March 30, 2004

Better Day in Vang Vieng

After yesterday's somewhat blah day here in Vang Vieng, I decided to get out there a bit today.

I rented a bicycle for the day (a whopping $1) and explored some smaller villages called Na Bam and Na Thong. I saw little kids playing naked in the rivers, women sleeping next to raw meat (which I am assuming was for sale), and I bought myself a bowl of uber-cheap noodle soup. It was much better than the version I had yesterday which looked like it had floating intestines in it (the noodles were too thick for my taste). I stopped for a few beverages along the way and discovered that Coke is way more expensive than Pepsi here in Laos, which is unfortunate because I hate Pepsi. I'll be on Mirinda now until China.

I almost didn't get up early enough this morning because late last night (around midnight) the manager was knocking on my door. The girl I paid for the room didn't mention there is a $3 charge for turning on the AC so I said I'd turn it off because I really didn't need it anyway. He tried to bargain with me (for you special $1.50), but after being woken up I was in no mood so I shut it off and closed the door. I then paid him another $4 today and made sure we weren't going to have the same problem tonight at midnight, which I emphasized by glancing over at the guesthouse across the street. Minor problem solved.

What really got me worked up today was that I saw an old lech of a farang making really lewd gestures at a schoolgirl about what he wanted to do to her. If you want to fuck a 14 yr old, go to Thailand and be a scumbag there!!! At least they're used to it. This girl looked like she was going to bust into tears or belt him- I couldn't tell which. I'm still angry at myself for not cursing him out. Grrrrr...

Tomorrow I head off for Luang Prabang, and from there I will see. After getting a great email from Rob, I may head east and south to the Plain of Jars and beyond. I don't want to get all the way up north too quickly- I still have 15 days in Laos until I can cross into China. Here I come Luang Prabang!

Posted by Claudia at 11:27 PM | Comments (2)

Blah Vang Vieng?

Everyone loves Vang Vieng. WHY??? I got here just this morning, and already I'm over it.

I woke up this morning with the intention of going to a small forest resort/park called Lao Pako. I heard another traveler rave about it and I read in my trusty Lonely Planet guide that bus no. 19 would drop me off that Somsomai, from there I could get a ferry. I found the spot for bus 19, it was heading in the right direction, and the LP's times were right. Unfortunately, the bus never showed. After 60 minutes of waiting, I went with Plan B, Vang Vieng.

VV is supposed to be this place of opium delights and a backpackers heaven. I am not much for the poppy so that leaves caves and river tubing- neither of which is that exciting. As I walked into town, I noticed that it was much smaller than Vientiane and all the buildings were detached and a maximum of 3 stories high. Always a good sign.

However, what I don't like about VV is that it's only purpose seems to cater towards fat, blonde British broads with tiny tank tops on that display their hefty guts just over a too short skirt or sarong. Of course I'm exaggerating (they come in many nationalities), but farang have been strutting around in next to nothing. There are more pizza joints than I have fingers, all of which seem to have gotten their "pizzeria" sign from the same signmaker's sale- they're all exactly the same.

While sitting in just such a place (there's a lack of anything else around really), I watched as other farang wandered by. I often wonder why places like VV, Yangshuo, Goa, basically all of Thailand, appeal to this type of tourists because they just want everything they have at home. Why bother coming to Laos, India, or China?

I also feel partially responsible when they wander around half naked- I feel like they should know better. They should, but it's me who winds up getting worked up about cultural sensitivity. It makes me think of the two girls in Goa who had their sloppy boobs out around a hoard of horny Indian prepubescents. It's just asking for trouble and it makes those kids think all westerners are a bunch of "loose women" and life harder for me. Same thing happened in Thailand when Vanessa and I saw the scariest woman topless on the beach who looked like the old lady from There's Something About Mary. Hell, if I were on the French Riviera, or almost anywhere in the Mediterranean, I'd pull off my bikini top too, but these people aren't and they should remember that. I'll get off my soapbox now.

