. Anything with sandwiches come to think of it.

We also found a little slice of paradise yesterday, after a manic search through the jungle. I rented a bike in the morning hit the road and searched for 3 hours for 'the blue lagoon'. One of the scams is that young kids will buy those stupid little dollar store tickets, stand beside a road that leads nowhere and charge you to go down it with promises of big beers and crystal cool water, which I promise you is all you want in 40 degree jungle heat. So we dropped a good amount of cash getting lost to these little punks, until we finally found this amazing, sparkling clear lagoon. You plunker in off a rope swing (people love rope swings) and float in this refreshing pool of love while little fish nibble at your feet. It was excellent, and made all the better by our owning failing idiocy to get there.

Last night we sat and talked about movies and shows for 3 hours, hit the bar where I broke into a massive dance sweat, excused myself and jumped in the river off the end of the bar. It must have looked very strange but it felt glorious, and I will do what I want in a country where no one has any trepidations. I wish I had a little more insightful world wisdom to instill in this posting, but Vang Vieng is not where you find that. Vietnam early this week, where I have a a couple people to meet and show me around, which is always a blessing in a new spot. I'm not doing too bad with the languages but everytime I get a small grip on one of them, I change countries. 'Hello', 'Thank You' and 'Where the F am I?" are usually my initial go-tos. Ciao Ciao!

Jai La Laiii

The title is from how to say 'thank you very much' in Laos, which is korp jai la lai....which always makes me sing 'the boxer' from simon and garfunkle. Anyway...new news?

We stayed in Chiang Rai for two nights, the air conditioning was an absolute blessing, although I've found, and been told, don't do air con too often or you will turn into a spoiled little chilled brat. Fast forward to last night where the oscillating fan (which I've realized are my least favorite things in the world) provides about 1.5 seconds of relief before it dicks off for other ventures and you wake up in a pool of sweat and ridiculous heat induced dreams. I'm not sure why but I have mental half dreams and play-outs in my head in this climate, so last night I woke up very hot and dazed, looked out the blow out-vent-fan thing beside my bed and stuck my pinkie in it. It hurt quite a bit, obviously, so I think I got up said "F this" or something of the sort and woke up in the community movie room, sweaty and with a cut pinkie. And I'm not even on the hallucinogenic malaria pills!

That's a bit off track though. Two nights in Chiang Rai where we did yet another waterfall, which seem to be a central theme on this stomped out SE trail, and a wonderful night market! The bike ride out to the fall was treacherous, not so much a road as a half concrete/dirt path where I got to experience my first and hopefully last bike fall. I had a girl on the back who cursed me as she wiped the gravel out of her cut up leg and I soaked up the sheer joy of the exhaust burn on the back of my calf. The scar will kind of look like a smiley face saying 'hey remember that time?'. Perfect. The waterfall was a beautiful and sweet relief after the harrowing and heated bike ride and (almost) crash free we made it back to Chiang Rai for some amazing and cheap (amazingly cheap) dinner at the night bazaar. at night. duh.

After Chiang Rai we caught the bus up to Chiang Kohn which is where I had to say goodbye to thailand and the 14 days remaining on my visa. The issue is this: if you arrive by air they say WELCOME here's thirty days enjoy your stay! If you arrive by land, and this is only recently, they say well....welcome, kind of, but we think you're probably just doing a visa run, so here's 14 days. So when I come back through Cambodia on the bus, I will have to make the most of my two weeks in southern thailand. Unfortunately my thai is not good enough to ask them if i can just save up the days I gave up crossing into Laos. Nor are my diplomatic skills for that matter.

The laos border town was called Huay Xia, I think, and it was quiet and relaxed but if I ever start a separate blog for things that can't quite make it to this one there would probably be a story in there somewhere. This is when I parted ways from my first wolf pack, which was now down to two, and were forced to meet new friends. I took the two day slow boat, so good luck being a lone misanthrope on that. The stories I heard about the slow boat pretty much fit the bill, where you stock up on good cheer and cheap whiskey the first night, get a wicked snap on, and are so hungover and hot by the second day say 'i would really love off this boat, if for nothing else than a good shower and vomit' All part of it my friends!

Which brings us back to Luang Prabang, the jewel of Laos! <-Possibly read that somewhere
This lovely little french colonial town has a curfew of 11:30, boasts about 50 guesthouses, has one of the nicest waterfalls (there they are again) I've ever seen, and actually isn't that unbearable when the sun goes down. We found a 'secret' waterfall swimming hole today, where we turned a 1 hour adventure into a solid 4 hour soak. I bit the bullet on the first jump of the lychee tree into the water, a good 25 feet, but have lived to tell the tale. My camera, of course, ran out of batteries about halfway up but I still managed to get some awesome snaps of the main waterfall and have made some friends who captured some for the real action. I didn't know what day it was until about half an hour ago, but the computer says it's Saturday. If I'm going to soak any amount of debauchery out of this night before the 11:00 curfew (wtf?) I best get on it. Until next time!

