Almost over!

Well my trip is almost over, but that doesn't mean that I am not going to have some fun before I go home! We got back from the Chitwan area in southern Nepal, where we visited the Chitwan National Park. We went on a full day jungle walk in the park with two guides. We were lucky enough to see two rhinos, two kinds of deer, two kinds of monkey, peacocks, boar, a mongoose, a bison and lots of birds and bugs. It was incredibly hot, and one day I cooled off with an elephant as it took a bath in the river. Now we are back in Kathmandu, and before I leave on Monday David and I are going to go bungy jumping. The height is 160 meters, it is the second highest in the world. Then I am homeward bound! See you soon!

Happy Mother's Day!

Greetings from Kathmandu! We are back in the capital of Nepal after 28 days on the trail and three days on the river. I have to say that this place has changed a lot since we have been gone. The last time we were here the elections were right around the corner and the atmosphere was quiet. Now there are live bands all over the place and tourists out in the street... really overwhelming after spending a month in the wilderness. But it might just be the fact that we were up early, rafted all day, then spent four or so hours in a van to get back to Kathmandu, so I am tired. That being said, I am once again going to take the lazy way out and refer you to Nick's travel blog, which is linked in the corner. He hiked ahead of us our last couple of days on the trail to make some flight reservations and was kind enough to update his blog. He gives a great account of our first couple of weeks on the trail. Remember, a detailed description of four weeks of hiking would not only take the rest of my time in Nepal (I only have eight days left) but it would also be like reading a detailed description of shopping, or something women find boring. So although I could elaborate on Nick's blog it is not the time nor the place, so I will pick up where he left off.
So Nick wrote his blog on the 6th of May, and if I remember correctly he left us on the 5th of May. When he left, we had plans to go rafting on the 9th out of a town called Ngadi. The only thing was we were about two days of serious hiking or three days of slow hiking from Ngadi. So even though we were technically still on the circuit, there was a lot more relaxing than hiking going on the couple of days before rafting. Wait, we got to Ngadi on the 7th. Now I am confused about which day Nick left. I apologize, I am tired and I cannot seem to figure out these dates. The point is we took it easy getting to Ngadi, and once in Ngadi we spent most of our time by the river soaking in the sun. Nick met us in Ngadi on the 7th, I know that much. So anyway on the morning of the 9th we met our river guides in Ngadi, then ended up hiking to the next town down where the boats and the rest of our guides were. We met everyone, left our packs, got a quick safety talk and set out on the river. We had one paddle boat with us five guys and a guide in it, two safety kayakers that would do the rapids first and ensure safety, and one catamaraft with two guys on it that pretty much carried our lunch. The first day of rafting went well, it was pretty much continuous rapids, with a good mix of big rapids, technical rapids, and easier rapids. Kevin went overboard once, but he was quickly pulled aboard. The food they served us was good, including coleslaw, sandwich things, crackers, beans. Ok I know that doesn't sound too good but remember we had been eating the same thing for four weeks! At camp after the first day of rafting I puked up lunch. Greg also got sick, but he did not puke until the next morning. I think it was something we ate the day before, but I don't know for sure. Greg seemed to have it worse than me, but I did not eat dinner and went to bed early which i think helped. Luckily, we felt well enough to go rafting the next day. The raft unexpectedly capsized in a rapid, and we all went for a morning swim. Once we were all accounted for it became the highlight of the trip. After half a day rafting the second day we had to pull the boats out and drive around a dam, which was the end of rafting for the day. Dam. I guess it wasn't so bad, because it gave us sick people time to rest for the next day. The third day (today) was a lot of fun. There was one rapid that they said we had a 90% chance of flipping on. We all remembered our unexpected capsize the day before, and saw that after the rapid was a nice, calm pool, and decided that we could handle taking that risk. The good thing was that we did not capsize! The bad thing was that everyone fell out of the boat! So once again when everyone was accounted for and back in the boat we had a new highlight. The best part is that Nick had given his camera to a guide who was on the other side of the rapid and filmed us going through it. I know there is a little bit of foolishness in having the safety guy film us fall out of the boat, but we all survived. The worst part is that this video, along with all the other footage the guide took was erased tonight at a internet cafe here in Kathmandu. Yes, it is a tragedy, I still don't know the details so I can't talk about it too much, but my thoughts go out to Nick if the worst is true and everything is gone. After that second swim the rapids were mild. Nick and I got a turn on the catamaraft which was fun. Now we are in Kathmandu, and hopefully tomorrow we go to Chitwan. A national park where we can ride elephants and see rhinos and other wildlife, maybe even tigers, oh my! Chitwan will be really really really really hot though, so we will only spend a couple days there. Then back to Kathmandu for Greg's B-day on the 15th, then we leave Nepal on the 19th. I go home and everyone else goes to Spain. So I might not update the blog again in Kathmandu, but I promise when I get back to the states I will add a bunch of pictures and tell all the trip stories I can think of until people forcibly shut me up. Until then, I hope every one is doing well! Happy mother's day to all those females with offspring! Thanks for reading! Goodnight!--Mark

Nepal!

Greetings from Nepal! We flew in to Kathmandu yesterday around midday. Our guesthouse had sent a car to pick us up, and we were off. If it is possible, driving is even more hectic in Nepal than in Thailand. Maybe it was just because the roads are narrow. Our guesthouse is located in an area of town called Thamel, which is tourist central. Every shop is either selling souveniers or imitation North Face mountaineering gear. As soon as we got settled in our rooms we began to prepare for our trek around Annapurna. We do not want to be in Kathmandu when the election happens on Thursday. So today we finished getting the necessary permits, and now all we need is bus tickets and a place to store the stuff we are not taking on the trail. We saw the public buses, and they had people crowded on the inside and even on the roof, and we decided to take a tourist bus instead. Our trek will take us a minimum of three weeks, then we will have the option of going to Annapurna base camp. So we might be trekking for a full month. So I probably won't update the blog for a while, but I will be having fun! So until next time, hope everyone is doing well! Thank you for reading and for your comments! Namaste--Mark

Pictures!

