grampians

we awoke to learn of our shared dream. quick brekkie and then into the bus to spend a few hours exploring the grampians (gariwed).

the sight lines in the national park were spectacular, with jagged mountains and unspoiled wilderness as far as the eye could see. tons of animals. 80% of the aboriginal rock art sites in victoria. the park from where we entered basically marks the beginning of the great dividing range. prior to leaving we had been told to forgo seeing the grampians as the damage from the bush fires was too great. these people could not be more wrong. the landscape was an incredible contrast - the trees and earth scorched black, and from this green vegetation beginning to spring up out of the trees and soil. it was so much better to see the vegetation this way as everyone has seen a regular forest. but how many times has someone had the opportunity to see the regrowth of a national park at the time when the flowers and vegetation have begun to emerge again? the green looked so colourful. it looked like life. again the contrast was striking. we took in the views from boroka lookout and reid's lookout, and then visited mckenzie falls (highest waterfall in the park). the latter was a challenging climb down to look at the 11m of falling water. lastly we visited the jaws of death and the balconies (sandstone cliffs). looking out over a park the size of ireland and there is no development or human interaction. crazy.

time to leave hall's gap so we caught a new bus. 400km later and we had arrived in south australia, a new time zone, and adelaide.

great ocean road

lyds and i celebrate our 3 year anniversary by sleeping in separate dorms, but shared the same dream. but let me explain.

650km. 10 hours. 0 roos run over. 1 great ocean road.

we had said goodbye to st. kilda and left early in the morning for adelaide via the great ocean road (gor) and the grampians. our bus was not the super cool, ultra modern ones we hade seen previously while traveling. our bus did not have a crazy and colourful paint job, dvd player or other gadgets. our's was the beige and brown express. a little engine that could with small seats, a broken microphone for our guide, and just enough spirit to make the trip.

note on the gor: the gor is an amazing 200km rugged coastline drive. it runs from torquay to warrnambool, and was commissioned by the aussie government in tribute to the australians who fought and died in ww1. it must have been some reward for those soldiers who survived the war, only to come home and be asked to build the most physically challenging road possible. the actual marker for the beginning of the gor keeps being rebuilt and moved as it is constantly being burned down by bush fires.

the first leg of the gor is the surf coastline that runs from torquay to lorne. we stopped at bell's beach, famous for being in the finale of the movie point break. it is also famous for its surfing (6th best rated surf beach in the world) and the site of the annual rip curl pro classic surfing competition. the reef breaks perfectly at the beach. the waves are apparently as serious as the cliffs that surround it in early march. also not to be taken lightly are the great whites that are found where the shallow reef ends and the bottom drops out of the ocean. a surfer here lost a leg 3 months ago to a great white, or a "white pointer" as they call them here. people who surf here know what they are doing, and no lifeguards are present as this is the general feeling of them as well. most of the surfers we saw going out were older surfers who changed in the parking lot into full length wet suits. i hope i am that cool when i am 60. my interest in the beach was mostly for its inclusion in point break, but i quickly saw that the beach used in the movie was not one and the same. the movie, i learned, used a beach in california. no keanu or swayze fights, but worth a look.

we got back into the beige beauty and continued down the surf coast through the towns of lorne and anglesea. we passed into otway national park which is home to, surprise, the otway ranges and rainforest. lyds and i viewed tree ferns (10 ft high), waterfalls, massive pines, and flowers galore. all of this is due to the ocean winds bringing in cooler temperatures and higher rainfall. we stopped near kennett river and saw koalas in the trees sleeping. it was so much cooler seeing them in the wild. just round tuffs of grey and black eyes and claws. you knew they were there before you could see them as the defoliation gave them away. cute locusts as it were. when we reached mait's rest (17 km west of apollo bay) we did a mini rainforest walk. the giants (trees) were too tall to even conceptualize as they towered above us. each base was easily more than twice my wingspan. lyds and i took turns standing at the base and looking up at them. some trees had molded together as they grew so they all had interconnecting trunks.

the last section of the gor was the shipwreck coast where the most famous sights of the gor are found. nasty and picturesque coastline of unpredictable weather, crazy winds and jagged limestone rock formations. it is a graveyard for vessels, and there are dark poems about all of the sailors and ships lost here. we stopped at gibson's steps, the 12 apostles (8 remain), london bridge (which has now partially collapsed and at the time stranded two people having an affair), and the lord ard gorge (named for the shipwreck of the lord ard in 1878). at most stops we were assaulted by flies and chines tourists, but more importantly, amazing beauty. at gibson's steps we encountered something even our guide had never seen before. there were actually saw the weather change, the air change in colour and transparency around us like a ghost passing. within moments we could no longer see the cliffs or the ocean. it had all disappeared.

