Well, I survived the Annapurna Circuit. I walked over 150km and went up in elevation to over 5410 meters above sea level. I didn't get altitude sickness, besides a few light headaches here and there, and surprisingly I made it over Thorung La pass! I honestly thought I'd end up being helevacuated off the mountain. We were pretty lucky too, since it snowed the day before our ascent, and it was mostly clear the next. The people who summited after us were hit with a pretty bad snowstorm.

Anyway. Here's a view about 4650 meters up:



An icy lake


Climbing up to the pass at around 7 am (we had to wake up at 3:30 to do it)

So you can add Nepal to the list of countries where I am considered a local. I get people asking if I am Nepali as often as guys on the street ask Rich if he wants to buy drugs. It's nice because I can get away with not being hassled, and I can pay local prices for touristy sites (take that, Durbar Square!) but at the same time I have gotten really tired of judgmental looks from other Western tourists whenever we go somewhere. It's almost gotten to the point where I have to speak in a really loud, obvious American accent just so people around us can relax.

We spent two days rafting down Bhote Koshi, this river originating in Tibet. It was supposed to be really intense, class IV or V rapids, but the company informed us that the upper part of the river was too dangerous as of now, and so we did smaller sets instead. Camping was fun though.

Now we are in Pokhara, arranging everything for our 3 week trek through the Himalayas. I'm a little nervous because of my old lady knees and the horror stories I've read about bathrooms (aka poo holes in the dirt) but more excited than anything. We're going to ascend up to 5400 meters, and I hope I don't die from altitude sickness or in the likely event of a landslide.

It's been a while since I've updated, and while I fully intended to keep writing about what I've been up to these past few weeks, things have just been too busy.

Anyway, I am now in Darjeeling. The train here wasn't nearly as glamorous as you'd imagine it to be. The altitude is slightly affecting my ability to climb up flights of stairs quickly, and the air isn't as clean as I thought it would be. But it's lovely nonetheless, and I can see the Himalayas (!!!) from my hotel room. I woke up this morning and could hardly believe it.

The past month in sum:
Cambodia- Good food, but more expensive than anticipated due to prices quoted in USD everywhere. Angkor Wat was definitely a highlight, and Siem Reap was a relaxing place to spend a few days. Phnom Penh was... well, it's Phnom Penh. Busy, congested, and dirty.

It's hard to ignore the crowds of children that constantly approach you either. Many of them didn't go to school in order to wander the streets selling tourists books, scarves, postcards, and any other trinkets worth a dime. I couldn't help but cave more than a couple times. We also spent a chilling day visiting the killing fields of Choung Eak and Toul Sleng (S 21) prison. It was incredibly depressing and enraging, but I can't possibly sum up my feelings about all of this now.

Vietnam- Delicious and cheap... in Saigon, anyway. We were a bit turned off by the people, as most of the vendors, hotel receptionists, tour operators, etc. were incredibly pushy and only interested in you for the money in your wallet. Hanoi was something else. I didn't remember it being nearly as suffocating and chaotic as it was when I visited two years ago, but maybe I'm viewing it through different eyes now. Every intersection and street crossing was a gamble for my life, as the roads are literally choked with motorbikes going in every conceivable direction. Trying to organize our trip independently was a hassle too.

The best place we visited was Sapa, near the border with China. It's full of different hill tribe villages, which we spent a couple of days trekking through. And it's significantly cooler than the rest of Vietnam, as it's up in the northern mountains. We also had a really great time meeting up with Mihae! My former roommate from college, and her boyfriend Dave. We ate our way through Hanoi and spent a day exploring temples south of the city, squeezing in a scenic bike ride and an awesome river boat trip along the way.

We would have loved to check out more of Vietnam than just Saigon and the north, but if you've kept track of the news, there have been typhoons throughout the region, and the central coast of the country was flooded by the time we got there. So we had to fly over it all. There's an excuse for another trip though!

India- I've wanted to come here for so long, and now we're finally here. We flew into Kolkata and rounded up a good group of travel buddies to explore the city with. I didn't have high expectations for the city (we're trying to avoid them as much as we can) but I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I thought. The heat, the poverty, the pollution, the chaos all remind me of Cairo, minus the prevalent sexual harassment. And the people so far have been really friendly and genuinely helpful. Delicious and cheap food is pretty much a given.