Mornnnnning!

35 degrees, birds, construction work, peeling arms, need some shampoo....

Another gorgeous day in thailand, although thank the dear meteorological gods that there is some cloud cover today. When you're sitting in Canada going SUN, HEAT, TROPICS it's easy to think that's all you will want all the time, but I'm telling you right now it debilitating. I'm currently in Chiang Rai after an amazing 5 day stint in Pai.

Pai is a small little...village?...in NW thailand and every backpacking, long short/short pant, dread lock wearing hippie seems to find himself in. I think I mentioned last post of my accommodations, little outdoor bamboo bungalows, and although they were quaint and natural I also had to share them with a multitude of creatures. There was a gecko about the size of my forearm who lived on the roof and although blogs aren't a very good way to represent sounds here was my 3am wake-up call. WEEEH OHHH WEEEEH OHHH. The party was rounded off with mosquitos, roosters, dogs and BED BUGS. Obviously I could not see the bed bugs but they could certainly see me, and I was the proud owner of a string of red dots down my arm. Yum. All told though it was a brilliant experience, especially on the third night when the power in the whole town went out and I had a massive, eerily beautiful sky full of stars to swing in the hammock and count. I got to 47.

Pai also consisted of my current travelling crew! Within the second day I had made friends with and excellent posse varying in nationalities, and we spent most of our waking hours motorcycling to various attractions and drinking the dreaded buckets (pint of whiskey with and equally potent bottle of thai red bull) Pictures will be following...sometime?, but a few of the best activi-dandes included butting heads with elephants, breaking my ass on a waterfall 'slide' and watching fire dancing the last night while getting giddy by the pool. PS if you find yourself in Pai go hang out at the pool. The food, drink and friends are bar none.

To take a sentimental side step for a minute, I'd like to comment on meeting people on the road. For four days you party, converse, assist, get assisted by and generally just get on with these people then one morning comes and you say 'adios', more than likely never seeing them again. If I hadn't been sitting on the exact Internet seat, at an exact time I would not have met the person introduced me to the group and my time this past week, and currently for that matter, would be completely different. You meet, you greet, you party, and you part but every soul you meet on this sweltering track plays a small role in your trip, and I'd like to thank and fore-thank (word?) everyone who I will be experiencing these next couple of months with.

Before I left for this trip my heart was divided in that I'm not getting any younger, haven't finished school, have no applicable skills other than being a professional smart ass and am slowly going to watch my friends slip into RL (real life) The cure for this angst, or at least a salve to relieve the symptoms is being here where the median age is no median age at all. Nineteen, twenty eight, forty, sixty-five! All walks of life throw down their pack and tell you their story, and realizing that the whole world isn't figuring it out while you sit in the dust and stew over a career choice is relieving. That's not say that everyone should pack their shit into a 40L backpack and hit the road while stopping showering, but it works for me. It's been almost two weeks and to hear other points of view from all over the world and age span is heartening. Go pick cherries in australia, clean up after the tigers in san fransico, teach english in eastern europe, go get a degree in reflexology (all real things!)...the bathroom stall was covered in graffiti the other night but one line stood out the most. Don't let life happen to you, make your life happen.

Anyways, Chiang Rai is a sleepy little town but I have one more night here before crossing in Lao. The room is air conditioned, the food is cheap and a motorcycle costs 3$ a day. Next post will be from Lao, which is "Like thailand 20 years ago"<----literally said to me about 12 times. Ciao Ciao.

Chiang Mai & Pai

So this marks week one in Thailand, let's see if I can recollect the past couple of days. The big one would be this:

If anyone has a death wish, I strongly recommend getting on a scooter for the first time and hitting rush hour in a busy foreign city. Two broken fingers, one dislocated shoulder and some MAD road rash and here I am............


Psych OUT!

I did not crash fortunately but was forced to go around the same route about 4 times because I was too nervous to take the exit off of it. The lady asked me if I had ever used a motorbike or scooter, and with a big smile I said 'no way!' She just shook her head and said 'mai ben rai' (no worries) and I was on my way. Now there seems to be a certain method to the madness of thai streets, but I believe its only innately part of you if your thai. There are people weaving, dodging ducking, honking, passing, circumventing, eschewing and whatever else you can think of. My goal for the day was to get this temple on top of the mountain, and I eventually got there but not until about 3 hours of street searching. I believe my internal compass is either broken or non-existent. I'm that guy that needs to turn the map upside down to figure out if it's a left or right hand turn, how's that for not looking like a full on tourist.

