Dr. Livingstone...I presume

The young local guys are all crowded around me. They are laughing and joking and asking me "Are you really going to jump...Aren't you scared?". Scared, no, nervous yes, excited..big time. Where am I and what am I doing. Well, for that, you have to go back a bit.

Remember Grade 7 geography and the sections on Africa. Explorers tramping about and 'discovering' all sorts of things about the big continent. The story of Dr. Livingstone and the Zambesi River always struck me as very exotic. I have about 10 places in the world that strike me like that (Constantinople, Baghdad, Timbuktu, Agra, Edo, Tanganyika, Lake Titicaca, Victoria Falls, Giza).

So I am visiting my good buddy Dave in Botswana and it is only a hop, skip and jump of about 700 kms up to Victoria Falls. The draw is like a magnet. I just can't ignore it. I take off about 5:30 Friday morning and hitch-hike into Maun and hop on a local bus to Nata, about 300 kms east.

Now this little excursion can give you a good look into just who I am. I like getting going early. I like hitch-hiking. Love going to new places, enjoy hostels as much now as when I was a kid. I enjoy not really knowing what is going to happen. Let serendipity lead the day. The ride (Alex) knows my host and works at the same hospital. He passes the hospital and drives 4-5 kms out of his way to help me get the early bus. I have this kind of luck the entire trip. Is it luck or just the result of opening your brain and letting the day take shape? Who knows.

In Nata, the first bus is stuffed full, so I start looking around and see a guy ready to jump into a safari vehicle with gear, but no people. Likely a re-positioning trip. I ask him if he is going north and it is the start of a new friendship. My buddy is Thula and from Zimbabwe ... and going to Victoria Falls. I was planning to stay in Kisani, Botswana and try and book a day trip to Vic Falls, thus saving the $75 visa for Zimbabwe, but hey! Thula is going where I want to go.

In Vic Falls town, I get booked into Shoestring Backpackers, definitely a hard-party hostel. I am in a great mood. My roomies are Americans doing 4 months in Africa, a Vietnamese guy doing a 3 month trip and a Korean guy doing the same. I enjoy the pool, buy some hand bracelets from Elijah and drink a fair amount of beer.

Saturday morning, Thula drops me at the bridge over the Zambesi. It is also the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. The local hustlers are all over me like a dirty shirt. Even more aggressive thatn the Vic Falls guys.. and that is saying something. No big deal, I am in a really good mood, most of the guys can handle a bit of humour, and I am actually buying some small things, as this is the end of a long trip and I won't have to slag this stuff around much longer.

From the bridge, I get my first glimpse of Victoria Falls. But that is not why I am here. Sure, I'd come just for the Falls, buy hey! They have a 100 meter bungy jump here. I can't pass that up.

So I walk over into Zambia, get all registered and gussied up in shackles and webbing and come back to have the 15 or so loc al kids all gfawking at me and trying to shake my hand. I had asked Isaiah the manager if they ever offered freebies to these kids, as the cost to them would be astronomical. He said yes, but there were never any takers. The locals think the tourists are complete loco to jump off a good bridge.

My only other bungy was in Vancouver Island and it was a mere 50 meters. Pffft! Barley worth jumping off you say. Well, in Nanaimo, I suffered from something called jelly-knees. You have the nerve to jump off, but your knees go all soft as you stare into that hole and the jump is more like a flop.

I was determined to fly out strong on this jump, especially now that I had a big contingent of locals cheering me on. Most people figure that bungy jumping hurts. No, not in any way. There is only one hard part, and that is the full second it takes to commit, bend and leap off the bridge. And make no mistake about it, 110 meters is bigger than 50 meters. That one second took it's toll. I jumped well, the knees held and the drop went quickly. But that one second was terrifying. After Nanaimo, I was extremely keen to go right back up and jump again. After Vic Falls, I was finished. That was a BIG hole to jump into. Whew!

OK. Now I am done, as high as a kite and the day stretches ahead of me. I wander over to actually look at the Falls. The site is beautiful, stunning. I am as happy as one hombre can get in one days. The trip, the friends I am making, the locals I am talking to, the scenery, the getting to an exotic place on the earth, the bungy. Oh My! What a day!

