Getting ready to move on.....

Tomorrow I finally leave Queenstown for Christchurch. I have been here for a quite a while now but, its not really a bad town I have enjoyed it here. It will be nice to see something new though because I have seen and done pretty much all that Queenstown has to offer on my limited budget haha. My bus leaves early in the AM and it is about an 8 hour drive, I am sure there will be stops along the way to Christchuch. I am just relaxing and taking it easy on my last full day here in Queenstown. We finally have good weather again so that is nice! Well I really have nothing else to tell yall except that I will really really miss Ferg Burger alot! :( -Ty

Queenstown again....

So I couldn't catch my Kiwi Bus out of Queenstown with most of the rest of my friends due to it being full. Which means I have 2 extra days here in Queenstown but, from what I have heard that is better than 4 whole days in Christchurch. I still do have some friends left here in Queenstown and I should still be able to make my flight back to Auckland on the 19th so I am not all that worried.

Queenstown is a nice city with lots to see and do and TONS of adventure stuff as you can tell but, all that is expensive so I have done most of my crazy stuff and now I am trying to save some money. It is slightly cold for my tastes here but I am making it. My hostel is pretty decent I just miss my roomies they all left today and we had all gotten pretty close to each other.

There is one other thing I feel that deserves a mention here in Queenstown. It is a local burger joint called Ferg Burger. Some of my illustrious local readers may have heard of this place. It is basically McDonald's on steroids. The lines are almost always out the door and sometimes even around the block! They are open 21 hours a day and located directly across the street from my hostel. Perfect for the average backpacker. They are kinda expensive but the quality of the burger is totally worth the price! I can eat literally just one burger and be full and not need any other food for quite a while. I have had quite a few ferg burgers myself as they have chicken,beef,lamb,venison and vegetarian varieties. I personally know of someone who has had a Ferg Burger a day everyday he has been in Queenstown. I also know a girl who had 2 in a 12 hour period! They are just that good. This place is amazing but unfortunately the owner ( a millionaire by now for sure) refuses to franchise so once I leave Queenstown I wont have another one unless I come back. That being said, he has managed to put every other burger joint in Queenstown out of business and his quality is outstanding!

I really dont have much to add today its gonna be a short blog I think. Be sure to check out my pictures and videos on Facebook. Talk at yall later,Ty

Soar high above the clouds.....

Well yesterday I hang glided 3000ft off a mountain above Queenstown. The view was AMAZING and the ride was so gentle and relaxing. But, he did make it crazy for a while which of course I loved. So basically I got harnessed in side by side next to the pilot and we picked up the glider and got to the top of the hill and he said ONE,TWO,THREE,RUN! So we both ran as fast as we could down the hill and before you knew it the glider had picked us up 3000 ft in the air! So there I was hang gliding suspended above the trees and mountains just gliding along.

So we were swirling downward and he asked me if I wanna see something crazy. So I say sure. Then he says "lets go look at the trees" I didn't know he meant it quite so literally! He stalled out our glider and rocketed us down towards the trees and right close to a mountain and it was so much fun! Then we gained altitude again and flew some more just soaring all over. Eventually we rocketed quickly down towards the ground and came in  for a belly landing. It all in all lasted about 20 minutes but it was totally worth it!

Today I will be taking a gondola ride up a mountain for a view of Queenstown. The Gondola ride was pretty cool but, it cost 23 dollars one way just to get up there! So my mate and I we decided to walk up the mountain instead. It took us 45 minutes to get up there and it was HARD about half way up I was really regretting my decision to walk the mountain. But, we finally made it and the view was totally amazing. Worth the walk for sure. I will put some pictures on facebook of it. Then after a while we were able to take the gondola  back down the hill for free so all was well in the world. I guess I am just trying to maximize my 10 days left here in NZ. I have a few days left here in Queenstown then I am off to Christchurch for a bit then I go to fly to Sydney out of Auckland.  Its all be good and I have enjoyed it but soon I will be off back to Oz. I am still feeling my rush from the canyon swing though!

Talk at yall later,Ty

Breaking up is hard to do....

Today our "family" had a "break up" see I have been traveling for the past 2 weeks or so with the same core group of people on the Kiwi Experience Bus and I have been rooming with my mate Scott (who I met in Thailand) and our new friends, Amy,Mr Israel,Inge,Michael and Dave. Well Today All of them left to go their separate ways except Amy,Inge and I. I will see most of them again in Australia in about 2 weeks actually but, even so after staying with people and hanging out with them all the time for 2 weeks It is always hard to leave each other.

On a happier note, today I hang glide off a mountain outside of Queenstown so I can see an overhead view of the whole city! I am pretty excited about that for sure. After doing my Canyon Swing (check my video on facebook) I am still pretty pumped and full of excitement for wild stuff but this will be my last crazy thing for a while because I need to buckle down and start getting ready to go back to Oz and back to work!

I did forget to mention in my last blog entry that before we got into Queenstown we stopped on the bus at  "Puzzle World" it was a HUGE outdoor maze you had to make your way thru along with many puzzles inside the building and a crazy optical illusion room that made you really dizzy and feel crazy! There was another room where when you looked in from the outside it looked normal but when you went inside it was totally slanted! and when you viewed the room from the outside (on a video monitor) the people in the room looked like giants or midgets depending on what part of the room they were in! There was tons and tons of cool laser pictures and optical illusions. It was a neat place! There was also a challenge issued  by the owner to find a certain item within 100 meters of a certain spot and if you found it you got 100,000 dollars! 7 people paid the 1000 dollar entry fee to try and all have failed since 1994! ( the entry fee actually goes to charity or so they say) I really did enjoy that place but I have always been horrible with puzzles and stuff I guess my brain is just hard wired differently because all I remember is useless movie trivia haha

Talk at ya later,Ty

Swinggggggggggg!!!!!!

Well since I have made it into Queenstown aka Adventure Capital of the World I have done a lot! We arrived and unpacked our stuff and got settled in. I am here for a week so that means I can finally actually properly unpack. I have been sharing a room with my mate Scott from England who I met in Thailand, another girl Amy from England, along with a girl Inge from Holland and a guy from Israel named Sahar although we just call him "Mr Israel". We are quite the international bunch but we have become fast friends all of us and I dont have to worry about any of my stuff being stolen in the room. I quite like all my new friends and we have had some good nights together.

After we got settled in it was time for Scott and I to go do our canyon swing. I will try and explain what this is. Basically they harness you up 109 meters above the ground. That is roughly about 350 feet up or about how tall the Sydney Harbour Bridge is in Australia. So you are standing there and you have to choose how you want to jump off. But it isn't that easy, the guides or instructors are extremely sadistic and they really enjoy making you squirm.

So I watched  a few people go off and then it was my turn. Somehow I let them convince me to go off this platform backwards! So I get to the edge and look up and they give me a push which freaks me out already! Now I am harnessed in at this point but I am still 350 feet above the ground! So I turn around and they tell me to back out towards the edge. So slowly I start to back out towards the edge and they grab my harness and hold on. Then They tell me to lean back slowly I am terrified at this point but then I start to lean back over the edge and just as I am about to go they pull me back in! my heart is about to explode and I just wanna go!

Finally finally they let me go and just as I start to fall 65 meters straight down and JUST as they let me go they said "Oh no we forgot to clip something! of course that freaked me out even more!!! But in the end it was all just a joke and I was fine as I fell straight down and then arched in a big long swinging motion for quite a while until I finally stopped and they wenched me back up. I actually loved it so much that I did a second canyon swing for 39 dollars only! I really ended up loving it, It was awesome!

Well tomorrow I hang glide that should be great! Then I can say I have Sky Dived,canyon swinged,bungee jumped,and hang glided. Quite a ride its all been.... I have a video of my canyon swing on facebook and youtube and I am putting my photos on facebook too. Do go check them out :)

Talk at yall later,Ty

Brrrrrrrrrrr!

So I was in Franz Joseph where I did my glacier walk and it was so cold! But it was amazing for real, I loved everything about it except for the cold of course. I got some great pictures which I will upload to facebook soon. But words and pictures just dont do it justice, I cant even describe how pure and beautiful and amazing it was. I saw things that not many people get to see in a lifetime and I even got to drink pure glacier water!

When I first signed up for this it sounded expensive but it was worth every penny and it wasn't just a stroll thru the glacier as I thought. We actually did some real climbing with ropes and had crampons and climbed into ice caves and thru crevices but the views just made it all worth it. By the end of the day I was soaked and cold and tired but, I did pay for a glacier hot pool afterwards and it was the perfect cap off to a great day! It was a glacier fed pool that they heated to the perfect degree of hotness and you could stay in there as long as you wanted!

I also failed to mention something really interesting that we saw outside of Franz Joseph was "The Bushman's Museum" it was a museum started by a guy who first created "deer capture" in the 1970's. See, back in the 1800's and early 1900's they released deer into New Zealand just for sport hunting and really no other reason but by the 1950's and 60's the deer were so overpopulated they were killing a lot of the native trees and going into people's houses and stuff. So they started culling the deer and just killing them all. That was fairly successful but still not enough. So, they started using helicopters to hunt and kill deer and that was so successful that they ended up almost wiping out all of the deer totally.

Finally the govt realised that they should save some of the deer instead of killing them all so they used the helicopter to go and find deer and literally jump from the helicopter onto the deer and capture them it was pretty wild! Then this guy made a "net gun" system where he could shoot a net onto the deer and bring it down for capture. So eventually they had enough deer to actually start farming them for meat. So now there is over 35 "deer farms" in New Zealand where they just breed deer to kill for venison. The exports total over 260 million dollars a year! It is odd seeing deer everywhere in pastures/paddocks.

