May 21-22. Mersing. Internet day. Discovered I've had dust on my Canon 5D's image sensor for a few weeks now. Thanks to the high quality monitors here in Malaysia. Also updated all my images and blog. Thanks again to Malaysia's for a good Internet connection.

Melodie`s sandals got stolen presumably by a hotel cleaning person. Walk the ocean road and did a park workout circuit. Grazed at a local night market and tried all the unfamiliar dishes & treats.

Win a free prize if you can find the dust in my unedited pictures!

May 19-20. Bali -> SIN. Took the night plane to Singapore on Lion Air. Only a 2 hour flight but we got a full meal for free. Strange these days. Arrived at 3am. Slept in the airport until 8. Took the MRT train to Little India. Eat some delicious food. After which we found some Internet and got directions to Mersing, Malaysia. The combination of buses and border crossing worked extremely well. After arrival we got a place to stay and some local fare. When we got back to our room we found hundreds of bed bugs all over our stuff and the room. Turns out the owner has been having a little problem. He refunded our room and we moved to a bug free hotel. Luckily we had a balcony to quarantine our bags until we figure out how to de-bug them.

May 15-18. Kuta.
Beach time a plenty. Book reading a many.
Fell deeply in love with the fried treat Martabak Telor.
Witnessed a ceremony which ends in stabbing ones self with a sharpened wood sword. Used slow and unreliable Internet.
Imbibed with some friendly French folks.
Danced better then anyone has punch danced before.
Searched the entire beach for a bookstore with something more intellectual then romance novels. Came up empty handed.
Witnessed possibly the best fire dancers in the world. On the beach for sunset w/drumming.

May 14. Ubud -> Kuta. Uneventful ride it was not. Unlike usual we didn't lose our way. Strait through Denpensar onto Route 1. Not far out on 1 we got pulled over by the local law enforcement. My first thought was the Grateful Dead tune Shakedown Street. "Tell me this town ain't got no heart". Safe in the fact I was doing nothing wrong I stood calm. He demanded my papers. I handed the bikes registration/ownership and my passport. During my trip research I'd learned of a scam the cops use to make extra money. Demand an international licence that not one traveler carries. Sure enough that's what Officer Jerk Face wanted. "If I take you in its 500 Rupiah." "But I'll make you special price 200". Me, "What a nice guy special price". So I told him I only had a couple Dollars worth of Rupiah on me. Which I gave him. Then I started writing all his badge info in my notebook that I always carry. I figured if he gave me more trouble I'd have it. Just in case. Man! did he start getting scared. "Thank you, Thank you, friend, friend, thank you".
So now I can say I've bribed the police. Worth a couple bucks to me!

May 11-13. Ubud. Ubud was such a pleasure the first time we headed back. During our first full day in town we visited the biggest art gallery. The collection to my untrained eye was every good. It entertained for a better part of the day. Most interesting was the history of Bali through its art. Early into the gallery I could feel the rumble of trouble in my tummy...

Woke up the next day getting worse not better. Spent the day in bed popping antibiotics and Imodium AD. Read the better part of a 700 page novel.

Woke up feeling lighter weight and much better. Explored the markets and art vendors more. In retrospect I should have taken pictures of more Bali art. However it was raining and I wasn't 100% yet. Took a late afternoon motto ride in the rice paddies on the twisty roads.

May 10. Amed -> Ubud. Final day for diving. Again we headed to the Liberty wreak. The ship had been torpedoed during WW2 and towed to shore. After an eruption of Gang Agung in the 60's the ship ended up submerged. Now its home to fish and corals. Our guide took us in and out of the ships haul going down to 22 meters.

After our dive we jumped on the motto and headed to Ubud. The drive is scenic with vistas of rice terraces and winding roads through mountain villages. At some point in the day I eat some bad food. More on that later...

Picture of Indonesia/Bali fully loaded. Had a headache getting them posted. My appologies for doubles and other problems you might find. Unreliable internet and fairly large uploads don't mix well.