Later, I end up at the Victoria Falls Hotel. Old style elegance, with a view of the bridge and Falls. I also meet up with Thula and we work on his safari website for an hour or so, have a beer and agree to meet on Sunday to start me back to Botswana. I will be doing web-based stuff for him from Canada when I get back.

On Sunday, I take a car, then gypsy cab, hitch-hike, bus, bus, combi and macorro canoe to get back to Maun. It has been one hell of a weekend. I am quite pleased with myself.

View from Hotel



Victoria Falls - The Bungy Jump




Victoria Falls - The Tour

Botswana Bayou

I've more time in Botswana yet, but it has been a busy few weeks. Buddy Dave meets me at the airport, we walk over to Bon Arrive (Maun is a small place) for a welcome beer and I meet a number of people who I will interact with over my time here. Klaus who runs the joint, Allan who runs Sedia Hotel, Jon who will be one of my hosts and will take me into his camp in the Kalahari and Dapanhi , a Finnish guy who dies in a car accident the next day. We all play golf on Allan's home-made, 4-hole course at the Sedia and spend the day eating and drinking beer. Welcome to Botswana

MAUN, the Sedai Hotel and the THAMALAKANE
=========================================

I have been staying in various places along the Thamalakane River and been out on a fair number of boat and canoe (macorro) trips. Lots of birds, wildlife, a hippo, some alligators. We go out just before sunset. Just magic. I have been doing some web-based work for Allan at the Sedia and have had my share of food/beer on his coin, plus a few nights in one of the rooms. Nice way to spend time



KALAHARI
========

Jon has a game farm that he is building in the Kalahari. It's about 9 kms by 4 kms. I was lucky enough to visit it and start seeing some wildlife, like zebras and impalas. It was a tough few days.



LOCAL WEDDING
=============

David is a food friend of a local man (Monks) and we were invited to his wedding as special guests. Very cool way to spend time.




DELTA SAFARI - Trip of a Lifetime
==================================

An African Safari. What can you say. Cannot tell you how happy I was for this to happen. It was as cool as you think it would be and more. The view of those open savannahs and the variety of wildlife. Just magic. Memories to last a lifetime. We had a great little 'croo. The safari managers, an exceptional guide, 4 porters and of course a gaggle of Canadians (Nova Scotians, no less...david, me, Susan and Pat)



Botswana Safari

Free...... Nelson Mandela

Flying into Johannesburg with very mixed feelings. have always wanted to come here, yet the city is known to be quite dangerous to those on foot in the downtown area. Hard to believe I will visit a place and not go downtown...baut that is what happened. I figured once I got the lay of the land, the reality would no be as bad as reported. Unfortunately, all signs pointed to staying away from the downtown, even in daylight. Too weird.

My purpose here is to get to Botswana, so may not see much of South Africa. This is too bad, but this has been true throught this trip. Everywhere I go, I am missing things. I tend to focus on what I see, not what I miss.

The more you travel, the less you it actually seems to be. I've been on the raod 8 months, travelled mucho kilometers and really am just chicken-scratching my way around the planet

Stayed at a funky hostel and did a trip to the Apartheid Museum and a small walking tour of a Soweto slum. The museum setup the slum very well. I do not like the concept of canned tours and certainly not a slum, but somehow this all worked very well.

The Apartheid Museum blew me away. I have been aware of the news out of South Africa for many years, but the reality doesn't really hit home.I knew Stephen Biko died in detention, but really, what did that mean to me? The reality, scale and scope of apartheid (especially in the years prior to all the laws passed in the late 40's) is breathtaking. Like a slow forced genocide. Not unlike what is done is so many other places in the planet at any one time. Humans can be astoundingly cruel to each other.

Our guide introduced the 3 of us to his friend that lived in one of the many Soweto slums. Soweto's population is around 4 million people, obviously not all slums, but also with no real downtown, industry, etc. It was the SouthWesternTownship and was created to keep a large population close enough to Jo'burg to work there, but not actually live there. Our guide was trying to show up 2 thinsg, the conditions that people live in, but also the sense of community that each little ghetto has.

