Brisbane, Australia

I have arrived safe and sound in Brisbane and have met up with Jules. 16 hours on a bus, priceless.

Melbourne to Sydney

I am headed on the train now between Melbourne and Sydney. 11 hours on one train, something I never got in Europe. A long day of travel like this in Europe would have required several trains and a possible tram or bus ride.

Toni and her sister were incredibly hospitable to me during the week that I was in Melbourne. They set me up in a private room with a huge comfy bed and fresh towels. The home that the two of them share reminds me of many of the homes in the states, a small bungalow with one bathroom. It was a perfectly lovely place to spend the week, and even though it was a bit outside of the city, I got to see how real citizens of Melbourne lived, worked, and played.

Toni is currently looking for work after returning home from her excursion, so it meant I had her all to myself for the most part to show me around and share adventures with. The first day that I got to Melbourne, I arrived very early in the morning, but by the time I had processed through passport control, customs, and health check (because even with the fact that Australia has the highest concentration of deadly and poisonous species of animals in the world, they really don’t want mad cow disease or the bird flu) it was about 7am. By the time I walked out the door of the airport to look for a phone to call Toni from, I saw her walking up from the parking garage to come and get me. After stopping at Mackers (McDonalds) for breakfast, we made it back to her house to unload and have a little nap. Due to the time change and a lack of sleep on the plane, my “nap” turned into a bit of hibernation, but seeing as how it was New Years Eve and I was going to be up pretty late that night, the nap was well worth it. Toni had planned for the two of us to go to a 1920’s inspired dinner party for the evening, and lucky for me, I had a suit made in Thailand that worked perfectly with the aid of a few accessories and hair product to pull off a pretty decent looking 1920’s ensemble.

New Years Eve was filled with fun. The dinner party was pretty small with only about a dozen or so people in attendance, making it very easy for me to get to know all of the other partygoers and enjoy the festivities. The guy, Troy, whom had planned the event, had set it up like a pot luck, but instead of serving everything buffet style, we did a proper sit down 8 course meal. Portion size of the food got drastically smaller as the night went on and everyone started to pop buttons from being so full. One of the other guests, Stu or Soup (depending on your personal taste in nicknames), works as a bartender, so after every course we would go into the kitchen and he would teach all of us a new cocktail to make. I lost track of all the different types of drinks we had and by the 8th course I am pretty sure I was just putting whatever I could reach into the glass and drinking it. Not necessarily the best approach to making a delicious cocktail, but the longer one drinks the less sophisticated the palate becomes. Fifteen minutes until midnight the party walked over to a nearby park, champagne in hand, to sit in the grandstand for the cricket field and watch the fireworks in the city go off. It was lovely, although the fireworks were a ways off, and as soon as the clock stuck midnight, we tried to get everyone in the grandstand to do the Mexican Wave. Some people went for it others looked at us like we might have had a little too much to drink. But I think the Mexican Wave is a much more exciting way to ring in the New Year than just kissing someone nearby, although we did a bit of that too.

The next day, while nursing a hangover, Toni and her sister took me out for brunch at a fun little café in the artsy area of Melbourne. It was delicious, greasy, and the perfect cure for a hangover. Plus we won’t the only people with that idea. Melbourne has been surprisingly cool in temperature while I have been here. I do have to remind myself that south of the equator, the further south you get, the colder it gets. I keep thinking to myself, “I can’t believe it is so cold here, I am so far south. Wait, I am so far south I am near Antarctica.” It is just a strange concept to me that the further north one goes, the warmer it gets. Due to the cool weather we spent the afternoon doing a driving tour around the city of Melbourne and its outlying areas. It is a pretty big little place once you get out of the city limits. On Friday, Toni and I got up and went into “China Town,” not quite the Chinatown of Singapore, but it was still cute, and walked around for a good chunk of the day exploring the downtown area. We decided on our stroll to see Wicked that night, so I treated her to a couple of tickets as a thank you for letting me stay with her. We rushed home to freshen up and then headed back downtown for the show. Toni loved it, thank goodness, and was talking about how much she would like to see it again. I think I have finally added another show to her repertoire of musical theatre, the list formerly only containing Phantom of the Opera. (So many people and their obsession with that show.) The two of us had a great night, and it was fun for me to see the show a second time, especially since this was a permanent production and nothing was cut out to make it easier to travel.

