uruguay: montevideo

our bus to montevideo dropped us at the bus station, and since i had juan's address, it was easy to grab a taxi...juan was a friend of miranda, (the chick we'd stayed with in buenos aires) and she had put me in touch with juan...he'd offered bo and i the chance to stay with him and his flattie, which was great...he had sent me a message with the information we needed to get to his home, it made the transfer very easy...
we arrived and put our stuff down, and hung out in the kitchen as juan made dinner...lasagna...soooo good...after the meal was nearly ready, juan asked us what we do for work...he was surprised when bo said he is a chef, and said bo should've spoken up earlier...hee hee...

we woke up later than expected and found a note from juan telling us what bus to take into town, and the wifi code...bo cooked breakfast, and eventually we got going into the city...
montevideo is the capital of uruguay...it doesn't really feel like a big city, and there is nothing particularly outstanding about the city...
we started in plaza independencia, which, not surprisingly, has a statue of a guy on a horse...(it seems like every city in uruguay and argentina has at least one statue of a man on a horse)...one building around this square looked to use like it was a rocket ready to blast off...

we followed a pedestrian street off plaza independencia for a while, there are shops and cafes along the way...
we took a turn off this street and found our way to the water...it was super windy, but i loved it...something about being near water always calms me down...my hair was going every which way in a couple photos:)...we passed the port, which was full of containers, and cranes...i would've been happy to turn around and walk back and forth near the water for several hours, despite the wind...it would've been fun to get to other areas of water in the city, but we didn't really have time:(

almost by accident we found the mercado we had previously decided would be our location for lunch...it's called the old market, and instead of being filled with fruit, veggie, and meat vendors, it was filled with grilling restaurants...you can walk around the area and check out different places, though they all generally have the same menu...MEAT...LOTS OF MEAT...i ordered kebabs, they ended up being a lot bigger than i expected...ooops:)
on the way back through town the rain started...have i ever mentioned how much i hate rain? we stepped out of the rain for a few minutes in an ice cream shop...

we weren't paying enough attention on the bus ride home, and missed our stop...ooops...part of the reason is that we didn't know where the stop was on the other side of the street...fortunately, i recognized our street as the bus went past, so we were able to get off at the next stop and walk back...juan's flattie danny made seafood paella for dinner that night...i need to go back to montevideo so i can stay with juan and danny again just so i can eat their food!!
the next morning was the same, we slept in later than expected...and again we got off the bus in plaza independencia, and walked on the pedestrian street...

this time we stopped in one of the cafes, i had my first chivitos...it's basically a steak sandwich, how awesome is that?!?! i made room for a chocolate torte for dessert, though i probably shouldn't have eaten the cake...
we found the entry to the carnaval museum, it was on the opposite side of the building from what we expected...carnival is probably best known for taking place in venice, it U20 world cup qualifier...we stayed for a while, it was fun to experience the atmosphere...uruguay won:)
we picked up wine on the way home for dinner, of course bo had more fun picking it out than i did...

danny made pork and potatoes for dinner...YUM...apparently this is one of his best meals, and i could see why...none of us could stop eating...flan for dessert:)

taxation without representation

washington DC is the capitol of my country...i transited through the city at the end of 2009, but that didn't involve anything more than getting from the airport to the train station...i didn't see anything...when i was a kid, we had a family trip to DC, but i didn't remember much about the city...i only remembered heat and humidity...
one of my friends from uni just moved to DC...it's a part of the country i've wanted to visit for a while, and this seemed the perfect opportunity...a number of friends living in the city, or in the DC metro area, and historical sights...woo hoo:)
my flight arrived on time, and sarah met me at the airport...she lives in the city, her flat is only a block from the metro, conveniently on the same line that comes from the airport...yay...as the train came to the station, i mentioned that i was hungry...early early flights usually mean i don't eat breakfast, and my flight landed after noon, so i hadn't had solid food in a long time...
we opted for a place called ben's chili bowl...it's a DC landmark, and has been running for 50 years or so from the same location...i think it's a single restaurant, not a chain...if you are bill cosby, or a member of the obama family (the immediate family, i think) you eat there for free...obviously, that isn't me, but prices aren't high...the menu is simple, i went for chili...and a piece of red velvet cake...they only take cash, and there is an atm in the restaurant just in case you don't carry cash...we got our meal to go...

after getting to sarah's flat, we hung out for a while...until sara came...sarah and sara were both in my closest group of friends from uni...i hadn't seen either of them since then, which means 11 years...we've all grown up in that time, to say the least...
we went out to the mall area to see the sights...the washington monument, the lincoln memorial, the vietnam memorial and more...i took a lot of photos of course, and we talked nonstop...
dinner that night was at a place across the street from ben's chili bowl...i think the place was ulah's bistro? i don't remember exactly, but it was good...good appetizers, main course, and drinks...the dessert wasn't wonderful, but it wasn't awful either...we all ate too much though, the short walk home wasn't nearly long enough to work off the uncomfortably full feeling...
none of us was particularly quick waking up the next morning...eventually we got out the door, and sara was kind enough to drive us to the grocery store...since sarah doesn't have a car, yet lives in the city, it isn't easy for her to get groceries...a lot of stuff is available at convenience stores, but fresh fruit and produce aren't so easy to find...
after returning from grocery shopping, sara took off back to pennsylvania...boooo...it wasn't nearly long enough to catch up, but it was better than nothing...

