BLAME IT ON RIO…

Okay, you can't REALLY blame it on Rio. It's not Rio's fault. I just like that title.
After Bonito and Pantanal and sickness I headed to Rio where I.... was sick.
Yep.
Bronchitis bit me in the ass, and though I am finally FINALLY feeling mostly better, I pretty much lost Rio in the process. As I did Bonito really, even though I tried to play it down. Much of my time was spent in a cloud of fatigue and hacking up nasty phlegm. Sleeping lots and losing my voice. It made for a very lonely, dark couple of days honestly. Very dark.

I was at the Pura Vida hostel. I booked it online off the Lonely Planet recommendation. It's in Copacabana, 600 feet from the beach in an old Mansion! How cool!... kinda. It was kinda gloomy and dark. Wifi addicts sat around the lobby texting all day, and it lay at the bottom of a Favela, which meant the whole street leading up to it was really gritty. In fact, GRITTY is the word I would use to describe Rio. I know, not what you might expect. But it really is a gritty town. Now, this isn't bad by any means, but behind the very thing fascade of glamour and beaches is a whole lot of GRIT. Homeless people. Drugged out folks stumbling around. Dirty sidewalks. And that's just in the normal areas...

This isn't to say it's a pig sty. Just that it's Gritty.

Now, I met some cool folks at the hostel. Kim, Jonas and Sylke, all Dutch and all great. It led to some nice dinners and a few adventures.

Such as a MARACANA FUTEBOL match.
It was a couple of the local Rio teams, but this is like seeing a game at Wrigley Field or other classic stadiums. We were all really excited, until we arrived and stood in a 1 1/2 hour line to buy tickets which led to us missing most of the first half of the game. And we were there early!  And there were people who were in the line WAY after us. I have no idea why they were still standing there.

The game we saw was fun. The fans have lots of songs and sing and dance around. We were in the less crowded side, which was a bit of a bummer, but we made it work!

After we headed to Lapa, which is a heavy nightlife area of rio. (And realllllly gritty. Tranny hookers on the corner, some very homeless folks who have seend better days sleeping all about. Some sketchy dealings on dark corners. Oh, and the raw sewage pouring out from a drain and running down one street. That was fun!) (Jesus, it sounds like the biggest shit hole written like that. It's a lot like Bourbon Street in New Orleans. If that gives you any indication). There were some girls who wanted to hang out with us.... back in our rooms.... likely for a price. Since it only took 2 minutes of chatting to get to "Let's go back to your place", we kinda figured there MIGHT be some sort of business exchange that they were desiring. We declined and headed to a Samba club.

It was fun! TONS of energy and dancing and singing. I did the best I could with my limited energy. And I wasn't drinking thanks to antibiotics and wanting to get better. But I lasted a couple hours before I had to head home. It really is fun how much dancing is part of Brazilian life. They dance and let loose and I love it.

The Next day I slept. Rested. Talked with Skype. Slept. Bought medicine. Finally the right stuff... Amoxicillian. And I'm on the healing path.... whew. Thankfully the Pura Vida folks let me have a 4 person dorm room to myself for the last two days I was there. I really needed it. To sleep, and also to have my own space. I haven't had ANY of it since I arrived. First rooming with Devin, then all these dorms. (Normally I wouldn't do so many dorms, but the difference in price to a private room in most places is quite significant).

But all in all I didn't get to do most of what I wanted in Rio. No Sugarloaf, or museums, or really beach days. Or... or.... or... It rained most of the time I was there. I feel like I kinda of missed much of what Rio had to offer.

However, on my last day I went on a FAVELA TOUR.

To Rachina, The largest one in south America. It was fascinating. Our guide was 27 and grew up there. He told us about how in 2009 the Brazilian government began the Pacification Police Force, which is essentially what has cleaned up many of the Favela's in Rio. The thing is, it's all the ones in the South (Rio has 765 Favelas!). As in, all the ones the tourists might see, or that might affect tourists. Though you see Rio a million times on TV, you really are only seeing a small part of it. The amazing hills, beaches, lakes, bay, bridges etc. There is a huge amount of Rio that is north of the mountains that's endless sprawl. Graffitti. Run Down. Dirty. The Real Rio if you will. The divide of rich and pour is very clear.

Especially in a place like Rachina. See, in Rio back in the 50's and 60's as the migrants came from the pour rural areas of the nation seeking opportunity, there was no place for them. So the gov't said: You can build cities and homes, AWAY from the beaches. Away from the rich folk. So they built up the hills. So ironically, the best views in Rio are from the Favela's. The Slums. The Shantytowns. And MAN it has  a great view. IT's a fascinating, beautiful patchwork of totally random buildings stacked on top of each other towering up to the sky. I loved the twisting roads, the stairs and walk ways twisting between homes and shops. It's a true maze, much like the Medina's in Morocco, or Venice in Itally. But even more so. No planning. No logic. Just determination and ingenuity to build these places. That on the outside look run down and hodgepodge, but inside have wifi, bigscreen TV's and everyone has a facebook account. Because, the thing about Favela's, at least the Pacified ones, is that they aren't all dirt broke people. They have jobs, they have some opportunities, they have a community. Some of them choose to stay there because they don't pay water, electricity, property taxes. It's cheap to stay there. So some choose to. Some have no choice.

There are dangers too. There are no rules. So driving is wild. Stairs are broken and random. The sewer is an open concrete ditch that runs down the side of the hill, with houses build on and around it. So the "river front property" here means you have shit running outside (or under) your house. And MAN did it smell like.... well, you know. Also, the electrical and phone lines are just tapped in. However you want. So when it rains there are places where you get shocked because the electricity is live and open. And of course, there are drug dealers.

Now, they've lost their power in some favela's. Been forced out by the Pacifying Police Forces. (Which look like full tactical cops. AR-15's. Bullet proof vests walking in pairs around the streets). The drug dealers uesd to extort money from folks and have gang wars. Now many are gone, but drugs are still sold. Our guide told us to not take pictures in a couple different spots because that's where drugs were sold... and he even said hi to some of the dealers. They're his friends, and he hates that they won't change their ways.  In the Favela it's Marijuana and Cocaine. That's it. No Crack or Meth. Nothing that makes you lose your mind. They want repeat customers after all...

So glad I got to do the tour. It made something real that I've known about and not understood for so long. I'd've liked to see more and explore more and get to know people there, but my illness took my energy away. This will have to do for this trip.

And finally.... with the last day of the Favela tour I felt mostly better. SO I rallied with the hostel folks and headed to one of those Hostel Dance Party Nights at a club. And honestly... it was a TOTAL BLAST.
Man did I need to dance and have fun. I even said "why not!" when it came to the free Caipirinha's too!  The hostel folks were great. We met lots of other travelers, and also lots of Brazilian's too. Including some lovely ladies who danced with us all night and showed us some mad Samba moves. It was really really fun.

Perfect... now I'm mostly better..... and the trip is almost over....

Hmmm.