Currently in Malaysia, Mersing

Pictures From Bali have began the slow upload process!

May 5 - 9. Amed and PADI. Headed for the coast for some fish and salty water. The local mafia has the bungalow prices set to rich diver year round these days. Due to Melodie's keen sense we found the only cheap place and settled in. The only down side to the place is the noise from the locals cock fighting operation. We explored the rocky beaches and cruised the scenic shore line roads. Complete with rice patties and cliff vistas of the ocean.

PADI. Finally its time to get dive certified. What better place then Bali. Fuji? Check out the local dive places. Settled with one under Dutch operation which has the "best" equipment. More on that later. In total its three days diving. I was nervous at first since I've never breathed under water before. However, our instructor was good and we all passed. Got 100% on the test. The PADI videos are like watching a long advertisement with commercials about safety. During our training dives we did pool work and visited one coral reef and the Liberty ship wreak. Both extremely cool!

Took a day off before our last two dives in Amed. Did this Blog update from Amlapura. Now its off to the night market for some food!

May 4-5. Gunung Agung 3142m. The first volcano was so cool that I had to see another. Also I miss hiking! First we attempted to climb the popular side of the mountain from Besakih. Again the fascist guides had a road block set up so you couldn't get around the jerks. Also they wanted a bunch of fees for some temple I have no desire is seeing. Once again its off to the "back" side of the mountain. On the way two people blocked the road and demanded money for the volcano gods and other crap. Then notified the guides that we headed to the mountain. Minutes later a "local" guide would show up on a motor bike trying to talk to us at 80km in hour.

You can drive half way up the hill to a temple. From there some guys ask you if you are hiking. You say no and fill a back pack with water. Him and his buddies eye your bike and grin. From the temple more guides demand you go with them. Then say there is only jungle from here no trail.

Once on the well marked trail its a demanding 2 hour hike to the top. Around noon the clouds roll in and lift only momentarily for the rest of the day. Didn't care about missing the views even though I hear they are great.

May 3-4. Gunung Batur. I couldn't go to Indonesia without seeing some volcanoes. We found accommodation on the creator rim road. Most of the towns moved here after the last eruption covered their homes with lava. We chose to hike the less popular south west. Its slightly lower in elevation and has the most volcanic activities. Finding the trail was difficult. The local fascist guide organization forces everyone to use a guide on the mellow trails for a mere $30 US. "Not unless you carry me up". At risk of motor bike vandalizing and harassment we explored the volcanoes. Our guest house owner helped with some hand drawn maps. I figured we just head to the base of the mountain and go up. This turned out to be a bit steep and a bad idea. "Hotshot country". Melodie is still talking to me so it couldn't have been that bad. Took some pictures and played around the steaming gas vent thingy's at the top.

After the hike we took the bike to the crater lake for a cruise.

April 30 - May 2. Ubud. Largest artist community I've ever seen. Crafts from painting, wood, jewelry and everything else. Lots of really great work and not all of it touristic. Ubud has a history with artist and is a really comfortable place due to that atmosphere. I don't claim to know enough about painting to make quality judgments. However, if I could easily take home some art from my travels this is were I would buy it.

Monkey Forest Sanctuary. Fun to walk around with all the monkeys. Took a few monkey portraits when they took a break from eating and reproducing. Strolled the rice gardens and a few terraced rice paddies.

April 23 - 29. Arrived in Bali. Again no guide book. Took a taxi to the wrong end of town. For us anyways. Expensive hotels and restaurants. Eventually found a home stay for more then we are used to paying. In retrospect sleeping on the beach would have been a better option.

Moved to Kuta/Legion a more youthful and cheap tourist mecca. Well know for its 2002 bombings. Also known for its surf which draws every drunk Aussie who thinks he can surf, Bro/Brah!

Tried my had at surfing. Only broke one fin off when I ran into some guy. I got up on the board a few times. Mostly just tried to not get hit or hit anyone. Very crowded surf and this is low season. Learn some valuable lessons. Replacement fins only cost US $3. Board resin/wax (for your feet on top the board) is why people wear shirts when they surf. Chest hair doesn't count as a shirt. Lessons are a good idea.