In the next few days, Rich and I are hoping to cross into Nepal for a bit of trekking and kayaking. But we'll be back in India afterward. I don't know how we'll possibly be able to fit in everything we want to see and do though. We were leaning toward going back to Oz for Christmas, but now we're not so sure...

hollywood, european art and culture community, whoopi goldberg-

you make me want to vomit.

pedro almodovar. wes anderson. monica bellucci. alfonso cuaron. jonathan demme. stephen frears. terry gilliam. harmony korine. jeanne moreau. barbet schroeder. martin scorcese. wim wenders. terry zwigoff. wong kar wai. milan kundera. salman rushdie. bernardo bertolucci. gael garcia bernal. david lynch. penelope cruz.

just a few of the folks who support roman polanski. you know, the film director responsible for such cultural masterpieces as revulsion, rosemary's baby, chinatown and the pianist. oh, and sodomizing a 13 year old girl against her will, and fleeing the country to avoid the consequences.

but hey, that's ok. because his films mean more than rape. because it was such a long time ago, it's not worth convicting criminals for past crimes- right, germany?



"it wasn't 'rape-rape'"- are you fucking kidding me?!

so today was pretty amazing. we did what was widely recommended and hired a tuk-tuk driver for the day. he drove us to several temples, starting at angkor wat for the sunrise. around 200 other people had the same idea.

more coming later. i still have about 4 months of pictures to sort through.

music: taken by trees

We are finally back on the road. After an initially stressful yet productive day in Bangkok, we were able to transfer money home through a bank (saving us $100+ in Western Union fees!), send excess clothes and crap back home (saving us 9 kilos of weight!) and sell back a bagful of books and a guitar (earning us nearly 2000 baht!). Feeling quite confident in our travel street smarts and our ability to get down to business, we set out for the Cambodian border.

( the journey )

Today marked the final day of teaching. I am once again unemployed, underpaid, and overjoyed.

I bought 3 sets of tickets in the past 3 days:
1) Hanoi to Bangkok. Air Asia, $57.
2) Bangkok to Kolkata. Kingfisher Air, $150.
3) Kolkata to New Jalpaiguri (transfer to Darjeeling). Indian Rail, *Darjeeling Limited, $5.50

There's still so much left to do- pack, ship things back home (why is this a constant pattern?), bid farewells, transfer Thai baht to undervalued US dollars, inject myself silly with vaccines (first time for everything), etc. We've been looking forward to getting back on the road so much that it hardly seems real anymore. I guess that's a problem with the lack of stability- always looking forward, hardly ever down.




* The Darjeeling Mail, in non-Wes Anderson world.

crisp, clean, new passport.

flights booked.

crossing borders in less than a week.

let the games begin.

Usually, I'm pretty thorough when it comes to travel plans. My obsession with researching destinations, mapping routes and budgeting is almost manic. You'd think that I'd be able to tell you exactly what I'm actually doing once I leave Thailand in exactly one week.

Actually, the plan was to go up to China via Cambodia and Vietnam, go through Tibet into Nepal, and hop down to India. But that was before I realized I'd overlooked one teensy, tiny, extremely annoying issue: Tibet.

Politics aside, long story short, the Tibetan leg of our journey ended up being far more expensive than we expected it to be. So we ultimately had to cut it, along with whole China bit actually, out of our plans for now.

I'm a bit disappointed with having to skip China, but looking at the costs to get there, and considering the fact that Rich and I have both been there already, it just had to be done. Anyway, we know we'll get to it eventually. Along with a list of other destinations, which I've smoothly transitioned into here:

PLACES I CAN'T GO TO NOW, BUT HOPE TO SOMEDAY

Cuba
The legacy of Kennedy lives on through the Peace Corps, and a senseless embargo against a communist state. Currently, American citizens are restricted from travel through a rather tricky set of rules prohibiting both spending money in the country and receiving goods for free from a Cuban. This, unfortunately, includes those tasty cigars. Nevertheless, many Americans find ways around it, boarding planes from Mexico or Costa Rica and making sure their passports don't get stamped. I was pretty close to making the leap across the Caribbean while I was in Central America myself, but my last minute decision was hampered by the cost. Story of my life.

Iran
Forget the news reports. Iran is a country with a reputation of jaw-dropping scenery, rich culture and history, and warm, friendly people. It consistently ranks high on the independent travelers' circuit. However, thanks to problematic relations between the country of my birth and Ahmadinejad, the rules for American travelers have tightened considerably. Now we Yanks are obligated to join a tour (during which we are accompanied at all times by a licensed and government-approved guide) in order to even apply for visa. Rich, on the other hand, can get an Iranian visa simply by showing up at the airport and brandishing his kangaroo-embossed Aussie passport. Because the tour is expensive and there's no point in both of us paying for one, this trip will have to wait until I obtain a kangaroo passport of my own.

