An Ode to Life on the Road

I have now been wandering across our planet for almost 6 months and life on the road now feels more like home than my actual home. It's become a comfortable routine where the only constant is change. I have lost all sense of the day of the week because it no longer makes any difference whether it is Wednesday or Saturday to me. It seems like a good time to reflect back on some of the experiences that go on behind the scenes of my journey. There is so much to write about when everyday is some sort of new adventure that a lot of the details slip through the cracks because I don't have the space to mention them.

My Backpack

There is something so satisfying about being able to carry your entire life around on your back. I love the simplicity and freedom of having everything I need to survive fit in one red bag, but as with anything there is another side to the equation. With long term travel it is a constant battle to prevent the size of your bag from growing. This means no souvenirs and always searching for the elusive perfect packing strategy.

?The travel questions?

For anyone who has spent some time on the backpacking circuit the below questions form the beginnings of most of your conversations when meeting fellow travelers:

1. Where are you from? (Followed by, is it cold in Canada?)
2. How long have you been traveling?
3. Where have you been?
4. Where are you going next?
5. What is your job?

These questions are a necessary evil, but answering them over and over gets tiresome which is why I was caught completely off guard by my friend James' question recently. It is the most brilliant travel question I have ever been asked. The answer is easy to give, it is just a number, but this one number reveals something of your personality and leads to copious discussion and laughter. In James' years of posing the question to people of all ages and nationalities he has had answers range from 2 to 23. The Engineer in me immediately wanted to begin doing statistical analysis on the results by age, gender and nationality, but James thought that would be taking things a little too far. The question is simply this, "How many pairs of underwear are you traveling with?" In case your mind has immediately leaped to the next logical level of curiosity my number is three.

Laundry

Keeping your clothes clean while constantly being on the move can become a bit of a logistical nightmare. Traveling is dirty and with limited wardrobe choices many mornings the choice of what to wear is made not by what is clean, but instead by which article of clothing is the least dirty. Finding a place to do proper laundry isn't always an option which means buckling down and doing it the old fashioned way, by hand. I have washed my clothes in sinks, bathtubs, showers, buckets and at the local village tap. I have used everything from shampoo and body wash to bars of soap to laundry detergent as a means of cleaning. I am at the point now where my clothes are so ingrained with dirt that I can wash and rinse them 3 times and the water still comes out dirty. At the last major city we stopped in my laundry situation was so dire that I literally washed the clothes I was wearing and put them back on while they were still wet. On the plus side though there is no greater feeling than pulling on a clean shirt and inhaling the amazing odor of soap. It is a fleeting moment, but it always brings a little bit more happiness to your day.

The Rollercoaster

Traveling can be a crazy experience which means the things that happen to you, both the positive and negative, are amplified. When you find yourself in an amazing location or have some interesting encounter with another person you often feel overwhelmingly happy. It is an intense high and for me the telltale sign is when I find myself smiling to myself even if no one else is around. It is elusive and you can't force it, but those moments are what makes travel addictive.

With those highs though you also have to take the lows that can be crushing at times. The worst for me is saying goodbye. Due to the nature of travel the friendships you make on the road are formed quickly and because you typically spend a lot of time together in abnormal situations you can get to know someone on a very personal level in a very short time. It is inevitable that at some point you will have to part ways with that person and saying goodbye is a gut wrenching horrible experience that can leave you with feeling down for a few days. You have to take solace in the fact that if you are lucky maybe some day your travel paths will cross again.

Living out of a backpack may not be for everyone, but for me it has been one of the best decisions I have made and I can't wait to see what is waiting for me a little further down the road...

Famous in China

Have you ever wanted to experience what it is like to be a famous movie star? To walk the streets and have people flashing photos of you wherever you go? I have one simple piece of advice for you, go to China. The more remote and smaller the place the better for your new leap into the spotlight. I am fairly certain I have had my photo taken by complete strangers more times in the last six weeks of travel in China and Tibet than I have taken of myself in the last six months of travel. As with any celebrity there are two types of photos that I now experience on a regular basis, the paparazzi picture and the fan picture. Each is special in its own way and with almost everyone carrying a camera in the form of a cell phone you never know when and where your next photo op will be.

The paparazzi photo typically consists of someone trying to covertly take your photo without you noticing. It is usually fairly obvious and the trick is to turn and flash them a knowing grin just as they click the picture so that they know that you know. This then leads to embarrassed laughter and a friendly wave before you each continue on your way. Fortunately the blatant camera shoved in your face maneuver is fairly rare.

My favorite by far though is the fan picture. Normally it stems from one person in a group of people getting up the nerve to come over and motion that they would like to take a picture. Once you nod yes your arm is immediately grabbed or an arm is slung over your shoulder as if you are a long lost best friend and a picture is taken. Once you have taken a picture with one person you are obliged to take a photo with the others in the group as well.

One of the unspoken rules of this fandom is that if you are walking with a friend and only one of you is grabbed for a photo shoot it is completely acceptable for the other person to strand you in order to save themselves. It's every man for himself in the celebrity world, but usually even if you initially manage to sneak away you will just end up in a later picture.

There have been a couple of memorable photo experiences along the way for me. One happened at a highway rest stop where two lady janitors stopped me outside the washroom to ask for a photo. The lady that took the photo with me was very shy, but had a huge smile on her face and seemed genuinely excited. Another was when I was stopped in the middle of a museum and obligingly posed for a photo with a man who was holding my arm so tightly that I couldn't move even an inch away for him.

My favorite experience by far though occurred in a small run down town in the no-man's land between Tibet and China. We stopped to eat lunch, but it was clearly a place that had not seen much tourist traffic. My friend Ines and I entered the restaraunt about a minute behind the rest of the group and the scene when we opened the door to this tiny restaraunt was pure pandemonium. Two huge groups of people were surrounding our two tour leaders and photos were being taken from all directions. As we burst out laughing at the chaos of the scene we too were swallowed up in the crowds for a number of photos.

I always feel a little bit sorry for the people who take their photos with me. I am always in my dirty scrubby travel clothes and everyone I take a photo with is far more put together, but I guess when you are a celebrity that is OK. In any case it is normally a mutually fun interaction so I will enjoy my 15 minutes of fame while I can.

Tibet Part 2

With the fun part of the journey in Tibet discussed it is now time to move on to the more difficult topic of Chinese control of the region. As most of you probably already know the issue of Tibet is extremely complicated. In 1959 the Chinese government began a cultural revolution in which Tibet was invaded. Many people were killed and monasteries, temples and anything to do with religion was obliterated. The Dalai Lama and many of the highest officials have since fled to India where they maintain a government in exile. China has claimed Tibet as part of its country and has set about through a number of programs over the years to destroy the Tibetan culture. 55 years later the issue of Tibet is still extremely sensitive to the Chinese government as will become evident below.

Traveling in Tibet is a completely different experience than anywhere else in the world I have visited. Despite having been before and knowing what to expect it still took some time to get used to the sheer amount of control. All foreigners must get a special permit to travel in Tibet and must be with a guide and in a private vehicle. We were free to move around within the cities we stayed in, but all of our highway travel had to be done together with our group.

Our adventures in control started immediately as we spent an entire day waiting outside the Chinese border building for our truck to get cleared through the mountain of red tape. Before officially entering Tibet we all had our luggage searched. The number one contraband item the border officials seem to be searching for? Lonely Planet brand guidebooks.

The entire series of Lonely Planet books, a staple among world travelers is banned I suspect for two reasons:

1. There is a guidebook that is titled Tibet which implies it is a separate area from China
2. In the Tibet guidebook the Dalai Lama himself has written a foreword urging people to travel to Tibet and share their experiences with the rest of the world.

My group was able to smuggle in several contraband guidebooks which we subsequently ensured stayed hidden from view at all police and military checkpoints. Other items that are banned include anything showing the Tibetan flag and images of the Dalai Lama.

Finally having entered Tibet we soon fell into a routine of driving between destinations and passing through countless checkpoints where our passports and group documents were checked. There were days where we were required to stop 3 or 4 times at both police and military checkpoints.

The cities we visited were crawling with military, police officers and small police/military outposts. In Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, there was literally a police station every 3 blocks and when I wandered off the main streets into a residential area there were even outposts in these areas. Many of these stations had riot shields and other gear prominently displayed outside of the doors. One lady in our group who is Chinese told me that one of the signs above the police station had a slogan about Communism freeing the Tibetan slaves.

Our arrival in Lhasa coincided with a large Buddhist festival and this meant the police and military presence was even stronger than normal. As I wandered among the main sites where people were gathered I saw SWAT teams carrying machine guns patrolling amongst the crowds, police officers stationed on pedestrian bridges and at random points along the streets. Along the loop that pilgrims were walking around the Potala Palace there were groups of 5 police officers all in aviator sunglasses and all facing outwards from each other stationed every 100m or so. The show of force is so ridiculous as you are walking amongst the most peaceful congregation of people you can imagine.
Just to get into the areas where the festival was taking place I had to pass through metal detectors and bag scanners like at the airport. I also noticed that the Tibetans seemed to have to show ID and have their names registered on a list.

The other common sight was orange jumpersuit clad fire extinguisher teams. These teams of 2 to 8 people patrol around holy sights under the guise of protecting the buildings, but I think the sad truth is that they are there to prevent people from setting themselves of fire in protest of Chinese occupation. News of these incidences has leaked out into the international media despite Chinese efforts to keep them covered up in the past years and they seem keen to not have any more media attention.

In the first monastery we visited our Tibetan guide asked us not to ask him any questions about certain sensitive topics while we were inside the monastery buildings. He explained that the Chinese government has certain monks in its employ who will report back if guides talk about banned topics.

