Sunday, May 25, 2008
comments
I was able to make a change so that people can now post comments anonymously here on my blog. That means that you don't need to enter in an email address or go through any annoying process to do so. So, if anyone has any questions, comments or whatever comes to mind about either photos or written messages, then you can post something yourself in the comments section (see the bottom of each individual post, where it says "comments" and click on it). Then I'll check it out every once in a while as well, and try and respond to any questions that come up. Just make sure to include your name at the end of the message, so that I'll know who it is I'm talking to.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
photos of Thailand...
On the island of Ko Phayam, Thailand, in the Andaman Sea within sight of Myanmar. One of the few roads on the small island, designed only for motorcycles:
The only village on Ko Phayam:
Some dogs finding shade:
The beach from the pier where the ferry docks:
A fishing boat, taken from the ferry nearing the dock back on mainland Thailand, near the town of Ranong:
The only village on Ko Phayam:
Some dogs finding shade:
The beach from the pier where the ferry docks:
A fishing boat, taken from the ferry nearing the dock back on mainland Thailand, near the town of Ranong:
photos of Kauai, Hawaii
A view of the mountains from Hanalei Bay, on the north shore of Kauai:
Hanalei Bay at sunset:
A field that I would walk by on the way to or from Larsen's Beach, where I camped for 3 days:
Sunset from the campground at Haena about a mile from the end of the road and the Na Pali Coast trailhead, where I camped for 5 days:
Friend and surfer girl Julie:
Hanalei Bay at sunset:
A field that I would walk by on the way to or from Larsen's Beach, where I camped for 3 days:
Sunset from the campground at Haena about a mile from the end of the road and the Na Pali Coast trailhead, where I camped for 5 days:
Friend and surfer girl Julie:
more photos...
The lush island of Ko Phayam:
Self-portrait on the beach, Ko Phayam:
Julie at Anahola Bay on Kauai:
A couple of photos of myself on my aunt Chris' land near Jamestown, California, about an hour north of Yosemite (...just a random note, it probably doesn't look like it but everything I'm wearing other than the sandals I bought in Asia; yes including the Rolling Stones t-shirt, watch, belt and even underwear)(and I did actually buy several pairs of sandals there as well):
Self-portrait on the beach, Ko Phayam:
Julie at Anahola Bay on Kauai:
A couple of photos of myself on my aunt Chris' land near Jamestown, California, about an hour north of Yosemite (...just a random note, it probably doesn't look like it but everything I'm wearing other than the sandals I bought in Asia; yes including the Rolling Stones t-shirt, watch, belt and even underwear)(and I did actually buy several pairs of sandals there as well):
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
No Such Thing as a Free Ride?
Here's the book cover for the upcoming travel compilation I have two stories featured in:
It will be available on May 23rd, but it can already be pre-ordered on Amazon.com (worth checking out the page just for the funny promo)(just click on the link below):
No Such Thing as a Free Ride? North American Edition
And here's the cover of the first book along the same lines (and with the exact same title, but with different stories), which was published 3 years ago in the United Kingdom, and which I had three stories in:
For anyone interested in getting a copy of that one (voted best travel book of the month by the London Observer!)(however important that is, I have no idea)(but with no bias whatsoever, of course, I can say it's definitely a pretty good read), here's that one on Amazon.com:
No Such Thing as a Free Ride? British Edition
It will be available on May 23rd, but it can already be pre-ordered on Amazon.com (worth checking out the page just for the funny promo)(just click on the link below):
No Such Thing as a Free Ride? North American Edition
And here's the cover of the first book along the same lines (and with the exact same title, but with different stories), which was published 3 years ago in the United Kingdom, and which I had three stories in:
For anyone interested in getting a copy of that one (voted best travel book of the month by the London Observer!)(however important that is, I have no idea)(but with no bias whatsoever, of course, I can say it's definitely a pretty good read), here's that one on Amazon.com:
No Such Thing as a Free Ride? British Edition
back on the mainland
I'm finally back in North America (assuming Hawaii didn't count in that regard, not sure if it's consider part of a continent) after just under 8 months away, traveling through four countries (Thailand, India, Nepal and the U.S., since I visited Hawaii), taking 13 different flights and seeing about as many different climates, including tropical islands, desert, plains, the Himalaya mountain range, etc.
