Day by day.

Koeln

We took off from the Cologne Bus Station at 18:01 pm. Wow we are off. We can not actually believe it. We are finally doing it. Just one thing about bus rides, do not think you will be able to sleep. You can't. Along the way it was snowing and when we got out at a rest stop we froze. We had mixed feelings about leaving, on one had the trip was starting on the other hand we were leaving everything and everyone behind. We had a weird feeling in our stomachs.

Koeln

We arrived at 6:30 am in Prague. We found a Hotel called Express. Lonely Planet had said it would be a Youth Hostel, but that info was 5 years old. We took a room anyway. In the morning we did a little sight seeing around Prague Castle. Too bad it was wet and snowing. In the evening we went out to eat at a really nice restaurant called David. The dinner was a gift from my former employer. Thanks, it was great! The main thing we realized was that our bags were to heavy and we a had to much stuff with us. It was a killer just to walk to the Hotel with all of our stuff. Some of our stuff has to be sent home.

Koeln

We bought our train ticket early in the morning for an overnight train to Krakow. Again the weather in Prague was not the best, rain. We walked around a lot, checking out the Jewish Quarter. Later on we decided to lighten our packs and send some unneeded stuff back to Germany. We lighten our packs by 3.2 kilograms. Still not enough! We will certainly be getting rid of more later. In the early evening we had a few beers before we took the overnight train to Krakow.

Koeln

We arrived in Krakow at 7:15 am in the morning. Again the weather was gloomy. After walking with our heavy packs for an hour we found out that the youth hostel was full. We changed our plans and decided to head for Budapest on the night train. During the day we traveled to Auschwitz. We were very disappointed. We thought it would be more interesting. Other concentration camps we have seen we though presented what happened better. Poland basically did not leave us with a good impression.

Koeln

We took the night train to Budapest and arrived at 9:30 am. We walked around Budapest for the day checking out the main attractions. The weather being cold and miserable, made us decide that we should go south. So we bought a train ticket to Thessaloniki. The train ride took over 35 hours. We had our own compartment, which allowed us to relax, catch up on some sleep, and write a little for this web site. One problem with these train rides, the custom police love to wake you up at every possibility and stamp your passport. A couple of times at the same boarder crossing the group of custom agents looked at our passports more than a couple of times. Prague, Krakow, and Budapest are really beautiful cities, but we are both looking forward to Greece and for the warmer weather.

Koeln

Train ride through Romania, and Bulgaria. Relaxed on the train. I began to teach Maren the great game of Pinnacle. Otherwise we did a little computer work and read our books. We were glad we were heading south! At every border crossing the border guards would come and knock on our door and stamp our passports. Once they looked in our closets to see if we were hiding someone. the two man sleeper was really nice and luxurious. So the trip went fairly quickly.

Koeln

We arrived in Thessaloniki Greece at 6:00 am. We first noticed how alive the streets were at this time. We took a bus to the Harbor to see about ships to the Greek Islands. There was not a lot to choose from during this time of year. So we did the smart thing and bought a Lonely Planet book for Greece. After walking around all morning we decided to take the 12:00 pm bus to Trikala and then to Kastraki. Near Kastraki are the famous Monasteries of Meteora. They are built on top of massive rock pinnacles. Another thing, the weather here is much nicer!!! We found a camping site in the evening in Kastraki. There we cooked some noodles for dinner and walked around to town a little.

Koeln

Today we decided to go hiking up to the Monasteries. It is really hot early in the morning. The Monasteries were really magnificent, but of course really touristy. During the main season it must be flooded with people and buses. Each monastery charges a separate entrance fee, so we just went to one. There we did not even pay because there was no one at the door when we went in. It was very hot hiking in the sun the whole day, but worth it. Our camping site is ok (Vrachos Camping), a little dirty, but it has electricity which will allow us to charge all our batteries. We stayed a second night. Maren also shaved Kirk's head completely. Took a while and she went through a couple of razor blades.

Koeln

We took the bus early in the morning to Athens (5 hour trip from Kastraki). Arriving in Athens we tried to get a room in the youth hostel, but again (as in Krakow) it was fully booked, so we stayed in the hotel next door called Hostel Argo. It was not too nice but it was cheap and the people were friendly. We then walked around Athens to get familiar with the surroundings. We took a walk through the Plaka and the National Gardens. For dinner we had a Souvlaki and went to bed early.

Koeln

We visited the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum in the morning. Maren got in for half price with her student card, Kirk had to pay the full fare. They only excepted international student cards. In the afternoon we checked out the ferry schedules and decided to go to Chios in the evening (8 hour trip). Later in the afternoon we went shopping at a typical Greek market, where we bought olives, feta, and Greek salami. The salami was not very good. Before we picked up our bags, we climbed up Lykavittos Hill, one of Athens 8 surrounding hills. One has a great view of Athens from the top! We then took the metro to Piraeus Harbor, to our ferry to Chios, which left at 8:00 pm. We slept on deck in our sleeping bags.

Koeln

Arrival at Chios was at 5:30 am. We wanted to see the medieval town in the South of the Island. So we took the bus to Pyrgi. We left our heavy backpacks at the bus station in Chios, while we did not yet have a hotel room. The town of Pyrgi is a small town that seems not to have changed for a few hundred years. The houses have all different patterns which is typical for the medieval towns in this area. At this time of year there is not much going on on the Island. The tourist season has not yet started which was nice and relaxing for us. We walked around for a couple of hours and once in a while we got a lift by some friendly locals on their sort of miniature tractors. We were happy to have our Lowa boots. After 10 days now, they have become really comfortable and we have no blisters! We ate a tasty Souvlaki for dinner. We stayed the Amalia Rooms for the night (5000Dr). It was clean and the people were friendly.

Koeln

We got up early hoping to catch the 8:00 am ferry to Cesme, Turkey. After just sitting around till 12:30 we it was clear that the ferry was not going to leave today because of the stormy weather. They think it will leave tomorrow morning. We then decided to take it easy and work on our website on our ASUS Notebook and walk around town a little. Tonight we plan to update our website and send some emails. At night we went to an internet cafe and uploaded our website. The internet to use was not too expensive, but the beers were outrageously expensive (1000Dr). Hi Mom + Dad, I miss you a lot, will try and call you soon. Hallo Mutti + Norbert, ich vermisse euch! Ich auch!

Chios

We are stuck on Chios another day. The ships did not leave port again today. It was too windy. During the day we did a little hiking and had lunch up on a hill behind Chios town. We finally finished our jar of peanut butter. Yum! Once again we were very happy to have the Columbia Jackets today. They really protected us from the wind and kept us warm. Tonight again we had Souvlakis. We hope to catch the ferry tomorrow!

Athens

Finally the weather was better, the strong winds were gone and the ferry would be able to leave port. We had to pay high departure tax, 3000 Dr each. On the ferry we took part in a survey from 2 Greek students. It was a travel survey over the Greek ferry system. It also included what we had done previously on our trip and what transportation we had used. So they had a lot to write. They were very nice girls. The ferry ride took 1 our over to Cesme, Turkey. Again Kirk was hit with a high Visa tax, 45 US$. At 11:00 am we took a bus to Pergamon. After looking around a little we found the Pension Athena. We bargained the price down a little to 6.000.000 TL. During the day we checked out the town, buying food for our dinner at the market. We could use the kitchen facilities at the Pension. Maren cooked a great spaghetti dinner with beans. We met a traveler Phil who had dinner with us and Aydin (owner of the hotel).

Meteor

In the morning we climbed up to the Pergamon ruins. We had to walk through the lower Agora, the lower, middle, and upper gymnasium, the huge theater, and up to the Trajan Temple. From there we had a great view of Bergama. The afternoon we were at the Pension. We helped Aydin (the owner) to take digital pictures of his Pension. (He took 300). We then helped him make his website. A basic one, but it was much more than what he had before. He invited us for dinner as a thank you for helping him out. At 9:00 pm we took the overnight bus to Istanbul.

Thessaloniki

We arrived at 7:00 am in Istanbul Otogar. After we took the bus and metro to Sultanahmet we searched for a hotel. We found the Hostel Ararat for 10 dollars. He wanted 12 $. The place is very dirty but it is cheap, has free tea all day and laundry service. We then had a 1 hour walk to the Syrian embassy to try and get a Visa, but Maren needed a letter of recommendation from her embassy. So we will have to go back tomorrow. On our way back we visited the Grand Bazar with more than 4000 shops inside, selling all sort of souvenirs. We also went into a few mosques, one of them was the famous Blue Mosque.

Athens

We got up very early in the morning to be at the Syrian Embassy at 09:30 am. Everything was very uncomplicated, but we had to pay about 160 US $ for both of us (Kirk`s Visa fee was 100 US $). We were shocked about the fee. Tomorrow we have to come back at 14:30 pm to pick up the visas. Later we were looking for an outdoor shop, because we needed a new backpack for the laptop. The one we have had was not right for carrying a laptop the whole time. In the shop we also saw some really light sleeping bags which we decided would be more suitable and less heavy for our trip. The costs sort of damaged our daily budget, but we think the trip will be much more enjoyable. Tomorrow we are sending a major package home. In the afternoon we visited the Aya Sophia, a very old mosque which is now only a Museum. It is one of Istanbul's must sees. Again for dinner was a Doner on the menu.

Chios

After we sent home another 10.5 kilos of our stuff, we visited the Topkapi Palace including the Harem which was the palace of the Ottoman's Sultans until the 19th century. In the afternoon we picked up our Visas at the Syrian Consulate. We shopped around for our bus tickets to Kusadasi. The International Youth Hostel had the best deals.

Meteor

In the morning we took a 6 hour boat tour around the Bosphorus, including a three hour stop over at the beginning of the Black Sea. At 9:30 pm we left Istanbul on our overnight bus to Kusadasi.

Thessaloniki

Arrival time in Kusadasi was 8:00 am. The owner of the Hotel Sezgin convinced us to stay the night in is Hotel. We went with him because his hotel was listed in the Lonely Planet. After dropping off our luggage, we took a mini bus to Ephesus (a well preserved classical city).

Athens

In the morning we took a three hour bus to Pamukkale, the famous calcium ledges. They do look like the photo prospect from the 70's which are hung up on travel agency's walls all over Turkey. However it was worth visiting because it was on our way to Cappadocia. We spent the afternoon in Pamukkale and then caught the night bus to Goereme. The bus actually leaves from Denizli.

Chios

We arrived in Goereme (Cappadocia) at 8:00 am and found the Berlin campsite for 4$ a night. During the day we hiked all over Goereme. We walked through the Open Museum visiting various rock caves and an around 1600 years old rock church. For dinner Maren made spaghettis, which we had not had for a long time. During the night it rained heavily, but our tent kept us dry.

Meteor

After breakfast we left our camp ground for Kaymakli. There is an old underground city which goes four levels down. The city according to archeologists is up to 4000 years old and last inhabited about 600 AD. It is a worth while visit. Then we took a bus to Avanos which is famous for it's pottery. Tonight we take the night bus to Aleppo, Syria.

Thessaloniki

We arrived at 7:30 am in Antakya, the last stop before the border to Syria. There we changed our bus to Aleppo Syria. We crossed the border without any problems. It was good that we had arranged our bus trip from Goereme all the way to Aleppo. In Aleppo we walked around the old city visiting the Citadel, the Great Umayyad Mosque, and the Souqs. What we noticed right away was how much takes place in the streets. People are screaming, selling, and the cars and taxis are honking all day long. Driving etiquette does not exist. In the late afternoon we took the bus to Hama where we stayed the night.

Athens

Early in the morning we took the bus to Homs for a half day trip to Krak des Chevaliers, one of the nicest and well preserved Castles in the Middle East. In the afternoon we took a bus to Palmyra from Homs. In Homs we were a little taken in from a kid who helped us with directions after we could not figure out where we were. It cost us 50 cents. We reached Palmyra in the afternoon and stayed on the rooftop of the New Afqa Hotel to safe some money. To watch the wonderful sunset over the desert and the Palmyra Oasis we climbed up to the Castle overlooking the town. It was beautiful and gave you a relaxing feeling. What we really noticed is that the majority of the people are extremely nice and helpful. It was not like in Turkey in which they were only mostly nice when they thought they you could sell you something. Except in small few instances they were not at all pushy.

Chios

We woke up early in the morning to visit the ruins of Palmyra. The site was fascinating and gave one a really good picture how the old town used to look like. We took a bus to Damascus and met a nice German couple on the bus who we shared a taxi with to the center of town. After leaving our luggage at our hotel, we walked through the Souqs of Damascus and visited the Umayyad Mosque. It is the most famous mosque in Syria. In the evening we went out to dinner. Bargained the meal down from 300 SP to 200 SP for 2 half chickens, rice and pita bread. It was just ok.

Meteor

In the morning we visited the National Museum which presented the history of Damascus and Syria. It actually was really well done and interesting. A great tip if you are a student, make sure you have an international student card. The rebate is often over 90% off the normal price. In the afternoon we worked on our web site. The day before we were happy to learn that Syria now has and allows the use of the internet. All guide books had said it was not permitted. So we will hopefully check our emails later. (Internet Cafe Zoni: Damascus Sook Saruja -al-ward Mosque -Abdeen 3rd Floor- email: zoni@net.sy).

Thessaloniki

We woke up early to go to Maalula, a small city that is a one hour drive north of Damascus. The city lies built into the mountain and all the houses are painted light blue and yellow. If you do not have too much time in Syria, it is not a must see. There we visited a Christian Church called St. Tekla. We tasted a home made wine from the Priests. It was sweet and thick. In the afternoon we visited the Anzem Palace near the Great Mosque which is a historical museum and is worthwhile visiting for it's architecture. In the evening we spoke to other travelers in our hotel, trying to get information on our next travel destinations.

Athens

We got up early to take a tour to the Golan Heights from the Syrian side offered from our hotel. The 17th of April is Independence Day in Syria. We believe it became independent from France in 1946. The bus ride took 4 hours through many UN and Syrian checkpoints. Not to mention the thousands of packed cars and trucks heading also to the Golan Heights to celebrate. We went to the destroyed ghost town Quneitra which had never been rebuilt after the war with Israel. We were walking along the boarder of no mans land and taking pictures when a man approached us. He could not speak English, but he started asking questions in French. Maren pretended not to understand him because he wanted to have our passports. He then motioned to us that we should follow him. Maren first stood there and did not move. Kirk started to follow him, thinking it might be the better thing to do. While following him Kirk noticed that he had a pistol tucked in his pants and realized that he must be some sort of secret police or something. As Kirk told Maren that she should follow, another guy must have told him that we were ok. He just then told us we need not follow him any longer. That was a relieve. It was a little nerve reckoning for both of us. However the trip to the Golan Heights was definitely worth it.

Chios

At 8:30 am our bus left for Beirut Lebanon. A guy from Singapore (who we originally met in Hama, then again in Damascus) wanted to travel with us, but he only got to the Border. He could not get a Visa at the Border becuse he was from Singapore. So he had to go back to Damascus. That stinks!! In Beirut, it is a mixture of old and new. Next to a new building there is a building falling apart, all shot up from the latest war. The atmosphere is really relaxing here. It is much different than other Middle Eastern countries, you are not always being hassled. The city and the people are very modern and it seems to be an open minded country. People are very helpful and speak English well. We were lucky when the bus from Damascus dropped us off in Beirut, a German speaking Lebanese man passed by and gave us a lift to our hotel for free. It would have been a 2 hour walk!

Meteor

Today we took a day trip to Beiteddine, where the summer residence of the President is. Lebanon is much more expensive than Syria, it is almost as expensive as Germany. The palace is located in a very beautiful setting and surrounding. If you have ever been to the French Riviera, that is what it looks like here. We are very impressed with Lebanon so far, especially since the war ended only 10 years ago.

Thessaloniki

In the morning we took a bus to Byblos to see the ruins which dates back to 7000 BC. Later on we got a bus to Tripoli, 1 hour north of Byblos. There we stayed at the Pension Haddad, which was recommended by other travelers. It was a great place. In the afternoon we went sight seeing. We walked through the Souqs (which were closing because it was Friday afternoon), saw the citadel, and the soap factory.

Athens

We decided to make a trip to the Kadisha Valley. There we went hiking for a couple of hours. The scenery was beautiful, except for the garbage lying around everywhere. Kirk decided he would take a short cut down a hill and ended up with scratched legs from going down a steep and prickled bush hill. But we made it. Actually we wanted to go to Baalbek in the afternoon, but as we wanted to take the northern passage to Baalbek, it was too late. So we decided to spend another night in this lovely pension. Prompt we were invited for dinner, a great rice and beans meal. As thank you we offered to make a web page for them of their hotel. Wow they got all excited about it, so we went to work. We took pictures and made a simple website (see http://pensionhaddad.8m.com ). We then went to an internet cafe to upload the site. Of course Emile did us a favor and organized the internet usage for us for free. When we returned, other family members turned up and we were talking, drinking peppermint tea, and showing the new website with the family into the middle of the night. To our surprise they told us that we would not have to pay for the night stay. The family is real nice, warm and lovely. The Pension has a real relaxing atmosphere, like at grandma's house where you feel like a part of the family. Hello Grandma Georgette, Emile and the rest of the Haddad family. Thanks for the great stay.

Chios

After typical Lebanese breakfast we were given a warm goodbye from the whole family. When Kirk offered to pay for the night, he received kisses on his cheek. We were sorry to leave. It would be nice when all pensions were like this. It left us with great memories of Lebanon. Going from Tripoli to Baalbek via the northern route, was in theory very easy. Emile wrote down the villages where to change buses, but in reality it was more complicated because there are no buses running between Qoubayet and Hermel. We had to hitch hike on that part which goes through a small scenic mountain range. We were lucky and just waited about 5 minutes when we got a lift all the way to Hermel from a military guy who did not speak one word English or French. All in all the trip to Baalbek took 4 hours. In Baalbek we visited the ancient ruins which is the best preserved roman site in the middle east. We were also very impressed and felt it was one of the best ruins we have seen so far. Later we wanted to visit the winery in Zahlè which was unfortunately closed. We then bargained for a taxi ride from Chtaura to Damascus Syria. The taxi ride and the occupants were a little fishy, but we got there for 10000 LL. In Damascus we again slept on the rooftop at the Al - Haramein Hotel. Both of us for the first time had a small case of diarrhea.

Meteor

We took the 7:00 am bus to Amman. Getting a Visa at the boarder was no problem, we just had to pay 10 JD each. After finding a hotel, we walked around downtown (the old city) and were bad. We bought some western food. The reason was both of us were not feeling good and thought it might help improve our stomachs. There is not much to do in Amman, except for a few things like the roman theatre (200 AD).

Thessaloniki

The first thing we did in the morning was going to the police station to get a multiple entry visa for three months for Jordan. It took about fifteen minutes and was no problem to get. Later we took a service taxi to the Israeli border (King Hussein Bridge). There we had to take a bus to the Israeli side. We then took the more complicated way via Jericho to Jerusalem. For each stretch we had to bargain heavily for a reasonable price. But we saved around 5 dollars and got there anyway. Somehow we always get to our destination eventually. In the afternoon we went sightseeing through the old town of Jerusalem. We went to the Western Wall. As far as we noticed, Jerusalem is a well restored and beautiful city. There were a lot of soldiers patrolling the streets. Maren cooked a great rice meal with onions and pineapple.

Athens

Wow today was an interesting day. In the morning we decided to go to the Yad Vashem, Holocaust Museum. They offer free guided tours at 10 am and the entrance is for free. We were the only ones on the guided tour, so we could speak personally with the tour guide. This turned out to be a very uncomfortable tour for Maren as right in the beginning she asked her what her nationality was. Maren of course answered German. The tour guide immediately treated her differently and hardly spoke to here the whole tour. She also could not understand how Kirk could live in Germany and how it is to live with a German. She also tried to make it out that Maren's generation is no different than World War II generation and saying that this could only happen in Germany again and that she did not feel safe when she visited Germany. We both believe whole heartedly that what happened under the Nazi regime in Germany was and is totally unforgivable, not human, wrong in everyway, and should not be forgotten. However, it can not be right to generalize this generation for something what happened in the past. On the contrary it should be seen that Maren is showing interest in what has happened by wanting to visit the Museum and to go on the tour to hear the stories of the suffering of the Jewish Population during and before World War II. The tour guide in our opinion should set an example, welcoming people, from every country without exception. Showing that hatred and racism has no place in the modern world. This whole tour gave us a sour feeling in our stomach, and made us not concentrate on the very well done exhibition, but on the hatred this women felt for Germans. She said to Maren she does not want to blame her, but she has a lot of trouble talking to Germans. It is really sad that this hatred still exists today. We can just hope that this hate and position is not the general opinion for the whole population. It does not bring peace and happiness any further. The second part of the day took us to Bethlehem. After getting off at an Israeli checkpoint (the bus was not allowed to go any further), we starting walking through to the Church of Nativity. We soon realized that we were the only tourists, when we mean the only tourists, except for Leon (a British fellow we met on the bus), we mean the ONLY tourists! It was nice on one hand but very spooky on the other hand. Most of the shops were closed and a lot of military were all over (Palestinians and Israeli). The church was beautiful with the original mosaics and you could imagine how it was in the past.

Chios

This morning we visited the Israeli Museum. They displayed art, from impressionism to modern art, including photos and sculptures. They also had big a ethnological section with art from all over the world. The Museum was very interesting, but had to much to see in a day. The entrance was free today because of Israeli Independence Day, except the display of the Dead Sea Scrolls. There you had to pay a hefty fee of 37 NIS. The normal entry fee for the whole museum. The information desk were really helpful and told us that is was not worth going in for us. They handed instead out a pamphlet with the three main things one can see inside. That was really nice. One guy was actually from New York, the island. Later on we walked through the old city and the Via Dolorosa, the street where Jesus carried the crucifix on his back. We also visited the birthplace of Virgin Maria.

Meteor

Today we did not do much. We took a sherut to Tel Aviv where we are staying for the night. Man, is it expensive here. It is going to break our budget. In the afternoon we sorted out some stuff to send home and also bought a new backpack for Maren and some other equipment. Kirk decided not to get a new backpack, as it was not worth two hundred dollars. Tel Aviv has nothing much to offer except for beaches and nightlife. So we are probably leaving tomorrow night.

Thessaloniki

In the morning we got up early and fill up on the free breakfast, consisting of bread, jelly, and butter. Having butter again was marvelous. Later we walked along the beach in Tel Aviv. Since it was Saturday, many people had the day off, which made the beaches full. At 4:30 pm we took a sherut to Akko. For dinner we had Potato Chips and beer. That's healthy! Sorry mom, we just did not have hunger for anything else here that we could afford.

Athens

Today we got up early so we could send a package back to the states. However the Post office did not have a large enough box. So we think that we need to send the stuff from Jordan. We then took a bus to Nazareth, where we stayed only one hour waiting for a bus to Tiberias. In Nazareth we saw the Virgin Mary's Well and the Orthodox Church of Annunciation. If you do not have too much time in Israel, you can easily skip Nazareth. In the afternoon we walked around Tiberias and went swimming in the Sea of Galilee where Jesus walked on water. We are staying in a luxury dorm. Again we were spoken to by an Israeli, on how we could dare to come to Israel, while Maren is German. We tried to explain to him why, but he just would not listen. Commenting that what happened 60 years ago was in Maren's blood. It is really sad that there are so many people that dwell on the hatred of the past, not concentrating on trying to get along and understanding one another. This attitude in Israel, gave us a real unpleasant feeling. We can just hope that the majority of people in Israel do not have this attitude.

Chios

Today we woke up early to go back to Amman, Jordan. Of course at the border we were again hit with paying for a Jordan Visa, even though we were told that we would not have to pay for it again. On the way to Amman our bus blew a tire, so it took 4 hours, not the planned 2 hours. Otherwise we did not do much except walking around Amman a little and buying some food. Tomorrow we are planning to go to the Dead Sea, and then down to Petra. We are both getting excited about going to Africa, especially after talking to a guy from Montreal that was just there.

Abu Simbel

Today we woke up early and went to the post office to send back stuff we do not need. Afterwards we went to the Dead Sea. Swimming in the Dead Sea was cool, but very salty. It is impossible to drown. On the way back we hitched a ride with two men, who took us all the way back to Amman. It was a crazy ride, but we got there alive. After taking the wrong bus, to the wrong bus station, we finally found our bus to Petra.

Abu Simbel

Today we spent the whole day at the Petra Ruins. They are spectacular and everything one has ever read or seen is to be believed. The ruins are just amazing. One thing stunk, and that was the weather. Later on the park security started closing off the ruins because of flash flooding. Late in the afternoon the main entrance and exit point were closed, so we had to hitch a ride with a German tourist bus back to town. In Wadi Mousa, the main road down to the ruins also had a flash flood, where cars were destroyed. Again we hitched a ride to center of the town, this time with a French Tourist Bus. Hopefully tonight we can upload our site again.

Abu Simbel

We tried to catch the 6:00 am bus to Wadi Rum, but it never showed up. So we decided to take the bus to Aqaba and to be dropped off along the way at the intersection to Wadi Rum. We then were able to hitch a ride eventually for free to Wadi Rum. The free ride took a while to get, a lot of drivers wanted money. In Wadi Rum we looked around to see what type of tours were available in the desert. We finally went with Mohammed, who we a met before at the intersection. We were a group of eight people from France and Japan. We drove around the desert, looking at different natural wonders, like Rock Bridges, Siqs, and sand dunes where we went sand jumping. In the evening we watched a beautiful sunset at Um-Sabatah which was just amazing how the sun set over the desert. We then enjoyed a great Bedouin meal. The meal consisted of salad, yogurt, rice, and chicken. In the evening Bedouins played typical music and danced around the fire. We were lucky to have such a nice group of people. In the night Kirk asked Mohammed if he had a web site. He did not. Kirk then offered to make one for him. His eyes lit up. So we started to develop a web site which we continued the next day. That night Kirk did not have all the cables with him, so he had to pick them up in the village. On the way there and on the way back, the truck got stuck in the sand, so he had to push a lot and in the end they had to walk back to the camp. We had planned to stay only one night, but Mohammed offered us another tour and night in the desert for free. So we took him up on his offer.

Cairo

Today we got up early to go back to the village with Mohammed where we had breakfast and worked on his web site. Afterwards we went with him to try and get tourists for his tours. We only found one other. But in the end he decided to give the other tourist to his brother's group and we would get a private tour of the desert. He took us to all the places we did not see the day before. We also took hundreds of pictures for his web site. He loved to pose with his mobile telephone. We also got a very short ride on his friends camels. Along the way he told everyone that we were making an internet site for him. We were getting famous. Later on we loaded all the pictures onto the web site and finished most of it. His daughter was fascinated with pinball on the computer. After we picked up 3 girls from Hong Kong we went to the Bedouin camp for the night. There Mohammed brought us to another camp where we had tea and talked with another group of people. Later on, back in our camp, we watched them cook our dinner in a hole in the ground. It consisted of potatoes, onions, and chicken. It tasted great and Kirk was very happy because he was able to eat as much as he could. We were treated by the Bedouins there like kings. They always brought us tea and spoke to us. Later when the music started playing, Zedan ( Mohammed's Brother) asked Maren to Dance. That was a killer. Check out the pictures in our photo album from Wadi Rum. After all the excitement was over, we showed the other Bedouins the pictures on the ASUS notebook. They were all very happy and wanted to look all night. We were glad that the battery did not last all night. This ASUS Notebook is coming in real handy. We slept outside under the stars. We had a wonderful two days in Wadi Rum with Mohammed.

Dahab

Today we took the bus to Aqaba to catch the ferry to Nuweiba, Egypt to head for Dahab. We bought our tickets through an agent at the Jerusalem Office of the Arab Bridge Maritime company in Aqaba. Do not buy your ticket there. Maren went in to buy the tickets, they somehow argued about the exchange rates and change. In that time they somehow ripped her off for 5 JD (8 $). Unfortunately we could not prove it! The customs checkpoint in Egypt was just ridicules. We had to put the visa stamps on the passport ourselves. The last bus to Dahab was already gone, but we were a group of more than 10 people so we took a service taxi. They wanted 20 LE each, but we all started walking away, and we were able to bargain down to 10 LE. So watch out, the custom agents are working with the taxi drivers. When we finally all got to Dahab, we set out in groups to get the best deal for a hotel. We finally decided on the Venus Camp. "We" meaning, Masami and Wes (Japan-USA), Ryan (Vancouver, Canada), Stephanie and Eric (Montreal, Canada), and of course Maren and Kirk. On the bus and during the search of hotels we met up with a really nice group of people, who we later on went out to dinner with at Shark`s Restaurant. We picked the right restaurant, because it was cheap and served huge portions. We had a really nice evening. Kirk finally at night took a shower to get rid of all the sand which was still all over his body from the sand jumping the day before.

Dahab

Today was a Dahab do nothing day. We searched for a good diving school in the morning and again in the afternoon. We are going to do an advanced diving course. It will cost 150 dollars each. Ryan, a Canadian guy, will join us. We were able to upload our site today along with other web pages. Tonight we ate dinner again with Wes, Masami, and Ryan at the Shark Restaurant. Tonight we are all going to climb Mt. Sinai and watch the sunrise. Now we are going to close our eyes a bit.

Cairo

We arrived at the foot of Mt. Sinai at around 1:00 am. Kirk, Maren, and Ryan started climbing up at around 2:30 am. The climb is normally a 2.5 hour climb, but we went at a blistering pace and made it up in 1 hour and 35 minutes. We were all exhausted. It was also very cold up there and the wind was blowing hard. After 30 minutes the rest of the group, which had started later, made it up. We waited for 2 hours for the sunrise. Right when the sunrise was supposed to start, the rain came. So after little waiting around, we decided to walk down and visit the St. Katherine Monastery. The Monastery opened at 9:00 am, so we all had breakfast while we were waiting. All in all it was a nice hike, but it was probably not worth it to get up in the middle of the night for the sunrise. It would have been a nice day hike. Since we are not very religious, the mountain is not very special or spectacular. When we got back, the rest of the day we slept and hung around. At night Kirk started to get sick again. He was completely exhausted and had stomach problems. He could not even finish his dinner.

Cairo

We were supposed to start our advanced diving course today, but Kirk was not feeling better, even worse, so we postponed the course till the next day. So today we basically did nothing.

Cairo

We were both excited because we were starting our advanced diving course in the Red Sea. Kirk was feeling a little bit better, but still not 100%. We first had to do a check dive in the morning to freshen up on our diving skills. Maren was really nervous in the beginning, so the instructor did the check dive with her alone to make her feel comfortable again under water. It worked. The next dive was the deep dive, where we went 32 meters down. The dive was at the Canyon. There one drops down into a hole to 32 meters and then swims out of the canyon through sort of a cave. It was beautiful. We had really a lot of fun, even Maren. The last dive was the Multi Level Dive at the famous Bells - Blue Hole. It is famous because many divers have lost their lives there being irresponsible divers and testing their limits. One dives along a beautiful underwater cliff. We saw the most underwater life at the Canyon. In the evening we again had dinner with the same group of people. We were very happy to hang out with them. They were all very nice and had the same interest as us. Masami and Wes are a couple who were around our age and decided to give up their jobs and go travel for a long time (3 years). They are also doing a web site of their trip. We hope to stay in contact with them and also Ryan, Stephanie and Eric. We had a great time with you guys.

