Saturday July 17, 2010 5:08 PM
Site update
I finally posted pictures from my trip to Turkey and Israel(from 2007) and also posted photos of my trip to Mexico in the spring. Check them out in the photo section --->
Friday July 2, 2010 9:22 PM
The drought is over
As some of you know, I have a fondness for the breakfast cereal Shreddies, which for reasons unknown is not available in the United States. Over the years since I've lived in the US I've imported a few boxes every time I've gone back to the mother country, and my good friends Andrew, Andrew, Debra and Chris have facilitated my need for the good, good whole wheat Shreddies.
Today my problems are over, at least for the near future. My loving mother sent me a case of 24 725g boxes today. Check out the pictures:
I now have a Shreddies closet:
My life just got 18% better.
Today my problems are over, at least for the near future. My loving mother sent me a case of 24 725g boxes today. Check out the pictures:
I now have a Shreddies closet:
My life just got 18% better.
Thursday May 27, 2010 1:35 PM
Buy my mom's palapa
My mother is selling her palapa in Mexico. A palapa by definition is just a sun shelter on the beach. Her's has some upgrades:
- 20 X 40 ft Palapa
- Built in 2003, excellent condition
- Located on a pristine beach on the Sea of Cortez
- The water is less than 15 feet from front door
- Sleeps 4 comfortably
Sunday May 2, 2010 9:39 PM
Sous-vide butter pouched lobster
Tonight I tried to reproduce a recipe detailed here: http://www.alcoholian.com/?p=2300. I figure, any sight called alcoholian.com must be good.
I started out with a 1.68 lbs pound lobster I purchased today at Fairway in Brooklyn.
I dispatched this poor fellow by inserting my chef's knife in through his back, and chopping down through his head, cutting his head in half.* Threw him in a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes, then put him in an ice bath to stop the cooking.
This initial cooking was to make it easier to separate the meat from the shell. It didn't really cook the interior of the meat at all. I separated the meat from the shell, reserving the shells for a sauce. I'm really not too skilled at this, and I got covered in lobster bits here. I did manage to keep the claw meat intact when extracting it.
I sealed the meat in a plastic bag with about 3/4 of a stick of butter.
I cooked the meat at 140 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes. During this time I made a sauce from the shells, some onions, wine, cream, tomato paste (see the link above to the alcoholian for details, I didn't really photograph this).
I grilled some bread and drained the meat when I took it out of the bag.
I plated this by placing the lobster on the grilled bread, then topping that with the sauce and a sour cream/heavy cream/chive mixture (I didn't have time to make creme fraiche). I served this with some baby arugula tossed in olive oil and lemon juice.
The verdict: non-delicious. Firstly, there was way to much going on on this plate. I didn't need the bread and all the sauce and creme fraiche. Too busy. The lobster itself wasn't as delicate and perfectly cooked as I was hoping. Also, the flavour was a little too lobstery. I didn't have the rich flavour I was hoping for. All in all it was pretty ok, but not nearly as good as I was hoping.
* The actual killing of the lobster was a bit gruesome. I realized after the fact, that this was the largest animal that I had ever killed with my bare hands. After chopping the lobster's head in half the tail and little legs flailed around for about 30 seconds. I threw it in a pot of boiling water and it fought me a little bit even after being in the water for 30 seconds. I realized too that I've never really seen anything die up close. Maybe I didn't really kill it when I cut the head in half, or maybe this is just what things do when they die: the body continues fighting even after the brain is dead.
I started out with a 1.68 lbs pound lobster I purchased today at Fairway in Brooklyn.
I dispatched this poor fellow by inserting my chef's knife in through his back, and chopping down through his head, cutting his head in half.* Threw him in a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes, then put him in an ice bath to stop the cooking.
This initial cooking was to make it easier to separate the meat from the shell. It didn't really cook the interior of the meat at all. I separated the meat from the shell, reserving the shells for a sauce. I'm really not too skilled at this, and I got covered in lobster bits here. I did manage to keep the claw meat intact when extracting it.
I sealed the meat in a plastic bag with about 3/4 of a stick of butter.
I cooked the meat at 140 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes. During this time I made a sauce from the shells, some onions, wine, cream, tomato paste (see the link above to the alcoholian for details, I didn't really photograph this).
I grilled some bread and drained the meat when I took it out of the bag.
I plated this by placing the lobster on the grilled bread, then topping that with the sauce and a sour cream/heavy cream/chive mixture (I didn't have time to make creme fraiche). I served this with some baby arugula tossed in olive oil and lemon juice.
The verdict: non-delicious. Firstly, there was way to much going on on this plate. I didn't need the bread and all the sauce and creme fraiche. Too busy. The lobster itself wasn't as delicate and perfectly cooked as I was hoping. Also, the flavour was a little too lobstery. I didn't have the rich flavour I was hoping for. All in all it was pretty ok, but not nearly as good as I was hoping.
* The actual killing of the lobster was a bit gruesome. I realized after the fact, that this was the largest animal that I had ever killed with my bare hands. After chopping the lobster's head in half the tail and little legs flailed around for about 30 seconds. I threw it in a pot of boiling water and it fought me a little bit even after being in the water for 30 seconds. I realized too that I've never really seen anything die up close. Maybe I didn't really kill it when I cut the head in half, or maybe this is just what things do when they die: the body continues fighting even after the brain is dead.
Sunday April 25, 2010 9:41 PM
Sous-vide duck breast confit
Today I tried another sous-vide recipe. Unlike last week's short ribs, which I read about on the internet, this one was fully my invention. My plan was to cook a duck breast in duck fat, using the sous-vide technique. Cooking duck in its own fat is known as confit.
I started with a Canadian muscovy duck breast. I scored the skin and fat, then seasoned it with salt and pepper.
In order to cook this breast in duck fat, I obviously need the fat. I was able to buy at tub of duck fat at the excellent Brooklyn Larder.
I vacuum sealed the breast in a plastic bag with the fat.
I cooked the meat and fat for 8 hours at 133 degrees F. This slow pouched the breast in the duck fat. The result was not terribly appetizing.
I browned the outside of the breast with my butane torch to produce a nice golden brown exterior.
The result was a nice medium rare duck breast, with a crispy exterior.
I separated the liquid that came out of the duck breast from the fat, and combined it with some garlic and red wine to make a sauce. I served this with some broccoli and rice pilaf.
The verdict: delicious, BUT I'm not sure it was anything special. I think I could have prepared the duck like this on my grill in 12 minutes. I didn't need to pouch it in fat for 8 hours. Still tasty, just not very unique.
I started with a Canadian muscovy duck breast. I scored the skin and fat, then seasoned it with salt and pepper.
In order to cook this breast in duck fat, I obviously need the fat. I was able to buy at tub of duck fat at the excellent Brooklyn Larder.
I vacuum sealed the breast in a plastic bag with the fat.
I cooked the meat and fat for 8 hours at 133 degrees F. This slow pouched the breast in the duck fat. The result was not terribly appetizing.
I browned the outside of the breast with my butane torch to produce a nice golden brown exterior.
The result was a nice medium rare duck breast, with a crispy exterior.
I separated the liquid that came out of the duck breast from the fat, and combined it with some garlic and red wine to make a sauce. I served this with some broccoli and rice pilaf.
The verdict: delicious, BUT I'm not sure it was anything special. I think I could have prepared the duck like this on my grill in 12 minutes. I didn't need to pouch it in fat for 8 hours. Still tasty, just not very unique.
Sunday April 18, 2010 8:29 PM
Adventures in sous-vide
I like to watch a lot of cooking shows. I noticed on some of the 'high-end' shows (shows that aren't trying to teach you anything, just show you really fancy food) that they often used a technique called 'sous-vide'. I looked into this a little bit and got interested. Sous-vide means vacuum in french. It involves vacuum sealing food in a plastic bag and then immersing the bag and food in a temperature controlled water bath. The idea is that the water temperature is controlled very precisely so you can then control how the food is cooked very precisely.
I got a vacuum sealer for Christmas (because I wanted to vacuum seal meat that I put in the freezer), so I decided to figure out how I could use the vacuum sealer for sous-vide at home. I did some research and found that in order to control the water bath's temperature professional chefs use an immersion circulator that retails for >$1000. I didn't want to spend that much, so I googled some more and found that some home chefs use a rice cooker to heat up water, coupled with a device that monitors the water temperature and turns the rice cooker on and off in order to keep the temperature constant.
So, I bought a commercial rice cooker (16 litres) and this device and I was set up with my own home sous-vide setup. (As an aside, literally the day after I ordered my equipment I saw an add for Sous-Vide Supreme on TV, which I didn't know existed despite considerable research.)
Here's a picture of my Auber-WS sous-vide controller. I just punch in the temperature and drop its probe in the rice cooker, which plugs into the Auber-WS:
This weekend I attempted my first real recipe with all of this equipment, to great success. I cooked some beef short ribs.
I started with some USDA prime short ribs:
I seasoned the short ribs with salt, pepper and garlic salt then vacuum sealed this in plastic bags using my Food Saver vacuum sealer:
I set the temperature to 133°F and dropped the seal ribs in the rice cooker for 24 hours.
I walked away for a day, and came back at dinner time looking forward to my ribs. I pulled them out and saved the liquid that accumulated in the bag:
At this point the ribs were essentially pouched, but also a perfect medium rare throughout. In order to give the surface some flavour, that is, in order to get the Maillard reaction to occur on the surface I used a butane torch to brown the exterior. The idea here is that that brown taste on the surface makes things taste good, but you don't want to over cook the ribs that are cooked exactly as you want them. The torch's flame is about 2700°F, so it browns the surface without the heat penetrating the surface.
I made a sauce from the liquid from the bags the ribs were cooked in, some beef stock, some red wine and some carmalized oninons.
I plated the ribs up with some roasted red potatoes and some grilled asparagus.
The verdict: delicious. Normally if you cook a touch piece of meat like short ribs you have to braise them to tenderize them. That leaves them with a shreadable, very wet consistency. With the sous-vide preparation the consistency was much more like prime rib. Moist, but not wet, pink and tender. Really very nice, and I don't think you could have done this any other way:
I got a vacuum sealer for Christmas (because I wanted to vacuum seal meat that I put in the freezer), so I decided to figure out how I could use the vacuum sealer for sous-vide at home. I did some research and found that in order to control the water bath's temperature professional chefs use an immersion circulator that retails for >$1000. I didn't want to spend that much, so I googled some more and found that some home chefs use a rice cooker to heat up water, coupled with a device that monitors the water temperature and turns the rice cooker on and off in order to keep the temperature constant.
So, I bought a commercial rice cooker (16 litres) and this device and I was set up with my own home sous-vide setup. (As an aside, literally the day after I ordered my equipment I saw an add for Sous-Vide Supreme on TV, which I didn't know existed despite considerable research.)
Here's a picture of my Auber-WS sous-vide controller. I just punch in the temperature and drop its probe in the rice cooker, which plugs into the Auber-WS:
This weekend I attempted my first real recipe with all of this equipment, to great success. I cooked some beef short ribs.
I started with some USDA prime short ribs:
I seasoned the short ribs with salt, pepper and garlic salt then vacuum sealed this in plastic bags using my Food Saver vacuum sealer:
I set the temperature to 133°F and dropped the seal ribs in the rice cooker for 24 hours.
I walked away for a day, and came back at dinner time looking forward to my ribs. I pulled them out and saved the liquid that accumulated in the bag:
At this point the ribs were essentially pouched, but also a perfect medium rare throughout. In order to give the surface some flavour, that is, in order to get the Maillard reaction to occur on the surface I used a butane torch to brown the exterior. The idea here is that that brown taste on the surface makes things taste good, but you don't want to over cook the ribs that are cooked exactly as you want them. The torch's flame is about 2700°F, so it browns the surface without the heat penetrating the surface.
I made a sauce from the liquid from the bags the ribs were cooked in, some beef stock, some red wine and some carmalized oninons.
I plated the ribs up with some roasted red potatoes and some grilled asparagus.
The verdict: delicious. Normally if you cook a touch piece of meat like short ribs you have to braise them to tenderize them. That leaves them with a shreadable, very wet consistency. With the sous-vide preparation the consistency was much more like prime rib. Moist, but not wet, pink and tender. Really very nice, and I don't think you could have done this any other way:
Thursday September 10, 2009 3:04 PM
Moonrise over Saudi Arabia
Hey blog fans.
Andrew and I are in the resort town of Dahab, on the Gulf of Aqaba, on the Red Sea. Since the last update we did some more sight seeing in Luxor, rented a Felucca (sail boat) on the Nile for a few hours, and then flew to the Sinai. We are staying in a fancy-ish resort, but we made friends with a British guy that runs the dive shop at the resort. He took us to a Bedouin village last night. We drove for about 20 minutes, then rode camels for a little over an hour to the village.
The village was on the beach, right next to a coral reef. We chilled out for a bit with a few beers (and had a few on the camel ride too) ate some local cuisine including some tasty kebabs and then went for a night snorkel. We slept on the beach and woke up to the sunrise over Saudia Arabia, which was about 20 km away.
We relaxed on the beach for most of the morning, when snorkeling some more, and made it back to the resort by 2. Good day.
One more day at the resort, then one more in Cairo, then home. Good trip.
Andrew and I are in the resort town of Dahab, on the Gulf of Aqaba, on the Red Sea. Since the last update we did some more sight seeing in Luxor, rented a Felucca (sail boat) on the Nile for a few hours, and then flew to the Sinai. We are staying in a fancy-ish resort, but we made friends with a British guy that runs the dive shop at the resort. He took us to a Bedouin village last night. We drove for about 20 minutes, then rode camels for a little over an hour to the village.
The village was on the beach, right next to a coral reef. We chilled out for a bit with a few beers (and had a few on the camel ride too) ate some local cuisine including some tasty kebabs and then went for a night snorkel. We slept on the beach and woke up to the sunrise over Saudia Arabia, which was about 20 km away.
We relaxed on the beach for most of the morning, when snorkeling some more, and made it back to the resort by 2. Good day.
One more day at the resort, then one more in Cairo, then home. Good trip.
Sunday September 6, 2009 7:49 AM
"What's the scam?"
Andrew and I are in Cairo. We arrived yesterday afternoon, spent the afternoon/evening wandering around yesterday, did the pyramids this morning and are going to do some more sights this afternoon.
I'm sure that if I gave it a bit more of a chance I would find things I like about Cairo, I usually do about most cities, but right now it seems like a bit of a dump. It's incredibly dusty and polluted, which is not really unexpected. The people are really the disappointment. It feels like every transaction is a scam. We got the old short change scam when coming back from the airport. When going to the pyramids the driver took us to the 'Pyramiso' hotel, and then demanded more when we wanted to go the real Pyramids (we didn't pay). The pyramids were full of people claiming to be official who obviously weren't. I've been to lots of places with touts and so forth, and often they have something of a sense of humour about the whole thing. Here it seems a little more mean spirited.
Anyway, we are headed to Luxor tomorrow and then the Sinai Tuesday night, pick up some more commandments.
I'm sure that if I gave it a bit more of a chance I would find things I like about Cairo, I usually do about most cities, but right now it seems like a bit of a dump. It's incredibly dusty and polluted, which is not really unexpected. The people are really the disappointment. It feels like every transaction is a scam. We got the old short change scam when coming back from the airport. When going to the pyramids the driver took us to the 'Pyramiso' hotel, and then demanded more when we wanted to go the real Pyramids (we didn't pay). The pyramids were full of people claiming to be official who obviously weren't. I've been to lots of places with touts and so forth, and often they have something of a sense of humour about the whole thing. Here it seems a little more mean spirited.
Anyway, we are headed to Luxor tomorrow and then the Sinai Tuesday night, pick up some more commandments.
Saturday August 29, 2009 12:45 PM
Upcoming events
Hey blog fans. I thought I'd mention a few up coming events. I'm going to Egypt next Friday with Andrew, so I'll be updating my blog while I'm away. We go for 9 days, leaving Friday night. Right now we don't have much of an itinerary, other than we think we want to do Cairo/Giza, then Luxor and then either a Nile river cruise, or fly to the Sinai. But nothing is booked, other than our flight to Cairo.
Also, I'm going to be doing another triathlon on Sept. 27. Since I don't use the blog for anything else, I thought I'd update between now and then with updates on training.
The triathlon is Olympic length, meaning that it's: 1500m swim, 40km bike, 10km run. I did another Olympic length tri in June, which went not to badly, but I was battling an ankle injury from January till the tri in June, and I think it really affected my training/race. I had the same injury for most of the summer, but I just bought a new pair of shoes, which seems to have helped my ankle a great deal. I think if I wasn't going to Egypt I would be in pretty good shape for the tri. Leaving for 9 days 3 weeks before the race is not very good for training: that's the time you should be working the hardest.
One last thing: I've added a recipe section to the website. These are recipes I have either created, or just like a lot and wanted access to when I wasn't home. Hopefully some of you will enjoy them too. I may add photos to them at some point, but that will probably have to wait for a cold winter day when I have nothing better to do.
Also, I'm going to be doing another triathlon on Sept. 27. Since I don't use the blog for anything else, I thought I'd update between now and then with updates on training.
The triathlon is Olympic length, meaning that it's: 1500m swim, 40km bike, 10km run. I did another Olympic length tri in June, which went not to badly, but I was battling an ankle injury from January till the tri in June, and I think it really affected my training/race. I had the same injury for most of the summer, but I just bought a new pair of shoes, which seems to have helped my ankle a great deal. I think if I wasn't going to Egypt I would be in pretty good shape for the tri. Leaving for 9 days 3 weeks before the race is not very good for training: that's the time you should be working the hardest.
One last thing: I've added a recipe section to the website. These are recipes I have either created, or just like a lot and wanted access to when I wasn't home. Hopefully some of you will enjoy them too. I may add photos to them at some point, but that will probably have to wait for a cold winter day when I have nothing better to do.
Monday October 13, 2008 9:31 PM
Race results
Yesterday morning I competed in the triathlon. It went quite well. My goal was to finish in under two hours. I managed to complete it in 1:58:11.
I did the swim in the same pace it swam in the pool, which really surprised me because it was quite wavy. From trough to crest the waves were about 4 feet high. I think the wet suit and the salt water made me a little more buoyant, so maybe that helped me. My goggles fogged up, and I got way off track at one point. Given this I think my pace was really good in the swim portion.
The bike was ok. I averaged 16.4 MPH, which is about what I was doing in training. I was riding my hybrid and I think going much faster than about 17 MPH requires a lot of energy. This was my worst leg compared to the competition, but they all had road bikes.
The run felt terrible, but I ran an 8 minute 17 second mile, which is not bad for me when I'm fresh, and I think was great after an hour and a half of exercise.
I finished 92 of 260 men. I think that's not too bad for the first attempt. I think I'm going to try another one in the spring.
I did the swim in the same pace it swam in the pool, which really surprised me because it was quite wavy. From trough to crest the waves were about 4 feet high. I think the wet suit and the salt water made me a little more buoyant, so maybe that helped me. My goggles fogged up, and I got way off track at one point. Given this I think my pace was really good in the swim portion.
The bike was ok. I averaged 16.4 MPH, which is about what I was doing in training. I was riding my hybrid and I think going much faster than about 17 MPH requires a lot of energy. This was my worst leg compared to the competition, but they all had road bikes.
The run felt terrible, but I ran an 8 minute 17 second mile, which is not bad for me when I'm fresh, and I think was great after an hour and a half of exercise.
I finished 92 of 260 men. I think that's not too bad for the first attempt. I think I'm going to try another one in the spring.
Tuesday September 2, 2008 9:34 AM
Swimming
I have been swimming twice a week now. This morning I swam 1600 yards in about 35 minutes. Half of that was breast stroke, half was front crawl*. My problem right now is I don't know if I should be focusing on breast stroke or crawl.
I can breast stroke forever, but it's probably only about 2/3 as fast as my crawl over a short distance. But by doing the front crawl I think I'm tiring myself out. 1600 yards in 35 minutes is a slower pace than when I was swimming a greater proportion of breast stroke.
I think it's a technique problem, and I think that if I make my front crawl more efficient I can get a speed boost and not burn out at the end of the swim. I'm going to continue working on the crawl for the next few weeks and see how it goes, then I'll have to make a decision on which to focus on for the race.
Does anybody have any advice on how to swim front crawl for a long distance?
* I called the 'freestyle' stroke to one of my American friends 'front crawl' and he didn't know what I was talking about. Is that a Canadian thing? Or do other people call it front crawl?
I can breast stroke forever, but it's probably only about 2/3 as fast as my crawl over a short distance. But by doing the front crawl I think I'm tiring myself out. 1600 yards in 35 minutes is a slower pace than when I was swimming a greater proportion of breast stroke.
I think it's a technique problem, and I think that if I make my front crawl more efficient I can get a speed boost and not burn out at the end of the swim. I'm going to continue working on the crawl for the next few weeks and see how it goes, then I'll have to make a decision on which to focus on for the race.
Does anybody have any advice on how to swim front crawl for a long distance?
* I called the 'freestyle' stroke to one of my American friends 'front crawl' and he didn't know what I was talking about. Is that a Canadian thing? Or do other people call it front crawl?
Wednesday August 27, 2008 5:49 PM
Triathablog
In October I'm going to be participating in a triathlon. Specifically, I'll be doing the Cedar Beach Triathlon. This race is a 0.75 mile swim, 17 mile bike and a 3.1 mile run. I thought I would use the blog to document my training progress, because lord knows I don't use it for much else any more.
I did a bit of googling about how to train for a triathlon. Most people agree that you should train for each leg separately, which maximizes your output and minimizes the risk of injury. So, for the past few weeks I have been training six days a week, running, swimming and biking twice a week.
Right now I'm swimming the full 0.75 miles in about 27 minutes, running 3.1 miles in about 27 minutes, and biking 17 miles in somewhere between 60 and 65 minutes. Each of these times is pretty decent, but I think my big problem is that I'm working pretty hard to achieve them, and I think once I start putting the legs together it's going to hurt.
I have done two sessions now where I have done two legs back to back. I swam and ran for 18 minutes each on Saturday, and biked for 30 minutes and ran for 20 today. Both times it really took a lot out of me. Transitioning from one leg to another is tough, the body doesn't like it. But I guess that's why I'm training. I'm going to try to do one pair of legs a week.
We'll see how it goes...
I did a bit of googling about how to train for a triathlon. Most people agree that you should train for each leg separately, which maximizes your output and minimizes the risk of injury. So, for the past few weeks I have been training six days a week, running, swimming and biking twice a week.
Right now I'm swimming the full 0.75 miles in about 27 minutes, running 3.1 miles in about 27 minutes, and biking 17 miles in somewhere between 60 and 65 minutes. Each of these times is pretty decent, but I think my big problem is that I'm working pretty hard to achieve them, and I think once I start putting the legs together it's going to hurt.
I have done two sessions now where I have done two legs back to back. I swam and ran for 18 minutes each on Saturday, and biked for 30 minutes and ran for 20 today. Both times it really took a lot out of me. Transitioning from one leg to another is tough, the body doesn't like it. But I guess that's why I'm training. I'm going to try to do one pair of legs a week.
We'll see how it goes...
Thursday July 24, 2008 7:12 PM
Photos
Photos from my Peru trip have been posted, along with photos from my 30th birthday party, which was a scant 9 months ago. Hope you like them.
Saturday July 19, 2008 11:05 AM
Adios Peru
I´m in the Lima airport, waiting for my flight back to NYC. The trip was quite good, despite the set back with the trek.
Yesterday was a bit of a strange day. It started out quite nicely; Eric has two friends in town who work for the Canadian government in Haiti. We went for a relaxing brunch at mall near Eric´s place. At 1pm we were picked up for a cruise to a sea lion colony, where you can swim with the sea lions. The boat was late, and seemed to be going very slowly. Eric´s friend Sorhab (¿sp?) got quite sea sick. The cruise was quite boring until we got to the colony. There are 8000 sea lions living on a small island. George Lucas used sea lions calls as the voice for Chewbacca, so it was like hearing 8000 wookies all screaming together. It was quite neat. There was a storm out a sea a few days ago, and the sea was very rough, too rough it turned out to go swimming with sea lions. I´m a bit glad they didn´t let us do it. The swell was really big, and as the water circulated around the island it created huge currents, smashing the water into the rocks. It would have been insane to go in, but if they had let us I would have still felt the urge to swim with the sea lions. We hung out there for about 20 minutes, then headed for home. On the way back in we saw about 20 dolphins, which was neat too.
The entire trip seemed to be quite slow. We were scheduled to be back by 6:30, which is about the time it gets dark in Lima (the sun sets at about 5:45). We didn´t arrive until about 8, and it seemed like we would be moving ahead slowly, and then they´d put the boat in neutral and we´d coast for a while. It turns out the water pump that cools the engine wasn´t working. Peru is a bit of a crazy country, where they have a different attitude toward risk than we do back home. There were some times when we traveled a safe distance around some very big rocks, with the sea pounding up against them. If the boat had conked out near some of these rocks it wouldn´t have taken very long for things to go very bad. But the boat worked, if slowly, and we all made it back safely (except maybe Sorhab, but he felt better once he was back on land).
Today Lissy is off to Huancayo for two weeks of volunteering. I should be home 2:30am tomorrow morning.
Good trip.
Yesterday was a bit of a strange day. It started out quite nicely; Eric has two friends in town who work for the Canadian government in Haiti. We went for a relaxing brunch at mall near Eric´s place. At 1pm we were picked up for a cruise to a sea lion colony, where you can swim with the sea lions. The boat was late, and seemed to be going very slowly. Eric´s friend Sorhab (¿sp?) got quite sea sick. The cruise was quite boring until we got to the colony. There are 8000 sea lions living on a small island. George Lucas used sea lions calls as the voice for Chewbacca, so it was like hearing 8000 wookies all screaming together. It was quite neat. There was a storm out a sea a few days ago, and the sea was very rough, too rough it turned out to go swimming with sea lions. I´m a bit glad they didn´t let us do it. The swell was really big, and as the water circulated around the island it created huge currents, smashing the water into the rocks. It would have been insane to go in, but if they had let us I would have still felt the urge to swim with the sea lions. We hung out there for about 20 minutes, then headed for home. On the way back in we saw about 20 dolphins, which was neat too.
The entire trip seemed to be quite slow. We were scheduled to be back by 6:30, which is about the time it gets dark in Lima (the sun sets at about 5:45). We didn´t arrive until about 8, and it seemed like we would be moving ahead slowly, and then they´d put the boat in neutral and we´d coast for a while. It turns out the water pump that cools the engine wasn´t working. Peru is a bit of a crazy country, where they have a different attitude toward risk than we do back home. There were some times when we traveled a safe distance around some very big rocks, with the sea pounding up against them. If the boat had conked out near some of these rocks it wouldn´t have taken very long for things to go very bad. But the boat worked, if slowly, and we all made it back safely (except maybe Sorhab, but he felt better once he was back on land).
Today Lissy is off to Huancayo for two weeks of volunteering. I should be home 2:30am tomorrow morning.
Good trip.
Thursday July 17, 2008 10:44 PM
We heart Pepe
Lissy and I are back in Lima, at my brother Eric's place. We spent four days in the jungle around Puerto Maldonado, Peru. All in all I thought our time in the jungle was great, but it was a little strange too.
The touristy thing to do in Puerto Maldonado is to visit an eco-lodge. This means a lodge in the jungle, a little up or down river from PM, so you are surrounded by jungle. I'm not sure what's 'eco' about it, really it's just a lodge in the jungle. We had a problem finding a lodge with room for us. Even though we booked this in April, most of the lodges were booked up for July. We found a place called Inotawa, which wasn't our first choice, but looked good. It turns out that Inotawa was smaller and more rustic than other lodges, but I think also provided better service. Most other lodges had some kind of way to climb up in the canopy, and had more varied itineraries. We had a more restricted Itinerary, but also had a bungalow to ourselves, and a guide dedicated to us, where other lodges put people in groups of 6 or more for all the activities.
The day was mostly spent getting there. A 45 minute flight, 45 minute drive and 1.5 hours in a boat and we were at the lodge at about 2:30. We went for a walk in the jungle at sunset until it was quite dark and the night time creepy crawlies were out. We saw a bunch of large spiders, including a tarantula about the size of my hand.
