YOU AREN'T GOING TO BELIEVE THIS

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So I'm hanging out at the UN base in the Democratic Republic of the

Congo, located in the city of Goma. I'm taking pictures of an active

volcano in the distance and this DRC Soldier marches up to me and asks

very seriously to see my photos. I show him and he looks through and

wants to make sure there are no pictures of him. He's got an AK-47

over his shoulder. I think: don't take the camera, it's got all my gorilla pics on it!

He doesn't. He walks away. And we continue to take pics of the

sunset over the cooled lava field that buried Goma 6 years ago like a

modern Pompeii.

an hour later, after being offered tea and cakes about 5 times in 2

hours, we hear machine gun fire from about a mile away. At that point

I decided NOT to climb the active volcano tomorrow and camp on it's

rim. :)

So you say... is this all BS Craig? I mean, really... the CONGO?

It is not BS my friends. I went to Rwanda, and was sitting in the

rain at a restaurant eating when these 3 Indian fellows asked where I

was going. I said Gisinyi (the resort town where Dan Mirvish made his

infamous phone call from a war zone in 1991 (I got pics of the place

Dan!!!)). I told them this and they said, we'll take you there. So I

sat down, we chat and off we go. Only one vegetable tossed at us on

the way (Rwandan's don't like the UN, go figure).

It's been fascinating. I'm staying at the base and making new friends

(and not leaving the compound, I can assure you. :)

Welcome to Africa!

Craigo

2 BODA's, LOTS OF MUD, THE RAINS OF GOD and yes, GORILLAS

Well Team!

sorry for the long delay, I have been in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park where there is... well, trees, mountains, rain rain rain, awesome people, gorillas and a lot of darkness coming in at night. Electricity and the internet are not around, and that is perfect. :)

sooooooo much has happened since my last email, that I’m sure I won't be able to tell you it all in this email. but here goes:

some folks asked about a gorilla permit. Well, in order to see the mountain gorillas of Rwanda or Uganda you have to purchase a permit from the government. These go for a whopping $500 USD a piece. And there are only 32 a day in Uganda. And 40 a day in Rwanda. That's it. It buys you a guide, trackers and the chance to see the mountain gorilla at close range in their natural habitat. a lot of times tour operators buy them all up. the fact that I got one was pretty lucky and the foundation of one crazy ass journey.

but first...

Lake Bunyonyi.

Awesome. Island studded lake. I rented a canoe and managed to make Mzungu Circles for an hour before I was given a tip by a local who was rocketing past me. Then I got it down well. Devin, I now know what was happening that last day of the canoe trip!

I hung out with a bunch of kids in a little village at dusk.

okay,

this update is going to be short because my hands are hurting from this keyboard (what is it with the keyboards!). And I’ve been typing and responding to emails personally for an hour now.

still...

2 Bodas? yep. On mountain roads. I mean MOUNTAIN roads. One lane wide with jungle cliffs on the side. And then, on both trips it started to rain. HARD. and yes... we crashed, ONCE. we were going about 10km/hour and WHOOSH, slid down in the mud. Only a little scraped up. The second ride was supposed to be a car, and the car wasn't there, so a boda boda it was. Down THE WORST ROAD ON EARTH. Okay, it wasn't really the worst, but it was a 4WD road for sure, muddy as hell, rocky, rutted and surrounded by beautiful mountainside. And cliffs galore. but Richard (the driver) was much safer than the first guy and better and we made it safely down the mountain. Though I did have to walk a little bit of it as well. :)

Everything in western Uganda is muddy. It's a rain forest. Its' beautiful.

And speaking of rain. The Rainy season (here) has begun. I was on a village walk in Buhoma (a tiny little town outside the National park). we were seeing tea plants, medicine men (who speak French), and these great kids at the school who did a fantastic dance and song for us. Then had us join in. Wile there the RAINS OF GOD came. I mean...hurricane Ike, you have met your match. Perhaps not with wind, but the rain fell so hard that you couldn't see anything beyond 25 feet. And with such a force as you wouldn't believe. If we'd stepped into it we would've been soaked to the bone in 3.2 seconds, MAX.

after the rains we couldn't get back to the lodge because of the swollen creek over the road. no one dared cross except this drunk pigmy guy who went back and forth like we were all a bunch of idiots. I have some cool video of it.