i went out to see what i could in the city...i took the metro to arlington national cemetary, it wasn't a quick trip as the metro doesn't run nearly as often on weekends, and there was some work being done on the rails so the trains came even less often...when i finally got there, it didn't take long to get to the cemetary, which is huge...the cemetary was founded during the civil war, on the grounds of the former estate of confederate general robert e lee...anyone who has served in the military of the US is eligible to be buried in arlington national cemetary, with a few restrictions...spouses are eligible as well, and minor children...it's also possible to have cremated remains inurned...
one of the more famous names to be buried in arlingtion national cemetary is JFK...there is an eternal flame near that grave...other famous names buried in the cemetary: president william howard taft, general john j pershing, as well as senators robert kennedy and edward kennedy...i only saw JFK's area...i also walked to the tomb of the unknown soldier, which is really impressive...as i walked to the tomb, i realized there was a ceremony of some sort going on...a wreath laying ceremony...quite a few old vets were there, at least one was wearing something telling me he had been awarded a purple heart...at some point during the ceremony, all active duty in attendance were supposed to salute, and all civilians are supposed to put their hands on their hearts...

after the cemetary, i walked across the bridge, back to the edge of the area with the lincoln memorial...only this time i turned a corner, and made my way to the FDR (franklin delano roosevelt) memorial...it's bigger than i thought...there are several 'panels' for lack of a better word, each showing different aspects of his life...he was president for 12 years, something that is no longer possible...
not surprisingly, the next stop was another memorial...the jefferson memorial...it's not as visited as the lincolm memorial because it's on the other side of the water, but it's still nice...and even if you don't make it all the way to the memorial, you can take a photo or two from across the water...
all this walking was getting to me, so i walked back toward the green area between all the smithsonian museums...i took the chance to sit for a while, just watching people...DC is full of tourists, both domestic and international...as i was sitting and watching people, it was fun to try to pick out languages and accents...to say that fashions vary between countries and regions is a bit of an understatement...

after sitting a while, i walked more and found a bookstore...i'm a sucker for bookstores...
then, finally, i went home...sarah and i took it easy that night, lovely!!
the next day started with a reunion with a high school classmate...i hadnt seen katie in years and years, and had in fact lost contact with her...(in this day, that's tough to do!)...it turned out i had just missed her wedding (which took place just before i left ukraine) and my family had been invited to a reception in my hometown, so i was able to email katie's mom, get katie's email, then set up a meeting in DC...she doesn't live in the city, but she's close...we ate at ben's, i love the place...
after the meeting i got on the subway again and went back to the historical middle of the city, and walked toward the white house...i have very vague memories of seeing the place from a family vacation when i was 10 or so...since that was loooong before september 11th, i was expecting a lot more security around the perimeter...but i didn't see much...(just because i didn't see security doesn't mean it wasn't there)...

one of the most popular photos in DC is of someone standing in front of the fence, with the white house in the background...i think i first strolled up to the fence on the back side, so i just took a photo, i wasn't in the photo...there were a lot of people along the fence, but far fewer than i expected...(maybe because this was august, when it's hot and humid)...walking around the side of the white house takes you close to a couple office buildings and another statue...i think walking around the edge takes you close to the white house gardens, from which a lot of fresh produce is taken to feed the first family and others in the building...
on the other side of the white house the fence continues...this is the front side of the building, though that didn't seem obvious to me...across from the white house is a small tent city, as well as a few signs...gotta love free speech...across the street from this side of the white house is lafayette square...each corner of the square has a statue honouring someone of historical importance to my country (i could name and give details of each statue, but do you really want to add even more to an already ridiculously LONG entry?)...i got a photo with me in the photo from this side...

on the way back to sarah's flat, i went to the train station and got my ticket for a couple days later...by the time i got home it was dark, and my legs were tired...so much walking for days in a row is something i love, but it's exhausting when i haven't done it in a while
the next morning i went to mcclean, virginia for another meeting...my friend lynnae, who just had her second baby the week before, had just moved to the area with her husband and older son...i've seen some wee little kids, but i've never held one who is only a week old...i took the train to the end of the line, lynnae picked me up at the station...her mom was visiting too:)...it was nice to spend a couple hours catching up on life...
after taking the train back into the city, i went back to sarah's flat...we had made plans the night before to go to the holocaust museum as soon as i came back from mcclean...

back onto the subway, walking to the museum...it's free, but you have to have tickets, which we'd ordered online the night before...you can also get tickets at the door, but if you want to do that, it's best to be in line in the morning as there are only a certain number for each day, and they run out fairly quickly...each ticket has a timestamp, the whole idea is to keep traffic through the museum from being totally crazy...
the museum has a LOT of information, and great displays...the amount of information is stunning, and rather overwhelming...it's really intense, and really sobering...if i ever get the chance to go back to DC, i'd like to visit this museum again, more slowly this time...
for dinner that night i met up with another friend, this one from a visit to germany in 2009...i love seeing travel friends in different places around the world:)...since i'd already eaten at ben's several times during this visit, i figured why not eat there once more...after eating, we walked around the neighbourhood, found a quiet bar/restaurant and stopped in for drinks...

eventually i went back to sarah's place for my last evening...
my train the next day wasn't until 1430, and it seemed a waste not to do anything before leaving the city...washington DC is a pretty big city, and even though i had more days than i usually do in one place, i didn't come anywhere close to seeing everything...or, for that matter, even close to seeing everyone i know who lives in the area...when my next visit rolls around, i should do a whole lot more planning...a LOT more planning..(that's a guideline i need to apply to my next trip to the states in general, not just this city) since so much of what happens in DC is related to the government, i decided to go see the capitol...the building where so much of the power in DC resides...there are offices in the building, historical spots, important people, and the rooms where my nation's government is living.. there are tours of the capitol leaving quite regularly...entry for all visitors is through a huge visitors entrance/center, which is actually underground...this entrance isn't very old, but after events of this century, security has been increased all over the capital city..i walked in, got my tour ticket, was handed the earphones i'd need to hear my guide, and got in the correct queue...this is a popular tour, there are heaps of people in each group...since the accoustics all over the building make sound quite loud, the earphones are necessary if you want to hear your guide..