Rented motor bike to visit some other beaches and surf spots. Uluwatu - Rocky, reefs and cliffs. Experienced surfer hangout. Even though I was not cool enough to hangout in the surf the area is great.

Where are you going? "Dreamland" Another rocky beach in South Bali. Again great place with less people. Looks like they are in the process of turning it into a mall. If you think the boardwalks in Maryland are bad come to Bali in 10 years.

No visa extensions for us or anyone else. Got plane tickets back to Singapore for "cheap cheap" on one of Indonesia's many safe... airlines. Leave the 19th May. Went to the airport to buy tickets again. Turning out to be cheaper than the internet.

Pura Luhur Ulu Watu. Known for its cliff side temples, eye glass stealing monkeys and Kecak dance. We stayed for the dance which is very touristic. If you've seen the movie Baraka its like that chant. With the sun setting and the temples it was great. Our seats were not good for taking pictures and the scores of rude tourists took away from the actors performances.

Did I mention all the sitting on the beach, sunsets, swimming, fresh fruit and drumming?

April 21 - 23. Jakarta. Arrived late and without the assistance of a Lonely Planet guide book. Found a cab who took us to the cities backpacker ghetto for next to nothing. Spent several days in Jakarta planing our next move and taking in the cities delicious foods.

While in Jakarta I found my favorite street in Asia. No traffic at all, great food vendors and central location. Turns out the president of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was going out to dinner. Explained the mellow traffic situation and come to think of it all the police.

Regretfully we didn't venture around Jakarta much at all. Back to the beach Bali bound.

April 19-21. Travel days. Long time on a bus. Many sleepless hours and painfully swollen feet. Not a recommended long haul. Arrived in Singapore after the cattle gates and mazes of the Malaysia/Singapore border crossing.
After grazing at some food stalls. The only cheap thing in Singapore. We walked to the Indonesia embassy to get 60 day visas. On arrival the office was closed and would take several days of waiting in Singapore to maybe get visas. Headed to the airport to check on last minute flights to Jakarta. Most likely the cheapest place to fly to from Singapore so we got tickets.

MORE PICTURES HAVE BEEN POSTED TO FLICKR.COM. More to come soonish.

April 18. Ko Pha Ngan-> Singapore. Spent our last day on the second best island beach Haad Rin. Watched the sun set from the Amsterdam Bar. Returned the motor bike without a hitch. Said good bye to our new friends and hopped on the night boat.

April 12-17. Moved to a beach front bungalow. Frequented the little markets for meals. Bought a knife for easy mango and pineapple extraction. Eat wild mango's thanks to Ruth and Johnathan our Swiss friends. Practiced how to dance with fire. No fire yet. Checked out an island accessible from a sand bar. Had a jungle house BBQ. Got shaked down by the police. Had a great all you can eat Thai dinner.

April 11. Beach bum. Island bike cruise. Waterfall hike. Boon Bar.

April 10. Ko Pha Ngan. Got on a ferry to the island. Ran into an Alaskan guy I met in Siem Reap. Made friends with a Swiss couple. On arrival we rented a motor bike for the week. Almost a necessity on the island unless you want to pay for expensive taxis. Headed to Haad Rin home of the famous Full Moon Party. Which we missed by a few hours. found a place to stay and realized the extent of my sun burn from the ferry ride. Went to a bar with the Swiss couple. Hidden yet on the beach and BYOB! Caught word about the problem in Bangkok. Would have been fun to take pictures.

April 9. Bangkok -> Ko Pha Ngan. Left the cities for the beaches. A few hours into the trip one of the people who work for the bus got caught stealing money from a ladies bag. We remained calm knowing all our valuables were on our person. After arriving at the transfer point the thief took off running. When other people started to realize they too lost money the bus driver claimed that he didn't know the guy and wouldn't call the police. Apparently they were all in on it. Some bystanders went looking for the guy and found him hiding. They took him down and pinned him until the police showed up. In the end everyone got their money back. To much excitement after an all night bus ride.