One of the more bizarre episodes I witnessed occurred when I was wandering around a giant square across from the Potala Palace. It is a nice park setting with families out enjoying the outdoors, but in one corner there were about 100 Chinese soldiers split into different groups practicing army drills in full gear. One group was learning to launch what I can only assume was tear gas or gernades by lobbing empty plastic water bottles. Another group was marching with guns and practicing quick turns and positioning while yet another group was practicing tackling and takedown maneuvers. I am assuming the final group was just goofing around, but they seemed to be doing handstands and laughing a lot. Even more interesting was the reaction of the Tibetans who like me also seemed to be trying to make sense of the display. Many were smiling and laughing and I can only hope they found the entire episode as ridiculous as I did. I can't begin to imagine what it must be like to have these shows of force and control constantly flaunted in front of you.

The massive displays continued as we left Lhasa and we would pass several convoys a day each consisting of hundreds of army trucks. I can't fathom what so many vehicles could be required for, but we saw them heading both in and out of Tibet.

The final strange sight along the road out of Lhasa was lone soldiers in tents stationed along the railway tracks that parallel the highway and lead all the way to Beijing. I couldn't get a straight answer as to why they were there from our guides. We had one particularly funny encounter when we drove by one lone soldier who we caught in squatting position with his pants around his ankles. The dirt pile he had chosen as a toilet wasn't quite big enough to obscure the view of 19 people on our truck from seeing him.

Having now been out of Tibet for some time it has become evident that the control is not the same in the rest of country. There are no more checkpoints and I haven't seen any sort of military presence. Seeing all of these things in Tibet left me feeling angry and sad, but I take solace in the fact that despite such horrible and heavy handed control the Tibetan culture is continuing to survive. I think the Tibetan people have proven that force is not a solution and I truly hope that some day a peaceful resolution can be found.

Tibet Part 1

Time has been flying and all of a sudden another month of my travels is completed. For the last four weeks I have been traveling with my 19 new overlanding friends through Tibet and into China. I have been struggling to find the best way to share my experiences due to the sheer volume of things to talk about. My emotions during my time in Tibet continually seesawed between the highs of the stunning scenery and amazing people to the lows of witnessing a culture that is struggling to save itself from destruction. In order to fully do justice to both sides I am going to split my writing into two posts. First, the stunning scenery and wonderful people I met along the way.

My mode of travel for the last month has been a Tata transport truck named Daisy that has been converted to carry passengers and all the gear required to turn the remotest piece of land into a fully equipped camp. My fellow passengers were an awesome mix of 19 people of all ages, from all over the world. Our truck was run by two Brits, Helen and Matt. They drove the truck, performed repairs on the side of the road, kept us on schedule and made up plans on the fly when things went horribly wrong. We were also joined by a Chinese guide and a Tibetan guide who dealt with the mountains of red tape, helped us to communicate with the locals and toured us around the local sites.

Our journey began by crossing the Friendship bridge that connects Nepal to Tibet and then climbing endlessly upwards out of the river valley and onto the Tibetan plateau. The entire Tibetan plateau is situated at extreme altitudes so we spent our three weeks there battling the lack of oxygen and extreme swings in temperature. The scenery of Tibet is among my favorite in the entire world. Barren plains and hills with massive Himalayan mountains towering in the background set against the intense blue skies and rolling clouds. I could stare out the window for hours and never tire of the constantly changing backdrop.

Among the many highlights of the journey was visiting Mount Everest. On the Nepalese side it took me 12 days to walk to the base of the mountain. In Tibet it took one day of getting jostled around in the back of the truck on a rough gravel road and a one hour walk to reach the mountain. The scenery along the way was spectacular with snow capped peaks all around. We had a perfectly unobstructed view of Everest itself and as an added bonus we slept near the mountain in big tents heated by a central stove.

Tibet was full of stunning sunsets and my favorite nights were the couple of nights we pulled off the road in remote areas and camped. The nights were freezing and I awoke with thick layers of frost on my tent in the mornings, but the experience of the landscape far outweighed being a little bit cold. Our camps were always a source of interest for the locals and many would stop and check out what we were doing before continuing their journeys.

The other great part of Tibet is the people. It is so relieving to see the degree to which the Tibetan people have maintained their identity despite years and years of policies to destroy it. You can be in the middle of a modern city, but still see people in traditional dress with their hair braided and wearing these beautiful embroidered felt boots. We visited a number of monasteries and temples where people bring offerings of butter and money. There are monstrous cauldrons full of butter with wicks burning inside. The monks are constantly having to scoop butter out to keep the cauldrons from overflowing. Around the perimeters of most monasteries you will find huge groups of people walking clockwise loops called a Kora. One of my favorite things to do in Tibet was to join these walks and just experience the atmosphere. It is always peaceful with only the sound of prayer beads that everyone seems to carry clicking and then low hum of people singing mantras. The Tibetan people are incredibly friendly and even though there weren't many people who spoke English we could always share a huge smile.

When we arrived in Lhasa there was a big festival going on so there were literally thousands of people performing Koras. There are even people that do the route completely by prostration, i.e. laying your body flat to the ground, get up, take on step and repeat. A truly amazing site. Our guides told us that all foreigners were banned from the main places where the festival was taking place, but suspecting that this wasn't true I went anyways. The result was that I wandered around with not a single westerner in site for most of the day and got to experience the festival celebrations alone. These are the kinds of experiences where you just happen to be at the right place at the right time that make traveling so special.

My favorite experience of the trip stemmed from an untimely truck breakdown at a pass that was 5400m high. We were due to spend the night camping about an hour up the road at a much lower altitude. Since the truck couldn't be fixed immediately our leaders decided we would stay where we were and make the best of the situation. We really couldn't have asked for a more beautiful spot to break down with rolling hills and a lake nearby. As we got our camp set up having to carry all the gear down the steep road embankment a hail and snow storm rolled in enveloping us in its wrath. This sent most people on the truck into various states of panic so our Chinese guide managed to arrange for our group to sleep at a nearby teahouse instead of in our tents. Slowly people started hitching rides back to the tea house until there were only five of us left to stay behind with the truck and wait as our leaders tried to change out a fuel injector pump that had no seemingly logical way to be removed.

We had to repack up the entire camp in the cold miserable weather and haul all the gear back up the steep hill to the truck. Normally this would be a simple task, but at 5400m we were all gasping for breath. Then once it was dark and without any progress with the removal defeat had to be admitted. We were able to negotiate with a minibus driver who had an empty bus to take us back to the teahouse. Ten people that didn't want to spend the night at altitude then set out with the minibus driver for an all night drive to the next town where we were due to arrive the next day anyways. With all of the unhappiest people gone there was ten of us left at the teahouse and we had a great evening together laughing at our predicament. We all slept crammed in one room that had some beds, but not enough for everyone. Every inch of the room was covered by a body as we worked out the logistics of sleeping arrangements.

The next morning we returned to our truck and cooked breakfast on the road while we waited for some mechanics to drive 200km from the closest town. By 2pm the truck was finally fixed and we set off on what turned out to be a 16 hour ordeal to get to our next destination. We drove through the bitterly cold night with no heat in the back of the truck and arrived at our hotel at 6am the next morning.

When I finally got into the hotel room I didn't even open my backpack.
I crashed straight into the bed and didn't even bother to change out of my filthy thermal layers that I had been wearing for two straight days and nights. It is sort of strange to count a truck breakdown ad your best experience, but I guess that is the fun of overland travel. You have no idea what is going to happen from one minute to the next.

Our 6am arrival also coincided with us hitting our first Chinese city so I will save my stories of China for a different post. Due to the rocky relationship between China and Google I cannot use any of my Google applications while in China which means I can't upload any photos for awhile unfortunately.

Rhinos, Whitewater and Motorcycle Riding Owls

As my final days in Nepal continue to dwindle away it is time to recount my travels over the last couple of weeks. My first stop was to visit the jungle in Chitwan National park in the south of Nepal. My journey started off on sketchy footing when I was asked by the guy who I booked the trip through to transport a box of "sweets" to his colleagues in Chitwan. Every horror story I have ever heard of tourists becoming unsuspecting drug mules started flashing through my mind. Not wanting a stint in Nepali jail to become a part of my travel experience I politely declined.

Arriving in Chitwan I was greeted by the blasting 40 degree Celsius tropical humid heat. It is places like these that renew my appreciation for the Canadian winter. I scored a room with air conditioning which is the only thing that made sleep possible for me. The only problem being the unreliable electricity meant having to for the power to come on for the room to cool down.

My arrival in Chitwan also coincided with my first bout of the dreaded stomach bug that always catches up with you at some point when traveling. Fortunately, the magic red antibiotic pill had me feeling better in less than 24 hours, but not before puking my guts out in the resort parking lot in front of all the hotel staff.

My favorite part of my visit to Chitwan was a full day jungle walk that I went on with a guide and his assistant. The jungle in this area is home to rhinos, tigers, elephants and numerous other creatures. The heavy wooden sticks my two guides carried did not make me feel a whole lot safer. We wandered through the grass and forests looking for animals. My guide had an incredible ability to spot rhinos from the slightest movement in the bushes. We watched a couple of rhinos foraging in the bush making sure we stayed upwind so they wouldn't smell us. It is an eerie feeling having nothing separating you from such massive animals. Especially when they start crashing through the bush and you see their true strength and speed. We had one moment of excitement when we were walking along a path and all of the sudden we heard a very loud snort come from the brush beside us. I saw a brief glimpse of fear on my guide's face as we all turned and ran back the way we had come. We had a good laugh once we were a safe distance away, but I think it got everyone's heart beating. Later we found a great spot on the edge of a riverbank and were watching a couple of rhinos cooling off in the water below. We could hear rhinos fighting in the distance and all of the sudden clouds of dust appeared as two rhinos burst out onto a plain across the river o e chasing the other. My guide made me climb up the nearest tree as a safety precaution in case the chase continued up to where we were. It was fascinating watching all of the action. A really incredible day. My jungle experience was rounded out by seeing huge crocodiles on the river bank, monkeys, a wild elephant and numerous birds.