along our tour the guide talked to us about the many environmental issues facing australia. there has been a drought for over 10 years, temperatures continue to rise (highest feb in history), rainfall continues to decline, bushfires are becoming more numerous and severe. the lack of water is apparent everywhere, and the country has been told to increase its water efficiency by 100% by 2025. there is apocalyptic talk in the news that agriculture and farming here will soon be extinct. global warming has raised the temperature around the great barrier reef high enough that it has begun to die. he also was very clear to explain the government's mistreatment of the aboriginal people, and how such acts are not taught in the classroom. generations have been lost, and for a verbal culture this has relayed into aboriginals not knowing their own legends and history. the best story he imparted was regarding a british convict who escaped from a penal colony and made it into the outback. after struggling for months for basic survival he returned to the colony to give himself up only to find they too had packed it in and headed for home. the convict ended up collapsing in the outback where aboriginals found him on the grave site of their chieftain. little did the convict know that the culture believed that the chief would return in a new form. he was revived and became there chief for 20 years. he forgot english, fought wars and was eventually pardoned by the british government when they learned his amazing story. aussies always refer to his luck when you have a slim chance.

as darkness approached we entered grampians (gariwerd) national park. the park is massive (167,000 hectares) - half the size of ireland. the drive to hall's gap where we were staying for the night was stressful as everyone had to keep an eye out for the kangaroos that darted across the road. last trip the guide took he ran one over. same the trip before that. we broke the chain. on our arrival as a group we went out for dinner and ate aussie bush tucker (croc, barramundi, kangaroo, emu, buffalo, wild boar) and watched the kangaroos. after dinner we grabbed flashlights and went to look at the stars and hunt for more kangaroo sightings.

that night lyds and i had to sleep in separate dorms. little did we know that we ended up sleeping in beds sharing the same wall, and the next morning we would discover we had the same dream from different perspectives.

philip island

two days ago we spent the day visiting philip island (120km se of melbourne). we took a small bus with a bunch of likeminded touristas.

our first stop was a winery. the "tasting" was more of a relay race to sample everything in time. the bar woman was eager to get home i think after her shift. there was little explaination for the wines. she just kept churning them out - chardonney, shiraz, port, etc. i had just enough time to fake like i knew what i was doing in between glasses thanks to seeing sideways. i am more of a jack i think when it comes to wines than a miles. i could have used anne-marie's knowledge or mark's enthusiasm ("other side of the winery sucks!").

next we visited a wildlife reserve and got to see aussie's famous fuzzies up close: koalas, wambats, dingos, cros, emus, etc. highlight of the place was that you got to hand feed the kangaroos. they get quite excited as they chase you around looking for more to eat. lydia got a little souvenier scratch on her wrist, but nothing serious. we liked the little ones the best then the big boys who would smack each other and you for food.

after lunch at san remo we went to cape woolamai, home to the awesome breakers and arguably the best surfing in australia. there were lifeguards there to rescue surfers who got pulled out in the rip tides, and they keep an eye out for sharks. the other day a 3m great white was spotted. i have never seen such surf. massive waves towering out of the ocean to collapse from opposite ends. when the collapsing ends meet in the middle there is a crash and water sprays everywhere. after seeing the surf we visited the nobbies rock formation and its famous blowhole. again there were massive waves, but this time they met rock. water spraying everywhere, pooling on rocks to trickle down in different shades and patterns. it was always different with each wave. you could have watched for hours.

lastly at night we visited australia's second largest tourist attraction to ayer's rock - the penguin parade. we waited on a beach as 800 penguins came out of the surf to return to their burrows. later we left the beach to walk along the boardwalks where you can stand a few feet from them as they waddle along. some are so engorged with fish that they have swelled up to make moving difficult. they have to rest often, often falling flat on their face. we placed bets on different groups as they moved, making their progress a race. lyds and i seemed to connect with a family visiting from sydney, who seemed "keen as mustard" to us. it may become a place to stay when we head that way.

happy chinese new year.
boom boom.

st. kilda v1.0

we moved on to st.kilda looking for some beach and nightlife. there are no tourist sites. just the beach, great restaurants and tons of bars. once again we have taken up in a hostel above a bar called the pint on punt. can you tell i have a say in where we stay? here's to my aunt carol-louise for picking up the tab on my "pots" (1/2 pints) of coopers. aren't irish aunts so wicked?

38 freekin' degrees for three days straight. 38. in the shade. it is impossible not to get a tan here. even i have passed from powder to tan. lydia has never seen me so dark, and you can't help it. half the weather here comes from alice springs, and the other half comes from antartica. it should be obvious which we are getting now. in the shade i have finished reading both the butcher boy and abignale's autobiograpghy catch me if you can. the latter i would recommend to those who liked the film or con artist stories. the guy had some stones.

linguistics here are difficult. as patton once compared the us and the uk, canada and australia are also two countries seperated by a common language. sometimes i have no idea what the person i am talking to is saying. most of the time i nod along because it sounds so cool.

we spend our days near the beach or exploring the shops around luna park. i have to nap when the sun zonks me out, and lydia pokes around at shops on her own. we had our first swim in the ocean together. i felt fantastic, especially when you skin is so hot from the sun and the water is so cool. double the fun that no shark came along in the 4 feet of water we dunked ourselves into. anyone who doesn't believe in global warming has never been to australia. it makes thailand look like winnipeg.