Some from Myanmar posted more to come.

April 8. Awoke at 3:30 out of habit not necessity... Took a uneventful flight to Bangkok. Helped a Buddhist Nun smuggle extra carry on luggage. Share a taxi with her to the city and eat lunch at the monastery with her. Fun, life loving lady. Bought bus tickets to the full moon party on Koh Phangan. Also, we bought a plane tickets to Paris for May 31.

April 7. Back to Yangon for flight preparation and mental un-mindfulness. Have to admit I have a different mental state. Reconnected with Melodie whom I talked to little for the last 10 days.

Still no working Internet connections in Yangon.

March 28 - April 6. Vipassana Meditation.

The typical day of Chanmyay meditation:
3:30am - wash up with mindfulness
4:00 - start with walking meditation then sitting and more walking
5:30 - Breakfast. Eat slowly with mindfulness. I eat alone and have more food then the local lay mediators.
6:30 - Clean room with mindfulness. I also room alone, locals stay 6 per place.
8:00 - Walking, sitting and standing meditations. Breathing (rising, falling).
9:30 - Interview with mentor monk. Talk about experience and improvements.
10:30 - Lunch/Dinner. Eat with mindfulness. Good food.
11:30 - Laying meditation. Sometimes I fell asleep but your not supposed to.
12:30 - Walking, sitting, walking, sitting, walking. Working on sitting for longer and longer time with better concentration.
6:00 - Lessons. Taped lectures from the 90's.
9:00 - Laying meditation or sleep.


Final impressions: I'd recommend to anyone interested in meditation to give it a try. Push your self. Patience, persistence and practice. I'd liken it to running long distance. In 10 days I got the idea but have the understanding that much more time is needed to reach deep concentration. When I do another retreat I'll be more mentally prepared.

March 27. Yangon. Little sleep for the second night in so many days. Headed to the Abbot of Chanmyay Yeiktha in Hmawbi. On the way I had another impulse buy. Picked up a bright red Denver Nuggets sweat band. Righteous. Took local buses for 3 hours to get to the meditation center. Much longer than expected. Met with the "Vice President monk" who gave us approval to start the next day. We headed back to the guest house on another 3 hour adventure.

Made an effect to use the Internet and found that it had been down for several days. The story goes that an under water cable broke so the whole country has slow or no Internet.

March 26 - Mandalay. Arrived in the am at the train station in Mandalay. It was a sleepless night of rocking back and forth. Myanmar has the same track system that the British installed during the colonial days. Nothing has been done to improve it, only maintaining.

From the station we bought bus tickets to Yangon so we wouldn't have to waste a night in Mandalay. We walked from there to a market in search of conservative traditional dress to wear for meditation. I found a plaid longyi (sarong/man skirt). And vintage ugly 70's button down shirt. Also had an impulse buy. I'm the proud owner of a woven ball now. Used similar to a hacky sack.

All night bus ride to Yangon. Loud music and rough roads.

March 25 - Katha -> Mandalay - Left early for bus station to get a ticket to Nobia. From Nobia a night train to Mandalay.

Waiting for the bus departure time we walked back to our friends the old tire shoe makers. Since the Burmese don't have size 12 feet I couldn't get a pair of the sandals that fascinate me so much. In hopes of getting a custom made pair talked to some bored looking craftsmen. Once they understood what I was wanting they jumped at the challenge. Soon I had two guys working on tracing my sandals and crafting the parts. The rest of the street soon arrived with chairs and offers of food. Pretty soon I was entertaining the local kids with a slide show from the screen on back of my camera. Melodie made friends with a young girl who gave her a pin and wanted their picture taken together. It also turned out to be an opportunity to photograph the shoe making process. It took about 30 minutes to make the shoes and they only wanted $1.50 USD. 1500 kyat. I paid $3 and felt cheap for not giving them more. However, the man was shocked that i gave them more then they asked and insisted we take some snack es with us.