It was an interesting museum but, this guy who owned it he was really quite "politically incorrect" in a way it was refreshing to see someone who really didn't care what others thought about him and his views but, he did managed to offend a lot of people because he had complaint letters that he posted all over the walls along with his replies to the letters! He was quite a character. All in all I did enjoy the museum though. I am one day away from Queenstown so I will write more there after all my crazy canyon swing and adventure stuff!

Yall take care,Tyler

On and on we go....

Well I left yall in Nelson and after spending 2 days in Nelson I made it to West Port and spent a night there. There really wasn't much in West Port at all but our bus drivers organized a 3 legged pub crawl. So I was chained to a total stranger and we had to walk to 3 different pubs together but, she turned out to be a pretty cool girl. Luck for me her boyfriend didn't mind me being chained to her! Really there isn't much else to tell about West Port a lot of these towns are just spit dots on the map and I think the Kiwi Experience Bus Tour really keeps them alive. It is really neat to see all the different parts of the country though and to places I would never go.

After we left West Port we made it to Lake Manapua and "The Poo Pub" our hostel was run by New Zealand's oldest pub owner. He is an 84 year old man named Les and amazingly day after day he puts up with a rowdy group of 50+ backpackers and he still enjoys it! We had a pub night there as well but it was a costume party. The only rule was that everyone had to dress up and the only place we had to shop was the 2 dollar shop and a resale charity store so needless to say the costume's were very interesting haha! I managed to buy an old lady's night/dressing gown and a white glove a la Michael Jackson along with a hat my mate bought me made for babies! So I was quite the sight lol. But we all had a good time not to mention an amazing home cooked steak meal from Les for only 10 dollars which is an amazing bargain here in New Zealand!

Currently I am in Franz Joseph a really really cool town in southern New Zealand with a real glacier! I paid for a full day glacier walk along with most of my bus it was expensive but, how many times in your life do you get to walk all over a real glacier! I guess that is all for now. We will be here for another day then getting closer and closer to Queenstown the adventure capital of the world! :)

Bye for now yall,Ty

Moving on......

So, since Taupo ( a city I really liked and could have spent more time in) we have moved on to 1 day in River Valley which was also really really cool. It was a tiny lodge right by a river in a valley (surprise) and we were far away from everything! We had electricity of course but, not much else. There was 50 of us all in this lodge and there was outdoor stuff to do but that was it.

It was really nice to get away from it all and just relax. A lot of people went white water rafting but, it was quite expensive and I have done it before so I took a pass on it. I just relaxed and trekked around a bit. We slept in a big room on mattresses all right next to each other! That was interesting haha but it was all good :) I have really made some great friends on this trip and our driver Ringo is awesome!

After we had our day in River Valley we left for the capital city of Wellington where I am now. It is a larger city and there is a lot to do I went to a really cool museum all about New Zealand and had some great food here so far. I haven't done to much else as of yet. Tomorrow I leave for Nelson finally on the south island! It will be a 3 hour ferry ride down there so wish me luck! I leave early in the AM :(

I guess that is it for now folks, yall take care now-Tyler

Hot,Hot like fire....

Last night I went with some friends I met from the Kiwi Experience bus to some natural hot springs here in Taupo. It was really really relaxing just to grab a beer and go sit there in bubbling hot springs. It got quite hot and some points but luckily we were also close to another part of the lake that was freezing cold so we had the perfect balance of hot and cold.

I really enjoyed just relaxing there doing nothing but having a cold one and talking with new friends. Those really are the best moments of all my travels is just doing stuff like that. In this part of New Zealand it is very rural as I said before so there was no light pollution and you could see all the stars perfectly. It was great.

After that we went out for a bit longer at an Irish bar had a few drinks then called it a night. I slept late this morning for the first time on this tour because we had 2 days here and today the day is mine to do whatever I want. It was awesome to catch up on my sleep and just have the day to myself. I am enjoying New Zealand so far.

Well that is it for now. Yall take care,Tyler

Glow Worms and the Caves

Today we stopped in a little town called Waitomo. A lot of the places here in New Zealand are really rural and small. Totally different from the wild east coat of Australia I was on. The landscape is totally different here as well. I actually think there is more natural beauty here in New Zealand than I have seen in Australia but here is just as expensive if not more :(

I had the chance to go "caving" today. We went to an underground cave and the water was about 10 degrees C or about 35 degrees F. We had wet suits but it was still COLD! It was really really awesome though. We had great guides named Ryan and Monkey and they were so funny and informative. We got to see glowing fly larvae called "glow worms" when you turned your lights off in the cave and let it go all dark you could see them light up on the ceiling with bio luminescence and it was really cool! I had a great time.

Other than that I saw a sheep shearing show that had a lot in it and the guy was very informative and entertaining and I learned more about Sheep shearing and farming than I ever thought possible. We saw a lot of tricks with the dogs and sheep and there was even geese! It was pretty neat. Tomorrow we are off to another town with more activities I am sure. I really am enjoying the bus tour and the people on it.

Talk at ya later-Ty

Truckin down the Road....

So I made it to Auckland safely and spent the weekend there with a friend. Then I started my bus tour. It was Kiwi Experience. Different than I expected because I thought they just took you from point A to point B but in reality they actually force you to make different stops with them along the way. It really isn't so bad though, there is 50 people on my bus and they are really cool. You are allowed to stay as long as you want in one place or just stay the 1 day they allow for each place.

So far I have only stayed one day in each place but they always have an activity for you to do and a cool tour guide/bus driver named Ringo. Some of the activities you have to pay for and some are free. It really is your choice as to what you do. So far I have seen a really cool gold mine for free and also been to a city that smells of sulfur and rotten eggs but I paid to see a really cool Geo Thermal Park there.

New Zealand has been more beautiful than I expected for sure. It is cold here but I do like it. Tomorrow I will be doing some underwater caving/tubing so that should be great! I cant wait :) back on the bus for more stops until we finally get to Christ Church. I did see "lord of the rings town" that was neat. I will stay maybe 2 or 3 days extra in some town before I end this journey. I am just not sure where I want to pick up the extra days yet. Its all good so far though.

I guess that is all for now. take care,Tyler

New Zealand

So, after 2 days in Australia resting and getting used to the western world ( and western world prices) :(  I left for  New Zealand. After the usual bull crap at the airport I made it thru and landed safely in Auckland where my friend picked me up. She has been a great hostess. The first night we went out and I got to go to my first real rugby game! It was pretty exciting for me.

It is alot colder here in NZ than it was in Australia and definitely much colder than Asia so I am having to get used to that. I have some more friends I will meet up with here in NZ and I am gonna join a hop on hop off bus tour soon which will take me down to the south island and all over the north island so that should be fun!

For the first time since I left America in Nov. I got to eat Wendy's! You know the hamburger place, it wasn't EXACTLY the same but it was close. It was SO  good to finally have a little taste of home way over here on this side of the world. Not only that, but I also got to meet a famous kiwi TV star. Now I had no idea who he was but he was just out eating alone at a local fast food joint. I guess since there is only 4 million people in all of NZ their stars are just much more accessible. That would never ever happen in America. But I got his autograph just for good measure and he was actually a pretty cool guy.

I haven't done too much else noteworthy just yet but I am enjoying my time here and it should be good. I still find myself comparing things a little too much to the Asian world and I need to get out of that mindset because there is nothing in this part of the world that will be as cheap or as accessible as it was in Thailand.

Well I guess thats it for now. I will update yall more when I move from Auckland. -Ty

Asian Reflections

So I wrote this blog once before but it all got erased so I am giving it another go. I just wanted to write about my time in Asia. I really loved it there more than I ever thought I would. My original plan was to spend a little bit of time in Thailand,Laos,Cambodia and Vietnam splitting my time equally between all of the countries. What actually ended up happening was I spent almost all of my time in Thailand, a week in Laos and a week in Cambodia with no time in Vietnam ( that will be for next time) I love being able to just change my plans whenever and where I need too.

Thailand: Thailand really amazed me on so many levels that was by far my favourite country and the only country (besides Australia) I have visited that I can honestly say I could live in. Not forever of course but for a while. At first it was just such a culture shock to me because they do everything SO different in Asia. I saw alot of stuff that would give occupational health and safety guys a heart attack! They aren't purposely unsafe over there I just think that is how its always been. They just dont know any better. I took some scary journeys along the way with some dodgy transport but I managed to leave Asia without a scratch. So it can be done :)

My favourite city in Thailand was up north, in Chang Mai. I loved the beautiful jungle being so close and the people were so chilled out and relaxed it was great there. I had a love hate relationship with Bangkok some stuff I loved about it but I really didn't enjoy people trying to use you like an ATM because you were a tourist or the pollution or the loud noises but even Bangkok holds its charms.

Down south in the islands it was beautiful there. It was quite expensive just due to it being the high tourist season but, I loved just relaxing on the islands chilling out and as you have seen from my pictures I was lucky enough to work on my tan. So I really traveled Thailand pretty much north to south and I loved it all. I had such a great time there I may accept a job there to teach English for a year. But I will for sure be going back.

Laos: I spent a week in Laos, I crossed over the border from Thailand into Laos. The border crossing took a bit and it cost 35 American Dollars but once I made it into Laos it was worth it! It was like a "break" from Thailand. As much as I loved Thailand sometimes it just got a little crazy there. Laos was so beautiful and so relaxed. I went down south to the 4,000 islands and literally did nothing and loved it. They didn't even really have consistent electricity but it was so cheap there and you could just sit on the beach and relax and at night you could watch the stars. I saw freshwater dolphins and alot of amazing things and no one hassled you in Laos. You wouldn't know it but, on a sad note... Laos is the most heavily mined country in the world and its neighbour Cambodia is number 2 due to the Vietnam war and other wars there is land mines everywhere and there is a ton of amputee victims due to land mine explosions. I stayed on clearly marked paths and came out of there with all my fingers and all my toes.