my guide was short, but was quite spunky, for lack of a better word..she knew her history, and was proud to show it off.. during the tour you get to see the rotunda, the old supreme court, the crypt, and a couple other places..i was a bit disappointed that i didn't get to see any active rooms, but i can understand why..if you contact your representative ahead of time, it is possible to arrange those tours, and quite easily, if i understand correctly...i took photos, listened to the stories, etc... my train left at 1430, and i was on the train...too bad the arrival of the train was over an hour late at my next destination...

china 3

o stayed in tai'an that night, and the next morning took a bus to qufu...a name i had never heard until i read it in the guidebook...as the book told me, it was the home of confuscious, and his family...and apparently it still is the home of his descendents...there are three main sights in the town...the temple, his family mansion, and the forest...you can buy one ticket for all three of them, which is handy, though expensive...
qufu itself is actually the smallest place i visited while i was in china...and it has to be one of the smallest "cities" they have..."only" 85,000 people...i liked the atmosphere...a lot...the temple was, well, a temple...nothing terribly exciting...i had my picture taken in front of the study hall place thingy where confuscious supposedly taught...anyone think his spirit is still there and possibly taught me a thing or two? hee hee...the mansions are the family house(s)...not only did confuscious live there, but older and newer generations of his family as well...they were actually quite well off, and pretty much ran the area as their own little business empire...there are a number of buildings, used for different purposes, some of them business, some of them personal...the best part was the garden area out back...i walked up a path to the top of a set of rocks and had fun setting up my camera...it turned out the path i walked up was the only one that wasn't blocked off to go up those rocks, i guess i wasn't supposed to be up there, but i didn't figure that out until i saw the other paths after coming back down!! oh well...
the next day i walked out to the forest, it's a couple kilometers north of the other two sights...the forest is actually the cemetary/graveyard for confuscious and all of his descendents...according to the guidebook, over 2000 people are buried there, and his descendents are still buried there now!! it's quite possibly the quietest place in all of china...i loved it...most people who go take a tour on an electric bus, which createst the only sound...since they're electric, they're quiet...except for the honking they do to let the few people on the paths (me) know they're coming...there are a couple main paths/small roads around the forest, but otherwise everything is small, and dirt...i enjoyed wandering through the overgrowth, checking out the stelae...obviously, i couldn't read anything that had been inscribed, but some looked pretty artistic...some of the people buried there were obviously more important than others...if i knew more chinese history, perhaps i would know who they were...i just enjoyed the quiet, and peacefulness of the area...i ended up with lots of scratches from walking through everything, but it was worth it...
my hostel in qufu was brilliant...the bunks were nice and sturdy, i didn't feel like there was an earthquake each time the person in the bunk under me moved...there was a water filter in the lobby from which we were all encouraged to fill our water bottles, in order to avoid buying new plastic water bottles...and free internet too!! yay!!
from qufu i took a bus back to tai'an, then a night train to beijing...actually, the same train layna had taken a couple days earlier...only i had a seat:)
i arrived in beijing at the lovely hour of 0520...still dark...so i sat in the train station for a while, watching the gbillions of people coming out, after arriving at the same ridiculous hour...apparently there are LOTS of trains going in and out of there! i found my hostel w/out much difficulty, checked in, and promptly fell asleep for a few hours...i can't remember the last time i took a nap in the morning!! i have visited beijing previously, so i didn't feel the need to get out and explore quite so fast...
beijing has definitely changed since i last visited...that was before the olympics...their subways have grown, and continue to grow now...buses are still confusing though...lots and lots of signs are now bilingual, which makes it a bunch easier for visitors to get around and figure out where they are...i walked...and walked...and walked...straight down one street, for over 2 hours!! i stopped in a big market to look around for tea, realized i didn't feel like browsing at all, and walked back out...oops...i walked a bunch more, hopped on the metro and met layna at dairy queen for "dinner"...hey, it had dairy, right? carbs in the brownies too...lol...
the next day i went to the one sight i saw this time in beijing...the lama temple, known in chinese as yonghegong...a tibetan buddhist temple where lamas go to study...i don't remember how one becomes a lama, or all of that is decided...like every other temple in asia, it was actually a complex, with several temple buildings, and halls used for various purposes...overall it was quite different from other buddhist temples i've seen while traveling, so i enjoyed it...while standing around in one courtyard i heard a few folks talking, in an accent any american could identify...that of the south...the slow southern drawl...i asked them where exactly they were from, and ended up chatting for over an hour!! they were two couples, one of whom lived in beijing, the other visiting and being shown around...the couple living in beijing was retired army, including time in germany, so we chatted about that as well...anywho, they were all really sweet and friendly...the kind of americans that actually give us a good name!!
later that afternoon i went to a meeting at the offices of a company called koryo tours...i'll tell you about them in the next blog

