Da Bahamas

July 12, 2006

I know it’s been a long long time since I’ve updated this blog, but I’ve got a good excuse. I’ve been working. Working long hours. In fact, at points I was finding it difficult to find the time to wipe my butt properly let alone sit down and write.

But we’ve finished our second charter here in the Bahamas and now have a few days standby time, so here we go. On June 19^th we left Ft. Lauderdale for the Bahamas prior to which we worked hard preparing for the six week trip. Loading up the boat with the groceries and supplies was no small feat. I had to put my foot down when we ran out of storage space and I found some canned goods stored in my pillow case. I comprised and switched the cans for rolls of toilet paper and everything eventually found a home. Now the only problem is remembering where we stowed everything!

It was a slow cruise and the crew (Captain Pierre, Chef Chris, Stewardess Carolyn and I) paired off for watches for the better of the 19 hour journey. We anchored outside the Cay of Spanish Wells. Spanish Wells residents are very proud of their island which as the name implies was founded by the Spanish and not much has changed culturally since. It’s primarily caucasion and more or less survives on the fishing business.

Once the tide came up we were set to yank the anchor and meet our pilot who would guide us through a narrow and shallow channel into the Spanish Wells Marina. I went off ahead in the tender to meet the pilot “A-1”, a colorful character with a heavy Bahamian accent who grew up fishing the Bahamas and now makes a very good living driving his 15 foot dingy and guiding yachts through the maze of reefs and extremely shallow depths. He’s is also a great guy to know if you want fresh conch, stone crab, grouper, etc. delivered straight to your door. And we now know he really likes Oreos and can recite the capitals for all 50 United States. And he will, like it or not.

The next day was nice as we had a day to relax. We enjoyed it which was good because it would be awhile before we’d get another. We took the tender and went for a snorkel on a ship wreck and then found a great beach and stopped to check out the natural cave just inland from the beach. It’s quite large and must have made a relatively comfortable home for Jacob Sayle who was shipwrecked and took shelter there over 100 years ago.

The next day the “Whitaker” charter began.

Oopss! I stepped away. And now I’m having a hard time continuing so I’ll just pause here. Just a taste of the Bahamas. More to come…..

All Aboard the "Gloria's Sun"

Happy Memorial Day!

So after flying back to NJ for the weekend I picked up my new used car (which will easily be the sexiest car in Ft. Lauderdale) and drove 22 hours (with a two hour nap in SC) back down to Lauderdale. The drive down was uneventful except for getting pulled over by a SC Sheriff K-9 unit. How much circumstancial bullshit does it take to make a case? Well let’s start with being pulled over for “weaving” (apparently my slot car pin jumped out of the track). Then I was under suspicion because I had an air freshener in the car! And the final thing that clinched my guilt was that I was “acting nervous”. Question: who wouldn’t be a little nervous being pulled over in the deep south by some hick with a gun, mace, handcuffs and a big scary German Shepherd for no reason other than being a young (looking) male driving alone?!! Anyway it wasn’t any use in arguing with his airtight case. But I could exercise my constitutional right against illegal search, so I politely did. Of course, he said that he was going to use the dog and wouldn’t you know it, the dog “showed interest”! But I wouldn’t be surprised if they train the dogs to “show interest” every time to bypass our semblance of protection. Really, it’s quite possible. So right about now I’m wondering if the old man that had the car before me was a Glaucoma patient. I knew I didn’t have anything in the car, but I was praying the old guy didn’t have a secret stash tucked away somewhere. But the cops search turned up nothing and I drove away.
So I moved on to the Motor Yacht, “Gloria’s Sun”, named after the owner’s late mother. The crew quarters are pretty small and I do share them with Captain Pierre, but he spends most nights with his girlfriend so it’s not bad. So I’m settling in to the grind. We did an overnight charter for Michael’s (owner) Girlfriend’s son, Deshaun who turned 10. In the morning we cruised up the New River where I got to get a feel for driving the boat and docked. Then about 15 kids and 15 adults came aboard and the festivities began. As you can imagine they kept us busy. If I had put out a tip jar on the bar I would have had my best bartending night to date. Even with all the running around, in the end there were only 3 injuries, all minor.

Eventually they all left except for 4 of Deshaun’s friends who stayed for a sleep over. In the morning the Captain was sweating because he neglected to make reservations for brunch. He didn’t realize how big a deal “Mother’s Day” is in America (He’s French). But luckily we managed to get a table right before they stopped seating and had a really nice meal. Of course they charged twice the usual price because of the holiday, but Michael was buying so it was gratis for us. We spent the afternoon there and when high tide came in the evening we ventured back home.

So we spent the next week doing what we do, maintaining the boat. Not much of interest to share there. I’ve gotten back into working out: either biking, running or using the elliptical machine on board. I’m keeping an eye on the wave forecast because I sure would like to get some surfing in soon, but South Florida might as well be on a lake. I’m considering buying a kite surfing rig!

Right now Pierre is on vacation in France so I’ve already made it to “Captain”, well “Acting Captain”. Not bad only one week into the gig. I thought it was going to be a really quiet time, but I’ve only be alone on the boat a total of one day so far. This thing is as popular with Michael’s friends as a Holiday Inn. No sooner does someone leave when someone else shows up. But it’s all good.

Just before Pierre left he took me to one of Michael’s clubs, Pure Platinum, “a Gentleman’s Club”. A really nice one. We got the VIP treatment and didn’t pay for a thing (lap dances included) which is good cause you could easily blow your retirement savings there in a night.

So right now I’m working through my list of jobs at a relaxed pace and enjoying some leisure before things start heating up. In ten days we are doing a 4 day charter to Miami for Mo Williams, a Minnesota Vikings Football player. Then right after that we are doing a ten day charter to the Bahamas. The car is registered and tagged in Florida and interestingly you don’t need an inspection or smog check here. Maybe it’s because the plethora of Lamborghinis and Ferraris would have a hard time passing the emissions test!

So it’s Memorial Sunday and the beaches were packed, the water is warm and right this instant I’m drinking a beer in honor of all the men and woman, past and present serving our country, especially those unnecessarily in harms way this very day. Here’s to them and you……Cheers! (And I don’t have to say it’s not Busch Beer, although wouldn’t it be nice if we could piss out Bush and flush it down the toilet!)

Jumping Ship, or rather, Tossed Overboard

Jumping Ship, or rather, Tossed Overboard

Life is a series of continuous change and this applies to employment also. Friday morning I was blindsided and got the boot. Hans was happy with my work and couldn’t offer any constructive criticism for me to work on. In the end the only reason they gave for letting me go is because I didn’t have the right experience to take the owners/children/grandchildren fishing on the 31 ft. Jupiter and 18 ft. Flats boat.

OK. I can’t really argue, sport fishing is not my forte. But they knew this going into the job. Thus I can only assume that I was used to fill a spot which they needed filled right away for the Bahamas trip and it wasn’t going to be a permanent position at all. Pretty lame! Or maybe it was because I’m a vegetarian and the owners are the biggest hog and turkey farmers on the east coast?! It doesn’t really matter now. It would have been better if they been upfront about it. Then I could have had my resume floating about and working on a contingency plan for the end of the trip. But now the window of opportunity is all but closed for getting on a boat headed for the Mediterranean as most have already left on the crossing.

C’est La Vie! It was a good experience and now it’s time to look forward and move on.

So now I’m back down in Ft. Lauderdale, back at Neptune House. There is a ton of daywork available which is good. But that isn’t exactly what I’m looking for. There are still some permanent positions available from what I hear so all is not lost. I just have to get out there and drum up some business. Time to update the resume and get out there to rub elbows…….

Well the kids and the grandkids arrived. I should mention that they arrived by their private jet. The first bunch is Jon and Janet and their children: Katelin (13), Ben (10), Bill (10) and Vanna (8). This would be the group staying on the boat. Later on in the day the next group arrived. Scott and Joy and their three young ones: Max (10), Billy (7) and Stephanie (5). They would stay in a $300/night hotel room a few hundred yards away from the boat.

Due to the weather last week, poor Zach only got to do one day of Bone fishing which is his favorite, but since his family left the weather has improved a lot. Incidentally, the Bahamas is supposed to have the best Bone fishing in the world. I can’t comment. I had never seen a Bone-fish and still haven’t. But apparently they are 5-10lbs and give one hell of a sporting fight when hooked. It’s a catch and release fish though, not very good for eating. Another day the guys went for Yellow Tail and did rather well, reeling in 33 fish. They are eating fish and made for a tasty dinner!

So anyway, since the weather had gotten nice it seemed like things would be a little easier for us crew. Not in reality though. There is a beach and a pool here. The problem is that it’s not a short walk to the pool or the beach. Now little kids drink a lot and so do moms and dads on vacation, not to mention lunches. And guess who gets to carry the coolers out to them. You guessed it, yours truly. I guess it’s better than blowing my money on a gym membership! And I should have never told them I worked behind a bar. Luckily we had “Bahama Mama” mix on board!