Hey all. I have pictures! Here is the link. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2235670&l=9c5a9&id=3308283 please please let me know if for some reason it does not work. I don't have much time right now, so check out the pics, they are for most of Thailand and Cambodia, I think they cover most of my posts. Kevin and I arrived in Chachoengsao this morning from Chiang Mai. An interesting overnight bus ride... Kevin dreamt we were getting robbed and proceeded to try and strangle me. I slept with one eye open the rest of the way. Chiang Mai was relaxing, we did not do much except a lot of reading, and one day took scooters to a temple on top of a mountain with 306 steps. So we only have a couple of days left in Thailand, and I will spend them getting ready for Nepal, hopefully resting, and attending a monk ceremony for a family friend of David who is becoming a monk. I will probably be on the computer at least once more in Thailand, but if not thanks for reading! Peace!--Mark

Return To Thailand!

Hello all! I am now back in Thailand after my Cambodian adventure! Like I stated in the last post, Kevin and I rented motorcycles on Easter Sunday and set off into Cambodia. I have ridden a motorcylce a handful of times, most recently two and a half years ago at Kevin's ranch in Montana, so I would not say that I have a lot of experience. Kevin, on the other hand, grew up riding dirtbikes in Montana, so he did have a lot of experience. The bikes that we got were 250 cc, which means that they were pretty big, and powerful, especially compared to the scooters that everyone else was driving. So needless to say I was pretty nervous when we got the bikes and I had to pull out into a busy street in downtown Phnom Pehn. I wish I could put pictures up, because I have never seen driving like they do in Phnom Pehn. They have four way intersections with no stoplights or stopsigns, and people just slow down enough to make sure they don't hit each other. The majority of vehicles are motorcycles, and no one wears helmets. I will try to put up a video that I took when I get my camera cord. Anyway it was like being thrown in the deep end when I am used to the kiddy pool. I just went slow, and stayed on the side of the road, and tried not to run into anyone. We made it out of the city, and onto the highway, where it was a little better. I have already described the driving conditions in Thailand, where people use the middle of the road as a lane, and it was no different in Cambodia. The scariest part was the buses, who are all on a schedule or something. They were the fastest things on the road, and would pass at any point, Kevin and I were both pushed almost off the road on numerous occasions. So for the first couple of hours I was still nervous, and drove reletively slowly on the side of the road. After a while, however, I got used to the bike and the other cars and was not afraid to do my share of passing and use the speed that the bike had. It took us like four hours or so on that first day to get to Kompang Thom, and we checked into a hotel for seven dollars a night. We then took the bikes down the road to a nearby temple, and I got my first taste of offroad riding, even though it was on the road. We drove for about ten kilometers on a really bad dirt road, with lots of potholes and stuff. This was another new experience for me, and I had to ask Kevin for some pointers on how to not fall. He was really helpful, and I concentrated on practicing because I knew the next day we had 80 kilometers to go on the same road, and we were also going to go on worse roads. We made it to the temple, and I did not fall once. We spent like an hour there, it was the oldest temple in Cambodia, and it was pretty cool. The next day we set out early, because it was slow going on that dirt road. It was fun though, because pretty soon I was confident enough to go fast, and with our powerful bikes we were the fastest guys on the road. Our destination for the day was Preah Kahn, another temple. It was going to take some luck to find it, because we were taking an oxcart path to it from the main dirt road. We had high hopes when there was a sign on the main road pointing the way, but pretty soon down the oxcart path (after passing oxcarts) we stopped seeing farmers, signs, or anything that would help us determine our way. We were lost. In a mine infested country side. I started to get a little worried, and I did not have high hopes for us to find the temple, or the village thatwas supposed to be nearby. Kevin had hit his shifter on a stump, and it bent to the point where it was unusable. Lucking he had a leathermen tool, and he was able to bend it enough so he could drive. We set a time that we would turn around, and we continued to drive. We passed some uninhabited houses that only increased my worry, and the the trail ended all together. It was the perfect occasion to turn around, assuming we could find our way back. Careful to stay on what little path we could see, we turned around. Eventually, we came back to the main dirt road. Preah Kahn had eluded us. We just skipped it and went to the next city on our plan. It was a small town consiting of only a couple of roads, restaraunts and guesthouses. We stayed in a guesthouse. We had been planning on staying at Preah Kahn, or the nearby village, and had bought hammocks and mosquito nets for sleeping outside, and were getting eager to use them. At dinner that night we met a guy from Austria who was doing the same thign we were, except he had a couple of weeks on the road. He had even rented his motorcycle from the same place that we had! He taught us some Khmer words and gave us some driving tips. The next day we saw him again at breakfast, then set out for Koh ker, determined to sleep outside. Luckily we did not get lost, but we did stop and ask for directions numerous times along the way, and each time the directions we got were opposite of our instincts, which is probably the reason we got lost the day before. Koh Ker was a cool temple, with one main site with a seven tiered pyramid and lots of little sites connected by one dirt road. We check out all the sites, then found one we thought would be quiet and began to set up our hammocks. The mosquitos were out in force and Kevin and I were both struggling with our hammocks when two of the temple guards came up to us. They were just kids, maybe 18 years old, and they did not speak a word of english. We tried to make it clear we wanted to set up our hammocks and take a nap. One of them was uniterest and walked away but the other one took Kevin's hammock, used a stick to get the rope through each end, then did the same for me. Then when he realized I was completely clueless he tied my hammock to the trees, and then tied the mosquito net to it in some way that i could have never figured out. He did the same for Kevin, then left us to our naps. We had been laying there for an hour, wondering if we would be able to stay the night, when an older guy in army fatigues drove up on a scooter. We got out of our hammocks and tried to be friendly. Luckily the guy who tied our hammocks came back, and the older gentleman relaxed when kevin shared some bread we had brought and he smoked a cigarette. We asked if we could stay there and he said no, but our helper from before made it clear that he would help us if we followed them. We followed them to the restaraunt at the main site of the temple, where there was someone who spoke english. We told him we wanted a place to sleep, and we were not picky, so he said we could stay at his school. We followed him down the road to the school he worked at. He turned out to be a really nice guy, very hospitable. We found out the chief of police stayed there too, so we would be safe. The school was run by a NGO called Heritage Watch, and besides provided education and day care service to the vearby villages, it also taught them bee keeping and other skills. We tried to set up our hammocks on the porch, but our new friend laughed at us and told us the hammocks were too small for us and we would never be able to sleep in them. We agreed, and set up our mosquito nets on the porch and slept on the ground. It was a great night. Our friend had been a police officer until he stepped on a mine, and lost his right foot. We talked with him for a while, and soon the other members of the house came home. Besides him there was another guy who worked at the school, then the policeman and his wife and child. All seven of us slept on the porch. It was an amazing first hand look at how rural Cambodians really live. The next day we set out for the next temple and then Siem Reap again. The temple was cool, it was my favorite. It was similar to Angkor Wat, but it was collapsed in places and overgrown with trees and vines. So we spent a couple of hours there reading and hanging out, and also climbing all around the ruins. I am sorry I don't have pictures yet. Then we went to Siem reap, which was kind of a crazy ride because the previous days we had been on dirt roads, and then we were back on the highway and city traffic. But we made it. We got laundry done, then hit the bars. We played pool with some English guys, who were getting mad that Kevin and I were winning, then we went to a different place with a foosball table. Needless to say they did not like playing bar games against us. We called it a night after that, and the next day we drove back to Kompang Thom, as it was a good halfway point for our final drive to Phnom Pehn. On Friday morning we drove back to Phnom Pehn, just thankful that we had survived the entire trip, and the only damage to our bikes (that they noticed) was a couple of broken turn signals. We stayed in Cambodia a couple more days, until Sunday. On Saturday we went to S-21, a school turned Khmer Rouge prison turned museum, and the killing fields and the russian market. On Sunday we took a bus to the Thai border, then a bus to Bangkok. Then we just made it onto a train to Chiang Mai. It was an overnight train, but they only had third class tickets, which means no bed. It was a 16 hour train ride, but it was not too bad. Now we are in Chiang Mai! I think tomorrow we are going to rent scooters and go exploring! We plan on staying here untill Friday, when we meet up with Greg and David in Chachoengsao. That is where my camera cord is so I promise pictures! I hope everyone is safe and happy!--Mark