Cambodia: For me personally I just didn't enjoy Cambodia and wont be returning. It was loud,extremely filthy like they didn't even make any kind of an effort to clean up their own country,it was poor and there was beggars EVERYWHERE! Now I can understand up to a point why people beg for money over there because in the Asian countries there is absolutely no social safety net and if you are poor then you just work until you die. But there is actually a real "beggar fatigue" issue over there. You just get hit up for money so much by so many people it just makes you crazy!

I did go to S21 and The Killing Fields which is where Pol Pot and his insane political group tried to "purify" the country of Cambodia in 4 years between 1975-1979. In that time I total of 3-4 million Cambodians died of various causes but just at S21 alone they murdered 17,000 people with only 7 surviving. I have blogged previously about my experiences there. It was good to see that Cambodia is not denying what happened but it was just extremely hard for me to go thru. I dont regret it I just wouldn't do it again. Really the only thing I honestly enjoyed about Cambodia was getting my massage by Nika who was totally blind but gave an amazing massage! Best one I have ever had and going to Angkor Wat. Not all of Cambodia is a bad place and many people love it, it just wasn't for me. I am still glad I went though.

So all in all I really did love Asia and actually when I got back to Australia the first night even though I hadn't been in Asia THAT long it was SO strange coming back to the western world. It really honestly felt alien to me. I felt as if I didn't belong and everything was different. I kinda went into a depression like state for a day or 2 and I couldn't sleep well. I asked my other friends about this who have been to Asia and they report the same. Its just so different coming back to the civilized world.

What I dont miss is the stupid "frog ladies" of Bangkok (those of you who have been know what I am talking about) it is these ladies who walk around and make this insane strumming frog noise over and over trying to attract your attention. It makes me crazy! I dont miss loud tuk tuk drivers trying to get your business ( Where you go?!) I dont miss multiple people a day trying to offer me a suit I dont need or want for a "special price" and I dont miss little kids who want to sell me flowers or thumb wrestle or play pool  with me for money because they ALWAYS win and when you fork your money over to them they dont even get to keep it. Children selling books or flowers or anything are just basically forced into a form of slavery for their greedy or sometimes poor parents who keep the money. They should be in school like normal kids but they aren't. I even saw a girl who was FOUR years old selling stuff. It really is a shame there is no social safety net for people in Thailand.

Well I guess thats it for now. Hopefully my blog actually saves and publishes this time. I dont want to write all this again. -Tyler

Sea of Red

Originally I had heard so many horror stories about the demonstrations going on here in Bangkok, everyone was saying farang ( The Thai word for foreigners) should stay inside etc etc. I was slightly worried just due to all this hype. This morning I would say about at least 500,000 "red shirts" shut down the city protesting the govt.

Well my friend and I are studying Thai, we each bought books so we decided to go to a nearby local park to study. We got there and were surrounded by the red shirt people. At first we were a little nervous but we soon realised these people are not out to hurt farang at all. They love us foreigners and depend on our tourism. So I got around to asking one of them who spoke English what they were protesting.

Apparently from what I understand the people of Thailand elected a prime minister and recently the military overthrew him because they said he was corrupt. As far as I can tell they haven't offered the people of Thailand any proof and they just installed some other guy in his place. So obviously the people are angry. So all the people of Thailand want is a chance to vote again in a new election to elect someone of their choice. A reasonable request I think.

So, we get to talking to this guy and he tells us we can join him at the rally. We figure why not? So we walk down there and there is I would say at least 500,000 Thai's in red shirts clogging the streets protesting and wanting a new govt. People there are happy and chanting and singing not screaming and getting angry. This is totally a non violent thing. I felt quite out of place at first with my friend being one of the very few Farang (foreigners) there. But the Thai's made us feel like Rock Stars! Everyone just acted like I was their best friend even if they didn't speak a lick of English and there was even a monk who hugged me! We also saw a foreign guy leading a protest chant and I asked him what the words he was saying meant, and he said he didnt even know! I was at least informed enough on the issue to know what I was doing there.

They all wanted pictures taken with me and to talk to me and give me free stuff like water etc.... I was amazed! At first I just went down there out of pure curiosity but they thanked me for supporting them and after I actually learned what and why they were protesting I do support them. The police/military WAS there but they were on the outskirts and they didn't harm anyone nor did anyone harm them. I can see this will be a totally not dangerous non violent thing unless either a protester gets angry or the police/military come down hard and hurt someone.

Tomorrow is the "deadline" for the change in the govt to happen so I wont be going down there tomorrow just in case things get heated but overall it was a really good experience for me to see people actually trying to make a change in their govt and doing something about it. In America I seriously doubt 500,000 people would assemble for anything. Either out of pure laziness or just not caring. But, also on the flip side of the coin we are lucky to have a govt that might not be GREAT but it has been and hopefully always will be elected by the people for the people so we dont have these issues.I wish I would have had my camera to take pictures but sadly I left it in the room not thinking I would be needing it for anything.

So long story short I had an interesting but safe day and I plan to make it back to Australia in one piece :)
On a Happier note I found the coolest little bar here on Soi Ko San ( Ko San Road) called The Happy Bar (go figure) the owner and his sister run the place along with a friend and it is literally just big enough to fit 9 people max but it is such a relief from the loud craziness of Ko San and you can actually talk and get to know people its great I really do love it there and I will miss it when I am gone. I do have a love/hate relationship with Bangkok for sure but I guess overall I will miss it. Tomorrow I shall write my Asian Reflections Blog. I guess that is all for now.

Yall take care,Ty

My journey with a monk

On my way back to Bangkok from Cambodia I sat on the bus next to a monk. His English was ok but not great, so I didn't get to ask him everything I wanted to ask him but, I did find out that every boy has to be a monk for 2 years or so and after that they can decide whether they want to continue in the lifestyle or not. He seemed like a nice kid I would guess he was about 18 or so. Now monk's aren't supposed to have cell phones or any technology but the younger monks I have seen sure do like to break the rules. He was chatting on a mobile phone for quite a while. I have seen monk's smoking and I even saw a monk stick his tongue out and whistle at a girl! They aren't allowed to speak to women directly, I guess to avoid temptation but they are only human. I respect them for what they do but it must  be a hard lifestyle.

Once I got back to Bangkok I just hung out with some friends and met some new friends. On the bus I met an Isreali guy and a girl from Switzerland. I also met a guy from California on the street and we all went out together and had a good time. I am tossing around the idea of coming back to Thailand to teach English here. I really do love it so  I will do some more investigating and see how that goes. Life is good here, its a little wild and crazy here in Bangkok but nothing I cant handle.

After being in Asia almost 6 weeks with no stomach problems at all just yesterday I got a touch of the stomach bug. It was a bad night for me but I am on meds now and I will pull thru. They say 85% of travelers get it at some point in their trip. I almost lasted my whole time with no issues though! I am hoping to be 100% better soon. They call it "The Bangkok Belly" You gotta watch out for the street food here when it gets hot outside sometimes you need to watch what you eat but, I will live. I leave Asia in 4 days :( back to Oz for 2 days then on to NZ. But it should be good.

Well I am done for today. Yall take care. -Tyler

Happy stuff/Sad stuff

Seeing those clothes from S21 is still haunting me. As I said before that museum was much more in your face than others I have been too. They at least cleaned the clothes that were displayed in the tourist part but these clothes still had blood clearly on them. I mean it wasn't like I saw dead bodies but I guess it was just seeing that giant pile of clothes that was taller than me and realising that they belonged to men,women and children who are no longer alive because of 1 crazy man's idea to "purify"a country that an entire generation of people are dead and gone.

They had pictures on the wall of some of the people who died there. (out of 20,000 at S21 only 7 survived) I did a quick calculation of the pictures and there was about 4000 photos. Every single one of those people died. It was hard for me to go there and see that but honestly it was good. It just shows that humans have the capacity for great good or great evil. At least the Cambodian people are not trying to brush it under the rug and are confronting their history and trying to make it right. The killing fields was sad too, that is where men women and even babies a whole lot of babies were killed. There is over 16,000 skulls there in a glass case. That glass case just seems to go on forever. I wont ever forget this. But, I dont regret seeing it.

On a happier note, I have seen a lot of cool stuff here in Cambodia many cool statues and monuments. As well as getting the best massage of my life. It was a "Japanese style" massage totally different from a Thai Massage (which is good as well) but the biggest difference is she was totally blind.

The girl who did my massage has been blind since birth. But, since she couldn't see obviously her sense of touch was amazing. I didn't even have to tell her where my tough spots were. She knew I have been backpacking due to the knots in my shoulders, she knew after feeling my kidneys that I dont drink enough water (I am really trying!) she even knew sometimes I slouch instead of sit straight up. She knew all that without even asking me anything. She also spoke perfect English despite living in Cambodia her whole life. The whole massage for an hour cost me 9 USD and I got to help her out as well. It really was a great experience I wont forget! Check her out, her name is Nika she is on Youtube!

Also, I have tied my record now, I have seen a dad, a mom, and 3 kids all on 1 motorbike built for MAYBE 2 people haha. Crazy Asian drivers!  I dont know how they do it. They just drive anything,anywhere anytime. Cambodia has the most beggars I have ever seen as well its really sad its so poor here and a ton of land mine victims too :( but enough sad stuff!