So between all the standard boat work and the drinks, lunches and fishing we were kept pretty busy, but that’s o.k. The Bahamas are nice, the water is beautiful, but if you don’t have a boat to yourself for things like fishing, snorkeling and island hopping it can be a pretty (well let’s not say boring) relaxing place. The night life, in spite of the live music (usually a one man band) is extremely tame. In the future there is one bright spot though. There actually is some decent surf here. The most consistent spot is a place called “Garbonzo” on Elbow Cay. “Charlie don’t surf!”, but Captain Hans longboards so next time I’m bringing a board and it’s on! And one way or another I’m making time for some diving although it’s so shallow here that you can probably put away the tanks and take a deep breath for a free dive. Or you can just snorkel. And it is quality snorkeling.

It’s also a great place if you’re into big game fishing. While we were there they started the Bahamas Billfish Championship fishing tournament. It’s a week long contest with a million in prizes available for those catching the best selection of 500-600+ lb White and Blue Marlins and Spearfish. I put out my line and as it was being yanked out of my hand thought I had the winner, but that jellyfish got the better of me ;)

As I mentioned it’s a great place to island hop if you’ve got the transportation (boat, no bridges here). One place I got to was Hope Town, which was quaint with beachy blue, sea green and white washed buildings and picturesque beaches that could be straight out of a Corona advertisement. But I wouldn’t suggest importing a car here. There is a 50% duty on the blue book value. Ouch! I guess that’s why you see a ton of golf carts.

So on April 19th we prepared the boat for leaving and ~3pm left the marina for a 1 hour trip to anchor up outside of Man ‘O War Cay for the evening. There we had a nice jumbo shrimp dinner and then a peaceful evening until around 2am when I was awoken by Hans. The wind had switched 180 degrees so we had to pull the anchor, move the boats and reset. After that, all was quiet and on the 20th , after sunrise we pulled anchor again to set sail for Florida through the blue-purple waters and rolling ground swell with the owners aboard and the 31 ft. Jupiter in tow. Next stop West Palm Beach.

The conditions were pretty good for the trip. Part of the time there were 4-5 ft. swells but the boat soaked them up well and after a 16 hour sail we were once again tied up at Old Port Cove.

We called our information in to customs and then went to bed. The next morning we had to go to customs for the mandatory check-in. But this gave us plenty of time to offload the 30 Bahamian illegal aliens, 6 crates of Cuban cigars and 80 kg of cocaine. WHAT A JOKE!! There is a $50,000 fine for not checking in with Customs, but the fact is they didn’t even know we were gone and it doesn’t exert one ounce of security doing things this way. But the beaurocrats know what they are doing, right? Yeah, wasting their employee’s time, our time and our tax dollars!! It’s great to see the government in action; playing up the fear factor so they can erode our personal rights and then doing absolutely nothing to actually sure up our borders and protect us! Don’t get me started!

Anyway, we are back safe and sound. The next trip is slated for sometime in June. There is talk of Mexico, but Mrs. P. isn’t really into that so we’ll have to wait and see……

The Bahamas

Well, I wish I had something really cool to report to you, but the truth is that the weather has continued to be rather bad. The temperature is in the mid 70’s, but it’s been windy most of the time with rain coming and going constantly. So all in all we’ve been mostly hunkered down on the boat.

I’ve gone swimming a couple of times. Took a quick boat ride, but turned around due to rough conditions. I poked my head into some shops. But mostly it’s been a lot of time to just relax. The good news is that there really isn’t much work to actually get done. And the family are all very nice people.

Today I spent a few hours trying to hunt down lobster tails for dinner. Surprisingly though, there are none to be had. The season is over and after checking with the only two places that can legally import them at this time I found that they have had a horrible lobster season. In fact, they had a shipment to export for Florida three days ago and they were short so they pulled all the tails in town from the retail stores and sent them too. I guess we will have to be satisfied with the huge Stone Crab Claws we ate the other night.

Ron, Cindy and their son Zach are leaving tomorrow and the next crew will arrive. We are all praying for the weather to turn around. Not so much for our fun factor. More for our sanity. The next crew is bringing along 7 grandchildren so if the weather doesn’t allow for getting them outside on the beach we are in for a long week.

Coming Up
Well, a quick update until I catch up: The kids have come and gone, the weather has improved dramatically, we’ve convinced the owners to chill for a few more days and we found some lobster tails afterall…..

(a few pics have been added)

On To The Boat

So it’s Monday morning and I’m up at 5:30 am to drag myself to the bus stop which takes me to the central terminal where I connect with another bus which takes me to the Tri-rail Train Station for my ride up to West Palm Beach.

I arrived at Magnolia station around 8:30 where Captain Hans Steiger picked me up. We drove to Old Port Cove where the “Marsha Kay” is docked. There I met Janna the boat’s stewardess and I got the “50cent tour” as Hans calls it. Then I got right to work polishing stainless steel and aluminum fittings, railings, winches, horns, bells, whistles, etc…. When you have a 118ft. floating luxury home to take care of, a lot of the time is spent clearing away the water and salt. It ain’t glamorous, but the boat is and it’s a living.

As it turns out, the one and only crew house in West Palm is booked up and with nothing else readily available it was decided that I would be staying on the boat. Which works out well, since I don’t think West Palm’s bus system is nearly as comprehensive as Ft. Lauderdale’s. Not to mention that the boat is stocked with food and drink, a hot tub, satellite TV, bicycles and marina WiFi internet (although it seemed to be down for the first two days and then the signal is weak and requires an external antenna).

So after my first day of working on the boat, Hans and Janna took off for home and I took one of the bicycles for a spin around. Not really much around that I saw, at least nothing interesting. Just the usual stores and restaurants. I don’t think West Palm is going to turn out to be nearly as fun a spot as Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. But who knows, it’s too early to tell.

The rest of the week was spent working on getting everything set for the Bahamas trip. Replacing the reverse osmosis water purifying membranes (each of which is probably worth the price of a small car) and UV light, shopping for food and bait, other mainly mundane actions and also washing down the 33ft. Jupiter and taking it for a test spin. This turned out to be a real good idea because although things were fine a cruising speed, one of the twin Mercurys started overheating at idle. So the day before we are about to leave we sent it to get checked out and lo and behold the mechanic forgot to replace a cam. Just left it out! Once all the pieces were in place it was good as gold.

So the eve of our departure is upon us. It’s closing in on quitting time and we are reinstalling the osmosis membranes when we realize that they sent us a hose which was much to short. Luckily we still had the old hoses and their guy was able to install the new fittings on an old hose that was still in good condition. Close call and down to the wire, but with this job finished we are ready to roll.

Hans and Jenna go home to chill for a few hours before they come back around 11pm. Also coming along to give a hand is the Dave the captain of “Magic” based in Lauderdale. We go about the business of securing and readying everything for the 16 hr ride across the pond. After the hoses, landline power cables and communications cables are stowed it’s time to untie from the dock and shove off.

Dave follows in the Jupiter and once we get to the port we come together and connect the Jupiter to its harness for a tow. All is accomplished without anyone going for a swim and we are off for the Bahamas. Hans takes us out to sea and then hands over the bridge to Dave and I for the first watch while he and Janna get some rest. It’s a pleasant night for cruising with only 1-2 ft. seas and light winds. Dave puts his Ipod into the docking station and is happy to answer my questions on what is what. Including a lesson on the use of the ARPA Radar. It’s a handy little tool that tracks the surrounding traffic and gives you all the pertinent information on their course. Including how close they will get and if you’re going to collide. In other words it takes the guess work out.

We did a three hour watch and handed the controls back over to Hans and Janna and I climbed into bed around 5:30am. I rose around 10:30am and found the Bahamas to starboard as we made our way around. Around 3pm we were close to our marina and so flew the appropriate flags and loosened the Jupiter to send Dave ahead to warn the locals of our impending arrival.

After tying up we went through the customs customs and I added one more stamp to my nearly full passport. Janna’s had a brand new virgin passport. So we made sure the customs official went slow and easy. But he wouldn’t buy her a drink, let alone dinner! Then it was down to business, washing down the boat. Luckily Hans is a hands on captain. He’s a good deligator, but isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. So it’s a big help to have us all washing down the boats even if the customs procedures did pull half of the team away for a significant amount of the time.

I was looking at the falling sun and deduced there wasn’t any way we’d been done before dark. Hans confirmed that when the order was given to put down the sponges and grab a beer. We relaxed for a bit, cleaned ourselves up and then took a walk to get some dinner at a good local restaurant. We started out with some delicious Conch Fritters. Hans and Janna went for the Cracked Lobster, Dave stayed with the Conch motif and I opted for the Tuna. Unfortunately I asked for my Tuna to be cooked Pittsburgh (still flapping) and they must not know what that is because it was way over done. But the peas & rice, mac & cheese, and plantains were very good.

After dinner we walked a little down the road and stopped into a bar with a live band, some very intoxicated (intoxicated, not intoxicating) dancing and at least one local who Dave slyly passed my way who wanted to talk politics and what not. Apparently they don’t realize here that there two things you’re not supposed to talk about in a bar: religion and politics! After putting a glazed look on my face and nodding with a bunch of “yeahs and hmms” he left us in peace in search of his next victim.

The next morning we got back to work cleaning the rest of the boat and the Jupiter as the owners (Bill & Marsha, their son (Ron), daughter in law (Cindy) and their son (Zach(16)) were due to arrive that afternoon on their jet. However, bad weather prevented them from making the trip. So the afternoon was relaxed and I got to go for a swim in what some people refer to as “green Jello”. And later we had the evening off to suck back a few brews in honor of Han’s birthday.