Ain't gonna lie, having 10 days of a 23 day trip eaten up by an illness sucked. I know these emails I show the positive side of it. But in truth, it's been a hard 10 days. Yes, I've had fun, and seen some amazing things, but I've been dragging myself through each step. Losing my voice. Spitting up phlegm. Coughing fits that hurt my stomach and caused my eyes to water up so bad I couldn't see. Having to pause going up stairs because I was so exhausted. 

Now, I don't want to be ungrateful for the fact that I'm here in this amazing place with amazing people. But when I felt as bad as I did, everything was through a fog, and it wasn't until yesterday that I finally fully woke up and came alive since the illness kicked in. It makes me a little sad that this trip will always have this huge tainted piece of it.

 But I guess that's life. Sometimes everything comes together. And sometimes the obstacles mount up, and we have to push through and keep going. Because there really isn't any other choice.

BEAUTIFUL BONITO

BEAUTIFUL BONITO.

That's redundant.
Since Bonito means "Beautiful" in Portugese.
But it is!

It's a great little "mountain town" that's not in the mountains. When
we drove in it felt like a small US town with houses and a main street
with shops. And the best part: Totally Safe. Like, leave your car
unlocked and don't lock your bike safe. As in, walk anywhere, anytime,
all alone, and you're totally safe. Love places like this.

This is the eco tourist capital of Brazil. Everything is about nature,
water, caves, waterfalls etc. It's supposedly very organized and well
run, and all of the tours are. But booking is complicated, and for
some inexplicable reason, Transport is NOT included in the price. So
you have to separately arrange transport to the attractions (some are
60km out of town). This costs a LOT, if you can't team up with people.
Or get on the "group transport" that leaves once a day and is full
weeks in advance. Most of the tours fill up, and thankfully I booked
everything days before getting here so I was able to do what I
wanted...

Except it rained. The first two days. It rained a lot. So many of the
activities close and don't operate. And last night it was COLD. Like
40 degrees cold. And wet. And no one is ready for it. No really warm
clothes. No heaters in the dorm. And of course I'm sick. So it's been
a bit of a challenge.

Today was sorta sunny. I spent the day doing the Rio De Prata, which
is a river you SNORKEL IN that is CRYSTAL CLEAR. I mean, aquarium
clear. Totally full of fish and springs that feed up through sand that
looks like something from an alien planet, churning, wild. If someone
hadn't told me it was a spring I might have had no idea what it was.

And yesterday... ABISMO ANHUMAS.
This is the king daddy of tours here, and I was lucky enough to book
it. It's limited to 18 people per day. Starts with a 72 meter (230
foot) Rappel straight down into a cave that's filled with water. On
the floating dock inside, you go snorkeling (or for A LOT more money
you can do a single scuba dive. If I were to do it again, I'd do the
scuba. I didn't because the thing already costs almost R$600, and with
scuba it's almost R$900. Now I'm not a broke student doing this, but
that is really pricey).

And it's awesome. The rappel was surreal. You lock legs with the
tourist on the rope next to you, and drop into the Abyss. The snorkel
is some alien world, lit from sun (or gloom) coming in the opening at
the top. You even get a boat tour around the underground lake (Which
like most tours in Brazil, if you don't speak Portugese, it loses a
lot of it's meaning. I did get some translation with the cool folks I
was on the tour with, but it was like that scene from "Lost in
Translation" where the guide would talk for 3 minutes, and the
translation would be something like "The cave is four million years
old". I love them for the translation, but it was pretty funny).

The thing about this, is you had to train the night before in town to
prove you could rappel. And then that you could climb out, on your
own, using an ascender on the rope. Which means you are sliding the
hand portion up, and "standing up" in the web looping, then repeating
hundreds of times while you climb up the free hanging rope to the
surface. It's pretty wild. The rope bounces like crazy and I kept
stopping to look around and think: This is nuts!

And totally awesome. The bronchitis didn't ruin that trip, but I sure
was exhausted when I got back to town. No doubt.

Well, tomorrow it's back to Rio and more adventures in the south. I
wasn't planning on writing so much. I usually like to give you a
shorter report more often, but the feeling ill and the persistance of
wifi everywhere has effected the email reports. Just as wi-fi did last
year too. There will be more on that subject later, but for now, I'm
off to visit with all my new friends one more night before I fly away
and start the next adventure.

Hope you are all well and having a fabulous summer.
CraigO

NO SLEEP TILL… PANTANAL!!!

Yep. The good old overnight bus.
Okay, they suck.

Thanks to the overnight bus last Saturday night, I'm STILL sick. Yep.
Had a cold the first day (because this lady was coughing on the bus
all night... pointing herself right at the row of seats I was in.
Really? COVER YOUR MOUTH). The cold has turned to bronchitis and I'm
hacking up phlegm on a regular basis. And naturally that stopped me
from doing anything fun, right?...

No way.

I traveled 22 hours to get to the Pantanal. And then another 5 to get
to Bonito. There's no way I'm going to skip out on things I've been
looking forward too.

So I've sucked it up, and rallied. I've visited the pharmacy here in
Bonito three times, and even though they don't speak English I was
able to get some stuff to help. And just now I started taking some
Antibiotics thanks to a nurses recommendation. If all goes well, I'll
be feeling better shortly.

As for activities...

The Pantanal is a large swampy grassland area the size of England.
Yep. England. On the western edge of Brazil. (It's also in Paraguay
and Bolivia, since, you know, Nature doesn't care about where our
borders are. :)

The purpose of a visit here is to see wildlife. Camen's. Birds of all
colors. (Some that were nearly extinct and have been reintegrated).
Piranha's. And, if you are lucky, Jaguars. (I was not lucky in that
respect). But it was fun and relaxing. I was at a Pousada (Kinda of a
Safari camp, but permanent) called Santa Clara. It's well run, has
good food, and regular tours throughout the day. (All included in the
day price). Due to my being the only 2 night person in the dorms at
that time, I was sort of forgotten about and not shown a lot of how
the place worked. But I made sure to not miss any of my activities.
The first being a night safari that left without me, so they drove me
at break-neck speed down dirt roads in the dark to catch the truck. It
was actually more fun than the night Safari. :)

The next day had a peaceful horseback ride, a peaceful swamp walk
safari, a peaceful boat ride. Basically the whole thing is really
peaceful. Wish I'd felt 100%.

And even though wildlife was the theory, I didn't feel overwhealmed by
it. But the domestic pigs in the compound that acted like dogs were
great. They even barked!

Met some cool travelers. It's been really fun, because the
Pantanal/Bonito circuit is something many people do. So folks from the
Pantanal have shown up all over Bonito, and it's allowed for some
actual traveling friendships which is nice.

Folks from Nepal, Holland, Germany, USA, Colombia, Australia, Brazil,
Brazil and Brazil.

Yep, unlike anyplace I've ever been, well over half the travelers are
actually Brazillian. Which is super fun. It's let me get to the know
the coutry a lot better. (I was told by one couple that 10 years ago
you wouldn't have seen so many Brazilian's. But the economy has been
great, and there has been a general philosophy change in the country
that travel, both within and outside of the country is very valuable
and worth doing. It's great to see.) A lot of the folks are from Sao
Paolo (Brazil's New York), but by no means all of them. They come from
big towns and small, near and far (mostly far, it's Brazil. It's
huge). It's been great. I've learned Samba dancing, various cultural
and historical things, etc.

