#76 National Parks, Hikes, Vegas baby!! On the road cross country, goodbye to relatives, hello to bad ass Beth.

Camping with Sal, Aimslee, Bootie and my mom.

The US is a cool place. It's funny how much I like and know about Michigan from growing up there. I have generalizations about other states, but like myself and Michigan, people from the different states know the ins and outs and can show you things you never knew existed.
We got to go camping up in the mountains and spend half the day on a beautiful lake, with streams all around, blue skies looking over us and a great campsite that you don't even have to pay to camp at.
This is the crew tending to the fire, getting ready to make some smores (I've eaten a lot of these in the last few weeks) The orange tarp you see also serves as "the hangout", the dinner table, and my bed.

The day after our camping we went in search of hot springs. Instead we gave up the hunt and laid in the cold numbing water of a stream along the walk before heading back to Albuquerque.
After spending the rest of the week in town bonding with the Galanters and watching season one and two of the office, my mom, my cousin Tristan and I headed to the Grand Canyon and got a day of walking around the rim before my aunt Carol, uncle Rich, cousins Danny, Keara, and Christopher showed up.


One of the things I did on the first day was attempt to pee off the Grand Canyon. Remember that famous saying that goes "don't piss into the wind", well it's a good thing to remember, or for Tristans sake, don't stand downwind from someone peeing.


The day following Tristan and I decided to take a little hike. From the top of the grand canyon down the south kaibob trail to the river and then back up the Bright Angel trail to the top again in the same day.
I haven't worn shoes since January before doing this hike and wearing the new shoes I picked up. We started at about 6am and got down to the Colorado river at about 10 am, it was really starting to heat up at this point.
When we got down to the bottom we saw two ladies sitting down there who told us jokingly that they were are welcome committee. They told us we have to get the lemonade that was at one of the huts near the river. We dissapointed them because we didn't have our wallets. Upon hearing this they whipped out four bucks and insisted we get a few glasses. (it was the best lemonade I've ever had)
We got lunch at the bottom and found out that almost everyone camps at the bottom for a night or two before doing the other half of the hike.

When reaching the bottom I immediately went and soaked myself in the stream for a while. By noon it had reached 102 degrees.
Tristan and I grabbed lunch and then took a nap before heading back up. At this point I could feel the blisters and the bubbling up under the toenails. We did notice about 4 signs telling hikers not to attempt to go down and up in a day (there is definately a reason they put these signs up)
As we started back up I could here my body start talking to me. It said something like this:
"wait a minute, what the hell are we doing? I am done for the day, we just walked down 5,000 ft, if you think you're going to try to go back up, your making the trip alone" The first hour I could feel stiffness in my feet, knees, hips, shoulders, back and neck (from carrying the bag I had). Also, the sun was at it's peak and just scorching down on us. We took tons of stops making our way back which ended up taking about 7 hours.
This is when we had about 2 hours left in our hike and right before I took my shoes off and walked barefoot for the last 3 miles. I couldn't take the shoes anymore!!!!
We were both wiped out at this point. And yes, Tristan looks for like an old china man in this photo, than the strapping 19 year old he is.

We finally finished the hike of just over 17 miles and were very happy to have our family greet us at the top.

I could barely sleep that night even though I was soooo worn down because whichever part of my feet I had touching the ground I would have a throbbing pain.


We headed to Page, Arizona next to relax and visit my friend Kat who was working there. We went swimming in the pool, relaxed in the much needed hot tub, went on boat trip around the lake through the little canyons (this picture is just after the boat trip). Kat spoiled us during our night there and it was a great ending to our Arizona experience. (Thanks Kat!!!)

After saying farewell to the LLoyd family who we had a great time with my mom and I were back on the road on our way to Vegas, where my mom hadn't been since the strip has been there. We met up with Adam (aka:Borat who I traveled with in eastern europe) and the 3 of us stayed at the tropicana.

This is in front of New York, New York.

The first night we walked up and down the strip, letting it all soak in.

The second day in Vegas we spent the morning at our poolside before heading to Margaritaville for lunch. It is true that it's 5 o,clock somewhere. After our lunch we went to check out the different pools around town like Ceasars Palace and the Bellagio.
In the evening after more time at our pool we headed to old vegas get some dinner and check out the sites there. All and all good experience in Vegas but I can only take so much of Vegas.

From there my mom and I drove up through Nevada before crossing into California, only to drive through Yosemite National Park. ( Bellisima)
This was our first stop in the park. This was ice water, holy bajesus!!!!


This park truly is an amazing place. Fresh air, snow capped mountains, rivers and streams everywhere. We had to cruise through from the eastern side to the western side with an attempt to go to San Francisco the following day.

We spent our day in San Fran with Steve G and his girlfriend Megan. We had some great chats, went for a walk around Haight/Ashbury, through the univesity campus, got some Thai food and watched a great movie that has no words, but music by Philip Glass and pictures from around the world. (Thanks Steve!!)