The next day we woke early to visit a clay lick. Apparently most of the fruit that birds eat is slightly toxic, and in order to counter the toxin the birds need to eat clay each day which contains potassium and other minerals that neutralize the toxins (I don't pretend to understand this). Each morning parakeets, parrots and macaws meet some exposed clay in a cliff to eat the clay. We had some bad luck that day in that not as many birds a usual showed up, but we saw a few colourful birds.
Over the next two days we fished for piranhas, visited a waterfall in the jungle, spotted cayman at night, went on a few hikes, visited an amazon farm, saw jaguar prints and spotted squirrel monkeys several times.
The best part of the jungle, though, was just being there, in the jungle listening to the birds, seeing the crazy bugs, and feeling the humidity. Also, the lodge we were staying at had a pet red howler monkey named Pepe. Pepe was awesome.
Tomorrow is my last day in Peru. My brother is taking us on a boat to an island off of Lima inhabited by sea lions, where apparently you can swim with wild sea lions, which are the size of good size bears. I'm looking forward to not being mauled by a testy sea lion. I'll let you know how that goes.
Just to add some colour to a previous post, here's a photo of both the runway models from the train and the mustachioed trickster. Good stuff.
The touristy thing to do in Puerto Maldonado is to visit an eco-lodge. This means a lodge in the jungle, a little up or down river from PM, so you are surrounded by jungle. I'm not sure what's 'eco' about it, really it's just a lodge in the jungle. We had a problem finding a lodge with room for us. Even though we booked this in April, most of the lodges were booked up for July. We found a place called Inotawa, which wasn't our first choice, but looked good. It turns out that Inotawa was smaller and more rustic than other lodges, but I think also provided better service. Most other lodges had some kind of way to climb up in the canopy, and had more varied itineraries. We had a more restricted Itinerary, but also had a bungalow to ourselves, and a guide dedicated to us, where other lodges put people in groups of 6 or more for all the activities.
The day was mostly spent getting there. A 45 minute flight, 45 minute drive and 1.5 hours in a boat and we were at the lodge at about 2:30. We went for a walk in the jungle at sunset until it was quite dark and the night time creepy crawlies were out. We saw a bunch of large spiders, including a tarantula about the size of my hand.
The next day we woke early to visit a clay lick. Apparently most of the fruit that birds eat is slightly toxic, and in order to counter the toxin the birds need to eat clay each day which contains potassium and other minerals that neutralize the toxins (I don't pretend to understand this). Each morning parakeets, parrots and macaws meet some exposed clay in a cliff to eat the clay. We had some bad luck that day in that not as many birds a usual showed up, but we saw a few colourful birds.
Over the next two days we fished for piranhas, visited a waterfall in the jungle, spotted cayman at night, went on a few hikes, visited an amazon farm, saw jaguar prints and spotted squirrel monkeys several times.
The best part of the jungle, though, was just being there, in the jungle listening to the birds, seeing the crazy bugs, and feeling the humidity. Also, the lodge we were staying at had a pet red howler monkey named Pepe. Pepe was awesome.
Tomorrow is my last day in Peru. My brother is taking us on a boat to an island off of Lima inhabited by sea lions, where apparently you can swim with wild sea lions, which are the size of good size bears. I'm looking forward to not being mauled by a testy sea lion. I'll let you know how that goes.
Just to add some colour to a previous post, here's a photo of both the runway models from the train and the mustachioed trickster. Good stuff.
Sunday July 13, 2008 2:46 PM
Tchotchkie Hunting
The past few days for Lissy and I have been a little low key. Since we bailed early on the trek we've had a few more days in Cusco than we planned. Friday we did a city tour of Cusco with a big group of backpackers. I think I'm getting old and jadded, or maybe just used to traveling without having to interact with random backpackers, because after a few hours of waiting for people to come back to the bus, and recounting boring backpacker stories (where have you been? where are you going? where are you from?) I was ready to be back on my own (or at least with just Lissy). I realize that that may sound petty or small or something, but I think after travelling by myself for three months three years ago and having that conversation 10 times a day, I'm happy having more money and a travel buddy.
Yesterday we just chilled out in Cusco. Today we hired a driver and went to Pisac, which has some nice Inca ruins and on Sunday has a lively market, a section of which is actually a legitimate Peruvian market, meaning real Peruvians buy and sell things, instead of just being filled with gringos. There was a nice selection of tchotchkies as well, and I bought two rather large statues. Not sure how I'm going to get them home, but I'll figure it out.
Tomorrow we head into the jungle. Not sure we'll have next access till Thursday, but I'll write more then.
Yesterday we just chilled out in Cusco. Today we hired a driver and went to Pisac, which has some nice Inca ruins and on Sunday has a lively market, a section of which is actually a legitimate Peruvian market, meaning real Peruvians buy and sell things, instead of just being filled with gringos. There was a nice selection of tchotchkies as well, and I bought two rather large statues. Not sure how I'm going to get them home, but I'll figure it out.
Tomorrow we head into the jungle. Not sure we'll have next access till Thursday, but I'll write more then.
Thursday July 10, 2008 5:54 PM
Luke 0, Choquequirao 1
The astute blog reader will notice that Lissy and I are supposed to be deep in the Andes today, visiting the ruins of Choquequirao. It turns out that the trek was quite hard, and both Lissy and I went into it injured. Too injured, it turned out, to finish the trek without possibly seriously injuring ourselves. But more on that later. I´ll start from where the last blog post left off, because we´ve had some strange experiences since then.
My last blog entry was from Aguas Calientes. Leaving AC, we took the train to Ollantaytambo, where our driver took us the rest of the way to Cusco (amp, feel free to insert funny comment here about our driver. Seriously, the comments were pretty funny). On the train to AC we were served a snack by a pair of train hosts/hostesses, and the trip was quite uneventful. The return journey started out the same way, but then one of the hosts put on a traditional Inca balaclava with a mustache embroidered on it and danced around with a stuffed llama, shaking the llama in our faces. This is some kind of traditional Inca/Andean thing, but was a tad annoying. Up to this point, though, Eric had prepared us for all of this. Next, Dancing Queen by Abba came on the sound system, and two of the hosts put on a fashion show up and down the aisle of the train, showing off Alpca wool fashions. This lasted for about 25 minutes. I don´t know how they advertise the job for the train host. They have to serve snacks, dance around with a stuffed llama and then put on a runway show. I have already submitted my application.
The next morning we rose early to head out on our trek. On July 8 and 9th the agricultural workers enacted a nation wide strike, shutting down the entire country by blocking all the roads. We left of the 8th, so we go out of Cusco at 5am hoping to beat the strikers. We didn´t. Parents reading this may want to skip this next part. We came upon a few rocks scattered across the highway by the protesters. Our driver had no problem avoiding these. Then we past a section of road that was half on fire; strikers had put straw in the road and set it on fire. We came upon the fire in total darkness, so it was quite impressive but only half the road was block so we kept on trucking. Next, just after sunrise, we were totally stopped because the protesters knocked a tree down across the road. This was no small tree, it was probably 18 inches in diameter. We must have arrived there just a few seconds after they knocked it down, because the car in front of us was on the other side. This happened near a toll booth, which had a police presence. The police walked down the road in front of us, pushing the protesters that way, and actually fired two shots into the air to scare the strikers away. Our guide and cook, along with about 15 other people, were able to move the tree enough for us to get by. We then drove past the police, then through the crowd of strikers. We had to drive slowly, since the road was filled with softball or larger sized rocks. Some kids threw rocks at the dump truck in front of us, but we made it through the crowd unscathed. From then on it was clear sailing to Cachora, where we started the trek.
The first half day of the trek was very easy. It was slightly up and down. After lunch we started to descend. The profile of this trek is a little different than most hikes: we started about 3000m, then descend to 1500m, then ascend back to 3000m to see the ruins of Choquequirao. Then you do it all in reverse. Each way is 32 km, meaning in 5 days, 4 of which you are actually on the trail, you do 64 km and 3000m up and 3000m down. Both Lissy and I have problems with our legs; she has a knee problem, and I have a hip problem. Going up actually is fine for us, but descending is tough on the joints. After about 200m descending, with a full view of what is in front of us, we decided to bail out. The trek included horses for our gear, and an emergency horse, in case we couldn´t keep walking. Unfortunately the emergency horse could only carry us up, not down, presumably because it´s bad for the horse´s knees too. So the emergency horse was useless to us. We were actually the only two people on the trek, so we had full discretion about quitting, so all of us: the guide, cook, horseman and horses, turned around. We spent one night camping in the Andes, near Cachora, and then spent yesterday in Cachora. We couldn´t leave because the strike was still underway and the roads weren´t clear.
We spent the day in Cachora, which is a very small village in a very poor part of Peru. It´s quaint, but boring. Finally at 6:30 we found a driver (insert driver joke here) who would take us part of the way back to Cusco. We would be picked up from that point the following day. Driving during the waning stages of the strike was interesting. We didn´t see anyone, except a few kids at one blockade, but the barricades that were erected were impressive. About every 500m there were rocks strewn across the highway. We saw boulders about 4 feet high in the middle of the road, trees knocked down, and most impressively, 5 tractor tires across the road all on fire. This last barricade almost stopped us. Eventually our driver squeezed by on the shoulder, but had to check his tires after we made it through to make sure he hadn´t melted them. The heat as we drove by was intense.
We spent last night at some hot springs, called Cconoc, and were picked up at about 11am and arrived in Cusco at 2. On the way in to Cusco we saw remnants of the blockades, but the police and army did an amazing job of cleaning it all up. At one point we passed a boulder on the side of the road that was bigger than our minibus, about 8 feet high and 12 feet long. Apparently the day before it was in the middle of the road. We have a few days here, before heading to the jungle on Monday.
I´ll close this post with an interesting trivia fact. Apparently in Quechua Machu Picchu means Old Mountain. But you have to pronounce both c´s in Picchu, like ´pict-chu´. Apparently ´peachu´, like how you´d expect it to be pronounced, means a ¨man´s private area¨, as our guide put it.
My last blog entry was from Aguas Calientes. Leaving AC, we took the train to Ollantaytambo, where our driver took us the rest of the way to Cusco (amp, feel free to insert funny comment here about our driver. Seriously, the comments were pretty funny). On the train to AC we were served a snack by a pair of train hosts/hostesses, and the trip was quite uneventful. The return journey started out the same way, but then one of the hosts put on a traditional Inca balaclava with a mustache embroidered on it and danced around with a stuffed llama, shaking the llama in our faces. This is some kind of traditional Inca/Andean thing, but was a tad annoying. Up to this point, though, Eric had prepared us for all of this. Next, Dancing Queen by Abba came on the sound system, and two of the hosts put on a fashion show up and down the aisle of the train, showing off Alpca wool fashions. This lasted for about 25 minutes. I don´t know how they advertise the job for the train host. They have to serve snacks, dance around with a stuffed llama and then put on a runway show. I have already submitted my application.
The next morning we rose early to head out on our trek. On July 8 and 9th the agricultural workers enacted a nation wide strike, shutting down the entire country by blocking all the roads. We left of the 8th, so we go out of Cusco at 5am hoping to beat the strikers. We didn´t. Parents reading this may want to skip this next part. We came upon a few rocks scattered across the highway by the protesters. Our driver had no problem avoiding these. Then we past a section of road that was half on fire; strikers had put straw in the road and set it on fire. We came upon the fire in total darkness, so it was quite impressive but only half the road was block so we kept on trucking. Next, just after sunrise, we were totally stopped because the protesters knocked a tree down across the road. This was no small tree, it was probably 18 inches in diameter. We must have arrived there just a few seconds after they knocked it down, because the car in front of us was on the other side. This happened near a toll booth, which had a police presence. The police walked down the road in front of us, pushing the protesters that way, and actually fired two shots into the air to scare the strikers away. Our guide and cook, along with about 15 other people, were able to move the tree enough for us to get by. We then drove past the police, then through the crowd of strikers. We had to drive slowly, since the road was filled with softball or larger sized rocks. Some kids threw rocks at the dump truck in front of us, but we made it through the crowd unscathed. From then on it was clear sailing to Cachora, where we started the trek.
The first half day of the trek was very easy. It was slightly up and down. After lunch we started to descend. The profile of this trek is a little different than most hikes: we started about 3000m, then descend to 1500m, then ascend back to 3000m to see the ruins of Choquequirao. Then you do it all in reverse. Each way is 32 km, meaning in 5 days, 4 of which you are actually on the trail, you do 64 km and 3000m up and 3000m down. Both Lissy and I have problems with our legs; she has a knee problem, and I have a hip problem. Going up actually is fine for us, but descending is tough on the joints. After about 200m descending, with a full view of what is in front of us, we decided to bail out. The trek included horses for our gear, and an emergency horse, in case we couldn´t keep walking. Unfortunately the emergency horse could only carry us up, not down, presumably because it´s bad for the horse´s knees too. So the emergency horse was useless to us. We were actually the only two people on the trek, so we had full discretion about quitting, so all of us: the guide, cook, horseman and horses, turned around. We spent one night camping in the Andes, near Cachora, and then spent yesterday in Cachora. We couldn´t leave because the strike was still underway and the roads weren´t clear.
We spent the day in Cachora, which is a very small village in a very poor part of Peru. It´s quaint, but boring. Finally at 6:30 we found a driver (insert driver joke here) who would take us part of the way back to Cusco. We would be picked up from that point the following day. Driving during the waning stages of the strike was interesting. We didn´t see anyone, except a few kids at one blockade, but the barricades that were erected were impressive. About every 500m there were rocks strewn across the highway. We saw boulders about 4 feet high in the middle of the road, trees knocked down, and most impressively, 5 tractor tires across the road all on fire. This last barricade almost stopped us. Eventually our driver squeezed by on the shoulder, but had to check his tires after we made it through to make sure he hadn´t melted them. The heat as we drove by was intense.
We spent last night at some hot springs, called Cconoc, and were picked up at about 11am and arrived in Cusco at 2. On the way in to Cusco we saw remnants of the blockades, but the police and army did an amazing job of cleaning it all up. At one point we passed a boulder on the side of the road that was bigger than our minibus, about 8 feet high and 12 feet long. Apparently the day before it was in the middle of the road. We have a few days here, before heading to the jungle on Monday.
I´ll close this post with an interesting trivia fact. Apparently in Quechua Machu Picchu means Old Mountain. But you have to pronounce both c´s in Picchu, like ´pict-chu´. Apparently ´peachu´, like how you´d expect it to be pronounced, means a ¨man´s private area¨, as our guide put it.
Monday July 7, 2008 1:48 PM
You down with Machu P? Yeah you know me.
Lissy and I are in Machu Picchu today. Technically I´m writing this from Aguas Calientes the Niagra Falls-ish town next to Machu Picchu. We were out the door this morning at 5:25am and hiked the 400 metres to the entrance to Machu Picchu. This turned out to be an unpopular option, as most people too the bus. If we had left an hour earlier we would have beaten the crowds. As it was, we still got there for sun rise, and it was quite nice. There were a ton of people there, but it wasn´t as bad as I thought it would be. It´s big enough that the crowds aren´t too bad.
Tomorrow we start a 5 day trek in the Andes. We trek two days to ´Machu Picchu´s Sacred Sister´ (I´m pretty sure the Peru tourist board made that up), which is another Inca town on top of a mountain, like MP, but this one you can only hike to. We spend a day there, and it´s two more days back out. I think the trek is going to be tough, harder than anything I´ve ever done, at least as far as multi-day hikes go. And Lissy and I are both only at about 90%... It should be interesting.
I´d write more but I´m not sure anyone is reading this *sniff*. Somebody write a comment.
Tomorrow we start a 5 day trek in the Andes. We trek two days to ´Machu Picchu´s Sacred Sister´ (I´m pretty sure the Peru tourist board made that up), which is another Inca town on top of a mountain, like MP, but this one you can only hike to. We spend a day there, and it´s two more days back out. I think the trek is going to be tough, harder than anything I´ve ever done, at least as far as multi-day hikes go. And Lissy and I are both only at about 90%... It should be interesting.
I´d write more but I´m not sure anyone is reading this *sniff*. Somebody write a comment.
Sunday July 6, 2008 1:37 PM
Crisis Averted
We are now in Ollantaytambo, at the end of the sacred valley, waiting for our bus to Aguas Calientes, which is the artificial town next to Macchu Pichu. We head there tonight, and then get up at the crack of Don to hike up to MP. Apparently it gets very busy by 10am, when the crowds from Cusco arrive, but we should be there by 6 or 7 am so we should get some good time in before the hoards arrive.
Yesterday we flew to Cusco with Eric and toured the sacred valley in with a car/driver that we hired. Then we stayed in a nice hotel in Ollantaytambo, and toured the ruins here this morning. Eric left at 11:30 to head back to Lima, and Lissy and I are now on our own. Having Eric help us out was a huge help. He organized so much stuff for us. I think that it´s impossible to buy tickets for the train to Macchu Pichu on your own. They have a website, but it´s broken. In order to get tickets Eric had to transfer money from a Peruvian bank account to the rail company. The only place to pickup the tickets is in Cusco, even though we are leaving from Ollantaytambo, and the office closes at noon. We had our hotel in Cusco pickup the tickets for us. Suffice it to say I couldn´t have organized all this without Eric.
Speaking of the train to Macchu Pichu, it´s a bit of a scam. It´s USD 110 for a round trip ticket, about 1 hour 45 minutes each way, and you can only bring 5 kilos of luggage per person. We are leaving our packs in Ollantaytambo and just bringing what we need for tonight and tomorrow (our hotel here is very helpful, yay Hostal Sauce!). Then when we get to MP it´s $45 entry fee, $50 for a guide, and hotels and food are super expensive. Not that I expected anything different, it´s just a bit nuts how much they gouge you.
It turns out I did pack my camera, I just put it in my big pack and didn´t realize it. So the whole camera emergencies was a bit of a false alarm.
Finally, it looks like the alert messages you are supposed to get when I update my blog don´t work. I might be able to fix it from Peru, but I doubt it. So check back often.
Yesterday we flew to Cusco with Eric and toured the sacred valley in with a car/driver that we hired. Then we stayed in a nice hotel in Ollantaytambo, and toured the ruins here this morning. Eric left at 11:30 to head back to Lima, and Lissy and I are now on our own. Having Eric help us out was a huge help. He organized so much stuff for us. I think that it´s impossible to buy tickets for the train to Macchu Pichu on your own. They have a website, but it´s broken. In order to get tickets Eric had to transfer money from a Peruvian bank account to the rail company. The only place to pickup the tickets is in Cusco, even though we are leaving from Ollantaytambo, and the office closes at noon. We had our hotel in Cusco pickup the tickets for us. Suffice it to say I couldn´t have organized all this without Eric.
Speaking of the train to Macchu Pichu, it´s a bit of a scam. It´s USD 110 for a round trip ticket, about 1 hour 45 minutes each way, and you can only bring 5 kilos of luggage per person. We are leaving our packs in Ollantaytambo and just bringing what we need for tonight and tomorrow (our hotel here is very helpful, yay Hostal Sauce!). Then when we get to MP it´s $45 entry fee, $50 for a guide, and hotels and food are super expensive. Not that I expected anything different, it´s just a bit nuts how much they gouge you.
It turns out I did pack my camera, I just put it in my big pack and didn´t realize it. So the whole camera emergencies was a bit of a false alarm.
Finally, it looks like the alert messages you are supposed to get when I update my blog don´t work. I might be able to fix it from Peru, but I doubt it. So check back often.
Friday July 4, 2008 3:47 PM
An Auspicious Start
I am sitting in my brother Eric's apartment Mira Flores, the upscale neighbourhood of Lima, Peru. His apartment has a wall of glass overlooking the ocean, where there are surfers in the water below, and parasailers in the sky above. His living room is as big as my entire apartment in Brooklyn. Not too shabby.
Lissy and I have started our two week excursion to Peru. On the agenda is Cusco and the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, a 5 day trek in the Andes and four days in the Amazon.
Funny story. Two night before the trip I couldn't find my camera. I search my place the night before, but it seems to be gone. I had it in March when we went to the Dominican Republic and it looks like sometime between then and now it vanished. So, Thursday morning I headed off to J&R (big electronics store downtown NYC) and bought a new camera. A Nikon Coolpix P60 to be exact. I was in a rush, but I was really happy with the purchase. So why am I telling you this? While I was standing in line for security at JFK I realized I had forgotten something. Of course I forgot the new camera. Bummer.
More updates to come as the action in Peru unfolds.
Lissy and I have started our two week excursion to Peru. On the agenda is Cusco and the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, a 5 day trek in the Andes and four days in the Amazon.
Funny story. Two night before the trip I couldn't find my camera. I search my place the night before, but it seems to be gone. I had it in March when we went to the Dominican Republic and it looks like sometime between then and now it vanished. So, Thursday morning I headed off to J&R (big electronics store downtown NYC) and bought a new camera. A Nikon Coolpix P60 to be exact. I was in a rush, but I was really happy with the purchase. So why am I telling you this? While I was standing in line for security at JFK I realized I had forgotten something. Of course I forgot the new camera. Bummer.
More updates to come as the action in Peru unfolds.
Friday January 18, 2008 11:42 AM
The 5 D's
Starting next week Lissy and I will be playing in a Dodgeball league. After 4 years, this site finally has some dodgeball related news. We are trying to settle on a team name. Our team colour is orange, so I'm pushing for 'Ginger Balls'. I'll let you know how that works out.
Friday January 4, 2008 10:43 AM
Installing Apache with mod_ssl and PHP
Download:
Apache 1.3.x
OpenSSL
mod_ssl
PHP
# cd openssl-0.9.8g
# ./config
# make
# cd ../mod_ssl-2.8.30-1.3.39
# ./configure --with-apache=../apache_1.3.39 --with-ssl=../openssl-0.9.8g --prefix=/usr/local/apache
# cd ../php-5.2.5
# ./configure --with-apache=../apache_1.3.39
# make
# make install
# ./configure --enable-module=ssl --prefix=/usr/local/apache --activate-module=src/modules/php5/libphp5.a
# make
# make certificate
# make install
Apache 1.3.x
OpenSSL
mod_ssl
PHP
# cd openssl-0.9.8g
# ./config
# make
# cd ../mod_ssl-2.8.30-1.3.39
# ./configure --with-apache=../apache_1.3.39 --with-ssl=../openssl-0.9.8g --prefix=/usr/local/apache
# cd ../php-5.2.5
# ./configure --with-apache=../apache_1.3.39
# make
# make install
# ./configure --enable-module=ssl --prefix=/usr/local/apache --activate-module=src/modules/php5/libphp5.a
# make
# make certificate
# make install
Sunday December 2, 2007 5:40 PM
Site changes
Due to popular demand I've started adding some photos from my trips in the summer. First up is the Ontario Trip I took in July. Photos from Alberta and Turkey/Israel as well as my birthday are coming soon.
Also new on the site is a little map of places I've been. You can see it over on the right hand side. This map isn't complete yet. Also, it slows down the site, and is a little pretentious, so we'll see if I keep it as a permanent part of the site.
Also new on the site is a little map of places I've been. You can see it over on the right hand side. This map isn't complete yet. Also, it slows down the site, and is a little pretentious, so we'll see if I keep it as a permanent part of the site.
Monday September 3, 2007 12:49 PM
Mecha-Lecha-Hi-Mecha-Hi-Ni-Ho
Andrew and I are currently in the Old City in Jerusalem. The last two days have been pretty eventful. We rose early yesterday for our last half day in Istanbul. Before our flight we managed to fit in a Turkish bath which was a bit of an experience.
The bath starts by changing into a towel and entering the bath room, which is a large, all marble room with a big flat solid marble table in the middle. You lie on the table, and although it's not super hot we broke into a good sweat pretty quickly. After about 15 minutes of laying about our masseurs entered: big, hairy, mustachioed Turkish gentlemen. The had us lie on the stone and massaged us, which mainly meant roughly kneading and slapping us. My guy spoke no english, but every minute or so would give me a good slap and say 'Y-y-y-e-e-e-s-s-s-s', like a semi-orgasmic Count Dracula. After the massage then took us over to a wash basin, poured water over our heads and scrubbed and soaped us up. All told our bathers were only with us for 10, maybe 15 minutes. Seems a bit steep for 30 euros.
After lazing about the bath house some more and getting changed we still had a lot of time before our flight. I needed a hair cut, so I decided I'd risk it at the bath house. The barber was quick and proficient, but something strange happened at the end of the hair cut. He took out what looked like a big q-tip, dipped it in some waxy substance and lit it on fire. He shook it a few times I think to make sure none of the fuel was going to fly off, then beat this flaming stick against my ears and along the top of my cheek bone. This procedure was intended to remove unwanted ear and cheek hair. The flame was about 3 inches high, it was no small fire. The risk of getting a flaming stick in the eye not withstanding, it was a cool experience, though I'm not sure I'd do it again. It looked so good Andrew did it too.
After the bath we flew to Israel and headed straight for the Old City in Jerusalem. First impressions of Israel are that it's a strange place. On one hand it's very old and beautiful and conflicted. On the other hand it's a bit like Florida, with old cranky jewish people and young douche bags. Something I find quite weird are the young people with the guns. I expected to see lots of military and guns, and lots of young people with guns, but there are a lot of young people who in every other way look and act like normal teens (shorts, flip-flops, eating ice cream, hanging out with their friends) but are carrying automatic weapons.
Today we rented a car and drove into the West Bank and down the coast of the Red Sea. We went for a little hike in an Oasis type national park, went to Masada which was slight more interesting for me because I'd studied it in latin in high school, and then went to a beach on the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea was pretty good. It's a dumb then to say, but you really float. It's probably equivalent to sitting on two water noodles, or wearing a life jacket. One rubs the clay under the sand on your skin. It really remarkable how smooth my skin was after applying mud on it for 5 minutes. All in all I'd give the dead sea a solid 8 out of 10.
The bath starts by changing into a towel and entering the bath room, which is a large, all marble room with a big flat solid marble table in the middle. You lie on the table, and although it's not super hot we broke into a good sweat pretty quickly. After about 15 minutes of laying about our masseurs entered: big, hairy, mustachioed Turkish gentlemen. The had us lie on the stone and massaged us, which mainly meant roughly kneading and slapping us. My guy spoke no english, but every minute or so would give me a good slap and say 'Y-y-y-e-e-e-s-s-s-s', like a semi-orgasmic Count Dracula. After the massage then took us over to a wash basin, poured water over our heads and scrubbed and soaped us up. All told our bathers were only with us for 10, maybe 15 minutes. Seems a bit steep for 30 euros.
After lazing about the bath house some more and getting changed we still had a lot of time before our flight. I needed a hair cut, so I decided I'd risk it at the bath house. The barber was quick and proficient, but something strange happened at the end of the hair cut. He took out what looked like a big q-tip, dipped it in some waxy substance and lit it on fire. He shook it a few times I think to make sure none of the fuel was going to fly off, then beat this flaming stick against my ears and along the top of my cheek bone. This procedure was intended to remove unwanted ear and cheek hair. The flame was about 3 inches high, it was no small fire. The risk of getting a flaming stick in the eye not withstanding, it was a cool experience, though I'm not sure I'd do it again. It looked so good Andrew did it too.
After the bath we flew to Israel and headed straight for the Old City in Jerusalem. First impressions of Israel are that it's a strange place. On one hand it's very old and beautiful and conflicted. On the other hand it's a bit like Florida, with old cranky jewish people and young douche bags. Something I find quite weird are the young people with the guns. I expected to see lots of military and guns, and lots of young people with guns, but there are a lot of young people who in every other way look and act like normal teens (shorts, flip-flops, eating ice cream, hanging out with their friends) but are carrying automatic weapons.
Today we rented a car and drove into the West Bank and down the coast of the Red Sea. We went for a little hike in an Oasis type national park, went to Masada which was slight more interesting for me because I'd studied it in latin in high school, and then went to a beach on the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea was pretty good. It's a dumb then to say, but you really float. It's probably equivalent to sitting on two water noodles, or wearing a life jacket. One rubs the clay under the sand on your skin. It really remarkable how smooth my skin was after applying mud on it for 5 minutes. All in all I'd give the dead sea a solid 8 out of 10.
