Dear U.S. Dollar

Dear U.S. Dollar,

Let me start off by saying that I love your work. You are the most widely accepted currency in the world. Everyone, from Egyptian shop owners, to African national parks, to Vietnamese hotel operators, wants you. And hey, why not? You're backed by one of the best economical, political, and military powers in the world. But I have to ask one question, when did you start losing confidence in yourself and get so weak?

I was shocked to hear that people think you are just as good as the Canadian Dollar?! Come on, you know you're better than Canadia! So, do us all a favor and start hitting the weights and strengthen up a bit, will ya?

Yours Truly,
A Proud U.S. Traveller with limited funds

Hitting the beach in Nha Trang

With my relaxing stay in Hoi An over, I continued further south to the beach oasis of Nha Trang. The overnight bus ride wasn't exactly the most pleasant experience on the trip, even with my wonderful Egyptian sleeping pills. With very little sleep and my guide book in hand, I shunned the local motobikes and decided to walk to find my hotel. I was a bit confused when I showed up to a hotel that was listed in the guidebook, but was no longer there. Turns out, the hotel shut down about a year ago and now there's a bar in it's place. Looking confused, I was suddenly brought back to reality by the familiar sound of 'motobike?' I jumped on the back and was whisked away to a great hotel close to the beach and the bars.

I decided that an extra day was needed in Nha Trang. The sand was great and the water a wonderful temperature and outside of the occasional hawker on the beach, it was a great place to chill out and read. So, that's what I did, that and work on my tan and my beer tolerance! Unfortunately for me but great for my beer tolerance, I happened upon a group of Irish travellers while taking an island tour. You know you're in trouble when you look at your watch and it says 11:15am and you're on your third beer of the day and your drinking mates have no intention of stopping! Let's just say that I was glad for the extra day in Nha Trang as I spent most of the next day in bed hungover.

More later.....

Love, peace, and soul.

Chillin out in Hoi An

So, once I arrived in Hoi An, I just had a good feeling about the place. With my accommodation secured and after taking a quick stroll around the small little town, I decided I might have to extend my stay a bit longer. The old town portion of Hoi An is an actual UNESCO World Heritage site and after taking a stroll, I can definitely tell why. It's a lazy little town with a great central market, tons of made-to-order clothing stores, and cafes abound. I don't know if it was the combination of all the cafes or the fact that I was feeling a bit worn down, but I didn't really do anything while in Hoi An. My days consisted of waking up, walking through the market, down the alleys and side streets to find my next cafe or restaurant. No trips to the My Son ruins, no trips to the beach, no renting of motobikes for a ride, just relaxing, reading and trying to dodge the kids with the dragons. There was a local festival going on, which I can only liken to Halloween, where the local kids would roam around town with Chinese style dragons and drums and perform for the shops, tourists, and locals. In the past, the kids would get candy, but now they're out for money.

Unless you are traveling on the tightest of budgets, not many tourists can resist the chance to get some custom made clothing while in Hoi An. There are tons of shops to choose from, but you definitely need to watch out because, just like every other Vietnamese (and most people in general), these shops are out to make money. I definitely gave into temptation and stopped by Yaly Couture, a highly recommended shop, and went a little crazy. That's right, I bought two suits, two shirts, two corduroy jackets, a pair of corduroy slacks, and a pair of shorts......but for a 'good price.'

While in Hoi An, I did decide to take a Vietnamese cooking class and that really was the highlight of my 'activity,' if you could call it that. The class included a tour through the local market to learn about Vietnamese ingredients and about Vietnamese culture. As in a lot of small towns around the world, the market is the center of activity. The sounds, the smells, the sights are truly something to indulge as the market pulses the daily life blood for Hoi An. After the market tour, we got into the action and tried our hands at some Vietnamese cooking.......and wouldn't you know it? I actually made some rice paper!

More later......

Love, peace, and soul.

DaNang and the Marble Mountains

If you visit Vietnam and have an open, adventurous kind of spirit, it's only so long before you give in to temptation......and no, I'm not talking about the temptation for 'massage?' I'm talking about the temptation to ride on the back of a 'motobike?' So, after the three hour train ride from Hue to Danang, I thought I would walk to find a hotel room. Turns out I should have turned left out of the train station instead of turning right. About half a kilometer down the road I realized I was going the wrong way. That's when Chiem pulled up beside me and asked me for 'motobike?' I finally caved and jumped on the back.