After sweating it out in the jungle it was time to cool off by taking a four day whitewater kayaking course. This definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone as the first thing my instructor did was flip me upside down. As water rushed in through my nose I realized it was going to be a tough four days. Being trapped upside in a kayak does not fall into my category of fun activities. Along with another Canadian and an American I spent four days building up my skills on progressively bigger rapids. It was refreshing spending our days in the water and I swallowed more than my fair share of dirty river water. I got close to learning to roll the kayak back up while upside down, but never quite got the kayak all the way up. The rapids were fun and after tipping over a few times I was comfortable ejecting from the seat and riding my water logged kayak back to the shore. After the final day my body was completely destroyed. Every muscle hurt and I had bruises all over my shins from panicking while trapped upside down.

It was one last final bus ride back to Kathmandu with a baby goat nestled at a woman's feet on the bus before saying goodbye to traveling solo for the next 10 weeks and joining up on a group tour. My itinerary for the next 70 days involves driving from Kathmandu through Tibet and China and finally ending up in Mongolia. It is going to be quite the journey as there will be a mixture of camping and hotels with a group of 19 other people. Over the past few days I have been getting to know everyone as we head towards the border between Nepal and Tibet. Yesterday we had a day off from driving and did a full day trek through some small villages. The highlight of the day was meeting a man who was riding a motorcycle with a baby owl perched on the handlebars. It was bizarre talking to him as the owl just calmly sat there. When he took off the owl leaned into wind in takeoff position and they disappeared from our view.

Well, that is the update of my travels for now. Jungle pictures are posted at https://plus.google.com/112392129776163836192

Rhinos, Whitewater and Motorcycle Riding Owls

As my final days in Nepal continue to dwindle away it is time to recount my travels over the last couple of weeks. My first stop was to visit the jungle in Chitwan National park in the south of Nepal. My journey started off on sketchy footing when I was asked by the guy who I booked the trip through to transport a box of "sweets" to his colleagues in Chitwan. Every horror story I have ever heard of tourists becoming unsuspecting drug mules started flashing through my mind. Not wanting a stint in Nepali jail to become a part of my travel experience I politely declined.

Arriving in Chitwan I was greeted by the blasting 40 degree Celsius tropical humid heat. It is places like these that renew my appreciation for the Canadian winter. I scored a room with air conditioning which is the only thing that made sleep possible for me. The only problem being the unreliable electricity meant having to for the power to come on for the room to cool down.

My arrival in Chitwan also coincided with my first bout of the dreaded stomach bug that always catches up with you at some point when traveling. Fortunately, the magic red antibiotic pill had me feeling better in less than 24 hours, but not before puking my guts out in the resort parking lot in front of all the hotel staff.

My favorite part of my visit to Chitwan was a full day jungle walk that I went on with a guide and his assistant. The jungle in this area is home to rhinos, tigers, elephants and numerous other creatures. The heavy wooden sticks my two guides carried did not make me feel a whole lot safer. We wandered through the grass and forests looking for animals. My guide had an incredible ability to spot rhinos from the slightest movement in the bushes. We watched a couple of rhinos foraging in the bush making sure we stayed upwind so they wouldn't smell us. It is an eerie feeling having nothing separating you from such massive animals. Especially when they start crashing through the bush and you see their true strength and speed. We had one moment of excitement when we were walking along a path and all of the sudden we heard a very loud snort come from the brush beside us. I saw a brief glimpse of fear on my guide's face as we all turned and ran back the way we had come. We had a good laugh once we were a safe distance away, but I think it got everyone's heart beating. Later we found a great spot on the edge of a riverbank and were watching a couple of rhinos cooling off in the water below. We could hear rhinos fighting in the distance and all of the sudden clouds of dust appeared as two rhinos burst out onto a plain across the river o e chasing the other. My guide made me climb up the nearest tree as a safety precaution in case the chase continued up to where we were. It was fascinating watching all of the action. A really incredible day. My jungle experience was rounded out by seeing huge crocodiles on the river bank, monkeys, a wild elephant and numerous birds.

After sweating it out in the jungle it was time to cool off by taking a four day whitewater kayaking course. This definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone as the first thing my instructor did was flip me upside down. As water rushed in through my nose I realized it was going to be a tough four days. Being trapped upside in a kayak does not fall into my category of fun activities. Along with another Canadian and an American I spent four days building up my skills on progressively bigger rapids. It was refreshing spending our days in the water and I swallowed more than my fair share of dirty river water. I got close to learning to roll the kayak back up while upside down, but never quite got the kayak all the way up. The rapids were fun and after tipping over a few times I was comfortable ejecting from the seat and riding my water logged kayak back to the shore. After the final day my body was completely destroyed. Every muscle hurt and I had bruises all over my shins from panicking while trapped upside down.

It was one last final bus ride back to Kathmandu with a baby goat nestled at a woman's feet on the bus before saying goodbye to traveling solo for the next 10 weeks and joining up on a group tour. My itinerary for the next 70 days involves driving from Kathmandu through Tibet and China and finally ending up in Mongolia. It is going to be quite the journey as there will be a mixture of camping and hotels with a group of 19 other people. Over the past few days I have been getting to know everyone as we head towards the border between Nepal and Tibet. Yesterday we had a day off from driving and did a full day trek through some small villages. The highlight of the day was meeting a man who was riding a motorcycle with a baby owl perched on the handlebars. It was bizarre talking to him as the owl just calmly sat there. When he took off the owl leaned into wind in takeoff position and they disappeared from our view.

Well, that is the update of my travels for now. Jungle pictures are posted at https://plus.google.com/112392129776163836192

The Canadian Snow Leopard

There are certain events in life that could only ever occur while traveling and for me one of those was getting caught in a snow leopard trap, but we will get to that part of the story in due time.

My trek to Kanchenjunga was a really incredible adventure. The hike started in the terraced hills with no mountains in sight. We followed the river coming down from the mountain glacier up a valley for days until we hit the Himalayan wall of mountains separating Nepal from India. The trail we followed is the only access to the villages in the valley. There are no cars so any goods that come in are carried on someone's back or by a donkey or yak.

The most amazing part of the trek was the simplicity. Since the area doesn't have the popularity of areas like Everest the infrastructure is very basic. We spent our nights in people's homes watching them cook our dinner on a small wood or in higher altitudes yak dung fire. Most days the vegetables in our meal came straight out of the garden. We ate the Nepali staple meal dal baht twice a day every single day except for one. For those who haven't heard me profess my love for dal baht before, you are given a plate of rice, a lentil soup and some sort of curry, usually potato based. If you are really lucky you will get saag, cooked green leafy vegetable. You mix it all together and eat it using just your right hand. The greatest feature of dal baht is that you are always offered seconds so you can eat as much as you want. Many people will even be offended if you don't take a second helping. It terrifies me to think of how many pounds of rice and potatoes I consumed on the trip. It is a simple meal, but it is filling and every person cooks it differently so it is always a surprise seeing what you will get.

It was interesting being so close to the local life. No one has running water in their homes so much of village life is centered around the water taps. In most places mazes of black plastic tubing is used to carry water from higher up rivers to the village. Dishes, laundry and showering are all done out in the open. The couple of times I had the opportunity to semi-shower since it was cold and stripping down in public wasn't an option I would attract a crowd of kids watching. It is a bizarre juxtaposition that no one has running water and the only form of toilets are outhouses, but yet most villages had electricity generated by small hydro plants and in turn many places we stayed had televisions, DVD players and in some cases satellite TV.

My favorite village was a Tibetan settlement called Phale. The village was high up in the mountains and the people living there are refugees from Tibet who fled from the Chinese occupation many years ago. There were far more yaks than people and two small monasteries. The lady we stayed with was an amazing host and told us how her children are in India so that they can attend the Tibetan schools there. She was making these incredible dragon carpets with elaborate patterns by hand. It was mesmerizing to watch her work, her hand speed was amazing. The process is so incredibly labor intensive as the carpet is made by hand tying knots. I really should have hauled one down the mountain.

Given the lack of tourists I got very used to being stared at. Everything I did was a source of interest from writing in my journal to eating. One day I was sewing up a hole in my pants. The guest house owner was sitting there intently watching my terrible sewing skills and then when he couldn't take it anymore proceeded to grab my pants from me and finish the sewing himself. The other tourists I did meet along the way were all very interesting. Most had extensively traveled all over Nepal and had visited the country more than 5 times. There was the French filmmaker who was riding his mountain bike to Everest base camp and recording his journey for his TV series. My friends Youngjoo from Korea and Bill from New York city shared their wealth of knowledge about Nepal with me so I can start planning future trips.

The trail itself was very sketchy at times, we crossed landslides with big drops, steep rocky sections and scary looking homemade bridges, but every step took us into more and more beautiful scenery. Since it is almost monsoon season we spent a lot of time hiking in the clouds and also contended with a bit of snow and rain. The temperatures started off as soaked with sweat all day hot and gradually dropped to wear your down jacket at all times cold as we climbed higher. The altitude made climbing with a fully loaded pack very difficult at times and the smallest incline could leave me gasping for breath.

Eventually we entered the mountainous area where the elusive Snow leopard is known to reside. As part of conservation efforts a Nepali crew supported by the WWF were trying to trap one so that they could fit it with a radio collar. It was amazing luck to be there at the same time and to get to talk to some of the crew. They showed me photos from previous trips of images they captured with camera traps. There was also 3 Nepali filmmakers there shooting a documentary about the conservation efforts in the area. They were a ton of fun to hang out with and to talk to about their views on the future of Nepal.

On our way up to the final village I was walking along behind my guide and noticed a small cardboard sign with Nepali written on it. Not being able to read it I continued on my way not really paying attention when all of the sudden there was no longer ground beneath my foot. As my stomach leapt to my throat I felt something cinch around my boot. This all happened in a split second and confused I lifted my foot and realized I had a thick metal cable wrapped around my foot. I had unwittingly stepped directly on the snare trap. Fortunately the cable was loose and I was able to free myself, but once the conservation guys found out what had happened I was referred to as the Canadian Snow Leopard. Word even spread by radio to the lower village so upon my return back down everyone already knew the story. Unfortunately I was the only animal they trapped so no opportunity to get a look at a snow leopard.