Saturday September 1, 2007 7:21 AM
You Can Dress Up Like a Sultan in Your Onion Head Hat
Day two in Istanbul. Yesterday we saw the Aya Sophia, took a walk to the other side of the river in search of football tickets, got some Turkish coffee, and so forth. Today we did the Blue Mosque (it was closed yesterday), hit up the grand bazaar (thought about buying a rug, but didn't) and tonight we're going to a football match (go Beþiktaþ!)
Istanbul is quite nice, more modern/western than I expected. There was a small east meets west incident but I promised Andrew I wouldn't talk about that on the blog.
The food here is a little more boring that I'd hoped. We went out for a nice, or at least, expensive meal last night. It was ok, nice appetizers, but the main courses are a bit dull. There are a million donair shops, some of which aren't too bad.
Feels like I should have more to say on the old blog, but so far things have been pretty good, but no big excitment. Maybe Israel will go to war with Syria or Iran when we're there and I'll have more to talk about.
Istanbul is quite nice, more modern/western than I expected. There was a small east meets west incident but I promised Andrew I wouldn't talk about that on the blog.
The food here is a little more boring that I'd hoped. We went out for a nice, or at least, expensive meal last night. It was ok, nice appetizers, but the main courses are a bit dull. There are a million donair shops, some of which aren't too bad.
Feels like I should have more to say on the old blog, but so far things have been pretty good, but no big excitment. Maybe Israel will go to war with Syria or Iran when we're there and I'll have more to talk about.
Thursday August 30, 2007 3:22 AM
Turkey lurkey
Today Andrew and I are ýn Pamukkale, ýn central Turkey. I arrýved on Saturday and took a flýght straýght from Istanbul to Dalaman, whých ýs on the medýterranean coast. From there I met Andrew ýn Fethýye, and we took a four day cruýse along the med. coast of Turkey. I thýnk ýt took me a day to unwýnd, but ýn the end ýt was really relaxýng: beautýful blue water, perfect weather, nothýng to do but swým and swýng ýn a hammock.
Yesterday we took buses for 7 hours to get to Pam, where we're goýng to check out some weýrd calcýum formatýons. Tonýght we fly back to Istanbul for 2 1/2 days there before headýng to Israel.
Some thýngs I lýke about Turkey so far:
Yesterday we took buses for 7 hours to get to Pam, where we're goýng to check out some weýrd calcýum formatýons. Tonýght we fly back to Istanbul for 2 1/2 days there before headýng to Israel.
Some thýngs I lýke about Turkey so far:
- Nýce weather.
- Nýce people. The good people at the Venus Hotel ýn Pamukkale have been exceedýngly nýce, helpýng us get a deal on a flýght back to IST.
- Men wýth moustaches.
- Very lýttle requýrement for me to do fýnancýal rýsk management here.
Thursday August 23, 2007 7:35 AM
Joey, have you ever been to a Turkish prison?
Tomorrow I leave for two weeks, headed to Turkey and Israel. My good friend Andrew is already in Turkey. I'm flying to Istanbul, then flying directly to Fethiye, on the southern coast, where I'm going to meet him. We're going to go sailing on a gulet, a traditional turkish wooden yacht for four days. It's supposed to be quite beautiful. Then we take an overnight bus back to Istanbul and spend three days there.
Then it's off to Israel for another week. We don't have things planned out there. More updates to follow once I'm there.
Then it's off to Israel for another week. We don't have things planned out there. More updates to follow once I'm there.
Friday August 17, 2007 1:35 PM
Updates coming
There will be some activity happening shortly on VDB. I've taken a few trips this summer so new photos are coming, and I'm going to Turkey and Israel next week, so there'll be some very exciting new posts from foreign countries. For now, here's a video I shot at the Strathmore Rodeo:
Saturday February 24, 2007 5:32 PM
Thoughts on the all-inclusive
Lissy and I have been here in the DR for two and a half days now. The resort we're in is a three star - which means that everything is pretty ok, but nothing is spectacular. Well, at least aside from the natural beauty. The resort is quite well kept, the food is pretty mediocre, bordering on bad, but there's lots off it. The drinks are all free, and also not that great, but after the first six you stop noticing. Generally, it's a pretty ok place, and it was cheap. After a few days here, though, we're starting to develop a little wanderlust, and are planning a little excursion for tomorrow. We're going to rent a car and take a little road trip to a town that's about 100km away. It sounds like a quaint little town that's not too touristy. We'll probably find some beaches or other such tropical distractions on the way, so it should be a good day.
Funny story: the day we arrived we had a little chat with the house keeper as she was finishing our room. She asked us: "Estas casadas?" To which Lissy replied (she's the spanish expert on the trip): "Si, un poquito". She thought the exchange went something like:
Housekeeper: "Are you tired?"
Lissy: "A little bit"
but Lissy mixed up casadas with cansadas, so the exchange actually went:
Housekeeper: "Are you married?"
Lissy: "A little bit"
Lissy is really taking this relationship to places that I'm not sure I'm ready to go, but I don't know how to tell her this.
Funny story: the day we arrived we had a little chat with the house keeper as she was finishing our room. She asked us: "Estas casadas?" To which Lissy replied (she's the spanish expert on the trip): "Si, un poquito". She thought the exchange went something like:
Housekeeper: "Are you tired?"
Lissy: "A little bit"
but Lissy mixed up casadas with cansadas, so the exchange actually went:
Housekeeper: "Are you married?"
Lissy: "A little bit"
Lissy is really taking this relationship to places that I'm not sure I'm ready to go, but I don't know how to tell her this.
Wednesday February 21, 2007 6:01 PM
The triumphant return of the travel blog
It's been a little while since I blogged, but my life isn't that interesting. The only time my blog has been interesting in the slightest has been when I was traveling. Fortunately, tomorrow I'm embarking on a little vacation so the blog is back in action.
Tomorrow morning Lissy and I are heading to the Dominican Republic for 5 days of fun in the sun. We're headed to an all-inclusive place, so this will be a little less active and self-directed as my other recent travels, but hopefully in addition to consuming massive quantities of rum-based drinks out of coconut based drinking implements on the beach we'll also get to have a few adventures (renting some scooters, going diving, starting a coup in nearby Haiti, etc).
I'll keep you all posted. A few other interesting tid-bits: I'm posting this from my blackberry on the train back to NYC from Boston. I don't know if this'll work, but if you're reading this then it was probably successful. Also, recently I implemented a CAPTCHA to combat comment spam. If anyone is interedted in any herbal viagra or teen webcams you can just email me directly and I'll hook you up.
Finally, in other travel blog news my friend Annemarie is currently in Eureka, Nunavut and blogging about it. Her blog is more interesting than mine, so if you're starved for something to read online you might want check her blog out: http://www.survivorellesmere.blogspot.com/
Tomorrow morning Lissy and I are heading to the Dominican Republic for 5 days of fun in the sun. We're headed to an all-inclusive place, so this will be a little less active and self-directed as my other recent travels, but hopefully in addition to consuming massive quantities of rum-based drinks out of coconut based drinking implements on the beach we'll also get to have a few adventures (renting some scooters, going diving, starting a coup in nearby Haiti, etc).
I'll keep you all posted. A few other interesting tid-bits: I'm posting this from my blackberry on the train back to NYC from Boston. I don't know if this'll work, but if you're reading this then it was probably successful. Also, recently I implemented a CAPTCHA to combat comment spam. If anyone is interedted in any herbal viagra or teen webcams you can just email me directly and I'll hook you up.
Finally, in other travel blog news my friend Annemarie is currently in Eureka, Nunavut and blogging about it. Her blog is more interesting than mine, so if you're starved for something to read online you might want check her blog out: http://www.survivorellesmere.blogspot.com/
Tuesday October 24, 2006 5:54 PM
Dilbert's voice
I think this is pretty cool. Maybe because I stutter. For those of you too lazy to read it, the guy who writes Dilbert lost his voice 18 months ago with a rare psychological disorder that prevents people from speaking, though nothing is physically wrong. He managed to trick his brain into allowing him to speak properly again, apparently he's the first person ever to overcome the condition. Cool stuff. And I can't believe I'm reposting something I read on slashdot. I'm such a nerd.
Sunday July 16, 2006 9:00 PM
Garden State
On Thursday night I went to a co-worker's place to play racquet ball with him. He lives in Jersey. This was my first time in Jersey, which is just over the Hudson from Manhattan. Because the Hudson is pretty wide even though Jersey is pretty close, it seems far away. Say Mississauga to Toronto. Playing racquet ball was fun. I think I want to play more racquet sports when I move to New York, because I think racquet sports are fun, and because I think it'll be hard to continue my regular workout routine of ultimate and climbing.
Anyway, two interesting things happened on the Path to and from Jersey. The Path is like the subway, but it's not connected to the rest of the MTA system, and for some reason it costs less but takes you further. It's just an underground train from Manhattan to Jersey. Anyway, we took the Path from the World Trade Center. There's a Path station right in ground zero. I don't know if it was there before 9/11. As soon as the train started moving a female passenger tried to go from our car to another. There are signs saying you shouldn't do this, but people do it all the time. I guess the train went around the bend and the platforms between the cars shifted and she fell between the cars, while the train was moving. She held onto something, and luckily a guy standing next to the door pulled her back up. She was missing a shoe and pretty freaked out but otherwise ok. The other weird thing is that on the way back into the city the Path train drives around the bottom of the ground zero crater, and you can see into the site. It just looks like a construction site, but is kind of eerie. This second thing isn't particularly special, people do it every day, but was unexpected and kind of cool.
Anyway, two interesting things happened on the Path to and from Jersey. The Path is like the subway, but it's not connected to the rest of the MTA system, and for some reason it costs less but takes you further. It's just an underground train from Manhattan to Jersey. Anyway, we took the Path from the World Trade Center. There's a Path station right in ground zero. I don't know if it was there before 9/11. As soon as the train started moving a female passenger tried to go from our car to another. There are signs saying you shouldn't do this, but people do it all the time. I guess the train went around the bend and the platforms between the cars shifted and she fell between the cars, while the train was moving. She held onto something, and luckily a guy standing next to the door pulled her back up. She was missing a shoe and pretty freaked out but otherwise ok. The other weird thing is that on the way back into the city the Path train drives around the bottom of the ground zero crater, and you can see into the site. It just looks like a construction site, but is kind of eerie. This second thing isn't particularly special, people do it every day, but was unexpected and kind of cool.
Sunday July 9, 2006 9:10 PM
Big day
Today I watched the world cup final. Italy won. Then I went to Dan and Eleanor's house. We had dinner. Andrew and Joyce and Jaime were there. We ate meatloaf and then ice cream cake. The ice cream cake tasted like happy. The meatloaf had too many herbs and too much tomato sauce and Dan felt bad. It was funny. Jaime made a video of Andrew but Andrew thought he was just taking a picture. That was funny too. Later I'm going to go to my hotel and send some emails to people I work with. Status emails are fun.
Saturday April 29, 2006 5:17 PM
"If you are going to play stickball in Canarsie, you better learn Brooklyn rules." -- Jack McCoy
I've been in New York for a week now, working at a customer site during the day, and poking around New York at night. Work is going well. I'm working right on Wall St. It's quite neat, we take the subway from Grand Central station to Wall St. everyday, and walk past the NYSE with police outside wearing helmets carrying (semi-?)automatic weapons. For those of you in New York who are reading this that may not sound neat, but it is to a bumpkin like me from Tdot.
I met up with Dan the other night for drinks and dinner. He showed me around a little, which was nice of him.
Today I found some pick-up ultimate in central park. This was a bit of an experience. They play a little differently here than standard 10th edition rules. Like there is no stall count, or sidelines, or back of the endzone. And you can foot block. Oh, and they don't sub, we played savage for 3 hours.
The field we played on was kind of slanted and small, but the place they usually play is closed right now. So they set up to markers for the front of the endzone and then as long as you catch the disc, anywhere, you are in. The only rule is that you have to throw the disc through the markers to score a point.
The people were quite inexperienced, most of them couldn't flick, but they ran hard. Not having any subs was kind of hard. I ran too hard for the first 5 or 6 points, but then had to stop running so hard. All in all I had a good time. One of the guys I was playing with tried to convince me to join a team in the Westchester Ultimate Club. He said it wouldn't be a big deal if I wasn't around too much this summer. I'm considering it...
I met up with Dan the other night for drinks and dinner. He showed me around a little, which was nice of him.
Today I found some pick-up ultimate in central park. This was a bit of an experience. They play a little differently here than standard 10th edition rules. Like there is no stall count, or sidelines, or back of the endzone. And you can foot block. Oh, and they don't sub, we played savage for 3 hours.
The field we played on was kind of slanted and small, but the place they usually play is closed right now. So they set up to markers for the front of the endzone and then as long as you catch the disc, anywhere, you are in. The only rule is that you have to throw the disc through the markers to score a point.
The people were quite inexperienced, most of them couldn't flick, but they ran hard. Not having any subs was kind of hard. I ran too hard for the first 5 or 6 points, but then had to stop running so hard. All in all I had a good time. One of the guys I was playing with tried to convince me to join a team in the Westchester Ultimate Club. He said it wouldn't be a big deal if I wasn't around too much this summer. I'm considering it...
Tuesday February 21, 2006 11:36 AM
I killed a man last night
I killed a man last night. Well, I hurt him. Hurt him real bad. Hurt his feelings.
Thursday February 2, 2006 3:52 PM
Dude, where's my job?
Last thursday it was announced that VeriSign, a big American security company, bought Soltrus, my employer. Soltrus has been a VeriSign affiliate since its inception, meaning we sold VeriSign products, but weren't owned by them. Last week we became part of VeriSign proper, and they promptly shut us down.
Last year we had a good year, and Soltrus, as far as I know, was doing well. We've all gotten bonuses every year, including 2005. VeriSign decided to take our customers and close the office.
This means that as of March 31st I'll be out of a job. Because they want to keep us around to close the company gracefully they given us very generous severance packages. The best part of that is all the 'big package' jokes I get to make now (I've got a big package, want to see my big package?, and such and such).
Now I'm looking for a job. I have a lead on a couple of things, but I probably shouldn't blab about this type of thing on the internet, at least not until things are settled. Suffice it to say that I'm not too worried about my prospects. I can always go back to Guelph lake and clean the outhouses and cut the grass. Good times.
Last year we had a good year, and Soltrus, as far as I know, was doing well. We've all gotten bonuses every year, including 2005. VeriSign decided to take our customers and close the office.
This means that as of March 31st I'll be out of a job. Because they want to keep us around to close the company gracefully they given us very generous severance packages. The best part of that is all the 'big package' jokes I get to make now (I've got a big package, want to see my big package?, and such and such).
Now I'm looking for a job. I have a lead on a couple of things, but I probably shouldn't blab about this type of thing on the internet, at least not until things are settled. Suffice it to say that I'm not too worried about my prospects. I can always go back to Guelph lake and clean the outhouses and cut the grass. Good times.
Thursday January 12, 2006 10:47 PM
Good trip. Tier 1 trip. Top 5 for sure.
Andrew and I have been in Bangkok since Tuesday I guess. We did some more sight-seeing, saw some Thai boxing, did a day trip yesterday to Ayuthea, the former capital, where apparently my father was as well, but I didn't run into him.
Today we're just going to relax in BKK, maybe go see a temple on a hill, do some shopping. We have an early flight tomorrow then it's home by Satuday night.
It's been a nice trip. The tour to Ayuthea yesterday made me realize why I like Thailand. It was actually really boring, but I think I like Thailand not some much for the sights and big stuff, but just because it's warm and the food is good and it's relaxing. The scenery is nice too, but I much prefer to see in on my own. Mopeds around Angkor Wat going at our own pace: good. Tour with 30 minutes here and 45 minutes there: not good.
Peace out.
Today we're just going to relax in BKK, maybe go see a temple on a hill, do some shopping. We have an early flight tomorrow then it's home by Satuday night.
It's been a nice trip. The tour to Ayuthea yesterday made me realize why I like Thailand. It was actually really boring, but I think I like Thailand not some much for the sights and big stuff, but just because it's warm and the food is good and it's relaxing. The scenery is nice too, but I much prefer to see in on my own. Mopeds around Angkor Wat going at our own pace: good. Tour with 30 minutes here and 45 minutes there: not good.
Peace out.
Sunday January 8, 2006 5:13 AM
Funny story on a diving boat
Andrew and I are on Ko Chang, a Thai island in the Gulf of Thailand. We've been here for three days now. The first day we just sat on the beach, yesterday we went diving and today we rent motorbikes and drove around the island.
Funny story yesterday on the diving boat: The diving company we went diving with was a bit shabby. The boat was not that nice, the staff were friendly but a little too laid back. Generally they didn't project a professional air. Our dive master was an Austrian girl named Babs. Very friendly girl, lots of tattoos, several dozen piercings, but she seemed like a competent dive master. We had finished our dives and were heading for home, when after about five minutes we abruptly turned around. Andrew and I made a joke about leaving someone behind. Sure enough, we had forgotten two people who were snorkeling around the boat when others were finishing their dives. There was another dive boat there, so they were never in too much danger of drowning, but still, it didn't look too good. On the way back Babs came over to us to ask us to put in a good word with her boss. Apparently the previous dive master had been fired for forgetting some people.
Tomorrow I think we're heading to Pattaya, the Daytona Beach of Thailand, then on to Bangkok.
Funny story yesterday on the diving boat: The diving company we went diving with was a bit shabby. The boat was not that nice, the staff were friendly but a little too laid back. Generally they didn't project a professional air. Our dive master was an Austrian girl named Babs. Very friendly girl, lots of tattoos, several dozen piercings, but she seemed like a competent dive master. We had finished our dives and were heading for home, when after about five minutes we abruptly turned around. Andrew and I made a joke about leaving someone behind. Sure enough, we had forgotten two people who were snorkeling around the boat when others were finishing their dives. There was another dive boat there, so they were never in too much danger of drowning, but still, it didn't look too good. On the way back Babs came over to us to ask us to put in a good word with her boss. Apparently the previous dive master had been fired for forgetting some people.
Tomorrow I think we're heading to Pattaya, the Daytona Beach of Thailand, then on to Bangkok.
Tuesday January 3, 2006 6:45 AM
Boundless Consumerism
Andrew and I successfully navigated the ruins of Angkor Wat and the traffic of Siem Reap on a pair of mopeds. Really it was great day. Like any other tourist trap in the world the locals here sell useless trinkets. They're quite pursuasive.
Long story short: I'm now the owner of 6 new t-shirts, 4 of which have same thing printed on them. Between Andrew and I we are the owners of three marble ganesh statues.
And I bought a green marble Buddha statue. Is it wrong to haggle over a statue of Buddha? I say no.
Long story short: I'm now the owner of 6 new t-shirts, 4 of which have same thing printed on them. Between Andrew and I we are the owners of three marble ganesh statues.
And I bought a green marble Buddha statue. Is it wrong to haggle over a statue of Buddha? I say no.
Monday January 2, 2006 4:18 AM
Cambodia? Angkor What?
Andrew and I safely made it to Bangkok, where we spent one night and most of a day. We did a bit of site seeing, saw some sites, drank some beer, ate some Thai food. Then, last night, we flew to Siem Reap in Cambodia, which is close to the Angkor temple ruins.
Siem Reap is a weird place. Until about 10 years ago there was no tourism in Cambodia. Since then 82 hotels have sprung up in Siem Reap, with everything from rooms for $1 / night to $1900 / night. There's a weird mix of abject poverty and over the top wealth. At a gas station we stopped at last night they had about 40 different kinds or wine (good Australian, Chilean, French, etc). But most people here make $2 / day.
The temples of Angkor are pretty spectacular. They are being restored somewhat quickly, which seems like a shame. One of the temples we visited today had massive (2m diameter) trees growing out of the top of them, but apparently they are going to remove all the trees and rebuild the ruins. Seems weird, but that's the culture here. Most of the other temple sites (there are something like 20 big temples in this area) have already been restored in this way.
Tomorrow we're going to rent some mopeds and hit the ruins again. Wednesday we'll take a boat to another town in Cambodia along what is supposed to be the most scenic waterway in Cambodia, to see a 'real' Cambodian town. Siem Reap is a bit of a circus. Then it's overland back to Thailand and probably the beach.
Siem Reap is a weird place. Until about 10 years ago there was no tourism in Cambodia. Since then 82 hotels have sprung up in Siem Reap, with everything from rooms for $1 / night to $1900 / night. There's a weird mix of abject poverty and over the top wealth. At a gas station we stopped at last night they had about 40 different kinds or wine (good Australian, Chilean, French, etc). But most people here make $2 / day.
The temples of Angkor are pretty spectacular. They are being restored somewhat quickly, which seems like a shame. One of the temples we visited today had massive (2m diameter) trees growing out of the top of them, but apparently they are going to remove all the trees and rebuild the ruins. Seems weird, but that's the culture here. Most of the other temple sites (there are something like 20 big temples in this area) have already been restored in this way.
Tomorrow we're going to rent some mopeds and hit the ruins again. Wednesday we'll take a boat to another town in Cambodia along what is supposed to be the most scenic waterway in Cambodia, to see a 'real' Cambodian town. Siem Reap is a bit of a circus. Then it's overland back to Thailand and probably the beach.
Wednesday December 28, 2005 10:00 PM
A little pre-trip drama
I got home tonight feeling a little sick, with a headache. I was happy I didn't have to do to much, since Christmas was bit hectic, though it was nice to see the fam.
I decided to I should do some laundry and a few other easy tasks in order to prepare for my trip. I decided to go to my filing cabinet to see that my passport was where I'd left it, and of course it wasn't there. I trashed my house looking for it, and couldn't find it. The last time I used it was when I went to Washington in October to the conference. I had put it in my laptop bag then, but I was *sure* I had put it in my filing cabinet.
I ended up at my office convinced that my passport wasn't in my laptop bag, but it was.
So, long story short: lost my passport, turns out it was at my office.
You can look forward to many more blog entries of this calibre.
I decided to I should do some laundry and a few other easy tasks in order to prepare for my trip. I decided to go to my filing cabinet to see that my passport was where I'd left it, and of course it wasn't there. I trashed my house looking for it, and couldn't find it. The last time I used it was when I went to Washington in October to the conference. I had put it in my laptop bag then, but I was *sure* I had put it in my filing cabinet.
I ended up at my office convinced that my passport wasn't in my laptop bag, but it was.
So, long story short: lost my passport, turns out it was at my office.
You can look forward to many more blog entries of this calibre.
Friday December 2, 2005 11:03 AM
Mathematical Pi
I was reading an article on wired about teachers using stupid songs about science and it reminded me about an oldy created by my friend Ken and his friend Ton. So, I googled up this flash version of their song Mathematical Pi. Quite geeky, but quite good.
Monday November 7, 2005 5:07 PM
Dude, where's my house?
As previously reported a coworker of mine rented me her house. She gave me a pretty good deal for the place, but the arrangement was that she may or may not kick me out after a year because she really didn't know what she was doing with it, which was why it was sitting empty. Well, the bad news is that she's decided to sell it early, which means that I'll be out by the end of March.
It kind of sucks to have to move so soon. I am quite happy there, and I'm not looking forward to moving again. I've been toying with the idea of buying a house, but there are several good reasons not to do that right now:
Oh, I finally got around to posting pictures from The Big Trip. Check them out in the photos section.
It kind of sucks to have to move so soon. I am quite happy there, and I'm not looking forward to moving again. I've been toying with the idea of buying a house, but there are several good reasons not to do that right now:
- The housing market is really hot right now so prices are high
- The rental market is really lousy right now, which means if I bought a place with a basement apartment, or rented out some rooms, it would be hard to find renters
- It ties me down to Toronto. I don't know that I want to leave Toronto, but I like the idea of being able to pack up anytime I want and go back to Nepal, or wherever. This probably isn't a good reason to not buy a house.
Oh, I finally got around to posting pictures from The Big Trip. Check them out in the photos section.
Monday October 31, 2005 10:21 PM
Round 2
So, I don't know if anyone has noticed, but I haven't updated my blog in a while. I've been a bit busy, but I guess I didn't really know what to do with the blog now that I'm not travelling. The old format of my just posting random garbage that I find mildly amusing didn't really seem like a good use for the blog.
Well, the good news is that I'm planning another trip, so I have a brief reprieve. Andrew and I are planning a little trip to Cambodia and Thailand in January. We plan to fly into Bangkok, then take a short flight into Siem Reap, Cambodia to see the temples of Angkor Wat. Then we'll boogie overland to the Thai/Cambodian border (which apparently is a bit of crazy trip and crazy border crossing, though not get yourself killed crazy like it was a few years ago). After crossing the border we'll go to the island of Ko Chang which is supposed to be beautiful and relaxing. Then maybe a few days in Bangkok and then home. We'll be over there for about two weeks total.
One interesting wrinkle in these plans is the avian flu. Andrew's mother (a doctor) got Andrew a dose of Tamiflu, and recommended that my father (also a doctor) do the same for me. My dad is also going to Thailand in January, so he's in the same boat as me. Well, he thinks, and I agree with him, that the chance of getting avian flu is so remote that it makes no sense taking Tamiflu. I'm far more likely to die in a plane crash. I hope I don't do that either, though. Or lose my towel. That sucked.
Well, the good news is that I'm planning another trip, so I have a brief reprieve. Andrew and I are planning a little trip to Cambodia and Thailand in January. We plan to fly into Bangkok, then take a short flight into Siem Reap, Cambodia to see the temples of Angkor Wat. Then we'll boogie overland to the Thai/Cambodian border (which apparently is a bit of crazy trip and crazy border crossing, though not get yourself killed crazy like it was a few years ago). After crossing the border we'll go to the island of Ko Chang which is supposed to be beautiful and relaxing. Then maybe a few days in Bangkok and then home. We'll be over there for about two weeks total.
One interesting wrinkle in these plans is the avian flu. Andrew's mother (a doctor) got Andrew a dose of Tamiflu, and recommended that my father (also a doctor) do the same for me. My dad is also going to Thailand in January, so he's in the same boat as me. Well, he thinks, and I agree with him, that the chance of getting avian flu is so remote that it makes no sense taking Tamiflu. I'm far more likely to die in a plane crash. I hope I don't do that either, though. Or lose my towel. That sucked.
Monday August 22, 2005 10:33 PM
Photos
I just put up some photos from my trip to Algonquin. I'm going to reorganize and put up more photos from the Big Trip soon.
Monday August 22, 2005 10:16 PM
Long time, no blog
I know it's been a while since I've updated this, but I've been trying to figure out what to do with my blog since I got back. I've decided to go back to my original, pre-trip format, of just posting random facts about my life, or random things I find interesting. Because I'm not sure everyone on this subscriber list is going to be interested in that, I'm going to clear the list. If you still want to read my blog, please just resubscribe. Before I do that, I just recap the last month and a half, since I got back to Toronto:
I ended up spending the last week of June and July living back in Falconer House, in Whitney Hall at U of T. This is the residence I lived in for 1 1/2 years in undergrad. There was a nice little bit of nostalgia, but that wore off quickly after the people on my floor made too much noise and made a mess of the kitchen and bathroom. I found a really great place, though, and I moved in about three weeks ago. A co-worker of mine had a house sitting empty, so she gave me a really good deal and I rented it. It's great having a whole house to myself, with a yard, laundry, upstairs, downstairs, etc.
Moving in to the new place was a bit of an ordeal: the elevator was broken in the place I was storing all my stuff. Long story short, I carried everything I own down four flights of stairs to get it out. But, I'm very happy in my new place.
Last week my Andrew (otherwise known as 'amp' on this blog) and I went for a canoe trip. Two funny, classic Andrew events to report:
1) About 1 1/2 hours into the first day I mentioned that we were kind of listing a bit to one side. I was kind of thinking that maybe our packs weren't centered, but was also hinting that I thought that Andrew was leaning too far to that side. Andrew being Andrew he said something like 'we're leaning over to one side? kind of like this?' and started leaning over a lot more. The canoe very nearly tipped, and we ended up with about 4 inches of water in the bottom of the canoe.