Cambodian Adventure!

Greeting from Cambodia! I know it is early, but Happy Easter to all! I am probably not going to be on a computer before Easter. Okay so I know you all want pictures and I promise I have a lot of good ones, but i left my cord and David's grandmother's house so I will not be able to post pictures for at the very least a week, but maybe closer to two. Have no fear, I am putting in a link to David's pics, a couple of which have me in them. As for the scenery, we were all seeing the same stuff anyway. So check out his pics here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2230674&l=9bebc&id=3300453 and also please read his and Nick's blogs. They have big updates that I am not going to be able to do right now. The links are on the right. But quickly, Kevin and I left the other guys in Siem Reap, Cambodia, when they went back to Thailand and we stayed. We took a boat to Battambang, but the river was too low so the boat could not make it all the way and we had to take a "bus". By "bus" I mean a Toyota pickup truck picked up everyone from the boat and took us the rest of the way on the "road". The "road" was literally a dirt path built for a motorcycle for the first 14 kilometers. There were 19 of us in the bed, plus the luggage. Luckily the truck had 4WD and no one fell out. Today we took a real bus to the capital Pnohm Pehn, and we saw the National Museum. As Nick says, we plan on doing some dirt biking. We are renting them tomorrow so we can take the road less traveled and see some more temples. But no one worry! Safety first! We will be careful. Cambodian Adventure! I will tell you all about it when I next get to a computer! So read the other guy's blogs, they have a lot more detail on the last week or so! That is all for now! I miss you all!--Mark