We then went to Santa Rosas to watch Beth, my sister and the Scorchers dominate in a football game.
This is one of Beth's few runs in the game. This one was good for two extra points. Yes, she is wearing number 20, same as Barry Sanders.

After winning by over 50 points we got to meet and greet the players, Beth was kind enough to say hi to us. She wouldn't give me an autograph though.

The 3 of us then headed back to Yosemite for a few days of camping, relaxing, and small hikes.
Getting dinner ready at our first campsite. Of course followed by smores.

These are the roots of a sequoia tree that had fallen over 300 years ago. These aren't as tall as the redwoods, but thicker which brings us back to a question asked time and again. Length or girth? Really though, these are some impressive trees.

Yet, another jumping picture, although it may look more like we are both trying out for Michael Jackson's "smooth criminal" video.
As you can see though, clear, crisp water which we spent a fair amount of time in during our few days in the park.


From the top of one of the high domes where we had a 360 degree view of the park. That is the famous half dome in the background.
We had a great time in the park!!!
I was then dropped off in San Fran to stay with Pete and see some friends for a few days.

After being in the parks and wide open areas for a few weeks, it was back to city life.


Along with cities, comes cars.

Cars are the 10th killer in the world as far as numbers that die each year.



“Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.” AlphaMale George Carlin

#75 Drive to New Mexico, Family, Santa Fe, Mountains, and Chaos.

On our long drive across Texas we stopped for a break,

and yes, my mom is a cowgirl as it says.

My mom and I left Houston bright and early for a 14 hour day that took us clear across Texas into Albuquerque, New Mexico where we tried to set up a ploy to scare my aunt and cousin; it didn't work to well in the end, but was worth the try; thanks aimslee. During our drive west we saw little traffic, had a speed limit of 80mph and beautiful weather and touraine.

In Albuquerque we had time to catch up with family; Aunt Sal, Uncle Abe, cousins Aimslee and Adam (aka-bootie). Also in Albuquerque are Aunt Carol, Uncle Rich, cousins Tristin, Bob, Dan, Keara, and Christopher. We had outings around town, lots of meals, and plenty of storytelling and joke telling.

Up in the mountains with Carol, Rich, Keara, Christopher,

Aimslee, and my mom chilling out on the deck; ah the fresh

mountain air.

My mom, Aimslee, Abe and myself took a ride for a day to Santa Fe to tour around the city.

We stopped and saw the oldest church in the US followed by the oldest house in the US which has been updated along with a giftshop and a ATM inside (it just isn't right). All the buildings and houses around town are in the adobe style which is quite unique.

Our crew standing in front of the oldest church in the USA.

I don't really know what else to write. It's been a lot of fun being somewhere with family, not planning much and enjoying each other. To be honest, I am the oldest cousin and mostly just harrass and pick on my younger cousins; the good part about this is not all the enjoyment I get doing this, but the fact that they enjoy getting picked on as well.

This is a fun game Adam and I played, we haven't thought of

a name, but we were thinking "catch the pollen in your face" or

"I try to blow as many flowers as I can at you trying to get it in

your eyes or mouth" Adam wasn't a big fan of this game.

Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations. Don't over-analyze your relationships. Stop playing games. A growing relationship can only be nurtured by genuineness.

Author: Leo Buscaglia

#74 Road trip baby, let the ride continue.

This is the sweet onion and peanut butter sandwich.

This is Uncle Lou being very happy that he's about to

eat one.

So I ate the peanut butter and sweet onion sandwich. How was it you ask? If you like sweet onion and you like peanut butter, you will probably like it, because it tastes like sweet onion mixed with peanut butter on bread.

Since I left off, we headed to San Antonio where we spent a day and did the river walk and wandered around the downtown of San Antonio. We then headed to a small town called Bracketville (I thought this place only existed during March madness) to vist friends that I haven't seen for almost 10 years; JoAnn and Bob. They live on an old fort in southern Texas, about a half hour away from Mexico. We walked around the complex and spent some time learning about the area and the history. One day we headed into Mexico to get some lunch and give it a go with the authentic margaritas. This is what caused the long naps for everyone on the arrival home.

This is our crew with Bob and JoAnn at their home

in southern Texas. This is taken just after we saw a huge

snake, which is why a few in the picture may look a little tense.

From here we headed back to San Antonio where we wandered around with nothing to exciting to comment on, except that in the few days up to this point I had bought connect four with plans on mastering the game at some degree. I don't know if I beat my parents and uncle Lou so many times because I am better or for the fact that they realize they will be in a car with me and don't want to have to deal with me if I lost.

The folks, Uncle Lou and I on a bridge over the

river walk in San Antonio; I hate the spurs!!!

From San Antonio we drove up to Austin where I ate at my first ever Souper Salad. This little episode put me into a digestive coma and I managed to sleep most of this day away, before we headed to sixth street to watch the pistons and play some bar shuffle board.
The following day we headed to go floating down the Guadalupe river where we met up with Angeline and Andy. Those two, my mom, Uncle Lou and myself were the only ones on the river that day, it was overcast and the water was FREEZING. Since we were the only ones however there were hundreds of turtles along all the banks of the river and every log the protruded out of the river. We had a bunch of Gin and Tonics with us on the river to help warm the blood. It ended up being loads of fun and very memorable.