Chiem was great and gave me a quick tour of DaNang on our way to the hotel. He even offered to take me to another hotel (of which I'm sure he got commission) if I didn't like my hotel room. We arrived at the hotel and the room seemed nice enough to me, but not as nice as some of the others. Still, for $10/night, I couldn't complain. So, after checking into my hotel, Chiem gave me the hard sell. He wanted me to join him for a coffee at the little cafe on the street next to the hotel. It turns out Chiem does motobike tours of the Central Highlands and wanted to know if I was interested. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I listened to him. I was actually all game to do a 5 day tour with him until it came to the price. It was just going to be way too expensive and I had to tell him no. But I thought I would make it up to him by spending the day with him and having him take me around. The plan was to drive around DaNang some more and then head to China Beach for a bit, then down to Hoi An to get fitted for some suits, and then back to DaNang with a stop off at the Marble Mountains.

The trip through DaNang was nice and we stopped off at China Beach so that I could check out the sand and the waves for a quick bit. We then headed down to Hoi An where he took me to a shop where I could get a 'good price' on some suits. Right away I knew what was up. Chiem would, of course, get some commission for taking me there. The lady in the shop was nice enough, but kept trying to get me to buy more suits, shirts, and shorts from her. I told her one suit and two shirts were all I could afford and she started to back down a bit.

After the fitting, we stopped off for a Hoi An speciality meal of fish, cooked whole, with spices and wrapped in a banana leaf. The meal was delicious and Chiem told me lots about the area and about Vietnam. He truly was a pretty knowledgeable man.

Our last stop was at the Marble Mountains that are just south of DaNang. During the Vietnam War, the caves inside the mountains were used as a hospital for the VC. Pretty amazing as the mountains are just a few kilometers south of an American air base and a popular resting spot for US troops (China Beach). The mountains themselves are mostly marble (hence the name) and there are tons of marble factories below putting out all sorts of wonderful marble crafts. Up in the mountains, there are caves, pagodas, and a Buddhist monastery. I went up to explore everything and was truly amazed by the caves! It unfortunate that there wasn't more light as most of my pictures didn't turn out so well, but the memories remain.

It was truly a neat experience to climb in and around all the caves at the top of the mountain. The climb down was a lot less fun as the marble hawkers started to gather around the 'walking ATM.' Never the less, it didn't bother me too much as I realize that most of these folks are just trying to make a living. After the short ride back to DaNang, I had a quiet meal and decided that I had seen enough and it was time to move on to Hoi An.

Until next time.......

Love, peace, and soul.

Hue and the forbidden city

After catching the night train to Hue from Hanoi, I quickly realized that I might really like Hue. For those not in the know, it's pronounced 'whey.' As I walked from the train station, I realized that Hue was a lot smaller of a town than Hanoi, which was great for me. After finding an awesome hotel for $10/night, I struck out for a quick walk around the area and to find some food. I quickly realized that the constant buzz of 'motobike?' would be in my ears since there seemed to be dozens more motobike drivers than tourists. I did manage to get in quick tour of the forbidden city before tiring out and heading back to the hotel to rest. On my way back, I did stop off and booked a DMZ tour, which was to start early the next day!





At 6am I was being picked up and taken out to the former Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ, the former border between North and South Vietnam, which is about 90-110 kms from Hue. The early morning proved to be more than I could handle as I forgot to get extra batteries for my camera. Upon trying to take my first picture of the day, my camera quickly shut off and told me to change the batteries. Darn the luck! I will say that there were some cool scenery shots, but not really much left of the DMZ. Mostly there were empty fields where battles took place and unless you were a bit of history buff, you started to get tired midway through the day. The treat for me was a quick stop off at the Vinh Mouc tunnels. Unlike the Cu Chi tunnels outside of Saigon, these tunnels are a little less touristy and haven't been widened for us western tourists. It was a neat, if scary experience to see just how small the tunnels were and gave me more appreciation for just how daunting an experience it must have been for the tunnel rats during the war.



More later......

Love, peace, and soul.

Halong Bay......a true treasure!

So, after spending a few days in Hanoi, I gathered that most tourists do one or both of the following: a) head up to Sapa (a former French colonial post in the mountains north near the Chinese border) and/or b) take in a tour of Halong Bay (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). After deciding that beyond the views, there wasn't much for me in Sapa, I decided that I definitely need to check out Halong Bay. Not that there is anything wrong with Sapa, but I hadn't really planned on doing a lot of hiking/trekking and outside of the small town, that's what people head up there to do. Besides, my tan needed some work, so what better way than to spend some time in Halong Bay.

There are tons of places that offer tours of Halong Bay and from what I hear the experiences can vary significantly. I was definitely pleased to find my accomodations on the boat to be more than I expected and the food was excellent. After getting picked up at my hotel by minibus, myself and about 12 others were taken out to the Halong port. The drive out there wasn't much for scenery, but if you like factories, then you'd love the drive.