The ultimate goal of our trek was to visit the base camp of Kanchenjunga since this is the only place where the mountain is fully visible. We set off for a day hike to the camp, but by the time we arrived the clouds had completely obliterated the view. There was a five man expedition team at the camp getting ready for their climb and a small rock hut that a three man Nepali crew was using for cooking for the expedition. My guide somehow arranged for us to make an unplanned overnight stay in the hut so that we could get a clear view first thing in the morning. The expedition team invited me to join them for dinner and we had a delicious meal and interesting conversation. The night however was far from pleasant. Since we had only planned to be there for a few hours my nice warm sleeping bag was a three hour walk away. I spent the night in my down jacket and every single article of clothing I had with me huddled in a very thin sleeping bag and a blanket that were spares in the hut. Needless to say I didn't sleep much and spent most of the night willing the morning to arrive. When the sun finally did appear there was a large amount of ice in my water bottle. It ended up being worth one uncomfortable night because we got a perfect clear view of the massive mountain and the glacier sweeping from the mountain down the valley. It was stunning. The cook made sure we were well fed and then we started our journey back towards civilization. All in all a very successful trip filled with many memories and adventures.

I am working on getting photos uploaded, but the internet speed is making the process painstakingly slow. They will however eventually be available at the usual location:

https://plus.google.com/112392129776163836192

Step 1 Trekking: Getting There

Hello all! Sorry it has been so long, but I have been a roaming nomad in Nepal and haven't had a lot of free time to just sit down and collect my thoughts. Despite having already visited Nepal 4 years ago this tiny little country sandwiched between the giants of China and India still amazed me as much as my first journey here. I still feel like I have only scratched the surface of exploring the valleys, mountains and meeting the people that live here.

I arrived in Kathmandu to find it mostly the same as I remember it other than some new buildings being constructed. It is still dusty, the roads are still narrow and bumpy and there are still interesting things and people and buildings everywhere. You can walk down the same street over and over again and notice something new each time. The constant honking of horns as and the packs of barking dogs late at night haven't changed at all either. The electricity in the city is still only on for about 12 hours a day and most of those hours occur after 9 pm. There is no power during peak times in the mornings and evenings which means businesses have to resort to generators and batteries to stay operational throughout the day. It also means you have to be strategic in charging all of your electronic devices.

As Kathmandu is a crazy busy place I was eager to escape the madness and hit the mountains for some trekking. Having completed the three most touristy treks on my last trip this time I wanted to do a trek a little more off the beaten track. On the recommendation of my trekking agency I set off with my guide Binod for a three week excursion to Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. I wanted remote and I definitely got it starting with the ordeal just to get to the start of the trek.

From the moment we left Kathmandu on a short 40 minute flight I met only a handful of other tourists. We stepped off the plane in a sweltering hot and humid city in the flat Tarai region of Nepal. The easy part of the journey complete we hopped on a bicycle rickshaw to take us out to the main road and then threw our bags on the roof of one of the thousands of dilapidated buses and set off.

I will start off with a brief primer on how the buses work in Nepal. Each bus has a driver and one to three young men that hang out the door looking for people to pick up. They yell out at people and when someone flags that they want to get on they bang on the side of the bus to signal the driver to stop and then when to start again. Their job is to cram the bus full with as many people as possible and then add at least 5 more after you think the capacity has been completely maxed out. The process is brutally slow as many people are only traveling short distances and there is constant starting and stopping. When you get to a major stop and lots of people get off you don't leave until the bus has been deemed sufficiently full to continue onwards. Personal space is non-existent as there is constant jostling of people trying to get on and off. It is hot and there is nothing but dust and fumes to breath in.

After enduring three hours of dusty travel on a decent sized highway we switched to a jeep. My excitement to move to a seemingly more comfortable form of transport was almost immediately ruined as I very quickly realized that the exact same rules apply to the jeep. My guide and I were wedged with two other people in the jump seats in the back of the jeep. It was tight but bearable and then all of a sudden another lady was added sitting on a stool at our feet. I spent the entire journey with this lady's leg jammed in between mine and with her using my lap as an armrest. At one point I think I counted 18 people inside the jeep and a few more hanging onto the back and roof.

This is also when the journey itself got interesting as we started winding our way up and down the steep valleys that Nepal is renowned for. Through tiny villages clinging the sides of steep terraced cliffs we crawled around hairpin turn after hairpin turn. Almost every corner is blind which meant the horn was constantly blared to make sure that oncoming traffic on the narrow road knew we were coming. Although not the most terrifying road I have traveled on in Nepal it was still best not to watch the cliff edges go by. We were literally traveling around 10 or 15 km per hour as I kept tabs on the kilometer markers in between towns.

Needless to say after another 3 or 4 hours I was pushed to the extreme limits of my tolerance for personal contact with strangers. We finally escaped the jeep around dinner time to spend the night in the tea growing village of Ilam and my guide informed me that we still had at least 7 more hours of the same travel to look forward to the next day. It was not a very happy moment for me to think about spending another full day in the same condition, but I did have to laugh at the craziness of the day and be thankful that I live in a place where I don't have to travel like this all the time.

The next morning we were back in another jeep by 6am to finish off our journey to the town where we would start our walking from. From this point forward all the villages we would walk through are only accessible by foot. Another long day of cramped travel and finally after two full days we were only just ready to start the true trip.

Since this is already quite lengthy you will have to check out the next post for the conclusion of my trip...

Backpacking on a Bicycle

Another two weeks gone in the blink of an eye. I just finished a crazy bicycle journey that took me to some of the most beautiful spots I have ever been to and introduced me to some really interesting people along the way. Just finished my ride in Hobart yesterday and ended the journey in the best way possible by somehow lucking out and getting a hostel dorm room all to myself for the first time in 3 months! I guess I should start at the beginning though...

Last we left off I was in Launceston renting a bike so that I could go cycle touring. It was here that I met Douglas, the old man who supplies bikes and camping equipment for all your Tasmanian adventures. I showed up at his house the day before I planned to leave to check out his bikes and ask a few questions. He let me in muttering about how the world moves too fast and that everyone is in a rush. I'm pretty sure he had to be in his 80's. Walking into his house was an instant visual assault. There was stuff everywhere. The front room of the house was crammed with row after row of bicycles. It was so full you couldn't even walk between them. Then there was another room full of camping equipment. Random tools, bike parts and equipment were scattered on every single flat surface. Before I could even ask about bikes he started talking and all of the sudden 1.5 hours later I had pretty much heard his entire life story. How he ran a hostel for 30 years, how he met his wife, his travels around the world. Then he wanted to show me a book so we squeezed by a kayak that was blocking the staircase and he took me up to a living room where every wall was covered in books, all organized by subject. It was an interesting conversation, but I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to leave. He would switch between stories in the middle of each other, but somehow always remember to finish them in the end. Fortunately, we were interrupted by a couple renting a bike and I was able to sneak out without having chosen a bike.

The next morning I returned, got a bike set up, loaded up all my camping gear and then I was off. It's a strange feeling riding a bike that is weighted down with gear and it was trial by fire as my first 3 days were the toughest of the entire 2 week trip and required clearing the hilly interior region to reach the coast. 20 minutes into the journey I was climbing a fairly gradual hill at a snails pace in the lowest gear and wondering to myself if I had made a horrible mistake. I kept chugging along and in the end it was well worth it.

It's amazing how simple life becomes while touring on a bike and I was quickly immersed into a regular routine. Get up in the morning when the sun comes up, eat breakfast, load up all your gear onto the bike and start cycling. Stop a couple times along the way to take photos, drink water and eat. Roll into the next small town, find the campground, set up your tiny one men tent in between the camper vans and RVs, check out the selection of the one grocery store. Head back to cook dinner and then because it is dark by 7:30 go to bed so completely exhausted you are asleep by 9. Wake up the next morning and repeat.

Tasmania was the perfect introduction to cycle touring because even though the highways are narrow and mostly there are no shoulders the traffic is really light. The towns you pass through are small with one main strip, but they are fairly close together which meant not having to carry very much food.

The landscape was phenomenal and it was amazing watching it go by when I wasn't cursing my way up to the top of hairpin turns and had a chance to look around. I passed through farms, vineyards, forests, along beautiful deserted white sand beaches and along the top of sea cliffs. In a few of the national parks along the way I stayed an extra night or two to go hiking. I watched the sunset over flaming orange rocks in Bay of Fires and hiked along pristine beaches in Freycinet park. I only went swimming once as the ocean here is icy cold even though the beaches look like they belong in a tropical getaway brochure.

One of my favorite parts of the journey was taking a ferry to Maria Island. The entire island is a national park and no cars are allowed onto the island. The island was originally set up as a penitentiary colony and then had some failed history of people trying to farm or set up various industries there. There are old buildings to explore, mountains to climb, beaches to visit and dirt roads that you can cycle on. There was wildlife everywhere and I finally got to see live versions of the never ending road kill I passed in varying states of decay every couple of kms on the highways.

One night I had the fly to my tent open to let in some air and I was reading with my earplugs in and headlamp on when all of the sudden I looked out and there was a furry mass sitting on the other side of the screen door inches away from my head. A fat wombat had decided to checkout the vestibule of my tent until my movement sent him waddling off into the night. There were also geese, birds, kangaroos and the elusive Tasmanian devil. I think I saw the outline of a Devil in the dark, but wasn't close enough to be sure.

What made the trip a blast were the people I met along the way. Most of the people in the campgrounds were "Grey Nomads" aka retired couples traveling around in RVs and many would stop to chat. Pulling up on a fully loaded bicycle is an instant conversation starter. There are a few notable encounters I would like to mention:

Liz and Dave, who I originally met at Douglas' place while renting my bike. After surviving my first day of cycling I was setting up my tent when someone shouted my name. Stunned, I looked at this lady waving frantically at me. It took me a moment to figure out who she was, but we had a good laugh about the bike rental experience. They then invited me to their camper van for a delicious ice cold cider. Liz was riding sections of the same route as me, but would then get Dave to pick her up when she had enough. The next day as I was struggling up the final section of a big pass they passed by me in their van honking and with Liz hanging out the window yelling encouragement.