Our last day we headed back to Houston where I said goodbye to my dad and Uncle Lou who were flying back to Michigan and I jumped in the car with Andy, Angeline, Juan, and Kevin and we headed to New Orleans.

The first night in New Orleans I managed to break my sandal and pull my hamstring dancing. We had a great night at a piano bar and then live bands in multiple bars and I got to meet up with my old boss who had gotten married while I was gone.

Juan who was with us is now engaged, so we made this his first bachelor party.

Our second day after walking around the city we went out to the garden district where it is the old beautiful houses along with Tulane and Loyola. We went to a sports bar to watch the pistons before heading back into town to go to a more relaxed piano bar.

The crew in New Orleans at the park in the Garden District

On our drive to New Orleans we stopped for a bathroom break and on the wall of the men's bathroom was a box to sell condoms. They were selling glow in the dark ones. How much fun would it be to play "guess where I am" with those.

Juan and I on Bourbon street. Me pointing out some local

entertainment possibilities to Juan.

From there we drove back and I met up with my mom again to prepare for our next month or two on the road.

This all happened some weeks ago which is why the details are vague. I will catch up and try to be better in the weeks to come.

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. ~Lao Tzu

#73 Guess who's back? Busy and back on the move with friends and family.

After 39 hours of travel I arrived in Houston and was
picked up and met by my friends (Andy and Morgan)
smiling faces!!!! I put on my dumb and dumber tux
for the arrival.

My last morning in Bangkok I spent my last baht and bought some tiger balm before going to the airport where I waited about 4 hours for my flight to Hong Kong. After a short wait in Hong Kong I got on my 13 hour flight to L.A where I spent the night in the airport before my 6am flight got delayed to 10am. From there I flew to Phoenix where I had to wait a few more hours before catching my flight to the final desination; Houston.
It was so nice to be off planes and know that I was going to see some friends and just relax for some days.
The next few days consisted of hanging out with Morgan, Andy, and friends. I spent quite a bit of time relaxing by the pool and reading/listening to music, catching up on Entourage 3 and watching playoff basketball; GO PISTONS!!!!!

My first reaction coming back to the US is that is seems everyone is walking around with their cell phones connected to their ears and it also looks like they are all trying to get through the day. Obesity stands out like a nun in a whore house. It will take some time to readjust.

Morgan, Andy and I made a trip to Galveston to hang out on the beach for a day and followed it up with a concert to see Bob Schneider; I love concerts.



This is my close view of the stage at the Bob Schneider
concert; there is nothing like a live concert!!!!


After more lazy days where half of them consisted of talking on the phone to people I haven't had much contact with in the last year; after not having a cell phone for so long it feels a bit like handcuffs where anyone can find you at anytime. Of course you don't have to answer the phone, but we all know that when the caller knows you have a phone and you don't call them back then there is them getting upset with you. I made a lot of homemade meals. It's hard to eat out and pay 10 times more for a meal than I was paying in Asia and know you aren't getting something as fresh or as tasty for that matter (just my opinion, buy it's my page so everything is obviously my opinion)
I had a day out with Morgan and her friends which consisted of drinking bottomless mamosas (orange juice and champagne). It was a long day which made a not so great next morning, but well worth it and good fun the day before.
Once Andy was finished with his finals and let his mind clear, we began creating a new song (yes, we have old songs, we know were working on our fifth).

This is Dave singing (who the song-Open your eyes- is about)
and Andy working the studio controls. I was taking a break.

Finally the day came where my parents arrived. My great uncle Lou from NYC (previously mentioned in a past blog) drove down with them for our almost 2 week road trip. It was great to see them and after 15 minutes with them I was caught up on a years worth of news and it was as if no time had passed; still great to see them.
We all decided to head out for the night to the Greyhound race track where they had 50 cent hot dogs and tap beer and $1 margaritas. That along with dogs running, fat girls screaming, my dad and uncle Lou trashtalking about their bets at the dog races and the reuniting with Juan R (a friend from when I lived here) made for a great night. Congrats to Juan who is now engaged!!

This is the motley crew focused on a race hoping to win
some big bucks. My dad picked a top three the first race
and won 30 cents; we're all high rollers in my family, not just me.


Saturday, the 18th. The road trip with Mom and the Lou's begins. First stop:Corpus Christi.
During this time I have to rethink who is married, but remember it is my mom and day. But hearing the friendly bickering between my dad and uncle Lou you would question it. The good part about this is it makes everyone laugh and makes for good entertainment for the most part.
After stopping for breakfast at a place where they had no coffee and no bread in a little podunk town we made our way down to Corpus where we saw and stayed with my cousin Aaron and his daughter Kailyn (Jaclyn was out of town). During our stay we ate a lot, discussed nothing I talked about during my trip (or very little); politics and things that lately I find to be trite and very unimportant for myself. We hung out and swam at the beach. Walked around and caught up with the parents. Went to town and enjoyed the views of the harbor. Played some chess and bar shuffle board with Aaron; he won overall at chess and I at shuffle board.
At the beach: from left to right: Dad, Mom, Me (ah, back at the beach),
Uncle Lou (that's his name, if you meet him, that's what you call him).
Aaron and Kailyn. Good times, 4 out of 6 got burned.