Found out why it is recommended to take the train over the bus. The roads are worse then any I've seen. Chunks of pavement only create obstacles on what is effectively a dirt road. Bridges flex with the weight of the bus, creaking and moaning.

Once at the train station we ran into trouble. The station manager would only except dollars. The ride cost $14 total and all our singles didn't meet the crisp bill standerds. All our fives didn't meet his standard either. No change is available in dollars or in Kayt. Over paying ended up being the only option and both of us had reach our limit of patience with the manager. The other troubling reality was that the money goes directly to the government. Going back to Katha to get a bus would have ended up costing more then $20 and take a longer time. NOTE TO SELF: bring crisp change with you next time!

After the train headache we found a beer at sat down to mellow out. Before we could finish our cold drinks a google of kids gather to stare at us. When they would give up we gave in. Melodie started making them games out of paper and drawing. I started folding the scrapes into paper air planes. We spoke broken English with them and cause a few jealous fights over paper toy greed. As usual they enjoyed flipping through the pictures of our Lonely Planet paper weight/door stop.

Also have to give a shout out to the local guitar players. One heck of a jam!

Decided I'm going to miss Katha and really wish I had more days here. I feel like I just started to connect with the people. So little time before our visas run out and 10 days minimum for meditation still fast approaching.

March 24 - Katha - Rented Bicycles for the day in hopes of getting into the country side. We figure the town is small enough to see in its entirety in one day. The bikes are typical of Asia. Falling apart and single gear. As soon as town disappear the mountains came into view through the farm smoke. In no way would we make it with our bikes up the hills. We turned back and stopped at a local sandal makers shop. Several families on one street have set up a cottage industry taking old truck tires and cutting them up into sandals. Only 25 cents for a pair!

Noticed all the horse drawn carriages still in use. Got invited to a Buddhist temple for a ceremony. Met up with the guy who rented us bikes. He seemed friendly enough. Got to talking and sound out he is retired military. Said he was a "judge, jury and lawyer". Only foreigners in town at the time. Everyone seems to know we are around.

March 23 - Ayeyarwady River -> Katha - Should arrive today. When we bought tickets they said 24 hours on the boat one night. Now we are do to arrive tonight just before dusk. Melodie played with the kids on the boat. It seems people are starting to warm up to us. Still they stare. Even if you stare back. Boat broke down one town from Katha. Took a few hours to worked out the problem. Happily on land we looked for a guest house and realised the local police have rigged the pricing for foreigners at 10$ a night. We checked in at the best looking one and explored the small town. Chinese and Nepalese influenced.

March 22. Ayeyarwady River - Around noon another passenger ferry was able to pull us out of the sand bar. Passed the hours reading and practicing basic French words. Getting the feeling we came unprepared. Had to eat the food served on the boat. Got to see it an hour later in much the same state. No more boat food for me. Melodie has an iron stomach and came out fine. The boat almost got stuck again just after dark. And... Another long night of bugs.

Talked a little with the guy next to us. Proud to be in the military. He also felt he should have far more space then the two of us. So our three spaces turned into two.

March 21 - Mandalay -> Ayeyarwady river - Ferry left at 5:30am Katha bound. Melodie and I are the only foreigners on board. Our "seats" are three numbered rectangles painted on the deck. About shoulder width and 6 feet. Totally unprepared for the journey ahead we pushed off into the shallow waters headed up river. The ferry is full of goods and people. The bottom deck is goods, bathrooms and cooking staff. The bathrooms got foul in a matter of minutes after departure. The second decks were cabins and our sleeping/siting space. Then the top deck.

It felt like everyone on the boat was watching us. Really they stared at us. No one talked to us at first and it was a bit uncomfortable.

Just after dark the bugs started to swarm the florescent lights. Millions and millions of them. Not to mention the mosquitoes. Attempting to gain protection until past sunrise.