at night we have dinner in the hostel bar for the $6 special, and then walk down to the beach and out onto the st. kilda pier. we spend time looking at the penguins and listening to the waves, and then we might go back up the main drag for a drink. the nights are so hot that sleep is difficult so i think about all i have seen and the people i miss back home.

the melbourne victory defeated adelaide united 6-0 in the soccer final here. i tried to get tickets but it has been sold out for ages. of course i have been a die hard victory fan for ages.

melbourne v1.2

i got my first "g'day mate" yesterday.

busy two days in melbourne. note on the city: melbourne is a cosmopolitan city that both doesn't feel that way, nor does it have a landmark that defines it. trams run down the very wide streets, and modern artwork is everywhere. the downtown core isn't dense, and after our experiences in hong kong it feels deserted. everything in the city is modern and abstract as no two buildings or bridges are alike. a lot of melbournians have told us that they felt the city was a lot like toronto, but to me it seems more open and green. scullers clog the yarra river after work and school. everyone is tanned. greeks are everywhere. girls wear short skirts with little boots. everything is pretty quiet in central melbourne, and closes really early (like 9pm). it gives the city an older feel, and frustrates lyds and i when we are looking for a late dinner.

we first checked out the queen victorian market. it is an open-air market with hundreds of vendors who sell clothing and crafts. it was nice to see a place not specializing in b.b. guns, switchblades and knockoff watches and dvds for a change. definately worth a second visit before we go. next was the old melbourne gaol which was completed in 1864 qand housed 50,000 inmates in its 84 year history. the tour was self-guided. the walls were dark and dense, and iron catwalks linked the upper cells. in its time there were 24 hour silence restrictions, and when prisoners were moved they placed a mat down so no footsteps would be heard by other inmates. inmates were forbidden to speak to one another, and had to wear a hood when leaving their cells so no one would recognize them. all that was provided to them was a bible, which was not a great help as most were not literate. of course many people went insane, and kids were imprisoned if their parents were. they have records of 3 year olds. over a hundred people were also hung here, including the famous ned kelly. he is worshiped over here like robin hood. we got to see his pistol and the armor he wore during his final shootout with the police. lyds was spooked by the cells and the death busts of those executed. oh yeah ... they say the place is haunted. we also took in the abstractly designed federation square, and visited the rialto towers (253m) which is melbourne's tallest building and the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. at night we celebrated valentines day by catching a free concert of the melbourne symphony in the sydney myer music bowl. it was a fundraiser for the drought and fire problems victoria is having. we donated a little.

the next day we split up after getting our hair cut (yes the faux-hawk is back and making an appearance on a new continent). lyds went shopping and i visited the melbourne cricket grounds (mcg). i received an almost personal tour (there were 2 of us) of the 90,000 seat arena, and got to watch part of a game between melbourne and hong kong. these aussies love their cricket, and while the rules and lingo went mostly over my head i had a great time. the guide even sneaked us onto the "sacred turf." a must if you are in town even if you don't know what a wicket is. we met back up at night for an open air viewing of marie antoinette with the skyline of downtown melbourne in the distance.

melbourne v1.1

lydia called from the airport when we arrived in melbourne and she snagged us a double room @ the stork hotel. it is melbourne's second oldest hotel, and dates back to the victorian gold rush when it was the last stop between port melbourne and the goldfields. it was also a hangout of the famous ned kelly gang. the rate is high, but only a little worse than dorm rooms in hostels here. the floors are hardwood and the shower is industrial strength. everything seems really old, and the rooms are directly above the pub/check-in desk. it smells like marysville. after the first night we squeezed into a single to save some money. we are trying to curb our spending here after being so free in thailand. other than the room change we just had a boring day of laundry. i was tired of doing the scratch and sniff clean test on my clothes. everything was failing, and i felt like i was back in room 324 with allan during exams.

melbourne v1.0

like quigley we've arrived down under after the 7,435km trip. here swans are black, and trees shed their bark. melbourne is the capital of victoria and australia's second largest city. crikey!

movies on the plane were man of the year, the queen, and the prestige.

look out bank robbers, neil is on the trail of the remaining ex-president.

hong kong v1.4

sent a care package home by ship. after it has picked up/dropped off all of the human slaves and drugs it should make it to toronto in 2 months.

last night lyds saw a cockroach climb out of the drain in our bathroom sink. i sprayed him with the shower head and he retreated up the pipe. we may have won the battle, but a longer psychological war has begun. are there more? did i scald him to death? will he wait until we have fallen asleep to emerge again? perhaps we should set watches. lyds now stomps around whenever she heads to the bathroom to scare it off and drive me crazy. we are so smart because we went to university! we have begun using sound like in apocalypse now: we use flip flops instead of wagner against the roach.