Dahab

Today we did our navigation dive and naturalist dive. On the navigation dive Kirk saw a turtle. No one else did. They did not believe him until another group of divers came up and said they had also seen a turtle. It was a little sad that Ryan and Eric did not dive with us today. Ryan became ill and decided to put off the two dives until the next day. In the evening we finished our advanced course with a night dive. This was absolutely fantastic. Maren was very nervous, but when she was in the water she was ok until she inhaled water through her nose 3/4 of the way through the dive. She still earned her license anyway. She did great! The dive master Gus and our instructor Patrick did a great job, especially Patrick who was always helpful and patient with Maren. The dive shop was called Sea Dancer. They offered some of the best deals and the service was really good. We had checked out over 20 dive shops in Dahab, with prices ranging from 150 to 240 US Dollars. Unless you picked the most expensive one, there was was not a huge difference between the shops. When you chose a shop, make sure you choose an instructor with whom you feel comfortable and check the dive equipment.

Luxor

This morning we had to say goodbye to everyone because we were going in different directions. We were leaving to Cairo and they were all going to Luxor and Aswan. It was kind of sad. The bus took about 8 hours. After we found our hotel we just walked around a little and ate dinner.

Cairo

In the morning we went to get information on how to get a boat to Saudi Arabia and Eritrea from Egypt and which Visas we will need. When we figure this one out this week, we will write more on how to do it. We then went to the Egyptian Student Travel Services for an International Student Card for Kirk. It was easy. All he had to do was to show his former University Card and for 13 $ and a picture they gave one to him on the spot. It is valid till the end of the year. It saves about 50% on admission to all museums and sites in Egypt. It will probably save around 150 $ in fees. Later on we walked around Cairo a little and worked on our web page. Hopefully we will be able to upload the site tonight.

Cairo

First we went to the American Embassy to get extra Visa pages for Kirk's passport. His passport was almost full, just by going through ca. 10 countries. They love to leave their mark. The rest of the morning we set out to search for the Embassy of Eritrea. But finally we were lucky and could leave our passports there to pick up the Visas the next afternoon. Afterwards we went to the Embassy of Saudi Arabia for information on how to obtain a Transit Visa. All they said is that we should come back the next day before 12:00 pm with our passports and a photo. Later on we walked through the Islamic part of Cairo where Kirk got a hair cut and a shave at a typical barbershop.

Luxor

This morning we went to the Egyptian Museum. It was a massive collection of Egyptian History. One of the highlights was the Treasuries of Tutankhamun and the collection of mummies. For the mummies one has to pay an additional 20 LE (student) each. Afterwards we went again to the Saudi Arabian Embassy to try and make sure we new exactly what to bring with us the next day. Again they told us that we needed only our passports and a picture. We then picked up our Visas at the Eritrean Embassy, of course we had to sit around an hour. Even though we had to wait a long time, the embassy staff was very friendly and helpful. Afterwards we walked the long way back to the hotel.

Suez

We got up early in the morning to try to get our Transit Visa for Saudi Arabia. In front of the embassy we met an Australian guy who wanted to do the same route to East Africa as we planned to do. He gave us some advice and tips, especially on arriving and departure tickets and where he got them. We then went directly to a travel agent to get copies of reservations to and from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Two hours later we were back at the embassy with all our papers. We had a copy of our reservations, that stated we had a boat ticket to Jeddah, and a plane ticket to Eritrea from there. We thought that this would be enough. Kirk had to go into the embassy on his own, because they did not allow women in with the men. Kirk was then brought to the front of the line by security. He cut in front all the Egyptian men applying for Visas. The first thing they asked was why we wanted to go this way to Eritrea, and why just don't fly. He explained to him that this was the cheapest way to go. The next question was "why were the documents just copies of the tickets." Kirk's reply, "If we do not get the Transit Visa, we would have to pay the full fare of our tickets." But he still rejected our application for a Visa. Kirk still persisted and finally got the manager of the clerk to allow him to go to the next step, which is to ask the Consul for approval. After waiting around again for a while, the man clerk came back with a negative answer. We were rejected. It was really weird, every staff member there was extra friendly to us and very polite. They just don't give out Transit Visas easily. They said that we needed a plane ticket in and out of Jeddah and that we would not be able to leave the airport. The other possibility was a boat ticket to and from Jeddah and Eritrea. But it is impossible to get a boat ticket for Jeddah - Massawa in whole Egypt. We are now going to search for another way. We are going to try and get a hitch from Suez on a Cargo boat to Eritrea. In the late afternoon we went to the Khan al-Khalili, Islamic Market. We bought a pair of flip-flops for the shower. A German speaking Egyptian man, tried to sucker us into buying Egyptian perfume oil. They always start out trying to be your friend and then they try to sell you something or bring you to their friend's shop and disappear. We tried several oils until we could not smell anymore. It is always hard to get out of the situation when you do not want to buy anything. We just lied and said we would think about it and come back tomorrow. We are finding that at least in Cairo that they are trying to scam and rip you off all the time. It is a real pain in the rear! We are always asking ourselves if they really think that we are that stupid. You can not trust anyone here. We bought a foot stone today. It should help remove the cracked calices from our feet. Both of our feet are really cracked and are hurting.

Cairo

Today we went to the Ethiopian Embassy to get our Visas. We filled out the visa form, left a photo and our passport and were told that we can pick up our visa tomorrow at around 1 pm. It seemed much less complicated than getting one for Saudi Arabia. Afterwards we took a local bus (no. 997 - 25 piaster each) to Giza, to the Pyramids and the Sphinx. Again some guy claiming he was a teacher, try to scam us into taking a camel or horse trip around the Pyramids. Of course he lied to us about the costs and rules about entering the site. We just told him that we preferred walking today. The admission price was reasonable for 10 LE each with a student card. The Pyramids are huge, but we both had imagined something much more spectacular. We first visited the Sphinx which was partly restored. We then walked around the Pyramids, always being spoken to if we would like to buy post cards, ride a horse or camel or take a taxi. Of course always for a special friends price just for us. You can not concentrate on the sites with all this selling. It is a shame. We decided pay and enter the Great Pyramid, Cheops Pyramid. That was the biggest tourist trap in whole of Egypt. There was nothing at all to see in it. Just walking up the stairs and coming back down again. This all for double the admission price to the whole Pyramid Site. We were really disappointed and cannot recommend anyone going in. We then found the local bus (no. 924) back to central Cairo.

Cairo

Today we did not do anything exciting. We bought our train tickets to Aswan. Only 1st class tickets were available according to the clerk. Who knows, my feeling was that they rather sell foreigners 1st class tickets. It was still cheap. We then went to mail a package to the States. This one we could write a book over. We had to fill out countless forms, go to countless offices and people just to send a small package home. It was unbelievable. We had to do this while 90% of the postal workers were doing nothing. It was a sight to see. Afterwards we rushed to the Ethiopian Embassy and picked up our expensive Visas. We then got something to eat and found an internet cafe to upload our website. We are right now on the train to Aswan arriving tomorrow morning. Everything went well in Cairo, except that we did not get our Saudi Arabian Visa. We will worry about that one later.

Abu Simbel

We arrived safely in Aswan. The train ride was really nice. We had a first class cabin to ourselves so we were able to sleep really well. We then went searching for hotels. We first went to one, when they would not bargain on the price, we decided to look elsewhere. Maren went out on her own and found a nicer place for less money. She did great. We then went searching for a good deal on a ride to Abu Simbel and a Felucca tour. We finally decided to go with our hotel tour. There was not too much of a difference in prices, so we went with the one we felt more comfortable giving our money to. In the afternoon we took the train to the Aswan High Dam. There was not much to see. We decided not to pay the 5 LE entrance fee to the soldiers guarding the dam. It did not seem worth it. We then waited for an hour for the next train back to Aswan. Again we had Koshari (noodles, rice, chickpeas, lentils, fried onions with tomato sauce and hot sauce) for dinner. It is cheap and fills you up (2 LE each). I think we ate it every night in Cairo for dinner. Tomorrow we have to get up at 3:00 am to go to Abu Simbel.

Abu Simbel

We got up at 3:00 am to catch a mini bus to Abu Simbel. We checked out the prices on this tour all over town the day before, we booked through our hotel, as the prices did not vary very much. Our breakfast from the hotel was a role and some jam. Absolutely nothing to speak of. The bus ride took about 3 hours and we had to go through many checkpoints. The road to Abu Simbel reopened one month ago, before it was only possible to get there by plane according to the hotel manager. There are two temples, the one which is more famous, the Great Temple of Abu Simbel with four colossal statues guarding the entrance, each more then 20 m tall and the smaller Harthor Temple. Both have wonderful and fascinating engravings inside. What is remarkable about the temples is, that they had to be removed in the 1960`s when the Aswan Dam was built out of the way from the rising waters of Lake Nasser. When you stand in front of them, you cannot imagine how they managed it so well. But it was definitely worth going there. We both liked it very much. After two hours we took the bus back to Aswan. We were booked on a one day/one night Felucca tour on the the Nile. That was our worse experience so far, but more details later. In the beginning it seemed to be a lot of fun. A thing that bothered us was that we had thought we were going with one captain and we ended up with another. So we should have known that this was not going to be the best time of lives. We were together with four Korean people, three of them we met already in Nuweiba and took the same taxi to Dahab. The other one was a nice girl named HJ. The Nile was very quiet, not much traffic. The view from the felucca was beautiful, palm trees on every side of the Nile, children bathing. Lunch was ready by the time we got on the boat, just some bread, falafel and tomato cucumber salad. Kirk warned not to eat so much of the salad. On the felucca you can not do much, we played some backgammon, read, and talked with the others on board. One of the skippers was smoking pot the whole day. For dinner we had some noodles, potatoes with tomatoes. It was basic and did not taste great. We thought we were going to get a really good meal since we had paid 15 LE each for the meals on board. You can eat like a king for 15 LE in Egypt as long as you do not go to Mc Donalds. So we felt a little ripped off from them. In the evening as we were coming a shore the captain accidentally (was not watching out) rammed another boat docked at the shore. It seemed the captain was not the most experienced. He did not always seem to know what he was doing. He gave no extra info or explanations about anything. He barely could speak English. The other skipper on board, had already jumped ship before sun break which was also really weird. The main thing that bothered us, was that they were washing the dishes in the Nile. We both thought it was disgusting. Maren asked what he is doing, and he showed her a can of tap water he said he was using. In the evening we had a beautiful view of the stars. We eventually went to sleep on the deck of the ship.

Luxor

Early in the morning we got up and almost reached Kom Ombo, where our trip ended. We were just glad we did not book a two day tour. The Korean guys were counting their money and noticed that some was missing, a total of over 230 US $. What was weird that the captain was awake quite a lot during the night and doing things. Both of us heard him several times walking around. It is pity that you cannot proof anything. When we left the boat we had to pay the rest of the money. First the captain asked for 10 LE more as we had to pay but then he asked for baksheesh which we did not give him. To be honest, we were disappointed by the tour, the captain did nothing the whole day and the food was more than bad. After bargaining with several taxi drivers, we finally got one for a reasonable price to take us to the bus station about 6 kilometers away. We got the 8:00 am bus to Luxor. The bus ride took about three hours. Kirk started to feel bad, he said he had the chills. Maren was still feeling ok. Arriving in Luxor we were looking for the Neferteti Hotel which was recommended. After hard bargaining we stayed. Later on we walked around Luxor, went to the Tourist Office to get some information about what to see and how to get there. Kirk felt worse with every step he took, so we decided to go back to the hotel and have a rest. On the way back we passed the Luxor Temple. You could almost see as much from the street as from inside, so we saved the entrance fee and just took some pictures from outside. On the way we split up and Kirk went back to the Hotel. The only problem, he sort was in half a daze and went in the wrong direction. So they both got back about at the same time. In the hotel, we measured Kirks temperature, which was over 39 Celsius. Maren bought medicine against his fever. Both suffered from diarrhea during the afternoon and in the evening Maren came down with fever as well. We felt so very bad, we could not really move, and every little effort was to much. We damned the felucca tour. During the night we got up every half an hour to go to the toilet. The fever did not go down.

Abu Simbel

In the morning we did not feel better at all. We both wanted to die. We changed our room into one with A/C and our own bathroom. It costs twice as much but it was much more comfortable in our situation as we stayed the rest of the day in bed.

Dahab

The fever was gone but we still did not feel ok, a little dizzy. In the afternoon we had to get up and do something. We were trying to find an Internet Cafe where we could hook up our laptop, but that was not possible anywhere.

Luxor

Today we were booked on a tour to The Valley of the Queens and The Valley of the Kings. It was an organized bus tour including a tour guide. Kirk felt much better today, but Maren was still weak and did not stand the heat. We saw different tombs in both Valleys. There was nothing much inside, except the colorful engravings. The tombs look all very similar, so it is not necessary to see all the 33 tombs founded in the Valley of the Kings. But it was good to get some information from the guide as we did not know much about Egyptian history. Included in the tour was a visit to the Temple of Hatshepsut, before we took the boat back to Luxor. In the afternoon we waited in the hotel until the departure of our train to Cairo. But we decided a couple hours before our train would leave to make a quick visit to the Karnak Temple, as it is not far away from Luxor Center. The temple complex was huge and we were really impressed by its size. We left Luxor at 8:50 pm heading on a overnight train to Cairo.

Cairo

We arrived in Cairo around 07:00 am at the railway station. We took the Metro into the city center and waited for an Internet Cafe to open because Kirk had some important things to do. It took longer than expected, we decided to stay the night in Cairo. Kirk was in a little stress because with some of his other web sites something was terribly wrong. Also we did not feel very well and were not in the right mood to travel any further. So we went to Pizza Hut to get some western food. At the moment our stomachs are not allowing anything else in. In the afternoon we slept. Later Kirk worked into the night on his web pages.

Suez

We had actually planned today to go to Suez, but we decided against it. Since it was Friday and not much would be happening there anyway, we thought it would be better to stay in Cairo. We were also still not feeling well and decided it would be better to rest up a little and not have a stressful day. In the morning we worked on our web site and walked a little around Cairo. Later we went to the Movies. We saw 15 minutes. It was just ok. Tonight we are planning to update our web site and get some western food in our stomachs, because we have not really eaten much all day, except for a little bread and a piece of chocolate cake.

Suez

Today Kirk finished his computer work. In the early afternoon we took a bus to Suez. There we found a hotel and checked out the port area afterwards so we would know where to look for ships tomorrow. Suez is actually not as we expected. Some parts were actually nice, especially the boardwalk. At night we could barely sleep because it was so hot.

Cairo

This morning we went to the Saudi Consulate to try and get a Transit Visa. Of course they said we had to go back to Cairo and get a Visa there. He said it would not be a problem with a letter of recommendation. Of course he knows you have no chance at all. They should just say it right to your face that they do not want any tourists in their country. So we tried several shipping agencies, but they told us that we had no chance in getting a ship down. So we decided our best bet at this moment would be to try and get a Visa for Sudan. We took the bus back Cairo in hopes of getting a Visa. So cross your fingers and wish us luck!

Luxor

We went first this morning to the Embassy of Sudan. They handed us out a form which we had to fill out and told us we need a letter of recommendation from our embassy. Kirk told them, that the US Embassy does not issue letters of recommendation, but they still insisted. Maren took a taxi to the German Embassy to get her letter and Kirk went to the US Embassy. There he got information about the actual situation in Sudan. After meeting again, we both decided not to try to get a Sudanese Visa as Sudan is too dangerous, especially the southern part. We checked out several travel agencies for prices to fly to Asmara, Eritrea which is the cheapest country to fly to in Africa. We also already have our visa for Eritrea. There is one Egypt Air flight a week, but the next flight is already fully booked. So we decided to book through Egypt Air itself in the hope they have influence on the waiting list. We will see.

Cairo

We have almost seen everything Cairo except the Citadel. So that was our plan for the day. Because we had so much time we of course walked, ignoring all the taxis honking and yelling at us. It was a nice walk and we had a good view all over Cairo. We visited the Mosque of Mohammed Ali, which was very impressive and the Military Museum. On our way back to the city center we called the Egypt Air office to see if our flights were confirmed to Eritrea. They were , so we picked up our tickets immediately. In the afternoon we had a little rest in our hotel room to escape from the heat. In the evening Kirk did a little work on the Internet.

Luxor

Today is another lazy day. Kirk worked all day long on the computer and Maren was reading and sleeping. Kirk had to update his Websites so he would continue to make money to support this trip. We cannot wait until we leave Egypt tomorrow night, we have spent enough time in this country. In the evening we went again to the internet cafe' to upload the updates to the websites. We are lucky here that the connection is really fast and everything gets uploaded really quick.

Abu Simbel

Today we wrote our last emails and packed our stuff. We are flying down to Eritrea tonight. During the day we thought it would be good to get some vitamins, so we went to Pizza Hut and had a huge salad which we could barely finish. Later on we went to the Internet Cafe' again where Kirk uploaded most of our pictures to a server in the Internet so they would be backed up. He also worked on his websites and placed them in the search engines. Afterwards we picked up our backpacks at our hotel and took the subway to the bus station and from there a bus to the Airport. The bus was really cheap, 3 LE each, much cheaper than a Taxi which would have cost around 30 LE. At the airport we had hoped to exchange the rest of our Egyptian Pounds back into Dollars, but none of the banks would do it. We could exchange into other currencies, but not US $. So we will send the rest back to Germany, where we will be able to deposit it in our bank account. The flight was ok to Asmara. The meal was actually really good. The only problem was that it flew at an inhumane time, 1:00 am.

Djibouti

We arrived in Asmara Eritrea early, at around 3:35 am. There we had to go through customs and declare all of our electronic equipment. We then had to wait around outside till 6:10 am for a bus to Asmara. We met this Italian man, 61 years old who has been traveling for 14 years. A nice guy, but one of a kind. We took the bus to Asmara, around 7 KM away where we thought it would be easy to find a Hotel, since there were so many in town. But it took a while to find a room, while everyplace was fully booked. We eventually found one for 6 dollars a night. The first thing we did was to sleep for few hours. In the afternoon we went looking for a way to Ethiopia. To our disappointment, we were told that all borders were now closed and it is impossible to cross at this time. We asked quite a lot of different people and we were told all the same thing. We decided to go to UN Headquarters to find out more. At the UN office we had to go up stairs to the what we think was the planning and logistical department of the UN. There we were also told it was not safe and just about impossible to cross. It made us a little unhappy since it would cost a lot of money to fly out of Eritrea. We however were pleasantly surprised how friendly and helpful the UN troops were. They were Danish (All Danish people seem to be always very nice)! So we decided to go back into town to try and find the next cheapest way to Ethiopia. To fly to Ethiopia would cost over 440 $ and we would have to fly via Yemen. We then found out that a one way flight to Djibouti would cost 132 $. We can only get a one way ticket if the Djibouti Embassy writes in our passport that we do not need a round trip ticket. So hopefully they will do that on Tuesday when the are open again. In the evening we found an internet room behind the Eritreo-German Recreation Center where we could check our email and get some information on border crossings. It was extremely slow, but the service turned out to be free, which was ok. For dinner we went to Milano, they serve typical Eritean food and Italian food. It also has a really nice typical Eritrean atmosphere. The food came served on a huge platter consisting of a sort of doe like pancake with vegetable topping and hot chicken. There was not to much chicken meat, but tasted really good. We had a great time there. It cost 7.50 $ including 2 beers. It was well worth it. Afterwards we went straight to bed. Another thing, we are really enjoying the atmosphere here in Asmara. It is not at all like in Egypt where they are hassling you all the time and trying to trick you. Here you can pretty much trust the prices (the prices are listed at hotels and restaurants) and the people are for the most part reserved, friendly, and helpful. So it is really pleasant to be here. It is a great change. Asmara is also very clean and there is hardly any garbage anywhere, which is also a huge difference in compared to the Middle East, where garbage is all over the place. So we are pleasantly surprised and are really enjoying it.

Djibouti

We got up at around 9:00 am and went out to breakfast. We had 2 cappuccinos and 5 pastries of mixed variety for under a dollar. We then decided we should go one more time to the UN, to ask someone else if there would be a possibility to get over land to Ethiopia. Again they were really friendly and we discussed it with a couple of soldiers and workers there, but they were pretty steadfast that it would not be a good idea to try, and the chances would be very slim that we would be able to get to the Ethiopian border. There were also a lot of mine fields and still skirmishes in the DMC zone. So we decided that it would be the best thing to fly to Djibouti and take the safe route. We would then have the possibility in the next few days to explore Eritrea a little. Also there is supposedly a really nice scenic train ride from Djibouti to Ethiopia. It will be expensive, but it will be something different. We then had a late lunch. Kirk had a delicious cheeseburger, Maren a Cheese sandwich, French fries, 1 Machiato. 1 Cappuccino, and 2 cokes for 3 $. It was a great deal. Later we worked on our website.

Djibouti

After not sleeping at all because people all night were coming and going in and out of the hotel we got up to catch the bus to Massawa. The people were making a huge amount of noise while the doors of the hotel were locked and they were banging on them to get in. The bus ride costs 23 Nfa, which is really cheap. However, we soon found out that here also they like to charge foreigners more. They wanted to charge us then 50 Nfa extra for our bags on the top of the roof. We of course declined and were steadfast that we were not going to pay. We had a feeling that the locals were not paying an extra fee. One of the small kids who was collecting money for the bus ticket and had tied our bags up onto the roof got a small tip. He was sort on our side afterwards. The bus trip was a 3 hour trip down a winding road to Massawa at sea level. It was around 2000 meter difference. The scenery along was beautiful, however Maren missed most of it while she tried to sleep and was feeling ill. Once we got to Massawa we had a small problem. We did not have a map of the town, and the bus station was also on the outskirts of Massawa. So we did the wrong thing and took a taxi to a Hotel which the driver recommended. But the hotel was also in our guide book. We should have taken the local bus to town for 1 Nfa instead of 15 Nfa. But you always learn afterwards. It is just when one is tired and does not know the area well, that one takes the easy way and jumps into a taxi. This has not been a habit for us, but it ticks me off afterwards. In the afternoon we took a minibus to Gurgusum, a beach around 8 km away from town. It cost 10 Nfa together. Kirk went swimming. He thought he could cool off but the water was hotter than outside. Just that one understands the outside the weather screeching hot. Maren did not go swimming because she did not feel comfortable in her bikini there. It was just too hot to sit on the beach so we decided to take the next bus back. This time it was a local bus, which only cost 4 Nfa together. So we were nailed again. Later on we took a nap before we went out to dinner for Macaroni and meat sauce. It was very spicy, but ok. We had trouble sleeping later because a lot was going on the streets around our Hotel, especially the roof top disco next door.

Djibouti

After not sleeping well again we walked around Massawa a little and took some pictures. The city is actually really beautiful, but it has suffered tremendously from the war with Ethiopia. You could feel the past Italian influence on the city. We then had breakfast, an egg sandwich. Afterwards we took a local bus to the bus station. There was a long line of people and luggage waiting also to catch the bus to Asmara. So put our bags at the end of the line and waited for 1 hour for the next bus. However, since there was so many people ahead of us in line, we did not get a seat on this bus, so we thought. After thinking we would have to wait for another hour, the bus driver called to us that he wanted to take us along. It was kind of fishy since there were still other people in front of us waiting for the same bus. We were hoping it was because we were the only tourists, but we soon realized that this was not the case. The money collector collected all the money from all the other passengers, and not from us. We then knew we were going to get a special deal. The bus driver then came in and asked us to pay 50 Nfa. We quickly rejected this price and said the right price is 23 Nfa. He then went down to forty which we also rejected, Kirk then offered him 30 since we would of waited around for another 2 hours at least if he had not taken us in his bus. He thought he was going to make a great deal by taking us on his bus, but he only made a little more. On the way back we had .5 hour break, where we met the boy we had given a tip to the other day. He immediately came us to us and shook or hands. I offered to buy him a coke be he refused. We are still happy the way most people handle themselves here. There is only a little hassle with the buses and taxis. This time Maren was able to enjoy the scenery. When we got off the bus, they gave us our bags and wanted a 10 Nfa tip. This time we just took our bags and walked away. We had already paid for the bags we said. Later on we got a room at the same hotel we stayed before. Afterwards we went out for dinner, again macaroni, but this time not as spicy.

Djibouti

After a breakfast of donuts and Cappuccino we went to the Djibouti Embassy to get our Visas. The people were extremely friendly. The only negative point is that it would cost us 40 $ each. But that is how it is here. We were told we could pick up the Visas at 3:00 pm. During this time we went to an Internet Cafe' to see if they had a fast connection. It was very slow so we only checked emails for 1/2 hour for 50 cents. Later on we picked up our Visas at the Djibouti Embassy. We asked the lady there if she would call the travel agent to explain to them that we do not need a round trip ticket. She was really helpful. So we then went to Eritrean Airlines to pay for our ticket. They then said we would have to buy a round trip ticket. We explained to the manager that the Djibouti Embassy had said it would be no problem for us to have a one way ticket. She said that she the embassy had called, but rules were rules. She was a really unfriendly you know what! We could not believe it. So we went back to the embassy. It was already closed, but they still let us in (very unusual for Embassies). We explained the situation to her and she called down her boss. A really nice guy, who immediately said in an American accent "what do they think, you want to stay in Djibouti forever at 41 degrees. They probably just want to make money off of you." He said exactly what we were thinking. He then called his travel agency and told them to issue us a one way ticket. So we walked to the other side of town relieved that we would now get our one way ticket. When we got to the travel agent, she said she called Eritrean Airlines, and they said it would not be possible. After that we were a little exhausted and fuming. So we decided to go tomorrow to the Djibouti Embassy and ask them to write us a letter, giving the Travel Agent the right to issue a one way ticket. We then went to the movies for 33 cents each. The film was "A Perfect Day" with Kevin Costner. Tonight we tried out our water filter for the first time. It worked really well. We are a little mad with ourselves that we did not use it earlier. It would have saved us a lot of money along the way.

Djibouti

Kirk did not sleep well again. For the last 4 nights he has had trouble getting any sleep. Maren got up early and bought some rolls, cheese and tomato paste for breakfast and filtered some more water . The breakfast tasted really good, especially since she got lucky and was able to find fresh bread. Later we went again to the Djibouti Embassy to explain our situation, wanting only a one way ticket to Djibouti. They were again extremely friendly and called around and finally found a travel agent that would issue us a one way ticket. The travel agent was called Adulis Shipping Marine Cargo, across from the Sunshine Hotel. It for some reason cost 145 US$ each, we asked them why and they said that there is Djibouti tax added to all tickets. Who knows, but we were in no great position to argue, since they were issuing a one way ticket. Afterwards we were relieved and celebrated with a Cappuccino. We then went back to the Hotel room to rest a little. In the afternoon it rained for about an hour. It is the beginning of the rainy season. That is why Asmara is so very green. You find palm trees in the city and lots of bush trees with colorful bushes that are blossoming. We did not have to do much, so we decided to take some passport photos, they were very cheap and we need them for future visas. We already used about 10 photos each. Every embassy wanted at least two photos, some even more. For dinner we went out to a snack bar, which seemed to be quite a popular place, since it was always crowded. We had some sandwiches and then went back to our hotel to get to bed early. As you know by now, Kirk needs some sleep!

Djibouti

Today we got up and got some breakfast next door consisting of donuts, pastries, cappuccino, macchiato, and Fanta. We then took a bus to the Airport where we had to wait outside since we were early. We had to pay a departure tax of 15 US$ each. So you pay to come in and pay to leave. Love it! We the flight was on a Russian Aircraft (Tajik Air Tu-154). We were a little nervous. But it landed safely a 1.5 hours later in Djibouti. There we went through customs with no problem. We found a taxi to take us to our Hotel for 6 US$. He wanted 10 US$ in the beginning but finally accepted less. Afterwards we exchanged money and walked to the train station to get information on the train to Ethiopia that was leaving the next morning. Thanks god or whoever that Maren speaks a little bit of French. We found out that the ticket office opens at midnight and that tourist have to buy first class tickets. They cost 22 US$ each. One has to there before 4:00 am or you will not get a ticket. The train ride supposedly takes over 12 hours to Dire Dawa Ethiopia, but according to what we have read, it is a beautiful scenic train ride. Later on we walked around town and of course took some pictures. We then bought some baguettes, cheese, mayo and cookies for the train ride tomorrow. At our hotel we had tea with milk and lots of sugar. As we were looking onto the street this guy got whacked by a passing car right in front of us. His shoe went flying, but he just got up, picked up his shoe and walked away, while other people started arguing about what had happened. We then rinsed ourselves off and worked on the website a little. We have to get up at 2:00 am to go buy tickets for the train. Djibouti is a small country and city, which does not have that much to offer. However the people seem to be very friendly and do not overly bother you. We have not been here a long time so we probably should not build to much of an opinion. When you think of Africa, it feels much more like Africa here than it did in Asmara. We feel we are getting closer to what most people have in mind when thinking about Africa. We would have liked to have stayed another day to see a little more, but we have decided that staying here until Sunday when the next train leaves is not just worth it. There is not much to do here and it is so hot and humid we would spend more than half our time in our A/C hotel room. It is also seemly expensive here.