March 20 - Mandalay - Got up early to rent bikes and explore the city and around. Immediately got sick after renting bikes and spent a few hours cleaning out my system. If I recall this is the 5th time. Gave me time to make French lesson flash cards out of business cards purchased at the market. After enough Imodium A-D to plug up a horse we left on our bikes. First we headed to the ferry station and bought slow boat tickets to Katha. Then took the highway headed for the longest and oldest teak bridge in the world. After going to far we found the bridge just in time for the nice light of the impending evening. The 18th century bridge is a little scary to walk on. It collapsed this time last year and one can see why. Really worth the bike ride and in my opinion the best attraction in Mandalay. After riding home in the dark we got some tasty chapati.

March 19 - Mandalay - Shared a taxi with some Norwegians "Vikings" from the bus ride. Found a hotel with a included roof top breakfast and indulged. Walked to the river to find the ferry station with no luck. Had a nice walk and enjoyed the river side and shipping industrial area. Took some tea and dinner at one of the many infamous tea shops. Back when the Burmese tried to push the dictatorship out in favor of a democracy tea shops were a gathering place for democratic political minds. Walked a poorly light night market.

Same as Yangon power goes on and off every couple hours. Traffic is just as heavy. Tourists are almost non existent.

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March 18 - Yangon -> Mandalay - Spent the morning exploring and getting packed for a 4pm bus to Mandalay. Realised at 3:30 that we had gained a half hour of time from Bangkok. Funny to not have noticed until today. Probably best to be waking up earlier anyways.

March 17 - Visited the Shwedagon Pagoda. The Pagoda looks much more impressive from far away. Four massive escalators and elevators take you to the top. Waiting at the entrance was a "Monk" demanding a donation of 2000 kyat(2$). I use quotes because a real practicing Buddhist monk would never demand money. Lots of robed young punks in Yangon. I get the feeling some monasteries are run like troubled youth centers. Images of monks listening to Ipods, eating after noon, smoking and chewing tobacco would be a good project. All activities that are theoretically not for monks.

Had a tasty lunch with some very generous locals before attempting to navigate the local bus system. System probably is the wrong word. We navigated the local bus situation. Our lunch hosts drew and wrote out detailed bus directions. They even ran after us to correct them.

There are three types of buses. The long distance travel type that run mostly over night for foreigners.

Local buses that run loosely defined routes, typically N<->S, E<->W and are numbered. They have the standard crazy driver with a traffic spotter/fare collector.

Last are the pickup trucks that go by many names. You sit in the back with what looks like large propane tanks. There is no logic to where they go. Other than where the driver or spotter thinks they can find customers. However they get there fast and recklessly.

Proving no disillusionment towards Burmese monks we headed to a Vipassana meditation center in the after noon. Our hope was to set up 10 days of meditation towards the end of the 28 day visa. At the Yangon center we spoke to Sujunta who in good English entertained us for at least an hour. He was very welcoming and excited about teaching the ways of Buddhism to lay people. Unfortunately the up coming Water Festival was going to restrict any foreigner instruction due to preparations. Instead we got information about the Hmawbi center that is 30 miles away. More shaded and less noisy. After parting ways with Sujunta we trekked the buses back to the Mother Land Inn 2.

March 16 - Yangon. Took to the streets early excited to explore more and this time take some pictures. Found a great little market near our guest house. Spent the morning exploring the city streets and taking a few photos. Then had lunch with a Burmese lady who we meet on the street while looking up directions in the Lonely Planet guide book. She helped us with some questions about the culture and language. Later, headed to the China town area and continued to explore until sun set.

So far the people and atmosphere have been great. I'm really enjoying walking the city streets. The poverty is obvious and much like I saw in Cuba. Much more interesting life here then the other parts of Asia I've visited so far.

Grandma's Thai Cooking sent me a link to pictures from the cooking class in Chang Mai. Here is the link:
http://www.grandmasthairecipes.com/gallery/march/2009_03_09/index.htm

March 15 - Bangkok -> Yangon, Union of Myanmar (Burma). Took a plane at 7am. Arrived 8am with little to no sleep from the day before. Got hustled in the Bangkok airport. I had dangerous levels of shampoo and scissors that couldn't cut paper let alone hold up a plane. They didn't take well to my arguments. So no more showering or nose hair trimming for the rest of the trip.