bangkok again, and manila

in between vietnam and the philippines, we were back in bangkok for a day and a half...this time we stayed in an area near lumbini park, instead of the usual tourist haunt of khao san road...even though it took us a while to find our guesthouse, it ended up being a lot better than previous visits...the food at nearby street stalls was better, as were prices...also, the foreigners we saw were those who actually live in bangkok, not those who are just visiting...while walking around i saw several HUGE malls, with brand names in them...it was very hard to walk away from the baskin robbins store, i was sooooo tempted...i did see one new sight, the golden mount...it's a wat on top of a hill...the wat itself isn't any great shakes, but it was the first time i was able to look out over the city, and that was neat...
from bangkok we flew to manila, the capital of the philippines...a very western city...HUGE malls all over the place, lots of english spoken, restaurants everywhere...it's almost like being back in the states in many ways...i first visited manila 5 years ago, when my sister was living in the philippines for a year...being back brought back a lot of memories, to say the least...it was nice to be in a place where i sortof had an idea where i knew what i was doing...
the last time i was in manila, i was guided around by my sister, which meant i payed absolutely no attention how we got anywhere...and we didn't walk much...this time, layna and i both walked...and i realized that it's easy to walk around manila...this does not howeva mean that filipinos do any walking...if at all possible, they take transport...whether that's a taxi, a jeepney, a tricycle, or the LRT/MRT...i saw very few people out just walking, and the tricycle drivers all told me i was nuts/dumb for walking...traffic is not very clean, and i didn't enjoy all the black clouds being belched out of the vehicles, but oh well...i walked through intramuros, quiapo, chinatown, and malate, which are all areas of manila...intramuros still retains some of it's spanish roots, and the manila cathedral is in that area...it was originally built quite a while ago, but has been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times...(fires, earthquakes, etc knocked it down...the philippines is home to many natural disasters each year)...
just like saigon, manila isn't all that aesthetically appealing...there are only a few actual sights, and most people don't spend much time there...traffic is crazy, and surprisingly, it's not from personal vehicles...there are just so many taxis, jeepneys, tricycles, buses, etc on the road that things get clogged up...and filipino drivers usually ignore lane lines...still layna and i both really like the city...
one of the sights is rizal park...it's still called luneta by a lot of locals, even though the name was changed in the 50s, i think...jose rizal is one of many philippine national heroes...i think he stood up to the spanish with words? they've got his farewell poem translated into several different languages...it's actually pretty moving...in one area of the park you can see the cement footprints of the steps he supposedly took, leading to the spot where he was executed...at one end of the park is a statue of rizal, guarded by two members of the filipino military in dress uniform...toward the other end of the park is a statue of lapu lapu, who was the leader of one of many tribes way back when...he's known because he won the battle with ferdinand magellan when the later first landed on the philippines in the 1500s...magellan didn't last long after landing, and that defeat set back spanish colonialization by about 100 years...at the far end of the park is a map of the philippines...made of cement, in water, so you get an idea of what the whole country looks like...the best view would have been from the LRT line closeby, but i couldn't figure out a way to get up to that spot...(it wasn't a stop, so there wouldn't have been anywhere to stand)...all along the sidewalks in the park are busts of other filipino heroes...they've got a lot of them!!!

wellington, christchurch and queenstown

when i told people i was going to wellington, they all said i should take the overlander..it's a train that takes the entire day to go from auckland to wellington..it's supposed to be really scenic, and allow you to see beautiful areas of the north island..so i signed myself up for the train, it left at 0725 on a monday morning..the ride itself was okay, nothing spectacular..new zealand is pretty, but i felt as though i had already seen prettier areas than what i saw during that train ride..it didn't help that mt ruapehu was completely invisible when the train went by, but it's supposed to be an awesome view most of the time..i couldn't even tell there was anything there, the whole area was enveloped in a mist..anywho, as i was walking out of the train station, i noticed that someone was busking in the lobby area of the train station..i liked the music, he seemed pretty good..there were lots of people standing around watching, and cameras filming the whole thing..i stayed until he was done playing, but didn't know who it was, and felt too stupid to ask someone..(later on in the week i found out it was john mayer, doing publicity stuff for his concert that took place the next evening in wellington!)..
i found a hostel, and elected to put myself in a girls only dorm room..new zealand has a really good system of hostels, the infrastructure of backpacking is set up well in the entire country..
during the next three days i walked all over..unlike auckland, a visitor can walk all over wellington and see just about everything..it's the capital of the country, but only has about 150,000 people..(the biggest city, auckland, has over a million)..the nickname is windy welly, and i figured out why pretty quickly..the wind never seems to stop blowing!! i walked through te papa, the national museum..its really well done, and huge..it takes hours if you read and look at everything..the displays are put together well, and some of them are interactive for kids..i walked through the botanical gardens, which i didn't think were all that great..i took the cable car up to the top of a nearby hill and was able to look out over the city..i walked to the parliament area..the prime ministers office is in a building called the beehive, and it's UGLY..who knows why they chose that particular architect's design..it's awful..i took the guided tour as well, which i enjoyed for the informative aspects..it was neat to learn about the different areas of the building, what different rooms are used for..my favourite was the room where the queen sits when she visits..(which is practically never)..i was stunned to learn that there are rules still followed about who gets to walk where when the queen is sitting..if a member of parliament walks across in front of the queen he/she will be thrown out of parliament and forced to resign his/her seat!! i thought that kind of stuff was done with a long time ago, but this is a country far different from the US..technically, the head of the country is the queen of england..strange..i also walked to a monument that has something to do with antarctica..i'm not sure on the details, but there is a line where if you look at a particular angle, and could see that far, the next land you would see is antarctica..nifty..
my next week trip was to christchurch..in the canterbury area of the south island..it's home to the international airport of the south island..wine country, for the most part..lots of farming in general i think..the international antarctic centre is near the airport, i really enjoyed that visit...there is sooooo much i don't know about antarctica..they have displayed the new zealand history in antarctica, among other information..there is also a room where you can experience a blizzard..before going in the room you put on boots, and a winter jacket..when the "storm" starts, you can feel the wind picking up and the temperature dropping..it's not the temperatures that get you, it's the wind..it's awful!! but it was a neat experience..coming out of the room i felt like i was in the tropics:)..christchurch has nice gardens as well, and i found a yummy chocolate/fudge shop..who knew gluten free truffles could be so tasty? one afternoon i took the bus over to lyttleton, a small town near christchurch..it's picturesque, and has a building with a big ball on a pole...(think times square for new years eve, when the ball drops to mark the exact start of the new year)..this ball used to drop to let ship captains know exactly what time it was..that way they were able to make sure the clocks on their ships were right, and that way they knew they could properly figure out navigation..inside that building there used to be a family, it's now a museum..they used to live like early settlers lived in the US..christchurch has a number of churches, and old buildings that look distinctly british..i found a rugby store that had jerseys from every team imaginable..i ended up buying a jersey for the antarctic rugby team..fun:)
my last trip was to queenstown..when it was built, it was w/out a name..someone came, and as it was being finished, they said it was fit for a queen..hence the name..not big on originality, hee hee..it's the outdoor activity capital of the country..you can spend a LOT of money in queenstown..that's where bungy jumping originated, and you can still go with that company if you so desire..you can also go canyon swinging, skydiving, spend an hour on the shotover jetboat, etc..i took the cable car up to the top of one of the nearby hills that looks out over the city..as queenstown is farther south than anywhere else i visited, it is farther along in the season change than anywhere else..the leaves were beautiful, all colours of the rainbow..up at the top of the hill i rode the luge that's been built up there...that's my idea of fun, i could've spent a few more hours up there..i walked through the botanical gardens, which didnt impress me much..i found a british lolly shop, which was fun..i took a day trip to milford sound, which was beautiful..the bus drive to and from was long, but really pretty..we drove through a one lane tunnel, and on a steep, turny road..the boat ride up and down the sound was really pretty..(on a side note, a kayaker who had come from australia across the tasman sea lost his life just 30km outside of the sound just a couple years ago)..i loved being outside all day, i definitely wasn't impressed with the lunch that was part of the tour..but i rather expected that..one of the most disappointing experiences of queenstown was when i discovered that my atm card from the states wouldn't work..when i finally managed to ring my bank, i was informed that there was no atm card registered to my account..it turned out that it had been so long since i had used it that it had been kicked out of the system..argh..which left me with almost no cash, and no access to any cash..i had credit cards, but no way of getting any cash..ugh..in queenstown there is a restaurant called fergburger..i had heard about it from another traveller in christchurch, who said i had to eat there, so i did..BIG burgers, and BIG servings of chips..YUMMY!! the worst part of my experience in queenstown took place the day i was scheduled to fly back to auckland..apparently the domestic airport in auckland was completely socked in by fog that morning..completely..it was shut down..no flights going in or out..which meant that many flights to and around the rest of the country didn't go either..i ended up stuck in queenstown an extra night, which really upset me, as dan and i had planned an evening out that night, and i had only a limited number of nights left with him before leaving the country..queenstown isn't an international airport, and flights can't go in or out after sunset, which is pretty early..by the time the fog cleared in auckland, flights all over the country were disrupted..lots of flights ended up being cancelled, which stranded a lot of people..the airlines put people up in hotels, but i was really really really disappointed not to be back in auckland that evening..i did get back the next day..

