Terra and Scott RTW

finally got the pics of Vietnam and all of New Zealand up. Even a few of Sydney. Check them out in the PICTURES category down to your right! 

hope everyone is doing well. we are in our final few days in Australia! Headed to Rome on Tuesday 🙂

Vietnam was one of those countries that was on the list of places we’d like to go but didn’t HAVE to go. We are both so glad we went. Can’t say enough about how wonderful it was. For obvious reasons we were concerned that, as Americans, we may not have been welcomed. Boy were we wrong!  The people were wonderful to us at every stop. The food was fabulous as well (love the Pho)!  Not to mention, Vietnam is VERY affordable. A room in a 15 cottage beachside resort was $14 per night including breakfast! We’ve listed just a few of the highlights below. most of these are backed up with some photos in our pictures sections. Enjoy!

Christmas (Chistmas to some folks) and New Year’s Eve in Ho Chi Minh City

Being shown HCMC by our friend/guide/local Richard Nguyen

The Cu Chi Tunnels

The “American War” museum in HCMC (they don’t called the Vietnam war of cours)

Kite Surfing for 3 days in Mui Ne

The open-air fish/meat markets in the Mekong Delta

“shopping” in Hoi An (Terra made me do it)

Sightseeig in Hanoi (including seeing Ho Chi Minh himself, he isn’t alive)

The most amazing meals

Even better people

Can’t think of any other way to express my utter despair at the lack of coverage of my beloved NCAA basketball tourney than to share it with you (and anyone else who will listen to be babble about it). An ESPN update once every two or three days simply doesn’t cut it.

On top of the lack of media coverage over here, the complete disinterest from any/all Australians is extraordinarily dissapointing.  As you may or may not know, the US is one of if not the only county in the world that has big time COLLEGE athletics.

 If I have to watch one more cricket match (or is it test) rugby league/rugby union (i don’t know the difference) I’m going to do something drastic. 

do they sell portable, individual satellite dishes that I can attach to my backpack? had to get it off my chest:)

Wow, does it ever. If the time between posts is a measurement of the amount of fun we’re having then…it’s been a long time since our last post.  Too many excuses to list so I won’t even bother.

 We’re in Australia right now having a wonderful with my parents. That’s right!  Mike and Diana made the trip to OZ and have been living it up with us for the last few days. We picked them up in Brisbane last Friday and have been kicking around the Gold Coast area for several days now. Hopefully they’ll have some fun stories to share with you all.

 Terra and I continue to be amazed at all of the cool stuff (people, places, things) the world has to offer.

Wish we had more time/money to keep up on the blog but will try to do some review posts shortly (we’ve been saying that for almost 2months now) 🙂

enough for now. off to have more fun with the Folks.

FYI. we were nowhere near the big cyclone that hit Australia a few days ago. safely south. did get some of the aftermath wind and rain however. piece of cake.

 will write again soon. i hope!

Wow!! What a difference it makes to travel in a country where everyone speaks the lingo. don’t get me wrong…we had an amazing time in SE Asia but…it was time to go. 3 months was a good length for us. Granted, we really wanted to go to Laos, could’ve spent more time in Thailand etc… Oh well, you can’ t do it all.

So after a brutal flight(s) from Bangkok to Christchurch, we were wiped out for a couple of days. Terra ended up getting sick because she was so worn down. We guessed that only 3 hours of sleep was had between the two of us of about 36 hours. Not fun. We did watch about 67,000 movies on the planes though.

We decided that we would buy one of the around-the-country bus passes instead of renting a camper van or car. We had originally planned on doing the camper thing but. Being driven around for a few weeks sounded good. We started in Christchurch. Really cool little town. As we were flying in, I commented to Terra how much I thought it looked like flying into Boise!

There are about 300K people in the town but, from what I could tell, most of them live outside the “city” on farms. The downtown area was also much like Les Bois. Very easy to walk around clean lots of neat little shops etc. Our 5 days there were very enjoyable. Spend most of our time relaxing, enjoying the great weather etc. Even had a chance to go for a run on the very Boise-like greenbelt.