Djibouti

What will this be for a memory of a life time. The train ride from Djibouti to Dire Dawa Ethiopia. This day we could probably write about 10 pages on but we will try to keep it short. At 2:00 am in the morning we had to get up and take a taxi to the train station. The hotel manager woke us up and took us downstairs where he had already organized a taxi for us. The taxi driver first wanted over 11 US$, Maren was able to bargain the price down to around 5.5 US$. You just have to imagine that the streets are totally dark and you can not see far out of the taxi. We arrived at the train station where there are masses of people crowded around the gate to the opening of the train station. Some are trying to get in others are sleeping or eating on the grounds around the gate. The taxi driver of course did not have change. Maren intelligently then grabbed our money back which we have given him, until he found change for us. We then went to the gate and pushed ourselves through to the front with our big backpacks till we got the attention of the main caretaker of the entrance of the train station. Somehow he had a system of who he was allowing in and who he was throwing out. It was quite chaotic. There was a mad rush to get in, where people we pushing and shoving and trying to get all there belongings inside the train station. He explained to Maren in French that all the tickets were sold out, but he had folding chairs on the train if we wanted them. Of course we said yes, not wanting to be any longer on the grounds outside the station, and having no Taxi to take us back to our hotel. The guy then brought us in, where we paid for the ticket. He then showed us where we would be seated. We were lucky to get seats in the so called "1st class" wagon. It was totally dark and one could not see much. We first just sat there for a moment, trying to take in where we actually just were. First Class is not our first class, not our second class and not our third class ticket, but as we will explain later, it is the only way to travel if you are going to take this train ride. Maren, had the guts to go back outside to buy a few sodas and water for our trip while I watched the bags. What we realized later was that we did not have enough water with us for the entire trip. So buy a lot of water beforehand. We were there over 3 hours early so we just had to wait until the train left. A nice guy "Hansen" started speaking to Kirk. He sort of explained a little bit of the trip, and later on looked a little out after us. He was Ethiopian and worked in Djibouti. A lot of Ethiopians that work in Djibouti go home at this time of year, while it gets so hot in Djibouti. That is when all the people started loading into the train with all their worldly possessions, chairs, bags full of pots and pans, clothing, huge supplies of food, electric fans, garbage cans, and suitcases, ,just to name a few. They stacked them above and below, or just hung them from the ceiling above. It was a crazy site. You have to realize that we are the only travelers on board. Outside people were all sitting around, sellers are selling baguettes, soda, chai and other things we were not to sure of, along with people going to the bathroom right outside the train. It was a mad house. Maren went to the bathroom on the train, it was pitch dark and she could not see anything, that turned out to be ok, it was absolutely filthy and stunk the whole trip. At around 6:10 the train started moving with still people jumping in. The sun was coming up so we were able to see outside. We went through what must have been the slums of Djibouti where people were sleeping out by the tracks with garbage surrounding them. It was a sad sight. Right outside of town the train suddenly came to a halt. People started jumping out of the train and started running away. Policemen and Soldiers ran after them, chasing them down. Some got away, but police brought a lot back. They were trying to catch people who did not pay. At the same time, the station manager or clerk who got us the tickets came through the train. He seemed to know exactly who had paid and who not. He quickly started picking out people and taking them off the train. It was amazing that he knew who had paid and who not. Outside was a jail bus waiting to pack the people in. There was actually a middle age Arab couple with a friend who also did not have a ticket. They started having a huge argument with the police outside. They did not want to go into the police jail bus. We do not know what happened to them. All we know is that they offered to buy the tickets, but it did not work. It was an adrenaline filled moment. After the train started moving we relieved, but realized it was going to be a really long train ride. Along the way we stopped at certain villages, where we kept on picking up passengers. They were loading the train with all types of goods, flower, spaghetti, cooking oil and other goods. They just all sat around us on the floor or hanging on half way outside the train. Sometimes armed soldiers or security guards would come through checking out the situation. Some passengers they would ask go with them and then the passengers would come back. They had to bribe them to stay on the train. It was a quick transaction. Along each stop, one women would sell her goods to villagers along the way. The villagers along the way would also try to sell things every time the train stopped. They sold mostly drinks consisting of tea and water and donut like dough bread, along with goat meat. It was quite interesting. Outside you could see the villagers as they lived. We saw one person skinning a freshly killed goat. You could really see how poor these people were. It was hard to see sometimes how people still have to live today. We were now in Africa. On the train, people were all around us, sleeping on the filthy floors. Our impression was that the people were enjoying the ride. A girl named Fiffy then spoke to us. Saying we had to make sure that we watched out for our stuff when the train stopped. She was really nice and caring. She was an 18 years old Ethiopian living in Djibouti. What Maren understood was that she had a French father, who left the family and went back to France. However it was not so clear to Maren exactly what the actual circumstances were. She always asked us during the train ride if we were ok. She was a real sweetheart. She even bought us two sodas later on in the trip. The landscape in Djibouti was mostly barren and uninhabited. Once in a while we would see a small village or a Shepard with his goats. The houses were mostly made of piled up stones and thatched roofs. Like a thousand years ago. Sometimes the landscape was sandy, sometimes like mars, with endless rock fields all over the place. On the Ethiopian side you would come across kilometers of ant mounds purging up from the ground. It was quite marvelous and spectacular. At the Ethiopian border we were told that one person should watch the stuff and that one person should go fill out the immigration papers. There we a lot of forms to fill out. One for passport information, another for our foreign currency, another for our camera. Kirk went to fill out the forms. Of course one got different stamps for different papers from different government officials. For the passports stamps he had to find an immigration officer in the second class wagon. Along the way, some people tried to grab into his pockets. One time Kirk just smacked a guy who dipped his hand into Kirk's front shirt pocket. One thing what the immigration officers saw was the Eritrean Visa in our passports. This seemed not to make them happy, since they had just finished a war with them last year. They asked how we liked it there, we just said ok. We did not want to say that we really enjoyed ourselves. After the train started moving again we realized that suddenly the whole train was chewing on something. They were all chewing "chat", a green leave that supposedly wakes you up like caffeine, but also gets you a little high. They offered us some, but we politely declined. By the end of the train ride, people had wads of this stuff in their mouth like a ball in their cheeks. The sort of looked like a trumpet player blowing on an instrument. Their gums and teeth were all green. The Ethiopian landscape was similar to the Djibouti side. We also saw herds of camel roaming the desert which was really cool. The women on the train were constantly breast feeding their babies. They seemed to breast feed them the whole way. At the Ethiopian border the coca cola man had come on board with cases of Pepsi Cola, 7up and Miranda. He was a hit. He was constantly selling. In Africa, the people just love the fizz drinks. These drinks have taken over. On the Ethiopian side Pepsi seems much more common, while in Eritrea and in Djibouti Coke rules. The whole train ride Kirk did not really sleep, he was nervous watching the bags, especially where the laptop was in. Every time we stopped the local kids jumped onto the train. They seemed always interested in our bags. Maren was able to sleep for short sections of the trip, but did not get much rest in. In the evening the train got pitch dark, since it did not have any lights inside. We arrived 14 hours later in Dire Dawa. We had met a man called Wendwessen, we had given him a seat next to us on the train at the Ethiopian border. He worked for the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia in Dire Dawa. He spoke pretty good English. He had read Kirk's week old paper on the train which Kirk had given him afterwards. We had asked him where the Continental Hotel was in town. He said he would show us which made us happy since we did not have a map of the town. He also said the hotel was ok. We were especially happy when we got off the train. After going through a sort of customs, you walked out of the train station and there were hundreds of people being kept back from guards with whack sticks. He quickly brought us through the crowds to the hotel. There he spoke with the people and made sure we were happy with the room. He then said if we want we could come by the bank tomorrow to meet him. Later on we noticed that the room had no water. We then told the staff and they offered us another room. But that room had no window or covering in the bathroom, so we declined. They then said they would fix the water in the other room for us. We then had a drink and they fixed the water problem. Well, they got the water for the shower working, not for the sink. But it is was still ok for us. We were exhausted and fell right to sleep.

Djibouti

Today we woke up late. We had an omelet breakfast. We then went the bank to exchange money. It was already closed, but they allowed us in anyway. They then checked us for weapons and things. They said Kirk would have to give up his camera at the door. Kirk politely refused and said he would wait outside. Maren the exchanged 60 US$. Wendwessen, then came out, and said he was looking for us the whole day. We asked him where the bus station was, he said he would come to our hotel in 15 minutes and take us there. He later took us to the bus station and helped us get a ticket Addis Ababa. We decided to take the government bus since it took two days and we would not arrive in Addis Ababa at night. It is probably the smarter thing to do, since it is not supposed to be the safest place on earth. Later on we invited him for a drink. He then bought us a typical Ethiopian meal. Similar to what we had at the Milano Restaurant in Asmara Eritrea. He was really nice and friendly. We offered to pay for the meal, but he refused. Later on he told us that he received financial aid from a family in Duesseldorf Germany for his education. He still had contact with them and they send letters back and forth. He asked us to contact them when we are back and tell them what we have seen here. Later on we took a long nap. At night we had dinner with Wendwessen and had coffee at a local outside restaurant. There they had CNN which was a nice change. We also saw an Aids awareness parade go by in town.

Djibouti

Taking the bus in Ethiopia is also an experience in it's own which you will have trouble getting used to. First of all, all busses leave at around 6:00 am. We were lucky that we bought the tickets a day in advance, because there were none available in the morning. Of course we had to pay extra for our luggage, that seems to be normal in Africa. A mass of people were standing in front of the bus pushing and shoving to get into the bus first. We were lucky that they let us in first, because we felt that we were going to get trampled. It must have been while we were the only tourists on this bus. The bus drove from the highlands down through the Rift Valley. The highlands scenery was just beautiful, green mountainous landscape with small villages from time to time. The Rift Valley was a very dry and hot area, there were not many trees and was more desert like. On the way to Addis it began to rain. The rainy season has just started. We arrived in Addis early in the evening. A nice lady from our bus accompanied us to our hotel. She said Addis is not safe for tourists at night. We were very happy that we did not have to find the hotel on our own. In the hotel, which was really nice and clean, we met three British guys. They had been in Ethiopia for already two weeks, so they could give us some good information and tips about the country.

Djibouti

After breakfast in our hotel, we went with the English guys, Al and Mark, to the bus station to buy our tickets to Bahar Dar (in the north of Ethiopia). We shared a taxi, so it was not too expensive for all of us. In the afternoon we visited the National Museum of Ethiopia. The highlight is "Lucy", a 3.5 million old skeleton found in the 1970`s, at the time the oldest human skeleton found. It was raining the whole day and Kirk did not feel well. He started getting ill again. In the evening we met Al, Garry and Mark for dinner and went to a Pizza place, which had good Pizza for Africa.

Djibouti

At 5:45 am the taxi was already waiting for us to take us to the bus station. The bus was supposed to leave at 7:00 am, but after some trouble and having to change buses, we left at 9:30 am. We got the worst seats in the bus, almost in the back right in front of the back entrance to the bus. We had to concentrate for the next ten hours to stay in our seats. The roads are mostly not paved outside Addis, so we were shaking, and flying into the air for most of the bus ride. Just before dark we stopped in a town called Debre Markos. A friendly Ethiopian man helped us with the hotel room and showed us a place to have dinner. After some good spaghettis we went to bed early. The bus driver wants to leave tomorrow morning at 5:00 am. Brothels are all over the place here. Most budget and mid range hotels are also used as brothels. What we have understood from people is that it is sort of an excepted occupation here. In Addis Ababa the street from our hotel was just full of these places as were the hotels in the small towns we passed through on the way up.

Djibouti

We were on the road at 5:30 am. Just another six hours on the bus. Of course everybody had the same seats as the day before. We arrived in Bahar Dar around 2:00 pm and the kids (touts) were awaiting us already, especially us. They all wanted to bring us to their hotel, show us around and be our guide. We tried to insist that no one is getting anything from us, but the whole group still followed us while we were looking for a hotel. When we were entering one, one of the kids got there before us and told us he is working in this hotel and it is the hotel of his parents. First the hotel was too expensive for us, so he showed us around. In the end we stayed at "his parents" hotel. The kid got provision from the manager and we have not seen him again. In the afternoon we tried to find out information about boat tours to the monasteries on Lake Tana. So we went to the Ghion Hotel where they organize such trips. This hotel was located directly at Lake Tana, with beautiful grounds. We had a couple of beers and relaxed in the gardens. At the reception we asked for the price for a double room and after we said that is too expensive, they cut the price in half, which was then affordable for us. So we decided to change hotels. It turned out to be a little problem, as we had paid for two nights in advance. The manager was more than unfriendly and would not even talk to us. Kirk even got into a small shouting match with one employee. In the end we paid one full night extra and got out of there. It was about 6.50 US$ down the drain. We used our mosquito net for the first time. It worked great and kept the mosquitoes at a distance.

Djibouti

Today we went to see the Blue Nile Falls. We had to take a local bus to Tis Abey, which is about 30 kilometers from Bahar Dar. We were in shock out first how poor the people seemed in this village. It was really dirty and smelled bad. In the tourist office we bought the entrance tickets and got a map of the area. The tourist office was really nice and explained the route to us in detail. Kids were following us, wanting to show us the way. But we told them we knew the way and did not need help. After getting out of the town, the way to the Falls was beautiful. We went through a little village where children tried to sell soft drinks and souvenirs. When we got over the ridge the falls were staring at us. Even though they were not full of water, because it is the end of the dry season, they were never less impressive. The had a brownish color due to all the mud in the river. We walked around for about two hours and took a little boat across the Blue Nile River. One "guide" had followed us the whole way, even though Kirk had explained to him numerous times that we did not want a guide and would not pay him anything. He kept saying he understood. But in the end he asked us for money anyway which we did not pay. While we were waiting for the bus, people from the village were watching us and trying to talk to us. Kirk had to play ping pong with some locals as half the village watched. The first game he won and the second game he was saved when the bus came. We had to wait for a hour in the bus, as they did not leave until it was full. Tis Abey was not a town where we wanted to spend a night. Back in Bahar Dar we had dinner in our hotel restaurant with view to the Lake Tana.

Djibouti

We both did not feel well this morning. We do not know if it is the food or something else. First, we bought our bus tickets back to Addis for the next day. Then we went back to the hotel to ask if they offer a tour to Monasteries today. We knew from other people that they just paid 50 Birr each, but the hotel told us a price of 75 Birr. SO we decided to play poker and tell them we would not go on the tour. At the last minute when they saw that the boat would not be filled they cut the price to 50 Birr. They asked us not to talk about the price in front of the other people since they were paying almost three times more than what we were paying. The tour took about three hours. We first took the boat to a 13th century monastery, which was on a peninsula not an island. The Monastery was made out of wood and full of colorful paintings inside. It was very interesting. We had a guide who explained some of the paintings. Later on we went to the entrance of the Blue Nile River. There was not much to see except some birds. Later on we bought some bananas for the bus trip the next day for some vitamins.

Djibouti

We were back on the bus early for our two day bus ride back to Addis Ababa. This time we got better seats , but we still did not look forward to the next two days. Not much happened on the bus ride, we had a short coffee break around noon and arrived in Dejen at 5:00 pm for our overnight stop. We walked around town after sitting for hours. The people from the village were just starring at us as if they have never seen any tourists before. When we stopped they stopped, when we sat down they sat down too. It was really funny. We think they thought it was funny too, because they were always laughing. In the hotel we had two soft drinks and fried eggs and had to pay a fortune. We worked on our website and went to bed early to be fit for the second part of our exiting bus ride.

Djibouti

Kirk did not sleep again last night. We cannot remember when we last slept well. The mosquitoes were bugging him last night. We were in the bus again at 5:00 am. But luckily we reached Addis Ababa early in the day. After taking a taxi to our hotel, the same one as last time, we checked our emails, had something to eat, and worked on our website. We have to get up early again tomorrow for the bus to Awasa.

Djibouti

Again it was get up early time. The bus for Awasa, like every other bus in Ethiopia leaves at around 6:00 am. At least that is when one has to be at the bus station. In Addis Ababa it is a total mad house. For Awasa one is able to buy the ticket on the same day unlike other routes where you have to buy the ticket the day before. The bus got going at around 7:30 am which made us happy. We could not stand the exhaust fumes from old buses and we were slowly feeling ill. We got out of Addis Ababa's city limits at about 9:00 am. This time we were able to put our luggage on the bus, which saved us from having to pay for the luggage again. We also got front seats which was good for the bumps, but the motor was right next to us and really stunk. The roads were also almost completely paved so this time sitting in the back would have been not to bad. The scenery along the way was very beautiful like the north, but much dryer. After arriving in Awasa we found a hotel and then went sightseeing along the shores of the lake. Afterwards we had dinner at Pinne Restaurant on the main road in town. When we ask for the bill the waiter first just told us a price which of course was wrong. Kirk said he should give us the a bill. When he came back with the bill it was less than what he said, but still to high because they put a wrong dish on the bill. Finally the manager came and corrected the situation. We did not leave a tip. Later we checked out information on buses to Moyale, on the border with Kenya. We think we have to leave early again tomorrow. Three people we asked told us there is a direct bus there and two people said there is no direct bus connection. We will see tomorrow!

Djibouti

Well the bus did not leave at 6:00 am at the Shell Station. It came and left at 9:30 am while the bus came from up north. So we did not have to get up so early. We were lucky to get on since we were just waiting by the main road hoping this bus would come by and would stop for us. We got the last 2 seats available. The bus ride again went through areas with beautiful scenery and vegetation. For lunch we bought bananas and a pineapple for dinner. We were happy when the bus stopped at 7:00 pm for the overnight stay because the bus stank horribly after 9.5 hours of not opening any windows. We can not understand the Ethiopians with this notion that if you open the windows you will get sick. They rather die of carbon dioxide poisoning. For the hotel we had to pay double than what the locals pay since we are foreigners. It seems to be like this all over Ethiopia. A local who was on the bus with us and helped us find the hotel, tried to argue with the hotel clerk, but it did not help much. For dinner we had our pineapple. Maren gave all our bananas away to a small girl after she saw a couple of cockroaches crawling between them. She panicked a little, but she is slowly getting used to the bugs all over the place and in our food once in a while.

Djibouti

We woke up again to no lights in the morning at 4:30 am. After a 4.5 hour bus ride, we arrived in Moyale, the border town with Kenya. We first checked out how to cross the border and how to get a truck to Nanyuki Kenya. The next trucks are supposedly leaving tomorrow morning at 8:30 am. We went to the immigration office today to get our exit stamps. We also had to clear customs where they searched our bags a little and asked us a few tricky questions. We were a little nervous about our laptop and digital camera. But the custom agent did not notice them. Later on we bought some bread and avocados for lunch after we found no restaurant with anything else but injera. Before we had to spend the rest of our Ethiopian money, which turned out a difficult thing to do, since there is absolutely nothing here worthwhile buying except cookies and toilette paper. Everyone here wants to exchange money with you at just horrible rates, so watch out! You can bargain with them and get a better rate for dollars. They will take you to a shop for the exchange so the police won't see the transaction. In the late afternoon we tried our best to spend the rest of our Ethiopian money. We got rid of it, but it was very difficult.

Djibouti

Maren is one tough cookie. The explanation will come later. We got up early as usual to cross the border from Ethiopia to Kenya and then to catch the truck convoy south to Isiolo. We had no problem getting over the border to Kenya. We had to wait around a while on the Kenyan side because the immigration boss was not awake yet. We had to pay 50 US$ each for our Visa. That was quite expensive. We then went to the truck convoy where we bought a place on a cattle truck for 12 dollars each. They originally wanted 15 dollars. The local price turned out to be 600 KSh which is about 7.70 US$. The trucks travel in a convoy because it is much safer. There are bandits, they attack lone trucks on this route. We had no real seat on the truck, we were up top on the pipe cage of a cattle transporter. The cattle below us were heading to Nairobi to be slaughtered. We had to buy some rope to tie down our bags up top so they would not fall onto the cows below and into their waste. At first Maren just looked at me a little bit in shock. We were going to be up top here for the 2 days traveling on unpaved roads, through some of the remotest parts of East Africa. This was going to be painful. We thought the truck driver would take it slow on the unpaved roads, but when we started he blasted down the hill. We had to hold on for dear life. The Kenyans on board with us, seemed to take everything really easy and just relax on top. We just closed our eyes and held on. Below the cattle started moving around and sticking their horns in one another trying to position themselves. When a cow would sit or lay down a guy working on the truck would go down between the cows and twist the the cow's tail to make him stand up. He became covered with cow excrement. Another guy would be always climbing on the cage making sure everything was tied on securely. These guys were tough. The road was bumpy, unpaved, and really dusty. It was basically just a dirt path that these trucks drive on. Once in a while a soldier jumped on board for a certain length of time as protection. The Kenyan Military seems to use rifles made in Belgium called G3s. The convoy stopped a lot for unknown and known reasons. During this time Maren just put on her hood of her Columbia Jacket and ducked her head. The sand was continually blowing in our faces. It was just a hard ride with no real place to sit. One was constantly banging up against the metal cage and could not find a way to sit halfway comfortably on the truck. Along the way one saw traditional tribes, as painted and often with huge wholes in their ears. This was cool because they were not doing it for tourist purposes. Not too many travelers pass through here. The scenery was also beautiful and much different to that of Ethiopia. Along the way the truck blew a tire which cost us 2 hours. So we arrived in Marsabit at 6:15 pm. There we looked for a hotel. One guy was always trying to recommend us a hotel. We went to eventually to one place he said was 100 KSh. It was a hole in the wall and filthy. He then had the nerve to say it would cost 200 KSh while 2 beds were in there. That is when Kirk got mad and told him off. For a while we lost him. But later on we saw him hanging out at the hotel we finally found. These guys are just a pain in the rear once in a while. At the hotel we had some tropical Fanta and some chips. Afterwards we took a shower and fell right asleep. We had to get up in the morning for the second stage of our favorite truck ride. One has to be really proud of Maren that she endured such a painful and hard ride. It was not easy and we were both sore all over.

Djibouti

The alarm clock went off at 5:00 am. We were not looking forward to getting up. It took us a while to get out of bed and our stuff packed. We were thinking of the painful 7 hours we would still have to go through. It was a wet moist morning and a little cold. A great way to start. Maren got a seat on a sack against the railing. Kirk again got no real seat at first. For the first hour he was just hanging there until one guy offered a place next to him. It was a little better, but Kirk was facing directly towards the front with the wind and dirt going directly in his face. The first part of the trip was really cold, later on the sun came out and it became warmer. Again the scenery was beautiful, but the ride was just as hard. We finally got to Isiolo 7 hours later. At the entrance of town, we had to get our Passports checked from about 3 different custom agents. They seem to do things just to do them. In Isiolo we got a Nissan Minivan to Nanyuki. It was luxury compared to the truck. There we looked around for hotels, finally settling on the Joskaki Hotel, which was recommend by Wes and Masami we had met in Dahab. We were able to bargain the price down from 500 KSh to 350 KSh. Later on we had dinner, beef stew with rice. Not bad but did not taste like much. We then went right to bed, hoping to get a good night sleep and not having to get up at 4:00 am or 5:00 am in the morning.

Djibouti

After breakfast we went searching for the best deal for our climb up Mt. Kenya. We had a few names from people we have met which we decided to checkout first. The first guide which me met was a sympathetic guy, but he quoted a price of 40 US$ a day + tip. That was a little expensive for us and we wanted to try and find something cheaper. We also liked the second guide we met, even though he was a little quiet. He originally quoted a price we had heard from a person we had met in Ethiopia, 10.000 KSh + 1500 KSh in tips for each member of the party (4500 KSh). This was still a little bit too much for us, so we told him we would think about it. After calculating it through again, he came back with a price of 8000 each and we agreed on a tip of around 1000 KSh each. (1 guide/2 porters). This price included park entrance fees, hut fees, transport to the park gate, food and cooking, and one guide and two porters. The total price including tips will come out to 19.000 KSh or 247 US$. Since our guide books quoted prices around 200 $US per person, we were happy on our deal. We hope it works out well. The person (Kristine) who recommended this guide was very happy with him. We later on went shopping with him for our food. He was able to buy a lot of food for a little amount of money. We will eat a lot in the next few days. We are very excited about the trip. Later on we bought Malaria pills. They were 90 % cheaper than in Germany. So we bought 8 months worth. Later on we looked for an internet cafe'. We found some but they were to expensive, 23 US$ an hour.

Djibouti

After breakfast we were picked up by Kamande, our guide for the next four days. At 08:30 we left Nanyuki and drove to the Sirimon Park Gate to start our trip up the mountain. This first day we walked 9 km to Old Moses Camp ( at a height of about 3500 m) where we spent the night. The hike was pretty easy, slightly uphill. First we got a bed in the hut, but later on we decided to use our tent and camp at the beautiful situated campsite. After lunch Kamande took us on an hour acclimatization walk and told us the names of all the bushes we saw on the mountain. Back in the camp we were served tea and laid in the sun overlooking the valley. The clouds which were blocking our view of the mountain moved away in the evening and we were able to see Batian, the highest peak of Mt. Kenya. Kamande is really great cook and served a lot of food. We could not finish our dinner because it was just too much. Kirk was a little suspicious of how Kamande could possibly take us on this trip for such a cheap price. The whole day he was calculating the trip and it just did not add up. The total cost of the trip was with out paying the porters was more than we were paying him. Kirk decided that we should confront him about this. First we just asked him if it would be cheaper to pitch our tent since the price listed at the park gate and at the hut said it was cheaper than staying in the hut. He said it was not. Kirk did not except this answer and dug deeper. He finally admitted that he paid the hut keeper under the table where ever he could. He just did not get a receipt. He said this was the only way he could afford to give us this trip cheaper. Kirk later on was very straight forward with him and told him that we thought he was dishonest with us, and we did not appreciate it. It sort of understood what we had meant, though we think he thought he was doing us a favor in doing the trip so cheaply. We were slowly finding out how the guides were able to cut costs, and be competitive. If one paid regular prices it would of been much more expensive. This whole deal made us a little uneasy, since we did not feel comfortable with the payments under the table. We went to bed very early and were happy to use our tent again. During the night it got really cold, so we had to put on some extra clothes o keep us warm.

Djibouti

We got up before sunrise, packed our tent and had a huge breakfast before we left for our second day of hiking. Today we hiked 14 km to Shipton`s Camp (4236 m). It took us around six hours to get there, including several pauses and a short lunch break. The scenery was beautiful but not spectacular and the hike was an easy walk uphill. When we arrived at the camp it just started to rain and hail heavily, so we were lucky to be in the hut at the right time. Kamande served us tea and popcorn and took us afterwards again for an acclimatization walk around. He also explained the route we were going to take to Point Lenana on the next day. The weather got better towards the evening and we were able to see the peaks. We decided not camp because it was too cold and we had to get up at 03:00 am the next morning. We were both so very tired, so we straight went to bed after dinner. We almost did not sleep the whole night, but this is not unusual at this altitude.

Djibouti

Kamande woke us up at 02:30 am. This was going to be a long day today. We wanted to be at Pt. Lenana by sunrise, which is a three hour walk (5 km) straight uphill from where we had slept. On the way up we took breaks every few minutes because it was a really a tough hike. The air was also very thin and we were breathing really hard. Maren did really well for her first time being at this altitude. Kamande was a good guide who set a real slow pace. We were very happy that we had chosen him as our guide. Before sunrise we made it to the top and were very happy that we had succeeded. While we were waiting for the sunrise, we were freezing and could hardly hold our cameras to take pictures. But all the efforts were worth it, the views were just amazing. The only bad thing was, we could not see Mt. Killimanjaro because it was too cloudy. So Kirk did not see him again. Bad luck. The way back was easier.. We first walked to Minto`s Hut which is 7 km from Pt. Lenana for breakfast. There we met our porters who had taken a short cut there with our backpacks. They did not have to climb to the top. The next part of the day was a 10 km walk to Ricky`s Hut, where we had lunch. The scenery was beautiful on the Chogoria route. We walked on top of the ridge along the deepest gorge of Mt. Kenya and passed several lakes. They have fish but one is not allowed to catch them. One is also not allowed to swim in the lakes. Anyway it would be just too cold. The last part of this long day was a 7 km hike to Bandas. There we stayed the night in a comfortable hut with our own bathroom and fireplace. This was actually very romantic. When we arrived at Bandas we asked Kamande if it is possible to camp. We thought it could save us some money, because this lodge was very expensive. But this turned out to be a problem. We had a big discussion with Kamande because he thought we were trying to take money away from him. He got a little angry with us, telling us he did not make any money on us and we got a great deal. We tried t explain him that he started the thing with the camping on the night before we left and we were also just try to save some money. We were not trying to take his money away. Eventually I think he understood. In the end we stayed in the lodge. We think it was easier for him this way. He had better facilities to cook at the lodge than at the campsite. Also we think he had already made a deal with the groundskeeper. Since he did not make very much money on this trip, Kirk made a website for him. He was very exited about it and now knew he made a great deal with us. Kirk explained the site to him and that if possible we would load it up in Nairobi. We also said we would open an email account for him so he could receive emails. After explaining everything to him we went to bed. We were awfully tired from the long day.

Djibouti

We had the opportunity to get a lift the whole way from Bandas to Chogoria Village, but we wanted to walk for a few kilometers through Bamboo Forest. So we started early in the morning (6:45 am) for a 15 km walk. Along the way we were supposed to be picked up by a 4WD after 2 hours. It was raining a little bit and the whole way was muddy and slippery. Though it was downhill almost the whole way, it was quite tough since we had tight muscles from the day before. At the 15 km point the 4WD picked us up and took us the rest on the way to to Chogoria. After arriving in Chogoria Village, Kamande invited us for tea while we were waiting for our matatu to Nairobi. At 01:00 pm we packed into the matatu and left for Nairobi. We arrived at around 04:00 pm. We went straight to the Iqbal Hotel, which is recommended by all guide books. We both did not feel comfortable to walk through the streets with all our luggage looking for hotels. In the evening we worked on our website, we had to update the last few days which is a lot of work.

Djibouti

All we did today was to write some emails in the morning and tried to upload our website and send the emails. That turned out to be very difficult. The web connections here were really slow and we could not update our site, even though we spend hours and a lot of money trying. We also got our Uganda Visas. We were able to save 10 dollars each with our student cards. We also went out for lunch and had some terrible burgers. The internet cafe threw us out at 7:45 pm while they were closing. We had to walk back to our hotel in the dark. The one thing I did not want to do in Nairobi. But as you can see we made it back alive. Tomorrow we are taking a bus to Kampala Uganda. We have decided not to do a safari here rather we will wait until we are in Namibia and visit the Etosha National Park. We would love to go Gorilla tracking in Uganda, but do not think we can afford it.

Djibouti

Today we woke up again early. This time to catch the bus to Kampala Uganda. The bus was luxury compared to the buses in Ethiopia. So the trip was very comfortable for us. The scenery along the way was beautiful and very green. We did not see many animals though. The border crossing went easy with the Uganda side just stamping our passports without even looking at the pictures to see if they belonged to us. We arrived after dark in Kampala so we took a taxi to the Backpackers Hostel which is around 3 km out of town. The Taxi driver started with 8000 USh but went down to 4000 USh when we started talking to other taxi drivers. At the backpackers hostel we decided to camp. Hopefully we can use our tent more often. The place is really nice and well kept. We checked our emails at the hostel which was a little expensive, but we only used it for 10 minutes. We then went to bed exhausted.

Djibouti

The first thing we did is take a mini bus to Kampala to see about Gorilla Trekking. It is a quite an expensive undertaking. We first checked out some tour agencies to see what they had to offer. We heard from John (Manager from the Backpackers Hostel) that they might have some permits available. We were at first a little down on how much this was going to cost us to see a few Gorillas. We decided to check out the Uganda Wildlife Authority to see if they had any permits left. They did on the 5th of July for 250 US$ per person. The going rate for non Residents. We have one problem, our dollar supply is dwindling fast. So we were not sure exactly what we should do. After unsuccessfully looking all over Kampala for a way to get Uganda Schillings or getting US Dollars we decided anyway that we would not be in Uganda again for a long time and that we should go for it. Who knows in the future if the Gorillas will even be there. So right before the Wildlife Authority closed we went there and bought the permits for Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi National Park. We will also have to pay transportation, park fees, and accommodation. The tour operators were offering us 125 US$ each to take us back and forth. We hope we can do it for 60 US$. We will also camp there which is around 4 US$ each per night. So the Gorilla trekking will cost us less than the 300 US$ we had set as are limit. We hope that it will be worth the money. More than the money, it is not having enough dollars in cash for the rest of our Africa Tour. We might just have to suck it up and go to the Barclay's Bank and get some dollars at a terrible exchange rate. We should have got some American Express Travelers Checks in Nairobi. Travelers Checks though get a horrible exchange rate too. Later on we bought some food and Maren cooked a great Spaghetti dinner with fresh tomatoes and onions. We then took a walk and got some more fuel for our cooker. Otherwise we are going to take it easy the rest of the evening.