It's a trip to be back on familiar soil, in a good way. I'm enjoying the dry and consistently sunny California air, for one thing. Kauai, Hawaii, where I was most recently for 2 1/2 weeks, is beautiful, exotic and friendly, but the weather is a bit schizophrenic. Every day is essentially the same: a little of everything, at least everything that's possible within about a twenty degree temperature range. It could be storming on you in the morning, you go back to sleep for a little while, then wake up and it's brilliantly sunny. You head for the beach, then the clouds come in, and soon it's overcast. You start shivering a little in your wet shorts, then it starts dumping on you like crazy and you figure it's time to give up on the beach. But by the time you get your stuff packed up, it's back to nice and sunny again. Kauai pretty much epitomizes the phrase "If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes". But I have to say I kind of prefer it if the weather just makes up its mind one way or another, so that you can plan around it. But, it's called the Garden Isle for a reason, because it's incredibly lush and green and beautiful thanks to the daily rainfall. So, it was a good visit there once again, but I'm glad to be back nearish to home (even if I don't have a permanent home yet).
I'm currently at my aunt Chris' house near Yosemite. Since I think I went over things in the most recent post, I won't repeat myself too much, other than to say that I'll most likely be here for a few weeks. It looks like Chris has more work than she'd originally thought, so I may end up staying an extra week or so. Either way, I'll then be headed to visit my mom in Ukiah; then most likely back to Portland from there for only a short while, before heading out to visit my brother and Lesley in northern Utah. After that, things are still a bit up in the air for the rest of the summer. Either way, I have no doubt that these on-line ramblings will get significantly less interesting, than they have been while I was halfway around the world. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Especially considering recent events with the cyclone in Burma, earthquake in China and bombings in India (in Jaipur, Rajasthan state, not far from several places I went this time), it sounds like it was a pretty good time to get back closer to home.
It's a trip to be back on familiar soil, in a good way. I'm enjoying the dry and consistently sunny California air, for one thing. Kauai, Hawaii, where I was most recently for 2 1/2 weeks, is beautiful, exotic and friendly, but the weather is a bit schizophrenic. Every day is essentially the same: a little of everything, at least everything that's possible within about a twenty degree temperature range. It could be storming on you in the morning, you go back to sleep for a little while, then wake up and it's brilliantly sunny. You head for the beach, then the clouds come in, and soon it's overcast. You start shivering a little in your wet shorts, then it starts dumping on you like crazy and you figure it's time to give up on the beach. But by the time you get your stuff packed up, it's back to nice and sunny again. Kauai pretty much epitomizes the phrase "If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes". But I have to say I kind of prefer it if the weather just makes up its mind one way or another, so that you can plan around it. But, it's called the Garden Isle for a reason, because it's incredibly lush and green and beautiful thanks to the daily rainfall. So, it was a good visit there once again, but I'm glad to be back nearish to home (even if I don't have a permanent home yet).
I'm currently at my aunt Chris' house near Yosemite. Since I think I went over things in the most recent post, I won't repeat myself too much, other than to say that I'll most likely be here for a few weeks. It looks like Chris has more work than she'd originally thought, so I may end up staying an extra week or so. Either way, I'll then be headed to visit my mom in Ukiah; then most likely back to Portland from there for only a short while, before heading out to visit my brother and Lesley in northern Utah. After that, things are still a bit up in the air for the rest of the summer. Either way, I have no doubt that these on-line ramblings will get significantly less interesting, than they have been while I was halfway around the world. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Especially considering recent events with the cyclone in Burma, earthquake in China and bombings in India (in Jaipur, Rajasthan state, not far from several places I went this time), it sounds like it was a pretty good time to get back closer to home.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
leaving Kauai
I haven't been online since leaving Thailand more than two weeks ago, simply because I didn't have handy internet access. I'm now using a friend's old Mac powerbook that has wi-fi. It's too old for me to be able to read my email messages (although I think it just needs an updated browser, but it's on OS 8.6 which is pretty old), but it seems that it's going to at least let me post a new blog message.