The only water here was a public tap for each group of about 40 families. Each group of 5 families shared what we would call an construction site toilet (locked with 5 keys). This replaced some fairly static toilets. There was no electrcity just big batteries and a battery re-charge center. But there was a daycare, kindergarten school, rec center (it had lights) and gallery. Like a little village, just a really poor little village. We got introduced to a lot of people and stepped into a few places and homes and stores (tuck shops). All around, a very cool and enlightening visit. Was very glad that I decided to go. Felt odd walking around, but the people there realize that tourism is a valid way to generate money.

Did lots of walking and running in Jo'burg. I was 5 kms from downtown and still all the properties were compounds with electric razor wire and all the signs said 24 HOUR ARMED RESPONSE. This means that the boys show up with guns in a truck. Forget calling the police. Interesting town. Drove thru downtown once. It was un-settling.

OK. Off to Botswana and who knows what. Picture is buddy Roger, who travles with an iron. Go figure.

Qatar Oasis

The many months of travelling have been wearing me down in background mode. The last few countries (India and China) have exacted their toll and the batteries were definitely running low.

Earlier in the trip, Mike and Cindy O'Leary from Halifax had suggested that I stop in Doha for a week, should my travels take me to the Middle East. I am so glad that things worked out the way they did. I arrived in Doha last week, and was met at the airport (a first for this trip, even tho a few hostels ahd promised pickups) by the O'Leary's and their CDN friends (also working in the Middle East), Dan and Carolyn. The best words to describe how I felt that night were relief and happiness.

It was a wonderful week. We spent the first 2 days being busy (Terry Fox run, big amateur music party, simulated Calgary Stampede), then I got a chance to seriously chill for 4 days. Sleep in a big bed, wake up to coffee and omelettes, take a shower or bath, use the internet to catch up, do a few laundries, eat Western food suppers and drink a fair amount of Mike's beer.

Really, it was heaven and sorely needed. Now I feel all charged up and ready to tackle the last few months of this amazing trip.

Thanks Mike and Cindy for inviting me into your lives for a most relaxing visit.

Incredible India

My new 'buddy', Momo, a rickshaw driver in Varanasi. We are both the same age, but coming from completely different backgrounds. When I am travelling, I often wonder what it would be like if I had to trade places with some of the people I meet. Switch me with Momo right now. Help! The thought terrifies me, yet this man gets thru his day allright. One of man's best attributes is adaptability. This trip has pushed and pulled my comfort zone quite a bit...but always with the background thought that I can return to my life as I wish.

It will take me a long time to sort out all my thoughts of my visit to India. I am so glad that my trip has worked out this way. Cannot imagine an RTW trip that skips over such as astounding place. I was only in 4 places (Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Varanasi), but even with such a light visit, I am still in shock.


DELHI
=====
The airport was a physical shock. There is a pre-pay area outside, but it is mindblowing to a newcomer. The little cab was easily from the 50's and the brakes made only of metal. Every person in India that I had $$$ dealings with (as a tourist, this is always a high percentage) either lied to me, tried to move me to thier advantage, mis-directed me and/or ripped me off. My hostel was only 8-10 kms from airport, but buddy couldn't even find main street within .5 km of my place. Also couldn't read/speak English. Took 1.5 hrs to arrive at hostel after midnite. My adventure pretty common one. Hostel was open and had cold beer, so all was well.

Hooked up with Adam and Owen the next day (and enjoyed my time so much more). We all liked to walk and a crowd is so much easier with all the hustlers. We took an auto-rickshaw into town...another mind-blowing trip. Traffic in Delhi (or any big place in India) has to be experienced. My description would be tame.

The food in India is always good. I had so many great meals everywhere I went. We were lucky enough to hook up with Claire on day 2 and after a few forts and mosques, ended up at a big Couchsurfing meetup that lasted until 4:00 AM. Walking the Muslim quarter during suppertime muezzin call was very cool.

Trying to find and use travel services sucked up some serious time. Lying locals, mis-directs, closed shops, down internet, lying agents, booked trains, you name it, mucho obstacles. Was the toughest part of visiting. The hustlers not that big of a problem.