The next day the weather was pretty bad again. They flew to within about 10 minutes of the island and then had to turn around and land back in Ft. Lauderdale. They eventually made another trip and arrived around 4 pm. We cooked up dinner with Janna watching Nascar in the galley and the family watching golf in the salon. Everyone filled their bellies, we had a quick clean up and another day had gone by .….

Back to School

So this week it's "back to school" for me. Unfortunately, Will Farrell wasn't in the class to keep us entertained. All in all though it was worth it. The class was held at Maritime Professional Training (MPT) Center just a few blocks from where I'm living. And it is something that if you don't have it under your belt, then you're going to wind up missing out on about 80-90% of your job opportunities.

Besides that, it's just a good course to have as it does boost knowledge, confidence, and ability in dealing with emergency situations if they should occur.

Day 1 was about personal safety and survival: Learning about the various floatation devices, life jackets, survival suits, life rafts, etc.

Day 2 was spent at the pool putting the gear into action. Quite a funny site watching us in our "Gumby" suits (5mm fully enclosed wetsuits designed to boost survival time in freezing water from 10 minutes without, to 6 hours with.) jump into the pool from the 10ft. diving board and righting a life raft and climbing into it.

Day 3 was all about taking blood pressure ( I always wondered what those numbers represented), helping a choking victim with abdominal thrusts (formerly called the Hymlick) and learning/practicing CPR.

Day 4 was basic fire fighting information and technique in the classroom.

Day 5 things really heated up when we went out to the Broward Fire Academy and got to put ourselves to the test. Fortunately it was a fairly cool day, but there was still a serious dehydration factor as we were literally sweating buckets.

We got to extinguish a fire with, what else, but a fire extinguisher. Then we crawled around on our hands and knees in the pitch black through a maze as practice for our "Search and Rescue". Again in the pitch black we used our air respirators to crawl around through a smoke filled apartment to locate and retrieve a victim. It was no wonder the guy didn't make it out of the apartment on his own, he had no arms or legs!

The finale was a simulated ship fire. My three man team climbed up a container and then climbed down into it trailing the firehose. Checking the door for heat and undoing the dogs (latches) we entered the fire room. Tamed the fire to demonstrate the amount of steam/heat given off when the water hits it and then coaxed the smoke out the window by directing a stream of water out the window for what is called a hydraulic ventilation.

Having done all that we were now officially STCW-95 Safety Certified. Some of us made plans to meet later on for a drink at the QuarterDeck and afterwards I went with some of my housemates down to the beach clubs for a little birthday celebration. Spring break was in full affect which drove home my age. My Vancouverite buddy woke up in Miami. I woke up in my own bed.

In the class I met a Captain named Mike Palance and he had fished out of Holgate so we got to talking and knew some of the same people from LBI. He also knew a friend in West Palm Beach who was looking for a mate. He put us in contact with each other and after straightening out my phone number situation I had a meeting with Captains Hans of the 118ft. "Marsha Kay".
To make a short story shorter he offered me the job over a beer at Waxy's Pub and at the present moment he's looking for a place for me to live up in W. Palm Beach. Unfortunately they don't want anyone living aboard because they got burned by someone in the past who made off with some scuba equipment and a case of Dom Perrian. So as it turns out I'm probably gonna need some wheels. So now I'm just chillin and waiting for the background check to clear, hopefully that Fort knox robbery won't show up ;-) Hopefully I won't be up there any later than Monday since we are slated to head for the Bahamas April 7th and it would be nice to get familar with the boat and my duties.

I've added a few pics to the Ft. Lauderdale folder, have a peek.
Caio,DJ

Ft. Lauderdale

Well, after one month at home I started feeling some moss growing, so it was time for this rolling stone to hit the road again. I might as well keep my momentum going strong. So on March 12th Mom and Dad were dropping me off at Philadelphia Int'l Airport for my flight to Ft. Lauderdale where I would begin the next chapter of my life.

After a fully booked US Airways flight I arrived, retrieved my trusty backpack and made a call to "DJ", my propery management contact. She gave me an address to find and after a short cab ride I arrived at "Keystone House" and knocked on the door. "Who's there?", "Your new roomate." A cheeky Swede female opened the door and said "What are you selling?, We don't want any!" and the door closes. Later it was a friend of hers who was pelting me with a slip-on green oversized nerf Hulk fist which emitted a sound effect with each connected hit.

I quickly come to discover that these "crew houses" are a 50/50 blend of frat house and hostel. Maybe not the best situation for privacy or getting a lot of rest, but wonderful for networking and getting the skinny on the yachting industry which is exactly what I need. A truly international blend, I'm shacked up with Aussies, Kiwis, Brits, Frenchies and even an ?American??

In the morning I fall back into my standard modus operandi and take a walk around to get the lay of the land. Everything is conviently located: Supermarkets, fast food, shops, crew agents and the beach is two miles due east. The rest of the day I pump people for information and try to soak it all up. In the evening I got call from the property management saying that the bed I'm in is double booked and they'll need to move me out. Fortunately, I was able to ascertain that the absent roomy was currently doing a yacht delivery in the Bahamas. Secure in the fact that some guy isn't going to crawl into bed with me in the middle of the night I managed to stay put for the night.

Tuesday morning I was on my way to straighten out the living situation and about 40 ft. from the property management office when a guy stopped me and asked if I wanted work. "Can't hurt". Well that was a little short sighted. A six hour day turned into over a 10 hour day of trimming Maple and Palm trees. Scraped the hell out of myself and woke up the next morning very sore, but it did pay my rent for the week.

I never had a chance to straighten the living situation yesterday so in the morning that was first on the list. They wound up moving me into the "Neptune House" which is the first house they ever bought. It also is directly behind their office which is nice because I don't have go anywhere to pay rent and as they get calls for daywork I'm right there front and center. And as a bonus this house has two fridges, two computers and AC that works! And as a bonus bonus it is next door to "Floyds" which is a competing crew house, but draws employers every morning who are looking for day-workers. A perfect way to make a little dough and gain experience until something permanent comes along.

I had planned on just settling into the new house and recuporating from the previous day, but I wasn't there a half hour when they got a call looking for someone to do some waxing on a 65 footer. So I sucked it up and went for it. And so my yacht experience breaks out of it's embryonic shell and enters the real world. And to hasten my development I laid down a rather steep $900 intiation fee and signed up for the STCW-95 Basic Safety Traing course (5-day). An all but mandatory certification recently brought to bare on the industry by the powers that be. On the bright side, I do get to play with fire in the 2-day firefighting course and kiss a dummy(would it be politically incorrect for the dummy to have blonde hair??) in the CPR class!

After a year on the road and then working hard for two days, some rest was definately in order. I know, "what a Wus!". But after my first three days here I did meet my self imposed work quota for the week and felt I earned some time off. Which was good because it opened the door the next day to lounging on the beautiful Ft. Lauderdale Beach. So I went down with 2 stewardesses (Canada & Scotland) and watched them do their impression of rock lobsters while taking in the spring break sights and sounds as well as enjoying a nice swim. Oh, and to add a little extra flavor to the mix it was St. Patrick's Day. No, that green paint is not waterproof!! Of course we had to cap off the evening with a few pints at Waxy's Irish Pub.

So it's Sunday evening and the weekend has been mellow. I've been laying low because I gave birth to a wisdom tooth early this week which has been a real bitch. Luckily getting some rest, sucking down many aspirin, eating soft food and gargling twice an hour with Listerine has helped squelch the swelling. Hopefully the worst is over, at least until I get some dental insurance.

So tonight I have to get to bed early because tomorrow school starts......

Synopsis

In the immortal words of The Grateful Dead: "What a long strange trip it's been."

From gazing at the awe inspiring art in Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum (post-coffeehouse), to Paris's Mussee D'Orsay, Madrid's Museo de Prado, Barcelona's Picasso Museo and through to Rome's Vatican City.

Bearing witness to the ancient ruins of Rome's colossal Colosseo and Foro Romano, to Greece's Acropolis and Panthenon, to Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples in Cambodia.

Devastated by the genocidal memorials of Poland's Auschwitz and Birkenau and by the horrors of Cambodia's Killing Fields and S-21 torture facilities.

Impressed by the spiritually inspired creations of the Sacre Coeur overlooking Paris to Gaudi's Sagrado Familia in Barcelona. From Michaelangelo's canvased Sistine Chapel to the Dalai Lama's Buddhist temple in McCleod Ganj, India. And by the thousands of Wats (temples), Churches and Synagogues dedicated to Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, Buddha and the Hindu Gods.

Enticed into the water to bathe in the Mediterranean, Jet-ski in the Gulf of Thailand, skinny dip on X-mass eve in Cambodia, and float lazily down the Song River in an inner-tube sipping world class Beer Laos. Thrilled by the chance to learn scuba diving in Koh Tao and horrified by being left at sea while diving in Australia. From wishing I had a surfboard to catch the standing wave in Germany's Englisher Park Isar river, to taking my undersized short-board out in double overhead surf at Margaret River Main break and all along the expansive coast Western Australia.