Found a great little guest house off a ways from the tourists called Mother Land Inn (2). Walked the city streets for a long time. Refrained from taking pictures just to get a good feel for the city and get over the change in cultures. First impressions? Stay away from Indians trying to rip you off. Try not to smell the raw sewage if you can. Is this Havana?

March 14 - Chang Mai -> Bangkok. It is what it is. A long day on a bus 4pm-2am.

March 13 - San Kamphaeng -> Mae Takrai National Park. Found the park and headed to the visitors center. Walked around the lake near the park entrance. Some guy followed us around for too long. Not sure what he wanted. Probably to get paid to guide us around the park. He was still drunk from the night before and didn't look like the type of person you want following you in the woods. Eventually he got hint that he wasn't welcome. Next we rode over some mountain passes. The views were poor due to the smoke from the burning forest. It seemed like the Thai's burn the whole forest every year. Found a small village tucked back in the woods and walked up a long flight of stairs to a Wat. Then headed for Chang Mai stopping in a sleepy little town for lunch.

March 12. Samoeng -> San Kamphaeng. Headed off in the morning for the hot springs in San Kamphaeng. Eventually found Melodie's first hot springs. Fun to visit but nothing compared to Old Faith full. While gassing up a very nice Thai showed us how to get to a home stay in San Kamphaeng. Got dinner at a local market and had a drink with some of the local drunks.

March 11 - Chang Mai and around. Rented a motto and checked out of the guest house. Got on the road headed to Wat Phra That/ Doi Suthep. Long up hill twisting winding road. Fun to ride but with two people on a 125cc bike that has seen better days it was slow going. After the Wat we headed to a village in the mountains. Mostly just a tribe shopping complex. Headed farther up the road to another smaller village. The park was closed to camping so the plans of sleeping in the park didn't work out. Instead we headed to Samoeng. Found a great little road side market to eat dinner and arrived in the dark at the guest house.

March 10 - Got some web links for anyone concerned about travel in Burma (Myanmar). Please believe me when I write that it is a very safe country. The best resource I've found with the most accurate and reasonable information is Wiki travel.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Myanmar

Give it a try, its right on. Also I'm more convinced that Internet will not be a problem for most my time in Burma.

March 9 - Cooking Lessons. Spent the day learning how to make my favorite Thai dishes. Great class and very knowledgeable instruction. Check out the pictures on flickr.

March 8- Chang Mai. Signed up for a cooking class on the 9th with Grandma's Kitchen. Rented a bicycle and headed south with my compass. Explored the southern reaches of the city before heading back for the night bazaar. And they mean bazaar. Craziest night market I have yet to see. Miles of street vendors and people packed in like sardines. Craziness. Great street food!

March 7 - Chang Mai. After a sleepless night on the bus I arrived in Chang Mai. A much smaller city than Bangkok yet more touristy as a whole. Full of trekking groups headed to the north of Thailand. People looking for a cheap message and of course the masses of Thai and foreign tourists looking for some cheap goods at the night market. Spent the morning looking for a good guesthouse and found a great one. Then got oriented with the down town city streets. Its a relatively small downtown surrounded by a moat. Spent some time looking into Thai cooking courses and motor bike rentals. At dusk headed to the "local's" market for a street food snack and some exploring.

March 6 - Bangkok. A day of Internet. Trying to get as many pictures posted as possible!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenpassmore/collections/

March 5 - Bangkok. Finally got the Burma visa. Extremely nice to have my passport back in my possession. Had lunch with an American who teaches SAT training courses in Bangkok. He is headed to Burma for a month long meditation retreat. Something I'm considering doing for a week. Bought bus tickets to Chang Mai in the north of Thailand to pass sometime until the flight to Burma. Waited for the bus for an hour until they informed us the bus broke down. Got a free night in a guest house and another day in Bangkok.