2) On our second day we stopped on a little point to have lunch. We were throwing rocks into the water, as one does. Andrew picked up a pretty big rock, say 3x3x1 inch and threw it as hard as he could. The problem was: he released it about 2 inches from the side of my knee. That hurt.
That's about it. So, like I said, from now on the blogs going back to its original, random format.
I ended up spending the last week of June and July living back in Falconer House, in Whitney Hall at U of T. This is the residence I lived in for 1 1/2 years in undergrad. There was a nice little bit of nostalgia, but that wore off quickly after the people on my floor made too much noise and made a mess of the kitchen and bathroom. I found a really great place, though, and I moved in about three weeks ago. A co-worker of mine had a house sitting empty, so she gave me a really good deal and I rented it. It's great having a whole house to myself, with a yard, laundry, upstairs, downstairs, etc.
Moving in to the new place was a bit of an ordeal: the elevator was broken in the place I was storing all my stuff. Long story short, I carried everything I own down four flights of stairs to get it out. But, I'm very happy in my new place.
Last week my Andrew (otherwise known as 'amp' on this blog) and I went for a canoe trip. Two funny, classic Andrew events to report:
1) About 1 1/2 hours into the first day I mentioned that we were kind of listing a bit to one side. I was kind of thinking that maybe our packs weren't centered, but was also hinting that I thought that Andrew was leaning too far to that side. Andrew being Andrew he said something like 'we're leaning over to one side? kind of like this?' and started leaning over a lot more. The canoe very nearly tipped, and we ended up with about 4 inches of water in the bottom of the canoe.
2) On our second day we stopped on a little point to have lunch. We were throwing rocks into the water, as one does. Andrew picked up a pretty big rock, say 3x3x1 inch and threw it as hard as he could. The problem was: he released it about 2 inches from the side of my knee. That hurt.
That's about it. So, like I said, from now on the blogs going back to its original, random format.
Saturday June 25, 2005 3:07 AM
Home for a rest
Namaste, sawasdee khap, g'day, bula,
So, this is the end. I take off for LA, then Toronto in about 4 hours. It's been a really good 3 months. I took 19 flights (well, 11 flights but with connections it was 19 take-offs and landings). I also travelled by car, bus, train, skytrain, subway, truck, motorcycle, tuk-tuk, sawngthaw, long-tail boat, ferry, speed boat, kayak, helicopter, elephant and bicycle rickshaw.
I trekked, hiked, swam, snorkeled, dived, fished, snowshoed, volunteered, learned to cook thai food, climbed, sailed, laughed, puked, propped up bars, danced on tables, fed wild monkeys, eagles and crocodiles by hand (to be honest, with the crocs I used a stick), swam with sharks and sea turtles and didn't swim with dolphins.
I saw the Himalayas, the jungles and beaches of Thailand, the outback, the Great Barrier Reef, the Southern Alps and beautiful tropical islands of Fiji. I saw dolphins, pilot whales, several types of deadly snake and sharks and sea turtles as I've already said.
One of the most remarkable things, though, is how well everything has gone. Except for getting sick in Nepal (which I got lots of money from insurance back for) nothing bad has really happened (here's hoping for no plane crashes on the way home). Aside from getting sick, the worst thing that happened to me was I lost my towel in Thailand. So, really, things went pretty well.
I'll see most of you soon. Thanks for reading. I'll probably keep updating this with info about my life back in Toronto.
So, this is the end. I take off for LA, then Toronto in about 4 hours. It's been a really good 3 months. I took 19 flights (well, 11 flights but with connections it was 19 take-offs and landings). I also travelled by car, bus, train, skytrain, subway, truck, motorcycle, tuk-tuk, sawngthaw, long-tail boat, ferry, speed boat, kayak, helicopter, elephant and bicycle rickshaw.
I trekked, hiked, swam, snorkeled, dived, fished, snowshoed, volunteered, learned to cook thai food, climbed, sailed, laughed, puked, propped up bars, danced on tables, fed wild monkeys, eagles and crocodiles by hand (to be honest, with the crocs I used a stick), swam with sharks and sea turtles and didn't swim with dolphins.
I saw the Himalayas, the jungles and beaches of Thailand, the outback, the Great Barrier Reef, the Southern Alps and beautiful tropical islands of Fiji. I saw dolphins, pilot whales, several types of deadly snake and sharks and sea turtles as I've already said.
One of the most remarkable things, though, is how well everything has gone. Except for getting sick in Nepal (which I got lots of money from insurance back for) nothing bad has really happened (here's hoping for no plane crashes on the way home). Aside from getting sick, the worst thing that happened to me was I lost my towel in Thailand. So, really, things went pretty well.
I'll see most of you soon. Thanks for reading. I'll probably keep updating this with info about my life back in Toronto.
Friday June 24, 2005 4:59 AM
Caqelai
My time in Fiji is almost over, though it feels like I just got here. I wasn't that impressed with Fiji initially. The cities are really uninteresting and not a pleasant place to be, and all the places to stay seemed to be resorts, where you go to a little island and are kind of a captive audience, doing standard beach type stuff, with hokey hula dancing at night and annoying british 19 year olds all over the place.
Anyway, instead of going to a resort to learn to surf and do some diving, I tried to get a little of the beaten track. I ended up spending two days on this little island called Caqelai (which, for some reason is pronounced theng-ga-lay) which was pretty fantastic. It's what I imagined when I thought of Fiji but knew nothing about it: a little island that you can walk around slowly in 10 minutes, covered in palm trees with white sand beaches all the way around. There were only about 15 tourists on the island, we all at together at a big communal table. There was no booze, no organized activities, nothing to do but swing in hammock, go snorkelling, crack open coconuts or just relax. The people on the island were pretty cool too, not the typcial bland backpacker crowd, but pretty interesting characters. It was pretty nice. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed it until I came back to civilization and saw the same people (actually different individuals but they all look the same) sitting around a pool getting pissed having the same conversations that I realized how good Caqelai was.
I fly home late tomorrow night. I'm back in Nadi (prounced for some reason like Nandi) which is near the airport. I go on a day trip tomorrow to another resort, then it's home by Sunday morning.
Anyway, instead of going to a resort to learn to surf and do some diving, I tried to get a little of the beaten track. I ended up spending two days on this little island called Caqelai (which, for some reason is pronounced theng-ga-lay) which was pretty fantastic. It's what I imagined when I thought of Fiji but knew nothing about it: a little island that you can walk around slowly in 10 minutes, covered in palm trees with white sand beaches all the way around. There were only about 15 tourists on the island, we all at together at a big communal table. There was no booze, no organized activities, nothing to do but swing in hammock, go snorkelling, crack open coconuts or just relax. The people on the island were pretty cool too, not the typcial bland backpacker crowd, but pretty interesting characters. It was pretty nice. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed it until I came back to civilization and saw the same people (actually different individuals but they all look the same) sitting around a pool getting pissed having the same conversations that I realized how good Caqelai was.
I fly home late tomorrow night. I'm back in Nadi (prounced for some reason like Nandi) which is near the airport. I go on a day trip tomorrow to another resort, then it's home by Sunday morning.
Saturday June 18, 2005 11:18 PM
Fiji
In Fiji now, in a little guest house in a rainforest. I'm heading to some remote islands tomorrow to try to find a beach and some relaxation before I come home. Internet is a bit pricey here so this'll be a short one.
Thursday June 16, 2005 4:02 AM
I's the b'y
Tomorrow is my last full day in NZ, I fly out early Saturday. I spent most of my time on this hop on/hop off bus tour thing called Stray. It's similar to the Oz Experience or Kiwi Experience for those of you familiar with these things. The idea is that you get a ticket for a certain route that's valid for a year, and you can get off the bus anywhere along the route and then just hop on the the next bus as it passes by. Part of the appeal of these bus tours is that you meet people, but I didn't meet anyone who was terribly interesting, but the other appealing aspect is that they take you directly to places and you don't have to wait around for normal buses etc. In that respect it was really good, and I actually got a bit off the beaten track with this tour company.
Two days ago I was in Stewart Island, which is the third New Zealand island (along with the North and South islands) and it was actually the least touristy place I've been on my whole trip. We hired this fisherman to take us out fishing and we caught a ton of blue cod. In about 45 minutes I caught about 20 fish. The fishing apparatus was just a 1/4 inch polypropylene rope with a weight and 2 hooks on the end. We'd let the weight sink to the bottom, wait for about 5 seconds until there was bite on one of the hooks, give the rope a yank to set the hook, and then wait another 5 seconds for another bite, set that hook, then pull it up. We were pulling them in two at a time. We had to throw back the females, but in about 45 minutes 4 of us had 4.5kg of cod fillets (the captain cleaned them for us). It was pretty cool to be somewhere with that many fish. It reminded me of the stories of the cod off the east coast back in the good old days.
Heading to Fiji on Saturday. Don't quite know what I'm going to do there or where I'm going to go, but I'll figure it out I'm sure.
Two days ago I was in Stewart Island, which is the third New Zealand island (along with the North and South islands) and it was actually the least touristy place I've been on my whole trip. We hired this fisherman to take us out fishing and we caught a ton of blue cod. In about 45 minutes I caught about 20 fish. The fishing apparatus was just a 1/4 inch polypropylene rope with a weight and 2 hooks on the end. We'd let the weight sink to the bottom, wait for about 5 seconds until there was bite on one of the hooks, give the rope a yank to set the hook, and then wait another 5 seconds for another bite, set that hook, then pull it up. We were pulling them in two at a time. We had to throw back the females, but in about 45 minutes 4 of us had 4.5kg of cod fillets (the captain cleaned them for us). It was pretty cool to be somewhere with that many fish. It reminded me of the stories of the cod off the east coast back in the good old days.
Heading to Fiji on Saturday. Don't quite know what I'm going to do there or where I'm going to go, but I'll figure it out I'm sure.
Sunday June 12, 2005 5:49 AM
Dear New Zealand, I'm sorry
I may have been a bit hasty when I put down the Southern Alps and scenery in general around here. The weather has been quite lousy and I think the nice scenery was obscured and the places I was visiting when it was clear just weren't that nice. Today I hired a mountain guide and we went out and did some mountaineering and it was pretty good. We got up above the clouds, so it was a beautiful sunny day with the valleys below us full of cloud and beautiful mountains all around. Really, it was pretty nice.
In New Zealand it is much harder to sue for large amounts so there are tons of adventure activities here. Bungy jumping was invented in Queenstown (where I am now). You can bungy jump off just about anything here, sky dive, canyon, river surf (go down rapids on a boogey board), white water raft, parasail, paraglide, hang glide, and do just about any other stupid activity you can imagine. I decided if I was going to be here I may as well do the stupidest thing I could find, so I decided to do parabungy. This involves bungy jumping off a platform 180m above a lake supported by a parachute being towed by a boat. Unfortunately they don't seem to be operating in winter. They have a website that seems to indicate they're still operating, but they're not. Instead I hired the guide and had a really good day, so in the end everything worked out. It usually does.
In New Zealand it is much harder to sue for large amounts so there are tons of adventure activities here. Bungy jumping was invented in Queenstown (where I am now). You can bungy jump off just about anything here, sky dive, canyon, river surf (go down rapids on a boogey board), white water raft, parasail, paraglide, hang glide, and do just about any other stupid activity you can imagine. I decided if I was going to be here I may as well do the stupidest thing I could find, so I decided to do parabungy. This involves bungy jumping off a platform 180m above a lake supported by a parachute being towed by a boat. Unfortunately they don't seem to be operating in winter. They have a website that seems to indicate they're still operating, but they're not. Instead I hired the guide and had a really good day, so in the end everything worked out. It usually does.
Wednesday June 8, 2005 1:27 AM
Scenery fatigue
I'm on the west coast of the south island of New Zealand now. I'm in a really beautiful spot, a village on the edge of the Tasman Sea, surrounded by mountains with a really nice glacier rolling out of them. It's beautiful, but I'm finding I'm having a hard time caring. When I was in Thailand I met a girl who said that after a few months travelling she just couldn't appreciate beautiful scenery anymore. She knew it was nice, but it stopped having an impact on her. I couldn't understand it then, but I think I'm getting there now. It's not that I don't like where I am, it's just that after a few months of seeing beautiful things everyday they just start to lose their edge. Also, there's competition. This place has nice mountain scenery, but the Himalayas blow it away.
I know, I shouldn't complain about too much nice scenery. I'm not really complaining, just making an observation about my perception of the trip I guess.
Oh, I put us some more photos.
I know, I shouldn't complain about too much nice scenery. I'm not really complaining, just making an observation about my perception of the trip I guess.
Oh, I put us some more photos.
Sunday June 5, 2005 7:09 PM
Not swimming with dolphins
I'm spending a few days in Christchruch, because I'm a bit burnt out from running around Australia. Today I'm taking a little day trip to the town of Akaroa, about 100km from Christchurch, where you can swim with dolphins. Apparently it's quite nice, there are hundreds of dolphins that hang around all year that are really playful to swim with. Or so I hear, because the weather isn't cooperating and I won't be going out. This means that I'm stuck in this little town all day with not much to do. That's not necessarily a bad thing, there are lots of cafes and restaurants, so I'll probably just end up spending the day reading my book eating some good food. Maybe I can find a place that serves dolphin.
New Zealand is really nice. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but some places I've been feel really uninviting and foreign (probably because they are foreign) and other places feel really homey. I feel quite at home in Christchurch. Maybe it's the weather, I can't feel at home when it's hot and there are palm trees everywhere, but 8 degrees and rain feels like home. I don't know, but I like New Zealand so far.
New Zealand is really nice. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but some places I've been feel really uninviting and foreign (probably because they are foreign) and other places feel really homey. I feel quite at home in Christchurch. Maybe it's the weather, I can't feel at home when it's hot and there are palm trees everywhere, but 8 degrees and rain feels like home. I don't know, but I like New Zealand so far.
Friday June 3, 2005 5:58 AM
Australia
I'm leaving Australia tomorrow morning, heading to Christchruch, New Zealand. I think that coming to Australia was a mistake. Now, to be clear, I've had a lot of fun here. Hanging out with Oliver was really fun, Ayer's Rock was pretty good, Darwin was very good, and I spent this week in Airlie Beach, on the north east coast, and did three days of sailing in the Whitsunday Islands, which was pretty good.
There are two reasons I think that coming here was a mistake: The first is that Australia is too big to see in three weeks. I really tried to cram a lot in, and in the end I saw only a fraction of the country and I'm really tired. I woke up before 7am 12 of my 20 mornings here (I know I'm not going to get a lot of sympathy from people who get up before 7am everyday, but I'm on vacation here). I travelled almost 5000km by bus in 20 days, and generally I rushed around. Most people spend months doing Australia and that's the way to do it. I think my time would have been better spent in a smaller country. The second reason that I think I shouldn't have come is that Australia is too much like Canada. I saw lots of beautiful things, but when I was in Thailand and Nepal meeting the locals was part of what made the experience great, and here the locals are too much like Canadians.
Now, when I was planning my trip I think I kind of felt reassured by the fact that Australia was going to be like home, because before this I hadn't travelled much on my own in non-english speaking countries. So, the reason I'm criticizing Australia is also a reason that brought me here.
I guess what I'm saying is that with the benefit of hindsight I probably wouldn't have come here. However, I still had a great time, and saw some fantastic things, so really, it wasn't too bad.
Two great things about Australia that you may not know: they roll the GST into prices so if something says it's $20 you pay $20, and they don't have pennies, so all exchanges are rounded to the nearest $0.05. Both of these are very nice.
There are two reasons I think that coming here was a mistake: The first is that Australia is too big to see in three weeks. I really tried to cram a lot in, and in the end I saw only a fraction of the country and I'm really tired. I woke up before 7am 12 of my 20 mornings here (I know I'm not going to get a lot of sympathy from people who get up before 7am everyday, but I'm on vacation here). I travelled almost 5000km by bus in 20 days, and generally I rushed around. Most people spend months doing Australia and that's the way to do it. I think my time would have been better spent in a smaller country. The second reason that I think I shouldn't have come is that Australia is too much like Canada. I saw lots of beautiful things, but when I was in Thailand and Nepal meeting the locals was part of what made the experience great, and here the locals are too much like Canadians.
Now, when I was planning my trip I think I kind of felt reassured by the fact that Australia was going to be like home, because before this I hadn't travelled much on my own in non-english speaking countries. So, the reason I'm criticizing Australia is also a reason that brought me here.
I guess what I'm saying is that with the benefit of hindsight I probably wouldn't have come here. However, I still had a great time, and saw some fantastic things, so really, it wasn't too bad.
Two great things about Australia that you may not know: they roll the GST into prices so if something says it's $20 you pay $20, and they don't have pennies, so all exchanges are rounded to the nearest $0.05. Both of these are very nice.
Saturday May 28, 2005 8:50 PM
Goodbye
I find the life cycle of the relationships of people I meet while travelling very strange. Generally it starts because you want to ask someone a question, or have some other reason to talk to them. Then invariably you have the where do you come from? how long are you travelling? where have you been? what do you do back home? conversation. Then maybe you hang out with the person for maybe a few hours, maybe a few days, and then you say goodbye and never see the person again.
I guess what I find strange is that, in the 'real' world, if you knew, absolutely knew you would never see someone again after a few hours or days you probably wouldn't make any effort to get to know them. Certainly I wouldn't, but I'm a little anti-social. I might chat with them for a while, but while travelling if you don't meet people it's very boring, so you make a real effort to get to know people.
I got pretty tired of this cycle for a while, and for a few days in Thailand I just stopped meeting people because I couldn't have the same conversation over and over again, but I got over that. Now it's just part of my routine, and I'm fine with it. What bums me out a little though is when I meet someone I actually would like to see again, and I know that after we part company I'll never see them again. I've only met a few people like this, but still, the chance of seeing anyone I'm travelling with again is next to zero, and it kind of makes meeting cool people a little bitter-sweet. I get to know them and then it's see you later.
But I guess that's the deal. If I wasn't travelling I'd still be stuck hanging around the same losers I hang around with in Toronto (kidding, really, I'm kidding :), so I guess I'm coming out ahead.
I guess what I find strange is that, in the 'real' world, if you knew, absolutely knew you would never see someone again after a few hours or days you probably wouldn't make any effort to get to know them. Certainly I wouldn't, but I'm a little anti-social. I might chat with them for a while, but while travelling if you don't meet people it's very boring, so you make a real effort to get to know people.
I got pretty tired of this cycle for a while, and for a few days in Thailand I just stopped meeting people because I couldn't have the same conversation over and over again, but I got over that. Now it's just part of my routine, and I'm fine with it. What bums me out a little though is when I meet someone I actually would like to see again, and I know that after we part company I'll never see them again. I've only met a few people like this, but still, the chance of seeing anyone I'm travelling with again is next to zero, and it kind of makes meeting cool people a little bitter-sweet. I get to know them and then it's see you later.
But I guess that's the deal. If I wasn't travelling I'd still be stuck hanging around the same losers I hang around with in Toronto (kidding, really, I'm kidding :), so I guess I'm coming out ahead.
Friday May 27, 2005 5:44 AM
Crikey!
I spent 6 of the last 7 days doing two 3 day tours. The first was from Alice Springs to Darwin stopping at sights along the way. This tour was a little boring, but at least in part it was just transportation. All in all it wasn't too bad and it got me to Darwin.
The second tour I did was of Kakadu national park, and it was pretty great. Kakadu was nothing like what I expected, but fantastic nonetheless, or maybe because it wasn't what I was expecting. It was just fantastic scenery. We went swimming in the nicest fresh water swimming locales I've ever been to, slept out under the stars, and generally just chilled out in a fantastic spot. On the way home we did a boat cruise where we fed 4m crocodiles, and eagles while they were flying (the eagles, not the crocodiles). I'm really glad I came to Darwin.
Tomorrow I'm off to Cairns, really this time. I made a bit of a miscalculation. I now have only a week on the east coast, but I thought the places I wanted to see were only a few hours apart. In reality tomorrow I'm getting up at 6am for my flight, and then immediately taking a 11 hour bus to Airlie Beach, where I want to do some sailing. I really didn't think it was that far. This means I won't see Cairns, or anything else on the east coast, except Airlie Beach. But Darwin was fun and everyone says the east coast is boring, so I'm not too concerned.
Oh, I posted some photos from the first part of my time in Australia. They aren't too exciting, but I'll put more up soon.
The second tour I did was of Kakadu national park, and it was pretty great. Kakadu was nothing like what I expected, but fantastic nonetheless, or maybe because it wasn't what I was expecting. It was just fantastic scenery. We went swimming in the nicest fresh water swimming locales I've ever been to, slept out under the stars, and generally just chilled out in a fantastic spot. On the way home we did a boat cruise where we fed 4m crocodiles, and eagles while they were flying (the eagles, not the crocodiles). I'm really glad I came to Darwin.
Tomorrow I'm off to Cairns, really this time. I made a bit of a miscalculation. I now have only a week on the east coast, but I thought the places I wanted to see were only a few hours apart. In reality tomorrow I'm getting up at 6am for my flight, and then immediately taking a 11 hour bus to Airlie Beach, where I want to do some sailing. I really didn't think it was that far. This means I won't see Cairns, or anything else on the east coast, except Airlie Beach. But Darwin was fun and everyone says the east coast is boring, so I'm not too concerned.
Oh, I posted some photos from the first part of my time in Australia. They aren't too exciting, but I'll put more up soon.
Friday May 20, 2005 2:53 AM
1500km wasn't enough, going for 3000
Within about one hour of my last post my plans changed completely. I booked all my flights within Australia long before I left on my trip. I was supposed to fly to Cairns tomorrow, but I've heard that Darwin, and some of the national parks around it are really nice at this time of year, so I decided to head north. I think that I over planned this trip. I should have left more room to be spontaneous with my plans, so from now on I'm going to try to be a bit looser with my planning.
I'm taking a three day bus/tour north tomorrow, for another 1500km of outback driving (doing 1500km over the last three days wasn't enough apparently). We'll stop at a few interesting places along the way, do some camping in the desert, should be fun.
I was able to change my Alice to Cairns ticket to a Darwin to Cairns ticket a week later, so I didn't lose anything, and I was able to be a little more flexible.
I'm taking a three day bus/tour north tomorrow, for another 1500km of outback driving (doing 1500km over the last three days wasn't enough apparently). We'll stop at a few interesting places along the way, do some camping in the desert, should be fun.
I was able to change my Alice to Cairns ticket to a Darwin to Cairns ticket a week later, so I didn't lose anything, and I was able to be a little more flexible.
Thursday May 19, 2005 11:00 PM
Doin' it Bill Bryson style
On Tuesday Oliver and I flew to Alice Springs. If Australia were a gigantic blob, Alice Springs would be right in the middle of it, if that helps. Alice is close to Ayer's Rock, that's why most people come here. There are lots of tours going to the rock, but it was going to be $350* for a two day, one night tour, which seemed like a lot. Instead of doing the usual backpacker thing, we followed the footsteps of Bill Bryson Oliver and I rented a car and set off into the outback. There is not much on the 5 hour drive between Alice and Ayer's Rock but rocks, low trees and dead Kangaroos. For about 200km there was a dead kangaroo on the side of the road, in various states of decay, every 200m, without exaggeration. It was really quite incredible. We actually did see one live, wild kangaroo on the side of the road too.
Ayer's Rock is a really big rock. Actually, I think it's the biggest rock I've ever seen. It was quite impressive. I was worried that it would be a let down, but it was bigger than I expected. It's about 350m high, which is almost exactly as high as the lower observation level of the CN tower, and it's 3.6km long, which is pretty big. However, there's only so much time you can spend looking at a big rock. We climbed it, and all together spent about 2 hours at the rock, plus the sunset the night before (which was quite good too; it goes a really bright shade of orange that looks quite unnatural).
We also hit the Olgas, another group of big rocks near Ayer's, and King's Canyon, which was a 300km detour on the way back to Alice. All in all it was a fun trip. It was nice to have the freedom of a car. I've been doing lots of tours and other things where I was on a timetable, and it was nice to be a bit freer. One snag was that because of the number of accidents with kangaroos our insurance didn't cover us driving on the highway after dark. So yesterday we did 800km, and a hike that was supposed to take 4 hours, in about 11 hours during daylight (we sprinted the hike in 1:55).
The only annoyance on the trip were the damn, damn flies. They didn't bite, but there were hundreds of them, buzzing around our heads. Bill Bryson is more eloquent than I, so I'll borrow his description of the flies:
I couldn't have said it better myself.
In the end, the rental car was quite expensive, and it looks like there are cheaper options for doing a tour. I'm not sure we came out ahead, but it was good time, and that's what really matters. Oliver and I parted company this morning. He's gone to see his relatives in Melbourne. I fly to Cairns tomorrow.
* Canadian and Australian are almost exactly at par (less than 1% difference) so all prices will just be quoted as $ as long as I'm in Australia
Ayer's Rock is a really big rock. Actually, I think it's the biggest rock I've ever seen. It was quite impressive. I was worried that it would be a let down, but it was bigger than I expected. It's about 350m high, which is almost exactly as high as the lower observation level of the CN tower, and it's 3.6km long, which is pretty big. However, there's only so much time you can spend looking at a big rock. We climbed it, and all together spent about 2 hours at the rock, plus the sunset the night before (which was quite good too; it goes a really bright shade of orange that looks quite unnatural).
We also hit the Olgas, another group of big rocks near Ayer's, and King's Canyon, which was a 300km detour on the way back to Alice. All in all it was a fun trip. It was nice to have the freedom of a car. I've been doing lots of tours and other things where I was on a timetable, and it was nice to be a bit freer. One snag was that because of the number of accidents with kangaroos our insurance didn't cover us driving on the highway after dark. So yesterday we did 800km, and a hike that was supposed to take 4 hours, in about 11 hours during daylight (we sprinted the hike in 1:55).
The only annoyance on the trip were the damn, damn flies. They didn't bite, but there were hundreds of them, buzzing around our heads. Bill Bryson is more eloquent than I, so I'll borrow his description of the flies:
Flies are of course always irksome, but the Australian variety distinguishes itself with its very particular persistence. If an Australian fly wants to be up your nose or in your ear, there is no discouraging him. Flick at him as you will and each time he will jump out of range and come straight back. It is simply not possible to deter him. Somewhere on an exposed portion of your body is a spot, about the size of a shirt button, that the fly wants to lick or tickle and turn delirious circles upon. It isn't simply their persistence, but the things they go for. An Australian fly will try to suck moisture off your eyeball. He will, in not constantly turned back, go into parts of your ear that a Q-tip can only dream about. He will happily die for the glory of taking a tiny dump on your tongue. Get thirty or forty of them dancing around you in the same way and madness will shortly follow.
I couldn't have said it better myself.
In the end, the rental car was quite expensive, and it looks like there are cheaper options for doing a tour. I'm not sure we came out ahead, but it was good time, and that's what really matters. Oliver and I parted company this morning. He's gone to see his relatives in Melbourne. I fly to Cairns tomorrow.
* Canadian and Australian are almost exactly at par (less than 1% difference) so all prices will just be quoted as $ as long as I'm in Australia
Monday May 16, 2005 10:28 AM
Oliver Closov
G'day Mate!
A dingo ate my shrimp!
Throw another baby on the barbie!
And so on...
Comin' at ya like Cleopatra from Sydney, New South Wales. I met my friend Oliver last night, and we've been hanging out here in Sydney. I have to admit that we've been to a Czech restaurant, and we enjoyed the Australian wine and the Czech vodka (hey, it's only 60%!) and the Czech beer, so if this post is a little incoherent, you'll have to excuse me.
Today Oliver and I did a bit of sight seeing around Sydney. Sydney seems a little like Toronto, but with a harbour. Kind of boring, but nice. The people are pleasant, the food is good, although about 500% more expensive than Thailand, the coffee is good, and yeah, generally things are pleasant.
Tomorrow Oliver and I fly to Alice Springs, which is pretty much in the centre of Australia. We're going to rent a car and drive to Ayer's Rock, which is about 500km from Alice. We'll spend two nights there, checking the dessert out, and maybe the desert, and then head back to Alice.