I also bought a bus ticket that day to do the Great Ocean Road. Early Saturday morning I awoke to go into town to catch the tour bus headed down the Great Ocean Road, think Pacific Coast Highway meets Australia but better. It was a full day going to all of the major sights on the Great Ocean Road, and at one point I got to do a helicopter ride over one of the more famous landmarks, the 12 Apostles. All of the wonderful little beach towns along the way really made me want to live there once I have made the million or so dollars I will need to purchase property there. I have lots of pictures since there is no way to really describe the sights along the Great Ocean Road.

Sunday, was a very lazy day for the most part, until late afternoon, when we all went to the St Kilda Sea Baths to enjoy the weekly outdoor Salsa dancing marathon. The Baths, or beach club, sit right out over the water, so we enjoyed a few cocktails, a live salsa band, and dancing on the beach. The crowd varied from super experienced to beginner so it was a lot of fun for a spotlight hog like myself to break out my dancing shoes and enjoy the evening. It was also really hot that day, so you could really only do one song at a time, which was delightful in that everyone on the dance floor did a natural rotation so it wasn’t unbearably full. Finally on Monday, Toni and I went to one of her favorite beaches to enjoy the warmer weather. Of course, I got a gnarly sunburn on about 70 percent of my body, but I am taking pretty good care of it and longing for the day it will either darken brown or peel off, so I don’t look like a lobster anymore. The beach, though, was beautiful, although a bit more crowded then we expected. Seeing as how it is summer here in Australia, all of the students are on summer break. That was really weird for me to try to understand, students don’t go back to school after the Christmas break until March. I thought all schools would work on the schedule set up in the Northern Hemisphere. Some things I just don’t have the time to get used to.

I am on to Sydney now, seeing more friends for the trip, and maybe doing a surf school, although I will be wearing an SPF 80 from now on, white is way better than red.

P.S. I made it to Sydney, late of course. I should really have learned by now that anytime I get on a train it is going to be late.... I just didn't think it would be 2.5 hours late

Next day in Sydney:
Sydney is great, having loads of fun. Seeing a show at Cate Blanchette's theatre tonight... Ye-Haw

Melbourne, Australia

I have been having a blast in Melbourne. Went to a 1920's dinner party for New Years Eve and watched the city fireworks from the bleachers of a nearby park.

I got a hungover driving tour of the city. I went on a 13 hour bus tour of the Great Ocean Road and saw the 12 Apostles (rocks in the ocean), as well as take a helicopter tour of the coast line.

Toni and I went and saw Wicked since there is a permanent production here. I went salsa dancing on the beach with Toni and her sister. Today we are going to go chill out on the beach for a bit, and enjoy the beautiful weather. It has been a lot cooler here than I had expected.

Southeast Asia Pics

On a Tuk Tuk

From Bangkok to Singapore to Melbourne

I made it to Singapore last night, and now I am waiting at the airport for my flight to Melbourne. I have made contact with Toni a couple of times so I don't think there will be any problems getting in touch with her once I touch down. I am really excited to be heading to yet another continent, and my first time in the southern hemisphere.

Just making contact, not too much time left to wait. Sorry I have been so bad about e-mailing, I have just been having a really good time, and being lazy about making time to send a couple of messages now and then. Only 35 more days left for me on the road.

Later...Just wanted to let you know that I have safely arrived in Melbourne and met up with Toni, so all is well in the travelers world.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Well I had a fun first day in Siem Reap, home to one of the many wonders of the world Angkor Wat.

On Sunday I went to a Mountain about 1.5 hours outside of Phnom Penh, where there is a series of beautiful temples that overlook the flat Cambodian landscape. It was a day filled with a ton of hiking, free range monkeys, and dozens of little kids following me around with fans pushing each other out of the way trying to be the one fanning me the most. None of them wanted to sell me anything, they simply walked every where I did while holding Chinese fans, and occasionally using them to blow fresh humid air in my general direction. By the time I got back to the tuk-tuk to head home I had about 6 kids following me, two girls of which had followed me all the way from start to finish. I decided to tip the two of them 5 dollars each. By the time I got back to the hotel I was desperate for a little rest, so I found a place to get my reflexology done and enjoyed being pampered a bit.