Abkhazia
What? Is that even a country? Well, technically, no. It's only officially recognized by Russia and Nicaragua, and travel is technically illegal depending on where you come from and where you're going next. Abkhazia is located north of Georgia bordering Russia, though it's still a part of Georgian territory- depending on who you talk to. Its location on the Black Sea makes it a prime tourist destination for beach-hungry Russians, and the scenery is apparently stunning- just ignore the war-torn villages and bullet-ridden buildings. For people looking to get off the beaten path, there's an irresistible draw in the very transient nature of the country's existence. However, it's not the easiest place to get to. If you try to enter Georgia after having visited Abkhazia, there's a likely chance of getting thrown in jail. It's possible to visit via Russia, but visas are fairly complicated to obtain, and expensive to boot. So this one may have to wait until a) The country is fully recognized as its own independent state, or b) I have enough money and patience for a Russian visa. Time to save up some rubles.

Pakistan
The Karakoram Highway is one of my dream destinations. Desolate winding roads surrounded by towering ice peaks, sheep herders, and not much else. Lahore is a big draw as well, minus the threat of terrorism. There are, of course, parts of the country that I would simply have to be suicidal to go to, but it's a lot of barren wasteland anyway. Because we're no longer going to China, and the Karakoram Highway begins (or ends, depending on how you look at it) in Xinjiang, we're simply going to have to give this one a miss. For now.

Tibet
In order to travel to "The Autonomous Region of Tibet" foreign travelers must possess a Tibetan Travel Permit, and be escorted by a tour guide for the duration of their stay. Many parts of Tibet have further restrictions for travel. Before, people were able to simply apply for the permit through a travel agency and were free to go about as they wished from Lhasa. However, now we are obligated to travel in a tour group. There are many people on Tibet forums looking for groups to join (4 people is ideal) in order to alleviate the costs of hiring private transport throughout Tibet- which you definitely need. But it will cost you- to the tune of $500 a person for a week of travel, not even counting the cost of transport to the Tibetan plateau or the Chinese visa itself. Ouch. If this didn't knock out a significant chunk of our budget, we'd just bite the bullet and do it. But then we wouldn't be able to enjoy the rest of our trip properly. Perhaps when I am a rich businesswoman I can come back and do it in style, I suppose.

The altered itinerary looks like this then:
Thailand to Cambodia to Vietnam, fly to Bangkok ($50/pp), fly to Delhi (<$200/pp) and travel through India and Nepal until February. From there we still have yet to decide between Eastern Europe (Istanbul to Frankfurt) or East/Southern Africa (Tanzania to Namibia). Any ideas?

why's tibet got to be so expensive, ruining all my plans?

the main reason i don't really write in this journal much anymore is because i don't really have a lot to say these days. when you're working and living in one place, days blur into one another and things that could have been exciting at one point somehow become dull. experiences become cliches.

so i usually start writing about something miniscule that's happened recently, attempting to make it seem more significant than it actually is. somehow i will end up reflecting upon the larger emotional issues that these trivial events happen to represent while trying not to betray my vulnerability in wanting to divulge these subliminal thoughts in the first place.

and then after slowly writing a paragraph or two, i begin to suspect that the entry reeks of angst and a pathetic desire to vent upon somebody, anybody. i quickly delete half of what i've written, then i move on to an entirely different topic on which i proceed rant about for a little while.

inevitably, the entry begins to open itself up again, and, upon realizing that i'm revealing too much and that nothing i've written is fit for public consumption, i just make the whole thing private. i tell myself it's better to simply keep a record of my thoughts private, because who wants to read about that anyway? i then write a new entry, devoid of any emotional weight, usually listing events or facts of no real importance, most likely to do with future plans, usually in list form, and very brief.

for example:

- i'm done teaching in 2 weeks.
- himalayas, here i come.
- i want to go back to school.
- probably 2011.

then i'll slap on a nondescript subject. maybe a song lyric or a phrase that's been stuck in my head. most often a word or a group of words that vaguely relate to the topic matter, if at all. in this case, an object that happens to be placed near me as i write.

and then, exhausted from the sheer effort of attempting to write a decent journal entry and failing miserably, i fall asleep.

life throws you the most unexpected curve balls, so they say. whoever they are.

( mushy barf )

am i crazy for thinking about moving to cairo again?

speaking of the middle east, i got a phone call from a school in kurdistan, iraq. unfortunately, they were looking for an immediate hire, and as rich and i still have one month left with our current school, we had to decline.

omfg, america what is wrong with you?

thank goodness i'm moving to a place where health care is a right.

suddenly, i am 24. how in the hell did this happen?

i'm feeling the strains of what could only be called a quarter life crisis. grad school, careers, settling down... it's too many factors to really detail in here, and boring to boot. though there are a few key points worth highlighting:

1. i am probably moving to melbourne and likely going to get a master's degree there.