Yeah, I'm a bit bummed about leaving Thailand. Things were so easy and cheap there. Last week I was paying about C$10 for a bungalow on the beach, and now I'm paying C$30 for a shared room and shared bathroom in the middle of a boring city. But I knew I'd have problems leaving Thailand. A friend of mine from Phi Phi said that every time she leaves Thailand she has dreams she's still there and when she wakes up she's bummed out that she's not there. I can relate to that.
So, I should be somewhere in the outback by tomorrow night. Wish us luck.
A dingo ate my shrimp!
Throw another baby on the barbie!
And so on...
Comin' at ya like Cleopatra from Sydney, New South Wales. I met my friend Oliver last night, and we've been hanging out here in Sydney. I have to admit that we've been to a Czech restaurant, and we enjoyed the Australian wine and the Czech vodka (hey, it's only 60%!) and the Czech beer, so if this post is a little incoherent, you'll have to excuse me.
Today Oliver and I did a bit of sight seeing around Sydney. Sydney seems a little like Toronto, but with a harbour. Kind of boring, but nice. The people are pleasant, the food is good, although about 500% more expensive than Thailand, the coffee is good, and yeah, generally things are pleasant.
Tomorrow Oliver and I fly to Alice Springs, which is pretty much in the centre of Australia. We're going to rent a car and drive to Ayer's Rock, which is about 500km from Alice. We'll spend two nights there, checking the dessert out, and maybe the desert, and then head back to Alice.
Yeah, I'm a bit bummed about leaving Thailand. Things were so easy and cheap there. Last week I was paying about C$10 for a bungalow on the beach, and now I'm paying C$30 for a shared room and shared bathroom in the middle of a boring city. But I knew I'd have problems leaving Thailand. A friend of mine from Phi Phi said that every time she leaves Thailand she has dreams she's still there and when she wakes up she's bummed out that she's not there. I can relate to that.
So, I should be somewhere in the outback by tomorrow night. Wish us luck.
Friday May 13, 2005 10:31 PM
Sweet, sweet insurance
When I was sick in Nepal I ended up missing 9 days of my trek. I had cancellation insurance, so I made sure I got notes from doctors, and the tour company was very helpful, and I hoped I'd get some money back. I was a bit wary; I thought the insurance company would weasel out of it some how.
Well, I just found out that my claim was approved. Since the trek was kind of expensive and Thailand is so ridiculously cheap the reimbursement for 9 days in Nepal covers my 30 days in Thailand almost exactly. Nepal was good, but not three times as good as Thailand, so I think I win.
Well, I just found out that my claim was approved. Since the trek was kind of expensive and Thailand is so ridiculously cheap the reimbursement for 9 days in Nepal covers my 30 days in Thailand almost exactly. Nepal was good, but not three times as good as Thailand, so I think I win.
Friday May 13, 2005 10:35 AM
More photos
I've put up my photos from Thailand. They're in the Photo section under Thailand. I leave Thailand on Sunday, but I'm posting them now because it doesn't look like I'll be seeing anything fantastic between now and then, and Internet access is cheap-cheap here.
Thursday May 12, 2005 3:07 AM
Where the hell is Scandinavia?
I've met quite a few Scandinavians on my trip, and I've been hanging out with a Swede and a Norwegian for the last couple days. I've asked each of them what countries make up Scandinavia, because I've heard different things from different people. The answers I've received have included:
I looked it up online, and I found many definitions, one of them including Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Baltic states, which just seems wrong. But the overwhelming conclusion seems to be:
- Norway, Sweden
- Norway, Sweden, Denmark
- Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland
- Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland
- Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland
I looked it up online, and I found many definitions, one of them including Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Baltic states, which just seems wrong. But the overwhelming conclusion seems to be:
The Scandinavian countries are Norway, Sweden and Denmark, which recognize each other as parts of Scandinavia. The collective label "Scandinavia" reflects the cultural similarity, and the strong historical ties, between these countries despite their political independence.So there you have it. Ok, that's too much work for one day, I have to go lie down.
The usage and meaning of the term outside Scandinavia is somewhat ambiguous:These alternative meanings are considered incorrect in Scandinavia, and occasionally some people may take offense by such usage in English.
- Finland, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland are sometimes counted as parts of Scandinavia.
- In a German mindset, Norway, Sweden and Finland are usually included, but Denmark is not.
- In a British mindset, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark are usually included, often with the addition of Iceland, Finland, and sometimes even Greenland.
The term the Nordic countries is used unambiguously for the Scandinavian kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and the republics of Finland and Iceland.
Monday May 9, 2005 2:44 AM
Fighting entropy on Phi Phi
I'm on Phi Phi Island right now. For those of you that don't know, Phi Phi (pronounced pee-pee) was pretty much destroyed by the tsunami. Being here is quite interesting.
I first heard about Phi Phi a day or two after the tsunami, when they interviewed a foreigner who survived and he said something along the lines of: "you don't understand, everything on Phi Phi is gone, just gone". I got in contact with some people doing volunteer work when I was in Bangkok and they said they could use some help, so I came here last Friday.
My first impression from the boat as we approached was that this was pretty much tropically perfection. The beaches and resorts looked ok from a distance, and the setting was unbelievable. White sand beaches and huge limestone cliffs plunging into the ocean. Phi Phi is actually two islands, one that's inhabited and one that isn't. The movie The Beach was filmed on the uninhabited one. When Hollywood was looking for beach perfection they came here.
Once I got on land things started looking a little worse, but not too bad. There were many hotels and bungalows in operation, restaurants, bars, souvenir stands, etc. But there were a lot of vacant stores, obviously washed out, and there was a lot of rubble and debris in alleys and on the side of the road. It reminded me a bit of Kathmandu: some nice shops, surrounded by rubble, all looking like a nice place that had been bombed.
After getting a place to stay I walked around, and I realized that only the road along the beach had been restored. When I walked behind it you could tell that there used to be structures there, but the ground was just gravel, totally scoured clean, and the few buildings that were standing all had their first floor totally washed out. Other places you could see tile floors where building used to stand, but now there is nothing.
What's really remarkable is that no aid agencies came to Phi Phi, and nothing was really done to clean the place up until Jan. 28. At that time there were no businesses open, and there was five feet of debris everywhere. Now, just a bit over 3 months later, there are about 150 shops open, bars, hotels, tattoo parlours, etc. It's astounding how much as been rebuilt in such a short time, and that most of the clean up wash done by an ad hoc volunteer organization. I'd guess that in a year or so you will hardly know anything happened, or at least, they will all the amenities they did before the tsunami.
I've been volunteering the past couple of days, clearing debris mostly, but also helping out making a memorial garden. There are about 100 volunteers here at any one time. It's kind of a good thing that this happened in such an idyllic spot. Volunteering here isn't much a hardship: you work in the morning, take a long lunch and have a swim or sit on the beach, work again in the afternoon then stuff your face on delicious thai food and drink all night. It's just like a normal vacation with a few hours of picking up rubble every day. And if you don't feel like volunteering you can go diving or climbing or relaxing or whatever.
I first heard about Phi Phi a day or two after the tsunami, when they interviewed a foreigner who survived and he said something along the lines of: "you don't understand, everything on Phi Phi is gone, just gone". I got in contact with some people doing volunteer work when I was in Bangkok and they said they could use some help, so I came here last Friday.
My first impression from the boat as we approached was that this was pretty much tropically perfection. The beaches and resorts looked ok from a distance, and the setting was unbelievable. White sand beaches and huge limestone cliffs plunging into the ocean. Phi Phi is actually two islands, one that's inhabited and one that isn't. The movie The Beach was filmed on the uninhabited one. When Hollywood was looking for beach perfection they came here.
Once I got on land things started looking a little worse, but not too bad. There were many hotels and bungalows in operation, restaurants, bars, souvenir stands, etc. But there were a lot of vacant stores, obviously washed out, and there was a lot of rubble and debris in alleys and on the side of the road. It reminded me a bit of Kathmandu: some nice shops, surrounded by rubble, all looking like a nice place that had been bombed.
After getting a place to stay I walked around, and I realized that only the road along the beach had been restored. When I walked behind it you could tell that there used to be structures there, but the ground was just gravel, totally scoured clean, and the few buildings that were standing all had their first floor totally washed out. Other places you could see tile floors where building used to stand, but now there is nothing.
What's really remarkable is that no aid agencies came to Phi Phi, and nothing was really done to clean the place up until Jan. 28. At that time there were no businesses open, and there was five feet of debris everywhere. Now, just a bit over 3 months later, there are about 150 shops open, bars, hotels, tattoo parlours, etc. It's astounding how much as been rebuilt in such a short time, and that most of the clean up wash done by an ad hoc volunteer organization. I'd guess that in a year or so you will hardly know anything happened, or at least, they will all the amenities they did before the tsunami.
I've been volunteering the past couple of days, clearing debris mostly, but also helping out making a memorial garden. There are about 100 volunteers here at any one time. It's kind of a good thing that this happened in such an idyllic spot. Volunteering here isn't much a hardship: you work in the morning, take a long lunch and have a swim or sit on the beach, work again in the afternoon then stuff your face on delicious thai food and drink all night. It's just like a normal vacation with a few hours of picking up rubble every day. And if you don't feel like volunteering you can go diving or climbing or relaxing or whatever.
Tuesday May 3, 2005 11:53 AM
Where I am
It occurs to me, thanks to Anne and Dad's post, that I've been saying where I am and where I'm going, but unless you know Thailand this doesn't really help explain where I am. Finding a map and linking it to the site sounds like too much work, so I'll just explain it:
Thailand has been described as being shaped like an elephant's head, facing west. It's trunk is formed by peninsula running south between the Adaman Sea (west/Indian ocean side) and the Gulf of Thailand (east/pacific side). I started in Bangkok, which is in the elephant's mouth. Then I went to Kanchanaburi, which is just above where the trunk meets the head. Then back to Bangkok and on to Chiang Mai, which is about half way up the forehead, and then to Chiang Rai which is right at the top of the head.
From Chiang Rai I went way south, through Bangkok to Ko Tao (Ko means Island in Thai), which is an island about half way down the trunk, just of the east coast. That's where I am now. Next it's on to Krabi, which is close to the bottom of the elephant's trunk on the west coast, then to Ko Phi Phi which is a bit south west from there. Then back to Bangkok and onto Australia.
I've heard Australia described as one of those ink blots from a Rorschach test....
Thailand has been described as being shaped like an elephant's head, facing west. It's trunk is formed by peninsula running south between the Adaman Sea (west/Indian ocean side) and the Gulf of Thailand (east/pacific side). I started in Bangkok, which is in the elephant's mouth. Then I went to Kanchanaburi, which is just above where the trunk meets the head. Then back to Bangkok and on to Chiang Mai, which is about half way up the forehead, and then to Chiang Rai which is right at the top of the head.
From Chiang Rai I went way south, through Bangkok to Ko Tao (Ko means Island in Thai), which is an island about half way down the trunk, just of the east coast. That's where I am now. Next it's on to Krabi, which is close to the bottom of the elephant's trunk on the west coast, then to Ko Phi Phi which is a bit south west from there. Then back to Bangkok and onto Australia.
I've heard Australia described as one of those ink blots from a Rorschach test....
Sunday May 1, 2005 8:25 AM
Decisions, decisions
I'm in Ko Toa now, 'Thailand's diving mecca' as they say, doing my diving certification. I was having fun up north, so I spent a few extra days there, and my plan was to come here for 4 days and 3 nights and do the course (the minimum amount of time), go to Krabi, which is near Phuket, and hire a guide and do one day of rock climbing, and then go to Ko Phi Phi to do the volunteering I committed to doing.
Once I got here, I discovered that there are whale sharks just off the coast. I won't see them as part of my course, because I won't be certified to dive deeply enough, but I can do a one day extension and do supervised deep dive at the site where the whale sharks are. Apparently and average whale shark is 7m, and they grow up to 14m (they are harmless, they eat plankton). It seems like a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a big fish, but I also really want to climb. Krabi is supposed to be a world class climbing spot. Decisions, decisions.
What I might end up doing is doing the dive, and then spending and extra day in Krabi when I'm done volunteering, and fly back to Bangkok instead of taking the bus. The bus is cheaper, but was going to take a day.
So, I don't know what I'm going to do. I still have two more days of the scuba course, and the jury's still out about whether or not I like it. So far, I've only done shallow water stuff, with a lot of skills training and not much scenery. This stuff is like taking your mask off and swimming around, or turning off your tank to simulate running out of air. Useful, but not much fun. I expect tomorrow, when I actually do a real dive, that it'll be a lot more fun.
Once I got here, I discovered that there are whale sharks just off the coast. I won't see them as part of my course, because I won't be certified to dive deeply enough, but I can do a one day extension and do supervised deep dive at the site where the whale sharks are. Apparently and average whale shark is 7m, and they grow up to 14m (they are harmless, they eat plankton). It seems like a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a big fish, but I also really want to climb. Krabi is supposed to be a world class climbing spot. Decisions, decisions.
What I might end up doing is doing the dive, and then spending and extra day in Krabi when I'm done volunteering, and fly back to Bangkok instead of taking the bus. The bus is cheaper, but was going to take a day.
So, I don't know what I'm going to do. I still have two more days of the scuba course, and the jury's still out about whether or not I like it. So far, I've only done shallow water stuff, with a lot of skills training and not much scenery. This stuff is like taking your mask off and swimming around, or turning off your tank to simulate running out of air. Useful, but not much fun. I expect tomorrow, when I actually do a real dive, that it'll be a lot more fun.
Friday April 29, 2005 12:43 AM
Language
It may sound a bit stupid, but when I came to Thailand I was bit shocked at how little English people spoke. This was because when I was in Nepal, nearly everyone I dealt with spoke passable to very good English. In Nepal you only really talk to people who talk to tourists frequently. The only people I met that didn't speak English were our porters (and they were porters and not guides because they didn't speak English) and the wife of one of my guides with whom we had dinner one night.
In Thailand it's very easy to get around speaking no Thai, but I do often deal with people who speak no English. In those cases I usually just point or shake my head and I can get the idea across. Typically these people are vendors, selling me food or taxi/tuk-tuk rides.
I have taught myself a little Thai that is making things much easier. I can now say 'how much?', 'too expensive' and can count to 99. It's incredible how far this is taking me. It really makes life easier when dealing with street vendors, and I think I have a little more credibility when haggling if I do it in Thai. Also, it's good fun.
In Thailand it's very easy to get around speaking no Thai, but I do often deal with people who speak no English. In those cases I usually just point or shake my head and I can get the idea across. Typically these people are vendors, selling me food or taxi/tuk-tuk rides.
I have taught myself a little Thai that is making things much easier. I can now say 'how much?', 'too expensive' and can count to 99. It's incredible how far this is taking me. It really makes life easier when dealing with street vendors, and I think I have a little more credibility when haggling if I do it in Thai. Also, it's good fun.
Friday April 29, 2005 12:20 AM
Nerd
I've noticed two things related to the sun here in Thailand that I'd like to bounce off the physicists and other miscellaneous nerds in the audience:
1) It seems that it gets dark very quickly here. I don't mean early, I mean it goes from bright sun to dark night very quickly. The theory is that because I'm closer to the equator my linear velocity is faster than at home because I'm farther from the centre of the earth, so the sun disappears more quickly. This makes sense at first blush, but then I realized that I have farther to travel too, so the faster speed shouldn't help. Does anybody have any ideas? Is the sun setting faster, or is it an illusion?
2) I've discussed this with many people, and although we spend a lot of time outside in the blazing sun, no one seems to get a tan or a sun burn. On further observation, it seems only shoulders and other body parts that are normally horizontal seem to tan or burn, and other parts (like faces, arms, legs, etc) don't seem to tan/burn at all. The theory this time is that because the sun is much more overhead than it is in North America or Europe (I've talked to a lot of Europeans about this) that any vertical surface actually absorbs very little UV radiation. Does that make sense?
1) It seems that it gets dark very quickly here. I don't mean early, I mean it goes from bright sun to dark night very quickly. The theory is that because I'm closer to the equator my linear velocity is faster than at home because I'm farther from the centre of the earth, so the sun disappears more quickly. This makes sense at first blush, but then I realized that I have farther to travel too, so the faster speed shouldn't help. Does anybody have any ideas? Is the sun setting faster, or is it an illusion?
2) I've discussed this with many people, and although we spend a lot of time outside in the blazing sun, no one seems to get a tan or a sun burn. On further observation, it seems only shoulders and other body parts that are normally horizontal seem to tan or burn, and other parts (like faces, arms, legs, etc) don't seem to tan/burn at all. The theory this time is that because the sun is much more overhead than it is in North America or Europe (I've talked to a lot of Europeans about this) that any vertical surface actually absorbs very little UV radiation. Does that make sense?
Tuesday April 26, 2005 2:41 AM
Setting the record straight
People seem to think that I'm not having a good time. I'd like to go on record to say that I'm having a really good time. I wasn't enamoured with Bangkok when I first got there, but other than that I really like Thailand (it could be a little cooler too, high 30's everyday is starting to get a little old). I'm meeting lots of interesting people, I've been out drinking and 'partying' the past 4 nights. Things are good.
The second day of the cooking course was much better than the first. Not because the course was better, but because I think the second day I got more into it and got more out of it. Other people said the same thing about enjoying it more as it went on. I wish I could have done another day, but I planned to do a rock climbing, trekking thing on the weekend. I spent Saturday and Sunday on a lake near Chiang Mai, with some nice limestone cliffs coming right out of the water. We did some climbing from a raft, jumped off the cliffs, floated around in an inner tube, and generally relaxed. It was pretty nice.
Yesterday I just relaxed in Chiang Mai and ran some errands. Today I'm in Chiang Rai, about 180km north of Chiang Mai. Tonight I'm going to a guest house out in the hills which over looks a valley of tea plantations and is within walking distance of some nice waterfalls and hot springs. It's supposed to be really nice. I'll spend two nights there, then head south the islands. It's going to be a bit of a marathon getting down there. I leave the guest house at 9am on Thursday, and get to Ko Tao at 9:30am on Saturday, after a mini-bus, a bus, two overnight trains, 12 hours in Bangkok and a boat. Not looking forward to it.
So, if you were worried I'm not enjoying myself, don't. I think I've enjoyed everyday in Thailand more than the last.
The second day of the cooking course was much better than the first. Not because the course was better, but because I think the second day I got more into it and got more out of it. Other people said the same thing about enjoying it more as it went on. I wish I could have done another day, but I planned to do a rock climbing, trekking thing on the weekend. I spent Saturday and Sunday on a lake near Chiang Mai, with some nice limestone cliffs coming right out of the water. We did some climbing from a raft, jumped off the cliffs, floated around in an inner tube, and generally relaxed. It was pretty nice.
Yesterday I just relaxed in Chiang Mai and ran some errands. Today I'm in Chiang Rai, about 180km north of Chiang Mai. Tonight I'm going to a guest house out in the hills which over looks a valley of tea plantations and is within walking distance of some nice waterfalls and hot springs. It's supposed to be really nice. I'll spend two nights there, then head south the islands. It's going to be a bit of a marathon getting down there. I leave the guest house at 9am on Thursday, and get to Ko Tao at 9:30am on Saturday, after a mini-bus, a bus, two overnight trains, 12 hours in Bangkok and a boat. Not looking forward to it.
So, if you were worried I'm not enjoying myself, don't. I think I've enjoyed everyday in Thailand more than the last.
Monday April 25, 2005 3:07 AM
Do over
I just wrote a long entry but I lost it, and I'm too lazy to write it again, so here are the highlights:
Things are good, I'm enjoying thailand, the food is good, it's hot, and I posted some pictures.
Don't you hate it when you write a long email or something and you lose it?
Things are good, I'm enjoying thailand, the food is good, it's hot, and I posted some pictures.
Don't you hate it when you write a long email or something and you lose it?
Thursday April 21, 2005 6:25 AM
Itinerary
I arrived in Thailand 6 days ahead of schedule because I cut my trek short. At the time 30 days seemed like a long time, but I'm only 6 days in and I'm already realizing I won't have enough time to do everything I want to do. Here's the plan:
I spent 5 days in Bangkok, two of those were on the trip to Kanchanaburi.
Today it took a cooking class in Chiang Mai, and I'll do the same tomorrow (the class was pretty good. Not fantastic, but I made 6 dishes that were pretty good, ate them all so I won't have to eat again today and got a cookbook all for about C$28).
Saturday and Sunday I'm going on an overnight tour thing where I'll do some rock climbing, kayaking, relaxing, hanging out, etc.
Monday I'll spend in Chiang Mai, and the Monday evening I'll leave for Ko Tao, and island south of Bangkok on the Pacific side, about halfway down the peninsula. There I'll get scuba certified in 4 days.
Then I have 3 or 4 days to hang around Ko Tao, or go to Krabi (near Phuket) to do some more rock climbing, then I'm off to Ko Phi Phi, one of the islands hardest hit by the tsunami to do some volunteer work for a week.
I'll probably just end up doing grunt work, but I'm looking forward to volunteering for three reasons: 1) it seems like the 'right thing to do', 2) it will be nice just to stay somewhere for more than 2 or 3 days, 3) after almost 2 months of just fulfilling my own desires and doing nothing productive, it'll be nice to do something worthwhile and constructive.
Then I have a day or two to get back to Bangkok and I'm off to Australia. I kind of wanted to get to Siem Reap in Cambodia to see Angkor Wat, but it costs C$275 to fly their from Bangkok, and going overland seems like a big hassle, so it looks like I'll miss Angkor Wat.
That's me for the next 3 weeks.
I spent 5 days in Bangkok, two of those were on the trip to Kanchanaburi.
Today it took a cooking class in Chiang Mai, and I'll do the same tomorrow (the class was pretty good. Not fantastic, but I made 6 dishes that were pretty good, ate them all so I won't have to eat again today and got a cookbook all for about C$28).
Saturday and Sunday I'm going on an overnight tour thing where I'll do some rock climbing, kayaking, relaxing, hanging out, etc.
Monday I'll spend in Chiang Mai, and the Monday evening I'll leave for Ko Tao, and island south of Bangkok on the Pacific side, about halfway down the peninsula. There I'll get scuba certified in 4 days.
Then I have 3 or 4 days to hang around Ko Tao, or go to Krabi (near Phuket) to do some more rock climbing, then I'm off to Ko Phi Phi, one of the islands hardest hit by the tsunami to do some volunteer work for a week.
I'll probably just end up doing grunt work, but I'm looking forward to volunteering for three reasons: 1) it seems like the 'right thing to do', 2) it will be nice just to stay somewhere for more than 2 or 3 days, 3) after almost 2 months of just fulfilling my own desires and doing nothing productive, it'll be nice to do something worthwhile and constructive.
Then I have a day or two to get back to Bangkok and I'm off to Australia. I kind of wanted to get to Siem Reap in Cambodia to see Angkor Wat, but it costs C$275 to fly their from Bangkok, and going overland seems like a big hassle, so it looks like I'll miss Angkor Wat.
That's me for the next 3 weeks.
Tuesday April 19, 2005 7:07 AM
Relaxing
After my last post I got a few supportive emails saying that I shouldn't worry if I don't like a place, etc. I really appreciate that, but I never expected to like everything, especially right away, and I know that I'm going to get ripped off.
Something I've been thinking a lot about on this trip is the concept of relaxing. I'm not a good relaxer. I like to be doing something all the time, and know what I'm going to be doing tomorrow and the next day. While travelling, it's usually easy to fill up about 8 hours a day, but that leaves about 8 waking hours to fill. Travelling on my own makes this even harder, because I don't necessarily have anyone to talk to.
I knew this going in, and I've been consciously trying to get better at relaxing, and I think I am. The trip to Kanchanaburi was ok. We visited some world war II cemeteries and museums, went for a 20 minute trip down the River Kwai on a bamboo raft, rode an elephant, and then went to a waterfall that would have been spectacular in the rainy season, but didn't have enough water. Then most of the people returned to Bangkok, but a Czech guy and a guy from Hong Kong and I stayed around, and had dinner. Then we went to this floating house on the River Kwai where we were going to sleep, but it was only about 6pm. I think that naturally I'd feel kind of pent up and bored in this situation, but I spent a lot of days like this in Nepal, and I think I'm getting better at just chilling out. I swung in a hammock, read my book and watched the geckos on the ceiling eating bugs. I stayed up until about 9:30 then went to bed. It wasn't the time of my life, but it was pretty ok. Very relaxing.
I guess I know that there's going to be lots of time to kill, so I may as well try to enjoy where I am at the time (it was a really nice spot last night) and just enjoy it. Hopefully I'll meet up with more people in Chiang Mai, or later on, but when I'm on my own I'm getting better at just being.
Oh, today we went to Erawan National Park, where there is the '7 steps' waterfall. It's a river that flows down a hill, with 7 big waterfalls with pools at the bottom. We got there early before the crowds, and had the place to ourselves. It was really nice, we walked through the jungle, and swam in crystal clear pools below waterfalls.
I'm back in Bangkok now, for about 24 hours, and I go to Chiang Mai tomorrow night.
Something I've been thinking a lot about on this trip is the concept of relaxing. I'm not a good relaxer. I like to be doing something all the time, and know what I'm going to be doing tomorrow and the next day. While travelling, it's usually easy to fill up about 8 hours a day, but that leaves about 8 waking hours to fill. Travelling on my own makes this even harder, because I don't necessarily have anyone to talk to.
I knew this going in, and I've been consciously trying to get better at relaxing, and I think I am. The trip to Kanchanaburi was ok. We visited some world war II cemeteries and museums, went for a 20 minute trip down the River Kwai on a bamboo raft, rode an elephant, and then went to a waterfall that would have been spectacular in the rainy season, but didn't have enough water. Then most of the people returned to Bangkok, but a Czech guy and a guy from Hong Kong and I stayed around, and had dinner. Then we went to this floating house on the River Kwai where we were going to sleep, but it was only about 6pm. I think that naturally I'd feel kind of pent up and bored in this situation, but I spent a lot of days like this in Nepal, and I think I'm getting better at just chilling out. I swung in a hammock, read my book and watched the geckos on the ceiling eating bugs. I stayed up until about 9:30 then went to bed. It wasn't the time of my life, but it was pretty ok. Very relaxing.
I guess I know that there's going to be lots of time to kill, so I may as well try to enjoy where I am at the time (it was a really nice spot last night) and just enjoy it. Hopefully I'll meet up with more people in Chiang Mai, or later on, but when I'm on my own I'm getting better at just being.
Oh, today we went to Erawan National Park, where there is the '7 steps' waterfall. It's a river that flows down a hill, with 7 big waterfalls with pools at the bottom. We got there early before the crowds, and had the place to ourselves. It was really nice, we walked through the jungle, and swam in crystal clear pools below waterfalls.
I'm back in Bangkok now, for about 24 hours, and I go to Chiang Mai tomorrow night.
Sunday April 17, 2005 10:27 AM
Pad Thai
So, I'm in Bangkok. I can't say I'm crazy about the place, at least not yet. I think whenever I get to a new place I tend to see the bad, and it takes time for me to see the good.
I feel like everyone in Bangkok is trying to rip me off. When ever I get into a taxi or tuk-tuk they quote me a ridiculous rate (and most taxis won't put on the meter even if I ask). I've had to get out of two or three cabs before I went anywhere to get a good rate. Anytime I pull out my map or Lonely Planet a 'helpful' stranger will offer to give me directions to a hidden or special temple that's open today only. They'll offer to talk to a tuk-tuk driver to take me to these temples, but I'll end up a clothing or jewelery store. I read about this in the Lonely Planet, but actually fell for it once. I was taken to a jewelery store, and ended up having to get another taxi back to my hotel. Since then I'm wiser, but it's ridiculous: if I pull out my map within 10 seconds someone will approach me and offer something, and they aren't being helpful.
Tomorrow I'm going to go to Kanchanuburi, for a two day tour to see the bridge over the river kwai, some WWII museums, and then some national parks with jungle and waterfalls. I think the tour operator is somewhat legitimate, but I'm feeling a bit jaded so we'll see. After that I'm back in Bangkok for about 24 hours, then I catch an overnight train to Chiang Mai, where I'll take some cooking courses and maybe some jungle trekking. But that won't be until Wednesday.