We our now heading out to our next destination: San Antonio.


Let me introduce you to my parents. If it wasn't for them
getting freaky 28 years ago, I wouldn't be here and you wouldn't
have this blog to read; so we are all thankful for them.
Also, if it wasn't for their support for whatever ridiculous plans
I have, I don't know if I would have had the great adventures
that I have had and will continue to have; so to my parents:
THANK YOU!!!

As far as Uncle Lou goes: he keeps reminding me that I ate bugs during my trip, so today will be the day that I eat his famous peanut butter and sweet onion on wholewheat bread sanwich;
I'll let you know how it is in the next blog; if I remember.

Aaron and Kailyn...and Jaclyn, thanks for having us and letting us run wild through your house and neighborhood, and I always love torturing Kailyn, you know, anyone who can't defend themselves.




“Home is not where you live, but where they understand you”
I found this quote, but to be honest I haven't found anywhere where anyone understands me.
Well, here and there some do.



“Everybody knows how to raise children, except the people who have them.”

P. J. O'Rourke

This was a team pick of a quote by the group here.
I'm out!!!

#72 I have to pass this story on, why could it end normal?

As you know if you read the last blog, I got out some money for my last days in Bangkok and went to get some massages. First, was a Thai massage. This lady twisted and cracked me like never before. Granted, I had been traveling in a bus for 3 days, so everything was tight and needed it. I kept thinking of those police movies where someone is taken into a room to be questioned and when they get out looking black and blue they tell that they were worked over pretty good. Well, I got worked over by a little thai lady for 2 hours and would have definately given up any information had she asked for it.

A little rest, sweet and sour pineapple chicken rice, vegetable steamed rice, two fruit smoothes, a skewer, some spring rolls, a candy bar and some chocolate drink during a couple of hours and I headed back for a oil massage.

My thinking was- "I'll get the latest possible slot for an oil massage and then relax so much that I'll go to bed right after"
When I arrived at 9, I saw my butch lady there ready to give me a massage. I was told she was strong. (strong is good). She gave me a towel which is when it crossed my mind that I didn't have any underwear on. (It had all been dirty for a while, so I'd been going comando). I did have laundry done, but haven't picked it up yet, I figured it was better to do here than when I arrived with Andy and Morgan in Houston and first off asked them if I could do laundry and then told them that I'm happy to sleep where ever but I will be naked.

"Chicks dig me because I rarely wear underwear and when I do it's something unusual"
-Bill Murray in the movie "Stripes"- great flick.

It didn't matter in the end because after handing me the towel she told me to get naked.
To be honest I don't know what the towel was for because after about 5 minutes in she pulled in completely off. I'm not sure if it was because it was a little dark in the room and she wanted my white ass to help illuminate it or what. Well, at least I'm on my stomach, no big deal.
She was as strong as they come, I could hear and feel her arm bone and elbow grinding against my ribs through my back muscles.
Then when she worked on my legs if I got a little relaxed she would tap the spot just between my scrotum and my holy hole which would make me yell, followed up by her laughing. (just wrong). I think she was trying to detach my leg muscles from any thing holding them in place and when I would laugh in pain, she would laugh with enjoyment.
When she turned me on my side I could feel air getting in everywhere it hadn't got to before, yep, I was exposed and she didn't care. I have to give it to her, she was a woman on a mission, to massage with more pressure then I've ever felt and to have me feel like she owned me.

My younger sister Beth is on a proffesional women's football team, the Santa Rosa Scorchers and this lady would have been a good asset for that team (Beth, I can get her contact info if you want). If you want to follow their season or try to get to a game the website is: http://www.srscorchers.com/ Beth has a girl on her team named A-train who is quoted as saying, "We will be eating Cherrioes out of their skulls on Sunday morning".

My lady kept calling me King Kong, saying I was big and hairy; I'm not saying that's not true.

Needless to say, I never fell asleep and it wasn't what I had invisioned. She got knots out and I did wake up much more sore than I was when I went in, but I have to run now because I have one more appointment before I head to the airport.

Also from Bill Murray in Stripes there is a song he sings:
"One of these days everything that I want is gonna be mine, but if it ain't it will be alright as long as there's sunshine and a big old brew".

#71 Last stop in Vietnam, last stop with my little chiquita, too many buses and how to finish?