March 4 - Bangkok. Explored the city and when to a night market.

March 3 - Bangkok. Got paper work into the Burma visa office. It took 4 hours and the line was almost out the door. No problems other than having to fill out a work history. Something only Americans have to do for a visa, not sure why. Booked a flight to Burma leaving on the 15th of March @ 7am. Learned that no internet is allow in the country. So its going to be next to impossible to keep in touch with family and friends during the 4 week stay.

March 2 - Bangkok. Headed to the Burma,"Union of Myanmar" as recognized by the UN, embassy to obtain visas. Took the local ferry and sky train. Turns out Monday is a holiday and no visas are issued until Tuesday. Got info on the needed documents. Passport copies, photo's, 810 baht and 3 days. Took a bus to China town and walked the markets. Did some more research on the political climate and other travel issues in Burma. Long story short is its painfully safe to travel in Burma. The only problems stem from being forced to give the government money. Which is a problem if your into human rights since Burma is known for neglecting them. Once your in the heart of the country you can spend you dollars on the people who need the money. To get there you have to purchase a visa from the government and they force you to fly into the country (no land travel from borders). The reason for this isn't safety due to border drug trade and terrorists. Its because the Burma government makes a large amount of money from your flight.

March 1 - Cambodia - Thailand. Long day of bus travel. Chris from Sihanoukville ended up being on the bus. No problems with the border crossing or visa. Trouble finding a cheap room on arrival in Bangkok. Walked the madness that is Kosan Market, "Charlie Foxtrot".

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenpassmore/collections/

PICTURES ARE UP! I'm still working on getting all of them up. They are just a sample of the best ones. None have been corrected in Photoshop or anything. That will have to wait for a few months.

Someday I might get photo albums on my blog if I can figure that one out...

Working on Flickr account for the rest of the night so that some day soon you can view pictures!

Feb 28. Phnom Penh. Walked the city streets. Took pictures and tried to explore the local neighborhoods in a similar fashion to when I was in Cuba. I found that Phnom Penh has much of the same feel. Unlike Bangkok or the cities of Laos. Had some conversations with locals and continued my Khmer language lessons. Pondered why so many women wear pajamas all day here? In the evening got a bus ticket to Bangkok. Hung out with some French guys and got to use the few French words Melodie had been teaching me. Eat some really good Indian food with them and gave them the opportunity to practice a little English.

Feb 27. Phnom Phen, Cambodia. Took the bus to Phnom Phen. Looked for Melodie's bag which was left on the bus. Got it back. Including the camera and wallet inside. Minus $20's. I forgot to mention they use US dollars and Riel in Cambodia. Riel is just used as change for large us bills. Got a much needed shirt at the market. Mine flew away on a speed boat ride. A smart wool gift to the ocean gods. Got a stomach bug which put me to bed early.

Feb 26. Bought ticket back to Phnom Penh. Spent the day of the beach. Played with some local kids. Tic Tac Toe and then, lets pull Steve's leg hair. Melodie chased them off. Went to Dolphin Bar with folks from Montreal. Ended up being the only native English speaker.

Feb 25 - Missed my flight to NYC JFK. Wrote the parents and work trying to defend my decision. Did laundry. Started making plans for visiting new country and more of Thailand. Bought some groceries instead of eating out...

Feb 24. Made plans to head back to the main land and get a bus ticket to Bangkok for my flight back to reality. Before leaving I met Armin from Toronto Canada. Had a conversation about life and love. He went to Cambodia to sponsor several children through school. We talk about what it means to travel and how best to do it. Made plans to met up back in North America. Got my first serious thoughts of staying over seas. On the boat back went for another snorkel. Got a huge $3 tuna BBQ dinner. Met Jon Paul who has been traveling for 4 years on his "Y2k" programmer savings.

Feb 23. Upgraded to a bungalow. Went snorkeling off the beach. Relaxed @ the bar. Eat coconuts in the sun. Learned about the recent sale of the island to the Chinese.