Google ads have earned enough for a slice of pizza and a drink YTD!

Pictures have been added to flickr.com. Blog post for the last month will be delayed due to a lack of notes from the last month.

As for now I've returned to the good old US of A. Flew in on August 1 after some long delays in Paris. Turned out to be the first flight from Paris to JFK for XL airways. They had to work some kinks out.

Today is a Megabus ride to Rochester at noon.

Feel free to check out the updated sets of pictures in the France collection! In addition to Brussels, Amsterdam and London.

I forgot to post that I didn`t find out Micheal Jackson died until 4 days after the fact. Strangely I feel proud of that. RIP pop.

June 29 - 30. LONDON. Visited the sights. Took one look at the Charlie Foxtrot going on inside the Tower of London and decided against getting to close. I found the contrast between the huge egg building and the patch work old fort funny.

Next headed to the Tower Bridge bridging the River Thames. Helped a few Asians get pictures in front of it.

Checked out Big Ben. Wow. Have to hand it to the weather man. Sunny and nice in London & Amsterdam.

BBQ'ed with our host Jean-Baptiste and roommates in their Notting Hill flat. The grill was smoking like crazy creating some brilliant British comments from the neighbors.

Walked miles of old canal in the North of London. Ending at the disappointingly Little Venice. Also checked out The Photographers' Gallery.

Places on a map. Holland Park, Hyde Park, Angel, Piccadilly Circus, Soho, Chinatown, Chapel and more.

Red phone booth bus, Micheal J memorials, Oyster cards, look right, mind the gap, black taxi, exchange rates, brilliant mate and cheers.

June 25-28. Amsterdam. Our schedule and pocket books only allow of short stays in our cities of Europe tour. I like to think of it as traveling like a rock star on tour. Less the musical talent, concerts, fans, money and pretty much everything else.

We stayed in a tent city a short ride from Amsterdam. Picked up a used tent for 10 Euros from a Detroit guy. I never stopped being impressed by the number of bike riders.

Of course visited the sights. Red lights and coffee shops serving sailer's and hippie`s delights. Found delight in the well done Vincent van Gogh museum. Walked the canals and discovered that one always ends up where they started. Visited many markets in the outskirts of the city. Definitely did do the following. Get soak to take a picture of a stupid wind mill. Go to a sex museum. Walk in circles.

June 22-24. Brussels. Took a bus for 5 hours to Brussels. Visited the sights and walked the streets. Drank the beer and tasted the sweets. Waffles, chocolate and beer OH MY! Played twister with our hosts Sabine and Celine. Met a guy who bought a 1940`s Leica for 70 Euros at a second hand sale. Saw an iron atom multiplied 165 billion times. Went for a run so I can fit into that old dress.

June 19-21. Meet some Troyes natives. Took the bikes out for a ride. Watched as Paris got over taken by music. Had a picnic and Jazz in the park with Gait, Emmanuel, Fèlix and Melodie.

Pictures have been updated to flickr.com in the France collection.

June 17-18. Pompidou (Musée National Dàrt Moderne) witnessed the exhibitions of Alexander Calder and Kandinsky. Kandinsky`s progression as an artist was astounding. Later years are great. The permanent collection was focused on female artists and feminism. A very different approach then the male dominated galleries I`ve been visiting.

Went to a picnic and played some Bocce Ball which is very popular here. Tried to get into a soul concert but the cover was to high so we went to a bar in Canal Saint Martin.

Celebrated Olivia`s birthday at the same wine and cheese bar I went to my first night in Paris. Also worked on the bikes more...

June 15-16. Gorilla glued some furniture. Adjusted the brakes and deraillers on some bikes. Attempted to true a wheel that ended up being beyond repair. Meet with friends. Explored the under ground quarries and catacombs of Paris. Discovered they do not allow flash photography if you have a nice camera but if you don`t its ok to do what you please.

June 14. Road trip from Rouen to cliffs of Etretat. A short drive away to the coast a couple of Melodie`s friends and I walked the cliffs along the edge of the ocean. A few remnants of WWII are visible but it isn`t the famous beach of D-day. Most of the cliff feature are shrouded in clouds for my pictures. However, it did clear up as we headed back to Rouen and eventually Paris.