Upon arrival at the port, I can clearly see that this trip out to Halong Bay is a pretty standard gig as there are tons of junk boats eagerly waiting for the tourists to arrive. I start to dread that this experience is going to be a tourist trap, but once we get out into the bay and start to see the limestone formations, I quickly realize why everyone heads out to Halong Bay. It's absolutely gorgeous and really something to take in!

During the course of our tour, we get a couple of fabulous meals, a tour of some caves, swimming in the bay, and the chance to dive off the top of the three story junk boat! But the true gem of the tour was the chance to get out and do some kayaking in the bay. My kayaking partner Ellie and I make the most of it and try to do as much exploring as possible. We were rewarded for our adventures as we found a neat tunnel that opened up into a small enclave. It was truly one of the more cool things that I've done on the trip. Later that evening, we celebrated the Vietnamese way with some drinking and karaoke. Yours truly did a rousing rendition of 'Unchained Melody' which got a smattering of applause.

The next day we did some more swimming in the bay before being taken back to our hotels. I then caught the night train to Hue.

More on that later......

Love, peace, and soul

Hello Hanoi!

Welcome to Hanoi, a unique and interesting city that trives in communism, but also craves capitalism. Yes, every day around 4pm you can here the communist government pushing down messages to the people through the streets and alleyways. But the people seem to take that....and then put their own twist on it. They are just as 'greedy' as us 'westerners' and if you aren't careful, they'll get you!

Case in point, I arrive in Hanoi, clear customs and head out to hail a cab. I point to the hotel in my guide book, The Stars Hotel on Bat Su, and the guide says yes, he knows where it's located. So, we agree on a price and away we go. Well, he takes me to the Star Hotel where a gentleman asks me if I e-mailed for a room. I said yes and he said that the place was full, but that he had another hotel just around the corner. He tells the driver to take me there. I quickly look up and notice we aren't on Bat Su and that the name of the hotel is different. I ask the cab driver and he's very quiet. We show up at the next hotel and sure enough, there's someone already on the street ready to take me to the hotel. I knew something was up and smiled to the driver and said, 'this is not the hotel I asked you to take me to. Please take me to the Stars Hotel on Bat Su.' He smiles and knows the gig is up and takes me there. He then proceeds to ask me for more money since we went to the other two hotels first......fat chance! I get out of the cab and two people walk up to me right outside of the door and tell that the hotel is full. There again, I know better, and walk straight in where there are tons of available rooms. But that's the Vietnamese people, nice and always out to make some quick money.

Hanoi as a town is a lovely place. It's a capital city and has a lovely cafe culture. The Hoam Kiem Lake in the middle of the Old Quarter is nice and somewhat serene and THE place to people watch. They also have the outdoor beer cafes which are the best way to meet the locals and get drunk really cheap. Sitting on chairs meant for small children, you can usually find the locals drinking 'fresh beer' in the early evenings as a way to escape life and watch the world go by. If you are ever in Hanoi, don't be afraid to stop off and order a beer, as the beers are usually cheap (i.e. less than $0.25) and the locals love to try their English with you.

No trip to Hanoi is complete without a visit to see Uncle Ho. For those that fought in the 'American War,' as it's referred to over here, it might not be that kosher, but Ho Chi Minh is quite the revered feature in Vietnamese ways of life. His picture is everywhere and people hold him in high regard. His embalmed corpse is immaculately preserved and well guarded in the mausoleum complex and visitors must remember to dress appropriately. Unlike Napolean, Uncle Ho is at eye level, so there's no ceremonial bowing or anything like that. The room is fairly dark and Uncle Ho's face and hands are lit up in the center of the room. It's an interesting sight, that's for sure!

Also, I quickly got used to the change in requests from "rickshaw? rickshaw?" to "motobike? motobike?" And yeah, even though it is like taking your life into your own hands, no trp to Vietnam is complete without jumping on one!

Until next time......

Love, peace, and soul.

Bangkok's new shopping mall.....er airport!

After spending a month in India, I felt like I just stepped into the most immaculate place on earth! Welcome to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport.......easily the nicest airport I've been on this trip. Yes, it surpassed Dubai. It was all so immaculately clean and the shops were that of an upscale mall and not of an international airport. There were even tapas bars in some of the departure waiting areas. It was truly a unique shopping.....er flying experience.

More later.

Love, peace, and soul.