A quick note on the food:
Brazilian food...
Burgers, Fries, Chicken, Burgers with cheese, Burgers with egg, Burgers with...
It's weird. For the first week I would have thought the whole place
ate American food. That has changed more as I've traveled more. But I
can tell you, meat is a part of nearly every meal. Which of course is
great for me, but would make it a bit tough for my Vegan friends.
Still, Pray-esh, from Nepal, is vegatarian, and he has made it work
everywhere.

So eat up!

IGUAZU VS. ITAIPU

Iguazu Falls.

Everything you've heard is true.

They are massive, magnificent, huge-normous, loud, wild, wet and fabulous. Devin and I went there our first day here in Foz do Iguazu. It was raining most of the day, but that was the day we went. And it was great. Hell, we're going to a waterfall, so if we get wet, that's cool. Ironically, that day was warmer than the next two have been, so even though it's sunny today, it would have been a much colder experience.

We took the local bus for R$6 (that's about $3USD, roughly half price! :). And then you pay for the park (R$50). We added on the zodiac ride to the base of the falls too (R$170).  Ahh Brazil, the local costs for food and buses are very good. The cost for tours is not so cheap. (More on that in a different email).

The Waterfall trail walks along the ridge overlooking the falls. We saw the first view, and it's pretty far away, and we thought "Well, that's big and cool".  We walked along the trail, and views of another set of falls appears. Closer, louder. Nice! This is great. We kept walking and there was ANOTHER set of falls, the Devil's throat, the big curve of falls you've probably seen in pictures. And here you could go out on boardwalks over the water itself. It was awesome. So much water. You can even walk right up next to the cascade and hear/feel the water blasting past you.

Now the thing about Iguazu, is the tiny part we walked out over, felt like it was enormous. And that is just a FRACTION of how big this thing is. It was awesome. Wonderful and wow.

We grabbed some lunch... and the sun came out.

So we ran back to the boardwalk area and took the killer pics of the day. Sun, clouds, rain, awesome. There was lightning and thunder too, but we didn't get any of those shots.

We then hopped the bus and headed to the Zodiac tour. Well, the last tour of the day is at 5:20pm, and we were the last tour. Just us. Of course, the sun is going down. The rain has returned. And it was a pretty wild boat ride. We even got hailed on as we blasted up the river towards the base of the falls. Thunder booming. Wind blasting past. Walls of water so thick you couldn't breath from all the water in the air. Awesome. We cheered and laughed. The guides were fabulous, they were having a blast too. I said "Let's do it again! " so we went back into the falls for more water soaking action.

Now, you don't get into the devil's throat, because it's too wild, but it was a blast.

And we were on the last bus back to the visitor's center, and then back to town. Soaked, but happy.

The thing about the park that is funny, is that half is on the Brazil side and half is on the Argentina side. And they have a pissing match about which side is better. Brazil has better views. Argentina you get closer. Brazil has more this. Argentina has more that. Is it worth going to both sides? Couldn't tell you, as it costs US Citizens an extra $160 USD to cross the border, and then you have to pay for the park. So we stuck with Brazil, and had a blast. (This also gives me something else to see if I ever make it back.) One of the big selling points of Aregentina is that you can walk out to the top off the Devil's throat on a boardwalk.... when it's there. 3 weeks ago, the water level was 30 times normal, the river was 30 meters deeper and the whole thing got washed away. As did Brazil's rafting and rappeling activities and a bunch of other stuff. One more thing that says... "Oh yeah Human's, I'm Mother Nature, and you are a guest in my house. Remember that."

Then you goto the Itaipu Dam, and see something else entirely.

The next day, we went for a "Special Tour" of the Dam. I'd never heard of it before I got here... It was only the largest dam in the world until 3 Gorges was finished in China. And Itaipu is still the biggest power producing dam in the world. It provides 75% of the power for Paraguay. And 17% of Brazil's. And Paraguay is selling 3/4 of it's power back to brazil. It's 8 km long. 600 plus feet tall, and has more concrete in it than a highway from from Moscow to Lisbon. It was built over 15 years, and frankly... is pretty awesome.

The tour takes you inside the dam, where you can see the 35 foot diamaeter pipes. Feel the water shaking the ground. Watch the turbines spin, which just one can powere 2.5 million homes. And the scale of the whole thing is inhuman (Just as Iguazu is). Everything looks like a hanger for giant robots or something. I really want to shoot a movie here.

Strangely there seems to be very little security or military presence. They never checked our ID to take the tour. There are no tanks or army garrison's or anything. It seems like a pretty important place to be so open. If this was the USA we'd have so much military might nearby to keep it safe. Well, even in Brazil, that's all an illusion. We were told that fighter jets could arrive in 4 SECONDS to shoot down anyone on approach. And that both Paraguay and Brazil have soldiers and more stationed right nearby. (The Dam is on the border and split evenly between the two countries. Technically I have been to PARAGUAY on this trip now. I walked in the country for at least 20 minutes. So... do I count that on my list? :)

Itaipu is the type of thing that says "Oh yeah Mother Nature, humans rule this planet, and can make you do what we want."

It is a fascinating contrast: One of the worlds largest waterfalls and a wonder of the world so close to one of the worlds largest hydro-electric dams and a wonder of human engineering.

Contrasts.
Sounds a lot like other parts of Brazil as well.

WELCOME TO BRASIL

Whew!  6 days into this thing and I feel like I've been gone for months. But that's the rule of backpacking after all
1 day = 1 week of normal life.

First things first: WORLD CUP MANIA!

The Fifa Fan Fest was a blast. There is one in every host city for all the games. It's a big festival with music and vendors and giant screens with the games on. It was a total blast. A great vibe and one hell of a game! We were there for Germany (Deutschland or Alamenha (?) depending on your language of choice). Devin had on a German jersey from when he saw world cup there a few years back. And as a result everyone thought we were German. Which wasn't a bad thing, as it meant we had our photos taken with no less than 30- different random groups of people from the time the game ended until we got home. After all, Germany won, and I guess that made us superstars by some connection. It was super fun.

Watching the game was exciting and full of such great energy. There were some Argentina fans there, but most of the Brazilians cheered for Germany. Every almost goal brought forth cheers and gasps. And when Germany scored the place blew up in a giant frenzy of jumping, cheering and gerneral joyous mayhem. It was fabulously fun!

And after a band played and a DJ. We met some cool Brazilian's who wanted to dance with us. Pretty much the Brazilian's love to dance, and are happy to teach you if you don't know. As people are often surprised, I have a few moves up my sleeve, so that was fun. But I definintely learned more.

Next up: ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

Yep. Zombies. Okay, no actual Zombies, but Brasilia is a gov't town, so when the weekend hits it's like a ghost town. I mean, completely empty subways. Empty streets. Was very cool.

Brasilia is an interesting town. It's completely designed and built to design, so it's clean, spacious, has wide roads and minimal traffic issues compared to other cities of 2.5 million. The archetecture is wild. Domes. Cathedrals made of all stained glass. There is one that is all blue glass and the light shines through on a giant Jesus. It really is unlike any building I've ever seen.