Oh ya, Lukie its the 9th here today. I cant believe you are 15 now! I remember when you were just a little baby..... ah the memories.... I have your present. You will get it as long as you dont wreck my new car :)

Soon we will head back to Bangkok in Thailand but we have 1 more day here in Cambodia. Yall take care,Ty

Cambodia so far....

So I have a lot to write about.... Well I crossed the border from Laos to Cambodia but not before a long and drawn out process. Basically I had to pay 23 USD dollars for a 1 month visa to Cambodia plus 3 dollars in "guard fees" aka bribes and after roughly 4 hours I managed to get into Cambodia in 1 piece. Thats just Asia for ya.

After getting into Cambodia I stayed 1 night in Kratie which to me was nothing special and really just another dirty city. I am sure it has some good points but, Cambodia is by far the poorest dirtiest country I have ever been too. There is beggars everywhere and people always want your money. It is really sad because most of them really need  it but you cant give it to them because if you give to one there is 20 other beggars who can see it and all want your money too. Cambodia is also the hottest country I have ever been too. it is boiling here with the humidity too!

After one day in Kratie I decided to skip Siem Reap with Angkor Wat and the beautiful temples ( supposed to be the 8th wonder of the world) due to the high cost in getting there and paying to see all the temples, and head directly to Phomn Phen. It was there that Kev and I met a really cool couple from Holland and we have been hanging out with them for a while.

We went to "The Killing Fields and S21" together. Those are the places in the 1970's where the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot killed over 3 million Cambodians between 1975-1979. I have been to concentration camps in Germany and stuff like that but these places were so much more "in your face" than anything I have ever seen before. There was still dried blood on the walls at S21. They had a room of photos of prisoners taken when they entered the S21 death camp, none of the people survived. There was over 4000 photos there. 20,000 people came into S21 and only 7 survived. It was good to see but very hard for me to go thru emotionally.

I accidentally got myself into an area not meant for tourists I think. I was trying to get out of the S21 Camp area and I went down 3 levels of stairs thinking I was going out the building. I didn't see any signs of any kind but I actually walked down into a basement type area. In that area was a mountain of clothes taller than me. much taller than me, the clothes still had blood clearly on them 35 years later. It was clearly the victims clothes and unfortunately  the image of that I think will be with the rest of my life. It was very powerful and sad and I wish I hadn't seen that. Babies were killed, adults,children,old people,educated people,poor people. It didn't matter. Entire generations lost. This just really showed me that humanity has the capacity for great compassion or great horror just due to the crazy people out there. It was really sad. Most people died there weren't even executed. They died from torture. The worst part is that almost every "leader"in the Khmer Rouge including Pol Pot escaped justice by just dying of natural causes. Not one of them has been brought to justice yet. It was good to see all that but very sad. I took a few pictures but honestly it was so depressing there I didn't take many and I doubt I will even share them all. You just need to go there and experience it for yourself.

After that we went onto happier times for dinner and drinks which was good but, we had to eat by candle light due to a city wide black out in Phomn Phen. There was no power at all! but it was actually kinda nice even if it was really hot! But they must be used to it because there was candles everywhere! Well that is all for now. I am safe and in a good guest house.

Until next time,Tyler

My time so far on the islands

So these islands here in Laos that we are staying on are so isolated and beautiful! We (sometimes) have electricity and (sometimes) have consistent running water for a shower but I dont mind at all. It is just really good to get away from the craziness for a while. I have seen some amazing sunsets that I have pictures of but pictures just dont do them justice I wish all of you could be here with me to see it!


The islanders are so nice and friendly and helpful. We have seen some amazing waterfalls and even are trying to spot some fresh water dolphins! We are staying at a guest house that definitely isn't the best as far as having the greatest rooms or beds or showers but "Mama and Papa" a Laotian couple run the place and they treat us just like their own children! They totally make up for the lack of creature comfort. They are the nicest,kindest most caring people ever! They bend over backwards for us! I will always remember them.

We also canoed quite far down the Mekong River but we got going quite fast downstream and close to a waterfall so rather than risk life and limb falling down a huge water (which was really beautiful by the way) we decided to turn back. I have actually put on about 4 pounds since I have been here in Asia that is a big deal to me! Food is so cheap here, but I still consider myself in fairly good shape. Canoing upstream against a strong current was one of the hardest things I have ever done though! It was SO tiring! We got passed up by two totally naked local boys who looked to be about 7 and they put us to shame! The locals are just so fit doing this stuff all the time their whole lives.

Oh, I did forget to mention the one good thing that happened in Pakse ( the city I was in before the islands) I got to eat dinner on a 7th storey roof top with an amazing view. I had a proper steak all the trimmings,beer and a dessert for 8 USD. Jealous huh? :) But on the downside I had  frustrating time waiting for my transport to take me to the VIP Bus down to the islands but all is well because I eventually got to the bus and got here so no worries just a little speed bump is all.

I have been so unplugged from anything North American related I really have no idea what is going on but I trust everything and everyone is well. So yall take care, til next time. -Ty

More on Asian Transportation

So I just wanted to go into more detail on Asian transportation. As I said before I guess there is driving laws but, if there is any I cant figure it out. In Thailand they are supposed to drive on the left hand side of the road but just drive all over it. In Laos they are supposed to drive on the right hand side of the road but, again drive all over it. They pass you from both sides without warning, dont signal,drive into oncoming traffic. It really is just controlled madness. Yet somehow I have only seen 1 accident and it was minor.

Honestly I would rate them as better, nicer drivers than Western world drivers. They just know how to work thru all the craziness and somehow I managed to drive a motorbike in all that by letting go of every driving law I have ever learned and just went with my gut and the local flow of traffic. I didn't kill anyone or anything so all in all I really had a great day and saw some amazing things and I would recommend it to anyone who likes self guided tours.

I have been driven on a "long tail" boat, its a large canoe shaped boat with a giant exposed 18 wheeler engine at the back which is attached to a very long drive shaft which is in turn attached to a very large and noisy propeller. The first time I rode one was quite scary as they really dont have life jackets but, now I enjoy them and they get you where you need to go water wise very cheaply and quickly.

Today we had to get from Pakse down further south to the islands so we had to go by local "taxi" I use that word loosely. It sadly was our only option. We paid 3 USD each and boarded a truck with a back cab that was open but had bench seats to fit people. Our luggage was strapped on top. It was meant to fit roughly about 10 or 12 people I would say. We fit 26 people plus we also shared floor space with some produce they were hauling. For 4 very long hours. We made it here in one piece but it was a long hot cramped time. It amazes me how many people they can fit in a truck.

Well for 3 dollars it wasn't to bad I guess. We will be here on this island for a few days it is really nice so far :) talk to yall later -Ty

King of the Roadddddddd

So today Kev and I and our new friend Simon rented motorcycles here in Laos. You could give me all of Bill Gates money and ask me to rent a motor bike in Thailand and I would say no its just insane there. It is pretty wild here in Laos too but I felt like I could handle so we paid 8  USD a piece and got motorbikes for the day. They gave us our helmets and away we went. Well kinda lol.

They said they didn't have any automatic bikes only manual. Now I have never driven a manual anything but I figured it couldn't be hard right? For those of you who have seen Zombieland the movie, remember the part where he crashes the bike into the bushes? Ya that was me. I am seriously not cut out to drive a manual. So I get off feeling defeated and They tell me I can either go double with my friend or nothing at all. Well we really dont wanna do that so we just tell them we want our money back and we willl figure it out from there.

It was at that point (surprise) they tell me they DO have an automatic motorcycle. Now this really doesn't surprise me at all, they are tricky here in Asia and will do anything for a dollar and money talks. So I get my bike and my helmet and off we go. Now the health and safety standards here in Asia, well there isn't really any. I have decided it is not because they dont care about the safety of their people it is just because things are done the way they have always been done and they are just too poor to change anything. Some of the things I have seen would SHOCK yall from the western world but, amazingly I have never been in a situation where I have felt so unsafe I didn't want to proceed with it. Everywhere and everything I have done as dodgy as it seems I have gotten where I need to go in one piece.

So off we go. Now anyone can drive in Asia anywhere but, there is just a few rules you need to remember. 1. There is no rules.  2. Just do what the locals do.  3. Use common sense.   As far as I can tell there is really no driving laws. People blow thru red lights. People pass/overtake you on both sides. People drive on either side of the road. People drive directly into oncoming traffic. It is absolute madness but  honestly there is an order too it and I quickly learned it. The size of your vehicle determines how much of the road you get to use, the bigger you are the more you get. In all honesty even with all this craziness as opposed to American drivers who generally drive like they "own" the road and it is "theirs" Asians might drive all over and drive insane like but they are generally very nice and let you in,let you pass etc. I have only seen 1 road accident in my whole time here and they guy got up and drove away no harm done.

So that being said, we get about half way to the Bolivian Plateau ( an amazing scenic lookout) and we half to turn around because my bike is losing gas like crazy after I just filled it all the way full ( for 3 USD). So we make it back to the shop and try and convince the people there is a problem with the bike. At first they dont believe us but after we again threatened to go elsewhere they magically produce yet another automatic motorcycle after saying they had none. So off we go again.... This time my bike actually holds out even though I had to fill it up THREE times whereas my friends didn't have to fill up more than once. But I spent less than 20 USD for the rental and the gas so not a bad deal.

After driving for over an hour we make it to the view point and stumble upon the most amazing waterfall I have ever seen. I got some pictures but it was super high up and there was not any safety rails so I couldn't get good pictures without risking my life. Again, western world safety standards are out the window. But I just wish yall could see the sights I have seen.... its amazing.