Lilongwe

Getting up early is becoming a habit. We woke up to the hens screaming outside our tent. We wanted to got anyway early to go to Jinja to the Bujagali Falls. The bus dropped us outside town at the circle. From there we walked 8 km to the falls. The falls were much different than the Blue Nile Falls. They were not high, but were really nice. There is white water rafting on the Nile, which looked like a lot of fun. But We have decided already to go gorilla trekking . We then hitched a ride halfway back and then walked the rest of the way to Jinja town. After walking in the wrong direction for a long time, we finally found the source of the Nile. This is were Victoria Lake flows in the Nile. We then took a minibus back to Kampala where we then walked another 3 or 4 km to the Backpackers Hostel. At the campsite Maren cooked a great pineapple, tomato, onion, avocado, and rice meal. We are very tired, we probably walked over 30 km the whole day.

Nkhata Bay

After eating scrambled eggs for breakfast we went to the Tanzanian Consulate to get a Visa. Kirk had to pay more than double than Maren did. We asked them if it was possible to get the visas on the same day, while normally it takes the usual 24 hours. They were pretty friendly and said we could pick them up in the afternoon. We then went food shopping at Shoprite, a newly opened supermarket here. They had a huge selection, at least compared to what we are used to in the last few months. We then decided to be on the safe side and withdraw 500 dollars on Kirk's Visa Card at Barclay's Bank. They kill you on exchange rates in the first place, but since they are the only bank in Uganda that will give you a cash advance on your credit card, they let you know they have a monopoly here. It cost us over 30 US$ just to get 500 US$. But it is probably better we have a little cash on us. Afterwards we loaded up some web pages. We then picked up our Visas and walked back to the hostel. It is nice that we are walking a lot again. We then ate beans with rice, avocado, tomatoes, and onions. It was delicious. Cooking is so much better than eating out all the time. We are going towards south west Uganda early tomorrow morning.

Nkhata Bay

We woke up at 5:00 am to get the bus to Butogota. We were at the Kampala Bus Station at 6:00 am. The only problem is that the bus did not leave until 9:00 am when it was finally full. After 10 hours sitting in the bus we arrived in Butogota. On the bus were a couple of other tourists who were also going to Bwindi National Park so we were able to share a ride up there in a pickup truck. It was good because we could split the costs. We had actually planned to stay in Butogota that night and hike up to Bwindi NP the next morning. At the Bwindi National Park Gate we had a choice of two campsites. One wanted 5000 USh per person and the other 4000 USh. The later we were able to bargain down to 3000 USh per person which was the price mentioned to us in Kampala. Maren cooked a great meal again and afterwards we went to bed. We were very happy we were able to camp again. We are happy we carried the thing the whole way down. It is so much nicer than always staying in hotel rooms.

Nkhata Bay

Today we just relaxed and did not do much. We walked a little around the gate and went food shopping at little shops along the street. We were able to buy some avocados, bananas, and tomatoes. for a late lunch. We did not go hiking in the park because we did not want to pay the park entrance fee twice. Otherwise we just read our books and were lazy. In the evening there was a show put on by locals at the other campsite which we watched for a while. We went early to bed eager for Gorilla trekking the next day.

Nkhata Bay

We woke up early to make sure we did not miss the gorilla trekking at 8:30 am. If you do not show upon time, you loose your 250 US$ permit. We met the other tourists at the Park Headquarter. The groups are made up of 6 visitors, a guide, and numerous other park rangers and soldiers. Some with machine guns, while others just had machetes. We were going to visit the H-Group which is supposedly the harder of the hikes to find. They suspected that we would have to walk three hours at least before we would find the gorillas, since that was the distance they were the day before. After walking along a good path in the forest for about an hour, we cut up left into the forest on a not too often traveled pass. They had to use the machetes to make a way for us through. We all had prepared ourselves for a 3 hour tuff walk, but suddenly after an hour our guide stopped. He smelled something. The gorillas had traveled 3 miles since the last day and were much closer than they had thought. We were happy to find the gorillas, but a little disappointed that we were not going to hike a little more through the rainforest. The forest was beautiful and totally green. In the gorilla group there were two silverbacks, but they kept a good distance from us, so we were not able to get a great view of them. There are a total of 30 gorillas in the family. We were able to get within 5 meters of them, but we always had to stay in our group. The gorillas were not disturbed from us at all. They went along with their business, ignoring us most of the time. They must be used to humans coming to visit. They had just finished breakfast so they were just hanging around doing nothing, except for a young gorilla in a tree that was swinging around a lot. It was very difficult to take pictures since in was very dark under the canopy of the forest. We were able to stay with the gorillas for an hour. Afterwards we headed back towards the National Park Gate. Was it worth 250 US$ each. It is hard to say. It is quite expensive for just a couple of hours in the park. We really enjoyed it and were happy that we had seen them, but were both questioning ourselves if we would do it again, knowing now what we have done. If your budget allows it, then it is probably worth it. If it is tight, you might just want to visit the chimpanzees in Kibale National Forest in Uganda. We were back sooner than we had planned. So we decided that we would hike out 17 km on that day, not wanting to pay an expensive taxi back to Butogota. We packed our tent and started hiking to Butogota. At around the halfway point a pickup truck picked us up for 1000 USh each. It turned out that the driver was also going to Kabale (our next destination) the next morning. After bargaining the price down from 20.000 USh each to 5000 USh each we agreed to be picked up at 4:30 am the next day. We then went around the business of getting a hotel room for the night. Again we were at the bargaining table. The normal listed price for the Travelers Inn Motel in 30.000 USh per room. We said to him that he had a really nice place, but it was completely out of our budget. He went a little lower, but we then told him that we could afford a maximum of 10.000 USh. He refused, so we said thank you and started walking out. He then said ok on the 10.000 USh, but making it clear he was not happy. We were able to take a cold shower there which was nice after a few days not being able to take one. In the evening we cooked a meal outside our hotel door, which also did not make the manager happy, since he wanted us to eat at his restaurant. Later on we had a beer with a few other people we had met up at the Bwindi National Park. They gave out Canadian Flag pins to local kids in town. Soon they were always asking for pins as we were drinking our beer. More and more, we are both starting to believe, that giving things to these local kids ,just encourages them to learn how to beg every time a westerner walks by. It maybe gives them a short term moment of happiness, but they then expect that every westerner that walks by will give them something. When we were walking from Bwindi National Park to Bugota we were constantly asked and yelled at for pens and money. The only English words these kids know are "how are you" followed by "give me pen" or "give me money".

Nkhata Bay

We woke up at 4:00 am to make sure we got our ride to Kabale. He picked us up at 4:45 am, his pickup was already loaded with people. We right away thought, this was going to be a hard ride again. During the trip he managed to pack 22 people in the back of the pickup + a baby, with people up front. Absolutely crazy. We were packed in like sardines. The ride took five hours on mostly unpaved hilly roads. The scenery was spectacular, but the ride really was painful. Kirk, because he was up high on the pickup was completely covered with dust and dirt. In Kabale we first went shopping and got some information on when buses or transportation was leaving to Rwanda. We also exchanged some money at the supermarket. They had the best exchange rate in town, though it still was really bad. They have something with small dollar bills in Uganda. Bills 20 and below get a much worse exchange rate than those higher. Also in Kabale the exchange rates were much worse than in Kampala. Afterwards we had to jump onto another pickup truck to get to Lake Bunyoni, where we wanted to camp. There we three or four camp sites on the lake, but only the Overland Camp had any visitors. It was more expensive, but it seemed like everyone went only there. According to the manager, they had more security. After pitching our tent we cooked and read a little.

Nkhata Bay

The camp was really nice, so we decided to stay another day. We rented a dugout canoe to go to an island. We had a lot of difficulty in the beginning trying to keep the thing going straight. We always went in circles. Kirk kept on yelling at Maren, blaming her. It was out of frustration that we were not getting anywhere and were looking like idiots on the lake. Eventually we figured out how to steer the canoe. It was nice, but a little boring, since the only thing one had to do was to paddle. The lake was beautiful and we were really glad we had come. In the afternoon we watched a little CNN and some Wimbledon Tennis. We had some mashed potatoes, with onions, avocados, and tomatoes for dinner. In the evening we spoke to an English couple we had met in Bwindi National Park when we were Gorilla trekking.

Nkhata Bay

We decided to get up early and walk the 10 km to the bus station in Kabale. On Sundays no pickup trucks were carrying passengers to and from Lake Bunyoni. It took us two hours to get there. We had to take a shared taxi to the border town of Katuna. From there we walked over the border, received our free visas to Rwanda and took another minibus to Kigali. We did not stay in Kigali long. We walked around town and exchanged some money with some guys. You had to bargain for this too. We then decided to take a 3 hour bus to Gisenye, a town up north on Lake Kivu. There we got a dorm bed in a Mission. Women and men had separate rooms. Kirk shared his room with 5 Rwandans and Maren had a room to herself. We walked down to the lake and wanted to make our dinner there, but we were right away bugged by some local kids. So we decided to walk around and have our dinner at the mission.

Nkhata Bay

Kirk woke up at 3:00 am in the morning when one of the other guys sharing the room turned on the radio. At 7:30 am we caught a mini bus to Kibuye. It was a hard ride in an over packed minibus on an unpaved winding road. We were glad when it was over. Right in town they have a prison for people you committed crimes in the Genocide here. They all wear pink uniforms and are housed in a fenced in area. The area does not seem very secure. According to what we have heard is that the prisoners will not run away. They would be lynched by the public when they would try. So the security is not very tight. You could actually just climb right over the fence. We first hiked 2 kilometers to Lake Kivu to the Guesthouse there. We read that you could camp there for free. Well that must have been in the past. It now costs around 7 US$. It is however a really nice relaxing place on the lake. After pitching our tent, we walked up to one of the oldest European Churches in Rwanda. This is a church where during the Genocide here 11.400 people were killed. They had a memorial outside. Later on we had a beer and sat overlooking the lake, catching up on our website.

Nkhata Bay

We woke up at 5:30 am and walked 2 km to the mini bus station. We were the first ones and got the front seats. That was great, because it is much more comfortable up front. We drove around town a little looking for more passengers. There we saw the genocide prisoners up close as they walked to the work duties. It was really strange having them that close, since they had allegedly committed terrible crimes. One did not feel scared even though they were hardly guarded. They just walked in a line past us. It seemed there was a command structure that had some prisoners looking after the others. They had sticks in their hands. We tried to take some pictures secretly, but it was hard. They are supposedly not allowed. We took the mini bus to Kigali, where we changed mini buses and took another one to Rusumo (border with Tanzania). There we exchanged our last Rwandan Francs into Tanzanian Shillings and a few dollars. Maren got a little stinky with the Rwandan Border Guard because he made us unpack our backpacks. We then took a shared taxi to Ngara where we are spending the night. There is not much here to do or see. For lunch and dinner we had avocado sandwiches. The avocados are just fantastic here and they are really cheap.

Nkhata Bay

Just to tell everyone again, we got up early at 5:30 am to catch the bus to Mwanza. It was a packed bus ride. We had our packs on our lap the whole time. Nothing much happened along the way. In Mwanza we booked a bus seat for the next day to Dar es Salaam and went to the market to buy some fruits and vegetables for dinner. We wanted to go camping, but the only campsite in town wanted an outrages price, so we decided to get a hotel room instead for half the price. Maren then cooked us a pineapple and rice dinner. It tasted great.

Nkhata Bay

Yes we got up early. We caught our bus to Dar es Salaam at 7:00 am. Of course they packed the people in. We were happy we reserved seats the day before, or we would be standing. The bus ride to Singida was a hard and long. The roads were terrible and not paved. We were seating near the back so were flying half the time. We arrived 12 hours later in Singidi. There we were told we could sleep in the bus or get a hotel room. To save some money we decided to sleep in the bus. The bus was leaving anyway at 4:00 am. We ate some dinner, rice with cow meat. After looking around we tried to get some sleep. It was difficult, for one there seemed to be always someone yelling on the bus, and second it just was not comfortable. We are always amazed along the way. Every town is sort of the same. It seems that the whole town wants to either sell you cakes, samosas, coke, corn, or bananas. We wonder if this is the only existence for them. Every time the bus pulls up they start chasing to, trying to beat the others to the bus windows.

Lilongwe

The bus finally left at 4:45 am. We did not sleep much. We brushed our teeth in the bus and rinsed or mouth out out of the window. We we were not looking forward to the ride. The roads only became paved after the Capital Dodoma. There we had lunch, Chapatis, Samosas and Chai. I was able to finish the book I was reading, "The Laws of our Fathers". Actually it was quite good. We arrived in Dar es Salaam at around 6:00 pm. There we took a Matatu to the ticket offices for Zanzibar. They seemed all closed. One guy let us in and told us there were no more ferries leaving today. We were not sure if that was true, but we were exhausted and decided it might be better to wait till tomorrow to look around some more. He also warned us not to buy tickets on the streets. The guys will just ripe you off. He suggested a hotel in town. So we decided to look there first. The price was ok, at least compare to what the travel books had written. After we got the room, we had Chips and Egg on a street corner near by. It actually tasted really good. They cook the chips (French Fries) and eggs on a barbecue grill right on the street. Tonight we are looking forward to taking a shower and going to bed. We are not planning to get up real early tomorrow. There seem to be boats to Zanzibar all day. We also want to finish uploading our website. Last time we only got half uploaded, before the place closed. There seem to be a lot of Internet Cafe's in town.

Nkhata Bay

After eating toast and jelly for breakfast, we went searching for an Internet Café to upload our website. We must have went to 10 or more cafe's before we found one to use. They either did not allow us to hook up to their system or the systems did not allow pop mail or ftp. The ones that did not allow us to hook up to there systems, seemed to have no knowledge of computers. One sometimes wonder if they do not want to make any money. After uploading, Kirk picked up our backpacks at the hotel and Maren went and bought tickets for the ferry to Zanzibar. Before we left we bought some samosas and oranges for the 3 hour journey. The journey was a little rocky. Maren had to through up. She was not sure if it was sea sickness or the samosas. After arriving in Zanzibar, the touts quickly hovered all over us. They would not leave us alone. We even went into an internet café for an hour to try and blow them off. They waited outside. Maren got really mad with the touts, but that did not help either. After Maren told one guy to get lost, he just about spit at her. The guy seemed to be crazy anyway. They are a real pain in the rear here. The worst we have had so far on our trip. We eventually got a room at the Bottoms Up Guesthouse, 10 US$ per person per night. It is really expensive here compare to the places we are used to. Later on we went down to Jamituri Gardens, which is right along the water front. There they have stall after stall that are grilling fish, lobster, crab, squid, different kinds of meat, along with salad and chips. It is quite a cool atmosphere. First we had sort of a fried pizza, and than later Maren had Kingfish and chips and Kirk had beef, chicken and chips. For dessert we had sugarcane pieces. We just hope we do not get diarrhea tomorrow. We then walked a little around the city and went back to the hotel.

Nkhata Bay

The hotel served a really basic breakfast. A dry omelet with bread and watered down tea and coffee. We decided we would first look for a different hotel. One that was a little cheaper. It took us a while to find other hotels. Our map was not too good. We finally chose the Flamingo Guest House. He went down in price from 10 US$ a person to 7 US$. That was the best deal we could find. Afterwards we picked up our stuff, given the Bottoms Up manager one more chance to lower his price. He wouldn't, so we checked out. We felt much more comfortable in the new hotel anyway. Probably since we are paying 6 US$ less a night, and we have our own bathroom. We then decided to check out different tour operators on what was available on Spice Tours. We learned that they seem to all alike. Who knows. We also found out that there are Dolphin Tours, where you are supposedly able to swim with them. So after bargaining really hard and going back to the tour operator a few times, we signed up for a Dolphin Tour. We will probably do a Spice Tour the day after. They also said they would give mini bus ride to the East Coast for half price. During the rest of the day we went to the market, where we had a delicious fresh coconut. Maren also bought a long skirt to wear. She looks really good. Before dinner we went to the Africa House for a beer to watch the sunset. Afterwards we had dinner down at the waterfront again where talked to some people we had met on the ferry the day before.

Nkhata Bay

We were all excited to go on the Dolphin Tour. But we should have known better. The day did not start out too good. First we locked our keys into our bag, so we would have to break the locks when we returned. On the way south to where the dolphins should be it started raining, but it did clear up a bit by the time we arrived, 1 hour later. Since we heard the night before that the Dolphin Tour was not supposed to be that good, we were a little skeptical. The snorkeling equipment was not that good too. The boat was an old one that leaked water below. One is supposed to be able to jump in and swim with the dolphins. But soon we realized that that was not going to happen. We saw a few dolphins popping their head up a couple of times. One time a few people got off the boat and tried to swim after them. But they did not see much. Maren also got extremely sea sick, and decided to feed her delicious breakfast to the fish. Kirk was able to do some snorkeling off the boat, which was ok, but not spectacular. Later on they served us lunch and fresh fruits. Afterwards the bus stopped off at Jozani Forest to see the red colobus monkeys. One had to pay an extra 8 US$ park entrance fee, so we decided that we would skip the tour and wait outside for the others. We did not think it would be worth the cost. Afterwards we were both exhausted, Kirk got a little burnt on his back (DUMB!) while he was snorkeling and felt really tired. We later exchanged/bought a book in a swap bookshop. Kirk needed something new to read. We went to Jamituri Gardens for dinner again. It is a really nice place, and the cheapest in town, but the food is getting a little repetitive. We talked to a few people who had just went on a Spice Tour, they really enjoyed it, so we are looking forward to that tomorrow. We had a scare when we got back to the hotel room. Maren got our laundry, but noticed that her good hiking pants were missing. The staff did not know where they were and the laundry guy was not around at the moment. They promised to look for them. Hopefully they will find them. They were quite expensive, but we do not think so. So probably we will have some problems when we checkout.

Nkhata Bay

Well the pants turned up the next morning, so the day started out right. We went to the office at 9:15 am to start the Spice Tour. In a dalla dalla we drove to a government owned plantation, where we learned about the different spices and fruits on the island of Zanzibar. One gets the chance to taste a lot of the fruits and we got a cup of Zanzibar coffee and donuts before we left the plantation. One also visits the Kidichi Persian Baths and the Coral Cave (known as the slave cave even though there is no prove slaves were hidden here) in Mungapwani. Afterwards we rested and went for a swim. For lunch they served rice mixed in with local spices, like curry, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. It tasted really good. They served a lemon grass tea afterwards which was delicious. The Spice Tour was a really good value. We got it for 14.000 TZS (8 US$). Most people pay around 10 US$, which still makes it a good deal. One is gone around 7 hours. We really enjoyed ourselves. Tonight we will hopefully update our site. We think we found an internet café that will allow it. Below is what we learned today! Spices Comment Fruits Comment Cloves Helps against Diarrhea Guave Sweet and Sour Taste Cardamom King of Spices, used for everything inc. tea, rice, cake... Cassava Used for Ugali, they make potato chips out of it Indian Odin Medicine blood Stopper Red Java Apple Tastes like an apple with big seed inside Cinnamon Used in porridge, rice, cake Star Fruit Not often used in Zanzibar, but they make juice or jam from it. Pepper Plant one plant but 5 different kinds of peppers depending on preparation. White Pepper most expensive while makes longest to prepare. Bread Fruit To boil roast or dry Lemon Grass Make lemon grass tea, oil and soap. lemon grass oil combined with coconut oil keeps mosquitoes away Dorian Smells Terrible but tasty Ilang Ilang Perfume, also used as sign by a wife welcoming her husband to the bedroom. Tangerines Curcuma / Tumaric Makes curry Chocolate Made out of the seeds, From the rest they make cacao butter. Coffee Zanzibar Coffee, tastes like espresso Pampelmuse Like a big Grape Fruit Nutmeg Red inside Jack Fruit Banana Pineapple Taste. Very Sticky, Can be removed with coconut oil. Henna They make the Henna Paintings out of the dried leaves. (Red Color)

Nkhata Bay

We rented a small motorbike in the morning so we could explore the island a little. Kirk never really drove a motorbike before. But he only needed his international drivers license to rent it. He first got instructions from one guy, who took him to a soccer field to practice. Afterwards he was ready to go. They actually drove us outside the city, and let us drive from there on. We made it to the East Coast without to many problems. Though Kirk was nervous a bit. When we arrived at the East Coast the roads turned from a paved service to dirt and gravel. After a few hundred yards Kirk stopped. As Kirk started to go again, we fell. He thought he mixed up the clutch and the brakes. Also he tried to start on a curve. Nothing really happened to us, except for a couple of scratches on our legs. The motorbike did ok, except that the clutch handle broke. A local guy, around 20 years old, came over and asked us if we needed any help. It was obvious we did, so we said yeah. He said his brother would bring the broken piece from town and they would be able to fix it. Of course we had to buy the guy a drink by the ocean and pay him a little later. It cost us according to them 7000 TZS for the part, 1000 TZS for the guy and of course the drink. We still think we got off pretty cheap. Otherwise we would have had to call the rental company and that would of surely of been much more expensive. The East Coast beach was absolutely beautiful, like you see in advertisements. Since we wanted to drive around some more, we did not stay long. We decided to test out the bike some more. We then drove north. Eventually Kirk got a better feel of the bike, sort of. He was still nervous driving. But we had a lot of fun. It is a great way to see parts of the Island you would otherwise not be able to. We decided to go back to Stone Town. It started to rain heavily, and it was probably a good thing not to ride too much more. We had to go through a heavy rain storm anyway a couple of times. In Stone town we visited the market again to get some food (fruit and vegetables) for the ferry ride tonight. The hotel we stayed at was nice enough to allow us to use the upstairs restaurant to work on our website. Maren splurged and had lobster for dinner. For 2.25 bucks she could not help it. Mom, just to let you know I have now tried King Fish, Squid, and Lobster here. They just do not taste good or have really no taste at all. Can not see what the hype is about lobster.

Nkhata Bay

Maren rolled out her sleeping matt and sleeping bag and Kirk built his bed on the chairs of the deck of the ferry with his bags. Maren was better able to sleep. Kirk was right in front of the bathroom, where an Australian girl was throwing up all night. The ship left port at around 10:00 pm, but stayed in the Zanzibar harbor till around 2:30 am before it left to Dar es Salaam. At 6:00 am the ferry arrived, where we caught a minibus to the bus station. The touts are a real pain and really hard to get off. They attacked as soon as you get of the boat. You sort of have to just push them out of the way and lie a lot. Otherwise they will not leave you alone. At the bus station, again the touts were at work. When we realized that there were different buses going to Mbeya, we were able to bargain the price down considerably. Once you know there are different options, you are in a much better position to bargain. We were able to get the "Luxury" Bus for a good price. It has 2 seats per row, and there was no one standing. The best bus we have had in a long while. The 11 hour trip was very comfortable compared to which we were used to. The bus passed through the Mikumi National Park where we saw some elephants and monkeys for free. When we arrived in Mbeya the touts were all over us again. After we found the cheapest hotel possible, we went back to the bus station to try and figure out what the bus costs to the Malawi border. They originally gave us a price of 4500 TZs. Kirk just asked them to give us the real price. They went quickly down to 3500 TZs per person. Still we said we would look around some more. After following us, they agreed on a price of 3000 TZs. We heard later on that locals from here, pay only 2500 TZs, but most foreigners pay between 4000 and 5000 TZs. Well we got close to the local's price anyway. For dinner we ate in the Guest House. It was cheap and they had satellite TV with CNN. We went to bed early, since we did not sleep that much yesterday.

Nkhata Bay

Chapatis and chai were on call for breakfast today. We got great seats on the bus, upfront with a lot of leg room. The bus though took forever to get to the border, It stopped everywhere along the way. At the border we were met by money changers right away. Even though we did not know the exchange rates, one feels right away they are trying to rip you off. So Kirk tested them until he found out the right exchange rates. He did this by bargaining with some, until they would give up on letting us get a better rate. Then one knows where the correct rate is. While they will exchange money as long as they at least make a little profit. We eventually exchange the rest of our Tanzanian money on the Malawi side of the border. Going through the border was really easy and the Visa was free. On the Malawi side we got a minibus to Karonga and then a "country" bus to Mzuzu. We were lucky again to get really good seats eventually. At first we had to stand, but after the first few people got out, the attendant got us seats with a lot of leg room. We arrived in Mzuzu after dark, not knowing really where we should go. The maps in our guide book are ok, but telling the distances is once in a while a little confusing. Of course taxi drivers and others wanted to help us for a fee, but we just talked to them long enough to figure out the cheapest and closest hotel in town and how to get there. We had to walk there in the dark, but along the way a nice helpful elderly guy and his son walked with us and pointed out the hotel. They did not even ask us for something. Wow! The hotel was really basic and the dinner of rice and "Beef" was not very good. By the way, we are now 4 months on the road today. Everything is still going well and even though we have spent 24 hours a day, everyday together, we are still getting along and are not near killing each other yet. We are becoming a great team and are enjoying ourselves most of the time. We have not regretted leaving everything yet!

Nkhata Bay

Kirk searched all over town to find someplace to exchange money. The fancy hotel in town, had a horrible exchange rate and wanted on top 10 % commission. So after asking around town, he found some store that exchanged money. (It was Saturday and the banks were closed). We then took a minibus to Nkhata Bay. The lodge we wanted to camp at was a two kilometer hike away. Along the way the touts were a real pain, but that is their job as they say. Even if you say please, they will not leave you alone. We decided to stay at Njaya Lodge, even though it was more expensive than other campsites. It was the nicest place and it seemed to have the best security. All backpackers seemed to stay there. It had a beautiful setting over looking Lake Malawi. After pitching our tent, we went to town to buy some food to cook for dinner. Back at the camp we relaxed on the beach, contemplating if we should go for a swim. We finally decided not to take the risk of getting Bilharzia. For 5 minutes of fun, it is just not worth it. Other travelers were taking the risk though. In the late afternoon, Maren cooked. We went bed early since we were very tired. We have decided to leave tomorrow. It was really nice there, but we have seen a lot of lakes now, and we decided we rather spend an extra day or two in Zambia. It is really weird, on one hand we have all the time in the world, but on the other hand we feel a little under time pressure, trying to get to see so much in such a short period of time.

Lilongwe

We started the day very easy around 05:45 am and had breakfast with the sunrise. A beautiful bright red sun. By 08:00 am we had packed all our stuff and were ready to leave. We took a minibus to Mzuzu but it took quite a while until it filled up with people and left. Arriving in Mzuzu we caught a bus to Lilongwe. The bus was almost full, so we did not get the front seats we wished to have because they are just so much more comfortable. We were told the trip would take four hours, which turned out to be a six hour painful bus ride. We stopped a couple of times and bought some stuff to eat like oranges and donuts. The oranges here are very cheap, you get about 100 oranges for one dollar. We have tried to eat as many fruits as possible,. The main fruits in Malawi are bananas, oranges and papaya. Around 05:30 pm we arrived in Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi. On the way to the campsite we bought some bread for dinner and breakfast the next day. The campsite was really nice and seemed very secure but it was also very expensive, 3 US $ each for camping. We pitched our tent in the dark in a quiet spot and prepared dinner, left over rice and pasta with fried onions. Later on we updated our website in the bar and went to bed straight afterwards. The German girl working at the reception, was not too helpful. She did not provide very good information, and gave you the feeling that we were bothering her by asking. The guide books had said that Kiboko Camp was a good place for information. That is one of the reasons we stayed there and not in a cheap hotel in town. Well the information was thin and the girl was not the friendliest of people. One expects a little more at a place that caters to backpackers and travelers. It is sometimes too bad that some places give you a bad taste in your mouth because of one rotten person. Otherwise the place is really nice with good facilities and security. It should be for that price.

Lilongwe

We were happily surprised to find out that there was a direct bus from Lilongwe Malawi to Lusaka Zambia stopping in Chipata along the way. There we needed to catch a minibus to South Luangwa National Park. Chipata is not that far from Lilongwe but the bus driver tanked 400 liters petrol, which already took over an hour. The border crossing was easy, and we were able to exchange some money with the money changers. They even exchanged our Malawi coins. The first time Kirk exchanged he got an rate from 3550 ZK per dollar after bargaining. Later on he was able to get 3600 ZK per dollar. That's life. Sometimes you win and sometimes you loose. When we arrived in Chipata we were a little stupid. There was only one bus per day to Mfuwe (South Luangwa National Park) so we thought we could not bargain hard on the price of the ticket and we were sort of daydreaming and not paying attention. But we should have. We paid around 4000 ZK to much to Mfuwe and then a ridiculous price of 10000 ZK to the camp 2 km away. Before we left Kirk spoke to some people on the bus and they said the camp was only 2 km away. Kirk then asked for our money back. They kept on telling us that they would give us it back but it turned out not to be that easy. The drive was on a dirt bumpy road, that passes through some remote towns and villages in Zambia. It looked like what Maren and I both pictured Africa to be like when we thought of the continent. It was beautiful. We also received a bonus of a gorgeous sunset on the way. When we arrived in Mfuwe, Kirk and the driver started playing poker with each other, Kirk saying he did not want a ride to the camp, and the driver telling him stories how dangerous it would be to walk and how expensive it would be to hire someone else. Finally the driver agreed to give us 7000 ZK back and drove us to the camp. He did not want to pay at the end, but Maren insisted that he did. It was a good thing that he drove us, since it would have been impossible that night to get there by walking. Otherwise the driver was really nice and friendly. On the way to the camp we saw our first elephant crossing the dirt road. At the camp we filled out the forms for the campsite and then pitched our tent and cooked some dinner. When we went to bed, strange noises kept us awake. Kirk looked outside and saw hippos around our tent. It was amazing. In another instant, Kirk wanted to get out of the tent, turned around and saw Hyena staring at him 6 meters away. It quickly ran off. The hippos were around the camp eating the whole night. We really feel like we are in Africa!

Nkhata Bay

Elephants on the move What a great surprise. We stuck our heads out of the tent and saw a heard of elephants roaming in between the tents at the campsite. They got within 5 meters of us sometimes and when we were in the tree lookout post, they were directly under us. Amazing, that is all we can say. We took over 150 pictures, just of elephants. We got really lucky. They roamed the campsite for over two hours. We were not allowed out of the campsite, at least not allowed to walk out, since they claim we would be taking our lives in our own hands. So we hung out in the campsite all day until 4:00 pm, when we went on a safari drive into the park. We did not see too many animals the whole time. We saw impalas, zebras, lots of hippos, an elephant, and some small other animals. We thought the tour was going to be a failure, but during the night drive in the dark we saw a leopard. It was absolutely beautiful. It made the safari worth while. With these animal safaris one can never predict if one will see a lot or just a few animals. Tomorrow at 6:00 am we are going on a morning drive. We are really nervous about the pictures we took this morning of the elephants. We think the film did not work right in the camera, and the pictures will not come out right.