And also... RIO BABY!

The day after the final we flew to Rio. And I have to say..... Rio is awesome, and totally familiar. Even though I've never been there, I've seen it SOOOOO many times that it's hard to believe I haven't. The views from the mountains, the beaches, all of that is so photographed, it's crazy familiar. Reminds me of New York or London or other places that are in movies and pictures all the time.

We stayed in a house near the Christ the Redeemer statue. (Well, not the statue, but below it with views). Cris and Antonio were super nice. The view was fabulous, and it was fun to stay someplace off the tourist track. It was a real middle class neighborhood and not what I expected in Rio.

After we got in we immediately headed up to the Christ the Redeemer statue. If you've ever seen a picture of Rio, you've seen the statue and the view. It's as famous as the Statue of Liberty and.... a GIANT challenge to get to. Sure, you'd think it would be simple, and if it wasn't crowded you'd hop on an incline train and ride to the top in 20 minutes.

Instead.... 3 hours and 45 minutes. Yep. We stood in 4 different lines. First for tickets for the van to take us up. Then to take the van up. Then a traffic jam on the mountain road because of all the people going. Then a cue to buy tickets to the park. Then the grand daddy.... a 3 HOUR line to get on the van to go to the statue. (It ended up being 1 hour 45 minutes, but they told us it would be 3 hours). Our hope of seeing it at sunset vanished before we even got up the mountain. All this because the train was full for the day. We met some cool folks in line: From Austin, TX and Los Angeles. Yep. In fact, we've met 8 or more folks from Austin in a few days. It's weird.

The views are great. The statue is cool. The wind was cold.

We were the last ones off the Statue, heading back to the giant line to go down.... only the line was gone. The last bus had left. Hmmmmm. So we go over to take the Train instead, there was still a line for that. Only they wouldn't let us. They told us to pay up or walk. Even though we'd already paid. They said the vans were a different company. Now, walking down 8 kilometers or more, probably, in pitch black Rio seems like a really dumb idea, so they basically had us. Not ideal, but we paid it. Left a bad taste in my mouth, but what can you do?

A quick note: The statue is probably the worst run tourist attraction I've ever been too. And that says a lot. However, it is cool. My suggestion is to book your train ticket the day before online, then you get there 20 minutes before the train and head on up. When we told our house owners how long it took they were dumbfounded. Usually it's 30 minutes or so of lines.

And finally IPANEMA

There is a beach and a song about a girl. And I can tell you, the beach there is everything you think it is. Beautiful sand. Fabulous waves. Sandwich stands (we had Uruguayan (?) sandwiches, and Brazilian drinks while sitting in chairs under an umbrella). There are gorgous gals in tiny swim suits. (Really tiny! no complaints there!) Guys playing soccer, and just a general state of fun. The water is warmer here in the winter than LA is in the summer. And frankly... it's wonderful.

But here's the thing. I didn't enjoy it at first. Not at all. Part of it was a food thing, my eating has been soooooo far off my good diet that it's thrown my hypoglycemia off a bit. But even once that was in shape with the sandwiches, I was still tense and off... and I realized....

I have been given more safety warnings about Brazil and especially Rio than any place I've ever been. More than Kenya, Uganda, Russia, Morrocco. Any of them. And it's made me paranoid. Freaked out to keep my stuff safe, to keep myself safe. It's basically made me think everyone is going to steal my shit and knife me. And I can tell you: It's all bullshit. It is. Everyone I've met is wonderful. Every place I've gone has felt safe. Everyone I've talked to feels the same. This is a beach, just like any beach in any big city. If you leave your camera out, it'll probably get stolen. But if you stay smart, you will be fine.

Now, I'm not saying bad stuff can't happen in Brazil. It can. It has to people. Sometimes its because they are stupid and walk around with an expensive camera in the ghetto. And sometimes it's bad luck. But keep your wits about you, and don't walk down dark alleys alone at night... just like you would in any big city anywhere in the world... and you'll have a blast.

Once that clicked, I hit the water. I splashed in the waves. I had a blast. Sure, we made positive our little bit of stuff was watched by a friendly neighbor or one of us. But it was no problem at all. We even walked the beach at night... they say NEVER DO THAT. Except, it's completely lit up, bright lights on every inch. And people are all around. It's really fun and really great. Brazilian's are really fabulous people. Yes, just like anywhere there are some bad eggs, but for the most part this is a country full of wonderful vibrant people. Awesome!

CraigO

GOAL!!!! -- or I'm in Frickin' Brazil!

Hi Team!

That´s right, a new adventure has begun. This time: Brazil!

(There will be a number of these travel updates over the next three weeks, so as always, if you´d rather not hear tales of fun, travel, and adventure please let me know and ~I´ll take you off the list. But if you enjoy them... read on!)

I indeed did come for the end of the World Cup. It took a lot of work to get here, much more than I~ve had for the last few trips, but thankfully it worked out and I~m here in Brasilia (captial of Brazil) where last night Devin and I went to see the 3rd/4th place game between Brazil and Netherlands. It was AWESOME! So exciting to be here. The spirti in the stadium was fabulous. Our seats were great thanks to our friends Olga and David who had extra tickets they sold us. It was really a great moment. Especially to share it with one of my best friends, Devin, who is a big time Futbol fan and someone I love to travel with, even though we haven~t had a chance in quite some time to do so. But here we are! And this is our first international trip together. So far so good...

Today we~re going to catch the Fan Fest of the Final here in Brasilia. To get to Rio would have cost us a lot...

and i~m about to run out of time on the internet, so this will have to continue soon!…..

REPOST: Super Minimal packing from Zen Habits

This is a repost from an awesome email/blog I receive called Zen Habits. I thought I packed light, but Leo Babauta has shown me up! Nice work!   zen habits: My Most Minimal Travel Setup Yet

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My Most Minimal Travel Setup Yet

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 12:00 PM PDT

By Leo Babauta

I just got back from a trip to Beijing and Shanghai, and really loved how light I traveled for 8 days.
It was the least amount of stuff I’ve taken on a trip of any length, and traveling has never been less tiring.
When you have very little on your back, it’s less draining. It’s faster and funner.
I thought I’d share my latest travel setup, in hopes that it’ll inspire a few of you to try the joys of traveling lightly.

My Setup

This setup is unique to me, so I don’t recommend that you copy it … but that said, I’m sharing it so you can possibly get a few ideas and see how light travel is possible.