I took the ferry yesterday from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, and have decided it is definitely the best way to get between the two cities. It took about 5 hours to speed up the Tonle Sap River, but the journey was filled with incredible sights, fun people, and you could literally sit wherever you wanted (which for most people meant on top of the ferry). The wind rushing through your hair, the scenery constantly changing, and a fun group of westerners sailing along the river made for a lot of fun. I just made the mistake of packing my sunscreen deep in my pack that was stored in the engine room so I got a bit of a sunburn. When I say a bit of a sunburn, I mean my face is on fire... hahaha. Luckily, though, my sunscreen (that I am now applying quite liberally) has aloe vera and vitamin E in it, so it relieves some of the pain as well as protecting from any further burning.

This morning I got up to start exploring the numerous temples of Angkor Wat, one of which is the location where Angelina Jolie filmed the first Tomb Raider movie, where she developed her love of Cambodian orphans. I joke that this place must be like a Costco to her where she can buy in bulk because the children will literally follow you everywhere in packs hoping you will buy something. I am sure if you made an Angelina offer they would sell you themselves as well, anything for a couple of bucks.

The temples here are incredible. Beautiful, massive, and so ornately decorated that all of the stone walls have worm hole carvings in them. I walked around a lot today, looking at the ruin, wondering what these structures would have looked like 1000 years ago. The place is filled with tourists, but it is so beautiful and so secluded that I didn't seem to mind too much. While having lunch in a little place near the first temple I stopped at, I met a group of kids from Australia and New Zealand, surprisingly all named Chris (well the three boys where, the girl was named Kirstin, but it is close to Chris). We all had a couple of beers together, shared stories, and decided to hike around a bit more together. By the end of our time there, we all agreed that we had probably taken WAY too many photos seeing as how there is no way to capture the magnificence of the place in any photos. But alas, we all have a couple of hundred photos of Angkor Wat, and we only visited a couple of the temples of the site.

Tonight we are all meeting back up to have a couple of drinks and experience the Siem Reap night life. I am going to go find a cheap place to have dinner before I have to meet back up with them. Cambodia is definitely a must see for any traveler. It is a place like nothing I have ever seen before, and due to its lack of tourism is a place most people will never see either.

Day one in Cambodia, a day I will never forget.

After spending a little over a week in Singapore, recuperating, enjoying the simple pleasures of family life, and basking in the high style of an expat (ex-patriot), I have left the sanctuary of distant (once removed) family and headed for Cambodia. I will miss the luxurious three story house with full private bath and live in maid, but I am sure I will return with ease to my simple travelers life. And, what a way to dive back in, discovering the wonders of the impoverished scenes in Cambodia.

I awoke this morning at 4 am to head to the airport in order to catch my 6:45 am flight to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. I took a taxi from the Ware’s estate to the airport, but I am pretty certain that by some coincidence another person on the street had also called for a taxi and I had stolen his. Why on earth was someone else calling a taxi at 4:30 am, I will never know. After getting checked in at the airport, having a spot of breakfast, and doing my duty free perusing, I boarded the JetStar flight to Phnom Penh. Other than the 1 hour delay we had at the airport due to a malfunctioning flight computer, the flight was smooth and uneventful.

On arriving in Cambodia, I had to apply for my visa, which consisted of filling out a little bit of paperwork, paying $20 (P.S. Cambodia has its own currency, Cambodian Reil, but everyone wants you as a red devil to pay in US dollars) and waiting for them to hold your passport in the air signifying the completion of your visa. After collecting my pack and making it through customs I had to find a way to my guesthouse, Sunday Guesthouse. As soon as you walk out of the airport doors, hundreds of men with their tuk-tuks are waiting to take you to your destination. How does one describe a tuk-tuk to a Westerner? Tuk-tuks are to Cambodia, what gondolas are to Venice, the easiest and was available form of transportation. Imagine a horse drawn carriage in Central Park, shrink it in half, add a canopy, and age it about 30 years. Then, instead of being pulled around by a beautiful, sturdy horse, picture it being pulled around by an old Vespa. They can turn on a dime, max out at about 20 mph, and dominate the chaotic roads of Cambodia. Driving in Cambodia must be like an exercise in mindful meditation because unless you are paying attention to EVERYTHING going on around you, you are going to die. 'Nough said. The other means of transportation (more popular with the locals) is simply paying a guy to let you ride on the back of his scooter while you prop your feet up on jump seat pegs. Many times you will see three to four people riding this way on one scooter. Dangerous, yes, but totally riding Cambodian style. I am not sure what Cambodians would do without motor-scooters.