More Thailand

ไน้กฟำ --That is just a little Thai for you all. I don't think it is a real word, i just typed some Thai letters, but it gives you a taste of just how foreign the writing is. Ao Nang, where we got scuba certified, catered to tourists, so they had English words as well as Thai on the menu. The Marriot was a huge resort, also catering to tourists, so they spoke decent English there as well. The last couple of days however, Nick, David, David's brother Jon and I have been hanging out in Chachoengsao and other less tourist friendly areas where there is no English writing, and the only ones speaking it are us. It has been an interesting switch, and I'd say a pleasant one. We spent our days at the Marriot lying in the sun, reading and sipping drinks. Nick let me go sailing with him one day, to say the least we had a pretty relaxing existence. Thanks again Greg. After the Marriot I had the choice of going back to Ao Nang with Greg while he got scuba certified or to go back to Chachoengsao, and I already told you which I did. When we got back to Chachoengsao we had another amazing dinner at the restaurant on the river. This time the owner of the restaurant was there, and since she is good friends with David's family we were treated like royalty. Like I said, everyone is speaking Thai, but I have learned a few key phrases like the polite way to say hello, thank you, its good, i don't want it, i am fine etc so that I can speak sometimes, but I am no where near following the conversation or knowing what people are saying to me most of the time. But everyone is extremely friendly, and I get by smiling and nodding and accepting whatever they offer. The next day another family friend ( I swear they know everyone in this town) took us to a farm up near the border of Laos, in the north east region of Thailand. It was great to experience such a remote region, where Nick and I were the only white people, or "falongs", that we saw the entire time. On the way our guide "Pi-Ow" stopped at a small shop near his house and got three huge, live fish from a bucket, which he put in a bag under his drivers seat. At his house he transferred them to a converted plastic gas container with a little water in it and so they were kept alive all the way to our destination. We made numerous stops like this, picking up whole chickens (these were cooked) and rice and other snacks until we at last reached the farm. A word about Thai car rides: On a two lane road in Thailand there are really three lanes. What I mean is that all drivers feel free to pass at anytime, even if another car is coming at them. The car they are passing moves over, as does the car coming at them, and so two lanes becomes three. Needless to say it took some getting used to. Anyway the farm was a good time, we had a feast. Nick, Jon and I saw the last part of a cow getting butchered, David opting out because it was the middle of dinner. The next day we went to a bull farm where they were milking a bull. Yeah you heard me. After that we spent the day going to a royal library/garden, vistas, a military support base converted into a museum, and a military monument. Then we began the seven hour drive back to Chachoengsao. Did I mention the car did not have air conditioning? That night we went to a different restaurant with its owner, got some more VIP treatment there and at a nearby club. At the club a popular band was playing, it sounded like Thai pop music. It was kind of intimidating being the only non-Thais, but it also made it a really enjoyable cultural experience. Yesterday we played 18 holes of golf. Golf is golf, but it is slight different in Thailand. For one, we had to use caddies, which I have never done. It was weird to have someone hand you your club, pick up your ball etc. Also, It was extremely hot and humid. We all drank gatorade and water constantly, and David and I had huge umbrellas that we carried around, and our caddies held for us while we took our shot. Overall it was loads and loads of fun, despite the sweat. I shot a course record! Highest score ever! Not really though. Now today we are updating the blogs (duh!) and then going to Bangkok. Kevin will meet us there. Greg will hopefully be there Sunday. He had more bad luck in Ao Nang. The doctor he went to for his sinuses had given him bad meds, so they did nothing. So diving was still a problem. So he has to dive again tomorrow. It is really a bummer and we are all hoping that Greg's luck turns around! Could it get any worse? On Monday we go to Cambodia. Once again David's mom has been amazing and made some arrangements for us so we are being very careful. Thanks Bubpha! I am not sure when I will update again. Hope everyone is safe and happy!--Mark

New Post

Well, it has been a while since the last post, so there is a lot to tell. Unfortunately, I cannot upload pictures at this time, but hopefully I will be able to soon. So it seems like forever since we left New Zealand, so I am just going to briefly touch on all the things I have done. From New Zealand we flew into Sydney, Australia. Nick was our guide because he had lived in Sydney for two years during high school. The first thing we did was buy a transit pass which would enable us almost unlimited access to Sydney's public transportation. This was the best thing we could have done and it was a great way to see the city. The first day we saw the Sydney opera house and thhe botanical gardens, but as we had all our luggage with us we felt a little out of place and did not do much sight seeing. We made our way out of downtown Sydney to Manly, where Nick's friend Guy lives. Guy was our host for the week, and he was an amazing one. He let us pretty much take over his house, never complained, and overall showed us a great time in Sydney, thanks Guy. The next day we went back into Sydney and went to the Sydney Aquarium. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera that day so I do not have any photos of the ferry ride or the aquarium, you will have to check Nick and David's photos eventually. The next day was a beach day, where we all went to the beach in Manly and soaked up some sun. It was a lot of fun, the water was the perfect temperature for body surfing and swimming. I think the next day was Thursday, and I explored Sydney on my own. I took a tour of the opera house, explored the entire botanical gardens, then just wandered around the city. I really liked the mixture of old and new architecture around Sydney. I took the wrong bus back to Manly, but I quickly figured it out and found the right bus, so it was not a big problem. After resting Friday morning, we were ready to meet Guy in downtown Sydney after he got off work. He then took us to some of the city's greatest pubs, where we had a relaxing evening. On Saturday we went to Guy's parents house, and had a really amazing meal. Like I said before, Guy was a great host! Sunday was relaxing, David and I went back to Sydney, saw some tourist sites, then all of us went out to dinner and had kangaroo! It was pretty good I must say, even as a former vegetarian. Monday morning we had to get a taxi at 5:45 to go to the airport and catch our 8 hour flight to Bangkok. David's Mom met us at the airport with a huge van and driver to drive it. She was also an amazing host, and I am very grateful of all the things she did for us. We put our stuff in our airconditioned rooms (very important in Thailand) and showered before She took us out to dinner. The restaurant was floating on a river, and if you threw bread or rice into the water hundreds of catfish would fight over it, very entertaining. I cannot even remember how many different dishes there was, but I enjoyed all of them, and got thoroughly stuffed. After dinner a friend of the Chen family took us to a tourist town for an exciting evening of playing jenga, connect four, and dice with the bartenders. It was a long day. The next day we went to David's grandmother's place, and another friend came over and took us to the mayor's house. His ouse was amazing. Western style interior with a large pond, swimming pool, and even large putting green complete with bunkers in the backyard. Very cool. Next we drove to Bangkok where we caught an overnight bus to Krabi. When we got to Krabi, we were picked up by someone from the Ao Nang Scuba school. We met our scuba instructor, who gave us a great deal thanks once again to the Chen family, and we found some bungalows right near the beach to stay at. That same day we started our scuba course. The next day we went out on a boat and completed two dives, and did the same the day after. Scuba is so much fun! The next day was Saturday, and we had the day off. Kevin and I rented scooters for about $7 and drove them all day, we had a blast! Sunday was our last day for scuba. We had all passed the test so we were officially certified. Greg, however, had come down with a nasty sinus infection that had actually been bothering him since New Zealand and was not able to dive. My sympathy goes out to Greg, but I think he is planning on completeing the course after we go to Phuket, so he will end up scuba certified as well. Our dives on Sunday were just fun dives, meaning we got to just swim around and explore, instead of learning new skills. They were a lot of fun, we saw two ghost pipe fish, which are apparently very very rare. Today is Monday, and we are going to look into going deep sea fishing tomorrow, because Nick still has a day of diving to get his advanced diver certification. That is all for now, we will be in Phuket on the 5th, and hopefully will have time and the computer needed to put up some pics! Hope everyone is doing well!--Mark