as lyds felt the need to shop i took the mtr to shau kei wan on hong kong island and toured the hong kong museum of coastal defence. the museum is in lei yue mun fort which was built in 1880 to defend the eastern approach to victoria harbour. at the time it was the most sophesticated coastal fortification at the time. it was also here on december 18, 1941 that fierce fighting took place between the japanese troops and british defenders. bullit holes mark the walls, and there is a monument to the canadians who died in the attack. the place is massive, and was empty so for the first time since arriving in hong kong i have some personal space. i thought of you dad at the fort. it would have been great to share the experience with you. later i met up with lyds for a kung fu demonstration in hong kong park. i think we were both a little disappointed. we had wanted a little more crouching tiger, hidden dragon. that night we visited in kowloon the temple street market and the tung choi street market looking for bargains.

the next morning when we awoke we realized that our flight was that night and not the next day as we had thought. we had just enough time to view the hong kong stock market during trading, and see the hsbc building (the robot building). it is at the latter where there are two bronze lions guarding the enterance named stephen and stitt. we both got a chance to see and fell the bullit holes left on stitt from when the japanese used him for target practice during the occupation. we also didn't pass up the chance to ride the central level escalator, which is really 3 elevated walkways and 20 elevators that streches for 800m. it moves 50,000 people a day on their way to work. of course we rode it to the top.

after a mad dash to the airport we were airborn for melbourne. you could still see the victoria harbour lights as we left, and i watched them till they disappeared.

final notes on hong kong:

have lots of money - this is a world class city and you need world class dollars to enjoy it fully. get a nice play to stay, eat well. if not you might not have the energy to see all that hong kong offers.
it is a different culture - you might think it is rude to spit in public or push people as you pass, but people in hong kong don't. keep your head up, at times dip your shoulder, and watch out for the guy with the bad chest cold.
there is no personal space - it is clausterphobic. there is just not enough room.
weather - we haven't been rained on since we left toronto.
wildlife - no one wins in a cockroach war.
history - the city is changing. due to economics the junker villages in aberdeen and rickshaws on hong kong island have all but disappeared. who knows what the future will bring, but this is a new hong kong that we visited.

shenzhen

bad joss was the theme for the day we left hong kong for the new territories border with china. it started with me being awoken by the acrid smell of burning rubber @ 5am. as my mom has always boasted, i have a keen sense of smell. this smell, however, also had an element of danger to it. fearing a fire, lydia and i both got out of bed and investigated our guesthouse. the smell was even worse in the hallway, but we saw no smoke. we popped our windows open to let some air in. no staff was present. other guests arose from the disturbance as well, and a couple contacted security. building staff investigated the smell but could not place the source. they seemed to glaze over any possible issue, maybe to save face. we grabbed our gear, left, and told them to fix it by the time we got back at night. oh well, we tired to spin a positive out of it by saying that we at least did not sleep in. So tired though and a little headache ...

the mtr was pretty quiet as we took the 40 min ride northwest through the new territories to shenzhen, china. even the hong kong workers were not up yet. note on the city: shenzhen (pop. 752,200) is a special economic zone and is china's richest city. it is a restrictive city that requires a special pass even for chinese nationals to enter. why did we go? because it was there. because we wanted to say that we had set foot in china. because we had dreams of an ancient empire becoming a modern 6 billion person country. because we had a familiarity with jet li and chow young fat, chicken balls and egg rolls.

from our travel guide we knew that the border opened @ 6:30am. unfortunately, the visa office opened @ 9am. we had to wait an hour and a half. after we received our 5 day visas we crossed over a bridge encased in glass. below us was a river. behind, hong kong and a lot of barbed wire. ahead of us was china. there was a sign stating that you were entering the people's republic of china. as there were no signs to the contrary we took pictures with us below the sign. chinese security then came and made us deleted them. i am happy we had lydia's digital or they would have seized the film. what a warm welcome (smacked of laos).

once we had navigated through customs our first sight of china was a large gathering of people that were fenced in with barricades. they were being hearded through by chinese army officers using bullhorns. people hounded us if we wanted taxis.

china certainly is a culture shock! no once speaks english and signs aren't in anything but chinese (mandarin? cantonese?). everyone smokes and spits on the ground, even in public places. we wandered around looking for breakfast. ordering food was fun. there were generic pictures, but all the meals looked the same. 10 rounds of charades later with our waitress (thank god i've been practicing with conor) and coffee and egg sandwiches arrived. best cup of coffee i have ever had.

finally we arrived at our destination: luohu commercial city. it was an unpleasant market with aggressive vendors that would grab your arm and follow you if you showed the slightest interest. we went for lunch at a restaurant that was within the shopping complex and it was a disaster. they messed up our orders, again the language barrier, and then tried to charge us 3x the amount we owed. when we politely pointed out the mistake and asked for the reasoning (we could not read the bill as it was in characters), the "manager" caused a scene and got really upset. we kept calm. she didn't. she tired to convince us that it was our fault they had brought the wrong order, and that it was normal to be charged for the garnishes they had brought to the table. we refused, saying we would pay for what we ordered. she even threatened to call the police at one point, and lydia calmly again just stated that the misunderstanding was their fault, and that we would pay for what we ordered and nothing more. it was especially fishy as she could not explain the numbers on the bill. eventually an aussie came over and helped to facilitate the discussion as his bill was also wrong. in the end we paid more than we should have, but less than she orgininally tried to get from us. it was just too much drama.