Once I got on this road to the temple the only word that kept coming to my head was freedom. That bad-ass little honda topped out at about 60 clicks, but my god was I loving life. You just climbed higher and higher with the sun in your face (more on this in a second), the wind in your hair and the world getting smaller beneath you. I finally got to use the panorama feature on my camera, and I hope you will get to see it when I finally get some pictures up. Anyways, just because you're flying along and quite comfortably cool on the bike, does not mean that your arms aren't getting viciously burned. When I finally came back to the guesthouse and crashed down I had to adjust the AC to accommodate for how much I was heating up the room. Either way, the temple was beautiful but infested with tourists and gift shops the to the nines, so I bailed pretty quickly. I'm not opposed to tourists, obviously being one, but when suddenly the whole point of coming to this beautiful wat on a mountain is to buy a 4 mini buddha statue and smoothie...PEACE.

A little farther down the road there was a tribal village. Again the front was surrounded with toursit shops and the like, but when you got far back enough you came to this wide open space made of thatched little houses and giant swimming...pit I guess you would call it. No electricity or facebook, just little village with a swimming pit and a bunch of fun loving kids. Excellent!

At the bottom of the hill stood the famous Chiang Mai zoo. I was hot and sweaty and completely wiped out but I went in anyways. You've all been to a zoo so let me just list the animals and you can see the snaps later. Hippo, flamingo, panda (Ling Ping!), koala, ostrich, giraffe, elephant, tiger, panther, lion and a myriad of fish and birds. Top animal would have been the white bengal tiger, what a beautiful cat!

That night I went and got ripped off, again, for a pair of shorts, 600 bhat if that means anything to anybody. I met an english guy that said if I got taken one more time, he would personally send me back to Canada. So i must remain vigilant. There was a cool little bar right down the street from the guesthouse where I made friends with a score of different people, but found myself still there at 2am. What I quickly came to realize is that there is tourist nightlife, then thai nightlife. I'm riding shotgun, on the bike, with this lovely thai girl named Fon and we hit a giant club with fantastic music and drinks. There was little to no other white people there and as I was standing in the center with a big dumb grin on my face, this little fellow I met asked 'Jooos, how you doin?' I said 'the best' and I meant it.

I'm now in a little town called Pai in NE Thailand. Everyone seems to love wearing those things that are too long to be shorts and too short to be pants. Might have to pick me up a pair. The bus ride up was...wait for it...SHIT! Didn't see that coming did you? Picture the worst school bus you've ever been on, rip out the AC, turn the floor into wooden planks and make the seats smaller and that was the lap of luxury I was riding in. It's about 110km from Chiang mai to pai and it took us 4 hours 20 minutes to get here. But the keyword is 'here' and this place is fantastic. Bars, internet cafes, guesthouses, motorbikes... it's the stereotypical backpacking haunt. I somehow ended up a few kilometers out of town at lovely place called Mountain View. I'm sleeping in a wonderful bamboo hut with a hammock overlooking the town and a full rack of books, torch lit walkway and super friendly people. I feel like I'm on survivor only I can stay as long as I want.

Wow this was a long one, if you're still with me, thanks for reading, Bye bye!

Buenos Dias Mes Amigos.

If the first two nights in Bangkok were screech, than the last two nights would have been a 300$ of crys-tal. I hooked up with my Lake Louise amigo Lindsay over the weekend, and what a fantastic set-up! Apart from being an excellent host and catching up on the good old days, we lounged by the pool all day incurring a rather rank sun-burn, which is fine because it would be the first time this ol' white epidermis has seen any real sun since last august.

Lindsay teaches at a place called International School Bangkok, north of the city, and the basis is this: Well-to-do amabassdors, business men and the like need somewhere for their kids to get their learn on, so this is that place. Wide encompassing, three gymnasiums, banana trees, a COY POND for god sakes... just a taste of how these children get educated. If the kids have it good, then the teachers certainley get to reap the benefits of this scholastic situation too. Lindsay has a beautiful apartment with a little deck, AC, internet, spare bedroom...basically everything you couldn't get for under 1000$/month back home.