Have to make a comment on the coffee in Christchurch. Keeping in mind that Portland is probably second behind only Seattle in number of coffee houses per square inch; I’d say Christchurch is 3rd. It was amazing. You literally couldn’t hit a wedge (even as short as I hit mine) without flying over 6-7 shops. Needless to say I was wired the whole time I was there. It was great.

We were also really excited to try the authentic NZ cuisine. I guess I didn’t really realize there isn’t such a thing (except for the mystery Meat Pies that Sow already warned me about). The food has been quite good actually.

Oh…another one to but in the category of “We shouldn’t take it for granted at Home”… TAP WATER!!! I took my first drink from a tap as soon as we landed. What a liberating feeling!! No longer does every drink need to come from a bottle. You can actually take a bottle, drink it all and fill it back up again. FOR FREE!! It is delightful.

We have been making our way around the south island for the last 10 days. Mor details to come but so far so good. New Zealand is great!!

It was around 6:30am as we sat in an open courtyard fighting off mosquito attacks and waiting for our “arranged” transportation to pick us up. It’s always interesting to find out how we’ll be traveling as it’s usually necessary to depend on the locals to arrange transportation. I was getting a little nervous when a crowded minivan pulled up in front of the hostel with backpacks strapped to the roof. Westerners filled every obvious seat except a small space near the door. I hoped Scott could squeeze in, but it would be impossible for both of us. I looked at the Cambodian woman, somewhat confused as to where I was going to fit, she pointed behind the bench seat where another unfortunate small female crouched. I shrugged my shoulders, grabbed my daysack, and wedged myself in next to her. Somehow the Cambodian woman crawled in beside me and off we went down the dirt road. I was able to lean my back against some type of uncomfortable wood barrier that stretched from the driver side all the way to the passenger door and kept digging into my shoulders as we bumped, buckled, and honked our way across the countryside. From my vantage point I could see the faces off all the travelers. All the other foreigners appeared to be “backpackers” or Europeans on holiday, I hate to stereotype but by now it’s usually pretty easy to spot us, the only Cambodians in the van were the driver and his wife sitting next to me. I assumed she was his wife because every few minutes she yelled at him in Cambodian and he nodded yes without a reply, he didn’t really appear to be paying attention…must be universal.
I was thankful this part of the journey would be relatively short as each minute became increasingly more uncomfortable. Ultimately, we were on our way to a boat that would take us from Siem Reap down the Tonle’ Sap river and finally to Phenom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. The boat ticket was $23USD significantly more expensive than the bus $7USD, but it would only take 5 hours and from what we were told the bus was extremely uncomfortable and was notorious for multiple breakdowns along the way. As we rode to the dock I was happy we chose water instead of land.
We soon became surrounded by muddy wet lands on both sides of the dirt road. I was unprepared for the community that made this river their home. We came upon rows of stilted shelters with sparsely thatched walls that appeared to use the swampy water for all their daily needs. We saw whole families gathered in one room shelters without any form of plumbing or electricity. Small camp fires lined the road with woman tending pots of boiling water. Children ran along the road without clothing or shoes. It was shocking to witness this kind of poverty. As we passed through the long line of shelters I began to feel a sense of dread rising up in the pit of my stomach. The realization that the mini van would soon come to a stop and I would come face to face with these woman and children that I watched from my window. Trying to find some reassurance I glanced at the other travelers for support, unfortunately, no one was making eye contact. Everyone seemed absorbed in random objects in the van or silently contemplating the sad scene outside. As the van came to a stop we slowly pilfered out and were immediately swallowed up by the crowd. “Water, bread madam?”, coming from every direction. I found myself surrounded by small children pulling at my sleeve and women carrying large baskets of bread. I continued to shake my head and say, “no” as I pushed my way through the crowd. I spotted the small Cambodian woman from the van pointing to the passenger boat. I finally navigated my way through the crowd and onto the boat.
Once successfully on-board I found my seat and for the next five hours began to ponder the purpose of our travels and process what I had just witnessed and my uncomfortable reaction to the women and children of the river. I was able to concluded, for myself, that maybe poverty doesn’t always seem as real if I watch it from a window, turn the page of a newspaper, or simply change the channel? Maybe the real meaning is lost until we are forced to use all our senses to see, smell, hear, taste, and feel the effects of poverty. That I believe is the true beauty of travel.
So close to Christmas it was a humbling experience and one I hope to draw from throughout my lifetime.