Last Post from New Zealand!

Well it is our last night in New Zealand, we leave tomorrow morning for Sydney. On one hand, I am sad to leave, New Zealand has been very good to us in terms of exciting places, nice people, beautiful sights and a lot of fun. On the other hand I look forward to continuing our journey, and getting to places that are not so hard on my wallet. Anyway I will try to do this post in correct chronological order, from where I left off the last one. We left Wellington driving north, and made it to Tongariro national park. The park contains three volcanoes, and I know at least two of them are active. One of the volcanoes, Mt. Ngauruhoe, is perfectly conical and was used as Mt. Doom in the lord of the rings trilogy. Our plan was to camp at the park and then to climb the mountain and drop the ring into the fires of mordor from which it was created. The first part of our plan went well, and we found a nice place to camp. When the next day came around and we woke up at 6 am to begin our climb, we saw that it was raining. This was not a complete surprise because rain was forecast, but once I realized that the forecast was correct I became worried because they had also forecast gale force winds on Mt. Doom. So when we got to the parking lot of the trail head and could barely see the mountain, let alone the top, my decision to not attempt the summit was fairly easy. The picture I have up is from the day before, but it shows that the top of the mountain is literally in the clouds. I have a lot of respect for Nick and Kevin who tried to climb anyway and had a great adventure. Read about it on Nick's Blog! Sorry the web address is too obnoxiously long for me to type here, if you need it you can scroll down to the end of the dusky post. Greg and I had a different sort of adventure, we ate breakfast in a nice cafe and read the newspaper. How is that an adventure you ask? Breakfast is the most dangerous meal of the day, according to various sources. So after barely escaping breakfast we picked up Nick and Kevin and drove north. We did not want to go all the way to Auckland, so we impulsively turned to the coastal town of Raglan. We drove along the beach for a while, and ended up on a tiny gravel road, snaking our way through the hills. It reminded me at times of both the coast of northern California (like Point Reyes) and Costa Rica. Luckily, the lonely planet informed us that at the end of this road was a motor park. That is where we set up camp. It was amazing because it was the only thing for miles. The next day we got up early and drove into Auckland. We went to the car rental place and returned the car, only two days late. We got a room at the same hostel we stayed at when we flew into Auckland and we began to prepare for the rugby game, by buying a bottle of whiskey. On the way to the stadium we stopped for sake bombs, but still made it a little bit early. The game itself was a lot of fun. The Auckland Blues took on the Chiefs. We were rooting for the Blues because we figured it was better to root for the home team, but there were plenty of fans from both sides because the town the chiefs are from is only an hour and a half away. It was amazing rugby, and an exciting game, with plenty of tries, tackles and lead changes. The Blues won so we were happy. It was especially interesting because they have introduced some rule changes to try and speed up the game, so we had to try and pick up on those. I could really get used to watching professional rugby instead of professional football. Today I spent the day doing laundry, getting my haircut, using up my internet time, and generally getting ready to leave the country. Australia here I come! I imagine I will have similar access as I have had, so I will probably do at least one or two posts next week. Hope all is well with all! -- Mark

Update

So I obviously don't have very good web designing skills and some of the pics got mixed up. The last pic is supposed to be right next to the island that I was talking about. It was supposed to be the before and after pictures, because they are of the same place. We started on a island and ended up on the beach. That is all.

North Island Again

Greetings from Wellington! We took the ferry from Picton yesterday and stayed in Wellington last night. It was a very eventful boat ride. Kevin, Greg and David are all going to hate me because I have been gloating so much but during our hearts game I shot the moon twice in a row (three times total that game) to win. It might be the highlight of the trip, a feat that cannot be surpassed. Anyway, this is a pic of me outside New Zealand's parliament building. Kevin and I went there today and got to observe them in session. It was really neat, they were arguing and everything. So everyone kind of split up and did their own thing today, Kevin and I saw parliament and a lot of Wellington, including botanical gardens and their cable car. We are going to stay in Wellington tonight and continue our way to Auckland tomorrow. I am kind of out of it right now, so excuse the way I am jumping around in time. Back to where I left off on the last post. We took the tour of Montieths brewery. It was a lot of fun. We learned some of their brewing process, tried all the beers, and even got to pour our own! Obviously that was our favorite part. We left the brewery and Greymouth and drove north to Abel Tasman, don't worry David was great and abstained from drinking to drive us. Abel Tasman was great, a very beautiful coastal national park. We spent two nights there. The first night it rained, and while Nick and I stayed dry the other guys got a little wet. So the next day they took off to find a dry place to sleep (it was still raining) and Nick and I stayed and read on the comfort of a porch. It stopped raining around 1 or so, and it was nice enough for nick and I to hit the beach! The tides were kind of crazy, they dropped like 6 meters or something. So we went out there when the tide was going out and waded out to an island, and by the end of the day we were on a huge beach. It was a beautiful day and the water felt great. The next day we met back up with the guys. David went on a day hike, and the rest of us rented sea kayaks and paddled around the park. We saw a family of seals, and then relaxed on a remote beach for a couple of hours. It was another amazing day. I put some pictures up as I am running out of time I can't make them look pretty. Notice the village we built dangerously close to the dam that Kevin and Greg built. I made the rugby pitch and church, nick made the golf course and house. Unfortunately Gregzilla destroyed the dam and the village was destroyed! It was a tragedy. After the day of kayaking we drove to a down closer to Picton, and the next day took the ferry, completing my disjointed narrative. Hope all is well with everyone! Thanks to everyone who reads and comments. I miss you all! Cheers! --Mark