Things you can't capture on camera

As my time in India has drawn to a close, I figure I would explain why my pictures might not be that great. It's simply because there are many things about India that I can't or have trouble capturing on film. These things include:

a) the amount of trash- It's simply outrageous, astounding, and shocking how much trash there is everywhere! At first I thought it was the big cities, but then I realized, it's everywhere. And frankly, it can be too much at times. Why is it there? Do people not realize that garbage everywhere can cause diseases? Did this continent not ever read about the European plague?

b) the smells- This is partly related to a) above, but the smells are sometimes just too much. There are good smells like samosas cooking, the smell of spices, and the ever present smell of chai. And then there are the bad smells.......urine, feces, and trash can overpower you at times and make you want to throw up.

c) the random animals- This may not be unique to just India, but there's something about riding in a cab from the airport and having to dodge a few cows that you just can't catch on camera. Sure, you can take pictures of cows on the street, but it's just not the same as going through the experience. And yes, there are more random animals besides the sacred cow; dogs, pigs, a few cats, goats, and even the occasional camel or elephant walking down the street.

d) the sounds- Yes, there are constant loud sounds. The sounds of buses, cars, motorcycles.....all using their horns at once! The sound of the call to prayer when you're near an area that has a Muslim influence. The sounds of construction. The constant sounds of people begging you for money. It's almost too much even when you have an MP3 player plugged in to try and block it.

e) the stares- Sure, you get stares when you travel with white skin. It comes with the territory, but there's something about the way Indians stare at you. It's almost as if they are staring through you or into your soul. Sometimes flashing a smile gets them to stop, but oftentimes they will stare at you until you are out of their sight. It's even worse for white women. I felt sorry for Kathryn sometimes as the stares in her direction creeped me out!

f) the famous head waggle- Does it mean yes? Does it mean no? Does it mean "I understand?" I think I've seen it used in every one of those situations and I still don't know how it's used?!

g) the colors and decorations- India is not all bad things and the colors of some of the towns, the people, the decorations, and the temples are absolutely amazing! From the temples in the south, to the Sarees in Rajasthan, the colors are ever present and it's tough to capture them all.

I'm sure that there's a few that I'm missing, but these are some of the things that can only be experienced by being there and seeing it/living it for yourself. If you're lucky, you might get a good photo here and there, but only if you're lucky.

Farewell to India......it may be a while before I come back.

Love, peace, and soul.

India 2.....Matthew 0

That's right.....after wondering if I was going to get it or not, I finally did. It seems India gave me two parting shots; a case of heat rash and the infamous 'Delhi Belly.' The first is a bit of an annoyance as there are tons of wonderful bumps on my arms, but the second one got me good. I spent my final day in India hanging close to the toilet after throwing up multiple times and having lots of intestinal aches.

Wow....what a final memory of India!

Love, peace, and soul

Happy Ethiopian Millennium!

For those of you who keep up with it.....it's the Ethiopian Millennium today. Ethiopia still follows the Orthodox Julian calendar and as it happens, on the sixth anniversary of 9/11 for most Americans, it's the Ethiopian Millennium!

Kolkata......our final stop on the India Express

After resting up in Puri for a few days, Kathryn and I got on our final train ride up to Kolkata. It was an overnight train and so we got one more opportunity to hear the calls for 'Chai' and 'Coffee' throughout the night. Fortunately for me, that's what the Egyptian sleeping pills are for!

Upon arriving in Kolkata, we tried to take the cheap way to Sudder Street to find a hotel. After wandering about for a bit, we finally found our subway stop, only to find that the subway wasn't yet working on Sundays. So, we caught a nice yellow cab and then we were off to Sudder Street. After finding a hotel, we were off to see the sights.

We checked out the lovely Victoria Memorial, which is a museum dedicated to the British rule in India. It was very well put together and probably the best museum that I went to India. After the memorial, we were starving as we hadn't eaten in over 18 hours and we happened upon a lovely Italian restaurant where we stuffed ourselves full of pasta! With stomachs full, we decided to try the markets out, but soon got frustrated by being followed around by 'market guides.'

That evening brought the real treat of Kolkata.....a club called Shisha! That's right, I felt it appropriate that we go as Kathryn and I met in Egypt and smoked a few shishas there. It had been awhile for Kathryn and had been a couple of weeks for me, so it was great for us both to get back into the joy of shisha!

Kathryn's last day was spent walking around Fort William, the Eden Garden, Millennium Park (what a disappointment), and the High Court. Every where we went it seemed was closed. So, hot, frustrated, and tired, we found a cab and went back to find a pub. We were glad we did as a monsoon rain started up and so we just continued our drinking. When we left the pub, we found a typical Kolkata situation......flooded streets! We waded through the water back to our hotel to let the water subside. A meal out and another hit on the shisha and we called it an early night.