1. The backpack. I traveled the entire time with just a tiny backpack, no luggage or roller bag. The one I used is the Goruck 15L Shadowruck, which is just 15-liters in volume and only 0.27 lbs. (!). It’s super light. It’s tough. Not much room in it. Perfect.
2. No laptop. The most significant change I made to my setup this trip is to travel without my 11-inch Macbook Air. This tiny laptop is only 2.38 lbs., but traveling without a laptop is a huge change in weight. I was only going for 8 days, so I did my writing before I left. This wouldn’t work for many people. If I had to write for a longer trip, I could find an Internet cafe in most cities and write there.
3. The iPhone. While I resisted getting an iPhone for 6 years, in June Eva bought me the iPhone 5 for Father’s Day. So I’m now a part of the smartphone masses. And I embraced it on this trip, carrying only the iPhone, no laptop or camera. I did my reading, Tweeting, email and other work on here. And of course used it to document my trip with sweet photos. Also included: the charging cord.
4. Clothes: I favor workout clothes, because they are breathable, washable, comfortable and dry fast. So I wore the Ascent Pant, which looks a little dressy and is light and breathable. And a Precision T. And ExOfficio boxer briefs. I packed: another Precision T, two more boxer briefs, some workout socks, workout shorts, and a long-sleeve workout T-shirt. Just in case, I also packed a thin, lightweight Nike rain jacket (I didn’t need it this trip). Just in case it was cold, I also packed a beanie.
5. Toiletries. Deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, nailclippers.
6. Food. Just in case, I packed a handful of fruit & nut bars, and some raw almonds.
7. Other. I also had a couple of notebooks and pens, for writing, my passport, earbuds, a travel towel, a sleep mask, ear plugs, and a universal travel adapter.

Total weight: under 8 lbs.

Questions and Answers

Q: Why travel without a laptop?
A: I liked traveling without all the weight. And I tend to use the laptop too much when I travel, so I thought the restriction of not having a laptop would be good for me. If I needed to write, I might have found a foldable keyboard for the iPhone, or used an Internet cafe.
Q: How do you travel with so few clothes?
A: I simply wash them in the shower, wring them out good, and hang them to dry in my hotel room. I didn’t need to wash the pants, though they’re easily washable (as opposed to jeans). If you wash underwear, a shirt and socks on most nights, you only need one or two changes.
Q: Why workout clothes and not cotton?
A: I love cotton. It’s just heavier, and it gets smellier, than the workout clothes I pack. And it takes longer to dry. And wrinkles more. So the clothes I brought solve all those problems, and they’re very comfortable.

THE RETURN OF BURNING MAN

Hi Team!

So, in a rare bit of traveling repetition for me, I returned to Burning Man this year.

I didn't feel like I got everything I could out of the festival last year. As amazing as the experience was (SEE BLOGS HERE http://craigotravels.blogspot.com/search/label/Burning%20Man%202012) I felt like there was more to see, do, feel etc.

And there was.

Walking into the fire...

First off, RENO.

Yep, this years burn adventure started in Reno, NV with us picking up some bikes from fellow burners Bryan and Denise Warner, who might possibly be the nicest people I have ever met. Their generosity is staggeringly awesome. My roommate Brian had connected with them on facebook / twitter before the event and they said they had some bikes they would gift to us and other burners. Reno Bryan wasn't going this year and wanted to help out/participate somehow. (I've noticed that this happens with Burner's who don't go. They want to be a part somehow.)

Well, on top of two great bikes we were gifted for the week, they let us borrow a 35 gallon water jug, venager, tools, tape, vasaline, vegatables from their garden. They let us sleep in their trailer the night before and after. Use their shower. They cooked us breakfast and dinner and breakfast again. Gave us beer. Tequila. I mean, for the love of God these two are nice! :)

New friends!

And in many ways they were some of the best connections I made on this trip, ironically not on the Playa. There's no way we could repay their kindness, and that after all is part of the point of Burning Man. It's gifting. It's not trading or bartering as many folks think (and I did before I went for the first time). It's a gift. It does not need to be repaid. Though it's interesting how gifts make you WANT to repay. Not because you have to, but because gifting rules. Roommate Brian took awesome pictures of their firespinning daughter after we returned (She's 12. She's awesome). That was a great gift from him.

PLAYA, take 2.

So we drove in on Tuesday around sunset. I was super hungry, so the 1 hour and 45 minute wait to get searched (they're looking for stowaways and nothing else) and get our tickets was pretty rough on me. I wish I hadn't gotten so frustrated, but I did. That's me and food. I get like that. It sucks.

Especially when you realize other people waited 6, 7 or even 12 (!!!) hours to get in. No shit. To me that's a serious problem that Burning Man needs to deal with. It wasn't that many years ago this event was 30,000. Now it's almost 70,000!. I've got some suggestions I'll email them that will hopefully streamline things for next years event (assuming they listen. :). Maybe that'll be my gift to the Burner's next year.

We camped with the French Quarter Press Corps this year. A nice group of folks, though I never really bonded much with any of them. I tried, but for some reason it didn't happen. We even had a meal plan, where we help cook a meal one dinner or breakfast and (in theory) have food the other meals. But it's still burning man, and people might not show up, or might not do it. Most meals we had, and I was always grateful for what I did eat. It was nice to not have chili and clam chowder every meal like last year. :)

THE MAN

This years theme was "Cargo Cult". I'm not sure what that really means. I had a few people explain various versions to me. In the end, it didn't matter. But it is what led the man to be standing on top of A GIANT FLYING SAUCER!!!! How awesome is that!?!?! It was amazing to see at sunset and you could climb inside it and slide down slides. It pretty much ruled. (If you goto the blog page www.craigotravels.com you can see a picture or two of it).

THE TEMPLE

Pyramids. 5 Pyramids. Power. Strength. For me this was no temple of sorrow or death. It was something else. However, for many others the death and sorrow were there. There are tales of this years temple I will put in another email...

THE CITY

Black Rock City. It was fun to be back. It did sort of feel like "home". People welcome you home when you get there with hugs and smiles. ANd it did feel much more familiar than last year when it was a giant bunch of "What the heck is going on?!?!?" :). This year I knew what was going on... but was still regularly surprised. There were some familiar staples, like the giant fireblasting octopus art car. The shark. The boat. But there were new things like Steam rooms, foam parties and more.

It was really fun to see some of those happy familiar things, but also discover new things. Also, camps and art were in different places. For instance, Crossroads, the great live music camp, was in a different location with a bigger stage. Burning man is always in flux. Everything is temporary after all.

Just like German Language Camp!

THE PLAYA

This is the area outside the "city" blocks. It's where the man sits (or stands or flies), where the temple is and also tons of art and sculptures. Many of which get burned. This year there was a giant Mir space station replica (which burned), a 85 foot tall woman that lit up with different patterns (which didn't burn), and a "forest", where you lay on sheepskin (like) rugs under these waving ribbons of white while ambient music played. It was pretty cool, and apparently a romantic destination, as many folks around me, half hidden in the "trees" were smooching and doing other things you would normally not do in public. :)

BBW!

But that's burning man. Do your thing, whatever it is, as long as it doesn't hurt someone else.

As I said last year, if you're not comfortable with people expressing themselves however they want to, this might not be your best choice for an adventure. That being said, I think everyone could go to burning man and have a great experience. It'll rock you out of your comfort zone, but also let you see things you could never see anywhere else.

A lot of critics of Burning Man have said "Ahh, that's just a place for dirty hippies to get naked and walk around". Or "That's just a place to do drugs and be delinquents". (Yes, I've heard both of these). And though there are definitely naked people walking around, dancing around etc. And there are people doing drugs (more on that in another entry), many of the people that go to burning man are the smartest, most driven folks you could ever meet. THey are CEO's of companies (Mark Zuckerberg anyone?), they are creative, engineers, artists, scientists, cops, movie folks, doctors, dreamers, psycholgists etc etc. It's kind of amazing. It's generally that you don't ask folks what they do in the real world, as it doesn't matter. But it's fun to see these people create things.