I do have to congratulate Lindsay an myself for our tenacity as our whole day lasted from 12:00pm to about 4:00 am...no naps. After the inital lounging was over, things got serious with some maritime beer pong (apparently there are different, far worse, ways to play). Her friends Stef and Lindsay (another one, i know right...try and follow) played with us and after three rounds of some embarassing defeats, we enjoyed a smorgasboard of eats, and lo behold, found myself back on Khao San Rd...<---that could be a song remember that. I won't go into heavy details as my mother recentely informed me that each blog post is 90% about getting drunk, but just know that it consisted of sheesha, tons of live music, 120% proof whiskey on the street corner, and something like 4 individual loud and electric clubs. There was a massive passout on the cab ride back to Lindsay's, which led to a brilliant sleep in a clean, air conditioned room. It's the little things I'm beginning to realize.

Sunday found ourselves in what looked like an Ipod mall, all white and streamlined...which as a side note I found very contrasting to the blind panhandler sitting amongst hundred of poor thais right outside...where I got my first thai foot massage. She kept rolling my short legs up to get a better crush on my legs, although I wasn't wearing any underwear so things got MAD awkward with me and my 70 year old thai masseuse. Unfortuanetly this is when I had to part ways with my two lovely teacher hosts, and catch the bus up north.

Chiang Mai is like the thailand I had pictured in my head. Small little streets with motorcycles ripping back and forth, hostels everywhere, surrounded by a jungle and some sort of monkey tour in each direction. I wrote in my journal about half an hour ago that I was slightly lonely on the road, but I think it's mostly just a lacking a sense of direction. It's tough when there's not a bro on your side to say 'You want to do this, Ya let's do this' I have to think completely for myself, if you can believe it, and combined with the sunbrn, my brain is running hot. Writing all this rubbish down helps alot, I feel like it's still a way to be at home, even in the middle of lovely, sticky jungle city. One love, josh out

Bangkok

Sweet Lord much to catch up on!

Let's try point form:

-The flight to alaska was long, but it had nothing on the 10 1/2 hr one to taiwan. Since my Ipod/their TV was busted it was a lot of restless sleep and Lonely Planet scanning. The only good thing I'd say was the surreal beauty of the sun coming up on the american side as we outran it over the Pacific, and it doused the whole cloud ceiling in this soft pinkish glow. Lovely.

-Connected in Taiwan and unfortunately didn't have time check out it's scene, but from the sky it looks very oriental and nice. Another time perhaps.

-Got into Bangkok around noon, and after getting heavily ripped off for a taxi (30$ vs 5$) I plunkered down in the backpacker scene in Khao San rd. It's a sweaty bustling mess but my god is it fun. Everyone is selling something, there's music blaring from every corner, you can buy your giant bottle of 1$ beer and carouse the vendors for hours! If you don't melt that is, which I started to.

- I met a lovely girl from Denmark in a little restaurant off to the side and after making friends she showed me the hostel which I'm now staying in. A little more walking led us to more bottles of beer and more friends. It's almost impossible to not pop a squat and instantly have new bros, it's the best! I enjoyed my first street meal, with a deep fried scorpion as an appetizer, and proceeded to wipe my eyes with the hot pepper sitting on top the rice bed. So, in tears, I split ways with my new friends and started to walk back to the hostel. You'd think that would be the end of it but I ran into an American I chatted with in the airport, so we sat down for some 'Wodkee Reebul' (vodka red bull) and made more pals at the table next to us. Clearly the next step were some thai massages, which I enjoyed thoroughly even though I was later informed my lovely masseuse was indeed a dude. And I said 'go hard' or something to that effect.

-At this point I was viciously drunk so had to part ways. I spent the next 3 hours wandering the streets unable to find this hole in the wall hostel, asking 'yoo tee nai, yoo tee nai?' and pointing at my little room keytag. The thing about thais, i think, is they never like to say I don't know, so it's always just 'uhhh you go down, turn left then, uhh just walk a little bit' I finally found it just by happen chance and was so happy...Until I woke up sweating buckets, extreme headache and out of water. To avoid dealing with life I slept from 5:00am to 11:00 pm today, but keep in mind I'm 12:00 hours behind as well. Or that's my excuse anyways. Anyways it's 1:00am now, time for a beer and a new friend. Much love!

This has to be quick as I only have 1.30$ left on this computer...

Which brings me to my first point. Although I begrudgingly put in 2$ to use this computer every time, I would much rather that than sit isolated at a table with my head buried deep into skype talking to people FROM HOME. Loneliness on the road is something I haven't felt yet, although I'm sure it will find me eventually, but to go abroad to glue yourself to the same computer that takes up so many precious hours in the comfort of your own home is ludicrous! But I digress....