And yes... gorillas.

two words:

Absolutely Amazing.

I was in the Mubare group, which has 8 individuals, 1 a silver back. 1 baby. etc. You meet at the park office at 8am, and head out with about 8 people. a 30 minute drive later we began trekking through a village and into the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Thick and muddy. Steep slopes and exciting. The guide was in touch with the trackers via walkie talkie. They found our group, so we took shortcuts over the hills. 2 hours of hiking and we neared where they were. (other groups had to hike for 4 hours in really thick vegetation and rain, so we "lucked out").

So we leave our bags and get rid of our walking sticks so as not to scare them.

And head on...

Naturally I got up front near the guide cause hell, I came to see the mountain gorillas.

and see them, we did.

Came past a tree and there was a HUGE silverback sitting and eating. I mean, he was 15 feet away. Then you see the others. One on a tree branch 12 feet away. Then a baby climbs up on the branch and they wrestled. A black-back (adult male about 13 years old), pounds his chest and tears through the trees. We move to a different location above them on the slope.

Then we're nearly surrounded. The gorillas playing, eating, and looking at US. Staring right at us. You could take all the pics and video you wanted, but no flash, no eating (yep I had to do it before I got there), and stay 5-7 meters away. Well, we can try, but gorillas don't really follow the rules. So this 5 year old decided to challenge us... and when I say us, I mean me. He stared at us, and then came forward and rolled down the hill a few feet. Everyone watched or took pics as he inched forward and then slapped his hand on my knee and left it there. Then he hurried off. Pretty fricking awesome.

But it's not over. We watched two others wrestle, and then the baby joined in. The mother nursed the baby and some of them fell out of a tree. Then the Silverback got up, grunted and they all moved out.

And naturally we followed them.

And then they got to a clearing under some trees. The baby on the mom's back. And then Mr. 5 year old decides he'll have another go at us. He charges forward and then comes up and hits my knee again. And turns back...looks me in the eye... and comes up and slaps my shoulder before running a bit away and pounding his chest.

Pretty fricking awesome.

And very unusual. Apparently they rarely do that. And it happened three times.

And writing this doesn't capture what it was like. It was amazing. This isn't a petting zoo. This isn't a domestic animal. This was like touching mother nature herself. It was such a surreal experience that it actually brought tears to my eyes.

Incredible.

My tip to you is: Wear Red. Apparently one lady one time had bright red hair and the gorilla came up and played with her hair. :)

Worth every penny.

Come to Uganda.

Gotta go, gotta sleep and rest. The 3 hour muddy boda boda ride on the edge of mount doom was exhausting (after the 3 1/2 hour hike through the forest).

It's been good. I leave Uganda tomorrow and love it. "Hello, How are You?" ask almost everyone you pass. And they want to know. And you can chat to anyone like they are your friends. It's safe and friendly and pretty much just RULES.

Get your ass to Uganda.

Talk to you in a couple days.

Craigo

I'M IN FRICKIN AFRICA!!! or MZUNGU MEANS WHAT????

Hey Team!

Still alive and kicking here in the fabulous country of Uganda. I recommend for anyone to come here. The people are friendly in the vein of Laos and Thailand. It's easy to communicate. They love to talk to travelers. It pretty much rules.

Since I last wrote I've rafted the SOURCE OF THE NILE and ridden a bike around villages. I've sat on a bus that runs on Africa time (meaning it left 1 hour later than the 2 hours later that they said it would leave!). And now I’m at a "resort" on the shores of Lake Bunyonyi in southwest Uganda. I'm spending a whopping $20 a nite for a private room with a balcony and a view of the lake. It rules.