The sad thing so far about VV is that it seems to have not much to itself anymore and completely dependant on farang. This could be me talking about stuff I don't know, but there is a different feel to the town, people don't smile back as much. The most contact I had with a Lao person today was when the girl I bought fruit from giggled at me and the man who sold me tweezers gave me my change. Perhaps I will have a different experience tomorrow. I'll rent a bike and see how I feel about things then.

Posted by Claudia at 04:24 AM | Comments (5)

March 29, 2004

Visa Extension Obtained

As the title says, I applied for a visa extension this morning. I figured it would have been a long drawn out process but it wasn't. I handed in my application to the uncharacterisically smiling immigration official. I was instructed to return at 2pm.

That was at 8:30am so I had a lot of time to kill. I decided to stop by the Morning Market for a nice fresh Lao ice coffee- they're sickly sweet and milky. MMMMmmmmmm....... The women serving me recognized me from yesterday and giggled at me. Giggling seems to be the universal communicator around here. I pulled out my copy of Cider House Rules and began passing a hot lazy day.

After a bit, I decided that it I was going to accomplish the walking tour I had read about, I better do it before the asshot time of the day (anything between noon and 4). I set off and passed by old run down hotels, promenades, wats, and delapidated french villas. The thing that stuck out was a former temple which is now used to display the countries most precious treasures. It once held the famous Emerald Buddha that sits in Bangkok, but the Thais "forcibly removed it" in the 18th century. Now it houses junky looking old buddha images that look like they came from the Chatichuk Weekend Market. It was a bit sad to think that this was the best they could do.

That said, maybe the Lao don't bother much with old relics. While having them would be nice, perhaps other things, such as an improved quality of life, are more important. I can't say I'm an expert on Laos, but from the few days I've been here, I've noticed it's cleaner than I expected, more orderly in terms of traffic, there are no packs of wild dogs searching through garbage lying on the street. People are constantly cleaning things- and yes this includes my favorite moving of dirt from one spot to another- literally combing the dirt. The people are polite, the tuktuk drivers not annoying or aggressive, and there seems to be more general friendliness than I expected. To test this theory, I smiled at people all day long, from little kids, to old grannies, to average joes. I never once didn't get a smile back- even the policeman smiled at me when I expected him to just puff his chest out in the manner of the Thai police (excepting the one who I almost vomited on- he laughed).

I spent some time photographing buddha heads, hands and feet (a fixation of mine), and then had a pizza for lunch- I know, not very Lao but yesterday I had two bowls of noddle soup and I wanted something western. When I went back for my passport, the officer gave me a big grin after I said "sabai dee" (hello). He asked my nationality, I said American to which he inquired "California?" I disappointed him when I told him New York. He gave me the standard man giggle and then passed me my documents.

Now again in possession of my passport, I could change some money. Changing money in Laos is a strange experience because the biggest bill I've come across is the equivalent to a $2 bill. Now imagine the bricks of money the man next to me received when he changed $200! Imagine trying to wedge that in a money belt! I was in no rush to get my money changed because the bank was icy cool due to some high power AC. I soaked up every second of it.

Tomorrow I head to Vang Vieng, an opium lovers haven. I'll do my best to avoid the dope and keep my head out of trouble. :)

Posted by Claudia at 03:20 AM | Comments (3)

March 28, 2004

I'm Loving Laos

This country rocks. It's what I always hoped Thailand would be, but better!!!!

After waking up from some severely disturbing dreams this morning, I decided to be ambitious. I try to have a rule: one tourist thing a day. It keeps me from burning out and forgetting half of what I've seen. Anyway, I sort of ignored it today, if you consider some light shopping a tourist attraction.