cambodia 1

our first stop in cambodia was more out of necessity than anything else...we took a bus from the border to a town called stun treng...it's the first real town after the border...most travelers don't stay more than one night...i met a cute irish boy who invited me out for drinks:)...a redhead:)
we did walk around stun treng for a while, during which time i ended up with heat exhaustion...my first of many times dealing with this...we learned that atms in cambodia dispense mostly dollars...and lots of prices are quoted in dollars...change is given in a combination of dollars and riel...they don't use US coins, only the paper money, so cambodian money is used in place of the coins...for stuff at markets, of course you pay in riel...(approximately $1USD = 4100 riel)...the next morning we caught a bus to kratie...
like stun treng, there isn't much to see or do in kratie...the reason to stop there is to use it as a base to go 15km upriver to see the irrawady dolphins...they're freshwater dolphins, and they're endangered...i hired a motorbike driver (i wanted to drive myself, but i wasn't going to drive a motorbike w/out a helmet, and the place i asked didn't have helmets!) and enjoyed the ride...the dolphins themselves aren't exciting and entertaining...they don't jump out of the water like flipper...they just come up to breath every 2-3 minutes, then go back down...i've gotta say, they're not very pretty...it looks like their noses and heads were smushed flat against something...you can hear them breath when they surface...females have a baby once every three years or so, and keep the baby with them until it reaches about 40kgs...(which happens to be about 2 years i think)...the guy poling my boat said there are about 50 dolphins in this pod, and that it's easier to see them during the dry season (now)...during wet season they head farther up river...
in kratie i tried my first kralon...a khmer food, it's sticky rice and red beans and some coconut put into a bamboo flute...soooooooo good!
from kratie we went to the capital of phnom penh...it's a whole LOT more lively than vientienne...there are a number of interesting markets around town, and it's easy to walk everywhere...(not that that discourages every single moto driver from slowing down to ask you want a ride)...we didn't know it when we arrived, but we arrived the day before the start of the khmer new year...it turns out that cambodia has the highest number of public holidays of any country, and it celebrates 3 different new years!!! the international new year, the lunar new year, and the khmer new year...both the lunar new year and the khmer new year are three day holidays, during which most shops close...fortunately, tourist sights don't close, and apparently neither does the post office...
i visited the royal palace, which was okay, but not outstanding...at least for me...the complex reminded me a bit of the complex of the royal palace in bangkok...in the royal palace complex of phnom penh is the silver pagoda...it had a sanskrit name until 1993, when they changed it to make it easier for tourists...the silver pagoda name comes from the floor tiles...i think there are supposed to be quite a few of them, all silver...as i walked in, i expected to be amazed...but i forgot that silver tarnishes, and as a result, the tiles that were showing, (most of the tiles had carpet laid over them, to protect them) weren't very shiny...they almost looked like tin...
phnom penh is probably better known as a city where pol pot (ruler of the khmer rouge) did some of his worst deeds...first he established a prison called S-21...it was a detention and interrogation center...some 20,000 prisoners spent time there...only 7 survived...the rest either died during "questioning" or were executed at the killing fields...as in some of the camps of the holocaust, records were kept in great detail at this prison...they took pictures of nearly all the detainees, and many of those photographs are displayed now...it's scary to look and see people who were at the same point in their lives as i am...there were pictures of kids, and old folks...seeing some of those pictures, you couldn't help but wonder "how on earth could they think that person could be a danger?"...you can wander in the rooms where torture ("interrogation") was conducted...they're fairly large rooms, with nothing but metal cots in them...you can wander through the cells where the prisoners lived...they're tiny...in addition to the "mug shots" they also have photo exhibitions of people who were involved at the time...its odd to realize that people who were involved, are still middle aged!!! they show a movie twice a day, the movie describes the story of a couple...it's really sad...all too often during the time, family members disappeared, (or entire families,) and were never heard from again...estimates vary, but the generally accepted number of deaths during the genocide is about 1.7 million...considering cambodia only has a population of 12 million, that's HUGE...relatively speaking, its the worst genocide the world has ever seen...the question a lot of people ask, is how did it happen...how did it happen after the world first said "never again" after WWII?
we also visited the killing fields, which are just outside the city...the area is quiet now, and nothing remains of the facilities that were once there to cause death so efficiently...there are big holes in the ground, where some of the mass graves have been discovered...they've found about 8000 sets of remains in the area, and it's expected that in the future they'll find many more...there is a sign telling about the killing tree...guards swung children against the tree...just reading that sign got to me...the only thing you see at the killing fields (other than the beggar children who run along the fence outside the area) is a tall building, filled with the skulls of the deceased...it's a moving area...and, we all hope, nothing like this will ever happen...
i investigated a couple wats in phnom penh as well...one supposedly holds buddha's eyebrow...another is on top of the only hill in the city...since it was a holiday while we were there, all wats were busy with locals dressed in their sunday best, bringing offerings...awesome people watching...