The lady who gave me a couple fresh tomatoes because she knew I couldn't buy a full bag from the old guy on the scooter who was zooming around the campground and selling them. They were really delicious.

The multiple people who checked up on me and offered to share their dinner if I didn't have enough to eat.

Wendy, whom I met while getting groceries wearing the stereotypical hippy bandana and circular sunglasses. We were both headed out to camp in one of the national parks so she suggested we share a site since she sleeps in her SUV I could use the tent pad. I am always game to save a couple of bucks so I said sure. She left Canada 30 years ago to visit Australia and just never went home. She is now retired and has been driving around Tasmania for the last two months in her SUV and camping along the way. The one day I biked to the start of a hike and then spent the day hiking. When I got back to my bike she had left me a note saying that she was gone into town to buy beer. Great way to end a hike. She also cooked me a delicious meal of pasta with fresh vegetables.

Bill, who I met on the ferry to Maria island. Gave up a high paying job and long work hours as a manager in Wales, moved to Tasmania and now does maintenance and cleaning at a resort. He was so happy with his new life and full of energy. He gave me half of his six pack which was very generous.

The old Scottish lady with bright red dyed hair and fancy clothes who came storming out of her RV as I was trying to get my tent set up in cold windy weather to congratulate me and tell me she was proud of me. Not sure exactly why as her accent was thick and I only caught about half of what she said, but I think it was because I was traveling by myself. Mom and Dad she also told me I should tell you what she said to me so there you are I have fulfilled my promise to her.

And that is a summary of traveling around on a bicycle for a couple of weeks. An unforgettable journey that still makes me smile when I look back on it. My time in Australia is very quickly winding down. In a few days I will be back on the mainland and in a week I will be on my way to Nepal. Can't wait to return to the country that captured my heart 5 years ago!

Bushwalking in Tasmania

It feels like a very long time since my last update. Every day here in Tasmania flies by so quickly. Since my last post I spent a week hiking in the bush, spent a dew days visiting Hobart, the largest city in Tasmania, and now I am back in Launceston getting prepped for two weeks of touring on a bicycle.

My hiking adventure was really amazing, I actually wasn't ready for it to end even after 7 days of not showering and eating dried and rationed food. It was also my first totally solo hike which was an exciting new experience. The landscape was beautiful, so different from hiking at home. I would not have looked twice if a dinosaur had walked by as I felt like I was in the middle of Jurassic Park. Crazy plants, huge trees, giant cliffs and rocky peaks.

The trail was one of the most well maintained I have ever been on. Each campsite had a hut with tables and wooden sleeping platforms that you could use if you didn't want to set up your tent. It was such a nice perk to be able to dry out wet gear each night and not have to keep everything in my tiny tent.

On Day 1 I started the hike just as the sun came out. I was so excited since it had poured rain for most of the previous day. About 2 hours later I had sideways rain pounding me in the face as I tried to not got blown off the skinny little boardwalk that traversed a totally exposed ridge. An early introduction to just how variable the weather is here. The views on the high parts of the trail were amazing and I'm sure even nicer if the clouds would have cleared from the surrounding peaks.

Day 2 and 3 the rain stayed away which made for really pleasant hiking. I saw a number of animals including wallabies, padmellons (big rodent that kind of looks like a small wallaby). There were also a lot of colorful tropical birds that I got fleeting glimpses of. The most common bird was the currawong, a crow like bird. There are signs all over the trail warning that if you leave your pack unattended that the currawongs will undo your zippers and find your snacks. Fortunately, I did not see any of the 3 poisonous snakes that live in Tasmania. I was not really comforted by the sign that said if you get bitten there is no need to kill the snake for identification as the same anti-venom is used for all 3. I will take the chance of running into a bear over the chance of stepping on a snake any day. I trekked through giant eucalyptus forests and one area that smelled so delicious that I was trying to breath in as much air as possible through my nose while I walked.

Day 4 I was really hoping for a nice day as the hike went through some of the best views on the trail. I woke up instead to the sound of rain on my tent. I hiked in the rain up a pass and then decided to take a small detour to hike to the summit of Mount Ossa, Tasmania's tallest mountain. I managed to make my way up the trail which had become more of a stream and climb through some big boulder fields to the top. I was assured by one of the ladies that had done the trail before that in good weather the views from the top are incredible. Mine were obscured, but it was still worth the hike. By the time I got to the next camp my clothes underneath my rain gear were completely drenched. I was basically a drowned rat. I had to strip down on the covered porch of the hut to get out of my wet gear.

Day 5,6 and 7 were less eventful. More great views, but most of the hike was through forested areas. I had a possum visit my tent in the dark. I could hear it thumping around outside and he even left a pile of poop on the corner of my tent platform. On the last night there was an Aussie Bushwalking Club staying at the same campsite as me. They were a lot of fun to talk to once I could figure out what they were saying. They used a lot more slang than most Aussies I have met. The one guy has been bushwalking for over 40 years and he was hiking with his wife and two sons.

The hike finished at a beautiful lake where I experienced one more amazing sunset before heading the next morning to Hobart. The bus ride was twisty and windy and made me totally car sick which doesn't normally happen to me.

Arriving in Hobart with it's busy streets was a bit of a shock. After I got over the busy hustle I found Hobart to be quite nice. It is a port city with a pier and market, seafood and lots of old buildings. I visited the most interesting art museum I have ever been to, it is called the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). The museum is privately owned by a guy who describes it as "subversive adult Disneyland" and it is definitely not for everyone. The building itself is crazy as it is built into the side of an ocean cliff. There are creepy tunnels and crazy staircases as you go through 3 levels of basement. Only the entrance is above ground. One of the big attractions is a machine that acts as a mechanical digestive system. Food gets put in one side and poop literally comes out the end. The smell was terrible, but it was really interesting. Another piece was titled "Kitten Trophy Rug" and is exactly what you think it is. There was also a lot of interesting pieces that were less controversial. The best part was that it was mostly devoid of pieces that you have a hard time figuring out why they are art. Strangely, there were also really old things like mummy statues randomly interspersed amongst the new art.

That about sums up my last bit of travel. Tomorrow I set off on a bicycle with my tent, some food and my clothes to explore the East Coast of Tasmania. I am excited to try out cycling touring and the coast drive is supposed to be pretty spectacular. Can't wait to write all about it.

New Continent

I wasn't sure I was going to make it to Australia due to a bit of a visa fiasco, but here I am writing from Launceston, Tasmania! I could write a whole post about my ordeal, but suffice it to say I totally forgot to apply for an Australian visa and ended up spending an extra 24 hours trapped in the Sao Paulo airport international terminal since they wouldn't let me on my flight and you also can't enter Brazil without a visa. Not my finest moment and not an experience I wish to repeat anytime soon, but a good lesson learned.

I arrived completely exhausted in Melbourne after back to back 13 hour flights. The first to Doha, Qatar and then the next to Melbourne. It was dark as we flew over Doha, but from the promotional video and the flyby over the brightly lit city center it seemed like a slightly scaled down version of Dubai. The airport was immaculate and the best part was that they don't make PA flight boarding announcements so there isn't the constant blare of repetitive pages. I went through 2 sets of security screening including a full body pat down and then we were off.

It was a treat to be back in a big city and in order of importance here are the things I did:

1. Shower
2. Sleep
3. Laundry
4. Haircut
5. Eat sushi
6. Eat more Asian food
7. Sleep more

I am still trying to get the hang of things here in Australia. Remembering to walk on the left and look the correct direction before crossing the street takes a concentrated effort. Yesterday I bought a box of "Deluxe Macaroni and Cheese" (It isn't called Kraft Dinner here) to take camping. The box was very large, but it was the only size, so I assumed it was just bigger than our standard size. When I opened it up I discovered that instead of cheese powder it comes with a tin can of cheese sauce.

I happened to land in Melbourne just as the Australian Grand Prix was starting so the city was bustling and I was glad I had booked a place to stay ahead of time. I was a little worried that Melbourne wouldn't live up to the experience I had there 7 years ago, but fortunately it did not disappoint. The city is an assault on all of your senses. Where else can you sit on bean bag chairs set out on the lawn outside of the state library? There are amazing musicians busking on the street, any kind of food you could possibly want everywhere, all sorts of architecture from old to space age and nice places to sit and relax when you can't handle the crowds and craziness anymore.

My favorite stop was at the Queen Victoria market which is this giant open aired market where you can buy almost anything from food to a pot set to cook your food in to clothes to wear to your dinner party. The place is massive, there is a whole market just devoted to fruit and vegetables, another to butchered meat, a third to deli meats and cheeses and another 2 sections full of clothes, souvenirs, etc. Oh and of course a giant food court serving all sorts of food to top it all off. Needless to say I left the market with a light pocket and a heavy stomach.

After relaxing in Melbourne for two days I hopped on a plane for the hour flight to Tasmania which is a small island just south of the Mainland. I landed in Launceston, which at a whopping population of 70,000, is the second largest city on the island. I am really enjoying Launceston and the quiet here. The city has lots of neat old buildings and houses nestled in the surrounding hills. Everyone is super friendly and the atmosphere is nice and relaxed.

I have been busy gearing up for a 7 day hike called the Overland Track. Another world famous trail so I am extremely excited to get back out into the wild and sleep in my tent. It has been so much easier to get prepped here than it was in South America. One more final trip to pick up the last couple things I am missing and I will be ready to go.

I will upload photos and the details of my adventure once I return from the wild. Until then....

Stairs and Alleyways

The entire city of Valparaiso is a UNESCO world heritage site. It is a crazy port city where the brightly colored houses cling to steep hillsides. I have never seen anything like it. I was a little worried when the hostel I am staying at gave me the following directions: "Tell the taxi to let you off on Urriola Street at the Fisher Passageway. Climb the stairs until you see number 27. " It was actually really easy to find and the taxi driver knew exactly where to go. Turns out lots of houses only have access in these narrow stairways and not from the street. The city is a crazy maze of stairs, cobblestone roads that switchback up into the hills and buildings covering almost every square inch of land. Quite the shock coming from the tiny little towns I have been staying at so far on my trip. The other great thing about Valparaiso is that there are incredible grafitti murals absolutely everywhere. The city is renowned for its artwork. You can spend all day just roaming around alleys and streets and seeing what you find.