First stop of the day was Vientiane's Morning Market. There were rows after rows of silk shops and gold and clothing. It all looks the same after coming from Thailand where all the shops sell Thai silk embroidered with the same colors over and over. I had wanted to buy a piece in Chiang Mai but the vendors were all too expensive and hassle you. Fortunately, I waited because this morning I found a perfect piece of silk at a young woman's stall. She said $15, I giggled. I said $6, she giggled. After a few minutes of giggling on both sides, we agreed on $8.50, which I am sure is too much. However, I had a reason for picking her- her English was decent and I could get her to tell me where to catch the bus to the Buddha Park. She asked me to say certain phrases a few times so she could perfect saying "it's across the street" and "no, turn around, it's the other way." No prob.

After finding out where I had to go (and buying the umpteenth pair of sunglasses on this trip which I am sure will be broken within 4 weeks), I went to the bus terminal. A sign with some English pointed me in the right direction and a thin but swarthy Persian (a fellow farang) confirmed I was on the right bus. For 20 cents, I went 20 kms, and heard about how the Persian's family fled Iran when the Shah was deposed. His mother was Persian and his father some remote Iranian tribesman from a place where they are hearty people and ride horses everywhere. Now, he lives in Australia but he's been in Thailand for the last year getting some painful reconstructive dental surgery. He has family in the States as well and his family there told him that people are shot dead all the time. I had never imagined that an Iranian would be wary of coming to the States because it was dangerous.... the things you learn on Lao buses!

I hopped off at the Buddha Park and was pleased to see it was worth coming all the way for. The park was filled with grotesque Buddhist and Hindu sculpture. The buddha faces were serene but had monstrous boubous noses, occasionally with skulls attached (pictures will be coming soon). I paid my 50 cent entry and spent the next 2 hours chatting with students and monks as well as taking photos. I did my usual fib of being a farmer from New Zealand bit and I enjoyed hopping from shady area to shady area with the three eighteen year old girls I met who were told me they were students. I took a photo of them that had them in stitches shyly behind their hands.

As I was waiting for the bus back, I heard someone yell "KIWI!" It was the friend of the shy girls who remembered that I said that "kiwi" is a nickname for New Zealanders. When I realized he was talking to me, I sat with the boy and he told me his name was Nicky. We wound up chatting the whole way back to Vientiane about various topics. His favorites seemed to center around girls- Lao girls are beautiful, Thai girls like to date fat old farang who have bad breath, etc. We then had a lesson on the word "breath." He had me repeat it over and over until he said it the same way and used it correctly in a sentence. I was sleepy at one point and he asked if I was feeling lethargic and I nearly hurt myself from laughing. I would have said I was tired, but I complimented him on his vocabulary. He asked me to visit his university, but being on my own I didn't think that was a good idea and politely declined.

I polished the day off with some pork noodle soup and a can of Beer Lao for $1.30. Ahhh.... if Laos is going to be this good, it's going to be hard to leave!

Oh, and for Joe E, my toe is massively gangrenous and looks like it's going to fall off!!! Just kidding, it's fine but thanks for asking.

Posted by Claudia at 04:45 AM | Comments (5)

March 27, 2004

Entering the Friendly Backwaters of Laos

Laos is the backwaters of South East Asia. It's only got 4 million people compared to Vietnam's 70 million and Thailand's 60 million. It's like the South Dakota of South East Asia. Once you get outside the main towns, there's nothing.

My train ride from Bangers was pleasant and I chatted with a young idealist Dutch girl, and a 69 year old Thai lady who told me she exercises thirty minutes each day. She was very proud that her one son lived in Georgia and owned a Thai restaurant. Then she said "you like Thai food?" I'm WAY over Thai food but of course to be polite I raved about it and said that the fresh ingredients and spicy hotness were great.

I got to the border with no major issues and had a new Thai departure stamp in my passport lickety split. While waiting for the Friendship Bridge bus to get moving, I saw a weird, slightly aggitated guy wearing an Osama bin Laden tshirt. He kept wandering around and generally annoying the seedy looking bus driver, which was fine by me because they banned him from the bus it seemed. It was just weird to see someone wearing a shirt with Osama on it. I've seen them on TV, but never in person before.