Oh, I should recount my crazy first night in Bangkok. When I arrived I arranged a cab from the airport to Khao San Rd., which is the big backpackers area. When we were within about 2km of Khao San Rd. we started driving through a street party, with people all over the place with water guns, and buckets of water in the back of pickup trucks, and fire hoses, all soaking each other. Also, they were rubbing some kind of fine mud all over each other.
When we got within 1km of Khao San Rd. the road was closed, and I had to get out. So I walked down the street, with my big backpack on my back and my day pack on my front, through this massive street party with people soaking each other. As I got close to Khao San Rd. people completely filled the streets. So I was wading through people, with my big packs, when people started shooting me with water guns, pouring buckets of water down my back, and wiping the mud all over my face. When I got to Khao San Rd. I was making almost no progress, and it was clear it would be futile to try to get to the guest house I wanted to get to, so I just ducked into the nearest place that rented rooms. Ironically, it was called the 'Namaste Guest House' (ironic because I had just come from Nepal, home of a million Namaste hotels, lodges, restaurants, etc). The place was a hole, I have no idea how they stay in business without street parties driving people inside.
I dropped off my stuff and went back out, and danced in the street with everyone else. It was the last day of the week long new year's celebration. I got drenched, covered in mud, and generally had a good time. There was tons of cheap street food. The first thing I ate in Thailand was some pad thai from a street vendor, which was better than Nepal, where the first thing I ate was a chicken quesadilla.
I feel like everyone in Bangkok is trying to rip me off. When ever I get into a taxi or tuk-tuk they quote me a ridiculous rate (and most taxis won't put on the meter even if I ask). I've had to get out of two or three cabs before I went anywhere to get a good rate. Anytime I pull out my map or Lonely Planet a 'helpful' stranger will offer to give me directions to a hidden or special temple that's open today only. They'll offer to talk to a tuk-tuk driver to take me to these temples, but I'll end up a clothing or jewelery store. I read about this in the Lonely Planet, but actually fell for it once. I was taken to a jewelery store, and ended up having to get another taxi back to my hotel. Since then I'm wiser, but it's ridiculous: if I pull out my map within 10 seconds someone will approach me and offer something, and they aren't being helpful.
Tomorrow I'm going to go to Kanchanuburi, for a two day tour to see the bridge over the river kwai, some WWII museums, and then some national parks with jungle and waterfalls. I think the tour operator is somewhat legitimate, but I'm feeling a bit jaded so we'll see. After that I'm back in Bangkok for about 24 hours, then I catch an overnight train to Chiang Mai, where I'll take some cooking courses and maybe some jungle trekking. But that won't be until Wednesday.
Oh, I should recount my crazy first night in Bangkok. When I arrived I arranged a cab from the airport to Khao San Rd., which is the big backpackers area. When we were within about 2km of Khao San Rd. we started driving through a street party, with people all over the place with water guns, and buckets of water in the back of pickup trucks, and fire hoses, all soaking each other. Also, they were rubbing some kind of fine mud all over each other.
When we got within 1km of Khao San Rd. the road was closed, and I had to get out. So I walked down the street, with my big backpack on my back and my day pack on my front, through this massive street party with people soaking each other. As I got close to Khao San Rd. people completely filled the streets. So I was wading through people, with my big packs, when people started shooting me with water guns, pouring buckets of water down my back, and wiping the mud all over my face. When I got to Khao San Rd. I was making almost no progress, and it was clear it would be futile to try to get to the guest house I wanted to get to, so I just ducked into the nearest place that rented rooms. Ironically, it was called the 'Namaste Guest House' (ironic because I had just come from Nepal, home of a million Namaste hotels, lodges, restaurants, etc). The place was a hole, I have no idea how they stay in business without street parties driving people inside.
I dropped off my stuff and went back out, and danced in the street with everyone else. It was the last day of the week long new year's celebration. I got drenched, covered in mud, and generally had a good time. There was tons of cheap street food. The first thing I ate in Thailand was some pad thai from a street vendor, which was better than Nepal, where the first thing I ate was a chicken quesadilla.
Thursday April 14, 2005 5:41 AM
Taking the pointy end
Since I got back from the trek, I've been taking things pretty easy. I spent a few days doing almost nothing, trying to feel better, which I think was a great plan, because I've been feeling much better the past couple of days.
One of the guides from our trek took me climbing on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday we went to an artificial wall, which was actually outside under a big awning. On Tuesday we went outside, to a park on the edge of Kathmandu. Here's a shot of me leading a 5.9:
Climbing in hiking boots is not recommended. Yesterday I just hung out a bit and didn't do too much. Today the couple I was with on the trek and I went to a nearby town called Bhaktapur, and did a bit of sight seeing. Bhaktapur is a very old city, with lots of temples and small streets. Today is the Nepali New Years Day (Happy 2062!) so there were lots of people there celebrating and praying at the temples, etc. It was quite nice.
Tomorrow I'm leaving for Bangkok, 6 days ahead of schedule.
One of the guides from our trek took me climbing on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday we went to an artificial wall, which was actually outside under a big awning. On Tuesday we went outside, to a park on the edge of Kathmandu. Here's a shot of me leading a 5.9:
Climbing in hiking boots is not recommended. Yesterday I just hung out a bit and didn't do too much. Today the couple I was with on the trek and I went to a nearby town called Bhaktapur, and did a bit of sight seeing. Bhaktapur is a very old city, with lots of temples and small streets. Today is the Nepali New Years Day (Happy 2062!) so there were lots of people there celebrating and praying at the temples, etc. It was quite nice.
Tomorrow I'm leaving for Bangkok, 6 days ahead of schedule.
Thursday April 14, 2005 5:35 AM
People
One of the most unexpectedly interesting parts of the trek was seeing the Nepali people working on the trails. The local ethnic group in Khumbu are the Sherpas, but because there is lots of work from tourism lots of people come from all over Nepal to work there. So I met a lot of sherpas, and many other ethnicities too.
The main employment for people seemed to be as porters: carrying cargo for trekkers, for Everest expeditions, or to restock the many lodges in the area. A lot of the carrying of cargo was done by yaks, or jopkyos (yak/cattle crossbreeds), but there where still many porters.
The amount the porters carried was amazing. Our tour company limited each porter to 30 kg, but I think they carried more. Some, though, carried massive loads. I saw one guy (going up a particularly big hill) carrying 5 20 litre containers of kerosene. They weren't full, but he was carrying at least 75 kg. Other porters would have a load extend 5 or 6 feet above their heads.
All of this was carried in a 'doko', a big basket with a rope wrapped around it that they balance on their foreheads. They didn't use shoulder straps, all the weight was on their foreheads.
There were signs indicating that we should 'try to stop child labour', but there were many young kids carrying huge loads. On the way down we came upon a kid, probably 12 years old, with his doko on ground, sprawled out on some rocks looking terrible. I don't know if he had altitude sickness, or if he was just malnourished, or what, but he was in a bad state. Our guides (who at one point were porters themselves) weren't too concerned, saying that at the top of the hill (400m up) his friends would be waiting for him. We gave him some water and food, and he seemed happier when we left. This seemed like a normal situation to our guides.
As I've said before, there were 3 Canadians on our trek. For the 3 clients, the company arranged 2 guides, a cook, three kitchen boys and 5 porters. One of our porters looked about 12 years old, though the guides swear he was 17 (Nepalis do look younger than they are, but I swear he was no more than 14). When we got to Dingboche the youngest porter got pretty sick, he was vomiting and very weak. Our guides totally hid this from us, pretending like everything was fine.
It was very strange how we were treated. I've never had a servant, but that's the relationship we had with the kitchen boys and our porters. Bed, Dil and Mehendra served us food everyday. Along with Indra, our cook, they prepared the most amazing food on single kerosene stoves. There was always protein (beans, or maybe canned fish or chicken), two or three kinds of cooked vegetables, and one or two kinds of starch (rice, potatoes, chipatis, etc). They even cooked cakes and pies for dessert. The food was pretty incredible, given the conditions it was prepared under. When it was served to us, we weren't allowed to do anything but sit there. If the kettle was on the other side of the room, and we moved to go get it, they would run over and pick it up and bring it to us. They wouldn't even look us in the eye, and were incredibly gracious, to the point of sycophancy. It was really quite a strange relationship, not one that I was entirely comfortable with, but after a while I got used to. Our guides were more our equals, though they wouldn't eat with us even when we asked them too.
Really, the people in the Khumbu showed me how truly, amazingly easy we have things. Everything there is done by hand. Everything that is eaten was probably carried for several days. Buildings are constructed by digging and clearing foundations (including splitting and moving boulders in the ground) by hand. All the stones for each house was cut by hand using a hammer and chisel. Everything was done by manual labour, there was no machinery, and almost no electricity. Really, the people there were incredible.
The main employment for people seemed to be as porters: carrying cargo for trekkers, for Everest expeditions, or to restock the many lodges in the area. A lot of the carrying of cargo was done by yaks, or jopkyos (yak/cattle crossbreeds), but there where still many porters.
The amount the porters carried was amazing. Our tour company limited each porter to 30 kg, but I think they carried more. Some, though, carried massive loads. I saw one guy (going up a particularly big hill) carrying 5 20 litre containers of kerosene. They weren't full, but he was carrying at least 75 kg. Other porters would have a load extend 5 or 6 feet above their heads.
All of this was carried in a 'doko', a big basket with a rope wrapped around it that they balance on their foreheads. They didn't use shoulder straps, all the weight was on their foreheads.
There were signs indicating that we should 'try to stop child labour', but there were many young kids carrying huge loads. On the way down we came upon a kid, probably 12 years old, with his doko on ground, sprawled out on some rocks looking terrible. I don't know if he had altitude sickness, or if he was just malnourished, or what, but he was in a bad state. Our guides (who at one point were porters themselves) weren't too concerned, saying that at the top of the hill (400m up) his friends would be waiting for him. We gave him some water and food, and he seemed happier when we left. This seemed like a normal situation to our guides.
As I've said before, there were 3 Canadians on our trek. For the 3 clients, the company arranged 2 guides, a cook, three kitchen boys and 5 porters. One of our porters looked about 12 years old, though the guides swear he was 17 (Nepalis do look younger than they are, but I swear he was no more than 14). When we got to Dingboche the youngest porter got pretty sick, he was vomiting and very weak. Our guides totally hid this from us, pretending like everything was fine.
It was very strange how we were treated. I've never had a servant, but that's the relationship we had with the kitchen boys and our porters. Bed, Dil and Mehendra served us food everyday. Along with Indra, our cook, they prepared the most amazing food on single kerosene stoves. There was always protein (beans, or maybe canned fish or chicken), two or three kinds of cooked vegetables, and one or two kinds of starch (rice, potatoes, chipatis, etc). They even cooked cakes and pies for dessert. The food was pretty incredible, given the conditions it was prepared under. When it was served to us, we weren't allowed to do anything but sit there. If the kettle was on the other side of the room, and we moved to go get it, they would run over and pick it up and bring it to us. They wouldn't even look us in the eye, and were incredibly gracious, to the point of sycophancy. It was really quite a strange relationship, not one that I was entirely comfortable with, but after a while I got used to. Our guides were more our equals, though they wouldn't eat with us even when we asked them too.
Really, the people in the Khumbu showed me how truly, amazingly easy we have things. Everything there is done by hand. Everything that is eaten was probably carried for several days. Buildings are constructed by digging and clearing foundations (including splitting and moving boulders in the ground) by hand. All the stones for each house was cut by hand using a hammer and chisel. Everything was done by manual labour, there was no machinery, and almost no electricity. Really, the people there were incredible.
Wednesday April 13, 2005 1:41 AM
Nepali Security
Before I left I spent a lot of time wondering in coming to Nepal would be safe, given the escalating Maoist insurgency. I'm very glad I came, because I have been completly safe the whole time, but some recent events have been interesting.
Kathmandu and Khumbu (the Everest region) are both totally safe and secure. However most of the rest of the country are under Maoist control. The road to Jirii, for intstance, goes through several districts that are controlled by Maoists.
Until recently no white tourists have been injured in the civil war (I think some Indian tourists may have been though). From April 2 to 12 there was a natiionwide blockade imposed by the Maoists, meaning that people in Maoist controlled areas weren't allowed to work or drive. On Sunday a bus containing some Russian tourists was attacked with grenades and the tourists were injured: the first time whites were injured in the civil war.
I've been talking to the guy who runs my tour company here, who knows people in the British and American embassies, and to my guide from my trek who has lots of friends and contacts, and apparently what happened was that a tour company was driving the road to Jirii with trekkers in opposition of the Maoist blockade, figuring the Maoists wouldn't target them. The Maoists let the first bus go through, but said that none others should be sent during the blockade. When a second bus was sent it was attacked.
This is going to cripple the already devastated Nepali tourist industry. It's too bad, because the people here are so poor and need the business, but it looks like things have just taken a turn for the worst.
As I said, the blockade had no effect on me. The only thing it stopped me from doing was going white water rafting. I wanted to go rafting at a place about 3 hours outside of Kathmandu. The first scheduled course was to start early on the 13th (the day after the blockade), leaving Kathmandu at 6am. Given that the Maoists may have mined the roads, I thought it prudent to not be on the first bus to drive the roads after the blockade. So I'm not going rafting.
I changed my ticket, so I'm leaving on Friday. I don't feel at all unsafe, but it will be nice to get to a country where I don't have to worry about being attacked with grenades or land mines.
Kathmandu and Khumbu (the Everest region) are both totally safe and secure. However most of the rest of the country are under Maoist control. The road to Jirii, for intstance, goes through several districts that are controlled by Maoists.
Until recently no white tourists have been injured in the civil war (I think some Indian tourists may have been though). From April 2 to 12 there was a natiionwide blockade imposed by the Maoists, meaning that people in Maoist controlled areas weren't allowed to work or drive. On Sunday a bus containing some Russian tourists was attacked with grenades and the tourists were injured: the first time whites were injured in the civil war.
I've been talking to the guy who runs my tour company here, who knows people in the British and American embassies, and to my guide from my trek who has lots of friends and contacts, and apparently what happened was that a tour company was driving the road to Jirii with trekkers in opposition of the Maoist blockade, figuring the Maoists wouldn't target them. The Maoists let the first bus go through, but said that none others should be sent during the blockade. When a second bus was sent it was attacked.
This is going to cripple the already devastated Nepali tourist industry. It's too bad, because the people here are so poor and need the business, but it looks like things have just taken a turn for the worst.
As I said, the blockade had no effect on me. The only thing it stopped me from doing was going white water rafting. I wanted to go rafting at a place about 3 hours outside of Kathmandu. The first scheduled course was to start early on the 13th (the day after the blockade), leaving Kathmandu at 6am. Given that the Maoists may have mined the roads, I thought it prudent to not be on the first bus to drive the roads after the blockade. So I'm not going rafting.
I changed my ticket, so I'm leaving on Friday. I don't feel at all unsafe, but it will be nice to get to a country where I don't have to worry about being attacked with grenades or land mines.
Wednesday April 13, 2005 1:22 AM
Trek Summary
I've had a few days to reflect on the trek. Here're some of my thoughts on the actual specifics of the trek. I want to talk about the people I met too, but I'll do that in a subsequent post.
There are two ways to get to Everest Base Camp: either you drive to a town called Jirii, or you fly to a town called Lukla. Jirii is the end of the road, but it's a 7 day walk from Lukla. The flight to Lukla is only about 40 minutes, so we went that route. You can't fly much past Lukla because it's too high, your body couldn't handle being dropped into that without acclimatization.
The first day was a leisurely stroll downhill. Because tourism is so down in Nepal right now there were only three of us in my group: myself and a couple from Toronto named Daniel and Solange. Dan and Solange turned out to be very nice. Something I didn't count on was the enormous amount of free time we would get every day after we stopped trekking. We arrived at the first town we were going to stop in at about 1:30pm (you have to fly very early in the morning when the winds are light, so you get in early). They served us tea at 4pm and dinner at 6:45 every night, but other than that we had nothing to do. After about 4pm the sun would go behind a mountain and it would start to get cold.
I think that in a normal large group we would spend all of our time outside, but because we were a small enough of a group we were always allowed to sit inside a lodge in the evening (we'd rent camping space and a little cooking shed from lodges for a small fee). Most lodges had a wood stove and lights, so we could stay warm and read, but that's all there was to do for about 6 hours/day. The first day this came as a bit of a shock, but after a few days I got used to just sitting and doing nothing, and I kind of liked it.
While we were trekking it was always very enjoyable. When you are trekking at altitude you have to go very slowly, so on the uphills we were maybe doing 2km/hour, with lots of breaks, but that just gave us a chance to enjoy the scenery. Also, days tended to be very short. We never trekked for more than 6 hours, plus one hour for lunch, and some days it was more like 3 hours. This is because you can't gain more than 300-400m/day, or if you do, you have to stop an extra day there to acclimatize.
Day 2 was a big uphill to the town of Namche Bazar, which was the only real town we saw. You could get satelite internet there, and there was tons of counterfeit North Face gear for sale at bargain prices. We were scheduled to spend 2 nights in Namche, because we gained too much altitude for one day getting there (we did 800m getting to Namche) so we spent two nights there acclimatizing. On the second morning Daniel and Solange were both sick, so we decided to stay another night to see if they felt better. They did, so we continued to the town of Tengboche. By this time I was really starting to enjoy myself. Once leaving Namche you round a corner and can see Everest and Lhotse (see the picture below) for the entire time. It snowed quite heavily on the way into Tengboche, but by 4pm the clouds broke and the sun came out and the mist and snow on the mountains was breathtaking.
The next morning I got sick, but we kept going up to the town of Dingboche. We were scheduled to spend another acclimiatization day in Dingboche too, so I sat there for a day feeling like crap. On the day were supposed to go up Daniel and Solange decided they weren't feeling well enough and I don't think were fully enjoying the trek, so they decided to turn around. The original plan was for us to go up for 4 more days, go to base camp and return to Dingboche, where I'd met another client and she and I would climb a mountain, and Daniel and Solange would take one of our two guides and go down. So I know had to decide if I wanted go with their guide down immediately, or wait 9 days for my guide to finish the climb with the other client. As I've alreay said, I went down.
The hike down was pretty excrutiating. My stomach was just in knots, and walking, even mostly downhill, for 6 hours a day sucked. Solange really wanted to get out quickly, so we turned a 4 day walk out into 3. The last day was really long, and it just sucked. I was in constant pain, and it was mostly uphill. But it's probably for the best, because I got to a doctor a day earlier, and I got cleared up a day earlier.
The antibiotics the doctor in Kathmandu gave me seem have done the trick. I'm feeling great, eating a ton and am generally happy.
There are two ways to get to Everest Base Camp: either you drive to a town called Jirii, or you fly to a town called Lukla. Jirii is the end of the road, but it's a 7 day walk from Lukla. The flight to Lukla is only about 40 minutes, so we went that route. You can't fly much past Lukla because it's too high, your body couldn't handle being dropped into that without acclimatization.
The first day was a leisurely stroll downhill. Because tourism is so down in Nepal right now there were only three of us in my group: myself and a couple from Toronto named Daniel and Solange. Dan and Solange turned out to be very nice. Something I didn't count on was the enormous amount of free time we would get every day after we stopped trekking. We arrived at the first town we were going to stop in at about 1:30pm (you have to fly very early in the morning when the winds are light, so you get in early). They served us tea at 4pm and dinner at 6:45 every night, but other than that we had nothing to do. After about 4pm the sun would go behind a mountain and it would start to get cold.
I think that in a normal large group we would spend all of our time outside, but because we were a small enough of a group we were always allowed to sit inside a lodge in the evening (we'd rent camping space and a little cooking shed from lodges for a small fee). Most lodges had a wood stove and lights, so we could stay warm and read, but that's all there was to do for about 6 hours/day. The first day this came as a bit of a shock, but after a few days I got used to just sitting and doing nothing, and I kind of liked it.
While we were trekking it was always very enjoyable. When you are trekking at altitude you have to go very slowly, so on the uphills we were maybe doing 2km/hour, with lots of breaks, but that just gave us a chance to enjoy the scenery. Also, days tended to be very short. We never trekked for more than 6 hours, plus one hour for lunch, and some days it was more like 3 hours. This is because you can't gain more than 300-400m/day, or if you do, you have to stop an extra day there to acclimatize.
Day 2 was a big uphill to the town of Namche Bazar, which was the only real town we saw. You could get satelite internet there, and there was tons of counterfeit North Face gear for sale at bargain prices. We were scheduled to spend 2 nights in Namche, because we gained too much altitude for one day getting there (we did 800m getting to Namche) so we spent two nights there acclimatizing. On the second morning Daniel and Solange were both sick, so we decided to stay another night to see if they felt better. They did, so we continued to the town of Tengboche. By this time I was really starting to enjoy myself. Once leaving Namche you round a corner and can see Everest and Lhotse (see the picture below) for the entire time. It snowed quite heavily on the way into Tengboche, but by 4pm the clouds broke and the sun came out and the mist and snow on the mountains was breathtaking.
The next morning I got sick, but we kept going up to the town of Dingboche. We were scheduled to spend another acclimiatization day in Dingboche too, so I sat there for a day feeling like crap. On the day were supposed to go up Daniel and Solange decided they weren't feeling well enough and I don't think were fully enjoying the trek, so they decided to turn around. The original plan was for us to go up for 4 more days, go to base camp and return to Dingboche, where I'd met another client and she and I would climb a mountain, and Daniel and Solange would take one of our two guides and go down. So I know had to decide if I wanted go with their guide down immediately, or wait 9 days for my guide to finish the climb with the other client. As I've alreay said, I went down.
The hike down was pretty excrutiating. My stomach was just in knots, and walking, even mostly downhill, for 6 hours a day sucked. Solange really wanted to get out quickly, so we turned a 4 day walk out into 3. The last day was really long, and it just sucked. I was in constant pain, and it was mostly uphill. But it's probably for the best, because I got to a doctor a day earlier, and I got cleared up a day earlier.
The antibiotics the doctor in Kathmandu gave me seem have done the trick. I'm feeling great, eating a ton and am generally happy.
Sunday April 10, 2005 3:11 AM
First photos
I finally got the file uploading working. Here are some photos.
This one is Ama Dablam, a mountain that sits by itself and is really pretty stunning:
This is one of Everest (it's the bump mostly in the centre), with Nuptse in front of it (Nuptse is a long, wall like mountain in front of Everest) and Lhotse on the right:
I'll write more about this later...
This one is Ama Dablam, a mountain that sits by itself and is really pretty stunning:
This is one of Everest (it's the bump mostly in the centre), with Nuptse in front of it (Nuptse is a long, wall like mountain in front of Everest) and Lhotse on the right:
I'll write more about this later...
Saturday April 9, 2005 2:41 AM
Luke: 0, Khumbu: 1
Those of you paying attention will know that today is Apr. 9, not Apr. 18, but I'm sitting back in Kathmandu. My trek has ended a bit prematurely, 9 days prematurely. I got pretty sick and decided to turn around. I have lots of interesting things to say about they trek (well, interesting relative to most of the stuff on this blog), but I think I'll break it up over several posts. Today I'll just talk about why I turned around, and I'll save the rest for another time.
The trek started out with me freaking out a bit. I was still really jet lagged when we started and I think that had a big part in it. Also, the whole things was just a bit daunting and committing: 20 days sleeping in a tent, in the cold (0 degrees the first, lowest night, getting colder from there), eating weird food (more on the food in a subsequent post, it was really quite good, just different) and generally feeling alone.
After 2 or 3 days I finally got a good night's sleep and I was in much better spirits. I was in the most beautiful place I'd ever been, and all I had to go was walk around and a appreciate it. On day 5 I woke up feeling fantastic, in one of the most picturesque places I'd ever been: overshadowed by Ama Dablam (sometimes called the most beautiful mountain in the world) with Everst, Lhotse and Nuptse of in the distance. After about 30 minutes I started feeling lousy, by 10am I was vomitting, and by the afternoone I was vomitting with diarreah. This went on for two days, at which point we were about 3 days from Everet Base Camp. I was taking Cipro, but I think I got something resistant to Cipro. My itinerary was to go to EBC, then come back to where I was, and go up a different valley and climb a mountain. The people I was travelling with were supposed to go with me to EBC, then return the the town we were currently in, and take on of our guides a return to Kathmandu. They weren't feeling well, so they decided to turn around early.
So, I know had a decision to make. One of our two guides (and some of our support staff of cooks and porters) was going to turn around, but we were supposed to meet another client to climb the mountain, so the other guide wouldn't be going down for 9 days. I had to decide if I wanted to stay or go. I knew that Base Camp was out for me. I wasn't keeping fluids down, so I wasn't acclimatizing to the altitude I was at, so it would have been idiotic to try to ascend for a few days. I might still have been able to make the climb by resting a few days. I decided, though, that trying to force myself to go to 6189m when I hadn't been able to eat anything in days (it's day 6 since I got sick and I've still barely eaten anything) was foolish. I think it was the right decision. I sat around watching TV all morning resting up, and I finally feel somewhat better, but I'm still super weak and I know I'm not up for doing the most strenuous excercise of my life. So it was probably the right decision. On the plus side, I got a letter from a doctor saying I was physically incapable of doing the climb, so I should get some money back from insurance.
I'm going to see another doctor today in Kathmandu, but I think the worst is behind me. Apparently they have the best hospital of diarreha in the world in Kathmandu, so if any bugs are lingering they should be able to find them.
The trek started out with me freaking out a bit. I was still really jet lagged when we started and I think that had a big part in it. Also, the whole things was just a bit daunting and committing: 20 days sleeping in a tent, in the cold (0 degrees the first, lowest night, getting colder from there), eating weird food (more on the food in a subsequent post, it was really quite good, just different) and generally feeling alone.
After 2 or 3 days I finally got a good night's sleep and I was in much better spirits. I was in the most beautiful place I'd ever been, and all I had to go was walk around and a appreciate it. On day 5 I woke up feeling fantastic, in one of the most picturesque places I'd ever been: overshadowed by Ama Dablam (sometimes called the most beautiful mountain in the world) with Everst, Lhotse and Nuptse of in the distance. After about 30 minutes I started feeling lousy, by 10am I was vomitting, and by the afternoone I was vomitting with diarreah. This went on for two days, at which point we were about 3 days from Everet Base Camp. I was taking Cipro, but I think I got something resistant to Cipro. My itinerary was to go to EBC, then come back to where I was, and go up a different valley and climb a mountain. The people I was travelling with were supposed to go with me to EBC, then return the the town we were currently in, and take on of our guides a return to Kathmandu. They weren't feeling well, so they decided to turn around early.
So, I know had a decision to make. One of our two guides (and some of our support staff of cooks and porters) was going to turn around, but we were supposed to meet another client to climb the mountain, so the other guide wouldn't be going down for 9 days. I had to decide if I wanted to stay or go. I knew that Base Camp was out for me. I wasn't keeping fluids down, so I wasn't acclimatizing to the altitude I was at, so it would have been idiotic to try to ascend for a few days. I might still have been able to make the climb by resting a few days. I decided, though, that trying to force myself to go to 6189m when I hadn't been able to eat anything in days (it's day 6 since I got sick and I've still barely eaten anything) was foolish. I think it was the right decision. I sat around watching TV all morning resting up, and I finally feel somewhat better, but I'm still super weak and I know I'm not up for doing the most strenuous excercise of my life. So it was probably the right decision. On the plus side, I got a letter from a doctor saying I was physically incapable of doing the climb, so I should get some money back from insurance.
I'm going to see another doctor today in Kathmandu, but I think the worst is behind me. Apparently they have the best hospital of diarreha in the world in Kathmandu, so if any bugs are lingering they should be able to find them.
Monday March 28, 2005 11:07 PM
Strange bewildering time
Now I know what Cat Stevens was talking about. Jet lag sucks. I was up at 2am this morning, after a forcing myself to stay up till 10pm when I wanted to go to bed at 5. Hopefully today will be better.
It's now Tuesday morning. I got in Sunday afternoon and spent some of that day getting to know my fellow trekkers, and some of the time just chilling out from the long flight. Yesterday we went on a sight seeing trip around Kathmandu valley. I want to upload some photos, but I'm having technical problem with the file upload thing. Hopefully I'll get it working soon, but i think the problem is that the connection is just too slow and it times out, so I may have problems uploading photos.