But while seeing all these incredible things the one continually inspiring factor along the way were the fellow travelers I met. It was a genuine pleasure to make their acquaintances and I wish them all my best.

Yes, it has been a long (but not long enough), strange (wonderfully strange) trip. And I don't regret a single second!
Yours Truly,
DJ Wolinsky

A friend of mine who writes for a local newspaper asked me to give him a short summary of the trip. This just came out. For all those who don't have access to The Islander Newspaper, I share it with you.

The inevitable question one receives after returning from a year abroad is, "Are you glad to be home?". Honestly, I must answer that with a "NO!".

I'm glad to be able to see my family and friends, but it would be so much better if they were to come visit me abroad! Things are so much more interesting and alive while traveling. Also, one gets to meet more new friends than Ferris Bueller would accumulate over a lifetime. And every guesthouse Mom & Pop and every hostel Brother & Sister becomes a part of your extended family.

While away friends would tell me that nothing has changed back at home. Now that I have returned, I realize that they are right except that now there are more houses, more businesses and more traffic. I loved growing up on the NJ shore, but it will never be the same and that's a shame.

To anyone who cares to listen I implore you to travel. I was lucky and got away for a long period, but that doesn't really matter. Take whatever time you can put aside and get out there to explore. Forget the itinerary and timetables. Don't plan it all out. Just go and experience the wonderful moments as they occur in the present. You know, the present is a "present". The problem is that if you don't open up your present right away it's gone and you can't get it back. But then it's never too late to learn because there is always another one coming. On the road, if you are mindful, it's easy to enjoy one present after another. It's a parade of gifts and it is definately worth the effort.

After 36 years on this big blue globe, this past year traveling abroad has been the best one yet. Now the only question is "Where to next??". As soon as I come up with an answer I'll see ya on the road.....

Well my last stop on this world tour is infamous Pattaya. 24/7, 365 hedonism!! Enough said!

As they say in America, "What happens in Vegas, STAYS IN VEGAS!!!"

In that spirit I'm not gonna blog about it or post any pics with the exception of the attached pic which I think sums up Pattaya nicely. You'll just have to ask me about it in person. And maybe if you're lucky I'll share a few of the pics;)

So after 4 continents, 18 countries, 51 localities, 338 days and innumerable memories my trip like all good things (and bad) is coming to an end.

To all my family and friends at home, I look forward to seeing you again shortly.

To all my new friends I've met on the road, I hope to see you again someday. You are all an inspiration and I'll will treasure our times together. You all have a standing invite to visit me if you're ever in my neck of the woods.

Till we meet again, Farewell
DJ

VangVieng and southern Laos

So today it's Kirk's turn to be sick. That's 3 for 3. He was puking all the way down the street as we walked to get our bus tickets to Vang Vieng.We took a minibus to Vang and the scenery through the winding mountain roads was beautiful. Poor Kirk, he's not looking to well and was almost set off again when the pretty Laos Co-pilot got car sick. Along the way we got stopped for over 40 minutes at a police check point. Never did figure out why?

We eventually arrived around 3pm and tried to get into Riverside Bungalows, but they were booked up and had to go next door to ChampaLao Bungalows. That was fine 'cause they are closer to the cool spots and cheaper. There Duong told us how to avoid getting into trouble with the police and then we decided to immediately test out our new found knowledge.

You see the bars here are also Coffee Shops ala Amsterdam. So we sat down at The Smile Bar and had breakfast including a cup of Laos Coffee which is undrinkable Mud. Really horrible stuff! And then bought a bag of good "Coffee" to brew up. Much nicer.Ok, so I'll sum up the next few days: lying in hammocks, lying in tubes going down the river, lying in our bungalows, sitting around bonfires at night, chillin, relaxing and chillin some more. It's just that kind of place!!

The tubing is fun if a little slow at this time of the year. At some points it seemed like we weren't moving at all. But it's nice to slowly and aimlessly drift down stream past bars, huts or even just a guy with a cooler selling Beer Laos. Along the way the way the bars have swings and ziplines to plunge into the water and hopefully not break your neck.

So before we relaxed into a coma we decided to move on to south to Vientienne, Laos capitol city. If for only one day. So we went to Buddha Park and it was worth a visit. Lots and lots of cement statues.

Then we were off to an area they call 4000 islands where the Mekong fans out it's width to accomadate them all. It's even slower and more relaxed down on Don Det, the island we stayed on. So basically we carried on at a snails pace and the highlight was the waterfall. Actually, not so much a waterfall as a large plateau of cascades with serious amounts of water moving even though it was the dry season.

So we only needed a few days there. At the rate we were slowing down we would soon start developing rust so it was time to travel back to Thailand viase Pakse into Chom Mek, Thailand. A little used border crossing, well at least for westerners. After paying the $1 holiday surcharge at the border (it's Chinese New Year! - Happy New Year!!) we had a quick lunch which gave us all the shits. Next we continued on to Ubon Ratchathani which is very much off the backpacking trail. In fact, we only saw one group of farang the entire time there. But then we were only there 1 day to make our way to Pattaya. Infamous Pattaya. The undisputed 24/7, 365 hedonism capitol of the world.

Ok. So it's two days before I'll be home and I'm gonna pretty much break it off here. My job is done. Well almost. ......

Heading into Laos

So Brad decides to come along to Laos and joins me for the backtrack bus ride to Chiang Mai. We arrive and as our Tuk Tuk drives past The Local I spot Kirk and Jody having some lunch. I introduced everyone, we had some lunch and checked into The New Zealander Guesthouse across the street.

We then went looking for bus tickets up to the border of Laos. At first it looked like we wouldn't be able to get a bus for two days. Luckily we did wind up finding a bus for noon the next day. With that out of the way all we had to do was relax and wait for dinner time to roll around.
When it did roll around we had another round of Mexican food at the Salsa Kitchen. Then we had nothing better to do but relax, sleep and await breakfast time.

At which time we had another round of Bagel and coffee breakfasts at the Bagel Cafe. Then off to catch our bus. A nice 5 hour mini bus drive on which I finished Goldstein's "One Dharma" and handed it over to Brad to read. On the bus we met Simon/Kathryn (Eng/Colorado) and Sky/Ben (Eng/Oz) and we all arrived ~5:30pm. The border closes at 5pm so we would spend the night here in Chiang Khong.

After checking into a snotty landlady's guesthouse we had a nice view of the full moon rising over the Laos mountains on the other side of the Mekong. While walking down the main street (the only street, really) a Scottish Expat of three years pulled up in his Toyota Hilux Pickup and offered us a lift. But since we had no idea where to eat we declined. He wasn't much help with restaurant suggestions, but he was very friendly.

We gave Bamboo Restaurant a try and settled on the deck to enjoy some Mexican food with an up close view of the Mekong. The owner had obviously taken a fair share of abuse from travelers and was rather defensive. But he quickly warmed up to us respectful folk. He even prefaced the dinner with the question "Have you ever had real Mexican food?" "Why, yes." "Oh, too bad. Cause I'm no Mexican, hope you like."Could have fooled us! The food was really excellent and we even broke down and had some homemade brownies to cap off the evening.

Up at 6:30 in the morning for breakfast and then a short hike of about a half a km to the border even though a Tuk tuk driver told us it was 5km!!After skipping across the Mekong into Laos we procured our 15 day Visas and bought our Slow Boat tickets for a two day ride down the Mekong to Luang Prabang. Brad decided to take the speed boat, but in the end wound up getting stuck there for a few days chasing a girl (about the only girl there!)

for anyone heading into the area: There is a new option available which we really wanted to take, but time became a factor. You can now take an "eco tour" into the national forests, sleep in the tree tops, see the monkeys and fly along the tree tops in an extensive zip cable system for 3 days. Then take the Ou Nam river down to Luang Prabang which is supposed to be great. Next Time!

So around noon we got on the boat and I took a seat on the cushionless wood bench. Luckily I thought ahead and stuffed a towel in a stuff sack to cushion my arse. And somehow I had the two seater bench to my self. (who needs deodorant anyway).

Jody and Kirk are a few rows ahead. Against the wall behind me are the English girls who seem to be following me thru Thailand and Laos. To the side, a Belguim, Behind me Spainards, In front Europeans. A French guy who thinks he's Spanish plays a few entertaining songs on guitar and even a little Flamenco.

After a short lunch break Kirk and I had a few Beer Laos (BTW-World class beer, not like that Thai swill!!!) and played some backgammon. I beat him three in a row and then he turned around and did the same to me. We still haven't had a tie breaker? Then we shared a few tunes on his Ipod and suddenly we were there in Pak Beng, our stop for the night.

We all file off of the boat onto a very steep 80 ft. high sand dune while local kids carry our oversized backpacks (some two at a time) across a narrow wooden plank ashore. Grabbing our bags we make the difficult ascent, barely able to get a foothold in the shifting sands.
We weren't there more than a minute and a boy has offered us weed and a room. We got there and the price doubled so we got another room. He tried to rip us off on the green (brown) stuff too!

I awoke at 3am and had to vomit. I had just barely enough time as I tried to calmly find my torch, flip flops and make to the bathroom. It was short and sweet and then went back to bed. Dodgy food I guess.