So... a few things you should know about Africa. Some rumors debugged. Some unknown points of interest:

1. Rafting the Nile is awesome. It's much class 5 white water with floats in between. So you can chat, enjoy the fact that you are on the mother f-ing NILE, and then hit some wild waterfalls and waves. We even did one with our eyes closed until the guide told us to open them at the last minute and Wammo! Huge wave in our face. Somehow our raft was the only of 5 not to flip, and my record of never being thrown from a whitewater raft continues (though honestly I wanted to be since the rapids are deep and you can swim them. I guess my survival instinct is to strong!)

2. Go raft the Nile NOW. Because as "progress" is coming. A damn is being built across it and will basically eliminate some of the best white water on earth. You have a year, maybe two. So get your ass to Uganda!

3. When you are on an open rafting truck after rafting driving on dirt roads through villages, every single child age 2 to 12 will run out and wave and say "hello! Mzungu! Hello!" They will wave or give a thumbs up. In fact if you ride your bike they will do the same thing. They will be happy as all get out."Mzungu!" So you might ask what that means..... well....

Mzungu means "White Person!" Welcome to Africa! No lies, I was one of 2 white folks I saw all day long today traveling... and that was alright by me. We stand out a little bit, but are wonderfully welcome. Racism doesn't exist in this part of Africa as far as I can tell.

4. Mzungu might also mean "money", because on the way back from town on my bike ride I had many of the same kids run out and say "Mzungu. Money. Give me money". Which was to bad. Makes me wonder if it was always about money. But I don't think so. Still, when the average Ugandan makes about 50 USD a month... it's understandable. Still... it's not wise to give them anything or it becomes worse (rumor has it Kenya is pretty fierce with the money asking).

5. It rained so hard after my bike ride that the returning rafters from that day got stuck in the mud. And they were 2 hours late making our bus back to Kampala late. But really, who cares when you have a deck overlooking the mother f-ing NILE in a rain storm! The restraunt at the camp was awesome and it was hard to leave. And at that point the phrase "This Is Africa" or TIA came to mind. Since then I've heard it half dozen times. You might remember it from "Blood Diamond" and it really is true. Bus is late : This is Africa. Road is muddy: This is Africa. Go all the way back to Kampala to do a tour with some new travel friends the next day and it's full so you find yourself back in Kampala and having to figure out your next couple days: This is Africa.

Love it.

6. Boda Bodas are crazy. Ride on the back of a motorbike with your backpack on as they careen through gridlock traffic and people changing lanes, buses and trucks honking horns. I can't believe we haven't crashed yet. Still.... you gotta do it. After all, TIA.

7. When I got to the bus station this morning I was surrounded by guys trying to get me on their buses. They were all smiles and fun. One guy tried to guess where I was from. "Germany?" "nope". Let me try again: USA" "Yeah!" Then another guy said

"I have one question: Will you be voting for Obama or McCain?"

"Obama all the way" I replied.

The place erupted with CHEERS, people patting me on the back, hugging me, it was hilarious!

8. Fear not Dad and Uncle David, at the resort tonight, the waiter was saying he likes bush for all bush has done for Africa and aid program and education to stop Aids. So they go both ways here as well. :)

9. AIDS rate in Uganda is only 6%. So no, everyone over here isn't sick with it. In fact they have billboards and education all over Uganda to keep the rate down. (the same apparently is not true for other countries here though).

10. I keep waking up at 6am or earlier. What they heck? Oh, and this morning I was woken by a MOTHER F-ING ROOSTER!!!! I HATE ROOSTERS!!!!! :)

Hope all of you are well. I have a Gorilla permit for Friday, which oddly enough will be my first animal/safari type activity. You know, that thing that most people come to Africa for (myself included too.:)

That's all I've got for now. The boda boda ride up here to the lake was on this twisty dirt road going WAY to fast with backpacks. I thought we were going to bite it on the curve, but somehow didn't.

anyway, hope you are all well. I've got a day of canoeing, hiking, biking and swimming tomorrow (no fear... one of the few lakes in Africa with no crocs or hippos or snakes or strange bacteria!)

Keep rocking

Craigo

PS: Brian, the bag weighed 37 pounds. :)

I Catch The Rains Down In Africa!

That's right Team, I'm in AFRICA!!!!!