Kids begging was a problem. In the streets, in the rickshaws. There is no good answer here. Some kids I gave money, most I didn't. With the kid hustlers, if they had a good patter and a sense of humour, they got $$ from me. Treating all the hustlers with a sense of humour worked well, very few were actually aggressive and usually only in very high-traffic area. With some of them, after a few exchanges of banter and perhaps a few firm "no"'s, there might even be some friendly chit-chat.

AGRA
====

We took the day train to Agra. The little hotel we stayed at in Agra was within sight of the Taj, as you can see from the picture. We got up early to make sunrise at the Taj. Thus was easy, as the muezzin boys started about 5:20 AM and were quite loud and long-winded (20 minutes). It was very surreal.



FATEHPUR SIKRI
==============

In the afternoon, a bunch of us, including 2 CDN girls and a Brit, took a local bus (an amazing experience all in itself) about 40 kms to Fatehpur Sikri (abandoned Mughal city). I actually sold some postcards to the local hustler kids (a longer story). I liked this town a lot. There was a local festival going on. Sitting on the bus waiting to return to Agra, I was buying beer (another longer story) and having it passed thru the window to share with other backpackers. Two of the girls missed their train and stayed with us for the night (3 beds, 5 people, again a longer story).



VARANASI
========

The overnight train to Varanasi was a bit of a nightmare. Countless extras in the train car, security was a problem and I was fighting the trots. Looking up from your spot and seeing the hallways and floors jammed with locals at 3:00 Am, it is time to start praying that you won't have to attempt a bathroom run.



I went to Varanasi to the see ghats and the burning bodies. The ghats were very cool. I spent a few days wandering up and down, chilling on the steps, playing chess with the locals, humoring the hustlers and generally enjoying myself. The alleyways that ran parallel were a lot of fun as well. Burning bodies don't bother me, but the dogs running about and fighting, the goats eating the flowers off the pallets, the kids laughing and playing, the general mayhem of the place just freaked me out.

INDIA
=====

India is not an experience you can describe with a bunch of flowery words, however well-placed. It is agut-wrenching (literally) and mind-blowing experience. I wish that i had a videocam attached to my head for about 60% of the trip. Everyday, I saw things that blew the circuits in my head, even tho you get pretty blase to a number of sights, new shit just keeps coming up.



I now know why India gets in people's blood. The experience is so powerful and so unique, it is like a drug (with a lot of side-effects).

Oddly enough, the place works. Traffic works, even with those million of potential mishaps that occur on a daily basis. The people are maddening and loveable, friendly as all get out and will do their best not to say "NO" to you, even if this means lying.

Incredible India. F&*^%ing Incredible India!

India 2010

Guilin and Hong Kong

Unfortunately, Guilin served up rain, fog and smog for my three days there. I can't complain, as I hadn't seen rain since back in November. Of the 2 places that I have visited on this trip that would need going back to Guilin will top the list (Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand being the other one). Solitary Peak was a real treat, and also the extent of my sight-seeing in a place that reminds me so much of Vinales in Cuba that perhaps I had my expectations running just a little too high.



Hong Kong
=========

After almost 6 weeks of travel in Korea and China where the language barrier slowly but surely wears you down, I land in Hong Kong. The skies are clearer, people speak quite a bit of English, it is warm enough for shorts and I have money in my pocket that needs to be spent on Western food and beer.

The only other time I have felt this way was after Regina and I had just spent 3 weeks in pre-Solidarity Poland (1980), existing on the lowest level of food that I have experienced in my life. We arrive in West Berlin and the day is spent eating an amazing variety of food. So it is in Hong Kong. I treated myself to a steak and beer combo in a Western bar today. Cost enough to travel in China for almost 2 days. How do you justify that? Yin and yang. It all balances out.




Contrast and Expectations
=========================

One of my favorite words prior to this trip was contrast. Why do you run? Cause it feels so good to stop. The Gonzo tradition of ice cream after a few days of hiking, or hitting the showers after an hour of ploughing thru nasty winter weather, making dinner after a day of paddling in Gaspe. You need to endure some loss of comfort to truly enjoy the pleasures around you. Making Hong Kong after a few weeks in mainland China served up a nice level of contrast.