Yesterday I went on a 3 hour guided walking trip with a company where the guides work only for tips. You go on the tour and at the end decide how much the tour was worth to you. A really interesting concept. The tour was fantastic as the guide led us through the maze to show us the highlights. The city has these cable elevators that were built in the early 1900s to transport people up and down the hills. They are still in service and we all piled in the creaky wood cabin for the 30 second journey up one of the hills. It costs about 50 cents to take the elevator. We also rode on one of the ancient trolley buses that service the flat port area at the base of the hills. I finished the day off by wandering around by myself. I think the highlight was this guy in the main square who had skeleton marionettes that he manipulated to sing, play guitar and play drums to classic rock hits. When I showed up he had the Beatles blasting and his little skeleton puppets grooving to the music. Everyone who walked by couldn't help but smile and laugh because it was so ridiculous. Most people, including myself, stopped and watched. It was a really good show. Today is my final day in Valparaiso I will head out for more wandering and visit a couple of museums.

The highlight of today was visiting the house that once belonged to the famous poet Pablo Neruda. The house is situated on one of the steep hillsides and I was sweating by the time I climbed all the way up in the hot sun. Once there I wandered through the 5 floors of the building. There were incredible views of the ocean and surrounding hillsides through all of the windows as well as his odd collections of artwork and other items. My favorite was a giant stone mosaic map on a wall along one of the staircases that showed Patagonia and Antarctica. Unfortunately no photos allowed so I have no evidence to show. The other exciting thing that happened today was that the delicious empanada I stopped to eat ended up being paid for by a group of four Americans that were on a tour. I'm still not sure if my order just got mixed in with theirs and they didn't notice or if they purposely picked up the tab, but in any case I won't complain about free food.

Tomorrow I take the bus back to Santiago and board a plane for a very long journey to Australia. Turns out it is really expensive to fly direct so I am going on a world tour flying first to Sao Paulo, Brazil and then Doha, Qatar to finally end up in Melbourne. I am extremely excited to return to Melbourne. I was last there 7 years ago with my brother and we had an amazing time in the city. After a few days of recuperation in Melbourne I will then head to Tasmania for some more hiking and outdoor adventures starting with a 7 day hike on the world famous Overland Track.

I am sad to leave South America behind with its stray dogs following you around the streets and delicious steaks, empanadas, soups and stews, but I am extremely excited about the next continent. Hard to believe I have already surpassed the 2 month mark of my trip!

Photos:
https://plus.google.com/112392129776163836192

More Desert Adventures

Hello everyone, hope everyone in Canada is surviving the nasty winter. I on the other hand have been sweating it out in the 30 Celsius Atacama desert and now the coastal city of Valparaiso, but let me catch you up on my travels since Bolivia.

After returning to San Pedro I stayed for a few more days and took some day tours around the area. My first trip was to a salt lake with an extremely high salt content (about 30%). It is a very strange sensation to get into the water and have your feet immediately float up to the surface. You can float even with your hands and feet sticking completely out of the water. You can't even really swim because you can't keep your legs low enough to kick. After getting out of the water and drying in the hot sun you are literally caked in a thick layer of salt. It was an awesome experience. As part of the tour we also visited a couple of perfectly round freshwater lakes in the middle of the desert landscape. One of which I got to run and jump off the steep edge into. Finally we finished off by watching the sunset at a small salt flat.

The next tour I took went through some small desert towns where all the buildings are made of mud and sand bricks. We learned about llamas which are everywhere in these desert regions and saw quinoa growing in fields. We headed back up to the high altitude desert to see some more lakes and also some more salt lakes with flamingoes. I learned that flamingoes eat brine shrimp aka "sea monkies". It is a chemical in the shrimp that give them their pink coloration.

My final day in San Pedro was a busy one. We left San Pedro at 4am to drive out to a geyser field. We climbed up to 4600m where without the sun it was a very frosty -8 Celsius. It was well worth the cold because you enter this huge desert plain that is full of boiling water escaping through vents. Enormous steam clouds are everywhere and giant pots of boiling water. It was an unreal landscape. Our breakfast consisted of our guide boiling a bag of eggs in one of the thermal pools and cartons of chocolate milk to make hot chocolate. We stopped in another small town on the way back where I had a delicious llama kebab. It is pretty similar to beef and was deliciously seasoned and tender.

For sunset I visited the very famous "moon valley". The name is extremely fitting as the landscape is so bizzare. Giant sand dunes, strange rocky formations and salt everywhere. We walked through this neat little canyon that then turned into a salt cave. It wasn't very big, but there were cool formations in the salt walls. As the sun was going down we climbed up the biggest sand dune in the area to watch the sunset.

Finally even though I was completely exhausted I headed out at 10 pm for an astronomy tour that came highly recommended by everyone I talked to and was voted as a can't miss attraction by my friend Paraag. We drove out in the middle of the desert to the house of a French Astronomer. Strangely enough we were greeted in the dark by a flat Canadian accent. Turns out the astronomer who gives the English tour is from Hamilton. It was so nice to hear an accent from home, I have not run into very many North Americans thus far in my travels. Out of the 15 or so people on the English tour I was the only one who wasn't speaking English as a second language.

The tour was really interesting as our guide explained the night sky to us with the aid of a giant green laser pointer that he could use to point to stars and constellations. Being in the southern hemisphere the night sky is a bit of a mystery to me so it was great to have things like the Southern Cross that you don't see at home pointed out. We also saw the constellation that the Subaru logo is based on. I had no idea. He gave us a history of how people used the stars and how human knowledge of the sky evolved. So much more interesting to learn about history while standing under the stars than in a classroom. We then got to make use of the 10 telescopes that they have to view a variety of objects including Jupiter and some colored stars known as the "jewel box". It was well worth staying up late to have the night sky explained like that.

The next day it was finally time to say goodbye to the desert and hop on a 24 hour bus ride back south to Valparaiso, a city on the coast about 1.5 hours west of Santiago. The ride was long, but I managed to sleep in 2 hour chunks through most of the night. The guy sitting beside me was a snorer, but fortunately only for small bouts. The buses in Chile are actually really nice and the roads were relatively smooth.

Photos will soon be uploaded at the usual location and I will also be uploading another post very soon about my experiences in Valparaiso.

https://plus.google.com/112392129776163836192

Finally get to wear my shorts

Hi all. Since my last post I left southern Chile on an airplane and landed in the very north of Chile in the Atacama desert. I am currently stationed in San Pedro de Atacama, a dusty little desert town, where I am camping at a cool little hostel. The heat is a welcome change from the cold and windy Patagonia weather. After almost 2 months of travel I finally got to take the shorts out of my backpack.

The first thing I did upon my arrival was head out on a 4 day land cruiser tour of the desert in Bolivia. What a spectacular trip it was. I seriously thought on more than one occasion that I had left earth and traveled to another planet. The landscape is constantly changing from multicolored mountains to sand to crazy rock formations, thermal pools, geysers, salt lakes and salt flats. We saw so much in 4 days that my head was spinning. Climbing up to an elevation of 4600m on the first day didn't help either, but fortunately my only altitude symptoms was a headache.

There are these moments that I have only experienced while traveling that I think make it so addictive. It starts with you wandering around somewhere by yourself just taking in the experience when all of the sudden you realize that you have a huge lunatic grin on your face even though no one else is around. I had this happen as I was wandering around this dark red salt lake full of flamingoes contrasted against the mountains in the background. The colors were spectacular and I was in complete awe. I snapped out of a bit of a daze and realized I was smiling to no one but myself. I consciously thought about how lucky I was to be experiencing something absolutely incredible instead of being at work or in my home routine. It's these small fleeting moments that make the 20 hour bus rides, sleepless hostel nights listening to someone else snore and wearing the same shirt for 5 days in a row worth it.

The trip was capped off by visiting the Uyuni Salt Flats. I have dreamed of visiting these famous flats for years. 2000 square kilometers of blindingly white salt that makes Saskatchewan look like the Rockies. It was incredible to see nothing but white in every direction. You could watch other jeeps start off as a tiny speck on the horizon and slowly over minutes become recognizable as a car. It's something that definitely needs to be experienced to understand the vastness of such a flat and uniform landscape.

The other highlight of the trip was star gazing after the sun went down each evening. The sky was full of stars with the milky way stealing the show. Nice to be so far away from the city lights that obscure the sky.

Spending 4 days rattling around on all types of crazy terrain in dusty 4WD land cruisers was well worth it. Now that I have returned to San Pedro I am taking some day trips out to see the Chilean side of the desert. Hard to believe, but in exactly one week I will be leaving South America for Australia.

Desert photos are uploaded, I hope they capture a small piece of how spectacular the landscape is:

https://plus.google.com/112392129776163836192

Eight Days Worth of Food is Heavy

Hello again, sorry for the long absence. I wrote a post a week ago, but it never actually got posted. Lots to update on, but most importantly I have started posting pictures at:
https://plus.google.com/112392129776163836192

It will take me awhile to get everything posted, but I am working on it starting with photos from Antarctica.

My friend Celine and I just finished hiking an 8 day circuit around the famous Torres Del Paine mountains. Wow, what a crazy adventure. It took two days in the small Chilean town of Puerto Natales to sort out all of the logistics including figuring out how much food to take and where to buy gas for my stove. After about 10 trips to the 2 grocery stores in town and various camping stores we were ready to go. Turns out there are very few liquid gas stoves around and therefore it is hard to find liquid gas for anyone planning on doing this trip.