After checking in to my guesthouse, which costs about $12 a night for a private room with a private bath, I grabbed a tuk-tuk and arranged to hire the guy and his vehicle for the whole day. Such a request is the norm here with a negotiable fee, but for me hiring the guy for a 5 hour journey cost me $25. We ended up heading out to a small island about 20km outside of Phnom Penh called Koh Dach. Thanks to some advanced research, I knew it was a location I was dying to go to, and thanks to my drivers vast knowledge of the area was an easy trek. Not necessarily a comfortable one, seeing as how the roads in Cambodia range from bad to worse, but it was easy.

After about 45 minutes a driving, we arrived at a ferry “pier” (a steep dirt ramp leading to the river front). We drove the tuk-tuk on to the ferry and headed across for an afternoon of delight. On the ferry, I was offered to have lunch at a woman’s home, roast chicken and rice. I decided, since it was approaching lunch time, that that was a great idea. So once the boat reached shore, she hurried off to start preparing the feast. On the way to her home, we stopped at another home that offered exactly what Koh Dach is known for, wand woven silk scarfs and fabrics. As a foreigner, as soon as my presence was known on the island, I was engulfed in woman offering me their fine silk creations. At one point I think I was cornered by 6 different women and 2 little girls, each wanting me to buy a piece from them. While the items were cheap by US standards, I still didn’t have the money or the room in my pack to purchase a piece from all of them, so after purchasing one silk “table cloth/drape/throw” and two scarves from the first woman to catch me, I had to apologetically decline the other offers in front of me. After collecting my goods, I got back in the tuk-tuk to head to lunch, leaving half a dozen Cambodian women cursing my name. (I actually doubt that, because they were all extremely nice, and just wanting to seize an opportunity for a few extra bucks.) Although I was leaving half a dozen women behind, two of them jumped right on their motorbikes and followed the tuk-tuk to its next stopping point.

Finally we arrived at the petite woman’s home for lunch just as she was slaughtering the chicken I was going to eat later. She laid a mat down in a small thatched hut that sat right on the beach, hovering over the water of the Mekong River, and ushered me to sit inside while I waited for her to finish preparing lunch. About this time, the girls with the scarves had caught up to me, and joined me in the hut to continue their sales pitch. I continued my polite no’s and offered them some of the fruit that had been provided by another woman. My driver (and I am terrible for not writing his name down, but I will see him tomorrow so no worries), the two girls, a random other woman, and I sat in the thatched hut for about an hour enjoying the views and having an impromptu language lesson, both Cambodian for me and English for them.

Once the food arrived, the tuk-tuk driver and I were left in peace to enjoy the delicious feast and enjoy the picturesque scenery. He taught me how to eat the food while I relaxed enjoying his company and that of the stray dogs that appeared to share in the wealth. After finishing eating and cleaning ourselves up a bit, he led me down the river to see some local fisherman pulling in the nets filled with thousands of sardine sized little fish. Once the food had settled, and I had finished stumbling around the sandy shore, we decided to head back. When we arrived at the ferry dock to wait to cross, all the same little silk weavers showed up again, trying to hawk me their goods, but this time I think they got the picture that I was not in the market for any more fabric.

We crossed back over the river to head back into town. The drive is beautiful, filled with stilted houses, elegant and massive Chinese temples, and vans bursting at the seams with passengers. By the time we got back to the hotel, I was ready for a bit of rest, so I laid down for a bit, watched some BBC World news and contemplated what my next move would be. After a while, I headed out to do some walking and find some contact lens solution (not an easy find in an impoverished nation). The streets of Phnom Penh were filled with people enjoying a gorgeous Friday night, getting ready for a fun weekend.

I met a fun couple, Aaron and Sandy (Aaron from the UK, Sandy from Colorado; Both now working in Kuwait), and spent the evening sharing a couple of beers and travel tails. The two of them seem to share in my sense of humor so it was a nice match. The three of us ended up watching Americas Next Top Model (oh yeah, Tyra has made it to Cambodia), and wallowing in the sadness that is Tyra Banks being a US representative in Cambodia.

What a way to spend a first day in Cambodia, but I think it is hard not to have a day like that in a country where the people are exceedingly friendly and the scenery is a mix of destitute and beautiful. Truly the wonders of Cambodia.