Up the Coast

Hello all! A quick update of the last couple of days. After the dusky we are making our way up the west coast of the South Island. We stopped in Queenstown for a day/night and were lucky enough to be there for a reggae festival in the park celebrating Bob Marley's birthday. This is where we played the game of touch rgby in the park that David has some picutures of. The next day we took a gondola up to the top of a mountain where they have some luge runs that are kind of like go carting, which was a lot of fun. We drove out of queenstown for a couple of hours and camped for free by the side of the road. Yesterday we continued north, stopping at fox and franz-joseph glaciers. We stopped in a town called Greymouth, where we stayed at a purple hostel, it was very interesting. Today we are going to tour the local brewery and then continue north to Abel Tasman. I will keep you updated! Be well!--Mark

Epic post for epic track

Alright, this is the only photo I was able to upload after a couple of tries, so it will have to do for now. It was taken at the end of the dusky and I am just really happy to be done. I have come to the conclusion that uploading pictures is a slow and painful process, so I am not going to do too much of it. Instead of trying to upload and fit all the pictures here, I am going to try to upload all of them to a flickr account so that everyone can check them out there and they will all be in one place. I apoligize for the increase in web surfing this will require. Anyway, onto epic posts about an epic track! First off, we were camping by a river the nights before the dusky, I am not sure if I mentioned this. The first night, Nick wanted to sleep outside because it was a nice night, so I slept in Greg's tent. When Nick got back from a night hike however, he saw the size of the bugs that had already made their way to his sleeping bag and quickly pitched his tent in the dark. The next morning, he found two huge spiders in the doorway of his tent (on the outside) after he had already gone in and out. This is important because it explains why the next morning when I was getting out of Nick's tent I was in such a hurry to get through the door and away from the tent that my glasses fell off my face and I managed to step on them. I am very talented I know. This was the morning we were going to leave, and I was not excited about having blurry vision or putting on contacts every morning. I examined the damage to my glasses, one lens had popped out and they were bent pretty bad. I managed to pop the lens back in, put in contacts, and decided to try to and bend them into shape on the trail. I think I did an okay job, but now you know why my glasses may look skewed in some photos. Here is a link to flickr I hope it works http://www.flickr.com/photos/23549365@N07/ . So we had to get up really early to catch the shuttle at 7:30 that would take us to meet the boat driver that would take us across Lake Haroku to start the trail. There were three other people in the shuttle who were going to do the dusky, and three other people who were taking a scenic tour. We got to know the other people doing the dusky because we stayed at the same hut with them every night. I will intorduce them now. Cameron was traveling alone, he is from the San Francisco area but graduated school in New York and lives in New York city. Alex and Dillon were a young couple from Vermont who have been traveling through New Zealand, rock climbing and working for the last four months. The first scenic shuttle was nice because the driver stopped a couple of times and gave random facts and information about the various lakes and sheep farms that we passed. He informed us that recently someone broke the sheep shearing record by shearing over five hundred sheep in 8 hours. When the scenic shuttle dropped us off we got in another vehicle with the boat driver. We stopped at what appeared to be his house and picked up the boat, then drove down back roads to the lake. On the narrow road ahead of us was a girl on an atv, with two dogs riding beside her and hundreds of sheep ahead of her. She got out of the way and the driver drove at the exact speed the sheep could run. The result was hundreds of sheep running for their lives in front of us, then they would drift to the side of the van until one by one they would stop and turn around and realize nothing was chasing them. It was quite funny to watch, and the driver did not hit a single one. When we got to the lake was when I started to realize that maybe our packs were too heavy, and that the sandflies were going to be annoying. The packs in our group were so much heavier than Cameron, Alex, and Dillon that I did not believe they could have enough food. Any time you were standing still, sandflies would be there, trying to find exposed skin. You can see the damage they did to my feet at flickr, but i think they got David the worst. The boat ride across the lake took forty minutes or an hour, and it was really beautiful. When we got to the trail head there was one guy there who was catching the boat back. We did final pack preparations, snapped some photos, and got on the trail. Now I had seen pictures of the trail and I thought I knew what to expect, but the Dusky track blew my mind. It was so green! I had never hiked through a rainforest like that. Some spots had moss covering everything. Some spots had countless ferns, and everywhere had huge trees and tree roots. The trail itself was barely there. It was nothing like any trail I have done. I had to keep my eyes on the ground so that I did not trip over any roots, but Often the only thing marking the trail are orange triangles posted on trees. So it was really easy to miss a turn or get lost, but once you did, you quickly realized it because there were no more markers in front of you, so you just back track until you find the marker you missed. Early on in the day, I was hiking with Kevin and Greg behind me, and the trail dipped down into a little stream with lots of logs and roots. I lost my footing and ended up in the stream, soaking wet. It was not pleasant. Then, maybe 20 steps later I miss judged a puddle and ended up in knee deep mud. I would have to say that that was a good approximation of how the rest of the hiking would go. Our original plan was to go straight to the second hut on the first day, a feat the sign at the trailhead said would take 11 hours. As soon as I started walking on the trail with my heavy pack, I knew that I was not going to last 11 hours. After I fell, I was extra slow and carefull, I knew a serious injury would be very expensive, and would end my trip in a hurry. So my pace was usually slower than the other people in our group. I took my time, soaking in my surroundings. I tried to take some photos, but there was not much light, everything was in the shade, and I could tell that they just were not coming out. The first walkwire that we got to was very interesting. Nick, David, and Kevin were already on the other side, and when I got to it they told me not to worry, and just walk like a duck. The walkwire bridge is simply three wires, one to walk on and two to hold onto. I could not figure out what they meant by walk like a duck, and once you get on the thing your arms and legs shake and it is quite unnerving. I walked pigeon toed, then crossed my legs, then shuffled sideways all before I realized that walking like a duck is just the opposite of pigeon toed, with your toes out. Once I figured that out the walkwire was not so bad. After a short rest at the end of the walkwire we set off again. This was the first of many inclines that we'd encounter. It was rough. I soon learned that when the topo map said that the trail was flat, it was not necessarily flat. It just did not go up the 20 or 100 meters (depending on the map) that each line represented. And if the trail did cross topo lines, then it was going to be bad. By the time I made it to the first hut it was probably like 6, and I was dead. The sandflies were especially bad at this hut. Alex and Dillon had a pile of literally 1000 dead sandflies that they had killed and counted before I had got there. I had dinner, read a bit, and then went to bed well before 10, which is when it starts to get dark. I think I impressed everyone in the hut with my snoring skills. The funny thing is I am usually the person who snores, and I was the only person who brought earplugs. The next day was to lake roe, and it was a hard day. I