lao 2

vang vieng is a backpacker town in between luang prabang and vientienne...there is no culture here, only outdoorsy stuff, and a LOT of restaurants with cushions and tvs showing friends/simpsons/family guy...there are a lot of caves nearby, some are interesting to explore...some, not so much...
one day i explored several caves with the same group i had hung out with in luang prabang...our first cave had a big buddha in it, but that was all...our second cave allowed us to do a bit of exploring...thankfully the money taker guy had given us head torches, or we would've had to come back out...(i'm not sure why we didn't think of bringing our own, it's not as if caves have natural light, hee hee)...it was slippery, but still fun...our explorations took longer than expected, so i don't think anyone did anything that afternoon...(layna spent hours in a sauna and loved it)...dinner that night was pizza...i didn't think anything of it, but it kept me in bed for over 24 hours...i couldn't walk straight, not fun at all...thankfully, it didn't affect layna nearly that badly...that's the first "wasted" day of our trip...
we had wanted to go tubing the afternoon after i explored the caves, but due to my late return, we didn't...and i spent the next day in bed, so it didn't happen then either...the third afternoon we finally went tubing...it's basically a backpacker ritual...you hire a tube (the deposit was more than the hire price!!) and they take you about 3km up river...you float down, stopping at any of the bars alongside the river on your way back...there are quite a few bars, and it seemed as though several people were intent on stopping at every one!! i put suncream on my face, but forgot my arms and legs, so i got roasted...one girl we saw along the way said she had used coconut oil, so i can only imagine her condition when she finished...we only stopped twice, and not for long, and we still took 3.5 hours!!! according to another traveler who had done this before, the river was quite low, lower than he had ever seen it...i suppose that explains the slowness...
our next city was vientienne...the capital of lao...quite possibly the only capital i've ever visited where there seemed to be no movement...there were very few people walking around...of course, that's cause it was HOT HOT HOT...apparently april is the hottest month of the year in lao...lucky us...we visited the most famous wat in the country, pha that luang...it's not all that big, but it's covered in gold...it's important enough to be on the seal of the country...on our way to the wat, we walked under a memorial arch...it memorializes the lao people who have died during war...ironically, the memorial is built with cement donated by the US...the cement was supposed to be used for building a runway in 1969...considering the US was dropping a LOT of bombs on lao at the time (in what was at the time a secret operation) i don't blame the people for using the cement for another purpose...the memorial was never finished...it's a bit like the arc de triomphe in paris, but uglier...a good spot to people watch...the other wat i visited in town had over 10,000 buddhas inside!! most of them very small, set into niches in the wall...it is the only wat in town not destroyed by invaders over the years, and needs some renovation...
while in vientienne i took a local bus about an hour out of town and visited buddha park...it's not big at all, but it's absolutely chock FULL of buddhas, and shivas, and other hindu deities...most are pretty interesting, especially the sculpture that allows you to climb up and look out over the whole park...a few monks were exploring as well, it was interesting to see where they were taking pictures...
vientienne is expensive compared to the rest of the country...i guess that's normal for a capital city, but this city didn't have anything justifying the higher costs!!! we ended up sleeping in dorm beds for the first time during our entire trip...unfortunately, mosquitos ate layna each of those nights...(but they left the rest of us in the dorm alone)...mosquitos love layna, she doesn't know why...and i'm surprised they haven't eaten me, as usually they love me...