We saw some nice temples. Nepal is a Hindu country, but there are lots of Buddist monuments too. Often they are right next to each other, on the same grounds. There's a bit of mingling between the two religions it seems. We also went to a Tibetan refugee camp, where they make traditional Tibetan rugs by hand. That was kind of cool too. Kathmandu is by far the poorest place I've ever been. The poverty is incredible. That said, the people are great. Except for a few pushy street vendors the people are very friendly (even the street vendors aren't too bad). I feel completely safe, there is no danger from pickpockets or other street crime, you can walk around at night with no problem. I'm happy to say that my understanding of the Maoist situation was confirmed by people who know what they are talking about: parts or Nepal are very dangerous, but Kathmandu, and Khumbu above Lukla, where I'll be going, are both completely safe.
Today we are going to get our gear sorted for the trek, and get a full briefing on what the trek will entail. Tomorrow morning we fly to Lukla, which is a 45 minute flight is a 16 seater plane, on Yeti Airlines. Then start trekking. It's going to be hard I think, hiking 8 hours a day for 20 days, but I'm really looking forward to it.
I'll be online again today probably, but not again until Apr. 18 at the earliest. Wish me luck.
Namaste.
It's now Tuesday morning. I got in Sunday afternoon and spent some of that day getting to know my fellow trekkers, and some of the time just chilling out from the long flight. Yesterday we went on a sight seeing trip around Kathmandu valley. I want to upload some photos, but I'm having technical problem with the file upload thing. Hopefully I'll get it working soon, but i think the problem is that the connection is just too slow and it times out, so I may have problems uploading photos.
We saw some nice temples. Nepal is a Hindu country, but there are lots of Buddist monuments too. Often they are right next to each other, on the same grounds. There's a bit of mingling between the two religions it seems. We also went to a Tibetan refugee camp, where they make traditional Tibetan rugs by hand. That was kind of cool too. Kathmandu is by far the poorest place I've ever been. The poverty is incredible. That said, the people are great. Except for a few pushy street vendors the people are very friendly (even the street vendors aren't too bad). I feel completely safe, there is no danger from pickpockets or other street crime, you can walk around at night with no problem. I'm happy to say that my understanding of the Maoist situation was confirmed by people who know what they are talking about: parts or Nepal are very dangerous, but Kathmandu, and Khumbu above Lukla, where I'll be going, are both completely safe.
Today we are going to get our gear sorted for the trek, and get a full briefing on what the trek will entail. Tomorrow morning we fly to Lukla, which is a 45 minute flight is a 16 seater plane, on Yeti Airlines. Then start trekking. It's going to be hard I think, hiking 8 hours a day for 20 days, but I'm really looking forward to it.
I'll be online again today probably, but not again until Apr. 18 at the earliest. Wish me luck.
Namaste.
Saturday March 26, 2005 2:26 PM
Luke: 1, Baggage Handlers: 0
I'm in the Bangkok airport with about 8 hours to kill, so I thought I'd relate the first victory of the trip.
When I checked in at the airport this morning, or yesterday morning, or whenever I started, the Air Canada guy said he could check my bag all the way through to Bangkok. My itinerary was Air Canada from Toronto to LA, then China Airlines from LA to Taipei, then Taipei to Bangkok and Thai Airways to K'du. When I checked in in LA the China Airlines dude said he could change my baggage tag to send my bag all the way through to Kathmandu. I said ok to this, thinking it would be nice to not have to worry about my bag, but then he didn't give me a new baggage claim receipt, even though I asked for one, but said it would be fine. When I got to Bangkok they said I didn't have to clear customs, and my bag would be fine, and I could just go straight to my gate. Anyway, I didn't feel good about the whole thing, so I cleared customs and what was waiting for me on the baggage carousel? My bag. So, a nice little moral victory for me to start the trip. I don't know that the moral is, but I'm sure it's a good one.
Now my bag is in storage here in the airport and I'm just killing time. I should be sleeping, but it's 2pm for me, and I'm a little too wired.
Oh, and 14 hour flights suck.
When I checked in at the airport this morning, or yesterday morning, or whenever I started, the Air Canada guy said he could check my bag all the way through to Bangkok. My itinerary was Air Canada from Toronto to LA, then China Airlines from LA to Taipei, then Taipei to Bangkok and Thai Airways to K'du. When I checked in in LA the China Airlines dude said he could change my baggage tag to send my bag all the way through to Kathmandu. I said ok to this, thinking it would be nice to not have to worry about my bag, but then he didn't give me a new baggage claim receipt, even though I asked for one, but said it would be fine. When I got to Bangkok they said I didn't have to clear customs, and my bag would be fine, and I could just go straight to my gate. Anyway, I didn't feel good about the whole thing, so I cleared customs and what was waiting for me on the baggage carousel? My bag. So, a nice little moral victory for me to start the trip. I don't know that the moral is, but I'm sure it's a good one.
Now my bag is in storage here in the airport and I'm just killing time. I should be sleeping, but it's 2pm for me, and I'm a little too wired.
Oh, and 14 hour flights suck.
Thursday March 24, 2005 3:02 PM
Summary
For those of you just tuning into my blog, here's a bit of a recap of what you've missed over the last few months:
I'm going to leaving tomorrow for 3 months. My itinerary is:
Mar. 25 2005 - Leave Toronto
Mar. 27 - Arrive Kathmandu
Mar. 29/30 - Leave Kathmandu for the mountains
Apr. 18/19 - Return to Kathmandu
Apr. 22 - Bangkok
May 15 - Sydney
June 5 - Auckland
June 16 - Nadi, Fiji
June 25 - Leave Nadi
June 26 - Return to Toronto
Something that's been worrying me a lot is the current political situation in Nepal. For the past nine years Maoists insurgents have been waging a civil war against the Nepali government. It's been getting steadily worse, with the 11 000 people killed in the last nine years, most of those in the last 5 years. Maoists now control 80% of the country by area, mainly because most of the country is very remote, and many of the poor people support the anti-government Maoists. On Feb. 1 of this year the King dissolved the government, put the parliament under house arrest and put curbs on freedom of speech.
Since then I've done a lot research, both about life in Nepal for the locals, and for trekkers and tourists. The bottom line is that life is terrible for the locals, but pretty good for the tourists. The government and Maoists are both committing terrible human rights abuses, but both treat the tourists well. The Maoists ask trekkers for a donation, usually of about CA$20, but in any account I've read it's always a peaceful and mostly amicable exchange. The Maoists even give receipts, so if you are asked again, you can prove you already paid.
So, I'm off. I'll update again when I have access, and something to say.
TTFN,
Luke
I'm going to leaving tomorrow for 3 months. My itinerary is:
Mar. 25 2005 - Leave Toronto
Mar. 27 - Arrive Kathmandu
Mar. 29/30 - Leave Kathmandu for the mountains
Apr. 18/19 - Return to Kathmandu
Apr. 22 - Bangkok
May 15 - Sydney
June 5 - Auckland
June 16 - Nadi, Fiji
June 25 - Leave Nadi
June 26 - Return to Toronto
Something that's been worrying me a lot is the current political situation in Nepal. For the past nine years Maoists insurgents have been waging a civil war against the Nepali government. It's been getting steadily worse, with the 11 000 people killed in the last nine years, most of those in the last 5 years. Maoists now control 80% of the country by area, mainly because most of the country is very remote, and many of the poor people support the anti-government Maoists. On Feb. 1 of this year the King dissolved the government, put the parliament under house arrest and put curbs on freedom of speech.
Since then I've done a lot research, both about life in Nepal for the locals, and for trekkers and tourists. The bottom line is that life is terrible for the locals, but pretty good for the tourists. The government and Maoists are both committing terrible human rights abuses, but both treat the tourists well. The Maoists ask trekkers for a donation, usually of about CA$20, but in any account I've read it's always a peaceful and mostly amicable exchange. The Maoists even give receipts, so if you are asked again, you can prove you already paid.
So, I'm off. I'll update again when I have access, and something to say.
TTFN,
Luke
Monday March 21, 2005 8:07 PM
Something I forgot
I knew I was going to forget something in the mass email I just sent out: If you'd like to receive an email whenever I update my website you can subsribe by clicking the 'Subscribe / Unsubscribe' link on the right.
Monday March 21, 2005 6:02 PM
Reassurance
I got in touch with Anil, a nepali guy who's a friend of a friend who I went climbing with last week. He said that he thinks that being in K'du and flying to Lukla and doing the Everest base camp trek should be totally safe. He is currently living in the states (going to Yale) but he's been in contact with his brother in Kathmandu recently.
So that's good. It makes me feel a lot better.
So that's good. It makes me feel a lot better.
Saturday March 19, 2005 3:46 PM
Freaking out a bit
I saw a doctor, had an x-ray and my toe isn't broken. It hurts, and is banged up, but it should heal promptly. My banged up knee is healing nicely too, so it should be ok for when I leave on Friday. I'm going to try to take it easy this week, but nothing too too bad has happened. Usually I'm not this much of a hypochondriac, but I think the fact that I'm leaving so soon is causing me to freak out a bit.
Saturday March 19, 2005 9:30 AM
Two word review...
On Thursday night we had our usual ultimate game. At one point I tripped running very fast and slid across the astroturf, removing all the skin from my left knee. It really sucks, but it will heal.
Later that night, at about 3am, my right big to started to throb. About 3 weeks ago I jammed it into the end of my shoe when playing ultimate, and it hurt for a day, and my nail went black, but then it felt fine. This was the same thing again, so I didn't think much of it. By late last night (Friday) my toe still hurt, was swollen, and I couldn't bend it. I think I must have partially broken it the first time, and fully broke it on Thursday.
This really sucks. I can walk on it, but walking faster than about 30% of my usual speed really hurts. And just wearing my hiking boots hurts.
I'm really upset. I've emailed the trekking company to see what they think. There's another trek starting on Apr. 24, I've asked if I could move to that one. We'll see what they say.
I'm moving in about 30 minutes, but after that I'm going to to to emergency and have this looked at.
Later that night, at about 3am, my right big to started to throb. About 3 weeks ago I jammed it into the end of my shoe when playing ultimate, and it hurt for a day, and my nail went black, but then it felt fine. This was the same thing again, so I didn't think much of it. By late last night (Friday) my toe still hurt, was swollen, and I couldn't bend it. I think I must have partially broken it the first time, and fully broke it on Thursday.
This really sucks. I can walk on it, but walking faster than about 30% of my usual speed really hurts. And just wearing my hiking boots hurts.
I'm really upset. I've emailed the trekking company to see what they think. There's another trek starting on Apr. 24, I've asked if I could move to that one. We'll see what they say.
I'm moving in about 30 minutes, but after that I'm going to to to emergency and have this looked at.
Wednesday March 16, 2005 11:05 PM
Various
I was climbing tonight with my friend Chris, and his friend Keith. Keith spent two years living in Nepal, and has a Nepali friend currently living in New York state, who he's going to put me in contact with to get some first hand info on the what's going on in Nepal, or at least in New York state. Also, he gave me some advice about how much to pay for cabs, and where to find a great steak in Kathmandu, which is kind of hard to do since it's the worlds only Hindu kingdom. Keith also gave me some advice on climbing in Thailand. I need a harness for one day in Nepal, but I thought I could just rent one. That kind of worried me, because I don't necessarily trust a third world harness rental, but I wouldn't be falling too hard on it.... but still. Anyway, if there's a good chance I'll be climbing in Thailand I'm going to bring my own harness.
I packed my pack (sans harness) and it weighs about 32 lbs. Really, it's pretty light and comfortable. That included absolutley everything I'm going to bring, so when I take out the close I'll be wearing, and a few things that'll go in my smaller pack, my big pack should be around 30 lbs, which I'm quite happy about.
Is anyone else hoping that my blog will be more interesting once I actually leave the country? I'm not sure anyone cares about my harness, or any of this other stuff.
Oh, Keith also told me how to pronounce 'namaste', which is the Nepali version of aloha. This is good, becasue I wasn't even close. (It's nah-MA-stay, not NAM-aste, if you're interested).
I packed my pack (sans harness) and it weighs about 32 lbs. Really, it's pretty light and comfortable. That included absolutley everything I'm going to bring, so when I take out the close I'll be wearing, and a few things that'll go in my smaller pack, my big pack should be around 30 lbs, which I'm quite happy about.
Is anyone else hoping that my blog will be more interesting once I actually leave the country? I'm not sure anyone cares about my harness, or any of this other stuff.
Oh, Keith also told me how to pronounce 'namaste', which is the Nepali version of aloha. This is good, becasue I wasn't even close. (It's nah-MA-stay, not NAM-aste, if you're interested).
Saturday March 12, 2005 4:29 PM
I've got some nice friends
Last night we had a little get together at my place, kind of a farewell party. Not only did a lot of people show up to wish me well, and they baked me a cake/brownies, but they bought me a rather expensive watch/altimeter/heart rate monitor/barometer/thermometer/wrist-top computer. You can check it out here. It tells you your altitude, and keeps track to total altitude gain and loss over a workout. It's got a remote sensor that you strap around your chest that measures heart rate, and transmits data back to the watch wirelessly.
Today I went for a run and did some stairs. Here are some stats:
Total time: 55:06.6
Avg. Heart Rate: 167 beats/min
Max. heart rate: 179 beats/min
Ascent: 416m
Descent: 422m
Pretty sweet, no? The total ascent and descent should be the same, but it's based on the air pressure so if the pressure changes the altitude reading changes a bit. The heart rate monitor is water proof so I can wear it in the pool. Man, I love gadgets. Also, I was looking for a non-descript digital watch for my trip. Even though this is pretty expensive it doesn't look too flashy.
Yeah, thanks very much to everybody who chipped in. Great gift.
Today I went for a run and did some stairs. Here are some stats:
Total time: 55:06.6
Avg. Heart Rate: 167 beats/min
Max. heart rate: 179 beats/min
Ascent: 416m
Descent: 422m
Pretty sweet, no? The total ascent and descent should be the same, but it's based on the air pressure so if the pressure changes the altitude reading changes a bit. The heart rate monitor is water proof so I can wear it in the pool. Man, I love gadgets. Also, I was looking for a non-descript digital watch for my trip. Even though this is pretty expensive it doesn't look too flashy.
Yeah, thanks very much to everybody who chipped in. Great gift.
Thursday March 10, 2005 11:30 PM
That's a lot of kilometers
There's a site that shows you the path an airplane will take between two airports, the distances, etc. I plugged in the stops for my trip and it came up with this. I'm going to cover 50714 km in the air. Unfortunately, only the Toronot-LA portion gives me points.
Wednesday March 9, 2005 10:58 PM
Sleeping bags
MEC let me down. The sleeping bag I ordered that was on back order but was supposed to come in on Feb. 25 won't be here before April. So that one is out. Instead, I bought this one. I think it's way better. It is 900 fill-power down: the highest warmth to weight ratio. It weighs 600g, is rated down to -1°C and rolls up to the size of a grapefruit. I'm pretty excited. Don't ask me how much it cost, though.
Monday March 7, 2005 7:46 PM
Flag patch
I just read a good message board about things in Nepal. People on the board (which is very active with posts up until yesterday) say that things in Kathmandu and Khumbu (were I'll be) are fine, as are all the other tourists spots. They say you should fly from K'du to your destination internally, rather than drive (and I'm doing that) and not trek alone (which I'm not) and you should be fine.
One thing they do say, however, is that Americans are asked for a higher 'donation' than non-americans from the Maoists, and they recommend trying to identify yourself as a non-american if possible. I wasn't planning on getting a Canadian flag patch for my pack, but I might now.
One thing they do say, however, is that Americans are asked for a higher 'donation' than non-americans from the Maoists, and they recommend trying to identify yourself as a non-american if possible. I wasn't planning on getting a Canadian flag patch for my pack, but I might now.
Sunday March 6, 2005 12:45 PM
Domestic flights
I just bought my tickets for my flights within Austalia. Thankfully, they are e-Tickets. Having to carry around 6 plane tickets for 3 months is going to be a pain in the ass. It wasn't too expensive. 3 flights for a total of about 5500 km were CA$773. Not very cheap, but not too bad either.
Sunday February 27, 2005 10:30 AM
Other plans
I've been spending a disproptionate time worry about what's going on in Nepal, and not worrying about what I'm going to do on the rest of my trip. I've been told that booking plane tickets for domestic flights is cheaper in Thailand than outside of Thailand, so I've kind of been putting off any planning at all for that leg of the trip, which probably isn't too smart. I've also been told that booking domestic flights for within Australia is cheaper outside of Australia, so I have been planning that leg.
It looks like I'll be hooking up with my friend Oliver in Sydney on May 15 or 16. Then we'll fly to Alice Springs on May 17, do a 3 day tour of that area (the 'red-centre', Uluru, Ayer's rock, etc). Then we'll part company, he'll go to see some relatives and I'll go on to Cairns. From there I'll spend then next 10-12 days on the north-east cost of Australia, trying to get the Whitsunday Islands where I can do a 2 or 3 day sailing cruise of the Islands. Then I'll fly from Townsville to Sydney, and head off to NZ.
Does anybody have any advice for what I should plan to see in Thailand? I think I'm going to try to get to Siem Reap in Cambodia, but I still need to figure out the whole visa situation, but the last time I looked I think it said that it only cost US$20 and I can get one in the airport.
It looks like I'll be hooking up with my friend Oliver in Sydney on May 15 or 16. Then we'll fly to Alice Springs on May 17, do a 3 day tour of that area (the 'red-centre', Uluru, Ayer's rock, etc). Then we'll part company, he'll go to see some relatives and I'll go on to Cairns. From there I'll spend then next 10-12 days on the north-east cost of Australia, trying to get the Whitsunday Islands where I can do a 2 or 3 day sailing cruise of the Islands. Then I'll fly from Townsville to Sydney, and head off to NZ.
Does anybody have any advice for what I should plan to see in Thailand? I think I'm going to try to get to Siem Reap in Cambodia, but I still need to figure out the whole visa situation, but the last time I looked I think it said that it only cost US$20 and I can get one in the airport.
Thursday February 17, 2005 11:02 PM
Deliberated
I made a decision. I paid the remaining balance to the tour operator, so I'm committed, at least financially, to going to Nepal. I've done as much research as I could, talked to people who've been there recently, etc, and I think that right now things are completely safe, and unless things take a drastic turn for the worse, things will remain safe. There is, and was before the state of emergency and the latest crisis, a good possibility of complications arising from a nationwide strike, or other blockade, but this is kind of par for the course in Nepal, and shouldn't impact me too much.
In other news, I put an order in for the Beothuk sleeping bag. They don't have any in stock, but should be getting more on Feb. 25.
I was talking to the tour operator about bringing money, asking him the most convenient way to bring money to Nepal, and elsewhere. He suggested that that Canadian traveller's cheques were the way to go. He thinks that ATMs are too expensive (local bank service fees + Canadian bank service fees + high exchange rate) and getting American traveller's cheques is not smart because you're exchanging currency twice.
Any thoughts on this from people who've travelled? What's the best way to carry currency?
In other news, I put an order in for the Beothuk sleeping bag. They don't have any in stock, but should be getting more on Feb. 25.
I was talking to the tour operator about bringing money, asking him the most convenient way to bring money to Nepal, and elsewhere. He suggested that that Canadian traveller's cheques were the way to go. He thinks that ATMs are too expensive (local bank service fees + Canadian bank service fees + high exchange rate) and getting American traveller's cheques is not smart because you're exchanging currency twice.
Any thoughts on this from people who've travelled? What's the best way to carry currency?
Sunday February 13, 2005 12:05 PM
Deliberations
I've been doing further research on the sitch in Nepal, and here's what I've learned:
Lonely Planet issued a warning very similar to the Canadian travel advisory. I tend to trust Lonely Planet slightly more than the Canadian government because they don't have to be quite as conservative. The US government has a travel advisory that was last updated on Oct. 26, 2004 which also says that you shouldn't go to Nepal.
However, if you read between the lines in these advisories you'll notice that they all say that Kathmandu is very safe, except for the odd bombing, and the Khumbu (Everest) region is never mentioned as having any problems.
What this means is that if I had to go right now I think things would be fine for me. What I'm most worried about is getting to Nepal, doing my trek and while I'm there another crisis or full blown revolution occurring, and me not being able to get out. Historically there have been interruptions in flights, but these usually don't last for more than a day or two, and I have interruption insurance, so it probably won't be a big issue, but there's a remote possibility it will be.
The bottom line is that I think that in all likelihood things will be fine. If I decide to cancel my tour up until 8 days before I go I can get 30% back. So, really, this is an expensive gamble, but I'm going to go for it.
Some more fun news: yesterday I bought my pack, and a day pack. I ended up getting the Arc'teryx Bora 65 and the MEC Brio 25. The Brio 25 is very similar to a pack I already have, but it has a few more pockets, a crampon patch (elastic mess on the outside hold crampons) and it's smaller so I can wear it on my front comfortably while I wear my big pack on my back. I also bought a simple compass and some wool socks.
I made a list of everything I need yesterday. The only big ticket item left is a sleeping bag. I'm going to be renting a -20 C bad for Nepal, but I'm going to bring a summer bag for Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. I'm looking a the MEC Raven 0 C and the Western Mountaineering Beothuk. The Beothuk is more than twice as expensive, but it's only 3.5 L and 485g, which is pretty tiny. I think I'm going to go with the Beothuk, but it's currently out of stock.
Lonely Planet issued a warning very similar to the Canadian travel advisory. I tend to trust Lonely Planet slightly more than the Canadian government because they don't have to be quite as conservative. The US government has a travel advisory that was last updated on Oct. 26, 2004 which also says that you shouldn't go to Nepal.
However, if you read between the lines in these advisories you'll notice that they all say that Kathmandu is very safe, except for the odd bombing, and the Khumbu (Everest) region is never mentioned as having any problems.
What this means is that if I had to go right now I think things would be fine for me. What I'm most worried about is getting to Nepal, doing my trek and while I'm there another crisis or full blown revolution occurring, and me not being able to get out. Historically there have been interruptions in flights, but these usually don't last for more than a day or two, and I have interruption insurance, so it probably won't be a big issue, but there's a remote possibility it will be.
The bottom line is that I think that in all likelihood things will be fine. If I decide to cancel my tour up until 8 days before I go I can get 30% back. So, really, this is an expensive gamble, but I'm going to go for it.
Some more fun news: yesterday I bought my pack, and a day pack. I ended up getting the Arc'teryx Bora 65 and the MEC Brio 25. The Brio 25 is very similar to a pack I already have, but it has a few more pockets, a crampon patch (elastic mess on the outside hold crampons) and it's smaller so I can wear it on my front comfortably while I wear my big pack on my back. I also bought a simple compass and some wool socks.
I made a list of everything I need yesterday. The only big ticket item left is a sleeping bag. I'm going to be renting a -20 C bad for Nepal, but I'm going to bring a summer bag for Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. I'm looking a the MEC Raven 0 C and the Western Mountaineering Beothuk. The Beothuk is more than twice as expensive, but it's only 3.5 L and 485g, which is pretty tiny. I think I'm going to go with the Beothuk, but it's currently out of stock.
Thursday February 10, 2005 10:12 PM
If I wanted to let Maoists run my life I'd move to China
I've decided I'm going to go to Nepal. After doing some further research, talking to the tour operator, and talking to a friend of mine who was in Nepal in September, I think that this latest coup and instability is really more of the same, and shouldn't cause me any more than minor inconveniences.
Over the last 9 years 11 000 people have been killed in the civil war in Nepal, but not a single tourists has been killed in the violence. Neither side has any particular problem with tourists, and in fact both sides wants the economy, and therefore tourism, to continue unhindered. Apparently the Maoists will stop tourists and ask them for a 'donation' of about $15. But when you give a donation they'll give you a receipt that you can show to anyone else asking you for a donation, and they'll leave you alone. Apparently the receipt is kind of formal, with a hammer and sickle on it. I kind of hope I get one.
The travel advisory that I thought was issued Monday was in fact updated Monday, and was pre-existing. So if I was planning on going before, the travel advisory shouldn't be a reason not to go.
From what I understand, Thamel, the tourist district in Kathmandu where I'll be spending my time is quite safe, and the Khumbu valley, where I'll be trekking is super safe. I think this is a case of high perceived risk and low actual risk. I think I'm much more likely to get indiscriminately killed or assaulted in Brazil or South Africa than Nepal, and I'd go to those countries.
So, I've decided to go, though I didn't pay the tour operator. I told him I'd wait until next week.
Some facts about my trek: 3 other people will be trekking with me: a couple in their late 20s/early 30s, and one woman from Alberta who's about 40. Only Leona, the woman from Alberta, will be doing Island Peak with me. 2 other guys might also be going the trek. This means that I get a private room in Kathmandu, and my own tent on the trek. Usually a 'private' costs US$160, but they cut it in half since I would share if there was someone to share with. They told me about that up front, so I don't feel so bad about it.
So, does this sound very unreasonable? Thoughts? Opinions?
Over the last 9 years 11 000 people have been killed in the civil war in Nepal, but not a single tourists has been killed in the violence. Neither side has any particular problem with tourists, and in fact both sides wants the economy, and therefore tourism, to continue unhindered. Apparently the Maoists will stop tourists and ask them for a 'donation' of about $15. But when you give a donation they'll give you a receipt that you can show to anyone else asking you for a donation, and they'll leave you alone. Apparently the receipt is kind of formal, with a hammer and sickle on it. I kind of hope I get one.
The travel advisory that I thought was issued Monday was in fact updated Monday, and was pre-existing. So if I was planning on going before, the travel advisory shouldn't be a reason not to go.
From what I understand, Thamel, the tourist district in Kathmandu where I'll be spending my time is quite safe, and the Khumbu valley, where I'll be trekking is super safe. I think this is a case of high perceived risk and low actual risk. I think I'm much more likely to get indiscriminately killed or assaulted in Brazil or South Africa than Nepal, and I'd go to those countries.
So, I've decided to go, though I didn't pay the tour operator. I told him I'd wait until next week.
Some facts about my trek: 3 other people will be trekking with me: a couple in their late 20s/early 30s, and one woman from Alberta who's about 40. Only Leona, the woman from Alberta, will be doing Island Peak with me. 2 other guys might also be going the trek. This means that I get a private room in Kathmandu, and my own tent on the trek. Usually a 'private' costs US$160, but they cut it in half since I would share if there was someone to share with. They told me about that up front, so I don't feel so bad about it.
So, does this sound very unreasonable? Thoughts? Opinions?
Wednesday February 9, 2005 1:13 PM
I totally went to a region with a travel advisory
I looked into it a bit further, and the region of Chile that has the travel advisory is the region I visited: the Magallanes region of southern Chile, between Punta Arenas and the Torres del Paine National Park, and on the Tierra del Fuego. However, the danger there is landmines, which apparently are well signed and don't move, not maoists that roam around the country side.
Also, I should mention that the Nepal Tourism Board issued a statement saying that "After the Royal Proclamation life in Nepal has become more peaceful. There is a greater sense of peace". I think I'd be kind of dumb to believe the propaganda of an illegimate government trying to prop itself up. I've done that one too many times in the past.
Also, I should mention that the Nepal Tourism Board issued a statement saying that "After the Royal Proclamation life in Nepal has become more peaceful. There is a greater sense of peace". I think I'd be kind of dumb to believe the propaganda of an illegimate government trying to prop itself up. I've done that one too many times in the past.
Wednesday February 9, 2005 12:38 PM
Sucks
As of Monday the Canadian government has issued a travel warning for Nepal. Check it out here and here.
I really hope things pull together there, and I REALLY want to go, especially recently as I've been reading more about it, but it looks like I'd be foolish to go to a country with a travel advisory. That said, the Canadian gov't says you shouldn't go to certain (uspecified) parts of Chile, but I've been there.
I'll talk to my tour company today and see what they say. But I think I might have to start making alternate plans.
I really hope things pull together there, and I REALLY want to go, especially recently as I've been reading more about it, but it looks like I'd be foolish to go to a country with a travel advisory. That said, the Canadian gov't says you shouldn't go to certain (uspecified) parts of Chile, but I've been there.
I'll talk to my tour company today and see what they say. But I think I might have to start making alternate plans.