As we were putting our bags in the back of the boat the following morning we noticed there was a lot of space there. So we decided to squat back there for the second day of the trip. OK, it is right next to the engine, but I had my earplugs and there was enough space for us all to lie about and take in the Mekong views in relative comfort.

My stomach was still a bit crooked in the morning and I was trying to avoid the bathroom because the previous boat only had a squatter and with 2 inches of water(???) sloshing around. But I was pleasantly suprised to find this boat had a proper toilet and with that and a few Oreo's my stomach was as good as new. :)

Near Luang Prabang we passed Buddha Cave and around 4pm arrived. We walked around for a while trying to find the recommended Vilay Guesthouse, but after getting misdirected we hailed a tuk tuk and got a ride there. Had dinner and walked thru the night market (pretty large) and admired the wares for sale: bedspreads, t-shirts, food, lamps, etc.

In the evening we went to check out The Hive Bar, along the way locals "ppssst, pssst"-ing trying to sell us opium or grass. After a beer we went down the street to Lao Lao Garden where we and others from the boat gathered around the bonfire for an evening of swapping stories.

We awoke the next morn and had some really great bagels and coffee at Jo Ma's Cafe. Unfortunately Jody wasn't feeling very well at all, so she went back to her room to work past the dodgy dinner we had and Kirk and I took a walk aroung Luang Prabang. Saw some more nice Wats and took in the quite becoming French architecture as we made our way to where the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers meet. We thought we'd keep up with the French theme and find some wine and cheese to munch on. We found wine, but no luck with the cheese. We also were unable to find motobikes to rent. Apparently they don't rent them to farangs here because if you get hurt the nearest decent medical attention is an air flight away.

In the evening Jody felt better, but wasn't ready for the 50 cent street buffet so instead we went for some really tasty Indian food. Then we took a meandering walk to Lonely Planet reccommended Mylak Bar. A nice place with rugby on tv, comfortable chairs and a european feel to it. Later we went on over to Lao Lao Garden for more drinks and to wish Ben/Sky farewell as they are off for a three day trek.

The next morning we were planning on going to see a waterfall, but I awoke to a cold overcast sky and rolled over for more sleep. Eventually Jody knocked on my door and we went again to Jo Ma's for breakfast. Afterwards we got on the internet and upon exiting were pleasantly suprised to see that the sun had come out. So the waterfall trip is back on. We found a driver to take us there, but we weren't sure which waterfall we wanted to go to. The driver didn't speak English so he was no help and in the end we pointed to a waterfall picture in his truck and said "take us there".

It turned out to be a good choice. The other waterfall is where all the tourists go and we found out later that it was standing room only there. The Tad Se waterfall was practically empty. Maybe there were 8 other people there. And we even got to take a short boat ride to get there. BTW- there cabins would be an excellent place to spend a night.

We hiked up to the top straight off. It's not very high but we did get a little bit of a rock climb in at the top. No obvious trails up there so we climbed back down, peered into a cave and then found a pool and had a refreshing dip in the chilly, clean, clear water. Grabbed a round of Beer Lao and drank sitting on the stools in the shallow pool of the waterfall. Quiet, Peaceful, great sun and temperature. After a few hours we hiked back down and woke up the napping boy for a ride back to the other shore.

After a nice bakery lunch in town we climbed up the 300 or so steps to the top of Phousi Mountain. The Phu Si wat caps the mountain which has a commanding 360 view of Luang. Up there I met a young monk of two years. I heard that many of the boys join for a few years to get educated and then leave the Sangha so I asked him how long he intended to be a monk. He said he was in for life. Good Karma! There was a fair amount to see up there including: Buddha's footprint, Big Reclining Buddha, Buddha Cave and a few other pieces.

In the evening I ventured to try the 50 cent street buffet and was not dissappointed. Then a little pampering with an oil massage. Ended up again around the fire at Lao Lao Garden. A troop of jugglers from Brazil/Italy were there, "Jugglers without Borders". The English girls were there too and when things shut down they invited us across the street to the gay bar. No thanks, it's not worth the hassel, besides we're getting up earlier to move on to VangVieng.

Stay tuned......

Pai, Thailand

Pai is a quiet town in Northern Thailand. The type where a few years ago the police had nothing better to do than kick the dogs off of the stoop. Recently it's become popular with backpackers, but they still don't have much to do. You can walk thru the main part of town at 11:30pm and feel like you're the only one there alive. Typically though, I found myself walking home closer to 4am as luckily I found that there is one (and only one) place to go hang out after hours. Upon arriving in Pai I was escorted on a moto across the Pai river to the bungalow where I would tender my stay. My very own river front pad where you really felt away from it all and close to the environment.

I spent a lot of time there reading and watching the Pai river flow gently downstream as the occasional bamboo raft or saffron robed monks passed by with beautiful lush moutains framing the valley.

They had a flash flood recently which knocked out a considerable percentage of the bungalows along the river. A concern that I didn't overlook, but since everything was rebuilt on stilts I felt it was not a huge concern. Of course, I was ready to high tail it out of there at the first sign of rain clouds. Fortunately though, after the morning sun burnt off the daily morning mist it was nothing but bright sunshine followed by a few downright chilly nights.

After dumping my packs off I crossed back over the river via the newly constructed 2 foot wide bamboo bridge and ran into Dave (England working in Holland) whom we had met in Chiang Mai a few days earlier. We walked into town for food and drinks and so I could get a feel for my new surroundings. Spent a good part of the evening just sitting at a sidewalk table sipping Heinikens and watching Pai pass on by. A group of older Americans (Lake Tahoe) sat down with us and I was shocked but happy to hear that the one's Thai girlfriend who looked 13 was in fact 24. I.D. please.

The next day I spent walking all over the town and towards evening I was starting to wonder if I would stay much longer. The town is Chill. Very Chill. I just wasn't used to the pace. I needed to find something or someone interesting to pass the time. So I walked around in a bored state searching every table in every bar or restaurant for someone having a converstation I could intrude upon. But it was a quiet night. Apparently the town was bustling a few days ago for New Years, but now a vacumn has been created by the mass exodus.

I saw in one dimly lit restaurant two girls and one guy having a conversation which looked promising. But I made the mistake of going to grab an ice coffee and when I returned they were gone and the restuarant was shut tight. Not to worry though, our paths would soon cross.
Continuing on I was suprised to have yet another unlikely rendevous with Shimrit, an Israeli girl (with friend) whom I had taken a Reiki class with in Mcleod Ganj, India some 4 or 5 months previous. Small world. I joined them for some food at Mama Falafel (They are Israeli!) and we left with two Thai girls joining us for drinks at Ting Tang.

The staff at Ting Tang were exceptionally warm and friendly as were the fires to warm up next to. I was talking with a few English/Aussie guys when the trio I had spotted earlier walked in. A few minutes later I managed to muscle in on their conversation, but it didn't take much. Brad (S. African living in Germany) and Ali (D.C.) were engrossed in each other so her friend Cate (NYC) was more than happy to have someone to talk with.

We talked until they kicked us out and all made plans to meet for breakfast and rent motos to have a look at the surrounding waterfalls and have a soak in the hot springs. So we ate our eggs and porridge and then each rented motos (~$2.50\day). Cate wasn't very experienced riding and Ali had never been on a moto so Brad and I gave the girls a quick lesson and then we were off hoping for the best.

First stop, Hot Springs. Up near the top the water is hot enough to boil eggs, but below a French couple pointed out a "romatic" pool where we had a nice time soaking in the hot tub like natural spring waters.

There were two drawbacks though. One was the tiny little leeches, but they're harmless. The other were smaller pin worms which Brad first noticed. We didn't think much about them (there weren't any danger or warning signs, at least we hadn't noticed any.) until later that night when Brad reported that he had pissed one out!! Great! Brad checked with a doctor the next day and found out that they are harmless unless they get inside you. So he got some antibiotics and since I felt reasonably sure that nothing had entered me I gambled that I was right and just kept a close watch for any symptoms. So far so good.

Second stop was Pai Canyon where we forced the girls into a crash course in off roading. They made us proud. Unfortunately, Brad was nursing a particularly sore ankle as the result of a crash sustained while trying to keep up the previous day with a Thai motocross champ so we didn't hike through the canyon.

Third stop was to the Mor Paeng Waterfall. After a beautiful 10km ride through the Thai scenery we arrived and stripped down for a dip. The water was freezing so all we dipped was our feet and had a short climb up the waterfall. On the road in all the native town woman were raising their hands up to their mouths, making a smoking gesture. It took me a minute to realize that they weren't asking for smokes, but were indeed selling smoke! We were having a really great time with the girls so it was very disappointing that they had to leave on the 3:30pm bus out of town. They nearly missed that bus due to the fact that Ali was riding very slow. Not that we would have minded. I learned later that she was going slow because on the ride up to the waterfall she nearly had a serious crash into a pole. Full on speed wobbles. Brad couldn't fathom how she pulled out of it, but luckily she did. Later Brad wouldn't be as lucky.