Like the Pirate Ship. Which I missed. It was not there this year. It was incredible, and it turns out Bryan (Reno) was one of the folks who worked on it. For months and months. This group of people built this amazing thing (which did not burn). It's awesome to see the drive and creativity.

I'm rambling... more to come.

Burning Man 2013!

38 DAYS LATER

6-5-13

I'm back in LA, back to work, back to writing, back to reorganizing my apartment, working out, running, visiting with friends.

In fact I've been back more than a week now.

Already the trip is fading.

Not permanently, (I'm not senile yet! :), but the intensity of it.

Sure, I look at the photos and peek through my journal and see all the amazing things I did and felt and saw. When I see Alicia back here in LA it's fun to reminisce and think of what we did. We're so fortunate to be able to take trips like this and see the world that is out there.

I wanted to type up a "in conclusion" of the trip. Something that sums up the observations... but it's strange how some of them are probably already lost to time. Still, I'm going to do my best to give some final thoughts on the Southeast Asia Odyssey 2013.

1.  TRAVEL is AWESOME!

If you haven't figured that out yet, I haven't done my job or expressed how I feel. :)

Pick your destination. Buy your ticket. Pack your bag and go.

Trust me, it's possible to find the time. It's possible to have the money. If I can do it, so can you.

It's a matter of prioritizing what's important. If your $5 starbucks a day gives you more joy than a couple weeks in Indonesia, then keep drinking the Starbucks. (By the way, they have those in the touristy spots over there so you won't be left out.:) But that $5/day ads up to a plane ticket very quickly. And the memories of those two weeks will likely be better than that caffeine fix... just a guess.

2. INDONESIAN thoughts

I love Indonesia. I never thought it would rank so highly in the cool places I've visited. Sure I only saw a fraction of the 17,000 islands, but I saw enough to make me love it. From the safe, yet exotic Bali to the wild west of Flores. It's my kind of place. So many things to do, beautiful places to see and wonderful people to meet. You can be as rough and tumble or safe and pampered as you'd like. The price is right, the place is paradise. Go.

3. MALAYSIA thoughts

Who knew? Malaysia is way more modern than I expected. Nice roads. Great food. Wonderful people. It consistantly surprised me at every turn. I would arrive someplace, think "hmmmm, this isn't what I was hoping for" and be 100% on board in less than a day. Every single time.

And the food! Yep, so good. Go. Eat. If you're a foodie you've gotta go there. Yum Yum.

4. And both these places are predominately Islamic.

And no I didn't feel unsafe. No there were no "terrorists" lurking at every corner. No Islam does not make one evil.

It baffles me from both sides of this stupid battle between Islam and Christianity. The religion does not make one evil, or close minded, or violent or radical. It's the people who choose to use religion as their war cry. Neither of these religions preach murder. And every time I visit these wonderful places with wonderful people who might believe something different than me I am grateful to see their faith. To see that they care so much about what they believe in.

And it was really interesting to see how each country embraced it differently. In Indonesia it seems like they don't just do the call to prayer 5 times a day over the loud speakers. They do the whole prayer! 20-30 minutes. I heard far fewer calls in Malaysia. In fact there was a heavy blending of religions there. Even though the country is official Muslim, all religions are welcome. Believe what you want.

Isn't that how it should be?

5. SINGAPORE thoughts

With only the 1 day it's hard to say I really saw Singapore. It was a great experience since I've heard so much about Singapore and how clean it is (true) and how many rules it has (also true) and how many strange laws they have (also true. No gum. No Urinating in Lifts. No this. No that). But again. Nice people. Sure it's a big city and things are moving along rapidly. But it was a fascinating mix of different cultures (Chinese, Singapore, Indian). And of course, having a friend there to show me around made it even more awesome. Friendship around the world. That's a great reason to travel too.

6. HONG KONG thoughts

Love it. New York meets Asia. Energy. Excitement. I love the weather: bring me a thunderstorm any day. The harbor is amazing. The trains rules. And Disneyland. Oh yeah. And I barely saw a fraction of it. So much more to see. I'll enjoy catching up on my Hong Kong cinema now that I've been.

7. Food.

Did I mention the food on this trip was amazing? I'm not a foodie. I don't get all googly-eyed over food. But damn, this was a tasty place to eat. So many types: Indonesian, Balinese, Lombok-ian, Malay, Indian, Chinese, Dim-Sum, Indian, Western, Indian... did I mention how good the Indian food was? :)

8.  Perspective

Every time I travel I like to get out of my comfort zone. (Leeches, here I come!).

I think it's important, I'd even say critical to my life.  And honestly for everyone's lives, to get out of our comfort zone.

It's easy for people to have their worlds shrink. Mine can. If I'm in LA to long I'll lose some of my gusto. Some of my free spirit. I think it's just part of how human beings are wired. If we aren't getting out there, seeing and doing new things, then what we will be OK tends to become less and less. I'm not saying we'll get in fights or run away in fear if something new happens. But we'll shrink away. We'll choose the comfortable path. I know I do it. I doubt I'm alone in this.

So getting out to see the world is my way of forcing myself to expand. To open up to all the amazing things the world has to offer. To interact with people that I might shy away from in normal life. Sure, there were times on this trip that I was uncomfortable. That boat ride with 25 people. The first afternoon I was not feeling it. I knew it was going to be cramped and their was no place to sit and chill... but a strange thing happened. By the 2nd, and 3rd and 4th day I was suddenly fine. It was okay to be in such close quarters with people. Sure, there were times with a bit of annoyance or need for space. But it's awesome how I could find my own space when there wasn't any. How we got comfortable being right on top of each other. Sure, by the end of it I wanted to get the heck off the boat, but now I know that I will be fine if I'm in such close quarters with people.

And the leeches. The jungle. The nasty.

It was dirty. Wet. Stinky. Awesome.

Very quickly the jungle makes you it's bitch. And being able to adapt in that environment was great. If I'd had another day I think I really would have gotten comfortable with that level of uncomfort. :) Yes, it's nice to have a perfectly climate controlled house and car and have everything clean and a shower. But its surprising how important dry feet become when that's all you can get. Just dry feet. It's good to be aware of how little I need to be happy...

That's always a great lesson I learn and relearn. When I'm backpacking I have so little with me. So few clothes, so few items. I always, on every trip, feel like I have too much stuff. When I'm packing I think "I'll need this and that and this and that", but once I've got my See Legs and am on my way, I think I could get by with half the items. And I only have a small bag to begin with. :)

Maybe travel isn't your way to find perspective. Maybe you like to cook, or draw, or play sports, or meditate, or... But listing off all those things. None of them do for me what Travel does. Not even close.

So I will urge you to try it. Push you even. Do it. Get out there. Don't be afraid. And if you are... face your fear down. Stare it in the eye and tell that fear to kiss off. Your confidence will grow. Your heart will grow. Your mind will grow. YOU will grow.