Thanks to my buddy David (whom I intend to visit in Botswana later in this trip) has given me the Buddhist concept of expectation to mull over. I agree, our expectations can literally overshadow our experiences. As I do my travelling, I try to keep my expectations as far in the shadows as I can. It is a daily struggle.

My example is bathrooms. All during this trip, I have encountered a stunning array of bathrooms. But it is my expectations that colour the use of these bathrooms, more than their actual state of repair/dis-repair. Give me a sloppy batroom in New Zealand and I'm upset. Find me an open stall in a crowded train station in Xi'an and I am ecstatic. Humans are weird creatures.

China 2010

China Syndrome - Forbidden City, Great Wall and Terra Cotta Warriors

I'm doing the highlight tour of China. (Beijing, Forbidden City, Great Wall, Terra Cotta Warriors, Guilin and Hong Kong)

No access to Blog, Facebook, Picasa, etc, so email it is.

In Xi'an (Terra Cotta Warriors) for a few days, then taking a 26 hour train to Guilin. Will chill there for a few days and then make my way to Hong Kong. Will skip out of town before the Chinese New Year. I have someone to see there but will not try and stay for the New Year. Need to be heading westward. Running out of $$$ (of course, that has always been true, but now I can count the days left within a few weeks. Looks like I'll head back by the end of April. Of course, I am still very open to possibilities. Travelling is still too much fun to think about stopping.

China a bit more work to deal with than say New Zealand, but the experiences makes the work worthwhile. I am currently staying in one of the coolest hostels I've ever been in (Shuyuan). They wrote my train details to Guilin in Chinese for me, so that when I bought my ticket, I didn't end up in Shanghai. No English on my ticket, I just believe it to be true. (JiaJia assures me).

I am introducing tipping into this country whether they like it or not. I got all the people on the tour bus (Terra Cotta) yesterday to kick in some $$$ to tip our guide. They do not like to to take money for nothing, but I assured her that it was the customs of the countries represented (Argentina, Italy, US and Canada) and she had to accept. The tip I foisted on my waiter in Beijing (I ate same place for 4 nights and he helped me out a lot) took 10 minutes to convince him he had to take it. We even had to get his friend involved to translate a little bit. It was fun). On the Great Wall hike (Jinshanling to Simatai), we had 15 or so hustlers follow the group for 5-6 Km. I bolted ahead of the group about .5 km and had the place to myself most of the time (3 hours). A few time I stopped to take pics or jst look around, the place was absolutley silent, an experience to rememebr forever. At the mid-way point, there was Jiang-Li,a local who hikes a few hours perpendicularly to the Wall from a small viallge to sell his stuff (which included beer!). I bought a beer, we excahnegd camera photos and stories about our kids (he is same age as me and has one boy and oner girl). He would not take a tip, but I paid him an exorbitant amount (5 times what he was asking) for a little book). One of the more enjoyables beers in my life.

The Terra Cotta Warrior sight is not as expected, but the actual pit was as stunning as advertised. All those completely different faces. I am still quite shocked. Easily worth the trip here to see therm

The smog in Xi'an is intense, it is claustrophobic, you can see about 2 km if you count outlines and shapes, then it is just a wall of white. It is upsetting me quite a bit. Kids here think that this is normal. Flying Beijing to Xi'an, I never saw the ground once, altho we were only a few thousand feet up on a nice day. Buddy on plane trying to tell me it was a cloudy day. Even taking a picture of my hostel, if i back up acrsoos the street, you notice the lack of clarity in the picture.

Finding English newspaper here Ok. Lot of politics (cool) and business. Everyone here has a cell phone (about 30% ) You use dirty words in a text, they can take away your number forever (I'm sure some fine fixes that). Lots of security checks in Beijing and at tourist sights. Other than that, seems just like a bustling economy, altho miles behind say Korea.

Meeting lots of teachers. They are all on break and travelling. People scurrying to try and nail down New Year's stuff. Playing Foosball and pool with the locals in a local bar. Pretty funny. Sports and light competition do not need a language. Beer helps too. Can only relax so much, there is always a background of someone trying to take advantage of you. Got dinged in Beijing by some art students and have had odd offers here in Xi'an. Part of the situation you must deal with

This has been a hell of a trip so far. Lots of new experiences. The underlying sense of freedom is just too cool to explain.