Nkhata Bay

We got up at 5:20 am to go on the morning game drive. We saw elephants, giraffe, zebra, impala, dickops, hippos, leopard, buffalos, bushbok, monkeys, poko, fish eagle, storks, vultures, wild bores and other animals. It was ok but we had hoped to see more. The leopard again saved the drive. It had a killed impala right next to him. It was also unusually cold and we were shivering the whole time. We looked for lions but never found them, which was too bad. Afterwards we were starving and pigged out on noodles and rice. Kirk then collected firewood for the evening fire. In the afternoon we were treated again to elephants. This time we made sure our film was correctly loaded. We think we got some great close up shots of the elephants. One elephant that we have seen now a couple of times, has one tusk pointing upwards and the other tusk in the opposite direction. Sometimes the elephants get a little ticked off at all the people watching and open their ears and swing the tusks in our direction as they move towards us. In evening the elephants crossed the river as the sunset. What a beautiful site. Maren also asked the driver of an overland trucker group if he could give us a ride to Mfuwe, he offered to give us a ride to Chipata, which is even better. We have to stay one day longer, but it is worth just to see the elephants again come through the camp. We also will have some time to relax. We only have to figure out how to get to town to buy some food because we did not have enough for one more day. Tomorrow we just have a few oranges and bananas to eat. For dinner we had rice with sugar. Reminded me when I used to go to china town with my parents when we were young. The one Chinese restaurant we went to served rice with sugar. It actually tasted really good.

Lilongwe

Elephants were again roaming the camp as we woke up. This time probably around 20 to 30. They were feeding on the trees and grass around the camp. They later left to cross the river again into the National Park. This time we were able to see the elephants crossing in the daylight. Hopefully our pictures come out ok. The sun was in a bad position, starring us in the face. The herd had a couple of babies and a couple of really big males. The elephants are just great to watch. Along the bank of the river they washed themselves and squirted dirt all over. We think we were able take some good MPEGS (small movies) of the elephants also. Kirk had to collect firewood again since we burnt all of , our wood the day before. One can actually buy firewood here, but there is enough wood around for a small fire. As Kirk was collecting wood, a big snake darted away, scared him a little. Luckily it was just as scared of Kirk and slithered away. Maren got a ride to town to go shopping. During the day Kirk lent his camera to the Overland Truck driver. He got a thrill using the camera and taking pictures. We will send some of them to them per email. They were loving life especially when they were able to take some MPEGS. After Maren got back from town she cooked rice with tomatoes and onions. Later on we watched the elephants bath and cross the river again. They are beautiful every time. During the rest of the day we worked on our website. At one point in the evening we were interrupted by an elephant wandering through the camp. We also met two girls from Holland who were not happy with the Kiboko Camp in Lilongwe too. They had the same complaints as we did that the German girl working there, was not very friendly and did not provide good information about how to get to South Luangwa Park. She must have had information, because we saw her here at Flatdogs with a tour group from the Kiboko Camp. She saw us and did not even say hello. Fit the first impression we had of her. The two girls form Holland are also catching a ride to Chipata with the Overland Truck Group. Tomorrow we are getting up at 5:30 am to go, which is good, because we are hoping that there is a bus to Lusaka in the afternoon. We had a great time here. If we were not on such a tight budget you can really enjoy yourself here. They have a nice bar and restaurant, along with a pool to swim in. We were really impressed with the place, especially with all the elephant visits. The extra day spent here was well worth it! Maren spent hours sorting our pictures we took. We had probably had taken more than 350 pictures here and had to pick which ones we wanted for our website.

Nkhata Bay

We were lucky to be able to hitch a free ride out of South Luangwa to Chipata with an Overland Truck group. Man, those things are luxury compared to what we are used to. The two girls from Holland were also with us. In Chipata we all had to change some money so we first looked at the banks for what an exchange rate they had. The street changers gave a much better rate, 3775 ZK per US $. The banks were offering 3650 ZK per US $. All of us then walked to the bus station where they tried to overcharge us again, but this time we were hard and got the normal fare. The bus ride was a long crowned, and hard ride to Lusaka. It took around 11 hours to get there. The bus arrived at 11:15 pm in Lusaka. The original plan was that we would go to a camp for the night and leave the next morning. A taxi driver said that buses were leaving at 6:00 am and he could arrange that we sleep in the bus. It would save us paying for a night, and it would have been a pain to pitch our tent, sleep for only a couple of hours, and then get up really early to catch the bus. So after the haggling over the price we decided to go sleep on the bus. We felt a little guilty leaving the two girls to go to the camp alone. Hope they made it ok. At the bus station people were sleeping outside, since we were tourists and probably that we were white the bus station guardian let us sleep in another bus. We packed out our sleeping bags and slept till 5:00 am when the bus station guardian came to wake us up and show us the bus going to Livingstone. I will continue on tomorrows page.

Nkhata Bay

After sleeping at night on the bus, we were happy that we got a luxury "Coach" bus to Livingstone. It cost a little more, but we enjoyed the ride. It went a lot quicker and easier than what we were used to. It also left on time. The bus also had a TV which they showed the movie Blade. Horrible movie, but kept one busy. In Livingstone we checked out a few campsites and decided on Jollyboys International Backpackers.. It was priced in between the expensive and cheap campsite, 3 US $ a night per person to camp. Afterwards we went to Shoprite to buy some food to cook because yesterday we did not eat much. We will probably go to the falls tomorrow. Just to remind everyone, if you have forgotten, it is Maren's Birthday tomorrow. So send her an email wishing her happy birthday, if you have not already. That means you too Rita, write one yourself! Norbert you are not allowed to this time!! You have to learn sometime!

Nkhata Bay

(photos Zambia) (photos Zimbabwe) Its Maren's Birthday. So if you read this she expects a Happy Birthday Email. After changing money on the black market for Zimbabwe dollars and Zambia Kwacha we took the free ride to the Victoria Falls. The black market exhcange rate is much better than the official rate. Especially for the Zimbabwe dollar where it goes for 185/190 Z$ per US dollar on the street and officially is 53 Z$ per US$. We visited the falls first on the Zambian side. They are really spectacular. You get really wet around the falls because the water is splashing all over the place. They actually rent rain jackets to people visiting. The falls are just huge and are easily a major highlight. When walking, monkeys came up right to us. A couple of mothers had their babies hanging under them. They were really cute. On the other side of the bridge is Zimbabwe. According to many it is the more spectacular side. On the Zambian side we had to first get a temporary reentry visa for 5000 Kwacha each. This enabled us to come back to Zambia within in 7 days without having to pay for another Visa (25 US$). One crosses a huge brige overlooking the Zambezi. There they have Bungi Jumping. We thought about doing it, but it would have cost 90 US$ each per jump or 120 US$ for a tandem jump. It would have been really cool to do, but we decided we have enough time on this trip to do it. Maren has already once Bungi jumped, so eventually I will have to do it too. On the Zimbabwe side we were a little disappointed when we found out that we had to pay for a full Visa just to visit the Victoria Falls on their side. It was 30 US $ each. A bit expensive for 2 hours of the falls. After trying to convince the border guards for a half an hour to let us pay something less we started walking back to the Zambian side without viewing the falls from the Zimbabwe side. Maren was against paying that much to see something we have already seen from the other side. However, Kirk then said we are here once, and we should just forget the costs and do it. After further 15 minutes discussions, we decided to pay the costs for the visa. Three Australian girls from our camp had also argued but gave up and decided to pay for the visa also. The Zimbabwe Border crossing we assumed took Zimbabwe Dollars since they had a sign on the wall stating the price of the visa in their currency. However they did not except them anymore. They knew that the exchange rate on the black market was more than 3 times the official rate in Zimbabwe. They just did not want their own currency. The entrance to the Zimbabwe falls costs 20 US$, however they did except Zimbabwe Dollars still. They had to use the official exchange rate of 56 Z$ to US $. While we were able to get around 185 Z$ per US $ on the streets. So the entrance cost us in effect only 6 US $ each. So we were able to save some money. The Zimbabwe side was much bigger and made more out for tourists. The falls were huge and beautiful. We were both amazed how different both sides were. Though it is really hard to explain the difference. If one has the chance, one should really see the falls from both sides. They are just different. We were very happy in the end that we were able to view the falls from both sides. It was somehow worth the money. In the evening we both took showers, long needed. Maren cooked a great sausage dinner and we treated ourselves to a beer to celebrate Maren's birthday. We also checked emails, and did not see many!!!! Maren went to bed a little depressed that not that many people had written!!

Nkhata Bay

The Australian girls that were at the falls the day before with us woke up at 4:40 am to catch the first minibus to Kasangula. We were also traveling in that direction, but decided we could take a later one. They were in a little more of a rush than we were. They had to get to Windhoek within two days. To our surprise, when we got to the ferry that crosses to Botswana, we saw them still there. They had just missed a ferry as they were exchanging money, and the next ferry broke down. We arrived around 3 hours later. To our luck, 15 minutes after we arrived the ferry was fixed and we could cross the Zambezi. They let us take the ferry for free since we did not have enough Kwacha left to pay. The border crossing was easy and we quickly were able to catch a Minibus to Kasane. The Australians were really nice and paid our fare (1.25 Pula each). We had thought we could exchange money on the Botswana side, but there were no money changers. The first time we have seen that in Africa. In Kasane we decided to take the same minibus to the Namibian Border. What was nice was that we got to drive through the Chobe National Park. At the border we got lucky again and we got a free lift to Katima Mulilo from a guy in a pickup truck. He was crossing the border at the same time as us. Within the last 24 hours we have traveled through four different countries. In Katima the Australian girls hoped to get through the Caprivi Strip with the convey that escorts all vehicles though twice a day. There have been attacks by some Angolan rebels a few months before. The convoys only go at 9:00 am or at 3:00 pm. We arrived to late. They had a tough choice to make. Risk not getting to Windhoek on time, or fly there the same day. After deliberating a while they decided to fly. Probably the better idea. In town they had an ATM machine, which was a nice change, even though Kirk almost entered the wrong PIN number to many times. That would have been a catastrophe. After shopping for food, we were walking to a campsite, when this lady stopped us, and asked us if we needed a lift. She turned out to be German. Before we new it she invited us to stay at her house for the night. She, Sabine is in Zambia working with DED trying to combat the huge AIDS crises here. As we found out later 35 % of the population in this region is HIV positive. On the way to her house we met her husband Kai running. He runs in the Berlin Marathon every year. Their house is direct on the Zambezi, a great location. There we had tea and a great pasta dinner. It was delicious. It was really nice of them to take us in for the night even though we did not know each other. We were very thankful.

Nkhata Bay

In the morning Sabine even drove us to the gas station really early so we could hitch a ride to Divundu. We had to go through the Caprivi Strip. Our goal was to get a ride through on the 9:00 am convoy. We decided we try our luck at hitching a ride. Well that ride took longer than we thought. We almost got a ride from this American guy working in Namibia. He however was stopped by the police at a checkpoint and could not go further because he did not have his drivers license on him. So he had to turn back. He was not going as far as we needed anyway. Kirk later noticed 2 trucks pulling into a gas station up the road. Maren had the guts to go in and ask the two truck drivers if they could give us a lift. They said ok and Maren went in one truck and Kirk in the other. Kirk's truck driver was of German and Holland descent that has been driving trucks for the last 7 years. He wanted to drive trucks in Germany in two years from now. He was really a nice guy, but as we soon found out, he did not like blacks. He was really racist. It was really interesting to hear how these people really think and what their picture of the world is. Maren's truck driver had the same views. He was driving trucks in Africa for the last 27 years. He collected coins for his son from different countries. Maren was able to give him few we had left over. He was also very racist and barely spoke to the black soldier that escorted his truck through the Caprivi Strip. Since his truck had gear problems, they were both allowed to leave before 3:00 pm, but each had an armed soldier with an AK-47 accompanying them on the 300 km ride through the Caprivi Strip. The ride went through the West Caprivi Strip Park. It had beautiful scenery the whole way. When we were almost at the end of the Strip, a fighter helicopter was parked in the middle of the road. It was loading up on fuel and huge oil barrels, which we were told were bombs. It was getting ready for it's next mission. The truck drivers dropped us off at a gas station. From there we decided to head to Popa Falls Campsite which was 5 km away. We were able to find a ride for 2 N$, which was good because it was getting dark. At the campsite we were able to bargain the price down a little. It was really nice campsite with all the modern facilities you would expect to find at a campsite in the US.

Divundu

We got up early top try and catch a lift to the Botswana border. It was only 30 km away and went through the Mahango Game Reserve. The first car that went by we got a lift for 20 N$ after Maren bargained him down from 30 N$. She is getting really good with that. In the park we were able to see a few antelopes and similar animals. The border security guards on the Botswana side made us open our bags and he went through them. They checked the bags so half hardily, that you come to the conclusion that they are just trying to test your nerves. We then started walking down the road to Shakawe where we wanted to catch a bus to Sepupa. We were lucky that we got a ride really quickly and that the bus there was just about to leave. An hour later we were in Sepupa. There the ferry leaves once a day to Seronga. So we had to wait around a couple of hours before the Mokoro left. It drove through the weaving swamps where we saw hippos, a crocodile, and a lot of different types of birds. The landscape in the Okavango Delta was great. Something different than what we have seen so far in Africa. In Seronga we went to the Poler's Trust. They organize canoe trips through the delta. One thing that annoyed us there was that the workers there could not give us good information on what was available. Also the place gave a terrible exchange rate for dollars. They were getting 20 % on the dollar compared to what one got at the bank. They knew they were the only possibility to exchange money. We were though able to exchange money with a New Zealand girl traveling with her mother and a real nice family from Austria. We decided on doing only a day canoe trip. The campsite was directly on the delta. In the evening local women performed "traditional" dances around the fire place. It was quite different than one is used to.

Divundu

The canoe trip started at 8:30 am. It took us through the swamp for 2 hours. The canoe was steered and pushed by Less who had a pole and pushed the canoe through the swamp. The landscape was beautiful and we had it for the most part for ourselves. We saw a lot of birds. One bird would dive straight down into the water and pick up a fish if it got lucky. We also did a long walk on a dry section where we saw antelopes and zebras. We could get really closetothe zebras, they did not run away. After lunch we headed back to the camp. Later on we walked to town to pick up some bread. After dinner we went straight to bed. We were almost the only ones at the campsite, that was a weird feeling. But security guards were around all night.

Divundu

We woke up real early to make sure we were able to get to the boat at 7:00 am back to Sepupa. Well we should have realized that it would not leave on time. It left at 8:00 am. The ferry ride took around 1.5 hours. Along the way we saw two crocodiles. There we hoped to catch a bus to Maun. Well, the bus never came, not until 4:45 pm. So we waited around trying to hitch a ride for 7 hours. Sort of frustrating. It is really weird, when hitching here, whites seem to pick up only whites and blacks only stop for other blacks hitching. It is sad that the race card is still so in place. Also whites will most of the time not ask for money, while the blacks will most of the time ask for money for the lift. After all we arrived in Maun at 9:30 pm. We quickly got a taxi to our campsite, took a much needed shower and went to bed.

Divundu

Some days nothing works. We had hoped to catch a bus to Ghanzi in the morning. After waiting around till about 12:00 pm and the bus not showing up and not able to hitch a ride, we went food shopping and then back to the campsite. During the time we were hitching and waiting for a bus a donkey must have been hit by a car. It laid there for hours in pain, bleeding all over the place before anyone seemed to care or even half way noticed. Someone then must have shot him. They just do not treat animals well in third world countries. It is totally sad to see how the animals are handled. We will try tomorrow to catch a bus to Ghanzi from where we will be able to get to the Namibian border and then to Windhoek. Back at the campsite we sat at the hotel bar, worked on our website and did some much needed updates. At the bar the waitresses were excited at the computer and especially when Kirk started taking pictures of them and showing them on the computer. They got the most laughs from the small MPEG he made of them. They were really nice. Maren made a great bean and noodles dinner. We seem to eat a lot of beans lately (cheap and easy to cook).

Katima

Well this time the bus came on time and left on time. It was a nice change. We arrived in Ghanzi 5 hours later. The next bus left at 4:30 pm to Mamuna the border town with Namibia. So the wait around time was a nice 3.5 hours. Something we are getting used to. We arrived after dark at the border. We had our first border crossing at night in Africa. One has to walk through 500 meters no mans land. Actually it is not that bad. Just a weird feeling to be the only ones walking over the border at that time. Luckily a campsite was only 200 meters up the road. So we bought a soda, made dinner, and went to bed at 11:00 pm.

Katima

We got up early hoping to hitch a ride to Windhoek. Well we waited 3 hours till a truck driver felt sorry for us when the gas station attendant told him we were waiting around since early morning for a ride. The truck driver was a South African who drove to Namibia 3 times a week from South Africa. He said he normally did not pick up passengers, but he felt bad for us sitting there with no ride. There are no buses running from the border to Windhoek, so hitching was the only way. He drove 110 km/h the whole way so we were in Windhoek by 12:00 pm. It also did not cost anything. So we were of course really happy. In Windhoek we found our campsite and then walked around and got information on car rental and trips to Etosha. We are not sure if we are going rent a car or go on a tour. The rest of the afternoon we spend working on our website.

Katima

The night before we asked about rent a cars and tours to Etosha. We decided it would be best for us to rent a car and visit Etosha and Sossusvlei. It would save around 150 US$ compare to the tours offered. Just that Kirk has to learn to drive on the left side of the road. He has trouble crossing the streets already. We also looked for an Internet Cafe' so we could update our website and emails, but we could not find anywhere that would let us or where it would work. So the next update will probably be made from Cape Town, South Africa. Otherwise we booked a campsite in Etosha National Park with the Wildlife Organization for the 9th of August. In the afternoon we drank a beer, ate some chips, had spaghetti out of a can and went to bed. Oh yeah, Kirk read a 5 month old Newsweek. So today was just a do not too much day on our calendar.

Katima

In the morning Shoprite was on the agenda. Food was needed for our trip to Etosha National Park and Sossusvlei . At 10:00 am the Rent a Car Company picked us up to take us to theire office where they had our car waiting. When we first saw the car we were a bit disappointed. We had rented the "backpacker special", which meant that the car would be a little bit older than a normal rent a car, but this golf looked ancient. It was supposed to be a 1996 Golf, which in Europe is at least a new type, not the old Rabbit. At first we did not say anything, until we sat in the car and heard the motor. It was loud and it sounded really unhealthy. Kirk wanted to give up on the car completely and look for something else, however Maren convinced him that we should probably take the car. Kirk though wanted a reduction in the price. After talking to the lady for a while we were able to reduce the price of the vehicle around 4 dollars a day. Kirk was still not really happy with the deal, but decided that we had to get to Etosha by tomorrow. The lady offered to drive the car up the steep driveway for us. Then something great happened. The car stalled and she could not get it to start again. Exactly what we were afraid of. We then said no to the car. She then said that the only car she had was class B Model car, which is much more expensive per day. She said she could give it to us for a discount, but Kirk insisted that she give us the car for the same price as the original rent a car. After speaking with her manager she agreed. Only one problem is that we had to wait around 2 hours before the car was ready. She made us some coffee and we were able to watch some CNN. Kirk at first was really nervous, driving on the left hand side of the road. Maren had to stay wide awake to make sure everything went smoothly. It took 5.5 hours to get to Tsumeb (Town outside Etosha National Park) where we wanted to spend the night. The ride was easy and eventually Kirk got the hang of driving on the other side of the road. We arrived at the campsite after dark. There we pitched our tent, ate some sandwiches and went to bed.

Katima

At 5:30 am we woke up and quickly packed so we could be at the Etosha National Park entrance gate when it opened. We were the second vehicle there. The first major sighting was a herd of Giraffes. They were really close to our car. It was nice being able to drive ourselves through the park. We were both glad we had rented a car. We saw lots of different types of animals which included elephants, giraffes, zebras, ostriches, lions from a distance, wallabies, impalas, hyena, rhino, wild dog, and many other types of animals. It was only too bad that we did not see any lions up close, and that we did not see any cheetahs or leopards. We drove over 300 km inside the park. We drove from the East Coast to the West Coast where we had booked our campsite. At the the campsite we registered at the office, where we were pleasantly surprised that we were only charged 70 N$ for the park entrance fee for 2 days. The campsite was ok. There was a waterhole where lots of animals came to visit. It was weird because it was a little bit of a zoo atmosphere, with people sitting around a guard fence watching the waterhole. It was still quite amazing watching elephants bath themselves. In the evening also rhinos came to the waterhole.

Katima

In the morning we decided to drive west of our camp, to see if we would have any luck finding some lions. Well there was no luck to be found. To bad. We drove around 150 km looking at the animals again. We then decided we should get underway in the direction of Swakopsmund. We barely made it to the next town. We were very low on fuel. Six hours later we were in Swakopsmund. A very German town, where lots of people were speaking accent free German. Maren wanted to eat fresh "Broetchens", so we stopped at a bakery where they of course spoke German. We went to the waterfront and had fresh, healthy rolls for lunch. In the afternoon we drove further on to Walvis Bay where we stayed the night. The campsite was quite empty because it is wintertime in Namibia and very cold, no camping season. Kirk also started getting sick again, he had the chills and a bad cold.

Car ride Etosha Swakopsmund

We got up very early in the morning and left the campsite by 6:30 am, just after sunrise. We had a long way to drive to Sossusvlei, the sand dunes in the Namib Desert. It was very hard for Kirk to drive because the road was not paved the whole way. He said, it is like driving on snow. Around noon we arrived in Sesriem where we paid the park entrance fee for the Namib Naukluft Park and drove towards the dunes. On the way, to your left and right one sees right away the red sand dunes. After 60 km in the park we had to park the car to go the last 5 km by foot. You are only allowed to drive the last kilometers in a four wheel drive. At the 4 Kilometer point we finally got a ride from a really nice Africans. The driver was concerned we did not have enough to drink. Before we left the car he gave us a big can of Coke. The sand dunes were just amazing, like you see them in advertisements. They are huge about 300 m high. Unfortunately we did not have too much time, that is why we just climbed one dune, the most known own which is the Sossusvlei sand dune. You can walk there for hours, from one dune to another. It is amazing how different sight Namibia has. This country has so much to offer. In the afternoon we started looking for a campsite to stay the night. The first one recommended to us by a couple who drove us the down from the dunes was just too expensive, so we decided to drive further. It is always the same, when you look for something in particular, you cannot find it, otherwise there is plenty of it. We drove two hours looking for a campsite in the dark before before we found a guest farm where we could pitch our tent. Kirk did not feel good again, so we basically went straight to sleep. Every night it seems we sleep for a couple of hours, wake up and then can not really sleep for the rest of the night. We also dream every time we fall asleep. The dreams are a lot of the times really weird and go through our whole life. We think it might have to do with the Lariam Malaria pills we are taking. We think we are going to switch to others when we go to India.

Car ride Etosha Swakopsmund

We left the guest farm early in the morning because we had to be in Windhoek around noon to give up the car. We drove over 370 km and reached Windhoek around 10:00 am. First we had to go to the Intercape Mainlander bus office to pick up our pre booked bus ticket to Cape Town which was leaving at 5:00pm today. That turned out to be a little problem because only one seat was booked and the bus was full. Maren called the company a day earlier from Sossusvlei to make a reservation for two people but the lady on the phone must of not got it straight. At first the ladies at the counter told us it would be impossible to get an extra seat. However we did not give up. We insisted that they find a solution to the problem because we definitely could not stay a night longer in Windhoek. After calling around and speaking to the company's manager they said it would be possible, and that we would only have to call later to get the reservation number. So we paid for the tickets and returned the car. Monika from the car rental gave us a lift to town where we waited over 5 hours in the public park until 05:00 pm, when our luxury bus left to Cape Town. It was a 20 hour bus ride and we got to see real funny movie. They also served free tea and coffee. Kirk was also able to sleep a little, which was good. The bus was like being on a airplane. We also surprisingly met the Australian ladies we had traveled with on the 30 of July from Zambia via Botswana, to the Caprivi Strip in Namibia. It was nice to see them again. They were taking the same bus as we were to Cape Town South Africa.

Divundu

The weather was very cloudy in Cape Town South Africa. We could not see the Table Mountain. We went with a guy to a backpacker hostel near town where we could camp. It was central located and cheap but the people in here seemed a little strange. Seemed that some were heavily on drugs. However the staff was really nice and helpful and the place was ok. Not made out for camping, but we could still pitch our tent. Later we went into town to get information about flights to India at the end of the month. STA Travel had a very good student rate for us, so we made a reservation and probably confirm it tomorrow. It costs only 309 US$ per person for a one way ticket. We thought we would probably have to pay at least double that amount, probably more. Afterwards we went to the V&A Waterfront Shopping Mall where we found an internet cafe to upload our website which we have not done for ages. We also looked for a camping store to get a new ceramic input for our water filter. Hopefully they can order one within the next days. We also checked out the bookstore for travel guides for India, China, South East Asia, and Nepal. The travel bookstore was good, but they did not have the latest versions of the books we wanted. So we have to look a little more. When we got back to our hostel we worked the rest of the evening on the laptop. Maren was able to call her mom, and Kirk his. It was good talking to them. Have not really talked to them for more than a minute or two since we have left.

Divundu

Kirk slept much better last night, and got up early to take a much needed shower. It has been a while. During the day we walked around Cape Town and looked at new cameras. We are thinking of buying a new 35 mm camera. The newer ones are just much lighter. We are not sure if we are going to get one, because they do cost a lot of money. We also confirmed our flight to India. So we are leaving South Africa on the 28th of August from Johannesburg. In the afternoon we worked on our website and just hung around a little. Kirk is still not feeling good. Later on we checked cameras in the internet to get a idea what the prices were for certain models and which models were good.

Divundu

We slept longer than usual this morning, which was probably good. Maren family had send Kirk's glasses and another battery for the laptop to the German Consulate here in Cape Town. We hoped to catch a bus there, but we just missed the bus. Instead we decided pick up the stuff on the 17th when we have the rent a car. The decision on whether to buy the camera was a tough one, but we finally decided on buying one. We were able to bargain the price down again a little at another shop. The new camera is just so much lighter than the old one and the zoom is much more powerful. Hopefully it was the right decision. The camera is the Cannon EOS 300 or the Rebel 2000 in the US. It comes with a 28mm to 90 mm standard lens and we bought the 70mm to 300mm lens. Later on we hoped to catch the 2:00 boat to Robin Island, but when we asked to get tickets. They said the boat had left already. Maren said that was impossible, it was before 2:00pm. They said no it was 2:45 pm. Maren hat never set her watch to South African time. So that was a major blunder. Also the cheap boat tickets we all sold out to the island for the next day. If we can we will probably still go if we get tickets after we hike Table Mountain tomorrow. We picked up the out flight tickets at 5:00 pm and then walked along the water from a while. We want to get up early to hike up table Mountain.

Divundu

We had hoped to climb Table Mountain in the morning. We walked up to cable car station that was closed. It was cold and very windy there. We went further up, but at halfway we met some other hikers from Cape Town, who recommended to us that we should not climb up further. It was just too dangerous and windy. Kirk wanted to go further, but Maren convinced him it would be better to go down. Later on Maren took the bus to the street where she thought the German Consulate was. Well she was wrong. After looking for a while she found out that the consulate was back on the side of town where we were staying. She had actually almost walked buy it on the way to the bus station. She was lucky that she could pick up some stuff sent from her family there, since they were just about closing. She also tried to find out what the best way is to get our Indian Visas. It is turning out to be a difficult process. Kirk in the mean time went down to the Water Front and bought tickets to Robben Island tomorrow. Maren came back from everything soaking wet. It had really started to rain hard. After a hot late lunch, Kirk decided to do some Internet Work.

Katima

We had planned to go to Robben Island today. After waiting around the docks for a while, we found out the boat had been canceled due to bad weather. They said it would probably be canceled tomorrow, so we are not going to be able to see the Island. Then next time. Later on we went food shopping and then back to the hostel to work on our website. The weather is really bad at the moment. It is cold, wet, windy and basically just miserable. However we are still doing well and enjoying our trip. Yes we are still getting along (most of the time). In the afternoon we went to the Water Front again to mail our passports to the Indian embassy in Johannesburg. As Maren did this Kirk played in the internet. Afterwards we treated ourselves to a movie, 13 Days. It was about the Cuban Missile Crises. It was ok, but they should of not cast Kevin Costner in another JFK film. Afterwards the two of us had dinner and went to bed.

Katima

The car rental agent brought by the car at 9:00 am. The guy started explaining the car rental to Kirk, when Kirk realized that there was suddenly hidden costs or costs that were not mentioned to us before. First they wanted drop off costs which we specifically asked for. The answer was no. There was also a small contract fee from around 2 dollars. Kirk immediately stopped everything. He told the agent he was not informed of these costs and that we were not going to pay them. The agent said that these were the costs associated with the car. Kirk then told him he could take the car back. We did not want it. Well he then called his manager who told him that they would waive the drop off costs, but not the contract costs. After this was explained to Kirk, Kirk told him we did not want the car. It was only 2 dollars, but Kirk wanted to make his point. After calling his manager again, they reluctantly dropped the extra costs. We were lucky, would have had to stay in Cape Town a couple more days before we got another inexpensive car. The car was also a VW polo, a better one than we had ordered. The poker game worked though. We then went looking for an Outdoor store to find a small backpack. After finding a shop we found a backpack we thought would be suitable for the next leg of our trip. They were 38 liter bags and not too expensive. We also bought a water bag. We are going to send our big bags home. We can not wait not having to carry the big bags around. We then drove up to the Cape of Good Hope National Park. When getting out of our car, a baboon started stealing food right out of Maren's hand. They were aggressive. We quickly got back into our car and ate lunch there. The Cape was absolutely beautiful. We also saw Right Whales below the cliffs. It was great. The Cape was also nice because one could hike around on different paths. Along with the baboons there were also ostriches hanging around. After hiking around, we drove down the coast to Hermanus. The drive is really nice with great views overlooking the ocean. One contrast one does notice are the Townships and wooden shack settlements along the road. One comes from rich Cape Town, where one forgets the poverty for a while, then drives by and it comes back to life. When looking for the hostel in Hermanus, we accidentally drove into a Township area. Not the smartest thing to do as tourists. But nothing happened. According to brochures and travel books it is strongly recommend that one does not drive in these areas. We stayed in a dorm room that was given to us for the price of camping.

Katima

After taking the best shower we have both had since starting our trip, we went to town to look for whales along the coast. Well we saw some parading through the bay. It was really cool, though we did not see them up close. They move so gracefully through the water. Afterwards we took off to Cape Agulhas, the southern most point of Africa. It was about an hour away. The point is nice, but nothing spectacular. There is a shipwreck to see not far away. We are really enjoying our new camera, which Maren just took a picture of me when I am writing my diary, and confusing my already confused writing. After Cape Agulhas we drove to Mossel Bay, the starting point of the famous Garden Route. After finding a backpackers to camp at, we took a hike up along the coast. It was a really nice path overlooking the cliffs into the ocean. For dinner, Maren made the usual beans and rice again.