I'm currently in Hanalei (home of Puff the Magic Dragon) on the north shore of Kauai, Hawaii, and fly back to California tomorrow (Monday) morning. I've had a good two-and-a-half weeks on Kauai, including a week on the Na Pali Coast, although I admit I'm a bit bored of beaches at this point and ready for a change and a new focus. But this has certainly been a good transition place from the hecticness of Asia, and I've met some old friends here as well as made a few new ones. The guy who's laptop this is I met my first time to the Kalalau Valley in winter of 1997. He hasn't been living on Kauai the whole time since then, but has been here the last few years.
So, I first arrived here on April 24th (my 5th visit to Kauai, including when I was here last Sept./Oct.), spent two days camped on a friend's land, then hiked right away out to the Kalalau Valley. I made it the whole harrowing 11 miles in one day this time, with a week's worth of food on my back (but not much in the way of clothing, just one pair of shorts, one t-shirt, a sarong and the sandals on my feet). But not breaking it up into two days was a bit of a mistake, because by the time I got out there I was limping and both of my legs were pretty sore and hurting. In the morning I discovered that it was a little worse than that, as although one leg had gotten better overnight, the other hadn't and was feeling pretty bad. (Afterwards someone suggested that it might have been the result of tendonitis, since I'd previously had the exact same problem in the same place, but on my other leg.)
I tried to take it pretty easy while I was out there, but of course it gets pretty boring not walking around much, so even just going up and down the long beach and to a few other nearby places was still aggravating it. By the time a week was gone I was feeling pretty stressed about trying to hike out, because I wasn't feeling confident enough that my leg would be okay without leaving me limping down the trail most of the way, and maybe even leave me unable to continue. Fortunately though, a couple of guys came along with boats who stopped at the beach for a little while, and they agreed to give me a lift back to Ke'e Beach, which is where the start of the trail is. So that was a huge relief...especially when I was walking around later that same day back in town, and my leg was hurting pretty bad just walking on flat pavement. So that was pretty damn lucky that I managed to get that boat ride.
The past week I've just been camping a few places on the island; the first few days at a secluded beach, the past 5 days at an official campground by the beach, and then tonight I'll stay back at my friend Jasmine's land, where I've had a bag of my things stored. I've just been exploring various beaches basically, doing lots of swimming as well as yoga, and getting my leg back in good shape, which it is now. Also I hung out with assorted friends, and went to a party down on the beach complete with a DJ. They had to hike everything down to this out-of-the-way, little-known beach (which is where I camped for three days after the party) including a generator to power everything.
So it's been good revisiting Hawaii, but I'm ready to go back to the mainland, as they say here, and get on with things. My aunt Chris will be picking me up at the airport and then taking me to her house near Sonora, in the general vicinity of Yosemite, where I'll be working for her for a week or two. Then, I'll be visiting my mom in Ukiah, in northern Calif., and then from there I'll most likely be headed back up to Portland, to work my old job perhaps just for a few weeks. Then the summer is pretty much wide open at this point, although I have a number of options in mind, including visiting my brother and sister-in-law in Utah, and going to the Rainbow Gathering. Well I should probably wrap this up for now, but I'll be back in internet range and checking most likely on a daily basis, once I get to my aunt Chris' house. But it's definitely been an amazing 8-month journey here to Hawaii, Thailand, India and Nepal, and I've got the pictures to prove it. So I'll post some more photos as soon as I get the chance......
In the meantime I'll still be posting messages here occasionally, since it could still be an interesting summer, although it certainly won't compare to the past 8 months. But my travel bug has definitely been satiated for a while, so I won't be trying to top this trip, for a while at least. But I'll admit I do have a list of other places I'd love to go to at some point, including Australia and New Zealand, Fiji, Indonesia, the Phillipines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Iceland, just to name a few (or rather quite a few). But that won't be for a while. So stay tuned and feel free to check back here every once in a while for my current whereabouts, plus any new info in the writing department, as there will be some new developments upcoming...