after lunch we shopped some more but had the same bad joss. lydia's feet are too big for chinese shoes, and i am too big for any of the clothes unless i want the miami vice short sleeve look with my jackets. it is also hard to barter when anytime a cellphone will ring to tell the vendor that the police are on the floor all of the goods have to be swept into a metallic briefcase and sped away down the corner. you have to wait until the police pass by to start again.

on the way home we were exhausted, tired and dissappointed. even the elevator to our building was shut down. we had experienced so much, and so many things had gone badly.

my advice would be to see china, not shenzhen. i would love to see historic china, the sand pebbles and last emperor kind of china. but avoid shenzhen. it's cheap, lawless. it's sold out to starbucks and counterfeit everything.

but as i crossed into china over that bridge i said aloud that "i'm neil poutney and this is china." that i will remember. the other stuff will fade. it always does.

hong kong v1.3

hong kong island day. we looked into our chinese visas and then took the star ferry from kowloon to central on hong kong island. there are a lot of activists with disturbing images of falun gong prisoners in china in the ferry terminal. the ride across victoria harbour is fun as the boat sways at dock and pitches during the journey. when we arrived at central we saw the last of hong kong's rickshaws, and then began our walking tour.

this island is the home of power business, a jungle of towers, concrete and steel. a lot of sharp suits. the island is the "capital" of the territory, and from what we saw may very well be the capital of bentley automobiles. needless to say there is a lot of shade ...

after a tour of the trendy downtown area we scanned over city hall before ascending to the 43rd floor of the bank of china tower (70 storeys). it is hong kong's third tallest structure, and a marvel of asymmetry and anti-feng shui (sp?). the panoramic view it presented of hong kong was amazing from the free viewing gallery on the 43rd floor.

we then took in the rest of the tourist sites including the exchange square, hong kong park, st. john's cathedral, the ritz carleton, the mandarin oriental hotel (voted best hotel in the world), and the hsbc building. the latter was built in 1985 at a staggering cost of $1 bil. the chinese call it the robot building. we finished off our sightseeing by taking the peak tram up to the top of the peak. carrying 8,500 passengers a day, the tram is so steep that the floor is angled to help standing passengers stay upright. of course the ride was fun. 370m later we exited the the tram and rode an additional 7 escalators to the top of the peak tower and its outdoor rooftop observation deck. you could see the entire island, and even the buildings we had marveled at now looked so insignificant. the peak has always been where the elite live, and has been since the time of the british taipans. on average it is 5 (0C) degrees cooler than at the base, and can only imagine what the view costs. we walked a little, took pictures a lot, and then took the tram back down.

we remained on the island for dinner and ate in the famed lan kwai fong alley. what was once a squalid tenement street of rats and garbage is now the young, hip and happening place to party. posh bars and restaurants are everywhere. money is everywhere. expats come here to stomp around after work. the road winds and rises and falls and you feel like you are in (what i imagine) san francisco. lyds discovered a little restaurant hidden down an obscure side street. we are there only customers, the seats are cramped and uncomfortable, the table is small. the food, however, is fantastic. we walk away feeling like we know a secret.

after dinner we take the ferry back to kowloon. we ride in the lower class for my dad.

hong kong v1.2

museum day. wednesdays are free museum days in hong kong so we take advantage and head first thing in the morning to the hong kong museum of art. we view the exhibits or galleries or whatever they are called, and then catch a practice session of the hong kong philharmonic orchestra doing tchaikovsky's serenade for strings.

after lunch we visited museum number two; the hong kong science museum (i know it sounds boring). almost all of the exhibits are interactive, so we had a good time playing with all of the knobs, buttons, cords, weights, etc. kudos to the electricity exhibit. however, the occupational health and safety exhibit gets a failing grade and may even be dangerous for kids that young to experience. not only does it remind them that they will have to work someday, but shows most jobs are condusive to terrible injuries.

dinner and then we do a rush visit to the hong kong space museum. it was small, but had some great "rides" where you could simulate walking on the moon and working in space. however, we got there too late to take part. lydia opted to spend the evening at the 3 1/2 hr cantonese charity opera in english being put on at the hong kong cultural center. i declined and decided to head out and take in some culture of my own. after watching the lightshow down at victoria harbour again (this time with my mp3 player blasting in my ears) i, somehow, found myself in an irish pub in the golden mile. as luck would have it there i was with my beckham jersey on and the england vs. spain soccer match on. i plunked myself down at the bar and took in my kind of culture. i hadn't been there long when i got talking with a guy next to me. it started with me handing him a menu or something. anyways sometimes that is all it takes in the world of solitary travel.