I made it after 36 hours of flying, two overnights, 6 hours of whirlwind touring in London ("Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament!"), where I saw much more than I thought I would. Another overnight, where I was so tired I crashed out immediately, then looked out the window to see literally BLACKNESS. There was a moon hanging over a black as far as you could see. I think this was the mighty Sahara... and it went on for ages.

The sun came up and below was desert and then green.

On to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where I happened to be there for their NEW YEARS DAY and had some bitter bitter coffee and tasty bread... and popcorn! They had grass on the floor of the restraunt in the airport and were very friendly. And who knew, Ethiopia was GREEN as can be! And no, no one looked like they do in the adds with the starving kids. I'm sure they are there, but not at the airport.

Then 2 more hours flying to reach Entebbe Uganda on the shores of the massive Lake Victoria.

I sat next to Joseph and Lebega from Uganda. They had just spend a year in Iraq as guards for some US company building something there. They described dust storms, and hot and even cold. And basically kept saying over and over "it's shit, shit shit." We'll just leave it at that.

Well.... Africa.... Uganda.... Friendliest country in Africa.

And it is.

I was offered a ride from A Ugandan coming home to visit. So she and her friends drove me the 40km to Kampala, capital of Uganda. It was a wild ride on the English side of the road. And on the way they bought me a fried fish and chips. And I mean the WHOLE FISH. And you put on a plastic bag over you hand and ripped it apart to eat it. Welcome to Africa! :)

I'm staying at a place called Backpackers Hostel... it's out of city center a little. But you take a boda-boda to get around. That's basically a motorcycle with a guy driving. You hop on and he takes off like a bat out of hell and it's a rollercoaster ride with no safety harness. The traffic is pretty slow, but they fly over speed bumps, up on sidewalks, and on the wrong side of the road. But I didn't get to that until Friday because...

Thursday I checked into my Gorilla single room for 12 USD a night, and talked a little. And went to bed at 6pm.

And got up at 6am.

Awesome.

But now I'm on Africa time, and today I met a guy named Chris from Chicago. It was his last day and my first. We ate and jumped on the Boda-Boda and headed to see the Kupali Tombs. Very interesting Thatched huts of the traditional Buganda people, largest kingdom in Uganda. Our guide Tony was super nice and taught us a lot. Then we goto Uganda museum, and learned more history of the area. Had an ALL YOU CAN EAT buffet for $8. SOOO good. Prices are a little higher here in the capital. Looking forward to getting out to other cities.

Then the Gorilla Permit.... I went to the tourist authority and there was a cancellation! SO I could get one for next Friday. As long as I could come up with 500USD in CASH in less than 2 hours. I had some on me. ATM card wouldn’t' work, so I have to deal with that. But had to race down hill to fancy hotel, cash all my travelers checks (first time I’ve ever used them on one of my international trips!) Race back up hill as rain was coming in. All on a Boda-Boda. Get there and they even had to spot me 100 shillings. (1650 shilling to the dollar). But I got it... whew. Then my Boda Boda friend Alex took me on a wild ride back to hostel.

And here I am.

Uganda is awesome (other than money thing but that's not there fault, darn banks!). People super friendly. Speak English in this neat accent. Lots of smiles. Lots of goodness. So far Africa's bad rap is just that. I'm sure parts of Africa are in bad shape, but Uganda isn't one of them. Hell, you can even walk around the capital city and feel safe (in the daytime:)

Anyway, gotta go and call the bank. Hopefully can sort this out otherwise I head off tomorrow with no money and no way to get money. Fortunately the river rafting trip takes a credit card.

It took me about 24 hours on the ground to get my travel-legs back. And all the intimidation I felt before I left is all gone. This is humanity baby, it's good. Our guide at the tombs said if Africans would stop fighting and set constitutional limits on their presidencies then they could start solving the big problems like Aids and poaching and such.

Welcome to Africa.

So far it rocks.

Craigo

Helsinki in 6 hours...

So after Estonia, my flight back to the US and A was from Helsinki.

Sounds far away, but is only a 2-3 hour ferry (heeey-ayyy!) ride from

Tallinn. So I took a bus from Parnu to Tallinn, walked to the ferry

port, jumped on the giant cruise ship of a ferry and headed accross

the Gulf of Finland to Helsinki. Arriving at 5:30pm, I had basically

6 hours to enjoy the city.