Katima

We slept ok, got kind of cold again at night. In the morning we packed and left to visit a few towns along the coast. The first town we visited was Knysna. At Plettenberg Bay we walked on the beach and rocks for a while. After that we went to Jefferys Bay where we had lunch, left over beans and rice and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. From there we decided to drive to Cintsa, a small town outside East London. The hostel was located overlooking the bay. After pitching our tent we took a walk down to the beach. For dinner we had pineapple with rice. The pineapple was bought along the street, 5 Rand for two. The day was long because we had driven so much.

Katima

After eating pineapples for breakfast, we took a stroll along the beach before we headed of for the Drankensberg Mountains. We wanted to do some hiking up and around Lesotho. It is supposed to really beautiful. The day consisted of basically driving through the country side. There is an extreme difference between the coast and inland towns. The inland towns are the poor areas, much different than Cape Town or the coastal villages. One does see the Townships outside the resort villages, but not on the scale one sees inland. There are hundreds of small houses lined up next to each other on rows, looking exactly the same. It is sometimes really sad to see. We are the lucky ones that just have to drive through. Makes you wonder a little. In the late afternoon we arrived at the Sani Pass where found a Backpackers to stay, the Sani Lodge. It was really windy and we had to tie down our tent so it would not blow away.

Katima

During the night the wind was really strong, felt as if our tent would blow away. After having breakfast we started our two day hike. The trail we took was called Polela Trail. The first part we got a little lost, but were able to find our way back to the trail. The first part of the trail followed a small river up a mountain. It was beautiful, with small waterfalls and pools along the way. Animals were also present along the way such as baboons, deer, and an animal similar to an antelope. After following the river for a few kilometers we took a steep turn up the mountain to a cave. The path followed up and around the cave to another path which we had to take. However we did not see the path. We thought we were wrong and decided to back track down to the river again to try and figure out where we went wrong. After following the river further up, we realized that we were again going in the wrong direction. The path we were taking was not a path after all. The map we had was a little confusing and the trails were hardly marked. We finally figured out that we had to climb up the way we had tried the first time, and that the other trail must be up there somewhere. Well it was, but hardly visible in the high grass. The next part of the hike was a steep climb for a couple of hours. It then flattened out at around 2500 meters. The first day we hiked around 20 km. It was much harder than we had thought it would be. We had to camp on the mountain before the peak. The ground was not level and was bumpy so the tent was not very well situated. Another problem is that it got really windy at night. Maren made a bean dinner, which we threw down as fast as possible. It was getting cold and all we could think of was getting into the sleeping bags. Since we had a right and left sleeping bag, Maren zipped them together to make one big bag. It really helped keep us warm at night. During the night the wind was blowing hard and it felt as if the both of us would be blown off the mountain. Lucky that did not happen.

Car ride Etosha Swakopsmund

The first view out of our tent was amazing. It overlooked the valley below. There was a sheet of clouds hovering over the peaks. It was great. Kirk did not want to get up so early. It was still cold outside. For breakfast we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to give us energy for the next part of the climb. The climb to the summit was a steep hard climb for 2 hours, 2.5 for us since we took the wrong path again. This climb we felt was just as hard or harder than Mt. Kenya. It was just straight up the hill. On the way up we saw the first people we have seen on the mountain. They were not tourists, and Kirk thought they were smugglers of some sort. As we found out later, they were people from Lesotho who were smuggling marijuana to South Africa. When one gets almost to the summit, one enters Lesotho. The way to the summit was again not marked, so we ended up taking a little detour before reaching the top. The views were fantastic overlooking South Africa and Lesotho. At that point we were thinking it was well worth the pain on the way up. We were so glad we did the climb. We enjoyed it more than Mt. Kenya because we had to do it on our own, basically with only a map on really unmarked trails. One other thing Kirk saw another animal up top, a bunny rabbit. We have no idea how he got up there, or of course why it was even up there that high. On the way down the smugglers waved to us happily. We had hoped that they did not take our bags we had hidden where we had camped the night before. The smugglers seemed amused to see us on the mountain. The first part of the way down was steep and very painful on the joints. From the point from where we had camped, the hike was mostly just a constant downhill hike. Of course we took the wrong way a couple of times. Once in a while having to go down really steep areas to get back on the path, or through riverbeds. However, at least once it was worth taking a little detour because we got some breath taking views. We think we hiked around 20 km to a campsite, which was around 2 hours away from our car. There we found the reception, but it was closed. We wanted to pay for the camping, but know one was around. So we just pitched our tent on the campsite. We were the only ones there. We made a fire and dinner and then went early to bed. The hike was one of our highlights of our trip. It was just really cool to be almost the only ones on the mountain, and not seeing any one except for the one convoy of smugglers. The hike was also really hard which gave us the satisfaction of having accomplished something.

Car ride Etosha Swakopsmund

At 6:00 am we packed out tent, and started hiking back to the Sani Lodge, where we had left our car. Again we took a wrong turn, which however allowed us to get some great views of some lakes and to see a large baboon group play on the cliffs. The hike should have taken 2 hours, but it took us 3 hours because we had trouble reading the map again. Also it actually rained for a while, which was seemly unusual during the dry season. Also on the way back, it smelled of smoke from fires on the mountain and in the valley. It seems like they burn the old long grass everywhere. On the first night we had seen a lot of fires on the mountain and in the valleys. It really stunk and the ashes we had to walk through made us really dirty. When we reached the lodge we treated ourselves to some homemade chocolate cake. We did not stay long while we wanted to get to Kruger National Park today. We quickly stopped in town so we could buy some groceries and call the Indian embassy to find out if our Passports arrived. To our disappointment and worry they had not yet arrived. According to the post office, our mail was not lost and should be arriving the next day. We hope, since we want to fly out on the 28th. We hope the Indian embassy makes an exception and gives us the Indian Visas on Monday. Normally it takes 4 working days to get the Visas. Afterwards we drove all day to Nelspruit where we camped for the night.

Divundu

We got up early in the morning only to find that the backpackers had locked us out. We still had our food inside. We had to wake up some of the staff to open the door. Before we left for Kruger we had to get some money from an ATM machine. What turned out to be harder than we thought. It was early in the morning, but light outside. When Kirk went to the ATM machine suddenly there were a couple of guys just wanting to help. They were trying to confuse him, telling him things like you should use that machine, that machine does not work and that they were working here for his protection. Well Kirk got nervous and got quickly back in the car. It was getting obvious that they wanted Kirk to withdraw money and somehow get their hands on it. Well we went then to another ATM machine, where it happened again. We decided to go to another town and try. We were by that time a little scared out of our shoes. Well in the next town Kirk pulled over to an ATM at a gas station and went to the ATM machine. Before he knew it another guy was right behind him, telling him how the machine works and suddenly pressing in the amount he should withdraw. Luckily the machine did not accept Kirk's ATM card or was technically out of order. Kirk had to almost push the guy out of the way to get back to the car. So we decided to try another ATM machine. Well guess what happened again. Two guys came from no where, offering their assistance. They again said they worked there. Again they wanted to press the buttons and rattle Kirk. But this time Kirk just took his card and yelled a few obscenities at they guys and quickly got in the car and took off. We decided to drive again to the next town. There we finally found an ATM machine at a shopping mall with an armed security guard with a Uzi guarding the ATM Machine. As Kirk went to the machine he quickly came around and watched the area. Some guys who were watching Kirk quickly turned around and looked elsewhere. It was a weird feeling being there. However we were able to get our money. We then drove to Kruger National Park. We were still a little rattled and pissed off on what had happened in the early morning. It was the first time in Africa we were really scared and felt heavily threatened. The guys were just waiting for victims. Well enough of that. Lets get to our visit to Kruger National Park. Well it was great. Probably since we saw the Big 5 (Lion, Buffalo, Rhino, Leopard and Elephant). We first saw a few Rhinos and small herd of buffalos. When we went for a toilette break, some nice guy told us where to see some lions. We quickly took off hoping still to see them. Well we were not disappointed. Seven lions were laying around their kill, a giraffe that they had killed on one of the park roads. The lions must have just eaten and the giraffes corpse was just half eaten laying there. It was fantastic, but it got better. We were able to park our car within a few meters of the giraffe and the lions. One lion came over and started eating away at the corpse. With our new camera we think we got some great shots. It was great. We were really happy, we had finally seen our lions. After watching the lions for an half an hour we decided to look for more animals. Later on we also saw some elephants eating along the road. Other animals were impalas, kudus, birds, hippos, giraffes, and other animals. The park was not full with animals like Etosha, but we were really satisfied that we had seen lions and especially the one feeding on the giraffe from up close. After lunch we drove in the park for a while, not seeing too many animals, but beautiful scenery. We were content on leaving the park that night, when another car stopped us and told us where a leopard was laying up in a tree. Of course we drove right away to the spot where the leopard was sleeping up on a branch in a tree. It was at a distance, but you could still see him very well. Wow we have seen the Big Five on one day in one park. Well it got better, on the way out we got treated to several lions again. Now we had scene a lot of lions and were really happy. We left the park right before dark and found a lodge to camp at around 30 m away. It was nice we did not have to pitch our tent, since they said we could just use one of their permanent tents which were not being used at the time. Maren made a great noodle and bean dinner and we went to bed.

Divundu

We got up at 6:00 am to get an early start to Johannesburg. We arrived in the early afternoon and decided to stay at a backpackers near the airport. We then went food shopping and then to a mall after lunch to look for some travel books. The mall was a security area where mostly whites were hanging out. This society is still really separated. There is as if two worlds are here. Later on we got to see the introduction of South Africa Big Brother. It was the first time it was shown on TV here. It was just like in Germany. Otherwise nothing much happened here. Tomorrow we hope that we will get the Indian Visas or we will have to delay our flight for a few days. Maren was really nice and cleaned our stuff to send home. We will send our big packs home as well as our camping equipment. We will not need it for India, Nepal, and the rest of Asia. We just want to carry a small pack for a while. The 38 liter bags we bought are big enough to hold everything we have and more. It will be a nice change.

Divundu

Today we were praying when we woke up that we would be able to find out where our passports were and get the Indian Visa in one day. Driving through Johannesburg was an interesting drive. It was a little scary after hearing and reading about how dangerous it was supposed to be. Well nothing happened bad. The city is much different than Cape Town. At the Indian embassy we found out that they do not pick up their mail very often at the post office. Our passports were still at the post office, where we had to pick them up ourselves. After picking the passports up, we had to go back to the embassy and beg them to give us the Visas today. After talking to the manager, we finally got the answer we were looking for. Though he went over Kirk's signature and wanted to see our student id's They told us to pick up the passports in the afternoon. So we decided to go to a shopping mall to see if we could find a Lonely Planet India book and get something to eat. Well we went to McDonalds because they had cheap hamburgers and chicken burgers. Kirk was starving and ate three plus an ice cream. We found the book, not the one we really wanted. There is supposed to be a new edition this month, but they only had the 1999 edition. Other things we bought were batteries and some lip cream. At 2:30 pm to our surprise the passports were ready. The Visas were really expensive, especially for Kirk, around 75 US$. However both of us were really happy to get them, so we can fly out tomorrow. Later on we went to Shoprite, where we got a box to send our big bags home. Later on we sorted out our stuff and packed our bags. It was nice to see that our new bags were much lighter. We decided to stay in the dorm tonight, since we wanted to pack our stuff tonight. We are also sending around 20 rolls of film home. Hopefully they get there.

Divundu

We got up early to get to the airport. We had to drop off the car, and also sent the packages. It only cost us 50 US$ to send everything, which was ok. It will just take 3 months for the big stuff to get there. When one gets the TAX refund, they get you with ridicules commissions and fees. So one does not get all your taxes back actually. They take 1.5% from the purchase price, which comes to over 10% the Tax refund. It is a rip off. Also one gets a check, where there is only one place to cash it, again they nail you with commissions and fees. It does not make one a happy camper. So you probably loose over 15% your tax refund. As a tourist they get you where they can. We waited around the airport for a while, Kirk wrote some emails but could not send them because there are no Internet connection possibilities in the airport. We were also glad that we could take our new backpacks as a carry on. It will make our life easier. The flight was ok. The Nairobi Airport was as crazy as ever. Good that we did not have to stay very long there. The movie on the flight was Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles or something like that. The next flight to Bombay, was also ok. The food was actually really good, but the movie was Spy Kids, which was just horrible and not watch able. Too bad. Thought we would be able to see a couple of movies.

Katima

The arrival time was around 2:15 am in the morning Indian time. We waited around two hours until we found someone to share a taxi with. We did not want to get into the city too early and have to pay for a night. The couple was from Denmark which have just arrived from an Aeroflot flight from Moscow. It was good to be able to split the taxi fare. At the airport we also exchanged our leftover South African Rand, but at a terrible exchange rate. However we were glad to get rid of them. The ride to the hotel was a wake up call. There were hundreds of people sleeping on the street. Everything looked so poor. After searching for a hotel, we finally settled on the Indian Guest House. A tout had followed us here hoping to get a commission, but we had already called the place from the airport, asking if they had any rooms available. So the tout was upset he was not going to get any money. The Danish couple also stayed at the same hotel. We were able to bargain that we would not have to pay for that night, since it was already after 5 am in the morning. We slept until around 10:30 am and then decided to take a walk in the city. We first went to the Prince of Whales Museum, where they have great student discounts. We also bought two books, a John Grisham novel and a Harry Potter book. We then went to an internet cafe to upload some stuff for a couple of hours. By that time we were very hungry and went to a restaurant where we had Chicken Bryani and tea. It was delicious, and cost less than a 1 US$ for the both of us. Later on we booked our train tickets to Goa, south of here. The train system is a little confusing here, but the train help desk will eventually explain the way. Afterwards we took a rest back at the hotel. In the evening we took a walk in town and had dinner. The meal was called Thali special. It was chapati that one dipped into different spices. It was great, we have to watch out we do not eat too much here. It just cost over one US$. For desert we had some bananas.

Katima

This morning we slept again a little longer than usual, until 9:00 am. We decided not to go to Elephanta Island. The only attraction there cost 10 US$ to get in and that was a little too much for us. The attraction is a cave, from what we have heard it is questionable if it is worth the price. The both of us decided to go to the market and check out the scene there. It was not what we are used to. First of all they sell everything and second it is absolutely filthy and smelly. However it was an interesting experience. They hassle you, however it is different than in Africa. It is hard to explain, just believe us it is different. Afterwards we just walked around for a while. Bought a used Lonely Planet Nepal book for 4 dollars. When we were walking we bumped into the two Danish people we had share the taxi with. We had tea and decided to have dinner together in the evening. Then we walked around for a while and bought some bananas for the train ride in the morning. We also tried betal. It is the leave and nuts of the betal tree that are wrapped together and are then chewed and digested. It is also a little bit of a stimulant. Later on we walked again down to the Gateway of India and then checked out Mumbai's most expensive hotel, the Taj Mahal. The staircase is really nice. One thing with the children beggars here is that they always touch you. One understands their situation, but one gets really annoyed with the kids always grabbing onto you. There are just so many poor people here, it is hard to imagine before you get to see it yourself. Man we are just lucky to be born where we were. For dinner we went out to a restaurant with the two (Peter + Anja). The dinner was really good. Kirk had chicken with rice and Maren had vegetables with rice. With tea it costs just a 2 dollar for a great meal. It was a really nice dinner with the two of them. They had interesting stories on why they are doing this trip and what they want to get out of it. They are really nice and we enjoyed ourselves. Our assertion that they are a couple was wrong. They met on the internet looking for someone to travel with. That is kind of cool and risky. However when you speak with them, one thinks they have known each other for a long time. We have to get to bed early tonight because we are getting up at 5:40 am to get the morning train to Goa. The two are also going on the same train as we are.

Katima

Peter (Danish Guy) woke us up at 4:40 am. The train was to leave 7:05. The walk to the train station took us a half an hour. A stray dog followed us all the way to the platform. There are so many walking in the streets of Mumbai. At the train station the rats were running through the tracks. It is really dirty here. The train left on time which was a nice change for us. It was a little shocking for us when the train went through the real slum areas of Mumbai. People were lined up relieving themselves (number 2), right in front of the passing trains, men and women. They were also living under some horrible conditions. It was a really said sight to see. To our surprise the train was not crowded. That was really nice, we could stretch out on the seats, sleep or read a book. The food was also not too bad which they served. Maren and I split a Veg Curry with rice. They were constantly serving snacks, coffee, and tea. It was also not really expensive. The train ride took around 12 hours to reach Old Goa.. There we were able to figure out that there was actually a bus to Panaji, contrary to what every taxi driver told us outside the station. Where ever you go they are almost always trying to scam you. Well the bus rid only cost 10 Rs for the both of us. Peter and Anja (Danish People) also came with us to the hotel, where we rented a 5 bed room. We only needed 4 beds, but that is the only room they had available. It was still cheap. The bathrooms were squats and really dirty. They also had no real showers. Lizards and cockroaches were also in the room. Maren and Kirk did not think it was too bad, but the Danish girl was a little turned off. The two are really nice, much different from us, but nice to have along. It is always nice to be able to travel with others once in a while. We went out to dinner again together. Anja treated, which made us a little embarrassed. It was really nice though. We all had a Thali meal. It was delicious. Later in the evening we hung out back in the room, where Kirk and Maren read there books, and Peter and Anja played the guitar. He was not bad.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

All of us were woken up by guys spitting and clearing their throats in the bathroom. They were making horrible noises. The bathroom is right outside our room. We decided we would go to Dona Paula. According to the guide book there are some beaches there. Well they were not very nice, actually they were filthy and smelled. One guy was cleaning himself after going to the bathroom and there was garbage all over the street. It looked like open sewers were running into the ocean. After walking along the beach for a while we went back to Panaji looked for information on traveling to Hampi the next day. There were two possibilities, one taking the train or taking the bus. We are probably going to take the bus tomorrow. We then grabbed a bus to Old Goa to look at the old Portuguese Cathedrals. We had actually seen them from the bus going to Panaji the night before. The Church and Chapel of St. Francis of Assisi was pretty big but time has taken its toll. They have spent money on restoration, however not enough probably. It was weird, the first religious thing we see in India is a Christian Cathedral. Later on we had a few samosas for lunch and then went to the market in town. When walking back to the hotel Maren noticed a ladies hair cutter. It was only 30 Rs, around 75 cents, so she decided to have her hair cut. The hair stylist said that henna helped stops the hair from falling out. Ok, but the only problem is that it also changes the hair color of the person. Maren said well why not. It only costs 2 US$ more. So she was brave enough to try.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

This morning we said good bye to the two Danish travelers we had met. They also had to pack. They were switching hotels. We think the rooms and especially the bathrooms were too dirty. We were happy also that they took our advice and sent some things home. They had too much, just as we did when we started our trip. One thinks one needs everything, but sooner or later one sees that one does not need much. We hope that they enjoy the rest of there trip in India and maybe we will see them again. They just have so much more time in India than we do. Peter is staying until December and Anja is planning to stay till February. After wishing them luck we went to the bus station. We thought the bus was going to leave at 10:30 am. However there was also a bus at 9:30 am which we were able to catch. It was a hard ride on some really bumpy roads. To make it worse the bus driver drove insanely. Always passing cars and honking his way through the traffic. He would pass other vehicles on blind curves or drive fast through crowds of people. It was nuts. However we survived as you see. The ride took 9 hours. Kirk read for most of the journey and was happy to be able to finish his book. One less book to carry along. One got also to see some beautiful lush green landscape along the way and some small towns. It just gets hard to get used to the poorness of the population and watching them going to the bathroom right in front of our face. It is another type of poorness than in Africa. It is just always kind of sad to see that people have still to live in this manner. When we arrived in Hospet we had to catch a bus to Hampi. At the bus station in Hospet, people just came up to us and stared at us. You feel like they have never seen someone like us before. Kirk always askes them what they are looking at and if we look weird or something. They normally do not know how to react and go away. There are also a lot of beggars who are constantly asking you for money. Some can be really persistent and keep on asking even if you have said no a few times already. In Hampi we found a hotel for 1.66 US$. We could of had some cheaper, but we wanted to get something to eat and go to bed. For dinner we had a plate of Vegetable Rice and Cashew Fried Rice. Both tasted really good. Tomorrow we will check out the historical sites around Hampi.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

The first thing this morning was to take some showers. It was really about time. Both of us stunk really bad. Our laundry was sorted out and given to the hotel staff. They do laundry for about 3 Rs per piece, which is really cheap. Exploration of Hampi and its temples was next on our list of things to do. The first temple was called Sri Virupaksha Temple. It was right in the middle of town and is supposed to be the most sacred temple in the area. The entrance cost 2 Rs each, which is very reasonable. Inside there were people praying, well we think. It was much different than what we are used to. Monkeys are also climbing all over it. We then went walking to other temples and sights such as the Hazararama Temple, Kings Balance, Achyutaraya Temple, Sri Vittala Temple, Underground Temple, Zenana Enclosure, Sister Stones and more. We also walked quite a bit around and went through some spectacular boulder sights. There were huge boulders that seemed to be able to balance themselves on other boulders. The Vittala Temple and the Zenana Enclosure we did not go in because there was an entrance fee of 10 US$ (470 Rs) and only 10 Rs for Indian citizens. We thought that was a little too much. However we were able to see most of the sights inside the temple by just walking around outside the walls. One could easily look in and see most of the structures. We will recommend to anyone here that they bring a lot of water with them. It is really hot and ones needs the fluids. When we got back we went out to eat. First however we drank a liter of water and some Fanta and Limca. The meal was Thali Special again, though every time it is a little different. The waiter or owner kept filling our plates when we wanted more. It also tasted great. After the meal we went back and took a short nap and wrote our diary.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

Thinking the bus from Hospet was leaving at 7:30 am, we got up at 5:15 am to catch the 6:00 am local bus from Hampi to Hospet. The bus finally came at 8:30 and promptly left. It was another long and scary ride. What the both of us do not understand in these countries is that everything is done slowly, except for on the roads where time suddenly means everything. Along the way at every bus stop where people begging. The were from the really young to very old. Also there are just so many people here with handicaps. They just do not have a chance in this society. They are also very persistent. Along the way the both of us read our books and the news paper and enjoyed the landscape of the country side. The people are living as in the 21st century had never come. We arrived in Hyderabad at around 8:00 pm, when we decided to walk to the Hotel. One time a small kid begging started touching Maren all over asking for money and would not leave. Kirk finally had to slap him with the newspaper to get him to go away. On one hand one feels sorry for them, but on the other hand they are a real pain. Especially when one is tired after a 11.5 hours sitting on a bus. At the hotel we had to bargain the price down a little. It was still way to much, but it seems all of the hotels in the area are a little expensive. Later on we ate some street food which tasted delicious, but spicy. After some tea we retired to our room to read up on what we are going to do tomorrow and write our diary.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

The first thing we did this morning was to book our train ticket for the evening. We want to head north to Aurangabad. The train will leave at 6:00 pm and take 12.5 hours to get there. We booked 2nd class sleepers. Afterwards we took a local bus to Golconda Fort. It is a 16th century fortress on the outskirts of town. It was expensive to get in, around 5 US $ per person. This is the foreign price. It is only 5 Rs (10 US cents) for Indian citizens. That is a huge difference. To us a little ridicules. We understand if we have to pay more, but 50 times more is a little to much. The fort was quite nice, but there was garbage all over the place even though here that actually provided garbage bins. A guy through away his wrapper of an ice cream on the ground and Maren turned to him and said he should use the waste bin. His friends then actually did with their garbage. One had a great view above from the surrounding area. On top there is a colorful little Hindu shrine. Afterwards we caught a bus back to town and checked our email and had some lunch. Maren had chicken curry with roti and Kirk had Egg Biryani. Both were very spicy but good. We took a local bus to the Secunderabad Train Station, a Double Decker that was divided into females and males sections. At the train station Maren did not feel to well so we bought some cookies and Coke to eat. There are so many sick and poor people wandering around the train station. We got the upper sleepers, which was good because we could keep our bags up there with us where they would be halfway safe. On the train Maren went almost right away to sleep and Kirk read for a while until the lights went off. Maren slept really well because she got out her sleeping bag. Kirk was to lazy and woke up cold in the middle of the night because the fans were directly pointing at him and he could not turn them off. Eventually he gave in and got out his sleeping bag also.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

We woke up at around 6:00 am and had some Chai tea. The bus arrived in Aurangabad at 6:30 am on time. We were not too sure if what exactly we wanted to do. There were two possibilities, one see the caves in Ellora or go straight to the Ajanta Caves. After discussing it for a while at the youth hostel we decided we rather spend our money at the Ajanta Caves. All admissions for foreigners have dramatically increased. They are usually the equivalent of Rupees in US Dollars. That means if an Indian citizen pays 10 Rs, foreigners pay 10 US$ or 470 Rs. It does not make one very happy. They seem to think it is their right to rip you off. 50 times more is just too much, it is ok that we pay more, but that is a rip off. We then went to the local bus station to catch a bus to the Ajanta Caves. Of course this is a big rip off too. They seem not to want to give you a real answer when you ask when the local buses are leaving. They only tell you about the tourist bus which costs 30 Rs more. However since we were not getting any real answers from anyone we decided to take the tourist bus anyway. We did not want to waste a day doing nothing. At the caves one could give up your bags at the gate for free. They have a security guard watching them. Wow, something for free, I guess if they are charging 470 Rs , they can afford someone to watch your bags. The 27 caves though were really nice. The oldest was from 200 BC. Most had a Buddha Statue in the back. The caves were carved out of a horseshoe shaped rock gorge. After Africa it was nice again to see temples and statues. After lunch (Thali) we took a shared taxi down to Pardapur for 10 Rs each (20 Rs together). The driver said it was the rate locals paid. In the taxi Kirk noticed that the locals were only paying 3 to 5 rupees. When we got out Kirk confronted the guy, the guy then tried to trick Kirk in having a local give him 10 Rs without getting change. Well this ticked Kirk off even more. He then told the guy this was bull shoot and that he did not like being lied to. He said he was only going to pay 10 Rs for the both of us or nothing at all. He had 5 guys around him, telling them off. The guy was quickly excepted the 10 Rs and said it would be fine. Believe it or not they got a little scared of him. Kirk was just sick and tired of everyone just trying to rip us off all the time. In these third world countries one is just a target. While waiting for the bus, Kirk and Maren took some pictures at a food stand. Everyone suddenly wanted theire picture taken. They love seeing the pictures on the digital camera. In Jolgaon we wanted to catch the night train to Ahmedabad, but there were no sleepers available, so we decided to catch the 3:40 am train the next morning. For dinner we ate out at a place that tried and successfully rip us off. They said the cost of one meal was 10 Rs, but when the bill came they had written down 18 Rs. We paid them anyway because we could not prove anything. Their excuse was that they had a person who could not understand English. We had no choice. Kirk said some flattering words to the manager and we left.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

The train was on time at 3:40 am. It was painful getting up. The train arrived in Ahmedabad at around 4:00 pm. On the train Maren slept a lot and Kirk read most of the time. Men dressed as women, were asking for money on the train. They were extremely persistent and a little scary when we said no. We did not quite understand someone who said that they were castrated men. If that is true we do not know. In Ahmedabad we right away bought tickets on the 11:00 pm train to Udaipur. It arrives in Udaipur at around 8:00 am in the morning. In Ahmedabad we walked around the city and had dinner. It was really hot and we sweated all the time. Luckily the restaurant had air conditioning. We had Thali for dinner again, though every time it is a little different. Ahmedabad is just full of people. It is hard to walk down the side walks because of the numbers. Some beggars are really aggressive and touch you when you say no to them. One just has to push them off. One often sees a grown up pointing to a child to tell him that he/she should go beg from us. It is really sad that there are so many people in horrible living conditions. One can not believe it until one sees it for oneself.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

We woke up around 6:30 am and arrived in Udaipur at around 9:00 am. We were warned that the rickshaw drivers were really aggressive and that one could not trust them at all. So we decided to walk the few kilometers to the center of town where the hotels are. Another thing, well Kirk finally got the runs. It took 10 days, but it finally came. Both of our stomachs were not feeling too good today. After we dropped of our bags in the hotel room, we went down to the lake to see people washing there cloths and themselves in just filthy green water. One also had a good view of the Jagniwas Island Palace where the James Bond film Octopussy was partially filmed and Jagmandir Island. We then visited the Jagdish Temple, which is right in the center of town. It was quite interesting. There were old Hindu guys who wanted there picture taken for 10 Rs, but we declined. Afterwards we went to the City Palace. The price was the same for foreigners and Indians and they even had student discounts. One did have to pay for using a camera, but it was definitely worth paying for. The Kings Palace was really nice and beautiful. It also had great views over the city and lake. The Queens Palace, was nothing special, at least nothing compared to the Kings Palace. After buying a snack for lunch we went back to our room and took a nap. Afterwards we looked for an Internet Café where we could upload some of our web pages. We just could not find any place where ftp and pop3 was working. For dinner we had veg macaroni with cheese. It was ok, but the portions were so small, we had to get some sweets on the street to eat. Later on we watched Octopussy on video at our hotel. Over the Palace in the Lake there was also a fireworks show. It was really nice to see.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

This morning we decided to have breakfast in the hotel. Kirk had beans and toast while Maren had banana porridge. The serving were really small, so we did not get very full. The servings are really small at these hotels, just like our meal the night before. We thought about doing a tour on the lake but decided against it. We instead went to Shilpgram, where they were having a festival. Shilpgram is basically a village made out for tourists. One pays entrance to the village, though we never paid because the guy did not have any change. In the village there are arts and crafts one can buy and people playing local music. There are also a few museums and traditional houses to look at. It is ok and the prices for food and drinks are really reasonable. On the way there we had taken rickshaw. We were able to get a really good price at 30 Rs. However the guy quickly went to get petrol and tried the petrol trick. This is saying he has no money for petrol and that he needed the money from us now. Maren at first wanted to give him the money. However Kirk said no way, he is trying to rip us off. So the both of us said no and got out of the rickshaw. These guys take your money and they then do not bring you to your destination unless you pay more. Well the guy came back to us and said ok, pay me later. So he had the money after all. We said ok and went with him. Of course he tried again when we arrived telling us that the price was 30 Rs each. Kirk just got into his face and said do not try and bull shoot me and told the guy to get lost. The festival area was ok. However we both expected more people to be there. It was also a little artificial. After eating some samosas and walking around for a while we went back to Udaipur and relaxed for a while and bought our bus tickets for the next day. In the evening we out for dinner again and had our best Thali in a very nice and beautiful restaurant called The Savage Garden. The atmosphere was really romantic.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