So after a while we leave to go back and I feel like a rock star, there is so many little kids just waving and laughing and smiling at us. The Lao people are so nice and friendly. On the way back I saw all sorts of transport like you would not believe. In Vietnam alone there is 6 million motorbikes and in all of South East Asia I would guess there is about 30 million. I saw motorbikes,trucks,buses,mini buses,cars,tractors,tractor engines with a drive train and a passenger cab, tuk tuks,taxis. Basically anything that has wheels and will even  remotely drive  they will drive it.

As scary as I might make it sound, I survived in one piece not having killed anything or anyone. The biggest danger to us was not people or cars but livestock. My "close calls" were almost hitting a cow,dog and goat. Laos doesn't have great roads, definitely not by Western standards but they were good enough. I survived my day and loved it!  It took a bit of getting used to the bike but I made it. I also saw the most amazing sunset. For those of you who are religious, you know the picture of Heaven up in the clouds with the beams of sun shining down towards earth behind the clouds? you know the classic one..... Well today I saw that only better. It was amazing. I loved my tour of southern Laos by motor bike and would recommend that freedom to anyone. I wouldn't even consider it in Thailand or Vietnam there is just to much craziness there but Laos is more laid back. I loved it all and survived in one piece so that is all I can ask for.

Later that night we had an amazing dinner, a proper steak,all the trimmings,a beer and dessert for under 10 dollar USD! After that we accident gate crashed a Laotian wedding but were welcomed with open arms.... All in all a great day! Pictures to come on Facebook as soon as I get a chance.... Until next time,Tyler

Here in Pakse

Well we made it to Pakse here in Laos on the southern border to Cambodia. It is really relaxed here and chilled out. It is good so far just relaxing watching a beautiful sunset with some new friends we met on the overnight  sleeper bus. That was really interesting haha. We had "beds" but 2 people shared a bed and it was cramped and bumpy but at least we did get to stretch out. They gave us a blanket and a little meal. The blanket was a God send because the AC was freezing! But after 12 hours we made it here in one piece and got checked into a guest house.

It is really cheap here, my portion of the "rent" at our guest house was 3 USD for 1 night! and food here is not much more expensive. Laos is great just like Thailand but in a different way. I am loving Asia :) Tomorrow I think we will rent motor bikes for 6 USD and go cruising up to this awesome viewing point and just enjoy the day.

That is all for now. I am just loving life and wishing everyone could see the sights I have seen.

Signed, your Traveling Texan,Tyler

Laos

So I made it here safe and sound to Laos after taking the 12 hour overnight train from Bangkok to Vientiane. The border crossing into Laos was the most complicated one I have ever made. First I had to pay 20 baht (less than a dollar) to board a second train to go to the border, once we got there we got off and had to fill out some paperwork and since I didn't have a secondary photo to attach to this application I had to pay 40 extra baht (about a $1.50) there was a very long line and the whole process took quite a while but after paying roughly 35 USD I got my stamp and on we went. 

Kev and I looked and looked for a place to stay and most were booked full but we ran into a large group of Canadians from the train and all of us booked into the same place. It was alright for the night. Just today we have booked an overnight sleeper bus (with beds) down to Pakse in southern Laos close to the Cambodian border because we will be traveling thru to Siem Reap after roughly a week or so. 

Laos is totally different from Thailand and after the hectic-ness of Bangkok it is a nice change of pace. Life is much slower here.  Less people speak English here than in Thailand but it is still fairly easy to get what you want. Here in Laos they accept the Thai Baht but, their money is the Kip. It is pretty wild getting used to this Kip. There is about 30 Baht (roughly figured) in a USD. there is about 40,000 Kip in 10 baht so you will go out and spend 10,000 Kip on a soft drink! It isn't much in reality but it seems like so much!

I miss Thailand (and the Baht lol) but overall I do enjoy Laos is a good change and I am looking forward to seeing what Laos has to offer us. I will keep in touch as much as I can. Oh ya, I wanted to mention one other thing about Bangkok. I got a shave by a little Thai man who spoke no English with a straight razor. I was nervous and I only was charged less than 3 USD but he did an amazing job and didn't even nick me! Best shave of my life it was amazing and I twill totally go for it again and recommend it to any guy.

-Tyler

A lot to catch up on!

Sorry it has been so long since I blogged but I have been busy! lets see, where did I last leave yall? I was on Phi Phi Island right? so while on phi phi I went and had a party for my friend Kevin (his 23rd bday) and I managed to semi limbo under a pole that was on fire! along with jumping thru a ring of fire! along with just some general bumming around and laying on the beach I got to do some amazing snorkeling I wish I had pictures of! Unfortunately my camera isn't water proof :(  I really loved the island life down south although it was a bit more expensive than Northern Thailand.

So after that, our "wolf pack" Kev,Scott,Ash,Tony and myself split up. Kev,Scott and Myself went to Phang Nau Island "the gateway to the James Bond Island" you know the funky looking island from the James Bond movie. It is very famous and I do have some good picture I will load on facebook when I get to a computer that I can do it from.

After Phang Nau we traveled by bus back up to Bangkok where Scott left Kev and I to go to a turtle reserve with his girlfriend. Kev and I stayed about a week in Bangkok and we went to a lot of the temple sites around bangkok and did a really neat river cruise as well.

Dad this part is for you so pay attention haha.: In Bangkok I found out they have a whole range of "voice impersonators" they are 100% Thai people but they do singing etc.... well close to where we stayed there was a Thai guy who covered Eric Clapton songs and did his voice. Dad, you remember we saw Clapton live and it was a really great concert but this guy was pretty spot on! and I got to listen for free :) In Bangkok I also ate some bugs and tried some Thai street food. Both Scott and Kev had bad food poisoning that left them both sick for 24 hours ( at separate times) but luckily knock on wood I haven't had a single stomach issue other than ordering food too hot for my taste buds sometimes lol.

I planned to stay in Thailand just 1 week but stayed actually closer to 3.5 weeks here. I love Thailand it has been one of my best countries ever and I totally want to come back. The people are so nice and friendly, most speak passable English and they are willing to give you anything you need. At first Bangkok is a little hectic with tuk tuk drivers offering to take you to where you want to go for deep discounts but, they get commission and a free gas card when they take you on a "stop" to a suit shop where you are seriously pressured to buy a suit you dont want or need.

But I have become very adapt at haggling and being not rude but firm with the tuk tuk drivers and telling them "no stops" so we get where we are going with no hassle. Overall the Thai life style is great. It is a totally different culture, sometimes a dirty country with crazy driving laws but I just really do enjoy it. A diamond in the rough as they say. I also forgot to mention that in Krabi,Thailand just back to the mainland after being on Phi Phi we stayed at a cheap guest house but it was nice enough, anyway we woke at about 9:30am and there was a guy downstairs drunk as a skunk! he had drank so much beer! and all he kept saying was "I am American" over and over... But he had a really funny accent so I knew he wasn't American. Well my English friends thought it would be funny to tell this drunk guy that I was American so when they did this guy decides its time for him to come sit and talk with us and we had a very amusing interesting conversation to say the least. We found out he was Romanian who married a girl from Seattle and that is as American as he got lol. Anyway nothing bad happened it was just amusing. But I do feel badly that he was so old (66) and still drinking so heavily so early in the morning. He cant be in good health.

Well now I am Laos. We took a 12 hour sleeper train for 30 USD to the border and crossed over into Laos. The train ride was interesting,bumpy and probably not up to American standards as the toilets were just squat toilets where the hole went thru the train and all the body waste just went directly onto the train tracks!  But, we met some interesting people on the train and I actually slept pretty well. A really nice Thai guy paid for Kev and I's dinner which was totally nice and random and we did arrive in Laos with no issues after paying 40 USD for a visa. We will be here a week-ish then move on to Cambodia. Life is good and I am happy and healthy. Thats all for now. Yall take care,Ty

Thai bathrooms

So I really just wanted to devote an entire blog post to Thai bathrooms. They are totally different than anything we have in the western world. If your lucky you will get a "western style" toilet with a bowl and a seat, if your really lucky you will also get western style toilet paper. A lot of toilets are "squat style" toilets that you just squat over and do your thing. Most have no toilet paper and just water to wash down the toilet, some come with a hose to squirt yourself with a squirt the bowl with. It definitely takes some adjusting to get used too haha.

To be fair, I am actually kinda fan of the squirting hose system it helps you use less paper. The showers are a totally different issue. Every Thai shower I have been in has a personal hand wand shower thingy connected to a heating system which if your really really really lucky will actually put out consistent hot water with a strong consistent flow. Usually one or the other not both. I have had a lot of cold weak showers here haha. But, the showers themselves are not enclosed at all. Its a sink,toilet and shower all in one room with nothing separated at all so you end up getting water everywhere. It is quite frustrating.

On a happier note I am here in Phi Phi island and I have done some laying about on the beach and general bumming around along with some amazing snorkeling I wish you could see the beautiful water here. Last night I saw the most amazing sunset of my life I will have to put pictures up on Facebook. Yall take care until next time. -Ty

Just a little more...

I forgot to mention a few things from earlier, I went to a Thai shooting range with my new friends and we shot all sorts of pistols and rifles for about 30 to 40 USD ( every time I say USD I mean US Dollar by the way) it was great fun! The core "Wolf Pack" a la "The hangover movie" is Kevin,Myself,Tony,Ashley and Scott. All of them being from England except me of course. So naturally I have shot a gun a lot more times than they have. But, for being Brits they didn't do too badly. It is amazing what you can do here in Thailand if you have the cash. All we did was shoot at targets but I got to shoot a rifle, a .380 and a .45. It was fun!
I also met a guy random from Plano Texas which isn't far from me at all back home so it was neat to meet him here all the way in Thailand. Its amazing who you run into here and it really is a small world for sure. He seemed like a cool guy to me. I guess I should take some time to explain this "Wolf Pack". We recently re-watched the movie "The Hangover" together and each of us is a character from that movie. "us" being Ashley,Kevin,myself,Tony and Scott. the 5 of us core group is the core group and we have really bonded and done alot together so its great! Right now we are here on Phi Phi island close to the "James Bond Island" from the movie. Yall know the one from the pictures.... Just paradise here....