I had heard from another traveller that this border's visa service was slow as shit so I got ready for a long wait. Well, what I didn't take into account was the fact that none of the other farang tourists could figure out what "race" meant. I was done with my visa application in thirty seconds while they were trying to spell "caucasian". Righto.

I handed it in, paid my $31 (that $1 extra's for the priviledge of crossing on a weekend), and off I went. As I am notoriously hateful towards taxi and tuktuk drivers, I did not look forward to the impending negotiation. To my surprise though, I walked out and the first guy I saw said 200B. Nope. Then he said the magic fair number of 150. Bingo, let's go.

As it turns out, my driver was a giggly character who didn't get bent out of shape when I changed which guesthouse I wanted to go to from the looks of the outside of the place. He smiled and took me to my second choice. Rock on. Maybe it was the fact that when he asked me where I'm from and what I did, I told him I was a taxi driver from New Zealand and most of my clients were sheep. I asked him if he was from Colombia and he pointed to himself and said "NO! Me Lao!!!"

I checked into my guesthouse, and promptly paid the $6 for the night, which includes aircon and hot water, a huge treat and needed extravagance this time of year. The manager/owner was a middle aged woman who was more than happy to let me chose from several rooms.

After settling in, I set off for Pha That Luang, the most important stupa or Buddhist relic in the country. It was a big gold number that had the appearance of a pointy wedding cake, with layers on top of one another. On the way, I saw the Patuxai monument, which looks like the Arch de Triumphe, but made out of concrete that was sold to Laos for use at the Vientiane airport.

Right after passing the "vertical runway" (some expats nickname for the big ugly concrete archy thing) I saw a truck all tricked out with Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden stickers!! I dug into my bag as fast as I could for my camera but the afternoon heat made me too sluggish and I missed the photo. If I've seen two in the span of 4 hours, I'm sure I'll see more and have to ask them to pose for me.

The weekend is looking dull because well, I have a knack of showing up in places having national holidays. Everything will be closed tomorrow so I bought myself a book to pass the day. If I'm lucky, the Morning Market will be open and I will be able to get to the Buddha Park outside of town.

For those interested, my toe is practically done healing. More to come soon....

Posted by Claudia at 04:11 AM | Comments (2)

March 26, 2004

Chatting with Friends in South Africa

Yesterday as I was checking my email, I saw that another fellow traveller was online so I IMed him. Erik (or eeyartee) has been trying to convince me about the merits of South Africa for ages. I haven't been convinced. It just doesn't have much appeal for me.

However, after sending his last email to me about how great things were, he got mugged at knifepoint.

Not good at all. THat's not on the list of things you want to have happen on your trip. However, he didn't get all worked up about it, and has made the best of it because he now has to rearrange his flights while waiting for new documents and cash cards to arrive. However, it was only a minor hiccup. He could have just as easily been mugged in the States.

I'm off for Laos tonight if my China visa comes out alright when I pick up my passport at 6. If not, I will have to reapply in Vientiane. Ok, I'm off now! Posts may get sparse as I have no idea how often I can get online in Laos.

Posted by Claudia at 12:38 AM | Comments (1)

March 24, 2004

Good Haircut and Quick Healing

As I've been stuck in Bangers yet again, I am making the most out of it.

I've spent my days doing chores that need to be done. I searched high and low for the correct contact lenses off Silom Road and hassled the opticians to no end on what I required. After about ten shops, I finally found someone who had what I was looking for. And, I saw contacts for someone who is more blind than me... I didn't know that was possible.

I also got a KICKASS haircut for a whopping $2.50. I was so happy with how well the girl listened to what I wanted (we spoke with photos of haircuts) that I then tipped her another $1.50. I actually got the haircut I've been after for years, but no one from home will get to see it. Figures right? You pay $25-40 in the States and even have "consultations" but this girl understood from a photo and got it right the first time.

I've sampled new places to eat and have found a coffee shop that serves a mean raspberry cream frappucino, complete with hookers outside waiting to accost the farang men. It costs a fraction of the Starbucks version and is served in a far superior atmosphere.