And I did... Helsinki is more western than the other places I went.

Almost everyone speaks English, most signs are in Finnish, English and

other languages. There are actually people who aren't white there,

which wasn't the case in Russia or really even Estonia. It was very

diverse and felt a lot like the US and A for that matter.

I wandered to the waterfront and hopped a ferry (heeey-ayyy!) to the

island fortress of Salmenella... or something like that. Ate some

tasty fish and DRANK WATER FROM THE TAP!!!! Then I ran all around

these old russian gun emplacements. There were these awesome cannons

and beneath them tunnels and bunkers to explore. The sun had set and

it was magic hour, so I had to use my camera to see inside, but

naturally went into everyone of them. Then ran along the rocks by the

water and circled the fortress wall on the outside, hanging onto the

sides of the wall by the water. All as it was getting darker and

darker. Very cool and very exciting...

... and I made it back to the ferry (heeey-ayy!) on time. And as we

headed to helsinki in the dark I thought "I'm so lucky. What a great

trip and fabulous places I've seen. Who knew all this great stuff

existed, and I was able to go there." I would recommend all of these

places to everyone. Bring your sense of humor and willingness to

explore and you'll have a blast.

And now for the very bizarre twist at the end...

As the ferry pulled into the dock, all these emergency vehicles raced

up next to us. Ambulence, cops, fire trucks, this big crane.

Naturally we all went over to look at it. Clearly they were looking

for someone in the water. People thought a car might have gone in.

Turns out there was no car, but after about 15 minutes they did find

the person... They struggled to put him on the stretcher than hung

from the crane and lifted him out of the water. He was face down and

not moving. They lowered him on the dock and there was very little

hustle and bustle as it was clear the guy had died. Very bizarre, as

I realized all these amazing things I've seen and now I've seen my

first dead body. I've seen people in coffins before, but not like

this. Yeah, weird. I wondered who he was and how he'd ended up

there. He was wearing a swimsuit. I haven't been able to find out

anything about it either...

Didn't see that one coming, did you? Neither did I...

From there I headed to the airport to sleep a few hours before hopping

on the plane for my 14 hours of flying and 2 hours of layover to

return to LA. I was exhausted, and very confused with jetlag, but

made it back in one piece (and my bag made it with me).

I lucked out with this trip... no neck blow out (see Southeast Asia

2005) or Montezuma's revenge (see Guatemala/Belize 2006). And even

got to go with some great friends this time too. (Tom, Olga, Essylt

and Ben... go team Nails!).

In one of the airports I flew through...I saw an add that said

"We don't stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we

stop playing."

I agree with that 100%, and feel that trips like this, and just

enjoying the good friends and places in life help with that. I know I

often times will get a little to wrapped up in the bullshit of life

and have to stop myself and remember that there's no need to get so

stressed out about things. Life is way to short to waste worrying

about it.

Get out there, see the world. It's waiting for you.

This is Craig Ouellette,

last surviving member of the Nostromo... signing off.

Oops... forgot the Audio File of Tarzan boy!!!!

Enjoy the audio/video brilliance!

CraigO

TARZAN BOY LIVES!!!!

Yes team,

I know you were concerned about the legendary hit song "Tarzan Boy",

that our noble boss Kevin Cloutier has tried to bring back for years.

And those who read last years adventures will no doubt remember that I

heard it echoing over a small Guatemalan village at 2:30 in the

morning (along with Eye of the Tiger, and Ghostbusters)...

well...

He Lives on in Estonia!!!!

Tarzan Boy... the one and only. As I was sitting in the calm, warm,

beautiful Baltic Sea, in the resort town of Parnu, i heard a

distinctive yodeling sound coming over the water. And I said to Olga

"Is that... is that Tarzan Boy?" And it was.