Celine and I were both extremely excited to leave the terrible hostel we ended up staying at and hit the trail. Only after the first night there did we find out that they just remade the beds without changing the sheets in between different people using the beds. Cold showers and no heat in the building topped off a pretty terrible experience. All part of the adventure and we have had many laughs about it now.

Day 1 started off with a 2 hour bus ride to the park and the most spectacular weather I have had the entire time I have been here. There was not a cloud in the sky, no wind and it was smoking hot. Turns out the one thing I didn't prepare for was good weather. I was soon sweating away in the thick and only pair of pants I brought for the hike.

Since the weather was so spectacular we decided to start by hiking up to the Torres towers, the main attraction of the park. The one downside to hiking in such a famous area is the hordes of people who are also there. I have never been on such a busy trail before. At the various campsites there are refugios, basically large cabins with dorm beds, hot showers, heat, delicious looking meals and supplies for sale. You can buy a chocolate bar for $5 that was carried in by a horse. This basically means you spend the day getting passed by people skipping along with light day packs as you struggle your way up. Once you arrive you get to stare longingly inside at the refugio people eating delicious fresh food while you are relegated outside to cook pasta and soup for the third time in a row and share one or two toilets with 100 other people who are also camping there.

One look at the towers though and it was all worth it. Huge jagged peaks above a lake in the most perfect weather you could imagine. The weather continued to be amazing when we got up at 4 am the next morning to hike back up to the towers in time for the sunrise. It was surreal as we began hiking with a headlamp in the dark. The sky still clear and full moon shining down on the mountains. It was well worth the 2 hour hike up again as the sun rose and blasted the peaks in the first rays of light.

Day 2 was a long day hiking down from the towers and through the lower desert regions. We passed through horse grazing ranch lands as we began the circuit around the mountains. There was very little shade as the sun beat down on us, but since this was the less popular part of the hike we had the trail mostly to ourselves. It took us all day with the fully loaded packs to reach the next quiet camp. The number of tents dropped significantly which meant not having to wait in line to use the bathroom or the sink.

The morning of Day 3 started off with disaster when my stove quit working as we tried to boil water for our morning oatmeal and granola mix. Celine had a spare pressurized canister so we borrowed a stove and decided to continue on with the trip and borrow stoves as we went. A nice hike through more hilly desert scrub took is to the next camp on the edge of a pretty lake. We arrived early so I set to work dismantling my stove. A couple of hours later with black stove soot all over my face and hands I had the stove joyously spraying fuel everywhere. After putting everything back together we were once again able to cook. Thanks Dad for the Leatherman, it saved the day for getting the stove apart! The campground was beautiful and we even got to have hot showers. I'm not sure how clean I actually got as I had no towel and dried off with my dirty sweaty shirt, but it felt fantastic.

Day 4 the weather began to turn to the more usual windy, cloudy drizzly variety that I am used to here. We began hiking up a valley and back into the mountains where we got a fantastic view of a glacier and the valley below. The afternoon we spent resting and waiting nervously for the next day which would take us up an exposed mountain pass and over the most difficult part of the trek. Nothing to do, but hope that the weather would hold out for just one more day.

Day 5 started early as we packed up in the dark and hit the pass just as the daylight started creeping over the mountaims. It was a slow steady climb through the rocky landscape and we reached the top of the pass with no trouble. The best part of the pass was looking over the other side and seeing ice from the enormous Grey glacier sweeping down the mountain as far as you could see and ending in a lake. It truly did take your breath away to be rewarded with such an amazing view. It was a really tough day as we descended down steep rocky trails with our knees screaming at us to stop. We hiked high up alongside the glacier for almost the entire afternoon. The wind started blasting us in gusts that almost knock you off your feet at times, but we pressed on. Our descent took us across a couple of steep river valleys that required climbing ladders and finally into the shelter of the forest. We arrived exhausted back on the busy part of the trail, set up tents in an open field and the spent the night having the tent wall blown into me as I tried to sleep.

Day 6 the rain finally struck and the temperature dropped as we made our way to the famous French valley. The weather forecast at the ranger station was hilarious. 4 days in a row showing clouds and 70km/h winds. Fortunately the rain stopped in time for us to eat dinner without getting soaking wet and the camp in the forest buffered most of the winds.

Day 7 we began the hike up the valley where you end up in a giant mountain amphitheater. Hiking without our heavy packs was particularly amazing as you feel so free. Peaks loomed all around along with the requisite glaciers and ice. It was crazy watching the clouds swirl around then peaks which seemed to be generating their own weather systems. After descending down just as the giant tour groups were heading up we donnned our heavy packs again and made our way to our final camp. Saw a beautiful lake sunset for our last night on the trail. I will miss getting to sleep alone in my tent as it will be back to hostel dorms after this.

Day 8 we finished our hike at the fancy hotel where the bus stops. Dirty, sweaty and exhausted we could smell how clean the people that were just starting their treks were. I felt like a criminal going into the hotel to use the immaculately clean washroom, but it was amazing to have a washroom with toilet paper and soap. Upon our return to town we splurged on a delicious steak dinner and then immediately went to bed in our new hostel with clean sheets and hot water.

Later today I am hopping on a plane and heading to the far north of Chile to experience the Atacama desert. Then at the beginning of March I will be saying goodbye to South America and heading to Australia. Stay tuned for desert adventures!

First Taste of Patagonia

Since disembarking from the journey to Antarctica I have been busy exploring the Argentinian side of the Patagonia Mountains. Getting out of Ushuaia was an ordeal that required 18 hours of fun on a bus. Fortunately I had my friend Celine whom I met on the ship to travel with. In order to get to our next stop, El Calafate, we had to leave Argentina, cross into Chile, take a ferry to get to the South American mainland, leave Chile, cross back into Argentina, hang out in a bus station for two hours and go through 2 police check stops.

El Calafate is a small town situated by a beautiful lake, but in a barren desert sort of landscape. It is a definite tourist town, full of mountain gear stores, restaurants and a casino. It is the hub for a couple different mountain areas.

My first stop was a day trip out to Perito Moreno, the most massive glacier I have ever seen. The glacier sweeps out into a giant lake and is extremely active which means crashing ice! There are a series of boardwalks and viewpoints built up on the opposite side for viewing. The glacier is 50 to 60m high and many kilometers long. I watched in awe as massive chunks of ice broke away and crashed into the lake. Absolutely stunning to watch the ice free falling for a second or two and then hitting the water with a sound like thunder. It was hard to grasp the scale until I saw a tour boat that looked like a small peanut beside the wall of ice.

My next stop and where I am currently stationed is the tiny town of El Chalten, home to the iconic Patagonian mountains Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. The town pretty much exists as a base camp for all of the hiking/climbing in the area. For this leg of the trip I was joined by my friend Paraag, who I also met on the ship. The best part of being here is that the town is so small you can walk everywhere and all of the trailheads leave from various points in town.

As Paraag and I geared up for a three day/two night backpacking trip it became apparent that we would have to get creative with our food supplies. Dehydrated meals and Clif bars don't exist here. We couldn't even find oatmeal so resorted to carrying a giant bag of cornflakes and eating them with powdered milk for breakfast. I was also carrying a couple pounds of the heavy bread that is a staple all over Argentina. Our trip took us on a circuit of all of the highlights.

Our first stop was Fitz Roy. After an easy hike we set up camp and climbed up a steep slope to reach a deep blue lake at the base of the Fitz Roy range. Spiny jagged mountains and ice everywhere. I can't even compare these mountains to any I have seen before. You have to be there to get the true sense of their rawness. As the weather in Patagonia is extremely unpredictable we waited at the top hoping for the clouds obscuring our view to clear and afford us a glimpse of the surrounding peaks. Instead we practically sprinted down the mountain as snow started blasting at us sideways. The wind here is crazy. One minute it seems OK, the next it is blowing so hard you can barely stand. Fortunately by the time we reached camp it wasn't quite so bad, just cloudy and raining off and on. The next morning there were hints of blue sky so I decided to attempt the hike up to the lake again. Once again there was promise it would clear when within about 10 minutes of reaching the top my hopes were shattered as rain clouds blew in and in a repeat performance of the day before I ran down the mountain with rain pelting my face so hard it felt like being sandblasted. I was completely drenched, but then by the time I reached camp my clothes were already mostly dry as the rain stopped, but wind continued.

Thwarted once again we made our way to the next camp at the base of the Cerro Torre range. The weather was all over the place. Driving rain, sunny skies, wind and calm. We experienced it all in the span of a couple of hours. As we set up camp, clouds and rain descended upon us, but we woke up the next morning at 6am to clear skies. Perfect for the small hike to the edge of another lake to watch an incredible mountain sun rise. We watched the sky change colors and then the first rays of light bounce off the snow making the peaks blindingly white. What a way to make up for not getting a clear view of Fitz Roy.

Our final day was a short trek along a river and back into the desert landscape and back to town. Our first truly nice day, the sun was out and at one point I was even hiking in only a T-shirt which has been a rarity on this trip.

Paraag left this morning to finish off the remainder of his trip so after saying goodbye I headed out on a day hike. I was lucky and the skies stayed clear as I climbed and climbed to the top of a very large "hill" with more incredible views of both mountain ranges. I had the hike to myself and it was great enjoying the panoramic views in 360 degrees. For all of my hiking friends a trip here is a must. The views are unbelievable especially considering how easy most of the hikes are to reach the views. As I started heading back down the clouds rolled in and if I had left even 30 minutes later I probably would have missed the clear views, but such is the norm down here.

I have one final day here in El Chalten and if the weather holds I think I will make my third and final attempt on getting a good view of Fitz Roy. Here is hoping that third time is the charm. All of this hiking is a good warmup for my next stop which is an 8 day backpacking trip in Torres Del Paine, the other iconic Patagonian experience, with Celine. Excited to see it in person as the pictures are phenomenal.

Antarctica

Writing this post means the end to a truly incredible journey. The crash after nearly 3 weeks of unforgettable day after unforgettable day is especially harsh knowing that this isn't the kind of trip that can be easily repeated.