The next day Kathryn left for her flight and I was to begin a battle.......

More later.

Love, peace, and soul.

Konark and the Sun Temple

After spending a few days lounging around Puri, we finally decided to get out and do something. So, Kathryn and I decided to rent a moped and drive 37 kms north of Puri to Konark and check out the Sun Temple there. As some of you may know, my last moped ride wasn't exactly the smoothest, ending with a wipe out on the side of a road in the Bahamas. Thankfully, I bore the brunt of the injury and Carolyn walked away unscathed.

This time around, the ride was much better and I'm happy to report that there was no crash and hardly a close call at all! That's amazing given the road conditions, animals on the roads, the driving conditions, and overall hecticness of driving on the left hand side of the road. So, go me!

We arrived at the Sun Temple and were really amazed by the condition of the temple. It was really amazing to see that a lot of it was well kept and preserved. It was a beautiful temple and Kathryn and I were both really glad we made the journey. Both the temple and the ride were a lot of fun!

Love, peace, and soul.

3 months on the road!

Hard to believe, but I've been on the road for over 3 months! It's been an amazing trip so far, but definitely it has flown by! In the past three months, I've done some amazing things. I've:

a) seen the pyramids
b) seen 4 of the big 5
c) seen the Taj Mahal
d) ridden a camel
e) seen Josh get thrown by a camel
f) taken my life in my own hands every time I hailed a taxi/auto rickshaw
g) camped on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, Namibia (thanks Acacia!)
h) cage dived with great whites (and then spent the rest of the day in the fetal position trying not to throw up!)
i) drank copious amounts of alcohol
j) sand boarded in Namibia
k) been stared at constantly (and there's nothing like a staring Indian)
l) been hawked for many an item that I didn't want
m) and probably been scammed/over charged more times than I know

but most importantly, I've missed not being able to share all of these memories with Carolyn and all of my family members.

It's been an amazing trip so far and I hope it continues.

Love, peace, and soul.

Where have all the tourists gone?

So, after checking out Hyderabad and actually getting to all of the things on our list.....we set out for our chill out destination......Puri! According to the guide books, there are three types of visitors to Puri; a) Bengalis on vacation, b) Hindus on a religious pilgrimage, c) Japanese and other foreign backpackers looking to chill out. We fell into the third category obviously, but when we arrived, we didn't see any other of our kind around. 'Our area' of town was about as empty as could be....of course, there was no shortage of auto and cycle rickshaws!

This was all well and good, but still it was a bit creepy when we went out because everyone wanted our business. When we ate a restaurant on the first night, we were talking to the manager/owner and he told us we were his first customers in 4 days. Wow!

It was nice and quiet, which was exactly what we were looking for....well, at least, I was looking for it since I had been on the road for a while.

Love, peace, and soul.

Hectic Hyderabad

Yes, even after we heard news of the twin blasts that rocked Hyderabad, we made the decision to go check out this interesting mix of Muslim/Hindu culture. Well, we were both shocked at how big Hyderabad is and I think we were caught off guard a bit. Hyderabad is a city of roughly 5.5 million and I was expecting a bit smaller of a town.

Regardless of the size, we still did our best to check it out and went to the Salar Jung Museum, which was an interesting collection of junk collected by Salar Jung. We checked out the views at Charminar and then went to check out Mecca Masjid, or what we could, as the inner part of the mosque stated "Outsiders Not Welcome."

Which brings up an interesting aside, how come I've never been denied access to a Christian church, Buddhist temple, Hindu Temple (outside of the Holy one in Puri) or Jewish synagogue? Yet, there have been a couple of Muslim mosques that I've been denied entry. How can you expect people outside of that religion to gain an understanding if they aren't allowed access? Seems a bit odd doesn't it?

Anyway, with the help of a younger local, we also got a chance to spend a night on the town at a western bar and checked out the younger, rich Indians on the prowl. Again......lots of sweaty Indian men! Kathryn was one or two drinks away from joining them on the dance floor.....I know it!

Our second day in Hyderabad, saw us visiting the Galconda Fort and checking out the huge Buddha statue in the middle of Hussain Sagar, the big lake separating Hyderabad from Secunderabad. Both were awesome and amazing! After all that trekking around, we were hungry and decided to eat the local dish of Biryani......and it was amazing!

Despite the town obviously being a bit larger than we thought, and being a bit on edge after the recent bombings, Kathryn and I both had a good time in Hyderabad and saw all of the things we wanted to see. So, it was a good trip!

Love, peace, and soul.