Next I want to talk about Thai building codes/standards. I really dont think there is any. Before yall start to worry about me, I haven't felt totally unsafe in any building so dont worry but, I see buildings going up everywhere all over the place made from every kind of material and I seriously doubt here in Thailand there is any definite standard or health and safety. I saw a guy get up on a bamboo ladder and climb INTO live power lines with no protection at all! it was madness! You should see their power lines here, there is about 5000 lines strung all at once it is crazy! I will snap some pictures of it. Tuk Tuk's (Thai Taxis) are the best way to get around here in Thailand. I haven't been in a single "metered" taxi since I have been in Asia but basically you go up to a driver and tell him where you want to go and he quotes you a price which you then haggle on (usually half of his first price) then you pay cash and your on your way. Sometimes their will be "stops" where you are forced to get out and look in shops where the tuk tuk drivers get commission if you buy sometime. It is cheaper if you go that way, if you want "no stops" it cost more but, you arent required to buy anything in the shops so if I have the time I do it that way. These tuk tuks are open air trucks or motorcycles that can fit 1-6 people if you really squeeze and they drive like madmen but, I have always got where I wanted to go in 1 piece. It is an interesting experience for sure....

That is all for now. Yall take care,Ty

A few more things....

So I landed here in Phuket safe and sound. But I had a few things I wanted to blog about in no particular order. First, I wanted to talk about Thai traffic laws or lack thereof. Honestly I have seen drivers driving into oncoming traffic, seen people cut each other off, seen near crashes, I think I have seen it all. I can count on 2 hands the amount of actual proper traffic lights that I have seen. So, if you want to cross the street you just flat out go. Just cross no stopping at all. Don't do it slowly! If you just find a space big enough for you to run across the road the Thai people are really good at swerving to miss you with their buses,motorbikes,trucks,vans,tuk tuks,bikes,cars or whatever else they can drive haha. It was really unnerving at first but now I have the hang of it. I haven't been hit yet :)

I also wanted to blog about a few places we have eaten. In Chang Mai we found a "Chang Mai Saloon" and the owner was from Commerce Texas! I had a wonderful Chicken Fried Steak for dinner right in Thailand. He was super nice and it was great to taste a bit of home. My meal all up cost me 300 baht which might sound like a lot but in reality it is about 9 dollars. I also ate at a Dairy Queen in the airport that was great to find too.

Next I wanted to talk about haggling. Most Thai's dont speak great English but do speak some and I have managed to learn the basic basic Thai to get me by so that is what I use to haggle. If you dont haggle you are totally getting ripped off. I actually really enjoy it a lot though. I was new to it but I caught on quickly. Basically whatever price they quote you, you half it straight away. Now they know this and you should too. They are ripping you off but they are willing to be flexible. The good thing is that all the cards are in your hands. Your next biggest asset is just to walk away. Pretend you dont want it and they will chase after you and lower the price again. Sometimes I find myself haggling over like 50 baht which sounds like a lot but it is actually just over 1 dollar haha. The best part is here in Thailand you can haggle over almost every single thing and it is expected. Food, drinks,hostels,tuk tuks (taxis) clothes,shoes,whatever! I do love it. I have got some pretty good stuff for some cheap prices.

Today we went to Freedom Beach here in Phuket. We paid 300 baht a piece to get there. that is roughly 8 dollars. 4 dollars there and 4 dollars back. The beach was white and perfect and crystal clear. I saw a lot of great fish and I borrowed a pair of goggles and accidentally spooked a sea snake! It was huge and I think I was more scared than it was. They are actually really docile but they are very poisonous so I just left it alone and all was well. I had a great time at the beach with my friends.

Lastly I wanted to talk about Thailand itself. The Thai people for the most part are totally friendly and awesome people and this really is a beautiful country or it can be. In the city parts of it are really really trashy. There is no rubbish/trash bins to speak of so people tourists and locals alike just throw their trash in the street so most of the streets are totally littered with trash. Also their sewer system is terrible. You just randomly smell raw sewage in different parts of wherever you are and it is really gross. At first that smell really bothered me and hit me hard but now I am just used to it. Honestly I think its a 50/50 thing. The tourists for the most part just dont give a flip about where they throw trash etc and neither do the locals. Its really sad because if both parties took more pride in this country it could be totally great and totally beautiful and get alot more money into the local economy.

But dont get me wrong I love Thailand so far and I love hanging out with my friends and so far (knock on wood) I haven't got any food poisoning or any stomach issues at all. I have had some great local food,some odd food, some food I dont even wanna know about haha and some good western food too. So all in all so far a great time!

This is the link to my personal facebook pictures of Thailand so far but, I have been with friends who have taken photos as well so just have a gander at my facebook pictures if you want too. -Tyler


http://www.facebook.com/TylerHorton?v=photos#!/album.php?aid=2067846&id=194600613

Just copy and paste the link above in your address bar if clicking doesnt work for you.

So much to blog so little time

 I am gonna try and blog all that has happened to me in the past week and I dont have a lot of time so bear with me. So I flew from Sydney and Bangkok with my friend Kevin and we got there and 1 am in the morning (Bangkok is 4 hours behind Sydney) on the plane we met a really cool guy from England named Tony and he didn't have anyone to travel with so we said he could come with us. The more the merrier. So by the time we got situated, ate and all that it was about 3am.

We had planned to stay a few nights in bangkok but, Tony decided it would be better to go directly to Chang Mai 10 hours north of bangkok and we quickly agreed. So we got a taxi ride to the bus station in bangkok. We paid about five American dollars a person for a 45 min taxi ride. That is right when I knew Thailand was going to be amazingly cheap. So we get to the bus station and book a 10 hour bus ride to Chang Mai for 17 USD (US Dollars) this bus had AC,awesome seats and a driver who spoke semi good English. All in all it wasn't a bad trip at all I had a big seat to myself.

So we get to Chang Mai not knowing where we will stay, we get off the bus and a Tuk Tuk driver (Thai taxi driver) tells us he can take us to a good hostel. We haggle with him on the price of the taxi ride ( I love haggling and am quite a pro now) we get the ride for about 60 baht. 24 Baht is 1 USD so for roughly 3 dollars we got all the way across town!

So we get settled into our hostel and we decided to pay for a week's stay there. It cost me 35 dollars for a whole week. That is what I paid for 1 night in Sydney. It wasn't a bad place at all. The hot water in the shower is a little dodgy but other than that it is good. We are quickly persuaded to go on a 3 day 2 night Elephant Jungle Trek by the owner of the hostel. He charged us about 150 USD everything included. I also wanted to add a little note here about the toilets in Thailand. A lot of the toilets here are "squat toilets" basically just a bowl that you squat over and no seat or rim. So, you have to hold yourself up with your legs and it does take some leg strength. Not only that but, they aren't a fan of toilet paper here so you have either a hose with water to squirt your butt with or a bucket of water you use to wash your butt. It is an interesting system for sure haha.

Before our trek started we randomly met 2 people going on the trek with us. Scott and Ashley also from England ( I am so outnumbered by the English now haha) and we quickly become fast friends with them. The 5 of us are now "The Wolf Pack" a la "The Hangover". We ate together and checked out a night market for supplies for our trek the next day. I managed to haggle a shirt for 120 baht down from a starting price of 800 baht so I got a shirt for about 4 dollars. I love haggling! I got some other stuff too but I just really enjoy being able to haggle.

That was one of the most amazing experiences of my life our guide her name was "Is" and she was amazing! She totally made the trip. So the first day we trek 6 hours into the jungle after a 3 hour truck ride and let me tell you they didn't baby you at all. You had to walk and walk hard for sure! My shoes are wrecked. So we walked all day until we got to our elephants and we each rode an elephant 3 people to an elephant. There were 10 total people on our trek. We met 3 other English guys and a Czech couple. We also really bonded with the English guys. They are super cool.

So we ride our elephants for a while after walking all day ( I was super tired) then we finally arrive to a village with no running water or electricity and had dinner that consisted of every food I hate haha. Lettuce, tomatoes,onions the works.... even tofu! But I was so hungry I inhaled that entire bowl of food! You would be proud mom. We also did a 4 hour night hunt from 8pm to midnight after trekking all day previously and I was so dead tired. I at first thought we were night hunting just for the experience but I later found out we were actually hunting for breakfast. Hunting because we HAD too not because we wanted too. But, with 10 people stomping thru the jungle and couple that with the fact we literally had black powder old school rifles we didn't manage to get any meat that night. So we had a veggie and noodle breakfast.

So second day we get up and and trek all day until we stop for lunch and we had to cut and make our own bamboo bowls and cups with the knifes we bought for about 100 baht which is roughly just under 4 dollars. I almost didn't buy a knife but I am so glad I did because I used it ALL the time! I really took my life in my hands climbing down this crazy steep mountain to go cut bamboo and climb back up it. Considering how many times I fell down or almost fell down on this trek. Everyone who knows me knows I dont have the greatest sense of balance in the world and that coupled with the fact that I just had tennis shoes, and a giant pack on really sometimes I just toppled over. I got quite banged up but, nothing bruised or broken just scratched. My new friend Tony really got a laugh out of all my falls but it was all in good fun.