I know everyone wants to see pictures, but I am still having issues uploading photos so unfortunately you will have to wait. The internet down here is pretty brutal. I can't even open gmail on the computer they have at the hostel I am staying at.

I could write a novel about everything I experienced, but here is a brief summary of the trip:

Our ship had about 120 passengers aboard. The large majority were from Britain or Australia which meant I was introduced to custard as an important food group that was served with every meal. The crowd was pretty senior, but fortunately I was able to band together with a great group of people around my age and I even met a couple of people I am traveling onward with. I somehow managed to get upgraded from a four person room to a twin room which meant way more space in the cabin. The food was delicious and I am sure that everyone went home a few pounds heavier as a result. We had a number of wildlife and physical science specialists on board who took us on zodiacs from the ship to landing sites and also made numerous lectures while on the ship.

My biggest worry for the trip was sea sickness as this was my first time on the open seas, getting tossed around in a fairly small ship. It was touch and go a few times and I thought I was in trouble when I wasn't feeling good the first night while the ocean was still relatively calm, but I managed to go the whole trip without puking. We had fantastic weather for the most part and outran a couple of storms that were bearing down on us. The two days of rough stormy seas we did have were sufficient for turning it into a true adventure. You know something is wrong when you have to hold onto the dinner table for dear life as your neighbors dishes end up crashing on top of yours.

Our first stop after two days at sea were the Falkland Islands, a British colony that was invaded by Argentina in 1982. The people here are fiercely protective of their British heritage and signs of the war are evident in the beaches still closed due to threat of landmines, numerous war memorials and the never ending British flags, t shirts, and bumper stickers proclaiming the British claim to the islands. We spent one day in Stanley, the major settlement on the island. I was more seasick on land that day than any day on the ship. The whole day walking around the sidewalks were swaying and heaving in front of me.

The Falklands were also our first chance to see penguin and albatross colonies. The rockhopper penguins that breed here were so much fun to watch as they hop from rock to rock and waddle up penguin "highways" that link the high up nesting grounds to the ocean. Intermingled in the penguins were albatrosses who create mudded nests for their super fluffy chicks. When you are In the middle of the ocean with no land for hundreds of miles the albatrosses are still there following along behind the ship on the air currents. They spend their lives at sea, returning to land only to breed and nest. Once a young chick is fledged it may not touch land again for 7 years. The landscape of the Falklands is amazing as well and we got to go on a couple of small hikes. It is barren of trees. Nothing but windswept rocky cliffs and some beaches with sand so white they look like they could be a tropical destination if it wasn't so cold and windy.

Another two days at sea and we landed at the South Georgia Islands. These islands were stunning and an amazing addition to going to Antarctica. They are uninhabited except for a few British government officials that oversee these islands and about 30 or so people that live there mostly doing research. The hostile landscape of towering mountain peaks and sweeping glaciers is home to abandoned whaling stations and more wildlife than you can possibly fathom. Stepping onto a beach so full of seals that you literally have to watch where you are walking for fear of stepping on one was quite the experience. I became quite adept at fending off fur seals. They may look cute, but they will growl and charge at you like a dog if your presence is unwelcome.

The islands are prime breeding grounds for King penguins, fur seals and the fat and disgusting elephant seal. The stench of that much wildlife all living together is difficult to describe. The best I could come up with is that fur seals smell like a sweaty hockey dressing room filled with rotting fish and finished off with a hint of musk. Penguins have a more tangy fishy aroma. Despite all of the documentaries and photos you have seen showing otherwise penguins are really dirty. They are constantly covered in poop mixed with mud and remains of regurgitated krill. We were also introduced to the death side of so much wildlife. Beaches were constantly littered with bones and carcasses. I saw birds with their heads completely inside rotting seals tearing out guts.

During one of our outings a lady was filming a king penguin and a seal standing near each other. We saw these interactions all of the time. The seal will bark and lunge and then the penguin will squawk and lunge back. Except in this case the seal must have been really mad because it grabbed the penguin by the head and in three seconds flung it around snapping its neck and detaching its head. Then it just stalked off and let the birds swoop in to finish the penguin off and tear it to shreds. I happened to walk by while the birds were fighting over the penguin and only saw the seal video later. All of our expert guides said they had never seen a seal go after a penguin like that on land before.

These islands are also where Shackleton was finally able to reach help for his men stranded on Elephant Island. We got to hike part of the walk he took over a mountain pass to the whaling station at Stromness. We also had a whiskey toast at his grave site in Grytviken, another abandoned whaling station. If you don't know the Shackleton story look it up. It is an incredible story of survival in some of the harshest conditions you could imagine.

After four days of animal overload we spent another two days at sea heading to Antarctica. We made two extremely rare landings on Elephant island. Normally the weather in this area doesn't allow for landings. We got to set foot on the spot where Shakleton's men survived while waiting for rescue. We also visited the first beach they landed on, but moved from after one miserable night spent there. It is amazing when you see the conditions they endured. There are tiny beach areas and then mountains that shoot straight up covered in glaciers and snow. This was technically our first Antarctic landing, but it didn't really feel like Antarctica until made it further south into the land of snow, ice and ice bergs.

Our next couple of landings were to Antarctic islands. More penguin colonies except this time Adelies and a trip to a Polish research base where about 15 people work. Next we explored some Gentoo penguin colonies and for the first time saw very new chicks being cared for in the rock nests that the adult penguins build. I have enough baby penguin pictures to last a lifetime now. It really is amazing to watch the regurgitation feeding process and the adult penguins sheltering the young from the wind and cold.

Stepping foot on the Antarctic mainland is my favorite moment from the entire trip. We had a gorgeous day with the sun shining and the winds nonexistent. We hiked through the snow up a small ridge to look out over a bay that was glassy calm. Icebergs littered the water and we watched a massive piece of ice calve off a glacier sending waves radiating through the entire bay and setting off a thunderstorm of sound. The crazy thing is that by the time you hear the calving the ice has almost always already fallen. One of the most incredible views I have ever seen. The excitement of truly setting foot on Antarctica was pretty overwhelming. It's a day that is permanently etched in the memorable moments file of my brain.

That day we also spent a cold night camping on a tiny island just off the mainland. It was a mostly sleepless night listening to the wind howl and glaciers calve. The sun never really truly set. I think it went to dusk around 3am and by 4am it was already getting light out again.

Even just being on the ship maneuvering through channels filled with giant floating icebergs and glaciers sweeping down on either side was exciting. One iceberg we passed was over 100m long. Cruising on a zodiac up close to the bergs was even more exciting.

Our last day in Antarctica was unfortunately ruined by a nasty storm. That meant missing the chance to take a swim in the ocean and hike on some volcanoes. It was a crappy way to end, but all part of the deal spending time in such an unforgiving environment.

Tomorrow my journey continues on an 18 hour bus ride into the heart of Patagonia where the hiking is plentiful and I can get some much needed exercise. I will report out again in a few days.

Boat Time

A quick update on the past couple of days before I board a ship headed to Antarctica later this afternoon. I will be gone for about 3 weeks and probably won't do any updates during that time. If you want to see pictures from the boat you can follow along at http://instagram.com/g_msexpedition or http://twitter.com/g_msexpedition they post updates and photos there.

It was a welcome relief to have my luggage show up 2 days ago. Who knew putting on a set of clean clothes could be such an exciting experience.

I spent an afternoon checking out one of the stranger museums I have ever been to. Ushuaia was originally founded as a penal colony with 11 men who had reoffended and 9 women "volunteers" as the literature emphasized. They eventually built a prison which is where the museum is now located. The building has a central hall and 5 wings of cells on 2 levels. Inside of the cells are museum exhibits. There were exhibits on everything from scale ship models and Martine history from the 1500s onwards, to stuffed penguins, to a history of the prison, to an art gallery display. One of the wings was left unrestored and was complete with creaking wood floors and a creepy vibe.

Yesterday I summited my first Patagonian peak. There is a national park just outside the city with a couple of different trails. The hike was pretty steep and good for working off all of the holiday rum and cokes. The park guide warned me that the trail was muddy, but I wasn't expecting to have to navigate through full on bog reminiscent of the West Coast Trail. I made it through the mud and fortunately the sky cleared up for the first time in days as I climbed through the last scree section so I got some fantastic views of the surrounding lakes, ocean and small islands.

After a solid day of hiking I splurged on king crab which is a bargain at about $20. About the same as any other restaurant meal, but expensive considering I think I spent about $20 total on food for the three days before that.

I apologize for not being able to post photos, but tech support for the web service I use is still trying to figure out why the app I am using doesn't upload photos properly. I will post as soon as I can! Talk to everyone in 3 weeks!

Misadventure in Flight

Hola, and welcome to my very first shiny new blog update. For those of you that don't already know I am currently on the first stop of my open ended world tour in Ushuaia, Argentina aka Fin del Mundo or "End of the World". Getting here required teetering on the edge of disaster for 36 hours of airports and airplanes. Things started off bad with a 4 hour delay in my red eye flight from Edmonton to Toronto. Which in turn meant that I completely missed my flight to Miami. I was lucky enough to get on a later flight and escaped Toronto just before things got really crazy there. In Miami I sprinted across the entire airport, which is not small, to get to my gate just as boarding started. Then another overnight flight landed me in Buenos Aires relatively on time, except minus my luggage which unfortunately stayed behind in Miami. After sorting out my baggage dilemma and sneaking to the front of a massive lineup at customs I had to take an hour and a half bus ride through the middle of Buenos Aires to arrive once again just in time to catch my last flight to Ushuaia. I spent today wandering around Ushuaia which is a laid back small city. Picture Banff, with all of its mountains, trendy hiking stores and tourists except everything is in Spanish and one side is surrounded by ocean. The temperature has been cool, about 10-15C, and the days are long, a welcome relief to the dark Alberta winter. It's great being so close to the mountains and I am hoping to get out to the national park outside the city soon. I have included some photos from my excursion today. I think I have finally figured out this blogging thing so stay tuned for more updates.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to the documentation of my current world adventure. Enjoy following along on the journey and feel free to post questions and comments.