Bruce

Seoul Sensations

I have been travelling for over 6 months now and am quite lost trying to describe my Korea and and Seoul experiences. Pictures help and I am writing from notes, but really, you need to be here to understand how cool and conflicted that is Seoul. I am really glad that Sophie found a place to go and work. She was so keen for some new experiences and Seoul will fit that bill and more. She has a good job, a great place to live in a funky neighbourhood and some very cool friends.

While I did spend most of my time in Seoul, I did take a few days to fly down to Jeju, the vacation island south of Korea. I enjoyed myself a lot, but would really have enjoyed the place in some season other than winter. Korean hostels are very well run.

The pictures are Sunrise Peak. You can visit, or better yet, rent a room in the village and hike up to the crater rim for sunrise, something I hope daughter Sophie and friends get to do this spring.



Seoul is a city of contrasts, old and new. Hundreds of tiny, teeming, frenetic, Asian, dense, noisy neighbourhoods slowly being surrounded and consumed by big roads and apartment complexes. The city is surrounded by hills, and industrial smog. You take a very efficient subway system to a local dong or gil and wander in alleyways that have motorcycles and sometimes cars, competing for the few feet of available space. You are surrounded by masses of well-dressed, good-looking, hard-working, aggressive, cell-phone addicted young people and the same amount of extremely short, multi-layered, not so colourful older people working their butts off in some very trying conditions.

Sophie's neighbourhood is 24-7 and much busier than any neighbourhood you chose to compare with in New York and it is really one of hundreds in Seoul. Very colourful, VERY consumer-oriented. Not for the faint of heart. At the same time, the area is quite safe at all hours of the night.

Food here is a very social experience.

Korea 2009

King takes Queen...Mate

Congratulations, Mr. Sampson on your wedding to Darcy. I am so glad that this day has come to pass. You are 2 of the nicest, coolest people I have ever met and you deserve each other and the happiness that comes with being together. It's because of you, Larry, that I am a Gonzo (and I cannot imagine not being a Gonzo). I remember the first day we met as you became head instructor for the computer course at NSIT. What a nerdy, yakky, detailed guy...who has that much information squirreled away in their heads. Surely there is a better way to use that space.

Well, a lot of time has passed since then. We started running together, you introduced me to some Gonzos, I began racing, we became neighbours, we played a lot of chess, we had families and careers, we went on hiking and biking trips, we played darts and drank beer.

You still have an astounding amount of information in your head (and the ability to retrieve it!). I certainly hope that Darcy has placed some boundaries on your penchant for expounding on a large variety of subjects.

Here's to you and Darcy, a match that had to be.

Seoul brothers

Louis and Leor, two of Sophie's buddies in Seoul. My daughter has good taste. They are great guys.

Seoul will be such a dense experience that I think it will take a few posts to clear my head. I arrived here Thursday night on Korean Air. These are the people that brag about unparallelled flight service. I had the good fortune to be bumped up to Business Class. Powered seats that fold almost flat, 3 course meals, enough room to call it a bachelor apartment, very attractive air stewardesses. I am ruined for Economy.

Arrive in Seoul, pick up my pre-booked cell phone, take the ever so efficient subway to within 100 meters of Sophie's apartment and give her a buzz. Dinner is in one of hundreds in her 'hood' (Rodeo, Cheonho-dong, Gangdong-gu) and involves a Bbq and some beer. So happy to see my daughter who I last saw in New York at least 6 months ago.



Her apartment is very slick, fancy and new. One of the benefits of parachuting into a completely new culture with a good paying job. We spend the next day at a Buddhist and Shamanist shrine site (Inwansan). Very cool.

Saturday is the big Techie Market to look for speakers. We end up embarrassing ourselves, mis-understanding someone who wants 15,000 Won for something that we took for 1,500 Won. Took some abuse for that. Buddy was upset for sure. Still pretty funny. Next stop was the big fish market at Noryangjin. Makes the South St. Seaport market in New York look like a bake sale. You have to see this to believe it.