Cambodia is one of the most interesting places we’ve been. There are many facets to this wonderful country and I have had a difficult time finding the right words to describe them. Consider this the best I could come up with.

Most of us are familiar with the genocide that took place in the 1970’s at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. To visit the “Killing Fields” or the infamous secret prisons of Phnom Penh (the capitol city) is to be reminded in an all to0 real way that nearly 3 million Cambodians were killed by their fellow countrymen in a span of roughly 3 years. There were only 8 million citizens of Cambodia in total at that time. It is baffling to me that human beings can be capable of such unbelievable brutality and destruction. Quite honestly, it made me ashamed to be part of the same race.

Business is growing in Cambodia, tourists are coming and there is a sense that the tragedies of only 30 years ago have been mostly forgotten. That is until you have the opportunity to speak to the people. It seemed that everyone we talked to over the age of 30 and even many under that age had been impacted directly by the genocide. Fathers, brothers, mothers, sisters were murdered. Literally taken to the “jungle” or to the fields and killed. No one was left unaffected.

Those wounded still walk the streets in search of donations. Some sell books, some simply beg. One man in particular was being pushed around in a cart by another man as his body was so mangled by a Khmer Rouge land mine that he couldn’t walk. By the way, there are still land mine caution signs all over the Cambodian countryside.

As I said, business has returned to a certain degree. This city, however, is not like most cities of a similar size. The streets of PP are only paved to the edges of the city and then turn briskly to dust. A city of millions travels, in large part, on dirt roads full of pot holes so large that you can’t drive more than a few miles per hour.

We visited PP right before Christmas. It made us very thankful for the blessed lives we have led.

The flip side of Cambodia lies only 6 hours north by boat. The famed Temples of Angkor (Angkor Wat) are simply beyond words. Most of us have seen pictures of the wats (temples) before. Angkor Wat is listed as one of the only remaining original 7 Wonders of the world. Laying eyes on these temples forces you to ask how mere human beings can be possible of creating such beauty. These structures are massive. Some of the temples (there are over 300 in Cambodia) took over 40 years to build and were build entirely by hand. no machines. To imagine how blocks of stone weighing over 1 ton apiece were maneuvered miles down river and then hundreds of meters in the air is incredible. It made me proud to be part of the same race.

Cambodia is a perfect example of the best and the worst that humanity has to offer.

SIDE NOTE: we’ll have our pictures of Cambodia posted soon (I’m knocking on wood). you can google Angkor Wat and see better pictures than I could take I’m sure.

If you’d like to read more about the Khmer Rouge and the Pol Pot regime, I can recommend. “Stay Alive, My Son” and “First they killed my Father”

After getting a great suggestion from a friend. We’ve decided to add post that will keep everyone up do date on our whereabouts. Hopefully we’ll be better at keeping this current than we have been about new posts lately 🙂
Also a perfect time to turn over this new leaf as it is now officially 2006!

Dec 24, 2005 – Jan. 2, 2006 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Jan. 2 travelling from HCMC to Mui Ne, Vietnam (headed north to end up in Hanoi in a few days)

Jan 2 – Jan 7 Mui Ne, Vietnam. just up the coast from HCMC.