Monday February 7, 2005 10:20 PM
Shit, meet fan
It looks like things are really going in the toilet in Nepal. In case you haven't been keeping up, last Tuesday (Feb. 1) Nepal's king disolved the parliment and put the the senior members of the government under house arrest. He also cancelled all flights in and out of the country, cut all communication lines and put a ban on the media critisizing the government. Since then flights have been restored and communications have been paritally restored. You can read a good article about this here.
This raises the question: should I be going to Nepal? For the last nine years things have been quite unstable there, but this seems to be much worse than the normal problems. Nepal's main problem is that they have a maoist uprising that currently controls 30% of the country. The King obstensibly is trying to put down the uprising, but by eliminating the legitimate government he is only going to give support to them. They probably won't ever take over the country, India won't allow it, but things look very uncertain.
I still haven't paid for the trek in Nepal (about $4000), but I have to pay in the next few days. I'll probably pay, but I'll try to get a credit or something if things fall apart in Nepal.
Nepal really has a good reason to get it's act together: April, May and October are it's biggest months for tourism, and it makes a lot of money from tourism. Hopefully the King will realize this is what's good for his country and get his shit together.
This raises the question: should I be going to Nepal? For the last nine years things have been quite unstable there, but this seems to be much worse than the normal problems. Nepal's main problem is that they have a maoist uprising that currently controls 30% of the country. The King obstensibly is trying to put down the uprising, but by eliminating the legitimate government he is only going to give support to them. They probably won't ever take over the country, India won't allow it, but things look very uncertain.
I still haven't paid for the trek in Nepal (about $4000), but I have to pay in the next few days. I'll probably pay, but I'll try to get a credit or something if things fall apart in Nepal.
Nepal really has a good reason to get it's act together: April, May and October are it's biggest months for tourism, and it makes a lot of money from tourism. Hopefully the King will realize this is what's good for his country and get his shit together.
Sunday February 6, 2005 11:13 PM
Imja Tse
I found an excellent site of some photos of Island Peak, otherwise known as Imja Tse, the peak I'll be climbing in Nepal at the end of my stay there. The climb goes up gently over a glacier, then up the very steep headwall, and along a ridge to the summit.
Here's the site.
If you don't want to look through all the photos, here are some of the highlights:
A good shot of the glacier, the start of the climb up the head wall, and the summit ridge
Climbing the headwall
Looking up the ridge
Photos of Island Peak on it's own make it look huge, and it is very high, only 5m lower than Mt. McKinley, the highest point in North America. But checkout this picture. Everest is obviously the biggest mountain in the world, and Lhotse and Malaku are the forth and fifth biggest in the world, and the all just dwarf Island Peak.
Here's the site.
If you don't want to look through all the photos, here are some of the highlights:
A good shot of the glacier, the start of the climb up the head wall, and the summit ridge
Climbing the headwall
Looking up the ridge
Photos of Island Peak on it's own make it look huge, and it is very high, only 5m lower than Mt. McKinley, the highest point in North America. But checkout this picture. Everest is obviously the biggest mountain in the world, and Lhotse and Malaku are the forth and fifth biggest in the world, and the all just dwarf Island Peak.
Wednesday February 2, 2005 2:26 PM
Shots and Cali
I just got back from the travel medical clinic. It turns out that I needed Hep B (I already have Hep A), typhoid, and I got prescriptions for Malaria medication, antibiotics and anti-altitude sickness. I've got some Cipro, but apparently in Thailand half of the bacteria are resistant to it, so the doctor gave me a prescription for Zithromax. The malaria medication is only required of the borders of Thailand and Cambodia, and not anywhere else, so if I don't go to Cambodia I won't have to take it.
All in all it'll cost me about $200 for medication and doctor's fees, $250 if I get the Zithromax.
Oh, I just posted some photos of my trip to California. Check 'em out here.
All in all it'll cost me about $200 for medication and doctor's fees, $250 if I get the Zithromax.
Oh, I just posted some photos of my trip to California. Check 'em out here.
Monday January 24, 2005 8:33 PM
Qualification
I feel I should expand on my previous statement about Angkor Wat appearing in Tomb Raider. I'm not going there because it's in Tomb Raider. I just mentioned it because it's the only place that I could mention of the top of my head that other people may have seen photos of the temples. The several people I know who've been there raved about them.
I'm listening to "From a Basement on the Hill" by Elliott Smith. Really a kick ass album.
I'm listening to "From a Basement on the Hill" by Elliott Smith. Really a kick ass album.
Monday January 24, 2005 11:35 AM
Getting one more stamp
I made an appointment with the travel clinic today. Looks like it won't be too expensive (maybe $150 all told?).
Also, I've been talking to some people about Angkor in Siem Reap, Cambodia. These are the temples that featured in Tomb Raider. I think I could take a 2 or 3 day excursion to Cambodia while I'm in Thailand.
TTFN, LF.
Also, I've been talking to some people about Angkor in Siem Reap, Cambodia. These are the temples that featured in Tomb Raider. I think I could take a 2 or 3 day excursion to Cambodia while I'm in Thailand.
TTFN, LF.
Saturday January 22, 2005 5:31 PM
Consider the wheel reinvented
So, it's been a while since my last post, but I've been working like a Japanese mofo1 on getting the site redesigned. The look is obviously different, but that's really secondary. It's now much easier to update content. I can add a new photo gallery by just uploading a bunch of photos and running through a wizard that creates the layout for me. It even creates thumbnails on the fly.
Nothing much is happening with my trip. I have to get to the travel medical clinic to find out what kinds of shots I need. I have a bit of a weird problem. Before I went to Patagonia, my dad gave me one of Havrix and Twinrix. Havrix is for hep A, Twinrix is for hep A and B. I don't remember which one he gave me, and I don't think he does either, and since he just wrote me a prescription there's no documentation anywhere... I'm sure we'll figure it out.
I need to start listing what I'm going to bring, and figure out exactly how big a pack I'll need. I'm going to need a day pack when I'm in Nepal, because we'll have porters (aka sherpas) to carry our stuff, but I'll want a day pack. The question is, do I want a very small day pack that I can roll up and put in my big pack? Or do I want a proper, more comfortable day pack that will be too bulky to go in the big pack. The other issue is, if I put the small pack in the big one, I then have to put all the stuff in the small one in the big one too. But I don't know if I want to carry two packs all the time. Maybe I'm over thinking this.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new site, and I'll try to post more often from now on. Oh, if you're interested, you can subscribe to the blog by clicking 'Subscribe' over in the right hand menu.
1The term 'like a Japanese mofo' came about due to a miscommunication between my brother and I. He said 'busier than a Japanese beaver', but I think my brain expected him to say something like 'busier than a mofo' and I ended up hearing 'busier than a Japanese mofo'. I really like it.
Nothing much is happening with my trip. I have to get to the travel medical clinic to find out what kinds of shots I need. I have a bit of a weird problem. Before I went to Patagonia, my dad gave me one of Havrix and Twinrix. Havrix is for hep A, Twinrix is for hep A and B. I don't remember which one he gave me, and I don't think he does either, and since he just wrote me a prescription there's no documentation anywhere... I'm sure we'll figure it out.
I need to start listing what I'm going to bring, and figure out exactly how big a pack I'll need. I'm going to need a day pack when I'm in Nepal, because we'll have porters (aka sherpas) to carry our stuff, but I'll want a day pack. The question is, do I want a very small day pack that I can roll up and put in my big pack? Or do I want a proper, more comfortable day pack that will be too bulky to go in the big pack. The other issue is, if I put the small pack in the big one, I then have to put all the stuff in the small one in the big one too. But I don't know if I want to carry two packs all the time. Maybe I'm over thinking this.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new site, and I'll try to post more often from now on. Oh, if you're interested, you can subscribe to the blog by clicking 'Subscribe' over in the right hand menu.
1The term 'like a Japanese mofo' came about due to a miscommunication between my brother and I. He said 'busier than a Japanese beaver', but I think my brain expected him to say something like 'busier than a mofo' and I ended up hearing 'busier than a Japanese mofo'. I really like it.
Monday January 10, 2005 12:58 PM
Pack
Two more things:
- I've been looking for a pack for the trip. After carrying a big pack on my back country skiing trip over Christmas, I think I really want to minimize how much I carry, and the easiest way to do that is to limit the size of my pack. I've been looking at the Arc'teryx Bora 65 at MEC. I fit the standard size, so that's 66L. That's still pretty big, but not too big. I have to start working out exactly what I'll be brining, and then I'll settle on a pack.
- I'm going to redesign the site. I'll be developing my own blogging utilities (I'm using blogger right now) and streamline the photo galleries, and allow myself to add galleries while I'm on the road, so I should be able to add pictures while I'm on my trip. You can track the development here: dev.varsitydodgeball.com.
- This is one more thing.
Tuesday January 4, 2005 12:57 PM
A little offer/acceptance contract jurisprudence
Two things:
- Some pics are up from my recent trip to Alberta. Check them out here.
- My travel agent tried to screw me. Before Christmas I paid for my flights in full. I got an email over the holiday saying that in order to stop in New Zealand I'd have to pay an additional $285. I got on the phone with them this morning and they tried to tell me I'd have to pay this additional fee if I wanted to stop in Auckland, or I could forego it and just have a layover in Auckland, but not a stop. My original itinerary, without a stop in New Zealand was about $600 cheaper than with NZ, so I said I'd like to go back to that one, rather than spend another $285. They told me that wasn't an option, so I really started getting angry on the phone, saying how they offered my an itinerary at a price, and I accepted, and they can't jack up the price after the fact. Anyway, long story short, I don't have to pay any extra. They made a mistake, but they are going to eat the cost. I feel pretty good about that. I really stood up for myself and didn't get screwed.
- Oh, one more thing. Listen to 'Young Pilgrims' by The Shins. Good song.
Thursday December 16, 2004 12:55 PM
Intinerary change
Oh, there was also a small change to the itinerary. I'll now be leaving Auckland June 18, instead of 16.
Thursday December 16, 2004 12:55 PM
Good old Yusef
I think that Yusef Islam said it best when he said:
I sit beside the dark
Beneath the mire
Cold grey dusty day
The morning lake
Drinks up the sky
Katmandu I'll soon be seeing you
And your strange bewildering time
Will hold me down
Chop me some broken wood
We'll start a fire
White warm light the dawn
And help me see
Old satan's tree
Katmandu I'll soon be touching you
And your strange bewildering time
Will hold me down
Pass me my hat and coat
Lock up the cabin
Slow night treat me right
until I go
Be nice to know
Katmandu I'll soon be seeing you
And your strange bewildering time
Will keep me home
I sit beside the dark
Beneath the mire
Cold grey dusty day
The morning lake
Drinks up the sky
Katmandu I'll soon be seeing you
And your strange bewildering time
Will hold me down
Chop me some broken wood
We'll start a fire
White warm light the dawn
And help me see
Old satan's tree
Katmandu I'll soon be touching you
And your strange bewildering time
Will hold me down
Pass me my hat and coat
Lock up the cabin
Slow night treat me right
until I go
Be nice to know
Katmandu I'll soon be seeing you
And your strange bewildering time
Will keep me home
Wednesday December 15, 2004 12:54 PM
Trip dates
So, long time, no post. I've got a lot of stuff finalized about my trip. The itinerary is now pretty finalized:
Mar. 25 2005 - Leave Toronto
Mar. 27 - Arrive Kathmandu
Mar. 29/30 - Leave Kathmandu for the mountains
Apr. 18/19 - Return to Kathmandu
Apr. 22 - Bangkok
May. 15 - Sydney
June 5 - Aukland
June 16 - Nadi, Fiji
June 25 - Leave Nadi
June 26 - Return to Toronto
I've also decided I'm going to rent as much gear in Nepal as I can, instead of carrying it for two months afterwards. This'll include: down jacket, warm sleeping bag, ice axe, mountaineering boots, crampons, and maybe a harness. I'll bring my own 'biners, belay devices and ascenders though.
As part of my trek in Nepal, I'll be doing the Everest Base camp trek from Lukla, followed by a summit attempt on Island peak. Island peak should be the hardest thing I'll ever do, at least physically. It's not a very technical climb, but the summit is almost 6200m (20 000 feet), so altitude should be a huge issue.
To get in shape I joined a gym. However, I really have no idea how to put together a coherent workout plan, and really, who's kidding who, I'm probably not going to stick to a plan I set up myself. So, I hired a personal trainer. 2 one-hour sessions per week. Hopefully by the end I'll be in as good shape as I can be for Nepal, and I'll know how to workout properly so I won't need a trainer in the future.
Mar. 25 2005 - Leave Toronto
Mar. 27 - Arrive Kathmandu
Mar. 29/30 - Leave Kathmandu for the mountains
Apr. 18/19 - Return to Kathmandu
Apr. 22 - Bangkok
May. 15 - Sydney
June 5 - Aukland
June 16 - Nadi, Fiji
June 25 - Leave Nadi
June 26 - Return to Toronto
I've also decided I'm going to rent as much gear in Nepal as I can, instead of carrying it for two months afterwards. This'll include: down jacket, warm sleeping bag, ice axe, mountaineering boots, crampons, and maybe a harness. I'll bring my own 'biners, belay devices and ascenders though.
As part of my trek in Nepal, I'll be doing the Everest Base camp trek from Lukla, followed by a summit attempt on Island peak. Island peak should be the hardest thing I'll ever do, at least physically. It's not a very technical climb, but the summit is almost 6200m (20 000 feet), so altitude should be a huge issue.
To get in shape I joined a gym. However, I really have no idea how to put together a coherent workout plan, and really, who's kidding who, I'm probably not going to stick to a plan I set up myself. So, I hired a personal trainer. 2 one-hour sessions per week. Hopefully by the end I'll be in as good shape as I can be for Nepal, and I'll know how to workout properly so I won't need a trainer in the future.
Tuesday November 23, 2004 12:52 PM
New format
Format Change!
So, until now, while this blog has been facinating, it has been a bit directionless. Today all of that changes. I've decided to start blogging about my upcoming trip. This will include all the hoops I have to jump through to prepare for it, and hopefully updates while I'm away.
For those of you that don't know I'm going to be taking three months off in the spring (April - June). I'm going to Nepal, Thailand, Austrailia, and then either Fiji or Tahiti (right now it looks like Tahiti has better weather in June, but it might be cheaper to get to Fiji). I'll be trekking in Nepal with a group, and spending the rest of my time on my own, though I might meet up with Oliver in Thailand.
So, until now, while this blog has been facinating, it has been a bit directionless. Today all of that changes. I've decided to start blogging about my upcoming trip. This will include all the hoops I have to jump through to prepare for it, and hopefully updates while I'm away.
For those of you that don't know I'm going to be taking three months off in the spring (April - June). I'm going to Nepal, Thailand, Austrailia, and then either Fiji or Tahiti (right now it looks like Tahiti has better weather in June, but it might be cheaper to get to Fiji). I'll be trekking in Nepal with a group, and spending the rest of my time on my own, though I might meet up with Oliver in Thailand.
Wednesday November 17, 2004 12:52 PM
Zach Braff is my hero
Holy shit. I'm so happy.
Oh, go and vote for Zach Braff in the People's Choice Awards. He's in the 'Leading Man' category against Jim Carrey, Colin Farrel, Jude Law and Brad Pitt, so he really needs your help.
Oh, go and vote for Zach Braff in the People's Choice Awards. He's in the 'Leading Man' category against Jim Carrey, Colin Farrel, Jude Law and Brad Pitt, so he really needs your help.
Monday November 8, 2004 12:52 PM
A true biblical story
Missionary: "I'd like to give you a New Testament."
Jew: "No thanks, I have an old one at home."
True story.
Jew: "No thanks, I have an old one at home."
True story.
Friday October 29, 2004 12:39 PM
Canadians are dumb
At the Globe and Mail web site they always have a poll where they ask peoples opinion about some topical question. Today's poll questions was:
During the sponsorship inquiry Justice Gomery noted that "There is a substantial portion of the population of Canada that never reads the newspapers and never watches television, and they live in blissful ignorance of what other people -- newspaper junkies like I am -- consider to be common knowledge." This prompts us to ask: Do you think the average Canadian is dumber than you?For some reason I thougth this was very funny. Not surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of people thought that the average Canadian was dumber than them.
Wednesday October 27, 2004 12:38 PM
Sweet, sweet amputee humour
Q. Why did the girl fall of the swing?
A. She's got no arms.
Q. What's Mary short for?
A. She's got no legs.
Q. Where do you find a dog with no legs?
A. Right where you left it.
A man is lying in a hospital bed after a violent car accident. The doctor walks in, and the man cries, "Doctor, doctor, I can't feel my legs." The doctor replies, "Of course not, I cut your arms off."
A. She's got no arms.
Q. What's Mary short for?
A. She's got no legs.
Q. Where do you find a dog with no legs?
A. Right where you left it.
A man is lying in a hospital bed after a violent car accident. The doctor walks in, and the man cries, "Doctor, doctor, I can't feel my legs." The doctor replies, "Of course not, I cut your arms off."
Thursday October 21, 2004 1:01 AM
Stair Climb
15:38. Not too bad.
Tuesday October 12, 2004 12:37 PM
Music royalties
I just read an interesting article on Rolling Stone about the battle for music sales between Wal*Mart and the record labels. Wal*Mart is pushing for $10 CDs and the record labels are pissed because they'll probably have to do it given that 20% of CDs are sold by Wal*Mart. You can read the article here. In addition to being an interesting article, there was a little tidbit at the end about where the money for an CD goes:
"This breakdown of the cost of a typical major-label release by the independent market-research firm Almighty Institute of Music Retail shows where the money goes for a new album with a list price of $15.99.
$0.17 Musicians' unions
$0.80 Packaging/manufacturing
$0.82 Publishing royalties
$0.80 Retail profit
$0.90 Distribution
$1.60 Artists' royalties
$1.70 Label profit
$2.40 Marketing/promotion
$2.91 Label overhead
$3.89 Retail overhead"
"This breakdown of the cost of a typical major-label release by the independent market-research firm Almighty Institute of Music Retail shows where the money goes for a new album with a list price of $15.99.
$0.17 Musicians' unions
$0.80 Packaging/manufacturing
$0.82 Publishing royalties
$0.80 Retail profit
$0.90 Distribution
$1.60 Artists' royalties
$1.70 Label profit
$2.40 Marketing/promotion
$2.91 Label overhead
$3.89 Retail overhead"
Sunday October 10, 2004 12:36 PM
Real life
You can't make this shit up:
Friday October 8, 2004 12:35 PM
Nostalgia
I think that really says it all, doesn't it.
Wednesday October 6, 2004 12:34 PM
Lame-ass
So, I just added comment functionality to this blog, as per Oliver's request. Demanding prick. I feel like a bit of a lame-ass though, I should really implement all this stuff my self, it would be a good exersize for me to create a blogging tool for myself. Maybe tomorrow. Instead I'm using the tools provided by blogger.
So, on the weekend I watched an episode of Much More Music's listed, which was counting down the best 40 albums of the last 25 years. At about #35 or #36 they had Odelay, by Beck. I decided to check it out at All of MP3, and while I like it, it kind of bugs me that the song 'Jackass' heavily samples from It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, by Van Morrison (a Bob Dylan cover). It doesn't bother me because it's a rip off, but just because the original song was so much better. The Beck song is just boring.
So, on the weekend I watched an episode of Much More Music's listed, which was counting down the best 40 albums of the last 25 years. At about #35 or #36 they had Odelay, by Beck. I decided to check it out at All of MP3, and while I like it, it kind of bugs me that the song 'Jackass' heavily samples from It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, by Van Morrison (a Bob Dylan cover). It doesn't bother me because it's a rip off, but just because the original song was so much better. The Beck song is just boring.
Monday September 27, 2004 12:32 PM
Blog not updated
From today's Social Studies:
"People who keep diaries are more likely to suffer from headaches, sleeplessness, digestive problems and even social dysfunction, according to a small British study. Elaine Duncan of the Glasgow Caledonian University and David Sheffield of Staffordshire University compared 94 undergraduates who were regular diarists with 41 non-diarists. "We expected diary-keepers to have some benefit, or be the same, but they were the worst off," said Ms. Duncan, who presented the findings to a British Psychological Society meeting. "You are probably much better off if you don't write anything at all.""
Finally, justification for not updating my blog. "I'd like to, but I'd would negatively affect my mental health."
Oh, wait.
"People who keep diaries are more likely to suffer from headaches, sleeplessness, digestive problems and even social dysfunction, according to a small British study. Elaine Duncan of the Glasgow Caledonian University and David Sheffield of Staffordshire University compared 94 undergraduates who were regular diarists with 41 non-diarists. "We expected diary-keepers to have some benefit, or be the same, but they were the worst off," said Ms. Duncan, who presented the findings to a British Psychological Society meeting. "You are probably much better off if you don't write anything at all.""
Finally, justification for not updating my blog. "I'd like to, but I'd would negatively affect my mental health."
Oh, wait.
Monday September 13, 2004 12:31 PM
Juvenile humour
From today's Globe And Mail:
Weird.
 |
| Before the first ministers' health talks in Ottawa, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell asks Federal Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh to "Pull my finger." |
Weird.
Tuesday September 7, 2004 12:31 PM
WSC 3.6
Saturday August 7, 2004 12:28 PM
Censored
So, I had a quotation here by George Carlin, that amused me when I first read it, but I think I was quite tired and in a weird mood, because it was quite crude. I'm sorry if I offended anyone by it. Also, I promise to update my blog more often.
Wednesday August 4, 2004 12:28 PM
Capitalization
Capitalization is the difference between "Helping your uncle Jack off a horse" and "helping your uncle jack off a horse".
Wednesday June 23, 2004 12:26 PM
My blog is nothing but a rehash of Social Studies
There were a few good things in Social Studies today, so I thought I'd update my blog:
For more than a century, psychological researchers have used the word "subjects" to describe the people who volunteer for experiments, says The New York Times. Now the American Psychological Association wants to retire the term. "Subjects," it contends, is too impersonal, stripping people of their individuality, their humanity. "Participants" is a better word, the group's publication manual advises. For people such as infants or patients with Alzheimer's, who haven't technically consented, the APA suggests the term "individuals."
The Rev. George Malkmus of North Carolina is one of several Christian clergy promoting Bible-based food plans. His concept, the Hallelujah Diet, draws on Genesis 1:29, banning all animal products except for honey and promoting an 80 per cent raw diet. In biblical times, he says, people who subsisted on a raw diet lived an average of 912 years. The Rev. Malkmus does employ a scientific researcher, who determined that the Hallelujah Diet was deficient in vitamin B-12. "This shocked me, that God's perfect plan could have a flaw," the clergyman said. "But we realized that fruits and vegetables back then were more nutritious because of the topsoil."
Matilda the hen, 14, of Alabama is certified by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest living chicken, says The Associated Press. The normal lifespan for her species is seven or eight years. Matilda, who works with magician Keith Barton (Mort the Mystifying), has never laid eggs -- Mrs. Barton believes that has contributed to her long life -- and she gets tucked in at night.
Friday May 28, 2004 12:20 PM
Americans are dumb
War is God's way of teaching Americans about geography. -- Ambrose Bierce
Tuesday May 11, 2004 12:19 PM
Dasher
Almost two years ago I read about some text input software in the Economist that really interested me. It allows quick and easy typing using only one hand, using a mouse, stylus, or some other non-keyboard input device. It works by providing all the letters and some puncuation on the left hand side of the screen in a vertical column, where any one can be selected. After one character has been selected the sizes of each letter changes based on the probability that it will be selected next. Probabilities are calculated by doing a statistical analysis of all words in the english language (and maybe even by guessing which words will follow the previously entered words). For instance if a 'S' is selected first, the next letter will probably be a vowel, an R or a T, and probaly not a Q or B. Thus, the vowels, R, T will be bigger, and easier to select after an S, and Q and B will be small. This makes selecting one of the likely letters easier, and makes text entry faster.
I forgot what the software was called, but my girlfriend Evelyne was interested in it since she's studying occupational therapy, and this software is great for people who can't operate a keyboard. Finally I found the name of the software again. It's called Dasher. You can see more details here: http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/.
I forgot what the software was called, but my girlfriend Evelyne was interested in it since she's studying occupational therapy, and this software is great for people who can't operate a keyboard. Finally I found the name of the software again. It's called Dasher. You can see more details here: http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/.
Monday May 10, 2004 12:19 PM
Social Studies
I just read something really interesting in Social Studies:
U.S. researchers have explored the astonishing lack of attention we pay to our surroundings, writes Roger Highfield in The Daily Telegraph. "In one experiment, people who were walking across a college campus were asked by a stranger for directions. During the resulting chat, two men carrying a wooden door passed between the stranger and the subjects.
"After the door went by, the subjects were asked if they had noticed anything change. Half of those tested failed to notice that, as the door passed by, the stranger had been substituted with a man who was of different height, of different build and who sounded different. He was also wearing different clothes."
U.S. researchers have explored the astonishing lack of attention we pay to our surroundings, writes Roger Highfield in The Daily Telegraph. "In one experiment, people who were walking across a college campus were asked by a stranger for directions. During the resulting chat, two men carrying a wooden door passed between the stranger and the subjects.
"After the door went by, the subjects were asked if they had noticed anything change. Half of those tested failed to notice that, as the door passed by, the stranger had been substituted with a man who was of different height, of different build and who sounded different. He was also wearing different clothes."
Wednesday May 5, 2004 12:18 PM
PostgreSQL
So, I want to be a nerd, and I figure that means having something overly technical in my blog. So here goes: I compiled and installed PostgreSQL at work today. Mostly it went smoothly, but there were a few bumps. Here are the steps:
At this point I learned a few things, like PostgreSQL is case sensitive when it comes to reserved words. So 'select * from account;' doesn't work , but 'SELECT * FROM account;' does. Weird.
Next, I wrote a quick Java app to test JDBC functionality. I downloaded the JDBC3 driver from here and tried to connect, but couldn't create a socket. Telneting to the server on port 5432 failed too. The server wasn't listening. A bit more googling and some playing around and I learn that I have to enable TCP/IP listening in /usr/local/pgsql/data/postgresql.conf, but uncommenting tcpip_socket, setting it to 'true' and uncommenting the 'port' line. I restart the server, try the Java app and it works! Nice. The only problem now is that my user doesn't have rights to do anything through JDBC. A quick 'GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON account TO user' and everything works.
So, that was my day. Feeling quite proud of my geekiness right now.
- Download the latest and greatest PostgreSQL from their site (7.4.2).
- Untar and do a ./configure. Uh-oh, it's complaining I don't have GNU Readline.
- Download GNU Readline 4.3 from here.
- ./configure;make. This won't compile. Its complaining that -r and -shared can't be used together with ld. After some quick googling I find the problem is that while I'm using the GNU compiler and linker, on Solaris (where I'm building this) there's a problem using the GNU linker. So, I moved /usr/local/bin/ld to a temp location and linked /usr/ccs/bin/ld in there, and compiled again. Success. A quick make install and GNU Readline is installed.
- Back to Postgre. ./configure, works this time. Now gmake, gmake install, and the database is installed.
- A few more steps from the INSTALL file create the postgre user, create the data directory, do a quick test and everything is working.
At this point I learned a few things, like PostgreSQL is case sensitive when it comes to reserved words. So 'select * from account;' doesn't work , but 'SELECT * FROM account;' does. Weird.
Next, I wrote a quick Java app to test JDBC functionality. I downloaded the JDBC3 driver from here and tried to connect, but couldn't create a socket. Telneting to the server on port 5432 failed too. The server wasn't listening. A bit more googling and some playing around and I learn that I have to enable TCP/IP listening in /usr/local/pgsql/data/postgresql.conf, but uncommenting tcpip_socket, setting it to 'true' and uncommenting the 'port' line. I restart the server, try the Java app and it works! Nice. The only problem now is that my user doesn't have rights to do anything through JDBC. A quick 'GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON account TO user' and everything works.
So, that was my day. Feeling quite proud of my geekiness right now.
Saturday May 1, 2004 12:17 PM
First Post
So this is my new blog. Now that I have your attention, I think that everyone should go to: http://www.menwholooklikekennyrogers.com.