mick (michael) and i hit it off. he was in hong kong just for a little while on business as he sells dyes and chemicals to chinese clients on the mainland. he is also from england, and a soccer fan and cycling fan. we both like to drink! coincidence? i think not. conversation came easy and we both shared stories and talked hong kong, soccer, travel, family histories, you name it. the bottles and laughter flowed freely, and soon it was time to go and pick lyds up from the opera. all that was missing was a few games of faan-taan, and betting on who could cut a beer bottle in half in one swing with a machete. mick even offered to pick up my tab at the end of the evening, but i thought what would jack burton say about this so i declined. let it not be said that canadians cannot buy their own drinks. he also was nice enough to pass along an open invite to stay with him and his girlfriend in yorkshire if i ever wanted to see a premiership game.

a little shaky the next day, and i spent more at the bar than lyds did for her opera ticket, but what a night. another new friend who i may have never met. another new beer - skol. an irishman never is in need of company. all he needs is directions to the local bar and a beckham jersey. everyone knows your name by the end of the night.

hong kong v1.1

we get a late start because we actually sleep. the bed isn't quite big enough for me, and there are walls at the head and the foot of the bed, but i'm a little taller than the average male in kowloon.

lyds and i head out to lantau island on the mtr. it is more expensive than a city bus, but it is quicker and we are eager to see the sights. everything is so clean and organized here. the city planners must have been on a.d.d. medication. precision planning. the mtr is easy to understand and there is great signage everywhere. in-trip lights monitor the stops, and station exits are given a number and letter, followed by the local attraction (example: a2, nathan road and hong kong cultural center). even i cannot get lost on the mtr or in the numerous underground walkways which they call subways. the crowds of people here are liquids, constantly moving, rolling off objects to brake into others. the pedestrians are focused and intense. everyone is in a hurry. lyds and i are learning to walk with our heads down to avoid stepping on a shorter person who has ducked into our path. we seldom even walk side by side, instead opting for a leader to break through while the other follows. most of the time i am the ambulance to lydia's lawyer chaser.

lantau island is massive at 144 square km (2x hong kong island). it has a history for being a base for smugglers and pirates, but jack sparrow is in singapore this time of year. once off the mtr we opt for the 5.7kn cable car ride from tung chug to the ngong ping plateau. the car we ride in has glass siding, and the ride is scenic as it passes over the island's interior which is designated country park. the village of ngong ping seemed fake with its over the top chinese decor and stereotypical music that is played from communal speakers. we felt like we were back at wonderland. i'm sure you know the picture i am trying to describe: faux walls, overpriced food and numerous giftshops. but we didn't come for the village, so we quickly make our way through "china alley" and visit the tian tan buddha. it is a marvel of solid bronze that weighs over 200 tonnes. 260 steps up, countless pictures, and 260 steps down. we were not feeling enlightened yet so we went looking for enlightenment at the po lin buddhist temple and monestary built in 1924. but the real highlight of the island is the hiking trails that cover over half the area. we hiked all the way to the base of lantau peak (934m high) and went off the trail to get some sense of exploring. the outlying islands seemed to rise out of clouds as fog lightly coated the sea. we sat on rocks on a hill overlooking the sea, the peak, and a nearby fishing village. our legs dangled and we looked pensive. i wanted to climb to the top of the peak but there wasn't enough time. in the cable car back some americans ask us about our travels. they too are heading to bangkok and are full of questions. now we are the experts, and we pass on our knowledge with a smile that we are now "vets" of southeast asia.

back to kowloon for our first look at the hong kong island skyline. we sit out on the avenue of stars and look out across victoria harbour at night. the hong kong skyline is incredible with its multitude of lights and skyscrapers. it looks fake, like a back drop for a play on futuristic urban life. i have never seen more beautiful urban art. later there is a lightshow with buildings on both sides of the harbour participating. we walked down the promenade past the jackie chan and bruce lee stars of fame. there are almost more mountains than buildings, and the wind is just the right temperature of cool for my t-shirt.

hong kong v1.0

i feel like jason bourne, except that i have never been to hong kong before. we are up at 5 am for the early flight, and besides our ride to the airport arriving 15 minutes late (thai time) there are no complications. i did, however, get a little upset that nowhere in the whole airport could i get the superbowl. it is only one of the biggest sporting events in the western world! it seemed disrespectful.

once we landed and cleared customs we had a planning session in the airport (note: this is not kai tek airport which is now an abandoned lot with a driving range on it, but the award winning chek lap kok airport on lantau island). i love how we just take things as they come, a kind of "no reservations tour" if we were a rock band. we settle on finding a place in kowloon somewhere as hong kong island is too expensive, and try to find a bus that wil get us there to proceed on foot. the geography is more confusing than i had thought with the city of hong kong really being in fact lantau and the outlying islands, hong kong island, kowloon and the new territories. the transit system has two rail systems (the MTR and the KCR), and a bus system that is so complicated that there are no bus maps as the buses are run by different companies. we settled on taking the a21 city bus and away we went.