india part 7

agra, home to the most famous sight in india...though i am not sure i would have known the name of the city before arriving in india...the taj mahal...the most expensive sight as well...it was built by shah jahan, one of the mughal rulers...he built it for his 2nd wife mumtaz, after she died in childbirth...with her 14th child!!!!!!!!!!!!! 14 kids!!!!!!!!!!!! i can't begin to imagine that...layna did the math, and she spent just under half her life pregnant...WHOA...anywho, he obviously kinda liked her...his life ended up not being much fun though...for the last 8 years of his life, he was imprisoned in agra fort, and could only look out and see the taj mahal from 2km away...on a clear day...on a hazy day, he wasn't able to see the taj at all...the person who imprisoned him was his own son, aurangzeb...aurangzeb seized power by beseiging the fort and cutting off the water supply, then fought with his brothers for power...poor dad had 8 yrs in a mostly white marble palace inside the fort...the taj mahal is a HUGE white marble mausoleum...after shah jahan died, he was buried there as well, with a larger grave, of course...though mumtaz's grave is centered, so it's obvious it was built for her...there is a mosque on one side, made of red sandstone, that's still used a bit...it opens at sunrise, and closes at sundown...there are three gates, each with separate ticket lines for indians and foreigners...indians pay 10 rupees, foreigners pay 750...the line of foreigners is LONG...
i enjoyed wandering around the fort more than i did the taj...i was at the fort on the day the taj is closed (friday)...if you see both sights on the same day, you get a 50 rupee discount, but i decided not to do that, since i knew layna wouldn't be visiting the fort with me and i wanted to do it early in the morning...since the taj is closed on fridays, the fort isn't as busy then either, which ended up being awesome...the ticket guy at the fort gave me the discount anywho, AND i got to wander around in almost total quiet...there were very few other people in there while i was there...
i also took a day trip out to the old city of fatephur sikri...it was built as a capital city by akbar, but abandoned shortly after his death because there wasn't enough water...the ruins are still there, though it's a ghost city now...on one end is a mosque, still very much in use...another one called jama masjid...(i found out that jama means friday, which is the biggest day of the week for worshipping muslims...now i know why the biggest mosque in each city has the same name!)...the main gate into this mosque is 54m high...inside the courtyard is also a shrine to a sufi mystic...back in the day when akbar was still alive, he had 3 wives, and none of them had had kids...this mystic predicted that a son/heir would soon arrive, and when it happened, akbar built a city where this mystic lived...because of the pregnancy/family aspect of the mystic, women who want to become pregnant still come and pray at his shrine...they make wishes by tying little pieces of red string into the latticework of the shrine...the mystic is buried there, as are all of his descendents...to get to the area with the palace and gardens and such, i had to walk through a road where all the wannabe guides were hanging out...i didn't see a whole l0t of tourists, so they're all pretty desperate to find someone to hire them...they all tried to convince me that i couldn't properly appreciate the sight w/out their knowledge...i still decided against hiring one of them...all the signs inside were pretty descriptive, so i wonder what else they would've told me...
while in agra we also celebrated layna's birthday...this year she turned 33 on friday, the 13th of february...we didn't do much that day, in fact we spent most of the day waiting...waiting for the customs guy at the post office, waiting for the doctor (the bites on layna's feet were badly infected,) getting our hair cut, buying postcards, etc...that night we were on a train, so we couldn't even go out properly...i'm obviously not a good birthday celebrater...
after agra we went to varanasi...believed to be a holy city, along a holy river, the ganges...the city is mostly built on one side of the river, and there are ghats all the way up and down that side...a ghat is a set of steps leading to open water...(lake, river, etc)...a dhobi ghat is where laundry is done, and we saw several of those in varanasi...it's possible to walk for several kilometers along the ghats in varanasi, and by doing so, you get to see an amazing number of people doing an amazing number of things...bathing, laundry, and more...one of the ghats is the main burning ghat, where cremations are carried out...we were taken into a building that allowed us a higher view of this ghat, so we could see what was happening...first the body is carried through the streets by outcasts...then taken to the river and dunked in holy water...then the shrouded body is placed upon the pyre, and more wood piled on top of that...the guys who do this know exactly how much wood is needed to reduce the body to nothing but ash in 3 hours...the cost of the cremation is the cost of the wood...this is based on the weight and type of wood...sandalwood is the most expensive...we saw the start of 3 or 4 cremations, but didn't see what the end looks like...someone told us that the ashes are put in the river...before seeing the area, i imagined it would be rather smelly, but it wasn't at all...and the bodies are wrapped in shrouds, so you don't ever see a dead body...women (family members and friends of the deceased) aren't allowed to witness the cremations, because historically they would throw themselves on the funeral pyre...what an awful way to die...
as i've said before, layna and i like to walk, and we often walk out of the typical tourist zone in each town...this time we walked farther along the ghats than most people...at one point we heard some drumming, and saw some women dancing, so we stopped to watch...before we knew it, they had pulled us in and we were dancing with them...it was a wedding celebration!! i felt guilty, as we were getting far more attention than the bridal couple...they weren't dancing though...the sari of the bride was absolutely gorgeous...(traditional indian brides wear a red and gold sari)...anywho, the dancing was great fun, and it was one of our only interactions with indian women...we'd love to have more, but indian women don't go out and about like indian men...
walking in town we saw a couple other marriage processions during our days in varanasi...florescent lights (all connected to each other, and the generator being pushed along as well) being carried by people, guys in marching band costumes playing happy music, and women in nice clothes walking along...impressive, and fun...we saw other processions as well, but weren't able to figure out what they were...people dressed all in black, and hitting themselves (HARD) in time to the beat of a drum...a funeral procession? we saw circles formed around men and boys dancing/performing with knives and sticks on the streets too...varanasi is a city where you'll see a lot of traditions that have been a part of life for a very long time, but arent so much on display in other cities...at least, not that we've seen...
we did hire a boat a couple times, which is a typical thing to do...it's quite an experience to be rowed along the river, watching each ghat go by...they are all different, and it's a great people watching experience...our first ride was during sunset, which was great...until we were attacked by moths...not so much attacked as surrounded...yuck...they landed on us constantly, and we were very glad to get out of the boat at the end...the next morning we saw the sun rise, which was beautiful...it's the time of day when many people do their puja (ritual, giving an offering of some sort) along the ghats...and no moths to annoy us:)