Following a bunch of young people around a strange city is a lot of fun. They get into all sorts of situations that are hilarious all on their own. We toured some fancy Korean (Lotto) entertainment center and went bowling. As soon as we signed up, Leor and Jamie took off into the maze to find some beer to drink while we bowled.

My kind of people!

Bowling was hilarious, especially after the bowling staff tried to get us to stop drinking the beer. As if! The 'croo had also picked up some Soju (Korean vodka lite???). It was a silly time.

Next on the tour was a Korean BBQ. Louis is Korean, so this opens a lot of opportunities in the crazy world of Korean cuisine in Seoul. All sorts of food that just kept on coming. The restaurant was full (as were the dozens or so within sight). The service is top-notch. There people work their buns off. I wouldn't last a shift in this environment.



Next up was some karaoke at a place Louis found that I wouldn't have recognized given a week to do so. I had ingested just enough alcohol, so this was a fun time. The cost would be borne out some time in the future. For now, the body felt...ooh I don't know...at least 10 years younger.

Sunday was pretty quiet (we cabbed home about 4:00 AM). I need the break.

Monday, Sophie and I go to a public workout park (very cool) and then I head off to wend my way thru a downtown with English sprinkled in a seemingly random manner. I find a house-warming present for Sophie (a power converter so she can run her iPod, and hair utensils). At some point I do run into the infamous Namdaemun Market and have myself a blast, buying food, drinking coffee (or coppee) and finding my first map of Seoul with ENGLISH on it. I am so happy.

Well, It is time to start hitting the palaces and museums (Gyeongbokgung, Deoksugung, Changdeokgung). Seoul is a smoggy city, who knew? It has also been around for millenia, which is even longer than grand old Halifax. It also has more people, sort of like 24 MILLION. They seem to gravitate toward the subway I am on and don't mind bumping into you. I think that the number of people over 15 that speak English can be counted on a few hands. It has been a fascinating few days. Can hardly wait for tomorrow. I even found a beer that I like more than any beer I found in New Zealand. It only costs $1,000 Won. A steal at twice the price!

Wicked

After flying back up to Auckland (much cheaper than bus/ferry/hostel/food/bus), I settled in for a few days of R&R. On the go for many days on the road meant that I needed a break. First break was free upgrade to a double room in the YHA hostel. The local internet place was $1 an hour and I caught up on all my reading gossip politics sports and email. Did some Christmas shopping, read a few books and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Got the China visa no problem (no itinerary, no plane ticket, no entry point pre-defined...all verbal).

Flight to Sydney went off fine and Chuck (Donna Bernard's cousin) picked me up for a full day of sight-seeing and bar hopping. We walked the Harbour bridge and I got my first look at the Opera House. Stunning. Too bad not opera season yet and the ballet was sold-out already. We met a few of Chuck's buddies (Adam and Alex) at a pub, me drinking some great Aussie beer (Fat Yak and BlueTongue pilsner) and eating kangaroo for the first time (Fair dinkum, I thought they were spoofing me).

I love Sydney Harbour. A real lively place. Over the next few days I walked around it, took boats hither and yon and thoroughly enjoyed the space. I made it out to North Head of the harbour on a big loop that included Bondi beach. Chuck and Flora took me out to Manly and North Head the next day.

I can''t say enough about nice Chuck&Flora have been to me. Taking me places, feeding me BBQ and beer and wine, taking me to/from the airport, laundry, internet, stereo. I feel guilty taking so much with not much in return. I certainly hope I can return the favour for them or their friends. If not, I'll just pay it forward. I agree with Chuck that when you are nice to people, it comes around and people are nice to you.


I spent the week doing things you do in a big metropolis, going to museums (aboriginal, kangaroos, koalas, cassowarys, wombats), aquariums, learning the transit system, shopping, walking, checking out bookstores, beaches, pubs and reading the local rags.

On Tuesday, I lucked into a last-minute lottery ticket for front-row center to see Wicked. It was FABULOUS. I am still always amazed that people can suspend your day-to-day life with set design, lighting, dancing, singing and a play...all set on a stage just in front of you. I would see Wicked again in a New York minute.

Oh yeah! I found a picture of Robert Kaufman's predecessor's, altho much cuter:



Sydney 2009