wow! i had no notion of the scope and sights i would encounter. the mountains are everywhere, rising out of the fog and pollution like the little islands that poke out from the south china sea. huge loading and shipping docks block out half the sky. we cross the biggest suspension bridge in the world (tsing ma bridge). everyone and everything is in motion. the people scurry about like ants. the cars are constant. ships and transports clog the channel. rowed condos are symmetrical in position and design. i can't stop grinning that i am actually here, especially with all of the stories my dad has told me about his travels.

from inside our double-decker bus we take in all this choas. we don't really know where we are going. i keep changing from being deleriously tired to happy excited. i don't really know where we will end up, but the fatigue and happiness makes it all ok. we eventually make our way down to the first level of the bus and get the driver to suggest a stop.

all the hostels are in the same kowloon neighbourhood: tsim sha tsui (pronounced jim-saa-jeui). this is hong kong's tourist ghetto, and translated the name means "sharp sandy point." we begin our search in the southern end of nathan road, known as the golden mile. it is a warren of high end retailers, lowly restaurants and bars. blocks of run down offices and apartment buildings have become guesthouses and hostels, right beside high end hotels. you cannot walk a foot without being asked if you want a new suit or a rolex watch, and at night neon assults you from all directions. every elevator has a lineup. overload buzzers for the elevators ring out.

a woman on the bus passes us along her card for a nearby hostel. we check it out, but with our lonely planet we want to shop around first. we end up lucking out with our second stop: the cosmic guesthouse in the famous mirador mansions building. the building is a dump of a high rise, filled with hostels and temp housing for workers from developing nations. the floors are dirty, the floor numbers are spraypainted on the wall, prostitutes from india barter with their johns in the stairwells, and there is a notice in the lobby of oncoming legal action against tennants. but accommodations in hong kong cost a lot of money, and the hostel itself is relatively clean and has security. lyds barters with them and is successful. our room is so tiny i feel like i am in a space capsle or submarine. mom - you could not handle it. the bathroom/shower is the size of a phonebooth so you have to straddle the toilet to bathe. the "door" to the bathroom/shower is semi-transparent at best, and saloon-style.

but we have a view of the golden mile looking southward down nathan road, and we want to do it this way. it feels right. real. it feels like we are in hong kong.

bangkok

from the roof of the d & d inn at sunset with bob dylan playing somewhere in the background ...

bangkok. good time city. our minibus from kanchanaburi was uneventful, so i will skip it. in bangkok we are staying on the khao san road. the khao sand road is famous to travellers. it is to backpackers what the waters of lourdes is to humpbacks and cripples*. it is the centre of the backpacking world, where baht translates into cheap watches, massages, beer and internet access. we pass on getting fake press id's and settle with renting a room with a warm shower for a change. but the hunter s. thompson in me was really tempted to become a dr. of journalism. we slept a little and ate dinner. i celebrated our finding of the nexus of the traveller universe by drinking a tiger beer. lydia shopped. we both had hot showers. the beach was on tv so we watched it. it seemed significant as richard began his trip on the khao san road.

up early the first full day and we went to the grand palace for when it opens to try and avoid the crowds. we're still really tired (it seems it is hard to sleep in the places we stay), but we head there anyways and avoid the tuk-tuk driver who tries to scam us by telling us it is closed. that is a common trick. people from the king and i lived at the palace. it is sacred ground, and an entrance fee to match. i am getting a little tired of all of these monuments, temples, etc. being free for thais but us foreigners have to pay. it is beautiful though, and shows signs of indian, khmer, chinese, european and thai history and architecture. tourists swarm all over but lydia managed to get some really good pictures. most of the buildings are closed for us, but you can't come to bangkok and miss the grand palace. it is too large, too majestic, too famous. even clinton stayed here once ...

attached to the palace is wat phra kaew (known as the temple of the emerald buddha). this is the royal chapel and most revered shine in all of thailand. the buddha sits atop a gold alter. however, he is only 2 feet tall and lydia and i are a little disappointed in his stature. the walls are covered in murals depicting the life of buddha, the steps to enlightenment, and cosmology. mother of pearl and elephant art is everywhere.

nest we hit up wat po (the temple of the reclining buddha). it is the oldest and largest buddhist temple in bangkok. the emerald buddha has nothing on this guy. the reclining buddha is 140 ft long and 50 ft high, covered in gold leafing and mother of pearl. lyds and i both each purchased a cup of coins and dropped them into a long row of begging bowls adjacent to the buddha for luck and good karma. back to the hotel for a nap, dinner, some shopping along khao san, and a night swim on the rooftop with the night lights of the city around us.

up early - fittingly - to visit wat arun (temple of the dawn) the next morning. we walked around the city and found the tha tien pier, from which we took a ferry accross the chao praya. the temple is a majestic tower in the khmer style, 260 feet tall. it is entirely constructed out of flower ceramics, incredibly detailed and intricate. at the base are chinese statues that used to be ballast in chinese shipping boats. i am so disappointed to learn that you can no longer climb the center prang. apparently this is a new development, and i would like to take this moment to thank the jack who ruined it for everyone else. grrr .... i have never been good at walking away from barriers or velvet ropes when i want to get on the other side. i sulk a bit. conor and i would have made a run for it.