See what you're made out of. Likely you'll be surprised.

This is Craig Ouellette,

Last surviving member of the Nostromo

Signing off.

Flores.

TALES OF THE HONG KONG SIX

 May 29, 2013

Hong Kong.

Two words:  Hong Kong. Two more words: Kick ass.

I spent 3 1/2 days and Hong Kong. It's an amazing city. So full of energy and people and passion and rain and business and harbors and mountains and skyscrapers. It's like New York, Asian style. The people are great. The location is amazing. Top notch.

DAY 1:

I took the train in from the airport, past more skyscrapers than I've maybe seen anywhere but New York. Given that land is VERY expensive, they build up here. Way up. The 4th or 5th tallest building in the world is here. 118 floors tall. And there's a bar at the top (it is the Ritz Carlton after all) and the it felt like stepping out of an airplane to go out there. It's amazing. And it's located across Victoria Harbor from Hong Kong proper so you get the view of the city and mountains. It's also conveniently Feng Shui from the building across the Harbor (which Batman jumped off of in The Dark Knight) and makes a door across the harbor (or a window, I was confused which one).

When I got to my Hostel, the Yesinn Causeway Bay (which I highly recommend of you're going to HK), I met the first of the Hong Kong 6. Anne and Toby. Dutch and English. And both kick ass cool. We clicked right away, and as we all were planning on going to see the Light / Laser / Sound show that night, we headed out together. We gathered Anton (from Slovakia), AJ (England) and Kevin (Venice, California... yep). We headed out, grabbed some food (which is super cheap in HK. Go figure. I thought it would be really expensive, but it was easy to eat for US $5-7 and have a lot of tasty food.).

On our way across the harbor we stopped at 7-11 (everywhere in HK) and got beers. HK$12 for 2 big cans. That's a buck fifty US. And you can drink on the street. Hell, you can drink anywhere (almost). So in a festive mood we took the Star Ferry across the harbor. It's been running for over 100 years and gives you some amazing views of the city. People were gathered on the waterfront for the Light show. It's the largest permanent one on earth. 40 buildings have dancing lights to music. People say it's cool. But what's that? Is that lightning flashing over the city?

And is that rain starting to fall? Lots of it?

Yep. People scattered and ran below the covered promenade, but not us crazy travelers. We danced in the rain and watched the real light show. Mother Nature blasted lightning all over. Thunder rolled and boomed. The city vanished in sheets of rain. It. Was. Epic.

Me being me, I was the last one out in the rain and it was a blast to just dance and cheer every time a lightning bolt crashed. Bring it!

I got a kick ass photo which you will see below, and Anton actually got a pic of a lightning bolt!!!!!

From here we explored, hit the night market, ate, played music on my new mini-speaker, sang and laughed. It was a great combo of people who all got along. The energy was high. Fast friends were made. It was really great.

Four of us continued to the party area and danced in bars in Lan Kwai Fong and on the street to 50's and 60's music. A good night. Fun people all around. And it's a Monday.

The Hong Kong Six!

DAY 2: Big Buddha Baby.

 Anton and I headed to the Big Buddha today despite the torrential rains in the morning. They cleared up and we were able to climb the 200+ steps to the largest outdoor sitting buddha in the world. (There are a lot of specific records when it comes to Buddhas :). 

We ate at the monestary on the hilltop. It is on Lantau Island which is also home of the airport, fishing villages and Hong Kong Disneyland. Booyah! The best part is the cable car which runs to and from the mountain top. The weather was no good going, so we had to take a bus, but on the way out we were able to do the 25 minute ride. We chose the "Crystal Coach" and rode in a cable car with a clear floor! Talk about vertigo. It was super cool and really bizarre.

 

After a nap I was going to meet Anton to hit Tim Ho Wan Dim Sum. Though we didn't see any other of the Hong Kong 6, we gathered a new member, Valentina (German). Super cool gal doing her first solo backpacking trip through Thailand, HK, Shanghai and Bejing. I remember my first solo trip, also in Southeast Asia. It's where it begins for many I think.

We found the Dim Sum place. Just in time too. Order up. HOLY CRAP IT'S GOOD.

I mean. WOW. WOW. Yummy wow. It's Michelin star rated... and cost us less than US$10 for 4-5 items each.

Best bargain meal on the planet!

Valentina and the heavenly Dim Sum

We grabbed some 7-11 beers and hit Victoria park at 10pm. Sat on the playground. Danced in yet another rain storm. And talked about travel, life, meaning, destiny and more sitting under a small gazebo as the rain fell, and stopped. Fell and stopped. Over and over.

Finally we head back to the hostel and Valentina and I went to the roof. We sat under the tarp as the skies opened up with rain. The lightning blasted everywhere. I don't think I've seen that much lightning since being a kid in Texas. We were surrounded by much taller buildings my friends, so we weren't lightning rods. But man, that was a hell of a lightning storm. Some bolts must've hit the buildings next door because the blast was instant and deafening. Mother nature is giving quite the show!

DAY 3: Museums, Horse Races and more dancing

I was solo most of the day. The Hong Kong 6 is leaving in pieces. In truth we only all hung out one night, but it was epic fun. Anne is off to Nepal to trek with her mom. (That's right parents, you don't have to pass up on traveling just cause you're getting older! ;). Anton is taking off for Thailand, I think. Toby's going to Tokyo. I'm heading to the walk of fame and museums.

Yep, Hong Kong has a walk of fame just like Hollywood. It should, being the "Hollywood of the east". Stars and handprints along a promenade. A statue of Bruce Lee. The difference is, It's right on the fricking harbor with views of the city! Take that LA! :)

Me Directing in Hong Kong! Sweet!

That's Jackie Chan!

The history museum had a fantastic and exhaustive exhibit about the history of HK. Which is exactly what I wanted.

Then I hit that 118th floor bar at Sunset. Nice.

Happy Valley Race Course is next. Apparently horse racing is BIG TIME in HK. It's the only legal gambling. It was fun to go to, but the fact that we have horse racing in LA made it not exactly unique. Still, I was able to find AJ of the Hong Kong 6 and hang out with him and his friends for the night. We started here...

... and headed to Wan Chai for more bars, more dancing, more drinking and more fun. Going out in HK is way fun because people are friendly. It's not as isolated as going to clubs in LA where everyone's trying so hard to be cool that no one actually is. People were friendly, open to dancing and super nice. Some travelers, some students, some locals, some prostitutes. Wait, what? Some, you mean MANY. More so here than Lan Kwai Fong. One bar I walked into and thought... "hmmm, I think 90% of the women in here are looking for some business". To answer some folks questions: No, not for me. Guess it is for someone, and it's always amusing to navigate the streets as a solo guy in those areas. It's straight out of Full Metal Jacket: Me love you long time.

DAY 4: The last day of my trip and I'm going to Disneyland!

I was going to go to Victoria Peak. You have to do it. The views are amazing. Or so I heard. I never made it up there.

It was often in clouds and I was going to go, then thought: Nope. Disney bitches.

A 25 minute train ride to the Happiest (sort of ) place on earth.