2. this is because i'm pursuing citizenship there, as a result of being engaged to an australian. yes.

3. the careers i'm seriously considering, after a lot of thought, hours upon hours of research, and unnecessary stress, are journalism (international), documentary filmmaking, and teaching.

4. truth be told, i'm torn between anxious and eager to start settling down. maybe three years away from home is finally taking its toll. but that house in the suburbs and stable job is starting to look more appealing now.

5. in one month, rich and i will finish our current teaching project, and will embark on probably our last major whirlwind adventure before making the moves to stay put for a while.

6. to celebrate my turning 24, i got ( this )



hey, if anyone could enlighten me as to what the big deal is about the current healthcare issue in america is, i'm curious to know. i'll admit i haven't given health insurance much thought until i turned 23 and no longer qualified under my mom's employee plan with kaiser. because i'm now one of the millions of people without health insurance, i'm naturally for universal coverage, but perhaps i'm missing something in the logic. i'd appreciate more info from either side of the coin.

well, at least i'll be covered in australia.

fun fact: about half of the koala population in australia is affected by chlamydia.

not so fun fact: this disease is potentially fatal. i'm sure you'd all know the latest victim:

i'm awfully slack about writing in here. this is terrible, because now that i've figured out that i want to get a master's degree in something that involves a great deal of writing, particularly about interesting events that happen around the world, i realize that i have almost nothing to show for it. kind of like how i have a bachelor's degree, and haven't really done much with it in terms of what i ought to be doing for a living.

ANYWAY. guess i've got to start somewhere.

( a short journey to mae sot )

my calendar for the month of july looks something like this:


thai schools have a wonderful system of completely altering the schedule at the last minute possible, regardless of the impact upon the curriculum. often, educational administration will sympathize with the students, tacking on a holiday to a weekend because they know no one is fond of inconvenient days of productivity sandwiched between their opportunity to do nothing. so while we theoretically have 23 teaching days on the calendar there are 13 days of actual class this month. due to prior family obligations, i took an additional 4 days off.

right now there's a rather big sports event going on at the school. the past 3 days (and much of our precious class time) have been devoted entirely to this, and from my understanding, the students just play sports all day. for the non-athletically inclined, there is also a chess tournament and dance/cheer competitions that the girls have been skipping class to practice for.

as of this morning, we've been informed of an additional (and highly necessary) break from school from this upcoming monday to wednesday. the reason for this unexpected mini-holiday is none other than that notorious epidemic, swine flu. apparently thailand has it now, so out of a fresh wave of fear (and a convenient excuse to stay home) schools nationwide are shutting down.

now we're stuck wondering what to do with our free time. i know-- "oh, wah-wah! i've got to decide which lovely world-class beach i have to go to spend the next 5 days. but wait, i just spent the last week down in krabi! i've got to go on vacation again? curses!"

the truth is money is running a bit low. my family just came and spent a few days here and i footed the bill for everything, and before that we flew to the philippines for a couple of days for my grandparents' 60th anniversary, and the last-minute plane tickets we purchased were not cheap. so we should probably try to watch our funds a bit, but there's no way we're going to stay in this town for 5 days straight with nothing to do and thus spending money is inevitable. how did a vacation on a southeast asian island get to become so inconvenient?

anyway, before i come across as an even bigger dick than i already am, i should probably stop now.

two of our friends from korea (well, san diego and limerick, ireland to be exact) are coming to thailand in less than two weeks. this month, we will have seen more visitors here than in the total of our combined 2 years in korea. here's hoping for some more paranoia-induced holiday time!

we found one of these dudes in our house tonight.

( a couple more from takhli )

- went spelunking at some local caves nearby. came out smelling like bat shit. realized about 2 is my limit for cave-exploring interest.

- obtained an ever-growing collection of bruises from kickboxing. can now do a shitload of reclining situps. still can't properly knee someone in the face/groin more than 3 times in a row.

- have won the hearts of my students and co-teachers alike. got a handmade purse from one of my students today. also got extra after-school speech class, because i'm *such* a good teacher.

- family coming to visit in about a month. plans include taking advantage of the fact that we collectively look very thai by getting into every tourist attraction without paying foreigner admission.

- missing home still. mostly san diego, but sometimes (oddly) melbourne. mostly miss food, particularly hot pockets and mexican anything. wish i knew when i was coming back.