This is the motley crew from the days bike tour which

continued with a few drinks, into dinner, after dinner drinks

and late night drinks which made for a fun and interesting

night!!!! (Steve (me), Sarah (little one), Michelle (my belle),

and Son (our tour guide and a good man))

The last real stop I made in Vietnam was in Nha Trang which is a city on the coast. It is a big holiday spot for Vietnamese as well as foreigners and since we chose to arrive on the busiest days of the year due to their national holiday of when the North army took Saigon in the war there were no rooms available in the city. (that was a very long sentence, I'm sure corrections could be made, but I'm not going to.) The few rooms that were available were way out of our price range considering we had been paying between $3-$5 each for a night. After checking all around the city I went to a hotel and when he said they were full I asked if we could just throw some mattresses somewhere for the night. He then lead us up 6 floors to the roof where the laundry was hanging to dry and said we could sleep there on floor mats, $1 each. DONE.

Me on my floor mat on the roof of the hotel, notice the

plants in the background; and they said there were

no toilets up there.

We wandered around the city our first night, got some delicious food and found a local baguette sandwich stand for a good price where over the next 3 days we ate over 25 between the 3 of us.

The following morning I called Son, who I had met a few weeks earlier while he was giving someone a trip around the same parts that I was traveling around. The girls and I decided to do a day trip around the Nha Trang area with Son and his compadres. We saw the local aquarium, different temples and went to a home where they make mats. We all got to try our hand at making the mats; not too hard, just time consuming. We had a lot of laughs with our tour guides who were nicknamed Lady boy, koo koo, and Ugly. After our half a day tour we decided to spend some quality time on the beach swimming and resting before meeting up with Son later on.

At about 6 we met up with Son at a locals place where we got a big, cold pitcher of beer for $.75. After a few of those we headed to a restaurant on the street where we ordered some fresh caught squid while continuing to drink our cheap beer. After dinner we went back to our local bar and got others to join us for a card drinking game. We got most of the bar to join in for our group cheers, which consisted of "Mot, Hai, Ba....YO!!!!!" This translates to 1,2,3...YO!!!!

We were told at the restaurant and the bars we were at to quiet down.

After closing this place down we headed to a bar on the beach were I tried to sneak in to avoid the entrance fee and got chased out by a group of security, I would have been fine if Son wasn't soo drunk at this point. We finally paid to get in and began dancing and drinking until they closed the doors and we were finally on our way home. I was ready to go back and sleep on my roof which I'm sure was the biggest space in the hotel, with the best view and for the cheapest. Little Lane came to join me up there utnil we went down to their room to use the bathroom and sleep in a bed for a while. I woke up after a few hours to go up and grab my shorts which had been moved along with most of the money that was in my wallet. I haven't had any money stolen on this trip until Vietnam and there twice, so my cheap roof turned out to be not so cheap, still a good story though.

The next day we didn't do much, laid around, ate a lot and walked around until we met up with the girls friend and a big group of her friends. We were right back where we left off the night before.

The next morning bright and early I said goodbye to My belle and My Little One, Sarah.

I have spent time in 4 countries with these two and have gotten pretty close with Sarah and we have a lot of great stories and times together.

This is Sarah and I on our big night out. She may be small,

but has a strong personality and a big attitude. Oh little one,

where in the world will we meet again? I hope you enjoyed

your time with me as much as I did with you.

George Eliot

"Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away."

I then left bright and early on an 11 hour bus trip down to Saigon where I got a big salad buffet and went to sleep only to wake up early and get an 8 hour bus to Phnom Penh where I went out to eat, wrote my last blog and went to bed, once again, only to wake up early to get a 15 hour bus to Bangkok. I am now sick of buses!!!! I read a lot and listened to a lot of music in that time. One day I only listened to all the mixes Mags made me before I left on the trip (thanks again Mags!!!)

When I arrived in Bangkok I got a room, got a big milk, some Chow Mein and then a massage before falling quickly to sleep.

The next morning (this morning) I had a big choice to make. I had enough money to pay for the room, eat cheap food and get out of here tomorrow evening without getting any more money out. Or, I could take out a little bit of money, eat like a king, get massages, and buy a few things before leaving. I have now eaten 3 meals today and had a two hour thai massage, AND am going back for a oil massage in a couple of hours. I will get at least another 2 before getting on my plane tomorrow night. Like booger says in the movie "risky business"- "sometimes, you gotta just say fuck it!!!"

I can't write anymore for tonight so I will save some thoughts for more blogs to come. I'm a bit confused with how I feel about heading back to the US. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and family though.

John Schaar

The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created--created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them, changes both the maker and the destination.

“In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title. Do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours.”

Ayn Rand quotes (Russian born American Writer and Novelist, 1905-1982)

#70 Out of Hoi Ann which I loved and meeting up with the little one again to do a familiar route.

Me and my bike on one of my many bike rentals trips. To rent a Motorbike in most places in SE asia shouldn't cost any more then $5, and it is great to have a little freedom once in a while. (I realize saying that, that I've been traveling for quite a while with lots of freedom, so I guess it is freedom within freedom)

This blog is WAY overdue. It is the last stretch of this trip overseas so I have been on the move and enjoying it without taking a break to hang out at a computer.

Hoi Ann turned out to be one of my favorite cities. I could easily live there for some time. Beautiful little city center, very friendly people, 10 minutes from a clean, big beach and cheap, delicious food. I spent a bit of my time with a Kiwi couple I met going to the beach, dinner and out for 12 cent draft beer (beer hoi). I made some friends with some of the locals that sold different foods or rented bicycles or that I would just see frequently in the city.