So we dropped the girls off at the bus station and said our farewells, had some lunch and got back on the motos to check out one last waterfall. After crawling at a snails pace with the girls all morning we took the opportunity to eek out every last bit of horsepower the 125cc motos had. Reaching speeds of 100km/hr we were having a great time and turned onto the rode to the waterfall. We were screaming through twisty turns with me in the lead when I noticed that the next tight turn was covered in sand. Uh Oh!! I have plenty of riding experience and knew straight away we were in a serious predicament. Realizing straight away that if we tried to negotiate the turn in our lane we would have slid out straight away and probably been decapitated by the gaurd rail. Without the tires and horsepower to power slide the rear tire around oval track style I deduced our only chance for survival would be to use both lanes and the outside shoulder. I only hoped that Brad would follow my line. He did.

I managed to remain upright and safe, but Brad had to get on the brakes the last few feet to avoid running up my back and had a low speed lay down. His front wheel gently bumping my rear wheel as he came to a stop sustaining some nice scraps on his one good leg, hands , hip and strained his shoulder. Nothing serious, but what would have been serious is if the huge truck that stopped 10 ft. in front of us had come 2 seconds earlier. In that case you would probably have been reading about this in an obituary instead of a blog! Needless to say we didn't get to the waterfall, but instead headed back to patch Brad up and count our blessings. We found a pharmacy and the local sweet lady behind the counter donned rubber gloves and played the role of nurse. She even threw in some pain killers, gratis.

The next morning I made sure to get to that last waterfall before returning the moto. Later in the week we attended the big concert in town. "Caraboo", Thailands favorite band was in town. Of course, the lyrics were all in Thai so although they were a decent band we enjoyed the opening band's rock and reggae covers more.

The rest of the week was spent relaxing during the days and visiting mainly two bars. The Blue Lagoon, an Aussie SAS expat's bar with the only decent pool table in town and some live music. I even got to sit in on congas for a few songs. Undoubtably though the most entertaining place in town was Bebop. They have a really talented house band and we were treated one night to an equally talented jazz band. Bebop closes down at 1am so normally afterwards we would wind up at Bamboo light which is the afterhours bar I mentioned earlier. Sit back around the fires and socialize with the other night owls till the wee hours of the morning.
When I first arrived in Pai I was wondering if I'd stay even two days. In the end I spent over a week there! Once you slow down to the pace it really is a nice place to spend time. Just don't get cocky on the motos!!!!
:)

Pics posting shortly.......

New Years in Chang Mai

After buying yet another pair of flip flops (they keep disappearing)we all meet up at the travel agent to catch our bus to Chang Mai. There I was supposed to receive my Laos 30 day visa, but as it turns out the embassy was closed so I'll have to settle for a 15 day visa at the border.

The bus was supposed to leave at 6:30pm, but we all wound up sitting on the side of the road until about 8pm because there was some problem with the driver. We suspected he was drunk. It was a decent bus, but had very little legroom. Kirk who is fairly tall was sitting behind me so I was nice and didn't recline, but that cost me another night's sleep. But by being awake I did get to witness a Thai custom of the driver pulling over in the middle of nowhere to purchase a few wreaths of flowers for good luck.

After driving all night we finally made our crawl thru the Chang Mai mountains at a snails pace. In town we pulled into a bus station where we transferred to local pick up truck transport. Piling out the of the truck Minesh led us to the guesthouse he stayed at previously, but they were full so we settled into The S.K. Guesthouse on Soi #9. Less than $4each for a decent fan room with ensuite and a pool. We checked in and went next door to the English owned "The Local" for some breakfast. Jody and Kirk got the Big English breakfast which included the biggest fattest sausages I've ever seen. What kind of sausage it was is still up for debate. I caught up on my lost sleep all afternoon. Then awoke to have a tasty Indian dinner of Marsala Dosas and Pakoras.
After dinner we went back to warm up for the evening at The Local where finally my pool game came together and I managed to go undefeated. Next stop was to Roots, Rock, Reggae to ring in the New Year. The band was just getting started and we ordered a bucket of Red Bull/Vodka which lasted about 2 minutes before it was dry.
It was the beginning of a really great drunken night. I brought an Austrian girl into the mix cause she was on her own and we all played with the Thai children selling roses. Lots of dancing, lots of buckets, lots of hugs and kisses to ring in the New Year.It must have been around 3am when we left in a drunken stupor back to The Local where things were way too quiet. That didn't last too long though as we quickly got things livened up by turning up the music, stripping our shirts off and getting up for some table and bar top dancing. Unfortunatley from this point on I really don't remember anything. Not even the chick fight that happened. But I'm assured it was all a great time. As overkill we took some liter beers back to our room and passed around Kirk's bottle of single malt scotch. Of course, drinking single malt at that stage is nothing but alcohol abuse for which I do appologize. Went to bed just before sunrise. One of the funnest New Year's ever!
Awoke around noon still very intoxicated and had some breakfast before heading back to bed. Awaking later we all went to dinner @ "Jerusalem Falafel" and I got an eggplant Mousakka, but it just didn't have that Thai authenticity :) Walked back thru a very large and very crowded New Year's day market which really wasn't fun in our condition, but interesting.
That evening I caught a cold and spent most of the night awake because I couldn't breathe. At 6am I went walking around the still sleeping town. This whole trip I have been craving bagels and cream cheese of which there are none to be found. But I got excited when I came across the Bagel Cafe. Unfortunately they were closed all day. That's OK. I've waited 10 months, I can wait another day. Later that day we went back to The Local to piece together the previous evening, play pool and catch some Premier League Football.

Then we were off to check out some local Thai Boxing. We learned that many of the Thai beers have Formaldihyde in them so we switched to Heinekins and asked our Chinese hostess to sit a couple of ladies in the remaining two seats at our table. And she did. A couple of Danish coeds. With ringside seats we watched the fighters go thru their dance like rituals and bless each corner while Thai music blarred thru the PA. Altogether we watched around 10 fights with fighters between 90 and 165lbs all literally kicking the crap out of each other while the locals made bets and cheered. Incidently, the kicks are brutal but the knee and elbow strikes are the knockout moves.
We also played a couple of games of pool with the Danishes and things were going well until the very end of the evening when Minesh had some kind of brain seizure and decided to jump ship and hit on a French girl. Foolish, very foolish! Of course the girls were rightfully offended and quickly made there exit. Disgusted we too made our exit and left Minesh to learn his lesson. Along the way home we stopped so Kirk and Jody could get some street vendor soup, congratulated a boxer who happened to be there and went back to the Local for a beer.
It wasn't long before Minesh showed up: Head hanging, tail between his legs and profusely appologetic. He took the frog to a bar where she promptly left him for a friend. Live and Learn.

In the morning I finally got my bagel and cream cheese. For our last dinner together we went to The Salsa Kitchen for some nice Mexican food. As there 6pm bus to Bangkok arrived I made plans to catch up with Jody and Kirk in a few days and wished Minesh good luck with the rest of his trip to China and India. As for me, I'm off to the sleepy little town of Pai in search of.......

Christmas in Communist Cambodia

Time to head to the beaches of Sihinoukville, Cambodia for x-mas. Four of us cram into a Tuk Tuk with a slipping transmission which causes us to wonder if we will make it to the bus station. And also if it might be faster to walk! Arrived to be greeted by the Giant Golden Lions dominating the central round about of Sihinoukville. Accepted rides from some moto drivers to help us find rooms. Eventually we wound up at the English owned "Monkey Republic" for a reasonable $6nt per room. Cheap draft beer, heaping portions of decent food, incredibly strong Vietnemese coffee, Free Pool table, Free (but totally lame) Foos ball table, hammocks to chill in and a cute spunky Canadian waitress (Mel).

We all agreed to do as little as possible here. We succeded. On our first full day there I didn't even leave the property till we went to "Bamboo Light" for a really excellent Indian smorgasborg.

Dec. 22nd 2005: 3 more shopping days left. But we don't care, we're off to the beach. A nice leisurely stroll down a picturesque 4 mile long beach passing Monks, Bars, Restaurants, masseuses, pedicurists and child hawkers selling their wares: fruit, handmade bracelets, flowers, etc.

Settled into the beach loungers at Chivas Lounge and withing minutes Laura is kicked back and receiving a pedicure from a woman and 2 little girls. Isabella wades in the water, Minesh begins reading, Hanna checks out the items for sale, Robin poses for pics in the water and I go for a nice long swim in the beautiful 75 degree water.

Spent the afternoon reading "The Quiet American-Graham Greene" and watching the others get overly pampered. I was gonna play some pool, but got scared off when Minesh got beat soundly by a local 70lb woman.
That evening we had another great meal at "Holy Cow": Veggie Pasta and beer Laos. For desert I insisted we all try the "Vegan Chocolate Love Sponge cake with ice cream and chocolate Love Juice"!! How could we not give it a try.

We had been trying to rent motos for ourselves to cruise around on, but they have been all booked out. It seems that Sihoukville is a very popular place to spend the holiday. So we settled for rides to the town market to stock up on this and that. I also picked up a present for the guesthouse Secret Santa gift exchange ($2 limit).