For breakfast we had bananas. Much better deal than eating in the restaurant. We walked to the bus station, saving us a whole 2o Rs for a rickshaw. Took us a while since we got lost a few times, going down the wrong streets. Well we could have taken more time, the bus left at little before 9:00 am, departure time was 8:30 am. The bus ride was nothing special, Kirk read the Painted House of John Grisham and Maren tried to sleep a little. After getting our seats on the bus, someone else complained about their seats, so the conductor asked us to move to the way back. The seats the guy did not want. The ones which one feels all the bumps in the road. They sort of picked us out, telling us all sorts of things why we needed to change seats. Kirk told them flatly no, we are not moving. They eventually sat somewhere else. In Mt. Abu we found a hotel, right where the bus let us off. When we said that we wanted to look around a little more, the price dropped 20 %. So we took the room. Afterwards we decided to take a shared taxi to the Dilwara Temples. At first they tried to charge us 30 Rs for the ride, but we had asked around in town before, and the real price was 4 Rs. So we were able to eventually get a ride for the right price. There is no entrance fee to enter the temple, but one is not allowed to take pictures inside the temple complex. This was really too bad because the temples were magnificent. They had beautiful Jain architecture with spectacular marble carvings. We were a little sad that we could not get any good pictures inside. After the temple we walked around town, going up to the Maharaja of Jaipurs former summer palace that looks over the lake and town. They are renovating the palace now to make it into a hotel. We asked some workers there if we could walk around and look at the views. We were also allowed to climb up the tower. One had really great views from everything around. For dinner we had Dohsa. Tasted really good, but not really enough to fill the stomach. A very small 5 Rs ice cream was our desert. In the evening we wanted to check our email, but no Internet café was working, so we retired back to the hotel. Anyway in the morning we are catching a bus to Jodhpur. We are already 13 days in India and the time is going so fast. The problem with India is that it takes for ever to get everywhere.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

This morning the we got picked up by the bus at our hotel at 8:00 am. Before that we had egg omelets for breakfast from a street vendor. Kirk was able to finish his book on the bus ride to Jodhpur. In Jodhpur we left one of our hats on the bus. This was a real shame because it was a great hat. We won't find another like it probably until we get to Australia. The first thing we did was get a rickshaw to the train booking office. The rickshaw driver started with a ridicules price of 50 Rs, Kirk bargained him down to 10 Rs. He though afterward he could bring us to a hotel and collect a commission. We booked a 2nd Class sleeper for that night which was leaving at 11:30 pm. It would give us enough time to see the Meherangarh Fort and some other sites in town. When we told the rickshaw driver that we were going to the fort, he offer to take us there for 50 Rs, we told him that was too much and he quickly realized he was not going to make a killing on us and speed away. We eventually got one for 20 Rs, all the way u to the fort. Normally we would of walked, but we did not have that much time. The Fort was magnificent. It was up on a hill top over looking the city. One had a great view of everything. Many house in Jodhpur are also painted blue, so from above it is a beautiful sight. The both of us were really impressed by the fort. It is a massive structure, but also is beautifully designed. We then walked back to the city, to the clock tower and roamed around the streets for a while. We had a few somosas for lunch, used the internet. For dinner we had Thalis again. They only cost 30 Rs (65 US cents) for the both of us, for all you can eat. I could just see my brothers (Marc and Scott) and I just pigging out. It was actually quite good. After dinner we had some tea in the Refreshment room at the train station and waited for the train. It left a little after 12:00 am.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

Jaisalmer is known for the touts that hangout at the train station. Well we were not disappointed. We walked out of the train station and they were just waiting. The other travelers also just looked. Not only where there touts all over the place, the hotels had guys with huge banners offering free rides to town if they stayed at their hotel. Maren and I decided we would try and walk to town to see for ourselves and to not try and deal with the middlemen. After looking around for a while, we finally settled on a hotel, with a good view of the fort from our hotel room. The first thing we did was go to the Jain Temples inside the fort. They were nice, but did not compare to the Jain Temples in Mt. Abu. After that we visited the Palace Museum. The palace had a great view of the surrounding area, but was nothing special otherwise. It was a structure falling apart. We were kind of disappointed. When we were looking around, a tour guide came tome, checking our tickets, trying to look important. He wanted us to do a tour with him in the place or in the city. He asked Kirk where he was from. Kirk said the US. This is when he shocked us with news that there had been a disaster in the US with some planes crashing into each other. We were both kind of sick to our stomachs, not knowing what really happened. So we decided after the palace to right away check the internet for some news. The guy was trying to subtly get us to go on tour with him, but Kirk eventually let it be known that we had already seen most in the city, he suddenly quietly disappeared. At the exit of the Palace we saw a Hindu Newspaper with some pictures of the crash and another tourist said that 800 people were killed at the Pentagon. Kirk almost got sick. It was unbelievable, like a Tom Clancy novel. Well we quickly found a internet shop and checked out cnn.com and our email for news. We could not believe what we saw and read. It gave one mixed emotion and both of us just about started to cry. We both just stared at the monitor not knowing what to say to each other. We were both in total shock. One just wonders how such a catastrophe could happen and what for sick people there are in the world. One also though of the poor families whose life's have been ruined. We received many emails from friends telling us what has happened. We had planned to maybe to a camel ride in the evening, but the both of us really had no urge to do so anymore. Later on we went to the train station to get some train tickets for the next evening. On the way to the train station, we found a shop showing a BBC that was showing news about the disaster. It was sickening to our stomachs when we saw the plane crashing into the towers. It was almost as a movie was playing before us. In the evening we looked at our emails again and and went out for dinner. We again had all you can eat Thalis a restaurant that was mostly visited by locals. The tourist restaurants were expensive (for here in India). We were both a little disappointed with Jaisalmer. It is basically a tourist trap. Well we are taking a bus to Bikaner tomorrow and then heading up north eventually to McLeod Ganji, where the exiled Dalai Lam lives.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

This morning we first took a walk around town to look at some Havelis. They old merchant mansions in town. However what was really on our mind was what was going on in the US. So we decided to go to an internet café and read up on the news. We were both still sick in our stomachs, speechless, and really down. We still could not believe what had happened, wishing it was just a bad dream. There are some really sick people in world. We spent 3 hours looking at different news sites on the web. It was depressing and it was hard to control our emotions. At 2:15 pm the bus left for Bikaner. The ride took 6.5 hours. In Bikaner we had to wait around for the train which was leaving at 1:30 am on the 14th so we went and checked the internet for more news on the tragedy. The disaster was really the only thing on our mind. Afterwards we hung out at the train station waiting for the train.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

We slept on the train pretty well. We were very tired. We did not get the sleeping bench we had booked because people were already lying down. They just motioned to us to take another sleeping bench. It did not interest them that we had booked seats, but that is India, always polite and considerate. One can once in a while blow ones top with the manners here. The train ride took 15 hours. Nothing spectacular happened, Kirk slept a lot while Maren finished off her book. In Bikaner we got on a bus to Dharamsala, which got a flat tire halfway there. They had no jack to replace the tire, so we had to get a shared taxi to Dharamsala, or we would have had to wait around a long time. There we found a room, not a nice one, but it would do for the night. It always amazes us that the hotel manager has to think about the price before he tells you. To us that means the price is negotiable. Well he wanted 200 Rs, we settled on 100 Rs.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

The first thing we did was to buy a couple of newspapers to find out what was happening in the US. Still shocks us to read about it. The bus to McLeod Ganj was filled to the rim and more. It was even packed up on top. In McLeod Ganj we found a hotel room and then went to check the Internet. There are a lot of Internet Cafe's in town and it is cheap to use at .65 US$ an hour. We are at the moment a little down about traveling, the terrorist attacks in the US and some family affairs have made us focused our minds and souls on other things. We also tried calling home. Kirk was able to call his brothers and Maren reached Norbert. Sometimes in life things are really hard and being so far away and not being able to do anything about it, makes it more difficult. To everyone at home we both want to say we love you and are wishing for you the best. After making the phone calls we visited the Tsuglagkhang Complex, where the Dalai Lama lives and where a Buddhist temple is. It was quite interesting and there were a lot of monks walking around. One also has a great view of the valley below and the mountains above the town. Afterwards we called home again and got in touch with Kirk's parents. We then went back to the hotel and had cheese lasagna for lunch. It was a good change from the thalis and samosas we have eaten almost everyday in India. In the afternoon after Kirk checked the Internet again, we walked around town looking for a small bag for the Laptop. We did not find what we were looking for.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

It was a somber morning today. We first checked the Internet and then had breakfast. Afterwards we packed our bags and put them in the hotel storage for the day. We decided to do a small hike. The mountains were beautiful, one needs more than a day to really enjoy them though. On the mountain we had some chai and then went back to town. In town we just walked around, looked at the Temples again, had some cake and checked the internet again. Maren bought a nice wool winter hat, that we will probably send home. We caught a taxi down to the bus in Dharamsala. It was fully packed, with Kirk's rear hanging out the window. Marens backpack also fell off one time. The bus trip to Dehli was a little scary. The bus driver drove fast down winding roads. We could not sleep too well because we were flying from our seats half the time.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

We arrived at 6:00 am in Delhi. A girl there said she had been twice to Delhi and that we probably needed to take a rickshaw to the Main Bazaar. We got one for 15 Rs, which turned out to be too much. It was only a couple of minutes away. We could have easily walked. The girl was also surprised how close we were. Well we should have been more alert ourselves. There we were attacked by touts wanting to show us the best and cheapest hotels in town. We finally got a hotel in the Main Bazaar area. After resting for a while and taking a shower we went to the Jama Masjid Mosque. It is the biggest mosque in India with really nice architecture. The streets around the mosque are one huge market. It is also so filthy, that we decided on having McDonalds for lunch. We walked around Connaught Place. Later on we checked the internet and then watched some CNN. For dinner we had some Chinese food and went to bed. Delhi is just packed with people and is really dirty.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

This morning we took a bus to the Red Fort. A beautiful red structure. Taking a bus is really cheap around 9 cents each. However they are packed and it is likely you will not get a seat. After the Red Fort we walked around the market and then had some Pizza for lunch. Afterwards we walked to the India Gate and the Secretary Buildings and Presidential Palace. The Secretary buildings we magnificent and one of the nicest government building we have seen so far. Afterwards we went back to the hotel where we did not find the keys to our room. We thought we had left them in the room. So Maren went downstairs to ask if they had a spare one so we could get into our room. The manager just did not want to help, saying he did not have a spare key and he could not do anything until the other manager came. He only said it was our fault that we had lost the key and it was not his problem. Unbelievable. Kirk eventually came to the front desk where Maren was and tried again to discuss it with the guy, but to no avail. He would not listen and was completely rude. A total jerk. He just told us we would have to wait. Well we decided to go upstairs, where we luckily found the key in Kirk's pants. It was in his boxers. Must have fallen out sometime. We were lucky to get into the room. This hotel is called My Hotel, so do not come here. What idiots. In the evening we walked around and checked the internet.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

In the morning Kirk of course turned on the boob tube (TV) and watched some TV. After packing our bags we had breakfast at the train station which was just ok. Before catching the train we checked our emails. When on the train a guy tried to tell us our seats were not the correct ones because he wanted to lay down and sleep. A really unfriendly guy who Kirk got into an argument with after he got a little rude. At the moment Kirk is taking anything from anyone here. The train ride went quick, only three hours to Agra. There right away they try to trick you into taking an expensive rickshaw and more. The first thing we did is to get train tickets to Varanasi for the next day. We were surprised we were able to get them because in Delhi they were all booked out. When waiting in line for the ticket counter there were always guys cutting in. Kirk has taken it as his mission to try and teach them what lines are. When they cut in front of Maren and him, he quickly explains to them the rules of lines and how rude it is to cut. For the most part they back away. We then found our hotel and checked out which internet cafés would allow us to hook up our laptop. Later on we went for a walk around town and ate dinner at the hotel. It was ok but the portions were not that big and it was a little expensive for India. Just one more thing, we read an article from the India Times which said they said that they are thinking of repealing the high tourist entrance fees for their Heritage Tourist Sites. It has effected the tourism industry in a very negative way, just like we thought it would. The prices are just not in any relation to what anything costs here.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

Today we are 6 months on the road. This morning Kirk had trouble getting up right away. He was in the internet cafe until 1:30 am. For breakfast we bought some chapatis and some bananas. Almost like a banana pancake. Then it was time to visit the Taj Mahal. The entrance fee for foreigners was around 20 US$ each (20Rs for Indians), but in the end it was worth it. Just make sure you do not visit the Taj Mahal first when you come to India. It will make everything else seem like nothing. It is a magnificent, beautiful, and huge palace. A lot of pictures were taken. We were very impressed. One could only go half way in the palace because they were renovating. Afterwards we walked around the Agra Fort and had chapatis and some kind of curry sauce for lunch. One has to be a little careful in Agra, not that it is really dangerous, but there are a lot of touts and the rickshaw drivers will not leave you alone. Also they try every scam in the book. In the afternoon we worked on our website and then uploaded a few things. The connection to the internet is a little slow here and it takes a long time to upload. We were able upload most pictures, but still have two sections to upload, Ajanta Caves and Hyderabad. We wanted to take a bicycle rickshaw to the train station, and almost did. When we agreed on a price with a driver, he suddenly started talking to us about bringing us to a shop. We quickly jumped out and did not go any further with him. If he brings us to a shop he gets a hefty commission. Near the station we had dinner and at 8:00 pm we caught the overnight train to Varanasi, the holiest city in India.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

Sleeping on the train was ok. We have found that getting the upper two bunks in the row allows us to sleep better. Our stuff is with us on top, where it would be hard for a thief to take as we are sleeping. Theft on trains is a major problem in India. They even have chains and rings under the seats to lock your bags to. The train took longer than planned. At the train station we first got information on trains the next day. It took a while because the clerks worked very slowly behind their desk. Maren also called for hotel reservations, which turned out to be a smart move because when we arrived in the old city, there were touts everywhere wanting to help us find a hotel. We had reservations which made us more relaxed and secondly kept some touts away when we told them that, but not all! A bicycle rickshaw took us to the river. We got the rickshaw after walking 1 kilometer away from the train station. Around the train station there were too many touts just showing us the right direction. The first rickshaw driver wanted to bring us to another hotel, so we jumped out again. The main thing we had planned for the day was to send a package home of some stuff we do not need any more. Yes again. Also films were sent home for developing. Kirk's mom is always nice enough and develops them for us. Sending mail is a real pain in India, just like our guide book said it would be. First one has to weight the goods, second some guy has to sew the package up and wax the seems, thirdly one has to fill out the forms, and finally pay for the packages to be send. At every end from the Post clerk to the packaging guy, they tried to give us an unofficial rate. First the post clerk gave us a much higher price than quoted in his book. We had to ask to see the price listings book. The package man tried to make us pay more than what was agreed upon. We know we talk about getting ripped off a lot, probably too much, but it is just a constant occurrence here 24 hours a day. It really gets on ones nerves. Sorry if it has bored anyone. Later on we took a stroll along the Ghats and had dinner in town, thalis, somosas, and tea. In the evening Kirk called home and spoke with his folks. It was really good to speak with them again. Later on we sat on the terrace at the hotel, which has a nice view of the river.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

The both of us were told that it was a good idea to wake up early and check out the Ghats at that time. There would be the most action going on at that time. The alarm was set for 6:00 am but we woke up before hand because we did not sleep too well. Something was biting us the whole night and it was not a mosquito. The Ghats were just full of people bathing, washing and doing their religious thing. The water from the river was just filthy. There were also a lot of boats on the river carrying passengers and tourists to different Ghats. Of course the both of us took a lot of pictures. The Ghats where the people bathed were very interesting and there were all types of people walking around. There were also people trying to get us to go on boat rides, get hair cuts, or a full body massage. Mixed in with all the people were the goats and cows. Also the drainage flowed right down the steps to where the people were bathing. We also went to the Ghat where they cremated the bodies of the dead. One is not supposed to take pictures of the funerals, well we now know why. One can take pictures of the funeral if you pay a lot of money. 20 US$ they asked us. First they said no pictures, and then when trying to explaining the funeral session and cremation "tower" they said for a large donation, pictures would be possible. Well that sort of tick us off a little. They claim the taking pictures was against their religion or something, but for money it would be ok. Well we declined and took some pictures from a far distance away any way. When walking by where they cremate the bodies the ashes from the fire are covering you. It is a weird feeling having the ashes of someone tey settling in your hair. Actually one guy saw us taking pictures and one came over to us. A guy who was really nice to us before, showed his real colors. He started yelling at Kirk and Maren call us F____ lady and man and claiming that he wanted to take us to the police. Well Kirk just told him off and kept walking. The pictures anyway were from a far distance and we both felt that it just had to do with money. Well it had to do just with money. The guy followed us basically trying to intimidate Kirk, which was not possible at this time, when he realized he was not going to get any money, he let go and stopped threatening us. The guy was a little nuts, and the pictures were in a public place and far away from the funeral stand, so he really could not say anything. Indian tourists were doing the same thing, and they were not asked for anything. Like everything in India, it just has to do about ripping off tourists and scamming them anyway possible. At another Ghat there was a body (we think it was a body) floating in the river, Kirk went over to take a picture of it which is supposed be no problem to do. A guy quickly called over and said that it was not allowed. Kirk then said ok, but the guy said quickly 5 Rs and it would be ok. Kirk then took the picture and said there was no reason to pay and he told the guy that he should not be trying to scam all the time. The guy knew what Kirk meant and just laughed and kept quiet. After walking along the Ghat, we checked the Internet, had breakfast and then took off to the train station. The touts trying to organize a rickshaw for us were a real pain and would not lay off until Kirk just took one of them and starting yelling at him to get lost. He got the point and went away. Kirk only started yelling at the guy when we had asked a few Rickshaw drivers ourselves what it would cost and he would push these guys out of the way, because he would not get a commission from them. These touts were really aggressive. We finally got one for a reasonable price to the train station. At the train station the lines were huge, but as a women Maren was able to go to the front of the line and buy the tickets. The train came 90 minutes late so we just hung around the station for a while, eating chapatis with bananas and also had an egg sandwich. Getting on the train was a mad rush. An elderly women was trying to get off the train and all these young guys were just pushing and shoving to get in the train. This poor women almost got trampled. Kirk just then stopped all these before the entrance of the train and did not allow anyone to pass until the women was able to get out. She was very thankful and grabed Kirk's arm to thank him. The guys trying to get on the train had also calmed down a little. In the train Kirk had to again explain to a few guys sitting around us that throwing garbage out of the window was not good. Actually two students thought we were really nice and wanted us to write some things down about our country. They seemed to think it was nice that we thought of their country by not littering. Later on a few guys who we had drinking tea with, they actually bought us one, were talking about different things. Well trying to talk, their English was not too good. One guy could not believe that we did not have any kids (they thought we were married, we did not say we weren't). The guys were nice in the beginning, but then they started getting a little weird on us. The guy started bringing up the subject of sex. At first we could not believe it, but he started getting close to Maren, not touching, but close enough. He then asked us if he could with Maren. These guys here are just sick. They also asked us if we wanted to stay at their house. This scared us a little, because we were getting off at the same stop and they were more than us. So we just started to ignore them a little and I think they got the point. We were lucky when they just got off the train before we did. When these guys started talking to us, we wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, but it did not work out that well. It was around 8:30 pm when we got a bus to Sunauli, the border town with Nepal.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

After waking up the immigration officers at the Indian side we finally got our exit stamps at around 12:20 am. Well India had one last surprise for us. They seemed to want a bribe. One immigration officer said to us, that "give money, make him happy". It was not clear to us, but it seemed that he wanted a bribe for waking him up. We sort of played the situation as though we did not understand him, and just walked over the border crossing. At the Nepalese side we also had to wake up the border crossing officer. Their we filled out our forms, gave him a passport photo and 60 US$ and the both of us got our 60 day Visas for Nepal. This border crossing is good while it is open 24 hours a day. There of course was a tout waiting for us. We did not want to get a room for three hours so we told him if we could wait in his restaurant we until the bus came we would eat something. He said that would be no problem. At the restaurant we had chopsoey which was really good. We also got to watch a little BBC and Fox News. So we were updated on the latest news about the WTC. Well the tout said we could stay there until 5:00 am until the bus came and it seemed to be ok with the waiter, who we thought was really nice. But then the hotel manager came and said to the waiter that he should tell us to get a room, while they were closing. We told him that this was not what we were told and why is it now different. The both of wanted to give the place the benefit of the doubt and tried to let him explain. They then tried to tell us that the 5:00 am bus was no good and that we should take only the 8:30 am tourist bus to Pokhara. This was beginning to sound very fishy so we finally said we would wait outside and buy our own bus ticket at the station. He wanted 160 Indian RS per ticket. They also at first said that there was no 5:00 am bus, then they said the bus took 14 hours compared to 8:00 hours with the tourist bus, and the price difference was only 10 RS. Well we did not believe him and just took our stuff and left. They followed us out trying to explain to us that it was not a good idea. The hotel and restaurant is right on the Nepalese side of the border and is called Paradise Guest House. Well do not go there, they are full of bull. The waiter actually was nice, as we had noticed inside he was just taking orders from his boss. He felt really guilty. When the boss was not looking he said that the 5:00 am bus was ok and got us a rickshaw for 10 Indian RS. Which was a good price. When we arrived at the bus station and Maren tried to pay the guy, he came back with the 10 Rs not for two of us, but 10 Rs each trick. They do it all the time. Well Kirk had had enough. He took the 10 Rs out of Maren's hand, gave it to the driver and said by. The bus was just leaving, and we were lucky to get on. The bus ride was ok, a bit long on hard, bumpy, winding roads sometimes, but basically it was ok. Maren was not feeling too good. She started having a sore throat. It Pokhara the touts hit us right when we got off the bus. We were a little hungry anyway, so we got some donuts and a coke in a cafe. Most of the touts then disappeared. We then shared a taxi with two ladies to the Lakeside where we searched around for a hotel. We found a nice one for 2 US$. Maren then took a nap, while Kirk worked on the ASUS Laptop. After Maren woke up we walked around the town for a while, looking at various shops for some trekking gear. They have a lot of gear here at really cheap prices. All name brand things. They are probably mostly fakes, at least the cheap things. For dinner we splurged and had huge cheese burgers. A little expensive for here but it was nice to eat some meat again. Later on we quickly checked the internet. It is much more expensive here than in India. What one paid in India for one hour usage, one pays here for 10 minutes only. However it seemed faster than what we had used in India. We also checked cnn.com, but there were no major news about the WTC.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

This morning the both of us woke up a little later than usual, 8:15 am. We needed to get money from the bank which opened at 9:45 am. So we first had breakfast and then got a cash advance on Kirk's Visa Card. They gave a really good exchange rate of 75.85 NepRs per US $. The going rate at the cash exchange was 75.09. Also they charged no commission. Afterwards we went looking for the Trekking Permit office. We thought it was on the other side of town, but it was actually right near our hotel. So we took a long walk for nothing, well not for nothing, it was a nice walk. Maren was still not feeling well, so we bought some cough medicine and vitamin tablets for her. The Park Permits were 2000 NepRs each, which is reasonable, because you just pay once and not for each day you spend in the park. Afterwards we went shopping for some stuff for our trek. We bought some fleece gloves, a fleece scarf, bag rain covers, a sun hat, a small camera bag for the digital camera, and some better sun glasses for under 14 dollars. The sunglasses we bought in Dehli were just too cheap. After some lunch we walked down to the lake and around town a little. In the afternoon we took a long nap.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

The morning of the hike was a little rainy and cloudy. We got a taxi to the bus park. There we bought some donuts at the bus stop and then caught the bus to Phedi, where we were to begin our trek, the Annapurna Sanctuary Trek. The first part of the trek to Dhampus was straight up hill on a rock stair path. It was a hard way to begin. The first day, the weather was not that great, it was cloudy and rained along the way. For lunch we stopped at a small restaurant and ate some Dal Bhat right before Pothana. The prices on the menues seem to be fixed by the government. This is actually a good system probably because it makes you not think about having to bargain for everything. Also the people are getting a fair price for their food and services. The people living along the trek, rely on the tourist trade for their living. The higher one goes the more expensive things are. There were hardly any hikers on the trail. First it is still the monsoon season here (though at the end) and the season really starts in October and goes through November. Second the world's current affairs are leading to many people not coming at the moment. It was nice not to have the trails packed with people, like they supposedly get in high season. From Pothana to Deurali it took us 40 minutes. The first day we walked a total of 7 hours which was enough that day. We stayed in Deurali at the New View Lodge. The rooms are basic, but ok and clean. It was too bad that there were so many clouds since the views are supposed to be really good. There we met some English girls who were having a tough time of it on the mountain. The people on the mountain seem to be much more friendly and down to earth. To our surprise, one could buy a lot of things, like chocolate bars, coke, beer, sweets, and other western goods at almost every guest house or restaurant along the way. We started at Phedi at 1580 meters and Deurali lies at 1950 meters. We went to bed right after dinner. The meal was good, but the portions small. During the day we had got bitten by leeches. Maren had two and Kirk one. We burned them off with a hot match. One does not feel them, but they really suck blood out of you. When they fall off it looks like a scratched mosquito bit, really bloody. One sees them often on cows and other animals, when they are full of blood.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

This morning we woke up early and got right on our way, 6:30 am. The early morning views of the Annapurna mountains were great. It was much clearer than the day before. After one hour we had a breakfast break. We both had corn porridge with fruit. The next four hours were a little tough. The way lead us through many small villages and the path constantly went up and then down. Sort of frustrating once and a while since one does not feel you are making any progress up the mountain. We did not expect to see so many villages with small guest houses and restaurants. Every village along the route has turned into a place to serve the trekkers coming through. Not to give the wrong impression, the places are really nice and they are for the most part not tacky. Along the way Maren put medicine and a bandage on a local school girl's hand after she had fallen. Suddenly a lot of kids had cuts and wounds. We hope we did not start a trend, like giving sweets out to kids. At 12:00 pm we stopped for lunch at New Bridge., which is in a lower valley. For lunch we had vegetable, egg, and fried noodles. It was again a really small portion. One should actually always order Dhal Bat because you get all you can eat most of the time. At lunch we spoke to a unusual couple. He was French and lived in Cambodia with his Cambodian wife. He had spent the last 3 months in Pokhara and only works 4 months a year. Lives in Cambodia because it is cheap. They were both hiking on the trek with only flip flops on. They also did not have much warm clothing with them. The next part of of the hike was tough, straight up. The paths here in Nepal seem always to take the shortest direction between two points. About 1 hour before Chhomrong we stopped for a while and spoke to an Israeli couple who were on their way back. We still had to climb the steepest part of the climb that day. It was a 2 hour climb up to Chhomrong. It started raining on the way up. So we hurried and got up there in 1:15 minutes. At Chhomrong we were 200 meters higher than we had started the day. There we had a great tasting milk tea and got a room at the Heven View Guest House. After dinner, which was Dhal Bat we retired early to bed. We had spoken to some Spanish guys from the Bask region, who had just done the climb. They hinted that tomorrow would be a tough day. We also spoke to a French women Laure and her German friend Rene. They were doing the same trek as us. She has been traveling for 5 months now and had come all the way over land from Europe.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

The both of us did not sleep well. It could have been that too much tea was consumed the night before. The bathroom was visited often in the night. (Kirk 4x, Maren 2x). For breakfast it was porridge again with tea. In the morning it is always clear and one could see clearly the snow topped mountains in the distance. At 7:40 am we started by first going to the checkpoint to register ourselves. Then it was a long steep hike down Chhomrong to a river, where we then had to hike back up to Sinuwa. We have to come back this way, so we were not looking forward to walking up the long steep path. During our first break we were able to get some really sweet pictures of some children. Maren cleaned the noses of them because there was snot dripping into their mouths. The next three hours were again hard, hiking up and down and up and down. In Bamboo we stopped for half an hour and had some donuts. They were the cheapest things there. It got much more expensive up the mountain. To understand the prices a little, donuts in town costs us 5 RS and on the mountain higher up it costs us 50 Rs and they were not really that good. Just a plain donut. We had to put some sugar in them so we could eat them. As mentioned before, the higher one goes the more expensive things are. It is quite understandable since some guy has to carry the stuff up the mountain on his back. There are absolutely no roads for vehicles to reach the places here. Bamboo was 2100 meters high. We still had to hike 3 hours to Himalaya, which was at 2900 meters. Along the way we were bale to pick some berries, which were a nice change. It also started to rain on the way and we put on our rain covers to protect our backpacks. At Himalaya we met the French and German couple. We were surprised since we had left earlier than them and we had not seem them pass us on the way. There we changed our cloths, into something warm and dry, had an early dinner and went to bed straight away. We were exhausted.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

Like at home Maren is always the first one to get up. We had slept ten hours which did us a lot of good. We filtered some water, and then got going. In Dovan we had breakfast. It was about 1 hour away. We had vegetable fried noodles. Then it was onto Machhapuchhare Base Camp (MBC), all up hill. It had only taken us 4 hours that morning to get there. There we took a long break and slept in the sunshine on a rock facing the Machhapuchhare (6997 m). A holy mountain for the Hindus, and according to them, no human is allowed to climb the mountain. After 45 minutes Maren woke us up and we hiked 1.5 hours up to the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC). The air was getting a little thin so we took our time. The ABC is 4130 meters high. Maren was really tired when we finally arrived. Up top the prices for the lodges were all the same. There were four lodges there, all basically the same, and all with nice owners. We did not know which one to choose so we flipped a coin, and stayed at the Annapurna Guest House. There Kirk let it be know that we like big portions of food. Well there we got some. A big bowl of Cheese Macaroni and Vegetables. Later we walked up above the base camp, checking pyramids people have built for a diamond ring that a friend of my brother had left on the mountain. There were so many small rock pyramids there, that we had no chance of finding it unless we knocked down everyone, which would have taken days. Later on top we met Laure and Rene again and got their email addresses so we could send them a picture we had taken of them. In the late evening the clouds slowly left and one had a beautiful view of the mountains. The Annapurna I is over 8000 meters high. Absolutely spectacular. Snow topped mountains surrounded the camp. In the evening Maren had the same as for lunch, but Kirk did not eat anything because the his lack of appetite. After dinner we retired to bed.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

The night was long and the both of us did not sleep. Not only was it tough because of the the altitude but Kirk got really sick in the night. He had a really case of the runs and threw up. So Maren was not able to sleep either, since Kirk was constantly getting up and not allowing Maren to sleep. We had also put the sleeping bags together to keep warm. In the morning the views of the mountains were even better. One could see the Annapurna I, Annapurna South, Tent Mountain, Machhapuchhare, and others. We of course took a lot of pictures. Hope they turn out well. We then packed our bags and headed down the mountain really slowly. Kirk did not have any energy at all. At the MBC Kirk had a chocolate bar and a coke. He could not eat anything else. For lunch it was just a coke. Our goal for the day was to get as far as possible. We went really slowly but did not take long breaks along the way until 3:00 pm when we stopped again in Bamboo. However after eating another candy bar we decided to go further to Sinuwa, which is at 2340 meters. At Sinuwa we met some Argentinean guys who we had seen up at ABC. Also we met some German families. One of German men works at Harvard as a Professor in the Bio-Chemistry department. My brother Marc also studied Bio-Chemistry at Harvard. But I think this German guy started after my brother had graduated. The daughter has lived in Nepal for the last 8 months and was able to give us some information on getting to Tibet, which will be our next goal after Kathmandu. For dinner Maren had mashed potatoes and fried egg, Kirk had nothing. Was not at all hungry. Like always we retired early to bed. It was a long 10 hour hike that day.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

6:30 am was the starting time. Kirk was feeling a little better, but not totally fit. He has not eaten much the days before. We had a really hard part of the trip before us. The steep path up to Chhomrong. It was a long way up steep rock stairs. It was really exhausting. After passing through the checkpoint we stopped at the Heven View Lodge and had some apple pie, apple strudel, and apple crumble. Kirk wolfed them down. Well he paid for it afterwards with stomach pains and did not eat for the rest of the day. After the meal Kirk was not feeling that good. He actually felt much worse. At the restaurant we met again Rene and Laure. They had gotten to Chhomrong the night before. They were taking the shortest way out of the mountains today. After resting a long time we decided to get going. We wanted to get at least as far as Ghandruk. The first part of the walk was mostly down hill into the valley below. However than came a really tough stretch for almost 2 hours straight up a mountain. It was exhausting. Up top Maren had Veg Fried Rice and Kirk a Coke. It was then all down hill until Ghandruk. Ghandruk was a really big village with lots of hotels and restaurants. We decided that we could go further and walked to Kimche, where we stayed in the Kimche Guest House. A Nepalese lady who we have met climbing the steep part of the mountain, sort of followed or lead us all the way to Ghandruk. Kirk noticed this right off the bat, that she wanted something. We were right in the end. She wanted to show us her hotel. We had a good excuse that we were going further that afternoon. The lodge in Kimche was the worst we had slept in so far on the trek. The owner was also a little wacko. We could see across the valley where we had eaten breakfast the second day of our trek. The other side of the valley seemed much nicer to us. For dinner Maren had Dal Bhat and Kirk just a hot lemon drink. We wanted to go to bed real early, but Maren's meal took for ever to come. Finally after having to listen to the owner ramble on about absolutely nothing understandable for an hour we went to bed. In the night Maren had nightmares that leeches and bugs were crawling all over here. She woke up Kirk and he had to shine the flashlight so she could see that she was just dreaming.