I met a girl from the US who has been living all over the US out of her car who I found very intriguing. For one reason, I wouldn't picture someone who has been based out of their car to be wearing the same retainer they got when they were 15 when they are now 30. (GREAT TEETH though to prove that all of us who got braces should still be wearing ours)
Anyways, she and I rented a motorbike for a day to go explore small local villages nearby. We also stopped in a neighboring city to see a temple of a religion that is a combination of all religions and I can't think of the name right now, but it was quite interesting.

As you can see in the picture it includes those figures

from many different religions. The saying along with

it translates to "all religions have the same purpose"

It was hard to say goodbye to Hoi Ann, but after almost a week it was time to go. If you remember from other emails there is a little english girl, Sarah, who I've met up with a couple of times in India and then in Thailand and Laos who had just arrived to Saigon. I departed Hoi Ann on a 25 hour trip back to Saigon and had a lazy day with Ms. Lane before Michelle (aka-my belle) arrived the following day. The 3 of us then headed to MuiNe beach to get some sun and some cheap massages on the beach. We found our favorite restaurant where I began my week long attempt to eat all the squid I could get down. The 3 of us went out on a motorbike one day to see the local fishing village and get some local food away from the tourist area. We ended our day at the red sand dunes watching the sun go down. The woman who spoke no english and ran our guesthouse here always would slap me and be quite violent with me as a sign of liking me, I laughed at first and then flinched everytime I was around her after, she was sweet though.

Sorry about it being sideway, but if you tilt your head to

the left, you can see it perfectly. Your other left.

This is at the red sand dunes as the sun is going down.

( I realize other things stand out in this picture other than the sand and sun)

We then headed to the mountains to Dalat where it is cooler for sleeping, mountainous surroundings and good food. I rented a motorbike on my own one day to get out to the mountains and country. (I've rented a lot of bikes on this trip) While enjoying some fresh pineapple and strawberry popcicle like things on the side of the road I had a larger vietnamese man with a big smile and few teeth in his smile approach me. After telling him my name and where I was from I asked him his name. " Long " he said and then made a fist with his right hand and held it out towards me. After looking at it I didn't know if he wanted to me give him a pound on his fist or what. Then he said "long" again and shook his fist. I saw a little scar on his finger but was still confused. Once he realized I was confused he said "long" and then looked at his fist, only then realizing that it was on his other hand that he had "LONG" tattood across his four fingers. It was great to get out of the city and get some fresh air, see farmers at work and enjoy the views and atmosphere. On my way back to the city I had a little old man wave me down for a ride back to the city. He jumped on the back of the seat and then instead of holding onto the seat like most do, he wrapped his little arms around me and held me tight. I tried to imagine that he was a gorgeous girl on the back to make it better. Quite a few time when I've been with little lane during my trip we've done bike rides and I don't think there are many things better than driving with the wind, seeing a new place with a girl you like sitting behind you with her arms wrapped around you, holding on half for safety and have just to be holding on.

Either way, as much as I tried to imagine this old guy as something else it didn't work, but I was still happy to give him a ride back to town.

From Dalat we headed to Bon Ma Thout where we were given all the stuff to make springrolls at a restaurant and we had to put them together which was good fun.

Motorbike quotes:

Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul.

“Faster, faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death...”

– Hunter Thompson

“You start the game with a full pot o’ luck and an empty pot o’ experience... The object is to fill the pot of experience before you empty the pot of luck.”

#69 Easy Rider trip, then on my own where no english is spoken, but general love is. dropping some dinero

This is the kind of hotel that I NEVER stay in,
however, this IS the kind of hotel that I would
go and use their pool and take advantage of any
other amenities that I could get away with.
(this isn't a bad thing is it?)


I left Da Lat on my easyrider trip for a couple of days. My driver was a veteran from the war and knew about the areas along with history of the war including areas that were crucial strategic areas for both sides. I knew and still know very little about the war, but it was very interesting to hear it from someone who saw it first hand. This is a perfect entry to write in the entry #69 spot because Mr. Hien, my driver would talk about how at first the simple people who were fighting with the americans didn't want to listen and were reserved about dealing with them. That is of course, until the americans offered them cigarettes, playboy magazines and told them about there favorite game called 69. Mr Hien couldn't tell these specific stories enough, I had to hear them in some form or another every few hours. It was great to be on the back of a motorbike and go through the central highlands which were absolutely beautiful. We spent the days passing through the mountains past rivers, waterfalls, farms, and seeing the bare hills that after 30 years still can't grow anything due to the agent orange dropped there.

One stop was a little place called Lake Lak which we saw a local minority tribe who when they buried their dead, they put a feeding hole in the coffin from the persons mouth to the top of the coffin so that people can feed them through this feeding hole for two years once they were buried.
Another highlight of the trip was stopping at this park with multiple waterfalls and one of them we could walk behind and go to stand under it which felt like a massage. I can't get pictures up on this computer, which is why you have to deal with the two I took off google.