For lunch we ate bugs we had fished for and some rat we trapped. I wanna add that I was the only person in the group to eat a "Bug Sammich" I managed to eat about 8 bugs all mashed together along with some rat as well. Everyone was quite impressed and this American showed the British how it was done haha! We trekked all day once again to another village where we stayed the night this time in the chief's house. They spoke little to no English but they were so kind and helpful really loving people. It was so awesome the chief of the village opened his personal home to us and the kids of the village sang us a song as well. For dinner that night we ate "Jeremy" a chicken we butchered ourselves which was actually quite good. Although, I  did get chicken blood on my shoes. We had BBQ chicken along with veggies and noodles and it was a very filling meal. Honestly we ate more than those villagers get in a week im sure. But we did share our food with them as well.

The 3rd and final day we trekked to a river where we got to go bamboo rafting. This was really an amazing experience. After swinging a tree vine close to the river which was really cool we got on our flat bamboo rafts with 4 people to a raft. plus our captain. We had no instructions whatsoever and our guide didn't even speak English haha. I pretty quickly got the hang of how to guide the raft but managed to fall down some too as you can imagine. We named our guide "El Captain" and had a great enjoyable rafting trip down the river.

After that, our trek was over and we had a 3 hour wild truck ride back to Chang Mai. It was a total blast and totally worth it. It was extremely punishing on my out of shape body in bad footwear ( I left my boots in Australia thinking I wouldn't need them here) but I loved every second of it for sure! and our guide was totally amazing as well she is such a sweetheart.

After we got back to Chang Mai we got proper Thai massages for Thai women prisoners. They have a work release program where the women give massages and some of the money they receive goes to help them when they get released. They didn't speak much English and bent my body into positions I never imagined it could go haha. But they were the sweetest ladies ever! The best part was a full hour only cost me 7 USD! After that I also got my feet done by those "sucker fish" you know you stick your feet in the tank and they suck off all the dirt and dead skin. It felt SO weird but after it was done it was amazing! my feet were so dirty haha that cost me 100 baht for 20 minutes. That is about 4 or 5 USD.

We have just puttered around Chang Mai and done some amazing stuff so far. I am loving every minute of it and price wise it is so much better than Sydney! Today I leave for southern Thailand with my new found friends and will have a blast! I will try and update this as much as possible, im sure I have missed a few little things but I will keep in touch and I think yall are all updated now. I will upload all my pictures to Facebook as soon as I get a chance. Hope you enjoy it. -Ty

So I leave tomorrow

So tomorrow night I leave for Thailand. I am really excited my friend and I will have a great time. Believe it or not Sydney really has grown on me and I will kinda miss it and miss my friends for 6 weeks. Not to mention my awesome roommates who are like the 3 sisters I never had haha. They take good care of me and are fun to be around and I will really miss them. My going away party is tonight so that should be good. Then I gotta tie up my loose ends and get ready to go :) I will keep in touch with yall for sure as much as I can.

I had my party last night on a friend's rooftop overlooking the city and it went over great. I really had a good send off for sure. I have made some good friends here and I will miss them. As much as I have complained about Sydney life on and off it has been my home since Nov. and I will even miss Sydney too. Of course I will only be gone for 6 weeks on a new adventure and I am coming back but, I will miss this city and miss my friends. Luckily I know I will have a good time in Asia with my friend and we will make new friends. I will be sure to take lots of pictures and have fun. I will keep in contact as much as possible. I Fly out tonight  so I will update this once I get situated.


Take care and see you over there,Ty

My last day at work

So Friday was my last day at work before my trip to South East Asia on Monday. I really did enjoy that job,it was pretty easy and I got paid great and worked with great people. I am sure I will find another good job when I get back but, that job did treat me right.

Well I will be having my going away party with my friends this weekend so that should be fun. Just gonna hang out and relax, nothing wild before I leave. Then on Monday I am off with my friend Kevin to start our trip in Bangkok,Thailand and work my way thru SE Asia for 6 weeks. I am really excited! Soon after I return from SE Asia (back to Sydney) I will be going to New Zealand but, one trip at time lol I will talk about that later.

The girls (my roommates) took me out for a belated birthday dinner to one of those Japanese restaurants where they cook everything in front of your face. Only this chef actually involved me in the process since I was birthday boy. I got egg and food all over me  because he threw stuff really fast haha. But it was really fun and I enjoyed it a lot. 

Well I am just tying up my loose ends before my trip but getting excited and ready to go! Honestly I have grown attached to Sydney and I will miss it but, I will be back in 6 weeks. I am now looking forward to a new adventure! See Yall,Tyler

My weekend so far

I know I haven't blogged in a while I have just been busy with work and really had nothing to blog about haha. But here goes... 

Today I was meant to go to the beach with some friends but the weather turned bad and my plans with friends fell through. This would really bother some people being alone but, traveling alone for a whole year I have really learned how to occupy time by myself and hang out alone and be ok with it. So I went to Subway for some breakfast and at the risk of getting my dear mother a little emotion I will explain what happened next.

So I discovered that Subway just recently has started offering cinnamon rolls for breakfast and they are really really good. They totally remind me of sat/Sunday mornings back at home when I was growing up and mom would have hot cinnamon rolls ready for me to eat once I decided to roll my lazy butt outta bed :) So it was a nice taste of home so to speak.

After that I decided to treat myself to my first Sydney museum. I had a coupon/voucher for The Prison and Justice Museum down by the Quay here in Sydney so I got in for under 7 bucks it was a great deal! They had some really interesting stuff there, neat old stuff and new stuff and a really cool exhibit on women criminals from the 1890's to present. Prisoners sure are inventive with their time sitting in those cells. It is amazing what they make to kill each other lol. There was even a female who pretended to be male ( and she did look quite manly) she would marry women and then rob them blind!

After I left the museum I was walking home and I passed Ken a homeless guy I see quite regularly. He is always in the same spot asking for money. Sometimes I give him money and sometimes I dont. He seems like a nice enough guy but there doesn't really seem to be anything physically or mentally wrong with him. I think he is just lazy looking for a handout. I wish he would get motivated to improve his situation. Anyway, here in Sydney every so often I run across those super religious people and he went up to Ken and started preaching to him about how he was gonna go to Hell and stuff. This was a very interesting exchange to watch because Ken wanted money from the guy and the guy wanted to save Ken's soul. Neither was willing to budge on their position haha. I didn't stay to watch the whole thing but I assume Ken got no money and the guy still thinks Ken is going to Hell lol.

Later tonight I will be going out for drinks with a couple of bud's of mine and also in less than 2 weeks I start my 6 week trek to Asia!  I am excited :) so yall take care enjoy your weekend. -Tyler

Just a little update

I know I haven't blogged in a while but, I have been busy with work since I came back from Christmas holidays. I am glad to be working though. Just a little over 2 weeks from now I will have my holiday with friends to Asia and I am excited about that! I do have a few things to talk about though.

First off I wanted to discuss the birds. No not the Alfred Hitchcock movie, I am talking about the bird that lives outside my window. It is either a crow or a magpie. Now really I have never had any issues with birds before but, since living here we have no air conditioning and no fan so sounds really carry far here. I usually sleep like a rock but this demonic bird which I am pretty sure is possessed by some kind of evil spirit makes a noise like "caw, caw, caw"! really really loud. The agonizing part is I can hear this bird very clearly but I cant see it. This bird isn't limited by day or night it goes off all hours. I mean what kind of crazy animal is this?! I am prohibited from owning fire arms while I am here in Australia and even if I could get one it would be very hard here in Australia they are pretty strict about it but, if I could get any kind of fire arm I wouldn't think twice about blowing that bird into next week and smiling while I do it!

Next I wanna talk about the street light sensors. You know the "red man,green man" that lights up when you can cross the street. In America they dont make any audible noise they just light up but here in Australia they make a clicking noise to help blind people which is good I guess. But, here in Sydney the amount of time you have to cross the street is about 2.3 seconds so everyone jay walks here its just what you do. But, if I jaywalk I do it rarely and I do it safely a lot of people just run in front of cars! The weird thing is even I am guilty of doing this, you will get up to an intersection and push the button to cross the street. You push the button even though there is people there waiting to cross the street so they clearly pushed the button before you. So the crosswalk button gets pushed about 900 times when it only needs to be pushed once haha.

I really do have a good job, they pay me a lot of money for what I do. I do a lot of things but the majority of my job consists of putting stickers on boxes. That is simplifying it a little bit but that is basically what I do. Well as you can imagine after 3+ months of doing this it is starting to get boring so the guys I work with and I we have created the "Stickering Olympics". We do races to see who can sticker a box the fastest, sticker the straightest, sticker with your eyes closed, behind your back etc.... I have gotten pretty good! It breaks up the boring job  somewhat :)

The last thing I wanted to mention is the Internet access here in Australia. The Internet was created in America in 1969 but really rose to prominence in the 90's. Back home you pay X amount of dollars per month and you get Internet access for as long as you want for whatever you want. The Internet is so ingrained in culture now that it really seems more like a God given right and not a privilege huh?  I guess we are a little spoiled. Well here in Australia you pay X amount of dollars per  month and you get X amount of Internet. So basically if yo go over your monthly "limit"they dont cut you off but they slow your Internet WAY down. It sucks. To me it seems so restrictive and unfair I dont like it at all but over here it is just accepted I guess. I know in America that would NEVER fly. We love our unrestricted Internet too much lol.

Ok that is all for today yall have a good weekend,Tyler

Mondays....

This was my first Monday back at work and it was a Monday. But it really wasn't a bad day at all considering it was first day of the new week. Over the weekend I went to Bondi Beach with my new American friend from Boston, he is a cool guy and it was good hanging out at the beach and just relaxing.