I had a blast. I was skipping with excitement when I got there. It's the Mickey Tram! It's Main Street USA! It's Space Mountain!

From this angle you can't see the jungle mountains behind the castle

The whole place is about 2/3rds the size of the Annaheim Disneyland, and has about that percentage of rides. But it was a blast. It's cheaper too. It was fun to see the differences: All signs are in English, Cantonese and Mandarin. Any tours, like the Jungle Cruise, with a tour guide, you had to choose your language. Space Mountain was cool, as always, though not as good as LA. The Haunted Mansion here is completely different, it's called Mystic Point and has a story to it with a Balinese music box. I wish I'd done that one twice. The lines were short. And I think many of the folks there had never been to an amusement park before. It was funny how complicated it was to get in line and wait for your seats. People had to be told multiple times how it all worked. And in all honestly, I bet a lot of folks haven't been to them. I grew up with Six Flags, but I bet a mainland Chinese person wouldn't have access to amusement parks like I did. Hopefully they loved it.

To end the trip... Pub Crawl.

Yep, socializing again! Lots of travelers. Lots of cool people. Gangnam style: yep. Pitbull: yep. And Kevin! Of the HK6. Ran into him and got to hang out again. It was great!

The best part was coming out of one of the bars and people were dancing on the street to Party Rock Anthem. Just bumping. And this 75 year old Chinese guy was grooving. We were all cheering and dancing and celebrating a fantastic 38 days in Southeast Asia. Okay, maybe not everyone, but I was. What a trip! What a way to end it!

Everyday I'm shuffelin'!

CraigO

PS: One more email to come...

Street dance party!

A TASTE OF SINGAPORE

May 24, 2013

Singapore.

City. Country.

40km wide by 20km tall.

4.5 million people.

24 hours.

Let's do this.

I arrived by train after 15 hours of travel from Taman Nagara National Park in Malaysia. (I will fly home from Hong Kong in less time. :). But honestly, it was a well needed day off from traveling. Yes I was traveling, but I was able to mostly zone out on the boat, bus and train. Just enjoy the scenery. Write in my journal. Think of all the great things that have happened, and the few things I regret not doing. And also laughing at my complete misread of a certain situation that will make for great comedy in a movie someday.

The best place to be when the AC went out... and even when it didn't.

But for now: Singapore.

I took a cab from the train depot because it was 11:45pm. Had to hit the ATM. Grab some food since there was only snacks on the train. Yikes! The ride was going to cost about 20 Singapore $. But at midnight he said: "Now there's a 50% up charge for after midnight". Then there was another surcharge for something else. In fact, that's a joke of Singapore cabs is that there are always surcharges on surcharges.

It's all good. Check in, head to bed. For tomorrow...

I'm up and out and ready to go. it's Sunday, so few things are open to eat at for breakfast. Thus, I go for Starbucks. Yep, I'm in an international city now. In fact I've noticed and accepted that what makes a "world city" a "world city" is that it has Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC, Nike Stores and on and on. The first world of consumerism is what makes the first world I think.

I walked along the riverfront and thought: I'm in Chicago... with buildings on only one side. :)

It's a great place. The people are nice. The energy is good. It is indeed as clean as you think Singapore would be. There are FINES for everything. In fact it's a big joke that Singapore is a "Fine" city. Smoking: S$1000. Jaywalking: S$500. Urinating in Lifts: $5000. (I bought a magnet that said that. It's so specific). In the end this makes the place safe and easy to travel in and really doesn't affect tourists much.

I saw the MerLion. Yep. Half fish/ Half Lion statue on the bay. There were dragon boat races. I went to the Science/Art museum and they had a LEGO SCULPTURE exhibit! Called "Art of the Brick". So I had to check it out. Some really moving pieces, which is strange since it's Legos. But it was cool. I wanted to buy the one called GRASP. It has a life size red man pulling away from six grey arms holding him back from his goals and dreams.

GRASP

UNDERNEATH

After a brief view of one of the many botanical gardens and the casino I hopped a train to meet up with Jeremy.

Jeremy is a friend I met in Zanzibar in 2008. We hung out with a few other folks for 4 hours total. But we kept in touch and now we get to reconnect in Singapore. And I have to say, having him as a tour guide and friend really made the day special and wonderful. I got to see things I never would have without him. To enjoy food and places I wouldn't have seen. It was a really great way to see the city and learn about it, as well as learn about his life growing up here and his family. Very cool.

First stop: Eating.

Real Singapore food this time. :)

A curry with all sorts of stuff that we got a food court. This used to be all about Hawker stalls (which ironically in Singapore they can't "hawk" their wares anymore, but they still have places with hundreds of them you can walk around in). It was great.

We checked out the History museum which had a piece about Singapore cinema.

Then to Little India. Which, is well, full of Indian restaurants, markets and foods. We wandered a wet market, filled with fresh fish and slaughterhouse stalls where you could just pick the piece of meat you wanted. We stopped into a place and ate some south Indian bread and sauces. Yep, meal number 2.

His parents live nearby, so we went up to their 30+ floor flat. Said hi. They were super nice. The view was amazing from up there. It's such a different way of growing up than what I had. Many folks in Singapore live in Public housing, and unlike the USA where that often meant "The Projects" and bad news. In Singapore it's normal and really one of the few ways you can afford a place to live. A house with a yard would be multiple millions for a tiny place. The view from their place was great and they pointed out all the buildings that would be gone in a few years and new ones being built. Jeremy says most of the places he used to go as a kid are gone now, rebuilt and changed into something else.

To Sim Sim building (shoot, I forgot the name). It's a building where you can buy electronics. Like 10 floors of them. Shops on shops on shops. Back in the day there would be a lot of pirated and fake stuff. But now it's all legitimate, and other than Apple products, they're at great prices.

On to Chinatown. The sun has set and we wander a very touristy street, with a market. But then we hit hawker stall heaven. It was hot and noisy and people were eating tasty food and snacks all over. We had bbq stingray, and a traditional clay pot rice with chicken and veggies and soup. And this nasty ass salted fish that I don't recommend. Jeremy hates it too, so we took it out.

The best part was just talking and learning about the politics, the history, the people of Singapore. How it was part of Malaysia and got kicked out. How the founder and first leader was a lawyer, thus all the laws. Also a hard ass. How crime is very low, but it does exist. The death penalty for anything involving drugs is always carried out and never negotiable. The casino costs 100 S$ if you're local, but free for tourists (though you need an ID). How he used to race dragon boats and did so on the river to cheering crowds. He's got a little boy and a wife and how life is with them. It was fabulous.

Off to the Marina Bay rooftop bar for a view of the city. And conversation with a Kiwi couple traveling. They spoke of swimming with whale sharks and touching them and it nearly made me cry. Man I want to do that.

A long walk back to the hostel along the lit up bay brought the day to an end. A fabulous time. Thanks Jeremy.

Rock on Singapore.

CraigO

PS: For all my gamer friends. They have a SETTLERS CAFE. It was closed when I walked past, but they have an entire WALL of board games. Floor to ceiling. You can play anything you want, have drinks. It's rad. If I'd have had more time, I would have traded some wheat for wool and rolled some 12 sided dice!