Jan 7 – Jan 11 Hoi An, Vietnam. great little town full of art and tailors

Jan 11 – Jan 16 Ha Noi, Vietnam. just got here and really like it

Jan 16 – Jan 22 Bangkok. few more days in BKK before going to NZ

falling behind again :()

Jan 23 – 28 Christchuch, New Zeland (south island)

Jan 28-29 Kaikoura, New Zealand (headed north now)

Jan 29-30 Picton, New Zealand

Jan 30- Feb 2 Abel Tasman National Park, (nortwest, still south island)

Feb 2-3 Barrytown, NZ (headed down the west coast)

Feb 3-4 Fran Josef National Park

Feb 4-7 Queenstown, NZ

Feb 8-9 Milford Sound (back on the coast)

Feb 9-11 Te Anu, NZ

Feb 11-13 Invercargill, NZ

FEb 13-15 Dunedin, NZ

Feb 15-17 Christchurch

Feb 18 Flew to Auckland took a ferry to Waiheke Island

Feb 18-22 Waiheke

Feb 22-25 Bay of Islands

Feb 25-28 Rotorua

Feb 28- March 2 Taupo

Mar 2 – Mar 4 Napier

Mar 4- Mar 8 Wellington

Mar 8 – Mar 11 Sydney

Mar 11 – Mar 17 Forster-Tuncurry

Mar 17-18 Brisbane

Mar 18-27 Gold Coast

Mar 27-Mar 31 Perth

Mar 31 – April 4 Mandurah

April 4- April 20

SW Australia: Margaret River, Augusta, Denmark, Freemantle, back to Perth

April 20 – May 20

Italy:   Rome, Montepulciano, Sienna, Firenze, Lucca, San Gimingano, Pistoia, Bologna, Venezia, Parma, Cique Terra, Milano

May 20 – June 15

Spain: Madrid, La Manga, Valencia, Barcleona, Logrono, Bilbao, Gernika, San Sebastian, Madrid, Toledo, Cordoba, Sevilla

Portugal: Lisboa

June 15 – June 20

France: Paris

June 20 – June 23

The Netherlands: Amsterdam

June 23 – June 31

Germany: Cologne, Dortmund, Trier, Germund, Dresden

June 31-  July 17

Czech Republic: Prague

Hungary: Budapest

Croatia: Zagreb, Dubrovnik

July 17 – August 7

UK: London

really cool!!!

live music (albeit some type of funny flute). lots of tasty adult beverages! Loud, constant gambling. AND guys (and gals !!) throwing everything on their bodies that moves at the opponent.

much better than the boxing we see in the U.S.. NO QUESTION.

I wanted to give a little description of my first Muay Thai (Thai boxing) match. Scott and I were walking down the streets of Patong, in awe of all the loud music and neon lights, when we became surrounded by men in green vests promoting the big bout. I must admit I’m usually a little squeamish about boxing but somehow these persuasive gentlemen made it sound like the fight of a lifetime. I secretly wanted to spend the evening watching some Thai Dance, but before I knew it we had purchased tickets to the match for about 500B/$12 US. A few hours later we were in a cab speeding down a dark alley to the arena. I was starting to get a little nervous after I read a brief description in our guide book. The five, three-minute rounds, consist of opponents kicking each other in the head, neck, and any other body part they can reach, apparently, high kicks to the face, knees to the ribs, and elbow thrust are especially encouraged and they consider punching as a weaker blow. I was a little on edge as we entered the testosterone filled stadium. Much to my surprise there was a orchestra of men in the corner blowing on all kinds of instruments I’ve never seen. The music was a little erratic but the boxers seemed to enjoy the rhythm as they bowed to the audience and performed a little jig?
We were approached by a waiter who offered us some refreshments and an evening meal of fish balls and rice. We passed on the fish balls, decided on a drink, and settled in to watch the match. Sure enough they came out kicking! It really looked quite painful as they delivered multiple kicks and punches to the face. I must admit, they were very skillful and even a little graceful as they delivered the blows. At the end of each round the trainers physically picked them up and sat them in steal trays filled with ice. I noticed multiple reddish/purplish hematomas developing on their legs and they certainly looked exhausted. At the end of the round the judges declared a winner whom took home 2000B about $50US. Seemed like a lot of work and physical abuse for that much money? Surprisingly, I actually had a good time and would recommend the experience, at least once, to anyone visiting Thailand.