india part 3

after jaisalmer was the town of bikaner...we ended up getting off the train at the wrong station w/out realizing it, but that was a blessing in disguise...as usual, someone approached us quickly about a place to stay, and also handed us a schedule...(we went to bikaner because we had heard about a camel festival and wanted to check it out)...the price sounded good enough, it was family run, and we always knew we could go somewhere else if we hated it...staying in that guesthouse turned out to be a great decision...the father was super friendly, as were the wife and kids...three kids...one of the girls spoke pretty good english, and could read and write as well...the wife cooked great food, and the portions were HUGE...the father was fantastic about helping us with directions, and suggesting things to do...
the first full day there we went to the fort in the morning...it's totally different from the fort in jaisalmer...this fort was originally the residence of the local maharajah, and most of the original decorations and furnishings are still in the fort...the entrance fee includes a required guide, and for once, we were happy that we had the guide...w/out him, we wouldn't have found all the little hallways and palaces, etc...the interior decoration is pretty fancy, and it was neat to go up on the roof...in several rooms there are old pictures on the wall, from maharajah parades and such...
that afternoon, we took a bus out to the camel festival...AWESOME!!!!! it was in the village of ladera, not too far from bikaner...we got to see decorated camels, and of course took lots of pictures...we saw a dune race, which wasn't all that exciting...at one point, layna joined in a long jump contest, running and jumping down a dune...(a photographer took her picture, and it ended up in the paper the next day:)...we watched camel races, during which not all the jockeys could control their camels...they didn't always go in a straight line, and they weren't always able to stay on the camels...funny...we got to watch the women play musical chairs...it sounds tame, but some of them really wanted to win...each woman seemed to have a cheering section, and when some of them were out, those cheering sections were NOT happy...at one point we were told we should get out of the crowd, as it was getting rowdy, and we were told the police might have to use force...we got to watch a cultural show, which had exhibitions of traditional song, dance, music and costumes...they had announcements in punjabi and english, so we always knew what was coming up next...though the english announcements were, how can i put this, very flowery and slow...after the cultural show the last event of the evening was a fire dance...only men in a certain caste of a certain faith could participate in the dance...first a bonfire was burned down to nothing but red hot embers, then the men danced through and around the embers...very cool...at the end, they used their feet to spread out the embers, so they were no longer a danger...after it was over, we saw one old man pick up embers twice and put them in his mouth...they said that true believers would not feel the pain of the fire...either way, it was pretty impressive...we took the same bus back to bikaner, and it was a bit more of an adventure...not too long after we left, the guy taking money got into some sort of argument with some of the passengers...lots of yelling back and forth, layna and i sitting there clueless...it got so bad that the bus driver pulled over and stopped the bus, waiting until it was all sorted out...when it was sorted out, many of the passengers cheered, i still wish i knew what it was all about!!!
the next day was more fun...we went out to the karni mata temple, also known as the rat temple...i'm not sure of the story, but the end result is that rats are allowed to run freely all over this temple...they're supposed to be the incarnation of something, or someone...we were told there are 30,000 rats living there...who knows what the actual number is, but it's a lot...there are large bowls of milk set out in several places, it's both creepy and fascinating to watch all the rats perched on the edges, leaning down and drinking...it's said that it's good luck if the rats run across your feet (did i forget to mention that you take off your shoes before going into the temple?)...they did run across our feet...there is one white rat (albino) and it's also said to be good luck if you see him...and we did...so i guess we're double lucky:) ...seeing and being around all those rats was definitely not in my comfort zone, that's for sure!! in the afternoon we went to a camel farm...officially called the national camel research centre, or something like that...it's either the only one in india, or the only one in asia (depends on who you ask, or what you read)...we learned a lot about camels (i won't bore you with the facts unless you ask)...we got to see camels milked, see camel products (made from camel bone, camel hair, etc) and more...while standing next to one corral, several camels came over to investigate us...several kisses and attempted bites later, we had some new friends:) ...we also tried camel milk ice cream...YUM!!!
after bikaner we went to jaipur, the capital of the state of rajasthan, because we had heard about a kite festival...jaipur is just as bad as delhi in terms of touts and the aggressiveness of the city...after finding a guesthouse, we were told by several different people that it's impossible to walk around and see the sights of the city...i guess layna and i are different than most, because we don't consider 5K very long to walk to get to something...not at all...anywho, we did walk...during the day, layna ended up talking to a guy on the street trying to sell us traditional rajasthani puppets...the conversation resulted in an invitation for both of us to come spend the day with his family for the kite festival the next day...SO MUCH FUN!!! we got to his neighborhood, and spent the majority of the day on the roof...we learned how to cut kites (the idea being that you use your kite string - while flying of course - to cut the string of someone else's kite) and were served the best chapati we've had...we met the entire family, and all the cousins/friends/neighbors who were close...all the roofs in this neighborhood were made of sheets of corrogated tin held in place by rocks...and most of the roofs were very close to each other, so we didn't have to go down to the ground to move around...we got a LOT of attention from all the kids (particularly guys) in the area...i was proposed to twice, but since both were just teenagers, i decided to wait on matrimony...hee hee...seeing all the people on the roofs, flying kites was awesome...mostly kids, but some adults as well...in reading the newspaper the next day, it seemed everyone had been in on the fun...politicians and other big wigs even took a few hours out of their work days to fly kites!!! jaipur is known as the pink city because the old city is painted entirely pink...it was originally done to welcome the prince of wales (who later became king charles something or another) and the tradition has remained...it's also a great place to shop, if you have the desire...shoes, fabrics, electronics, bikes, toys, food, etc...it's all there...
our last evening in jaipur we decided to go to a bollywood movie...it was our first, and we had been told about a great theater by a couple different locals...the theater was indeed fancy...the story was that the person who had designed it had suffered some sort of mutilation afterward so he couldn't design anything that great again...i don't know that i trust that story...anywho, watching a bollywood movie was definitely an experience...at the first flash of the stars on the screen the crowd cheered...they cheered, clapped and generally got involved with the plot of the movie as it was playing...it definitely wasn't quiet...i can't remember how many times mobile phones started ringing, and people answered them!!! the movie followed the same storyline that seems to be common...people fall in love, there are difficulties, and by the end of the movie, everything is hunky dory...they even hug at the end!!