X-mas Eve Day: We awoke to find the power had gone out. No worries though. We're taking a longtail boat trip to 3 of the small neighboring islands. A 45 minute boat ride brought us to our first stop, a small cove to do some snorkeling. Plenty of shallow coral which was good because the visibility was 5 meters at best. Spotted some nice small fish and tons of tons of beautiful huge Sea Urchins staring at us with their jewel like silver and blue eyes. Had to be careful though as many were barely below the surface. Off to another island for some beach time. Minesh and I gave the volleyball court a go, but with only the two of us playing it didn't last too long. After they gave us lunch we were guided thru an island jungle trail to sample another beach.

After leaving the island we had one more stop for another snorkel session which was much the same as earlier.Returned around 4pm, showered and got some motos to drive us across town to Victory Hill thru a huge traffic jam brought on by the Revlon Show. It was pretty humerous to witness a half a dozen decked out models in the spotlights, walking the runway, each holding out a single stick of lip garnish.

Making our way past the show we arrived at "La Trattoria" for what is reportedly the best pizza in town. A sweet old lady served our beer, wine, and salads while downstairs her Italian husband prepared the pizzas. They took a while to arrive, but all agreed it was worth the wait.

With our bellies full it was time to bring on the festivities. The big party is on the beach at "Utopia" and they even supplied free moto transportation there (not back). Robin, Minesh and I each chipped in $10 for a drink kitty and drank RedBull/Vodkas all night. I think we even had a little change left over! Good times! I tried my hand at the fire chains. Got covered from head to toe in black carbon soot from nailing myself, but managed not to catch myself on fire. Robin was nearly killed by some rightfully pissed off locals when he tossed a table on to the fire to keep it going. Fortunately, the Aussie owner intervened and after an agreed compensation the Cambodians backed off, though still visibly irked. We washed off the soot with a late morning skinny dip and then prepared to leave. Searched for our flip flops that we left at the door, but they were gone so we had to settle for the last three pairs available. And I had just spent 90 cents on a brand new pair! That's the fourth pair that have gone missing. (Business opportunity: LoJack for sandals!)

Christmas morning we all exchanged our Secret Santa gifts. I received from Tim (Oz) a humorous, but not so glamorous gift of $2 worth of 100 Riel bills. They are worth 2.5 cents each so it made an impressive wad of worthless cash! We all chilled on the beach for the rest of the day among all the little inquisitive Cambodian children who were all smiles and wishing everyone "Happy X-mas".We all wished Robin farewell because he is headed off to Sydney. The following day Minesh and I were able to finally get ahold of a moto so we took the opportunity to cruise around the area taking in the landscapes.

I decided to go back up thru Thailand with Minesh before heading to Laos. We said goodbyes to the girls and decide to avoid the road and instead take the 4 hour boat ride to Koh Kong on the Cambodian border to spend one last night in the country. We arrived at "The Blue Gecko" and each got our own room for $2.50. It's a brand new guesthouse and only opened the night before. We were there first two paying customers. Relaxing on the patio, we talked with the owner, Carl (Oz) and his beautiful Cambodian wife and baby boy while "Shorty" the cute local barmaid kept the beers coming.

Carl said, if only for laughs, we Have to check out the local "Chicken Ranch" so we went down for a look. Barely stepping off the motos we were immediately escorted by the ladies to a table for a beer and a gander. Then we took a walk thru the gauntlet where again we were immediately accosted by the ladies. A beautiful, but extremely quiet young lady attached to my hip even though we told them we were only looking. Having seen the show we made our way back to cap off the evening at the Blue Gecko.
And so we cross the border into Trat, Thailand. Timing it perfectly we immediately caught a bus up to Bangkok were we will secure Visas, Minesh for China and I for Laos. But there is no way were are spending New Years in Bangkok. For that we are headed north to Chang Mai........

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

At the bustling bus station in the morning surrounded by Cambodians selling newspapers, fruit, baguettes etc. It was a good bus this time and the paved roads were heartily welcomed as the flat deep green and wet Cambodian countryside slips past. At our first stop a Cambodian guy befriended me telling me his story and showing me his travel pics.

Arrived in the Cambodian capitol of Phnom Penh and found a tourist agent and recieved a map. Located the address for the guest house where the group was staying. Grabbed a moto driver (mopeds are the main type of transportation here. Cars are only for the privelaged elite)and weaved thru the no rules crazy traffic to Guesthouse Sister #9. Had lunch and awaited the crew who were off taking in the sites. BTW: there is a heavy French influence here. They even have a Charles du Gaulle Boulevard!

Isabella wound up coming to Cambodia afterall and she was the first person I saw arrive. Robin and Minesh showed up shortly after there tour of The Killing Fields, S-21 Genocide museum and shooting off Ak-47s and Colt 45 guns at the interestingly named "Happy Club" shooting range. They introduced me to the others of the crew: Laura/Hanna (Canada), Paul (Can), Brian (Scotland) and Dave (Oz). We hung out on the chill patio overlooking the lake and playing pool (All pool tables in Cambodia are competition sized snooker tables: odd for such a short race of people.) into the night.

Saw some of the crew off in the morning, they're headed up to Siem Reap but will be back in a few days. Paul stayed back and we decided to check some sites. After a short moto ride we entered the National museum and had a look at the rooms filled with increasingly larger and larger statues of Buddha, Shiva, Vushnu, Ginesh, Mama Buddha, lingas, Nagas, etc. After finishing up with some ancient jewelry and 2nd century B.C. drums and flutes we took lunch at a Cambodian noodle shop. All locals and all noodles, the lunch came to a meager $1.25!

We walked to the Royal palace next. First thru the Throne room which is adorned in gold and impressive. A smaller version of Thailands, but unfortunatley no pics were allowed. Strolled thru the grounds admiring the buildings, gardens and stupas. We entered the Silver Pagoda next. It's name comes from the hundreds and hundreds of solid silver floor tiles each weighing over 2 lbs. Of course there was a plethora of Buddha statues, but the two standouts are the 200lb gold Buddha adorned with 2084 diamonds and high above all the rest is the Emerald Buddha. Unfortunately, again no pics were allowed. Lastly we had a look at the shrine to Buddha's footprint. Now I know why he walked around barefoot. He couldn't have possibly found footwear to fit his 18ft. foot!!!

Next up on the agenda is the Killing Fields Memorial. My moto driver, Rain, dropped me off at what is actually a very small area where some 9000 bodies were unearthed and they have built a towering stupa to house the skulls as an eery reminder. After the Nazis the world said "Never Again", so you have to wonder how Pol Pot, Ankor and the Khmer Rouge were able to do it all over again in Cambodia a mere 25 years later. Or maybe "Never" isn't so far away.
After the Killing Fields, Rain took me to "The Happy Club" which is a pricey tourist trap were you can fire off all kinds of weapons such as Ak-47s, M-16s, Colt 45s, Lugers and even a grenade launcher!! I took a look at the menu, but didn't eat.

A short moto ride brought us to the S-21 Genocial Center. Got there just in time for the documentary movie and then witnessed the torture implements, gallows, cells, interogation rooms, skulls, forensic wound studies, photos of the dead, and their stories. The same sureal feeling as in Aushwitz/Berkinow, but not quite as intense.

After that all I could do was head back to the Guesthouse to drown my sorrows with Tim (New Zealand) who has been working in -40 degree Mongolia and Joel (Germany) who is here on holiday with his Cambodian wife and says there is no doubt about it. When he retires in 10 years he's permantely moving to Cambodia.

So that is about it from Phnom Penh. All that is left to do is wait for the crew to come back from Siem Reap and then we are all headed to the beach for X-mas!!!!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!

Next stop Cambodia

Arriving back Bangkok once again I headed to my usual guesthouse and almost walked right past it. It had been totally renovated, unfortunately they didn't have any singles available so I searched on. It must be a busy time because a number of guest houses were full, but I wound up getting a room on Khao San rd. at Dio where I stayed my first night in Bangkok.

Apparently I'll be flying home sooner than expected which puts a crimp in my plans so I'm wondering around trying to decide how to spend my last weeks. Wrote Robin (met him in Czech. Rep.) as I know he is in Thailand. Got a report back that the weather and attitudes in Phuket were lousy and he was heading off to Cambodia. So I decide to skip Phuket. I guess I'll go do some more diving and head to the East coast islands again.

I was just getting things together for heading south when I walked out on the busy street and guess who I see. It's Robin and his friend Minesh (they met in S. America). Another unlikely reunion on the road. We took a taxi to the weekend market which is huge and very busy. Walked through the narrow labrinyths of cramped stalls selling food, clothes, souvenirs, etc.
Later that night we decided to give Thai boxing a look. So we went out to the stadium, but we couldn't get tickets for $6 like we were told. It was more like $60! Oh well, if you've seen one guy get the shit kicked out of him, you've seen them all.

The next night after I had got my ticket for the 7am bus to Cambodia we began by grabbing a table on the street and enjoyed some drinks while taking in the characters of Khoa San. Anna (Czech) and Dean (Irish) joined us for the evening. I learned that Dean is a walking catastrophe who has had most of his bones broken at least once and even had his face torn off once. He says that's why he looks young for his age (40)!! We went upstairs where Minesh managed to save a cute Belgium girl (Isabella) from her date. At closing we took them all to little Khao San to continue the flow of beer. Around 4am it was definately time to call it a night. I tried to get Isabella to come to Cambodia but she had to wait for some visas so Minesh will just have to work on her tomorrow. They have the luxury of another day before they fly while I'm getting on a bus in 3 hours.