My toe is healing super quickly, which makes no sense in the dirty city of Bangkok. I guess the antitbiotics and my vigilant cleaning are making a difference. No pain and no pus are both good signs...

Also today I got a phonecall from Anthony, which was a very cool surprise. He knew I was staying at VP Tower (where Mel and her crew live) but she had moved rooms and I was staying in someone else's room who was away for the weekend. The girl at the desk has seen me so much though that she knew where I was and the call actually got through. Amazing. Ant and I caught up and he told me he got my black and white negatives developed. I had completely forgotten about all the photos I took at Angkor Wat but he and his buddy checked em out over a pint and it seems they like what they saw. I am stoked to see my own photos now. Woo-hoo.

Soon I'll be out of Bangkok, on a train northwards to Laos, enroute to connecting with Anthony in Kunming, China. Until then I will just have to sip raspberry fraps, read Harry Potter books, and eat cheap Japanese food. How am I ever going to go back to a 9-5 job???

Oh, and MOM, check your yahoo account woman!!!!!! You never write me back. Such neglect from a mother who says she misses me.....

Posted by Claudia at 02:04 AM | Comments (5)

March 22, 2004

Split Toe and the Curse of Chinese Visas

I'm back in Bangkok, AGAIN.

I left Australia on the 17th and I was much sadder to leave than I would have expected. The night before, Kylie's fam had a big old dinner with yummy curry at their house and I had a good time with all of them. I took off for Kuala Lumpur,and then Singapore without a prob. When I woke up on the 18th, I bumped into Leticia (or Lets from BnA) in the bathroom of my hostel. She was off on a visa run from Malaysia and we wound up spending the day at the BodyWorlds exhibit. My sister had told me about this exhibit after she had seen it in London. I dragged Leticia off to it and the show was pretty spectacular. Here is the link. I would suggest not eating at the same time...

I flew to Bangkok the next day and met up with Mel. Mel and friends went out to Face Bar, which is affliated with Face Bar of Shanghai where Kylie and I got legless. I wound up scamming a few free drinks off the manager and proceeded to split my right big toe open on a piece of glass when hopping out of the taxi. Well, I didn't realize it until the taxi drove off so one of the people at Suk11 drove me to the hospital to have it cleaned up. 1,400 baht later (and some major concern about the fact that my $$ was at Mel's place and that I was going to have to leave my passport) I was mended and back at Suk11, within 35 minutes. How's that for express service??

This morning I decided to go send my passport off for a Chinese visa. I arranged it through one of the dreaded travel agents on the Khao San Rd. I hate these guys, but I finally found one who didn't seem like a snake. Ake sent off my passport straight away and said if it didn't come back by Friday, he would change my train ticket free of charge. This is actually a good thing because I will have time to see if my toe heals well enough for me to go to Laos. It would really suck to have a gangrenous big toe in a place where the guidebooks suggest going back to Thailand for medical attention.

Posted by Claudia at 05:11 AM | Comments (3)

March 16, 2004

The Overland Track and Others

I've been enjoying the creature comforts of staying in Melbourne with Kylie. It's very different that being a stinkball in Tassie with no soap and no showers for six days.

Before I head back to Asia though, I wanted to post some photos from my trek and a few other things.

This first photo is of the Pyramid Rock area even though you can't see Pyramid Rock. Dez, Kellie's man took me for a drive along the coast and I got to enjoy the scenery.

This little creature is a wombat. I've been dying to see one the whole time I've been in OZ and I ha to resort to the zoo with Kylie to see one. This one's name was Whopper and he weighed in at 31 kilos.

Ok, the rest of these pics are from my walk. TO start off, I have Lake St Clair. This was the very beginning of the walk and we took a ferry across it to save a day's hike.

I saw this tree as we got off the boat.

We visited several waterfalls along the way and this one is D'Alton Falls.

All along the way we went through moss covered forest.