June 13. In the morning we hopped a train to Rouen for the weekend. Rouen is in Normandie and is a tourist draw for its old buildings. Melodie used to live here so she took me around to the sights. Joan of Arc Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral (famously painted by Monet), Saint-Ouen Abbey church, Great Clock (one of the oldest in Europe) & Aitre Saint-Maclou (a high light of the great plague).

Unfortunately we didn`t have time for the many museums and the streets were packed with tourists so I didn`t feel like taking to many pictures of the old buildings. After our exploration and my guided tour we went to a birthday party a few miles out of town. I spent the night and early morning sipping wine and using a mixture of English, French and body language.

June 12. Preparation for for arrival. Melodie`s parents are in bound for the week so we cleaned the flat and continued to use our Thai cooking training with an attempt at sticky rice with banana. I also made some hummus with my world famous skills.

June 11. Musée d`Orsay. Spent the whole day exploring every bit of this museum. Most impressive to me is Monet, Van Gough and the impressionist / neo-impressionist work they have in permanent collection. This is the first museum to have almost all the art information in English. I learned a lot but still can`t claim to be anything but art illiterate.

On my walk back to the flat I took pictures of the Louvre and surrounding gardens. Sunny day with tons of people out enjoying!

June 10. In preparation for dinner Melodie and I took bikes via Place de Italy to Paris`s version of China town. In the streets we found a grocery store with all the Asian ingredients we needed for our planned Thai dinner & slide show. We settled on a more simple dish Pad Thai also picked up some sticky rice for later in the week. Cooking went well and the slide show was a bit long for everyone.

Check the France photo link for updated pictures! Also I actually proof read my posts this time so there might be less grammar mistakes.

June 9. Parisien life. Place de Vosges, Notre Dame Cathedrale and Musèe Carnavalet (Paris history). A note to any English speaking travelers. Nothing is writen in English so you`ll have to take a tour or opt to learn nothing but a visual history. I choose the latter. There was a revolution at some point and they don`t have a guillotine on display. I asked. "Maybe the Louvre?" they say.

June 6-8. Paris Tour con`t. Free first Sunday visit to the Louvre. Escape culturel Louis Vuitton and the trippiest elevator ride around. Attempted to cook an Indian favorite Roti/chapati and curry. Failed miserably with that cooking adventure. It looks so easy when they do it!

Walked a ton. North in a wandering zigzag pattern to Gare du North (train station). I like to walk without a map until I get lost enough then I reorient with the compass and map. East to Parc des Buttes Chaumont. Took some pictures and enjoyed a baguette with Camembert cheese. Next South to Cimetière du Père Lachaise. Which is resting place of a few famous people including Jim Morrison of the Doors. I didn`t have time to find his. Security kicked me out for closing time. Ended at the Place de la Bastille.

Finished the weekend with some of Steve`s famous home made hummus.

June 4&5. Paris. A sushi dinner and Argentinian DJ. Helped Melodie prepare for a bacheloret party. Took a few pictures of the festivities before they took off to the south of France for the weekend.

When I returned it was late so I went out to take some night picture of the streets. Not a block away I broke my cheap Walmart tripod taking a picture of a mannequin in a shop window. Not a big surprise and its not able to hold my heavy camera well anyways. Continuing on using my camera bag as a tripod I headed in no particular direction.

Near a metro stop I almost literally ran into a guy. He was talking quickly in French and getting way to close to my personal space. Personal space that gets larger when I have my expensive camera with me at night. It took me a while to explain I do not speak French. By this point I figure he might be trying to mug me. But then he throw himself into me and gave a good shove. It all came together, he just wanted a fight. He didn`t even notice my camera. Apparently Daddy hit him and Mommy didn`t hold him enough. Anyways, I ran away.