don't think I drank enough water the night before, because I was feeling very dehydrated and sluggish. It was miserable. There was a lot of uphill that day, we went above the tree line. The good thing was at the hut it was too high or cold or whatever for the sandflies, so they were not a problem. The hut was right by a couple of lakes of various sizes, but none of them were lake roe. To get to lake roe you had to climb a hill that was right by the hut, but I was so tired that I did not want to do it. Nick told me it was absolutely worth it, so I sucked it up and did it. It was amazing. Lake roe was bigger than the lakes by the hut, but it too was surrounded by lots of lakes of various sizes. It was up on a little mountain with a great view of the valley the hut was in and alos distant mountains. Nick was right it was worth it. The next day was a short incline to a vista where we got our first view of dusky sound, as well as the entire valley that we would be hiking in. That was really and incredible view, I hope my panorama comes out. After that we started the long decent to loch maree. We were still above the tree line, just hiking through alpine grass, but just walking downhill in my boots was destroying my toes. I think they may be half a size too small. At one point i was walking sideways so that my does were not getting smashed. I could not handle this for very long, and I had to stop and but on my hiking sandles. These eased the pressure on my toes, but they did not offer any ankle support. Carrying the heavy pack and walking in a terrain that was very uneven and often very steep I was seriously careful about twisting a ankle or otherwise injuring myself. Once we got back in the tree line, it got steep. There were points were chains were set up to hold onto has you climbed down roots and moss covered rocks that were nearly verticle. It was a miracle that no one in our group was seriously injured. I was slowed by the new blisters that were created by my sandals. The worst was an ugly looking thing on the side of my heel that kind of scared me. Anyway I made it down to the hut, then decided to go back to a stream on the side of the loch where some of the guys were hanging out. I took one of the best nature showers I have taken in that stream, washing away a couple of days worth of sweat and dirt. My feet hurt so bad though that when we got back to the hut I did not put on socks or cover them in any way, and so that was the night that they got bit. For the first time there was a full hut, with a group of czech? backpackers and a swedish photographer sharing with us. The next day we convinced cameron to come to supper cove with us, as it was an optional side trip and it was not in his original plan. It was one of the tougher trails on the trip. I don't think it was marked as well as it should have been so I got lost a couple of times. One time Cameron and I were lost in a really muddy area, I slipped on a wet log into knee deep mud, popping a blister in the process. I had to stop and fix that, but then it was ok. Not only was the trail rough, it was also pretty long, 14.5 km. When I made it to the hut, a family was leaving. They were not in backpacking gear, or even hiking gear, so I thought it was odd. They told me that they had left dinner for us. I was like what? The dad said that he figured we were tired of freeze dried food so they left us a fish. I said thank you, and saw their fishing boat anchored in the sound, but I did not know how awesome they were until i got to the hut. They had given us two huge fish, fresh plums and apricots, a dozen eggs, lettuce, cabbage, onion, bell pepper and juice concentrate. They had told the guys that they were leaving the next day and could not take all the food, it was better than christmas. fishing is popular at the hut, so all the supplies to cook fish were already there, garlic, olive oil etc. Kevin was great and cut up the fish, the sand flies were pretty bad outside so I watched him do it from the hut. We were all excited about the food, but we were also worried because it was getting late, and Greg had not yet arrived at the hut. He had the heaviest pack out of everyone, and had developed some really bad blisters on his heels that had slowed him down considerably. We thought maybe he had turned around and not tried to make it to supper cove, but because we did not know that for sure we could not just relax if it got dark and he did not arrive. Cameron was really nice and offered to hike back along the trail to loch maree to look for him. Nick also offered to hike back. They are two of the strongest hikers, so it made sense, but it was also a very dangerous idea for anyone to be hiking in the dark. Everyone was really tense and worried. Alex and Dillon were great, and offered their emergency beacon and emergency blanket. It really amazed me that these people we had only hiked with for a couple days would be so generous with us. Spirits were pretty low around 9:30 when they set out, there was only a half hour of light left. Then, like a minute later they came back with Greg, he was right down the trail. Needless to say we were all very relieved, and we enjoyed our dinner of fish and salad. It started raining around midnight, and it was still raining the next morning when I got ready to hike. We made a group decision that we did not want to have to swim any streams or get lost in the mud so we decided just to stay at supper cove another day. My feet were happy to have the day of rest, and we had fun just reading and playing cards. Greg realized that he could not hike any longer on his blisters, and he got on the helicopter with the family who had given us food. The next day was my favorite day of hiking. I had left a lot of stuff at the loch maree hut that I would not need at supper cove, so my pack was light. I had eaten all the food I brought to supper cove when we stayed there that extra day so my pack was extra light. David, Kevin, Nick and I all hiked together, and we made great time. At loch maree I had to add all the extra stuff I had left there, and we split up gregs stuff that he had left there and I had to add that to my bag. Now my bag was heavy again and going was slow the next day. The hut was full with an older group. They were nice and when we started to play bridge an older gentleman named David jumped in and started giving us a lesson. Nick, Kevin and I had played bridge, so we knew the basics, but David had never played before. The new David taught us so many things that bridge became our new favorite game, and we would play it every chance we got. The next day was a not long distance wise, but it was all the way up a mountain, then down the other side. I did alright going up, and the view of loch maree and the valley behind me was motivation to get to the top. Going down was a different story. I had already been hiking all day and my feet were sore, then the down hill hurt my toes again, I was really ready to get off the trail. OUr last night was quiet, I ate almost the food I had left, then we went to bed early to get an early start. We hike together the next day, leaving a little after 7. Four and a half hours later, we got to a road, and I could have jumped for joy if my feet did not hurt so bad. it was 45 minutes on the road to the dock where we would try and get a boat across lake manapouri, but a friendly bus driver came by with an empty bus and picked us all up. He dropped us off at the visitor center and told us about an spare bathroom to store our packs. It was 12:30 or so, and the boat would not leave until 4, by his estimation. We walked a short distance to a hostel and played bridge. The only person there was a traveller and the cook. The cook was nice, and we drank coffee and tea and then she gave us fresh muffins. They hit the spot. We went back to the visitor center and got on a boat a little after four, but not before going to the bar on a boat next to ours and getting a round of whiskeys. It was another beautiful boat ride, and Greg was waiting for us on the other side. We were officially back in civilization. Cheers to anyone who read this whole rambling mess, I am tired of typing so I will have to tell about te anau and queenstown later, plus I might try uploading more pictures to make my blog look as snazzy as nicks. Check it out theworldtravelsofnickstoner.blogspot.com if you have not already. Also http://davidchen-aroundtheworld.blogspot.com/ . That is all for now. Hope everyone is well!