When my easy rider man dropped me off I took a bus to a town in the middle of the country called Kon Tum. Here, no one spoke english and I didn't see another tourist while I was there. I played some ping pong and got my butt kicked by these older men. I thought I may have calmed down on some of my competitiveness during this trip, but that is not the case; I hate losing and it put me in a mood; I wanted to break something. (those who know me well, can picture this I'm sure) After my time pointing to things and battling to ask a few questions I took a bus the next day to Hoi Ann.
These two bus rides were in mini buses (we would call them big vans). Nobody in these spoke a lick of english, but that didn't stop them from talking to me. The vietnamese words would flow, they knew I didn't understand, they just didn't care. On one of the rides I had a tiny little old man sitting in front of me who wore a top hat. He had a big smile and would turn around and hold my hand (which amounted to about an hour of handholding) and talk to me. At one point he offered me a sugar cube, how could I refuse.
I am now in Hoi Ann, which is a beautiful city on the coast. I spent my first day in tailor shops ordering clothes (yeah, doesn't sound like me; I felt like Bracken if you know who she is). I spent what's a lot of money for me, but got some cool stuff. (those of you who are about my size and can wear my stuff will want to borrow some of it), I walked all around town, then biked around town and hung out at my hotel pool (I'm in a dorm for $5 and get to use the pool) a bit talking to an 89 year old guy who would wants to live here if he could get his sports channels and CNN to watch Larry King. He also told me I was a neat person (not in the way of eating or cleanliness).


This is a jack fruit, I've eaten quite a bit of it. Fresh, it's a bit sweet, so you can't eat too many at one sitting, but dried and crunchy.....get in my belly!!!! a little about them:
The fruit is huge, seldom less than about 25 cm in diameter. Even a relatively thin tree (circa 10 cm) can have huge fruits hanging on it. The fruits can reach 36 kg in weight and up to 90 cm long and 50 cm in diameter. The jackfruit is the largest tree borne fruit in the world.
The sweet yellow sheaths around the seeds are about 3-5 mm thick and have a taste similar to pineapple but milder and less juicy.
The English name jackfruit derives from Portuguese jaca, which is derived from Malayalam chakka.

The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes "sight-seeing." ~Daniel J. Boorstin

#68 Saigon, windy beaches, flower capital of vietnam in the mountains, and always; cheap eats!!

The guy to the front left was my cyclo driver, the darker toned
guy plays soccer in Saigon I think, he's from Nigeria. The other
two including the one with his arm around me have been drinking
for hours and are quite drunk. This is the place to get cheap beer,
you sit along the wall and next to the curb; only the finest!!!!!


Alright, I've got a lot to try to remember and tell you. I spent my second day in Saigon on a cyclo. "What is a cyclo?" you are probably asking yourself. Let me tell you. I sit in the front of this bike in a comfortable seat while this old man is standing behind me, peddling this 3 wheeled bicycle. During the Vietnam/American war the southern Vietnamese fought with the Americans and when the war was over many of these soldiers who at one time may have been teachers, lawyers, doctors or had other accomplished careers, weren't allowed their licenses back or allowed to ever own property, so many of them are in the big city and drive cyclos.

My first stop was to a market that sold lots of old war stuff, cantenes, pictures, dog tags, jackets and such. It was like going to a museum at the same time. It was a strange feeling being an american and going into this place for obvious reasons. I then saw many other parts of the city and learned what locals pay for certain things like meals, water and basic things that in the touristy part of the city prices are upped. I got the feeling very quickly that Vietnamese love money. The world likes money granted, but the vietnamese love money like Trick Daddy loves sugar. I spend the rest of the day walking around all the different areas of the city and checking out the locals spots. As I sat in the evening on the curb with locals who spoke no english and drank the cheapest beer in town with them I really felt like an accomplished traveler. I then had dinner on another curb with a bunch of construction workers and then taught me the names of the local foods that filled me and cost me less than 1/2 a dollar.

The next morning, Adam (the bug guy) and I headed north to Da Lat which is up in the mountains and is the place that many Vietnamese go for their honeymoons. It really was a beautiful area with a lake in the center that has a 7km path around it. There is a central market that has many of fresh vegetables and any thing else you'd want. (this area specializes in vegetables so I had a vegetable dinner, it was great!!) The following day after walking around the lake and town it rained all day so we rested up and took it easy only going out for meals.

This was the group that did the 140 km trip from Da Lat to Mui Ne, Mountains to Beach.

The following day Adam, myself, and another 3 people we met did a mountain bike trip from the mountains to Mui Ne beach. We were transfered the first 30 km out of town to a not so busy road in the mountains. From there we road downhill for a good 25-30 km which was awesome as well as dangerous if you down hit the breaks before the 162 degree turn around the edges of the mountain. As we road down we could see far off at the moutains and valleys below. We then hit flat ground and road for another 45-50 km before getting transported the final 30 to our destination at the beach.

In Mui Ne I woke up to see the sunrise and we all walked

the beach to see the sunset, this was our group for sunset.