after crossing the river again and a lunch break we visit the national museum. actually, we skipped paying the entry fee and went right into the orientation screening of the museum. it was very detailed and highlighted the exhibits and history of thailand. a small victory but we were tired of paying when thais do not. the pollution, heat and sun drove us back to the hotel. we are both tired. it is hard to get a good night's sleep in this place with doors being slammed, phones constantly ringing and the nightly entertainment of other guests. the walls, in everywhere we have stayed, are paper thin (think japanese). everything echoes in the hallway. i think lyds is so excited for hong kong to get a chance to sleep.

final notes on thailand:

traffic - beware! there are no traffic regulations or proper street crossings. instead you run across the road like frogger, scanning left and right like a marysville railway crossing. cars run reds, and everyone honks. don't drive. walk alert.
restaurants - best cheap restaurant in bangkok is ranee's. pad thai can be eaten at every meal.
sayings you hear/pick up - oh my buddha; no money, no honey; same, same ... but different.
weather - hot days (30c) and cool nights in the north.
time - there is no malaysian time zone. there is only thai time which is like jamaican time on a muscle relaxant.
money - baht can buy you anything from a trip to a monkey school to a visit to the democratic people's republic of laos.
accommodations - "hot" showers is a relative term, so lather first. there may be 50 channels but how many are in english? ants bite, period. black mould is a common adornment, and toilets sometimes need a bucket of water to flush.

tomorrow we fly to hong kong. next time we fly in it will be directly into koh samui in the south. goodbye nothern thailand. goodbye watch. i had a great time.

ps. i miss my nfl. go bears in the superbowl. finished high fidelity so i am moving on to the butcher boy.

*Scorcese

kanchanaburi

left chiang mai the day after our trip to the northern-most part of thailand. we secured to sleeper berths on the 3:40pm train to bangkok. we walked to the station, and for once the train left on time. it was an emotional goodbye to chiang mai. we had been staying in a room in the back of a restaurant, but it had begun to feel like home. we had become confortable there. we had become familiar there. i'll miss our restaurant in daret's hotel.

the trip back to bangkok was more comfortable then its predecessor. we both slept a little in our bunks, and played cards in mine. when we reached bangkok at 6am the next morning we found out that there was no connection from hua lampong station. tired, we cabbed it to wei yai station in thornburi (on the other side of the river of kings). it was cool to see the city wake up, even if the cabbie tried to rip us off. luckily, when we reached the station we found out that a train to kanchanaburi left at 10:30am. we were exhausted and both of us tried to sleep hugging our bags for the 3 hour trip. we only had 3rd class seats so it wasn't the most confortable, but the view was great. to the west of bangkok is a lot more agriculture, and the climate seems drier (like in 'zona). it kind of reminded me of taking a train to the old west. 120km nw of bangkok and we were there after about 18hrs of travel.

we spent the first half day getting orientated with the town and walking around trying to get a feel for the guesthouses. we got a great spot overlooking the kwai river, and lyds bartered with them over the price. the place is pretty nice, and we are paying the lowest amount yet per night. we also have a semi-private balcony overlooking the river. we napped the rest of the day while waiting for the guesthouse manager to fix the lock on our balcony.

the next day we saw the kanchanaburi war cemetary. it is the final resting place of 6,800 pows from england, australia, india and holland. the grounds were immaculately kept, and it was a little emotional to read the epitaphs of 20-somethings described as mom or dad's "pal." after we walked the grounds (and i could have read all of the markers if there was time) we visited the thailand-burma railway centre. it was a great museum that did not pull any punches regarding the japanese brutality to their prisoners. lastly we walked the 5km from the town to the rebuilt bridge. we were allowed to walk across it to the other side and back. you can still see where the original wooden bridge was located about 100m downstream. on the way back across the bridge we learned that it is still active as we had to wait on an platform to the side for a train to pass. on a sad side note: the us submarine watch that i bought in chiang mai and was very fond of died the other day. we had only been together about 48hrs. as it was a submarine watch, and with where we were visiting, i commited it to the bottom of the kwai river from the bridge. it was a small ceremony. 5km walk back to the guesthouse and we caught a great sunset from our balcony.

up at 7am this morning to travel by songtao to the famous floating market at damnoen saduak, ratchaburi (40 mins south of nakhon pathom). once there we got our own longboat to ferry us around the market. it was an asian version of venice, if venice is dirty and sells photo albumns, ninja stars, purses and postcards). then we visited a art exhibit on teak work and then took the 1.5hr trip back to kanchanaburi.

this town is so quiet, and there are great deals here as the history only appeals to a limted number of tourists.

tomorrow we are headed back to bangkok for a few days and then we move on the hong kong.

p.s. dad - i have finished "my wicked, wicked ways." it was a great read. now i am on to a copy of "high fidelity" that i picked up.