Friday night I went to Hyde Park in Sydney for a free music festival and it was huge! there was a ton of people there and a ton of acts there. The best part was I got to see Al Green! You know, one of the God Father's of soul music :) it was really good.

Really I am just working and doing the usually until Feb when I am on to Asia. This will be a short update because I really have nothing else to say haha. Well yall take care.

Oh Good news, the postal and bus strikes ended Jan 2nd so everything I need is working again :) -Tyler

Back to work I go

I start back at work tomorrow again it was a nice holiday for me but it was unpaid so its good to be back at work! Gotta make that money before I head off to Thailand in Feb. so today I just relaxed and ran some errands went to the bank etc.... The bank hours here are a little frustrating, its M-F 8am-4:30pm and most people (me included) work during that time so you literally have to take time off of work if you wanna go to the bank! Glad I got it all done on holidays.

I have been here just over 2 months now and of course I dont know all of Sydney because its huge but I have really gotten to know my little area of Sydney CBD. Within probably about a 10 mile square radius I can get anywhere I need to go without a map. If my parents are reading this they will be so proud because I am terrible with directions haha. I think I have just ingrained this area in my brain because since I dont drive here in Australia I walk everywhere or take the bus or train. I am willing to bet I walk a good 20 miles a week at a minimum but its good cardio and at first my legs were sore but now I can walk all day and not mind it.

I found out just recently that here in Australia you pay X amount of dollars for home Internet service and you can use the Internet just like it is back home in America but the biggest difference is here they "cap" your Internet usage. You get X amount of bandwidth (Internet usage) for X amount of dollars per month. If you go over your usage they dont cut you off, they just make it REALLY slow. Personally I find that very unfair and restrictive and im not used to that. I think if you pay for Internet you should be able to use it as much as you damn well please. I know that system would NEVER work out in America but there is nothing I can do about it here so I just unhappily deal with it. It is frustrating though.

I went to go sign myself up for Latin dancing lessons today but they require a 6 wk commitment at the place I went so unless I find another I will have to wait til I get back from Thailand. I have really been adventurous here lately and it has been good. Like I said before I have this bucket list of things I want to do before I die and it always gives me a great sense of pride to get out of the norm and do something on the list and just check it off.

I also wanted to mention a few other random things. I have noticed here in Australia when you go anywhere that involves an escalator people almost always move immediately to the left. I mean its the polite thing to do so that people who are walking up the escalator in a hurry can just pass by. It just makes me laugh, reminds me of that Seinfeld "Soup Nazi" episodes.... true Seinfeld fans will know what im talking about haha. I think they stand on the left side because Aussies drive on the left side.  In America generally people just stand all over the escalator lol.

Here in Australia tax is already included in everything which is actually a much easier system and I wish America would do it. The price on the tag is just the price. They do "rounding" here though because they have no penny or 1 cent coin. so  nothing is ever 1.99 its 2 dollars etc. They have a nickel,dime,20 cent piece,50 cent piece,dollar coin and 2 dollar coin. No dollar bills here but I have gotten used to their money. Its colourful and cool and its coated with a plastic so if you wash it, it wont matter! pretty cool.

Ok last thing my roommate reminded me to mention our "hobbit closet" I have never lived in a house that has one of these but our house has one. Its like a little storage closet built into the inside of our staircase. Its pretty cool and pretty large too. I just wish it had a light in it and right now ours is full of junk! lol. I think that is all for tonight.

Yall take care of yourself and each other-Tyler :)

Trivia Night

So last night was trivia night at my former hostel I went there was 3 other friends and we ended up getting 2nd place! earning each of us 3 free beers. Not a bad deal for a little brain work. After trivia I went with my friend Josiah to another pub down the road for Karaoke Night. Now for those of you who know me you know that I cant sing. Plain and simple I just cant sing and I know it. It's ok God has blessed with me other talents just no singing voice and I am fine with that.

That being said, I had just enough liquid courage in me to let my friend convince me to get up on stage with him and sing "You lost that lovin feelin'" a la Top Gun style. I really got a kick out of it. There was this random girl in the audience and we really had this crowd going, I pointed at her with my index finger and she started screaming like a teenager haha. Right then and there I felt like a rock star and had my 15 minutes of fame :)

I seriously doubt I will ever do Karaoke again because I really want to go out on a high note and I think it could only get worse from here lol. But, I have been trying new foods ( yes veggies and fruits Mom) since I have been over here and it feels good to let loose and try new experiences. Next for me is giving Latin Dancing a go. Well thats it for tonight. -Tyler

Today at Bondi

Today I went to Bondi Beach with my roommate Sandra and her friend Matt and a few other friends. It was the perfect day for the beach! not a cloud in the sky it was nice and warm and the water wasn't absolutely freezing haha. It was still cold but very refreshing once you got in. There was literally 6 to 10,000 people there though! it was SO crowded, it seems everyone else in Sydney had the same idea. we did see a extremely drunk Irish guy in a 3 piece suit literally haha! You aren't allowed to drink on the beach so he was asked to leave but he must have been burning hot in that suit! He was quite the character for sure. I put on sun block and managed to not get extremely sun burned which is good because we are over that hole in the ozone layer and that can happen easy here. I actually spent an extended period of time in the ocean and really enjoyed myself it was a relaxing day before I go back to work soon.

Tonight at my former hostel they are having their weekly trivia night which is always a good time and I will be going to that. Then after that, I will be headed to the Latin Club to take the plunge into Latin Dancing and see if I cant sign myself up for some lessons. It has always been on my bucket list of things to do before I die so I might as well do it while I have the chance. I could be absolutely horrible at this dancing thing but who knows? It might work out for me and I might really enjoy it. so wish me luck lol. Well I guess that is it for now.

Yall take care,Tyler

A blog about nothing

I really dont have a subject to blog about today so I will just write about whatever. After I woke up today I went to a good breakfast with my roommate Sandra and her friend Matt. My family and friends know that I am some weird food eating habits, I dont like my food to touch at all and I eat one thing at a time so breakfast was a little difficult for me mentally haha but, it was really good! Then after that I went to buy her late Christmas present and the guy at the shop heard my accent and asked if I was Canadian. In all actuality I dont have much of a true Texas accent at all. I have never been able to figure out why but I am just accent neutral whereas I have heard from people that my parents have a strong accent. They dont to me but maybe to others.

I dont have a Texas accent but when I speak they can tell I am obviously not a native Australian so you would be surprised how many times I get the Canadian thing. Honestly I have only had 1 person even guess I was from America straight away. I dont mind it though its all good :) I haven't picked up the Aussie accent as of yet but, I have picked up the Aussie lingo. Really once your here for an extended amount of time you just start speaking in Aussie language. It makes it easier to be understood by the locals. So, in a years time when I come home if I say things that sound odd it is just because I spent a year here lol.

I am doing wash today and a little cleaning up around the house. Just having a relaxing day really. I should start back at work by the end of this week so that is great news! I can start to cash flow going again. I got my first haircut here in Australia and it was only 10 bucks that is right in my price range and amazingly cheap for Sydney! Those who know me know that I am really particular about who cuts my hair, when I find a good hair cutter that is who I stick with for as long as possible. It wasn't an amazing haircut but she didn't butcher it either so all in all I am a happy man. I am also going to to a Spanish club this week and signing myself up for Latin dancing lessons. I have decided to take the plunge into dancing and give it a go :) so wish me luck. I have really been enjoying myself here and having a good time so things are going pretty well for me now besides the fact that I have a little head cold but I have been taking some over the counter meds so I should be all good soon. In less than a month I will be in South East Asia so I am excited about that! Hey if any of yall have Skype and you wanna talk to me on there just let me know.

Ok that is enough for today I think. Yall have a good one,Tyler

My trip to the blue mountains

Today I went with 5 friends to The Blue Mountains outside of Sydney. It was really nice to get away. it was about a 2 hour bus ride with our guide JC. We got there and got going about 10:30am, it was beautiful day and everything was great. Until it started raining. and I mean raining! it just dumped rain on us until I was soaked to the bone. A little while later we had gone and seen some great views and such and we were walking down a 52 degree inclination going down to some water falls. That was really steep! man those stairs were hard to get up and down! About this time the sun came out and it was hot as ever. At this point I was really wishing for rain haha.

After seeing and hearing everything from our guide JC we were gonna head back but a couple in our group decided they wanted to wander off (knuckleheads!) and we had to wait til JC went to go find them. That really delayed us and he wasn't too happy. I wasn't too happy because we had to miss out on our last stop off due to them being late. But, I did meet a cool British couple who had been to Southeast Asia pretty much exactly where I will be going so I got some good tips from them. :)

After our day in the blue mountains the 6 of us (4 Germans,1 Japanese and myself) all we went to eat Korean food for dinner. Quite the multi national gathering haha. All in all, a good day! I guess I will end it for tonight. Hope your New Years was safe and happy. yall take care and enjoy 2010. I cant believe it already!

Also another thing I wanted to mention, when I first came to Australia this time just like last time I had some "lost in translation" issues. You know things I would say in America that would make total sense but not make sense at all here. For example, I went to maccas today for breakfast before our tour and I ordered a "sausage biscuit" which in America would go over fine but, the girl looked at me like I was insane. So I said it a 2nd time thinking she didn't hear me. Again, same response. Then I finally realised that what us Americans call a cookie is their "biscuit" so I was asking for a sausage cookie! haha.

Well what I ended up getting was sausage and cheese on an "English muffin" for a stupidly high price and it was small but, it was brekkie as they say here. So, my "lost in translations" have become much less since I have been here but obviously I still do have the slip up now and again.

check out my photos here :  http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=32044775&l=10528a79e1&id=194600613 

-Tyler