In Mui Ne we took it pretty easy. The first day I got a massage on the beach (first one in Vietnam), layed in the sun, swam in the ocean (a new body of water for me to swim in), found a good restaurant, met some cool kiwis, and read some of my book before calling it a day. I rented a guy on a motorcyle to drive me around the next day to the famous sand dunes of the area (red and white), and to see all the fishing boats in the fishing village (imagine that), and the red canyon (very small, but very red)

This is the white sand dunes outside of Mui Ne,

beautiful huh? and my driver got it on the first try!!

I got back to Mui Ne to see Adam (who at this point I had traveled for 5 days with and we got along great) off as we went seperate ways. I headed back to Da Lat on a five hour trip on the back of a motorcycle with an easy rider. (my ass was sore!!!)

From Da Lat I went on a two and a half day trip with the easy rider which I will tell you in the next blog.

"If it's free, I'll have three!!" Adam told me this quote.

#67 Will we ever learn? Dark tour and farewell to Dave (papaya man)

No matter how much I complain about my transportation, it's never gotten this bad; and this isn't a one time thing, you see this everyday and for long journeys.

Dave and I left the beach and Alberto and headed north to Phnom Penh, our bus was normal full and had no air, so we were sweating Mrs. Balls (those on the Africa bus trip will get that). When we got there we found a nice backpacker right on the lake (there is a lake smack in the middle of town). I managed to try every food in the surrounding vicinity, my favorite (and probably the most unhealthy thing around) was the deep fried bananas; yummmmmm. That's basically all I did that day, well that and set up our busy touring next day, and oh yeah we watched a movie called "300" about spartans fighting a huge army of persians. It was entertaining, but a horrible ending in my opinion. In the evening, Dave and I sat on the deck of the guesthouse listening to music, sipping on a drink and watched the sun go down.

This was a plack (sp?) at the killing field, not sure if

you can read it, but if so, it's worth the read.

The following day, Dave and I got a tuk tuk for the day and headed to tour. Our first stop was the S-21 Museum which is where during the Khmer Communist genocide they would bring people to be tortured and jailed to get information about others. To see how they systematically tortured these people just made me sick to my stomach. After jail and being tortured they would be transported to the killing field (which was our next destination) where they were executed and put in mass graves. We found at that 17,000 were killed at this killing field before we found out that this was one of 400 killing fields around the country where somewhere around 2,000,000 in total were executed. They killed all the minorities, intellectuals, government people and all of their wifes, children and close family members worried that they would want revenge later. The executioners were normally between the ages of 12-16 because they were easier to brainwash.

The monument in the middle of the killing fields has all the skulls of victims that were dug up in this killing field. You can see in the skull holes and cracks that show where they were beaten to death. Towards the end of the khmer regime they wanted to save money on bullets so would club them over the head with bamboo sticks, clubs, hoes or butts of guns.

It amazes me that this happened not so long ago. It finished in 1979 when the Vietnamese came into Cambodia to put a stop to it. The worse part is to think that things like this still go on today in parts of the world; if only Cambodia and other countries had oil in their soil huh?

Seeing all the skulls and hearing the story made me think a couple of things. Obviously, just disgusted sick that this could happen, but also looking at all the skulls and bones make me think that in the end that's really all we are; worm food. With this, it made me more happy to be living my life how I want and reconfirmed the feeling of getting the most out of everyday and our short lived lives.

Now, what was possibly even worse than all of this was that when we left the killing field and were pretty speechless, our driver asked us if we wanted to go to a shooting range. (The last thing I want to do it hold a gun after that). "You can shoot ducks, or dogs or chickens if you want". What tourists would go and see and learn about a horrible genocide with millions of innocent people dying and then want to go and shoot helpless animals; their really, truly are some f*&^ed up people out there. "No thanks!!" was all we could muster. We then headed into the heart of Phnom Penh and drove along the riverside before checking out the two biggest markets in the city. At one we found a guy, Adam, from Hawaii who was looking at all the bugs you could eat. He wouldn't try one but really wanted to see someone eat them. Dave and I agreed that if he bought them, we'd eat them. Adam was so excited and reasoned that at home he pays $8 for a movie and here it's much more entertaining and live for a couple of bucks.

Here is with a Cockroach or something of that nature half way in the mouth. Really they all tasted like fried something or another.

(they've got nothing on my friend bananas though!!!)

We headed back to our guesthouse to relax and contemplate the day while relaxing on the deck again doing the same as the night before.

This morning I left Dave and headed to Vietnam on a nice 44 person bus. When I got on and found out that there were only 12 people on the bus, it was like winning the lottery. I sat in 8 different seats during the journey just because I could. I am now in Saigon (Ho Chi Mihn City) and saw Adam (bug guy) and he and a swiss guy on the bus and I got a great room to split.

My days our numbered... in Vietnam and this trip that is, not in my life because I'm going to live forever, not forever ever, but forever being a long time.

Seeing in not having eyes, it's having vision. -a line from a faithless song.

Martin Luther King: Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.