So naturally, after a wonderful day swimming in the sea, playing in

the "Curative" muddy sand near the shore and just enjoying the sites

and sounds. Which included a group of four estonian guys singing

"beautiful girls" with thick accents to all of the ladies that walked

past... and yes, we saw those same four hours later sitting at a

restraunt with some of those girls, so it worked. (It reminded me of

something Josh Wetmore would do back in the day! Yep, that's a props

to Josh Wetmore from Estonia! Congratulations, by the way, on your

fantastic baby girl!)

Anyway....

After a day of awesomeness, we went out to a not very crowded dance

club called MIRAGE. They were playing the usual fun trance with some

pop thrown in (like "umbrella" for the umpteenth time). So we

thought, let's ask for "sandstorm" and "tarzan boy". Thinking the

likelyhood of a dj at a club taking requests being slim. Well... he

rocked out sandstorm right away. And then went into some Michael

Jackson and other stuff... all with the one and only intention of

playing...

TARZAN BOY!!!!!

At a fricking dance club!!!!!! So aparently Kevin, it has only to hit

here in the states!!!!

(enjoy the song with bad sing along in the attached .wav file!)

But enough of that...

Onto ESTONIA... more castles, more craters, more medieval madness! It

was a fantastic country. As I said before, Old Town is something you

must see in your life. It really was like stepping back in time. On

top of that, on the island of Saaramaa there is one of the best

preserved castles in north or eastern europe. You could explore the

passages and staircases. There is even a "lions pit" where they would

throw prisoners to the lions and when you stepped onto the bridge over

it a lion would growl from below. Pretty cool.

I was with Olga (from Los Angeles, not to be confused with Olga from

Moscow) for this part of the trip, and we had a blast. We rented

bikes on the island, and I rode out to a very well preserved meteor

crater. Nothing like in Arizona, but this one had the remnants of a

fort built around it.

There was a lot of go go go... but indeed well worth it.

That's all for estonia... one more email to come of Finland Fun!

Rock on

Craigo

Estonia is a medival paradise!

As I near the end of my trip, I've got to let you know how awesome Estonia is. Who knew? The capital city of Tallinn has this old town section that is a twisting set of medival streets, narrrow, cobblestoned, and surrounded by towers and walls that you can explore. Its' 600 years old and is like you are walking into the past. Sure there are souvenier shops and such, but the place is AWESOME! I've never been anywhere like it in the world. Its' the kind of thing disneyland tries to recreate, the difference is that it's all real here. The buildings, the streets. It's very very cool.

On top of that on the island of Saaramaa there is a castle, the best preserved in all of northern europe, that you can explore. Including the dungeon where they would drop guilty parties down on the waiting lions. When you step out on the platform they have a lion roaring sound that's pretty startling.

Airconditioning... what's that? that's what they say on the stuffy busses in all of this part of the world. In my 10 bus rides I"ve had two that weren''t sweat inducingly hot. One because of blessed AC, and the other cause i could open the window. I guess they enjoy it after all the cold.

I only have a couple days left. Not a ton of emails from this trip. It's been pretty fast and furious, as they usually are with me. Going to relax today in the beach town of Parnu. After we take care of a few Helsinki arrangements it's off to the beach, with a fun dinner someplace by the water, and dancing agian tonight. This is some sort of resort town, but isn't too crazy.

A few other estonian notes: Most television is subtitled. Because nothing is shot in Estonia. So right now a bad episode of that show LOST, you may have heard of it. I think it's a US show or something, is on. >)

The trip has been a little short, and just the right length. This isn't a cheap place to travel, but has been worth it for sure. Still, ready to make some more www.TrespassingOnTheLot.com shorts and keep active making things. That boulder is rolling and It's not going to stop. Also have to get more people to buy The Closer She Gets, I spent so much time on it and am so glad it's on DVD, but am looking for ways to get the word out. so if you have any suggestions, please let me know!

that's waht I've got for now. Gotta catch some waves!

rock on

craigo

Goodbye Russia... Hello ESTONIA!!!!!