I bumped into this pademelon at one of the huts that were along the way on the walk. We only used them twice though, once because it was so damned cold and the other because well, it was a cool hut with heat.

Pelion East would have been more appropriately named Nipple Mountain, but that doesn't go over well with the hoards of old people who seem to be roaming around the ends of the track.

This is me right below the summit of Pelion East. I only got to about 30 feet below the summit because the gravel-rock thing made me really nervous.

This is a random view of part of the mountain range.

My favorite photo from this walk is of Mt. Oakleigh. Can you see why?

Yet another view. See that tiny nipple bit on the left? That's Pelion East. You can see how far we went in three days...

One of the guides decided along the way that we should be some coal from along the walk to the final hut so we could have more heat. So not only was I carrying my pack, but rocks as well, as shown here.

This is me at the very end of the journey. I'm standing in front of Dove Lake. Dove Lake is below Cradle Mountain, which we were not able to see clearly because of rain and fog. I bought a postcard so I'd know what I walked past..... Do I look tired???

Hope you enjoyed!!


Posted by Claudia at 04:39 PM | Comments (5)

March 13, 2004

Stinking in Tassie

I made it. When I returned, I stuck to high hell, but I made it.

Believe it or not, I made it. I walked the Overland Track AND enjoyed it. For the last six days I've been on Tasmania (no, I didn't see any devils) walking an average of 5-6 hours a day. The whole trail is 81k (50.5 miles for you imperialists) and with side trips, it was 89k. For a bit of reference, that's like walking from my house in Long Island to 5 miles west of Hoboken, uphill, in the mud, with 25 pounds on my back. Sometimes, if I was "lucky", it rained.

The scenery was pretty cool, lakes and mountains, etc. Every half hour we were walking through a new environment. Sometimes mossy covered forest (very LOTR for geeks out there) to wide open moors, to quiet streams, to gum trees galore. An added bonus was the potential for leeches- everyone seemed to attract one but me, which made me nervous it crawled somewhere I didn't see.... ick.

The most incredible part of the walk was actually not the views (impressive) or the forest (I was called Pippin on one occasion), but the fact that I was able to push my body to such limits and still enjoy it. I'm not super fit and this was a serious walk, requiring a lot of energy and gumption. I was able to see a change in the way my body reacted to the amount of physical strain.

I'm beat today, but I think I would enjoy doing a walk like this again- possibly on my own. It was wise this time to get on an organized walk (our guides had done it over 55 times combined) because I couldn't possibly have carried all the gear and food on my own, and I definately didn't have the the knowledge. I do feel that I could walk into the wilderness for 3-4 days on my own now and feel like I wasn't going to get into serious trouble.

Maybe I will have to undertake a walk somewhere in Oregon when I get back to the States...

Posted by Claudia at 12:18 AM | Comments (6)

March 07, 2004

Prepping for a LONG Walk

I made it to Tassie (or Tasmania) without much hassle. I caught "The Spirit of Tasmania" last night after having a good dinner in St. Kilda with Kylie, Berk and Quinn. They dropped me off at the terminal and I promptly fell asleep onboard.

When I arrived today, I wasn't sure what to make of my hostel, because it is an old hospital and looks grim. However, when I met the manager, Denise, that all changed. She's a sweet older lady who helped me out lots today. I needed to find some thermal clothing and she scraped around finding stuff that fit me. Garry, one of my Overland Track leaders, also helped me pack my bag in the most efficient way, saying "nope, leave it, nope, leave it, take that."

I decided to do an organized walk because truly I don't have enough hiking experience to do it alone, and I don't have the gear, let alone for six solid days. These guys have both- so the next time I do it, I can go it alone. The most depressing thing I heard today was that soap (both bar, body wash, and shampoo) were all banned from use in the park. Ok, that means six days with no washie washie. Needless to say when I held up my deoderant, Garry said "definately take that."

The walk I am doing is THe Overland Track, one of the most famous in the world. It is an 81k (~50 miles) walk through diverse terrain. Wait till the photos get posted and you'll see what I mean.