June 3. Paris tour continued. Tour Eiffel, Champs Elysèe and Arc De Triomphe. Paris has a wonderful collection of public bikes that are rented by the hour or day from automated bike racks. Once you figure out the basics you can travel environmentally friendly all over the city in ease. I did learn a valuable lesson about the system. When the bike seat is turned around facing the wrong direction it may appears a minor inconvenience. Thats what I thought anyways. A few yards down the road I realized that is French for this bike is broken. So if public bikes catch on in your city keep that in mind.

June 2. Happy Birthday. Melodie brought me breakfast in bed and gave me a sweet hat to replace the one I lost in Thailand. After that we headed to get my camera sensor cleaned. Every price quote was between 40-60€. In Bangkok Canon themselves cleaned it for 10$. So I bought the stuff to do it myself.

Next we started the sight seeing. Basilique du Sacècoeur à Mont Martre and Seine river side. For dinner we picnicked as a group on Pont Des Arts a bridge near the Louvre. Known for it lively music and youthful wine consumption. Great birthday!

June 1. Paris. French immersion starting with a croissant for breakfast. Lunch with baguette, cheese and wine in Monceau park.

To view all the Asia pictures as a slide show use this flikr.com Set. They play in chronological order and includes everything posted thus far. Once in flickr.com click the slide show icon in the upper right of the web page.

May 31. SIN -> France. In Beijing we had a 6hr layover and slept until our flight to Paris. Our arrival was on time around 6pm. Safe flight unlike the one from Brazil thats all over the news. Now that I think about it our plane was ancient and we had some bad turbulence. The wing outside my window had boot marks all over it. It appeared to have hosted a square dance.

In the airport someone mistake Melodies bag with theirs. An identical bag to hers was going round the baggage belt unclaimed. We left with a promise from the airport people that it will arrive by tomorrow. In true French style we celebrated our arrival with wine and cheese. Had a great time meeting Melodie's sister and friends.

May 30. Tioman -> Mersing -> SIN. Took the 3hr ferry back to Mersing. All the buses to Singapore are full until "3pm due to a school holiday. During the wait we bought stuff and got our fill of Asian food. Bus to Singapore and a train to the airport. Flight to Beijing on China Air.

May 27-29. Tioman Island. Snorkeling, taking sun, reading, fish BBQ dinner and drinks with French friends. Jungle hikes to Monkey Bay, Salong, Panuba Bay and Tekek. High tides, low tides. Sunrises, sunsets.

May 26 -Tioman Island- Jungle walk to the East side of the island. Approximately 7km each way. The walk was unbelievably beautiful. We saw Black Giant Squirrels and heard all kinds of exotic sounding birds. As soon as we arrived at the beach a light rain turned into a monsoonal down poor. We shored up in a restaurant and sipped tea waiting for it to pass for an hour and half.

After the rain we discovered the viability from the end of the pier was easily 20 meters or more all the way to the bottom of the ocean. We could see huge schools of fish. Next we walked to a turtle conservation operation. We checked out the blind turtle they have and headed up a trail to a waterfall.

I figured the falls would be in good form due to all the rain. After hiking 35 minutes in the jungle we arrived at the creek. Which had swollen due to the rain and consumed the rest of the trail to the falls. We headed back not having time to bushwhack through the jungle. A family ran into us heading up the trail and we discussed the colorful snakes we've been seeing on the trail.

On the walk back we chose a different route and eat dinner in Tekek.

May 24&25 -Tioman Island- Walked to a small beach a short jungle walk from ABC. Took some sun, snorkeling and valuable reading time. Walked to the town of Tekek. Discovered the duty free shops near the small airport. Spent time becoming island culinary critics.

May 23 - Took the 3 hour ferry to Tioman Island. Tioman Island (locally known as Gunung Daik Bercabang Tiga) was the setting for the 1958 movie, South Pacific as Bali Hai. In the 1970s, TIME Magazine selected Tioman as one of the world's most beautiful islands. (wiki)

Found the cheapest bungalows on the Air Batang Beach (ABC). I did all my laundry including my backpack and camera bag. My poor Granite Gear-Vapor Trail backpack has developed a large hole in it`s Rip-stop nylon. Afterwards I took advantage of the local guesthouse libraries. Trading all my books for a stack of unread material.

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.