Just got here last nite. Into oldtown TAllinn, Estonia. And if you havenät been here (which is probably the case ) You MUST COME HERE!!!! It's like... well, not like, because it IS... and OLD MEDIEVAL TOWN! It's the kind of thing thye fake at disneyland or a massive renaissance fair... except its real! twisting streets, cobble stones, castles, towers... it is fantastic!

getting out of russia was crazy. there were issues with sold out buses, subway trains that reversed direction and headed the wrong way... and more. we made it at the lsat minute and were off to estonia. they enver once checked our registrations that we had to pay 60 bucks for over the travels... they just want extra dough.

its nice to be somewhere where the alphabet is the same, even if the words are differet. BUSIJAAMM... as in Bus station!

gotta go, lots to see.

rock on

craigo

THE SUN Don'T SET TILL MIDNITE!!!!

Okay... that's not exactly true. it sets around now... which is 10:30pm, but it isnt' dark until after midnite here in St. Petersburg.

Yep, we made it. After some interesting adventures in Moscow, we took the overnite train (hogwarts express anyone?) and arrive the next morninig only to have a complete fiasco in trying to find our apartment we had rented. Sure, one might think having an address would get you to where you need to go. Not here, no way. We are staying at 1 Mariskanaya (or something like that). So you think it would be on the corner, before you hit 3 Mariskanaya.... um... well.... it's actually 1/2 way down the block, through a dark, piss smelling tunnel, into a courtyard, turn right, goto the unmarked door on the 4 story building, use your key, go up three flights of stairs with no lights that look a bit run down and walk to the apartement labeled...

you guessed it...

36.

What? WHAT?????

Yep, 36....

inside the apt is fantastic. but it isn't where it said it is. And so we had to try to call the people, goto their office (which is also, not at all where it says it is on the map either....) and the guy couldn't figure out why it took us 3 hours to finally locate them.

Still, worked out and we headed out to see...

NINE INCH NAILS!!!!!

That's right, concert number 2.

Was SUPER AWESOME!!!!! Moscow was good, but this was one of the best. great crowd, great set list, and totally out of control cool. And my camera didn't fall out onto the floor and nearly get destroyed at this one!

Otherwise we've been seeing the sites. The Hermitage (one of the worlds greatest museums... and it is), Peter And Pauls Fortress, St. Isaacs cathedral at sunset. We got to the top of the 275 steps to get to the Collenade as fireworks were shot off right next to it. pretty cool. August 2nd and August 4 are holidays of some sort here in Russia. We haven't found out what. But there was live music everywhere, fireworks, bands playing in Red Square as well as outside the Hermitage, and at 12:30am last night we took a canal cruise, that went out the dancing fountains on the river (which put the Ballagio in Vegas to shame) and saw the draw bridges go up. And there were no less than 100 boats on the river. it was a traffic jam of boats. Awesome!

And for all of you who were worried.... the women in St. Petersburg.... are even MORE GORGEOUS than the ones in Moscow. It's a bit rediculous and seems like a supermodel convention. That being said, the dudes here.... well, they seem more like they got their stuff together. Far fewer Mullets. And though there are lots of smokers, it's nothing like Moscow where 1 in ever 1 person smokes.

That's what I got. 3 more days of Russia, and then off to Estonia (which will be good for the wallet!). Russia rocks though, and I recommend it to anyone.

However, there is this to note.... It is an Advanced Travel country.

I've come up with this rating system (based on English speakers admittedly, but you can apply it to your own language).

0. Traveling in your own country

1. EASY - Traveling in a country with the same language (for USA, such as England, Australia etc) where they have a good tourist services.

2. MODERATE - Traveling in a country with a different language, but good tourist services (see Thailand, or perhaps France)

3. ADVANCED - Traveling in country with a very different laungauge, and not good tourist services (See Russia, or Peru if you didn't know spansih)

4. EXPERT - A country with different language, little to no tourest services, where you have to get local transport, perhaps bribe officals and such. By guess I would say certain African nations like Libya or Nigeria perhaps.

5. INSANE = Going to a war zone like Iraq or Somalia. Enough said.

There you go, all I've got for now. I have to see if Catherines palace is open Monday or we're going to miss it.

Take care,

Hope all is well.

Watch Trespassing On The Lot (www.trespassingonthelot.com) for all sorts of fun shorts.

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Rock on

Craigo