Got to the bus stop in the morning and Shino (Japenese) reminded me about needing passport photos for the Cambodian Visa. Of course, I had forgotten about them, but luckily I still had a few with me. We had a very pleasant drive through the green landscape of Cambodia down to the border. Stopped on the Thai side for a change of bus and lunch. Paid about $5 too much for the "Express Visa service". But it was fast. In fact faster than my lunch which I had to shovel in to avoid missing the bus!!

Next was our walk across the border. Nothing out of the ordinary. But for God's sake don't get suckered into changing your money at the border like I did. A big rip off epecially considering that you can use the U.S. dollar everywhere in Laos contrary to what I was told. In fact, all the prices are in U.S. dollars!

So now we hop on to the Cambodian bus. Of course it is nowhere near as comfortable as the Thai bus. And you can't even compare the roads because there really almost isn't one. A year ago the 150km journey took 10-12 hours. Today it's a speedy 7 hour trip. Unpaved! A Free Vibrating Massage!

Made a stop three hours into the journey and met Migella. French with a sicilian family where she has been working as a tour guide. Says the Italians "Break her balls!". Later we made another very short stop I think to say hello to the bus drivers cousin. We stepped out of the bus and were greeted by a handful of cheery young girls all very cheeky. They'd put out there hand out to shake and take it away at the last second and run it thru there hair. Point to your chest and say "what's this?" flicking your nose if you look. They'd ask where you were from and then reel of the name of your capitol. Very smart and friendly. One gave me a friendship bracelot.
Arriving in Siem Reap around 8:30pm we dropped off most of the passengers and then the last four of us were dropped off at the Golden Temple Villa. A nice place. Spotless rooms, bathroom with tub!, cable TV, balcony, and a really good restaurant.

When I got down from my room the three Japanese guys were negotiating with a tourist agent about getting a temple tour and subsequent nights at the hotel. They did pretty well. So we booked a driver for the following day and sat down for some food. Oddly enough there was very little in the way of Cambodian food on the menu so we all got pizzas and pasta along with Beer Laos which are really quite nice. Shino has lived and worked in the US but the other two guys were pretty shy about speaking English. Despite this we had a pleasant dinner and taught each other a few words.

Then we were off to get some rest for we were to leave for the Temples of Angkor at 5am to catch the sunrise. After morning coffee we arrived at the Temples area and each paid the steep entrance fee of $20. In the pitch black we walk along side thousands of other tourists, mostly Japanese. Sat in front of the silhouetted spires in contemplation awaiting the sun's daily entrance. The sun rose behind the temple making it difficult to get good pics, but it was a nice one although not breathtaking.
The main temple (Angkor) and ground takes up a huge amount of space. There is the main structure, a few smaller structures, lotus ponds, many buddha statues, and bas-reliefs telling of the king and his exploits. These temples were built under Hindu influences, but later when the buddhists moved in it must have been difficult for the monks to continually walk past the thousands of voluptuous half naked female bas -reliefs throughout the temple.

After breakfast we continued on to discover the other smaller yet no less impressive temples. We had a bus and driver so we skipped the elephant ride. We climbed lots of steps that day. Steep and narrow ones. You really had to climb them sideways because you could only get half you r foot on them. All in all I think we saw 8 or 9 temples. In the afternoon our driver who used to be a landmine worker until they cut his salary took us back for lunch and a short break.
Just before sundown we headed back to climb a small mountain for sunset. It was nearly standing room only. Sunset was nice, but again not spectacular. In fact, I got nicer pics after the sun had set and darkness settled in.
On the way back we stopped at our travel agents office and Ms. Meas Kanha offered me a job. I like to think it was because she is a shrewd business woman with an eye for talent, but it was probably just because I can speakith the kings Inglish;)

For more background info with a professional touch check out Robin's report at http://www.moderngonzo.com/reports/angkor.html

See ya

A Diving Mis-Adventure

Penny and his dad, I.P., picked me up in the morning and we drove to the dive shop to pick up our equipment. Then a leisurely drive to the Bunbury boat ramps and launched the 18' craft into the water.

As we cruised out to sea I thought it was the iced coffee that was making my stomach rumble, but with hindsight perhaps it was trying to tell me something else like "turn around!" And that is what I should have done the moment that I.P. dropped our dive buoy/flag overboard in 22meters of water with only 15 meters of weighted line! Gone! They just don't work very well when they're below water.
So I.P. hit the "Man overboard" on the GPS to mark the spot. No worries. I figured we'd jump over and retrieve the buoy. But no, apparently we weren't even at the right spot and so we moved. Leaving the buoy behind.

If I wasn't half asleep still I might then have realized that I had incorrectly assumed that because Penny was an experienced diver that his father had some experience also. Boy was I wrong.

So we got to the spot, geared up each complete with a speargun and crayfish snares and dove over. Penny took awhile getting down because of equalization problems, but that happens. We eventually had a good look around the shallow reef formations, but didn't see one cray! There was one group of very large fish I found which I took aim at, but Penny signaled not to shoot. I wasn't sure if it was because they weren't good eating or because those big fish might have towed me along for a considerable distance. As we'll later see, depending on the direction they would have dragged me, it might have been a good thing.

So we surfaced empty handed from our first dive, but what can you do. We then cruised to another spot and dove in for our second look. The pickings were scarce but we faired a little better this time bagging a cray and a pink snapper. I surfaced a little before Penny due to air usage and found that the boat wasn't where we left it?!? I.P. in his infinite wisdom broke the number one rule for a boat captain. He took up anchor and moved to do some fishing! And remember how he sunk our dive flag earlier.

Well a minute later Penny surfaced 50m from me. We both started waving and yelling to attract I.P.'s attention. I could have sworn that he waved back and then took up the anchor. The problem was that he then proceeded to drive off in the wrong direction.

Bewildered all we could do was wonder what the hell was going on in I.P.'s head. Probably not much more than hollow echoes of wind pass thru his ears. So Penny is yelling, screaming and calling his dad every name in the book. I'm floating and figuring that he will realize his mistake and turn around any second. But about a half hour later just as Penny stops his ranting we lost site of the boat completely and we knew we were in for a long day.

Two choices: 1)stay put or 2) swim for shore. Well the dunes on the shore didn't look to far so we opted for the swim. Incidently, earlier I.P. commented that we were close enough to shore to swim if anything happened. How prophetic! Unfortunately the dunes on the shore are about 100-150 ft. and very misleading. Throughout it all I just tried to remain equanimous and keep kicking, but of course it's naturally going to pop into your head that you are very definately shark bait at the moment.

Penny and I started a fair distance apart and although you're never supposed to leave your dive buddy, he opted for the everyman for himself theory. I was fully geared up and with fins that didn't do well on the surface and he started pulling away which at first didn't bother me because we honestly didn't think we were that far out. Boy were we wrong!

After about an hour with no boats in site I started wondering what the hell was going on. Surely I.P. must have raised an alarm. Then the wind started to pick up making the seas a little bit rough. After about 2 hours I started to get pissed. I got site of some trucks moving on the dunes, but you could barely make them out, driving home the fact that we were still very far away from shore. After 2.5 hours I was taking bets with myself on whether or not we could reach the shore by sunset. Lessening the odds was the fact that my body was starting to protest. Particularly my ankles, shins, hips and neck. It was at this point that I started debating whether or not to drop the gear to make better time.

Luckily I saw three boats cruising in a line further in shore. I knew or at least hoped they were looking for us. They were I.P., "Top Dog" and the sea rescue boat. The rescue boat actually had passed by Penny twice without spotting him cause all three guys aboard were staring straight out the windshield! Some really great rescue skills there. Penny was spotted first by the "Top Dog" skippered by Pete Cole who turned out to be good friends of the Guppy's. Shortly afterwards I was fished out of the water. A big "Good on ya" to Pete and his friend! We learned that the resuce helicoptor was minutes away from lifting off.

They radioed to the rescue boat that we were aboard and they asked what about our condition. Pete told them we were both safely enjoying a beer and so all three boats cruised back to harbor. But not before stopping along side some of Pete's mates who generously gave us a couple of fresh cray sandwiches to fuel up on.

Back on shore, while I stayed as far away from I.P. as I could to avoid strangling him we were greeted by Gup and Birch who had driven out to the beach to look for us when they heard we were lost. Of course we got on the piss right away. All that for 1 cray and 1 snapper!! They were tasty, but needless to say not worth it. But as with every drama it makes for a good story. And in the end we only suffered exhaustion and a sunburn.

Never did get an real appology! Did get a couple of bullshit versions printed in the paper. Apparently I.P. skewed the facts to try and save face. But the lies were transparent and everyone could see right through them. They lost more than a couple of friends over this episode.

So there you have it. My time in Australia. A lot of beer, a couple of girls, nice sites, fun parties, some surf, much hard work, mostly crappy weather, a car accident and getting lost at sea. I never would have thought that the most likely place to wind up using accident insurance would have be OZ!

Finally I would like to give huge thanks to The Guppys (and friends) for being so good to me. Unbelievably good! I owe you big!

Now it's back to Bangkok and then off to Cambodia.

Cheers,
DJ