Last night, sitting isolated a table watching movies on my Ipod, I popped out and bought a pint of rum and a bottle of Coke for 10$. NYC has had a few shortcomings (read: 2 nights ago) but the price of alcohol is certainely not one of them! So I sat there getting pissed by myself, which turned into one other guy joining me, which then turned into another girl joining us until we had a full on party! So after grabbing a good bit more booze we talked about a myriad of topics, enjoyed each others accents and shot the shit until the wee morning hours. It was fantastic! Although my brain pays the price this morning, in the form of 'skull cramps', it was well worth it. There is a shuttle to the airport at 8:00 tonight, where I will then catch my much anticipated connect to Alaska...I will go into the wild. Terminal 11 to be exact. Knockin on heavens door just came, i must go eat some cereal and soak up life. One love.

NYC

Fridge running, chair scraping, ears ringing, rain...

*Just to get you in the blog reading mood those are the sounds occurring right now*

If day one in New York is any forbearance as to how the rest of the trip will go, I weep for my mortal soul. And not in a good way.The bus ride down here was long and uneventful. When the ticket guy said, "Oh hey, he's got the new bus", I thought what a score. But new buses just invent new ways to make it impossible to make yourself comfortable in any physical orientation, and I tried them all. To bad Apple doesn't invent buses. iBus, knows how you want to sit before you do. The bus driver was a cross between Ray Lewis and Eddie Murphy, and opened up with"Ahhight ya'll they be no drinkin', an they be no smokin', and they certainly be no swearin', now who want they ticket ripped?"

Tonight i finally got to cross "Be homeless in New York City" off my bucket list. Through a combination of naievety and lack of planning, I wandered the streets of Manhattan, at least what I though was Manhattan from 9:20pm until...about now, 6:45am. My train of thought was mostly geared toward rolling in, non-chalant, backpack with only one strap on, throw down a few dollars and get a hostel.

Until about an hour ago I was convinced that the word 'hostel' or 'a few bucks' didn't exist here. For the first three hours I was mesmerized by the daytime glow of Times Square, for those of you that have seen it I'm sure you'd agree. By the sixth circuit around it the novelty turned into two very sore feet and head. Word to the wise or semi-not retarded...bring a map to New York. Thinking there was no budget accomodation to be had, I inquired at a few hotels. The lowest quote was a cool 134 plus tax, the highest 240 plus tax. Keep in mind I avoided anything over 30 stories or with a giant gold fountain in the lobby, I can only speculate about those.

Call me foolish but I would rather circle times square all night (which I ended up doing) then spend two weeks of thailand funds on complimentary breakfast and high thread counts. After the third cab ride and fifth hotel, a very nice young man coming home from 'da clubs' asked me if I needed a place to stay. He said no worries he was just on a fun NYC trip with a friend I could stay with them. No red flags yet, I was ecstatic! And at the Comfort Inn no less! So as throw my pack down for use as a pillow, he says here you take the bed...wow what a nice guy! So i plop down, just exhausted from the aforementioned shit in this story, and who comes nuzzling up next to me but my polite host. I say 'umm hey bro, I hope were on the same page here'. We weren't. Luckily I grabbed a list of hostels off the hotels computer as I sprinted out of there.

So here I am, waiting patiently until 3:00pm until I can check into the dorm room at this hostel (it was on the very far North End, didn't really fit into my circular route). I don't want it to sound like it was all bad though. The city is actually quite beautiful in an excessive neon way, I made some friends with some real live new yorkers in the seediest bar I could find, enjoyed some delicious street vendor dishes (aka street meat) and the Ipod lasted the whole night. At some points it even provided a soundtrack...I remember when I was walking past the Lion King Musical sign for the fifth time a song came that started like 'Sometimes I don't where I'm going, I just keep walking and follow the sounds'. Only I was following the lights and kebab smells. Then when it started to pour around two, Annie Lennox's song 'Here comes the rain again' came on right after that. Loco right? Day 1 COMPLETE

Josh

When I leave behind the familiar love of a place for a new land, which seems to be a consistent trend of mine, I put aside a minute to reflect on what's in the rear view mirror. Life is about the people you surround yourself with and while I stewed away this winter waiting for the spring thaw and my plane ride out of here, I created and rekindled some fantastic relationships. The terrain and temperature might change, but no matter where you are there will always be people to share your experiences with, be it in a small conversation across the bar or deep talks that see the sun come up. For minutes or months that we've mingled, I appreciate the time we've spent together and will carry them with me wherever I find myself.

Ciao Fredericton

Countdown..

Sitting comfortably in my home at the moment. There won't be anything exciting to report until the trip gets under way saturday morning...I'm sure i'll have more than enough thoughts pass though my head on the 25 hour plane ride. Until then....