I will be out of touch for about 6 days, so check back in a week!!!

Posted by Claudia at 04:02 AM | Comments (2)

March 05, 2004

Circling Melbourne

The last few days have again been busy busy, but only in a good way. I've gotten to visit some of the great people I've met while on different trips. I met up with Kylie and her man Berk a bit back and will be seeing them again shortly.

I got to catch up with Sue, who I met in India, at her place in Little River, near Geelong. She has a house on 11 acres and I got to meet her horse. I'll put up photos of Sue and her horse shortly!! She took me for a drive down the Great Ocean Road that was much appreciated.

The next day I was passed off to Kathy, a friend and coworker of Sue, who I also met in India. I got to meet three of her four kids, Christine, Kim-Thao, and Nitin. Kathy and I spent the day lounging around, dipping in her pool, and finally for a bike ride into Melbourne along the Yarra River. I got to see where my ship for Tassie was leaving from (Port Melbourne) and generally a view of the city.

Finally, I made my way to Kellie and Dez. I met Kellie in India and she has graciously let me stay at her fabulous home on Phillip Island. They lent me their spare car, which is manual. Between being on the opposite side of the road and dealing with the shifting, it was a little too stressful and after a brief ride to the post office (and many stalls), I gave up and pulled out Dez' bike. This turned out to be perfect because the day cleared up and I rode down to a Koala Sanctuary. I hadn't been to fired up about koalas, but after seeing them, I have to admit, they are sickeningly cute. After seeing the lazy bastards (whose diet is so useless they have to sleep 20 hours a day), I took a dirt trail up to the Rhyll Inlet, a most enjoyable ride passing through a wildlife sanctuary. Finally, on my ride back to the house, I ran into a short beaked echidna.

It's been a wonderful few days catching up with people I met back in September and I couldn't ask for better. I hope that I will be able to return the favors someday in the States.

Kellie also let me use her PC so I do have some new photos!!! Enjoy.

Kangaroos on the golf course

The short beaked echidna I saw on the side of the road. These guys are related to the platypus and lay eggs.

A yellow breasted robin

The oldest koala at the sanctuary snoozing

A very cheeky koala joey... this guy kept getting scolded by his mother.

Same joey having a scratch

Check out these claws!!

Finally, here's my bitten up legs. I had 40 bites on just one leg!!

Posted by Claudia at 07:02 PM | Comments (2)

March 01, 2004

More Photos!!!

I made it to Melbourne in one piece. My friend Kylie has been kind enough to put me up and also let me use her fast computer (well, I think it's her boyfriend Berk's but whatever) so I'm putting up even more photos!!!! Yeah!!!!

To start with, here is the previously mentioned piano playing and singing dingo.

Next up is a kangaroo that I was stalking in the woods.

This is another kangaroo that has a joey sticking out.

And to round out the 'roo section, here is a dead roo. Looks like a dingo ran off with his head!! Note the ballerina pose....

The last of my animal photos (for the moment) are these emu.

I also visited diverse landscapes. An example of lush temperate rainforest is this view of the Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains.

In contrast, I also visited lots of nothingness and even more nothingness. The ground in nothingville can get really dry sometimes. I think the dry empty desert makes people a bit mad and they make things like this for other people to find. Nice actuator man! Also this guy.

I though there was supposed to be a road around here somewhere. However, there are not many people to ask, as shown by this sign.

Everything in the Outback is big from road trains to trucks to tires.

Also big in the Outback are the beards, especially Talc Alf's. He's also got a bicycle powered washing machine.



The next batch of photos are landscapey type shots, so be patient.

The Breakaways

King's Canyon

Me after a hike

The Olgas

Flinder's Ranges I think

Along that same walk

A closeup of Uluru

Valley of the Winds

And last but not least, here are the people I travelled with. Ignore that dark haired guy in the middle, he's the pizza shop owner....

Posted by Claudia at 06:19 AM | Comments (5)