I'm currently in Hanalei (home of Puff the Magic Dragon) on the north shore of Kauai, Hawaii, and fly back to California tomorrow (Monday) morning. I've had a good two-and-a-half weeks on Kauai, including a week on the Na Pali Coast, although I admit I'm a bit bored of beaches at this point and ready for a change and a new focus. But this has certainly been a good transition place from the hecticness of Asia, and I've met some old friends here as well as made a few new ones. The guy who's laptop this is I met my first time to the Kalalau Valley in winter of 1997. He hasn't been living on Kauai the whole time since then, but has been here the last few years.
So, I first arrived here on April 24th (my 5th visit to Kauai, including when I was here last Sept./Oct.), spent two days camped on a friend's land, then hiked right away out to the Kalalau Valley. I made it the whole harrowing 11 miles in one day this time, with a week's worth of food on my back (but not much in the way of clothing, just one pair of shorts, one t-shirt, a sarong and the sandals on my feet). But not breaking it up into two days was a bit of a mistake, because by the time I got out there I was limping and both of my legs were pretty sore and hurting. In the morning I discovered that it was a little worse than that, as although one leg had gotten better overnight, the other hadn't and was feeling pretty bad. (Afterwards someone suggested that it might have been the result of tendonitis, since I'd previously had the exact same problem in the same place, but on my other leg.)
I tried to take it pretty easy while I was out there, but of course it gets pretty boring not walking around much, so even just going up and down the long beach and to a few other nearby places was still aggravating it. By the time a week was gone I was feeling pretty stressed about trying to hike out, because I wasn't feeling confident enough that my leg would be okay without leaving me limping down the trail most of the way, and maybe even leave me unable to continue. Fortunately though, a couple of guys came along with boats who stopped at the beach for a little while, and they agreed to give me a lift back to Ke'e Beach, which is where the start of the trail is. So that was a huge relief...especially when I was walking around later that same day back in town, and my leg was hurting pretty bad just walking on flat pavement. So that was pretty damn lucky that I managed to get that boat ride.
The past week I've just been camping a few places on the island; the first few days at a secluded beach, the past 5 days at an official campground by the beach, and then tonight I'll stay back at my friend Jasmine's land, where I've had a bag of my things stored. I've just been exploring various beaches basically, doing lots of swimming as well as yoga, and getting my leg back in good shape, which it is now. Also I hung out with assorted friends, and went to a party down on the beach complete with a DJ. They had to hike everything down to this out-of-the-way, little-known beach (which is where I camped for three days after the party) including a generator to power everything.
So it's been good revisiting Hawaii, but I'm ready to go back to the mainland, as they say here, and get on with things. My aunt Chris will be picking me up at the airport and then taking me to her house near Sonora, in the general vicinity of Yosemite, where I'll be working for her for a week or two. Then, I'll be visiting my mom in Ukiah, in northern Calif., and then from there I'll most likely be headed back up to Portland, to work my old job perhaps just for a few weeks. Then the summer is pretty much wide open at this point, although I have a number of options in mind, including visiting my brother and sister-in-law in Utah, and going to the Rainbow Gathering. Well I should probably wrap this up for now, but I'll be back in internet range and checking most likely on a daily basis, once I get to my aunt Chris' house. But it's definitely been an amazing 8-month journey here to Hawaii, Thailand, India and Nepal, and I've got the pictures to prove it. So I'll post some more photos as soon as I get the chance......
In the meantime I'll still be posting messages here occasionally, since it could still be an interesting summer, although it certainly won't compare to the past 8 months. But my travel bug has definitely been satiated for a while, so I won't be trying to top this trip, for a while at least. But I'll admit I do have a list of other places I'd love to go to at some point, including Australia and New Zealand, Fiji, Indonesia, the Phillipines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Iceland, just to name a few (or rather quite a few). But that won't be for a while. So stay tuned and feel free to check back here every once in a while for my current whereabouts, plus any new info in the writing department, as there will be some new developments upcoming...
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