We're Back!

Hey everybody! After nine days on the trail we got back from the dusky yesterday. It was absolutely amazing. I can't say much now because i am short on internet time and once again do not have the pictures to back up my words. But later today or tomorrow I will post a full update with pictures! Just wanted to let everyone know I am back and we are all ok. Hooray Patriots lost!--Mark

Te Anau

Hello All! We have arrived in Te Anau, and have made the necessary arrangements for the dusky track. We leave tomorrow, Monday the 28th, for 8 days of trekking. It should be wild. We plan on taking a couple of side treks, and if we get some nasty weather we can be out for 10 days. Don't worry, we will be prepared with a mountain radio and lots of food. The drive to Te Anau was amazing, especially the last day. Our first day on the south island was Friday. We drove all day to the town of Geraldine, and celebrated David's birthday with a bottle of absinthe at our hotel, then made our way to the local bar where Nick and Kevin were challenged to arm wrestling matches by the local dairy farmers. Nick beat a guy who was at least 6 foot 8 and I am pretty sure Kevin was undefeated for the night. We managed to get up early and I drove the first leg of the day. We past beautiful sites like the southern alps, and lake pukaki, which is a brilliant teal color. Then we held on for our lives as Greg zipped us through one of the most scenic drives I have experienced. After taking care of dusky business we camped for free in between a meadow and a river, and enjoyed the views until it got dark around ten. We have heard nothing but good things about the dusky, so we feel we made a wise decision. Having the car has been great as well, we can go at our own pace and we see a lot of New Zealand . I will not be at a computer until at least Feb 6, but I will try to find one with a USB so I can start to upload pictures. Hope everyone is safe and doing well! -- Mark

Greetings from New Zealand!

Hello All! We arrived in Auckland yesterday at 6 am. The flight was really long, but qantas airlines was very nice, with tons of in flight movies and free drinks. We arrived at our hostel at 8:30 or 9:30 but could not check in until 1, so we spent the morning looking for a way to get out of Auckland and to the south island. All the options were more expensive then we predicted, but we were able to get a great deal on a rental car for three weeks. We are all excited about the freedom that having a car will give us, but still a little nervous about driving on the opposite side of the road. We plan on camping instead of staying at hostels, so I am not sure how consistently I will have access to a computer. Hope everyone is doing well, comments are appreciated, let me know if for some reason they do not work. Pictures will come eventually, I am not sure how they work on the blog, plus I don't have any interesting ones yet. --Mark

First Post-Davis

Hello all! I guess i have already started to travel, I am in Davis! We leave tomorrow, I have a lot to do to get ready so goodbye for now! GO CHARGERS!!