Zhangnu-Neylam

We started at 6:45 am down the mountain from Kimche. The last part was really easy. Most of it down hill or flat. We also had great views of the snow topped mountains in the background. The last village on the Annapurna Sanctuary Trek (Annapurna Conservation Area Project, ACAP) was Birethani. We got there in 2.5 hours. From there it was another 45 minutes to Naya Pul where we took a local bus back to Pokhara. It took 1.5 hours to get there. The bus dropped us 2 km away from Lakeside in Pokhara. We walked the rest of the way. In Pokhara, Kirk got finally something to eat, a cheese sandwich. We found a cheap hotel, Future Way Guest House. It was a good deal, clean and hot showers. We both took really hot showers. Kirk needed one really bad after not showering for 7 days, he smelled bad. Afterwards we went into an Internet Café and downloaded our emails and checked up on current events. We were very happy that after all war had not broken out. For the rest of the day the both of us wrote emails and relaxed a little. In the evening Maren had an egg sandwich for dinner, while Kirk only had a banana lassi (yogurt drink). Before we went to bed Kirk sent out emails at the internet café. Before bed Maren booked 2 bus tickets to Kathmandu for the next morning. Maren was a little ticked off because the hotel had left our laundry out in the rain. No way it would be dry in the morning.

Tingri-Xigatse

Well at 6:00 am our laundry was not dry. Kirk had to put on wet shorts. We walked 30 minutes to the bus station. Along the way we crossed paths with Rene and Laure again. He was going to Sonauli, then back to Delhi to catch his flight home. From the bus station one had a beautiful view of the Annapurna Mountains. The bus ride was really easy. It was a tourist bus so we got to Kathmandu in 6.5 hours. There we looked for hotels with the Argentinean guys we met on the mountain. One always seem to cross paths with the same people. They chose another hotel than we did. We quickly dropped off our stuff and went to look for something to eat. Well they seem to have everything here. They even had bagels, yes bagels. We both had a delicious cream cheese bagel sandwich. It was a great change. We then went checking for information on how to get to Tibet. There were so many different explanations and stories of what is possible and what is not. Also the prices differed greatly. A few time Kirk noticed that they were trying to tell us a bunch of bull and confronted the guys by saying to them why are you telling us lies and trying to rip us off. Twice the reaction from the travel agents were silence. They knew right away that they were caught in lies and could only smile. We got up and left both times. One notices one is in a city and that the modern world has come to parts of Nepal. It is not like in the mountains, where one felt that they were not always trying to rip you off. In getting to Tibet, one has to take a tour. One is otherwise not allowed in. So it is much more costly than going in as an individual. Later on we also had a huge portion of French Fries with Mayo and Ketchup. They were also great. We also checked the internet and walked around town, trying to orientate ourselves. Kirk also bought a Time Magazine. For dinner we had some dry pizza and an awful pretzel. They were half priced after 9:30 pm. But not worth it. We also bought some pastries for breakfast the next morning. Later on Kirk called home spoke to his mom. It is always great to speak to the person one loves. We do have to admit, we do miss our parents on this trip. It would be nice to see them again or just even be able to talk to them more often. Kirk spent the rest of the night reading his newly bought Time Magazine.

Xigatse-Gyantse

This morning we woke up at around 7:00 am. We did a little work on our diary then got ready to go to the German Embassy here. Maren's passport is almost full of Visas and stamps and she would like to know what she can do about getting more pages or another passport. We got a small map down at the reception at the hotel and then walked to the embassy, about half an hour away. Well we were both not thinking. The 3rd of October is a National Holiday in Germany, Tag der Deutschen Einheit. Well tomorrow then. Then we went to the Chinese Embassy. We heard it might be closed, but we decided to find it anyway, well it was closed for the week and we would have to come back on the 8th of October to apply for our Chinese Visa. We have anyway a lot to do here, especially with updating our website and things. We are also waiting for Wes and Masami to arrive from Bangkok in the next few days. In the early afternoon Kirk worked on our website and Maren went checking for more information on ways to get to Tibet. Our hotel reception says he knows a really cheap place. Will see how that turns out! Well, it was the cheapest tour offer of the day for about 310 US$ each. The Chinese Government changed their regulations going into Tibet. They only allow tour groups to enter for a minimum of 7/8 days. That makes the whole thing very expensive, but that is what they want to reach. For us that means we cannot leave earlier than the 13th of October because we have to get our Chinese Visas and the Tibetan Entry Permit. One and a half weeks in Kathmandu, but we will keep ourselves busy somehow. There is a lot to see here and in the surrounding town of the Kathmandu Valley. In the evening we went looking for a small handbag for the laptop and then went out to dinner at a restaurant below our hotel. Maren had momos and Kirk had Mexican Enchiladas. The momos are dumplings, but they were not nearly as good as my mom's and Mrs. Shih's back home. They never compare. So we are still expecting some good ones when we eventually arrive in AZ. Afterwards Kirk spent 4 hours in the Internet uploading pictures. It is so slow here it is very frustrating, one good thing is that the connection does not break all the time, just takes forever. When Kirk went back to the hotel, the hotel was shut, he had to call the Hotel to wake up the guard to open the door. Maren was sound a sleep also when he got back to the room. Like she said in a deep sleep. But when I told her that her sister emailed she woke up quickly.

Gyantse-Lhasa via Karo Pass

Maren got up early and filtered water. She also worked on the pictures for our website. When Kirk eventually woke up at 7:30 am, he went to the sandwich shop and got two bagels with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and mayo for breakfast. It is so nice to have fresh sandwiches again. After finishing the pictures Maren went to the German Embassy to see what she can do about the lack of Visa spaces in her passport. Kirk worked on the website in the mean time. When Maren came back she was not feeling too good. She went to sleep. She did not get her new passport since the lines were just too long, so she has to go back tomorrow. Kirk uploaded our website for 4 hours. The connections here are really slow. Maren got a little sick and threw up a little. She thinks the sandwich she ate in the morning made her sick. Later on we both slept for a while then took a small walk through town to get some fresh air. Kirk than had dinner, Maren only had some herbal tea. Afterwards Maren went to bed and Kirk worked on the website again. There is still so much to do. It is still not up to par.

Zhangnu-Neylam

Maren woke up still not feeling well, but she still managed to go to the German Embassy to get a new passport. She will have to wait until next week to get it. In the morning Kirk just worked on our website and uploaded a few things. In the early afternoon Wes and Masami arrived from Bangkok. It was really nice to see them again. They got a room right next to ours. We actually wanted to pick them up at the Airport, but Maren was not feeling that great, so we waited at the hotel. Later on after we napped, we bought a bag for our laptop, so we have something to carry it around in. Just a cloth bag. We also looked at trekking gear for a while, but did not buy anything yet. In the evening we went out to dinner with Wes and Masami. It was a really nice evening, with a lot to talk about. It is nice because we feel that they are on the same wave length as us and sort of in the same position as us. Having worked for a long time and now are taking a breather and seeing the world. Wes is a also really interested in computers and other topics, Kirk likes discussing and learning about. So it seems to be a good fit. So we hope that they will go to Tibet with us. That would be fantastic if they could fit Tibet now in their plans. After dinner we bought our breakfast for tomorrow, some chocolate pastries at half price. At the bakeries here the pastries are often half price after 9:30 pm. Kirk then checked the internet for an hour and then went to bed.

Tingri-Xigatse

Kirk woke up late in the morning, around 8:30 am. At 9:00 am Wes came along and asked if we were ready to do a little sightseeing. We walked to Durban Square where there are some Buddhist Temples and the Old Royal Palace. They are nice, but a little run down. Foreigners actually have to pay to walk around a public square there. We just walked by the check point. Maren and Masami actually were stopped, but they just said they were walking through. The temples were ok, but not worth paying for. We then did a walk recommended in our guide book, which led us pass other temples. Katmandu is really nice to walk through, one is hassled, but nothing like in India. Afterwards we got some lunch, Maren and I just had bagels. After lunch Kirk had another bagel and Maren a brown roll, because we were not full yet. We then went back to the room where Kirk of course packed out the computer and Maren took a small nap. After Kirk checked the internet he worked on his pc, doing some other websites. Maren in the meantime checked out tour operators for Tibet. We went out with Wes and Masami for dinner tonight at the restaurant below our hotel. Well that was the last time. It is actually not really good. We do not think Wes and Masami liked it at all. Later on we looked around town for a used guide book for China. The used ones are still really expensive here, so we are going to go looking again tomorrow. We also checked out trekking stores and then had a half priced donut before we retired to our room. Maren went to sleep and Kirk worked some more on the laptop. What is really nice is that it now seems that Wes and Masami are definitely going on the Tibet tour with us.

Xigatse-Gyantse

Kirk seems to sleep a little longer here. Maren was up early writing some emails. For breakfast we got some chocolate pastries and then checked our emails for a few minutes. Later we went with Wes and Masami to look at tour operators for Tibet. We first went back to the original tour operator to ask some more questions about the program and payment methods. Afterwards we decided to look at one more tour operator. There we found what we are looking for we think. He was offering us a 5 day Tibet tour which will save each couple around 180 US$. We think we are going to go with them. On Monday we just want to go to the Chinese Embassy and learn about the Visa possibilities. Wes and Masami would like to get a multiple Visa. After discussing the tour and bargaining the price down a little we had some tea and then had some French Fries for lunch, just like in Holland, "Fritten Spezial". We also bought a used China Lonely Planet book for 900 RS, around 12 US$. Later on we went back to the room and Kirk worked on his web pages while Maren took a nap. As Maren slept Kirk also went to the Internet Cafe'. An hour later she picked Kirk up and we both met Wes and Masami at a slide show over India. Afterwards we went to the Katmandu Guest House for dinner. Later on we both tried to call home. Kirk got through, but when his mom tried to call back, she must have not got through. Maren's mom and Norbert were not at home. Afterwards Kirk went back to the Internet cafe' to upload some stuff. It was really slow and not much got updated. Tomorrow we have to get up earlier to go to the Chinese embassy for our Visas.

Gyantse-Lhasa via Karo Pass

Wes came to our door at around 7:30 am. We had planned to go to the Chinese Embassy this morning to get our Chinese Visas. We got there an hour early, but there were already people lining up. When the doors opened at 9:30 am there was a mad rush to get in. The security had to hold people back. They let us climb over a side fence to get in and get a decent position in line. After finally giving up our passports we walked back to the hotel. For lunch we had fries and a bagel. In the afternoon Kirk uploaded some web pages, not much because it was again so slow today. He spent three hours and just uploaded 30 small Html files. Later on we did some Christmas shopping. Afterwards we all watched a slide show on Tibet. We went out with Wes and Masami for dinner again and then called Kirk's mom. Maren also tried to call home, but no one in the past few days have answered the phone. Later on Maren bought some bread and Nutella for breakfast the next day. The bread (healthy, brown bread) is also half price after 9:30 pm at the bakeries here.

Zhangnu-Neylam

In the morning Kirk went right away to the Internet Cafe to try and upload some files. The connection was better, but still not great. Since he goes so often here, he was able to bargain for a better price. He now pays 30 RS instead on 40 RS per hour. In the mean time Maren, Masami, and Wes looked for the best way to pay the Tour to Tibet. One thing they found out is that the tour operator now says the monasteries are not included in the 5 day package, even though the first time he said they were. However Kirk had specifically asked him the day before and the answer was yes they are included in the price of the tour. Everyone had the same memory. Well we went back to the agent and Maren asked again. He was not very helpful and he just said they are never included in the price. He told Maren in such a way that one had the feeling that he did not care if we went on the tour or not. He did not apologize for a misunderstanding or the mistake, he sort of just blew Maren off. Kirk stepped in and explained our side of the story and how we had all understood the agreement the day before. But he seemed disinterested and not concerned. Kirk got a little hard with him and told him that he had lied to us and asked how could we trust him. We said we would have to discuss it further among ourselves. We did not feel comfortable with this guy anymore. So we all decided to checkout Green Hill again to see if they could now offer us a 5 day package. Well it turned out they could, and for the same price after Kirk explained what we were offered from the other company. Kirk just wrote down the prices and said that we would rather go with Green Hill Tours, but here are the facts. The guy then agreed to the price and gave also a good exchange rate for the dollar, so we could pay in RS. Later on we decided to go sightseeing to the Swayanbhunath Buddhist Temple here in Kathmandu. It was very interesting and had interesting people around it. Wes even got his fortune told even though half the stuff what the guy said turned out to be false. To get to the Buddhist temple one had to walk up steep stairs. Up at the top of the hill at the Buddhist temple, a lot monkeys had made there home and were feeding off the offerings made to the Buddhist Statues. On the way back Kirk got a hair cut and shave. He wanted 70 RS but Kirk paid him 90 RS because he worked on him such a long time. He also got a facial and head massage which was great. For quick snack we had some Momos on a little "restaurant" on the corner of a street. We ended up going back to it for dinner with Masami and Wes. It was so cheap, but really good, 10 Momos for 12 RS. A great deal. The owner was also really nice and his wife was really sweet. They got a kick out of the digital camera. They like the pictures we took of them. Afterwards we had desert at the half priced bakery. Maren really liked the Apple Strudel. Later on Kirk worked again a little in the Internet and then went to bed.

Tingri-Xigatse

When Kirk woke up, he ate some bread for breakfast and then went straight to the Internet Cafe at 7:00 am. It is the best time to upload sites, because there are not that many people using the net. He worked on the net for over 5 hours. Maren in the meantime read her book and did some other things in town. In the afternoon we took a bus with Wes and Masami to go to a couple of temples a few kilometers away. The first temple was where they did the cremations of the bodies. Unlike India, one was allowed to take pictures. The water was so filthy around the burial site. But people still washed in there. The second temple was two kilometers away. This is a temple where everyone walks clockwise in a circle around the Stupa. It is quiet interesting watching the different types of people walk by. There were a lot of Buddhist monks. In the evening we had Momos again for dinner. The owner and his wife were seemed happy that we came again. Kirk this time had three and half plates of Momos. Later on we made a phone call to Germany and then checked out emails again. Just to let our family know, we have not received emails from the following people in a while, Rita and Norbert & Scott and Marc. So we expect to get some mail from you guys in the near future.

Xigatse-Gyantse

Kirk got up at 7:30 am and went straight to the Internet Cafe. He had to still upload some pages. The uploading took 3 hours. Afterwards we went to lunch with Wes and Masami. We again went to the French Fries Stand and had "Fritten Spezial" as we always do. In the afternoon Kirk slept and Maren worked on sorting out the Kathmandu pictures. We have taken so many that it is very difficult to sort out the ones for our website. In the evening we went to the briefing for the Tibet tour. After that we picked up a few things at the store and then went to dinner with Wes and Masami. So as you see, nothing major happened today.

Gyantse-Lhasa via Karo Pass

We just would like to wish Holger a Happy Birthday and to Anja, his girl friend Happy Birthday, too. She had her birthday on the 9th. Kirk got up early again so he could upload our Kathmandu pictures. Uploading is much faster early in the morning when there are not so many users on the net. At around 8:30 am we went to the post office to send some big packages home. We chose sea mail because it was less than half the price of airmail. It costs us 126 US$ just to send the stuff home. Just as much as the stuff had cost us in the store. Ok a little less. It took a while at the post office to first fill out the customs forms, the customs checking everything we were sending, getting the packages weighed, getting the packages sewn up in cloth, getting our addresses on other forms, then on the packages, then wax sealing the package, paying for the packaging itself, weighing again the packages, paying for the packages and then waiting for our receipt. This as you can imagine took a couple of hours. Hopefully the stuff gets to the US in the next few months. It first travels overland to Calcutta and then by sea to the USA. We were not done. We had to send our film home by airmail at another post office down the street. This took much less time, only a few minutes. Maren then called the German Embassy to see if her new passport could be picked up. They had not even got an ok from Germany yet that she would be allowed to get a new passport. The German Embassy is ridicules. She has waited a week already and they have done nothing. They provide absolutely no service. So Maren was really angry. She really needs new visa pages. Wes was nice enough to take Kirk's passport to the US Embassy after he picked it up at the Chinese Embassy and got some new inserts in it. It should last the trip at least. Germans have to get a whole new passport. Later on Maren corrected some internet pages and we both took a nap. Kirk later on updated some of our web pages for two hours. Later on we did some last minute shopping for a couple of hats and some 35mm films. Kirk also bought two books to read, the sequential Bourne books. So we both have something to read now. Maren later on tried to pick up our bus tickets at Green Hill with Wes, but they were not ready yet. In the mean time Kirk did some internet work. In the evening we went out to eat again with Wes and Masami. Before dinner we tried again to get the ticket, we eventually got some vouchers for our bus to Golmud and their flight ticket back to Kathmandu. Maren also notice that they were combining our tour with the tour operator that we had a little fight with a couple of days before when they lied to us. So Green Hill also got caught in a lie that they do the tours alone. The other tour guide was actually organizing the tour this time. So we will see as how it goes. There excuse was that there were not enough people this year because of the terrorist attack in the USA and the killings of the Royal Family. Afterwards we bought some stuff for the trip to Tibet and Kirk bought some fleece pants and a long sleeve shirt. The things are really cheap in Nepal. Later on e checked the internet one last time and upload some new web pages.

Zhangnu-Neylam

This morning we all got up at around 4:55 am, we had to be at the tour operator at 5:15 am. However like always thing were not well organized and the bus left after 6:00 am. We were in a group from around 19 people. At 9:00 am we stopped for breakfast. For some reason we got breakfast for free even though the 5 day package tour did not include breakfast according to the travel agent when we booked the tour. It seems that they have no paper stating which person is on what tour. The trip went up and down on a winding sometimes washed away road. Sometimes it was really scary overlooking the cliffs or when trucks came in the other direction and got really close. At the border we had to wait an hour while they processed the forms so we could leave Tibet. In the mean time the money changers were trying to rip us off. They wanted 7 Chinese Yuan per US dollar while the actual exchange rate is 8.28 Yuan per US$. They also wanted 15 Nepalese RS for 1 Chinese Yuan, a price absolutely unacceptable. It should be between 9 and 10 Nepalese RS for 1 Yuan. So we decided to wait until we got to the Chinese (Tibet) side of the border. There Kirk started bargaining with the money changers, playing them off one another. Since Kirk had still 10257 Nepalese RS left he wanted to exchange them for Yuan. Since in China later it would be impossible to get rid off, exactly like the let over Egyptian Pounds we sent home to Germany the day before. The money changers also started at 15 RS for each Yuan. By having the changers bid against themselves, Kirk was able to get 9.6 RS for each Yuan. So that was much better. The guys on the Nepalese side never budged with their exchange rate, so exchange your money on the Tibet side of the border. From there we all piled up in the back of a truck and drove 12 Km to the Chinese Customs checkpoint up a winding dirt road overlooking cliffs. It was really bumpy, lucky for us we were sitting on our backpacks and had some cushion. After getting through the checkpoint, passport and baggage check we met a group of Japanese climbers who just finished climbing a 8200 meter high mountain. One of the Japanese guys was a famous person from Japan, who has also driven in Formula 1 and does extreme sports around the world. His name is Katayama. So we have to look him up later in the internet to learn more about him. We then were put up in a hotel. Again we were the only ones who were supposed to get a dorm room. However everyone seems to get a dorm room, even though in their package a double normally was offered. So it seems that they do not have an other itinerary and accommodations than the 5 day tour. So we are not sure if they know we are only on the 5 day tour ourselves. After getting the room we ate a little bread with nutella and cheese spread. We then walked through town and had some noodles and vegetable rice at a local restaurant. It was actually a lot of fun, because we had trouble communicating with the local people, because they did not speak any English. Lucky for us Wes and Masami knew a few chinese characters and words and could eventually order our food. Afterwards we went back to the hotel and worked on our web page. The town is filled with brothels. We guess a lot of border towns are like this.

Tingri-Xigatse

We all got up at 8:30 am to get breakfast downstairs, tea, egg, and pancake. The tour was supposed to leave at 9:30 am, but did not get underway until around 11:00 am. The tour guide was completely unorganized and had was not qualified to do the job right. After we all found our 4WD vehicle we started driving. However after around 15 minutes we all stopped and waited another hour for the tour guide at the checkpoint. He took all morning to get the Tibet permits ready. So in the mean time people were getting very frustrated. Another problem was that no one really new who the tour guide was. He never introduced himself. Also there was only one for 44 people, even though we were promised 2 if the group was over 30 people. Well they are always lying to you whenever they can. We were glad we were in a 4WD vehicle though. The roads ere not good and very bumpy. In the car was Masami, Maren, Wes, Kirk and Mike (an Australian man). The scenery was beautiful and one had nice views of the mountain. Also it was very interesting to see the people from Tibet working in the mountains. Hard for a westerner to imaging living that way. It must be a really hard life. In the town Neylam we stopped for lunch. Maren and I ate Nutella and bread for lunch. The Tibetan kids were very interested in the digital camera. At first they wanted to be paid to have their picture taken, however, when they figured out they could instantly see the pictures after Kirk took them, they lined up to have their picture taken. We just hope this does not corrupt them. After lunch we drove up though Lalungla Pass which is at 5050 meters altitude. Masami started getting sick and not feeling well. There we had good views of Mt. Xixapangma 8013 m, Mt. Makalu 8464m, and Mt Cho Oyu 8201m. At least that is what we were told. It was also fairly cold at that height. Just before we arrived in Tingri, where we spent the night, we were able to see Mt Everest (8848 m) and Mt Lothse (8516 m). What we were told was that one normally could only see them in the morning before the clouds come in. However we got lucky and were able to see them in the afternoon and could take some pictures. We were not that close but it was still a nice feeling to be able to see the top of the world, at least our world. By this time it seemed that a lot of people in our group were not feeling well because of ascending the mountains so fast. Maren did not feel great, but she was doing ok. Kirk did not have any trouble at all this time. We arrived in Tingri at around 7:00 pm, a small village with a hotel and a few restaurants. There we ate at a small restaurant in town. Kirk had vegetable dumplings and Maren noodle soup. Masami was not feeling good and went to bed without eating. We ate a table with a couple from Australia and John an American writing a book on his travels. The hotel room was very cold and sort of primitive. The floor was dirt and the walls had sheets covering the cement walls.

Xigatse-Gyantse

Wake up time was 6:30 am. We did not eat breakfast while they were only serving coffee and no tea. Masami was not feeling too well and threw up when she got up. The first stop was at a Chinese checkpoint were they checked our passports and permits. One is not allowed to take pictures there. Half an hour later we had to stop in a small town because some other vehicles in our convoy did not get through the checkpoint somehow because the tour guide forgot to tell the drivers that all the vehicles had to go through the checkpoint at the same time. So we sat around for a couple of hours waiting for them to sort things out with the Chinese Guards. All this time Masami and Wes were not feeling so well. They both slept in the car most of the time. Eventually we got going again. At one stop we got some great pictures of some kids, again they were interested in our digital camera. We stopped for lunch in Latse. There we ate fried vegetable noodles and vegetable noodle soup. After an 1.5 hours we got finally going. At around 7:30 pm we got to Xigatse. For the most part today the car drove through some really barren land which had almost no vegetation. All of us were amazed that people were living at almost 4800 meters. A lot of them had yaks and goats. Along the way we also went over a pass that was 5220 meters high. It was probably not a great feeling for Wes and Masami. But after lunch they felt better after they were able to take a nap. For dinner we had packaged noodles which we had bought in Katmandu before.

Gyantse-Lhasa via Karo Pass

At 9:30 am the driver picked us up in front of the hotel to take us to the Tashilumpo Monastery in Xigatse. This is the seat of the Panchen Lama. The monastery was built in 1447. It was once home to 10000 monks but now has only 750 monks living there. The temple of Maitreya hold the 27 meters statue of the Maitreya Buddha. Other sites there are the Grand Hall that has the tomb of the 4th Panchen Lama. The Tomb consists of 85 kg of gold and other jewels. The admission fee in 55 Yuan each and each Temple has seperet prices for cameras. The Maitreya Temple has fee of 75 Yuan per camera which translates almost over 9 US $. So taking pictures inside costs a lot. The complex is very impressive and our guide today did a much better job. He explained things pretty well. After visiting the temple we went to the bazaar in town. There we walked around and saw the Xigatse Fortress from below. We also bought some fruit at a market and had some interesting bread for lunch. Wes and Masami in the meantime were bargaining hard for some beads at the market place. It seemed like they found what they were looking for. The market also had a huge meat section where they were selling all types of meat, and all different types of body parts. Next to the meat section they were selling lots of types of vegetables which looked really good. We then had according to our guide a two hour drive to Gyantse where the group visited the Palcha Monastery (Pelkhor Chöde Monastery) built in 1418. It houses the Kumbum Stupa. There one is almost able to get to the very top. One gets to the level of the Stupa's eyes. It is quite nice and very interesting. At every level there are small rooms with different Buddha's in them. Entrance to the Monastery is 30 Yuan (but our tour guide bargained the fee down to 20 Yuan) and a camera inside is 10 Yuan. From the monastery one had a great view of the Dzong Fort which is above the town of Gyantse. The way to Gyanste was a real bumpy ride and took us around 4 hours to get there. It was good to be in a 4WD vehicle. The road followed the Nyang Chu River. After the Monastery visit we got a dorm room in a hotel in the new part of town. Then we went a little food shopping for tomorrow, buying some apples and crackers for the long ride tomorrow. For dinner we went out with Wes, Masami, and Mike at a local restaurant. We had rice with different vegetable dishes. The dishes were eggplant, cabbage, spinach like vegetables, and peppers. It was actually delicious and even Kirk ate everything. That was the amazing part. The peppers were really hot, but tasty. Afterwards we worked on our web pages and went to bed. We are supposed to be ready by 7:00 am tomorrow morning.

Zhangnu-Neylam

This morning all of us had to get up at 6:30 am. It was tough getting up. We all seemed so tired. Finally at 7:30 am the 4WD's got on the way. The trip took us first via Kamba LA Pass which is at 4794m. On this route we had views of Nozing Khang SA 7223m, Ralung 6236 and Lake Yamdrok TSO (Tourquise Lake). We then went over Karo LA Pass which has an altitude of 5010 meters. So the altitude got to some people again. Along the way Wes organized a plan to get our plane and bus tickets from the tour guide. The tour guide was very unhelpful and seemed not to want to help out at all. Wes got a group together and tried to explain the situation to everyone. A lot of people were promised tickets before hand and never got any. We had received only a voucher for our bus tickets to Golmud in China. The trip was ruff, since the roads were bad and mostly unpaved. The views of Lake Yamdrok were really nice, especially with the mountains in the background. The last part of the trip was on a nicely paved road to Lhasa. Right before we got to Lhasa, all the drivers and the tour guides washed themselves in a river. They must have been getting ready to see their wife's. At the hotel Wes wanted to talk to the tour guide, but he was incoherent. He immediately wanted some money which was owed to him for a breakfast we had in Zhangmu. Wes said he would get his money when we got our tickets. But he just flipped out and was very difficult to talk to. He had absolutely no communication skills at all. Eventually we agreed on a plan that we would be able to pick up the tickets the next day at 6:30 pm. Kirk did not think this would work out, but he kept his mouth shut. We paid him the 40 Y we owed him for breakfast. It is unbelievable how this guy ever became a tour guide. He could not communicate anything at all. It took a day before we even realized who the tour guide was. He could not organize anything at all. One guy in the tour sort of became the spokesperson for him, and tried to organize things and tried to let people know what was going on. He the Tour Guide Number 2 (nickname for American Guy mention in previous sentence) said the tour guide would flip out when one tried to discuss problems with him and would say things like, "F__k the tourist, I will just drop them off at the Chinese Police Station". Uncalled comments for a tour guide. Too bad we are not going back to Kathmandu, so we could complain to the tour operator. Hopefully when Wes and Masami go back, they will complain to Green Hill. We will definitely write them and Lonely Planet to tell them how bad organized the tour was. One learns in these countries that you can really never trust anyone, unless you have not paid them yet. After we had left the tour, we went to look for a hotel with Mike, Wes, and Masami. We took the first one we found. Wes and Masami took a luxury room, which only cost 4 US $ more than our basic double without a shower and bath. Their room had a sit down toilette and color TV and a very spacious room. It was really nice, but we decided to save the money and take the basic room. After checking in we went to the Internet Cafe' across the street. It only cost .61 US $ per hour, which is fairly cheap. China has just unblocked the major news sites in the US, so one was now able to access cnn.com and other news sites. So that was good and we could catch up what was happening in the US and the War in Afghanistan. Afterwards we went to a local restaurant Wes and Masami had found for momos. Mike also came along. He is a really nice guy. The momos (dumplings) were delicious and they served huge amounts. Mike is a vegetarian so he had some vegetables and noodle soup. During dinner we took some pictures. The family running the restaurant had a fun time looking at the pictures we took of them. Their kids were also there, they were studying English at another table. Afterwards we transferred the some pictures onto the laptop and then entered our costs in our data sheet. Maren also did some washing in Wes and Masami's room. The rest of the laundry we will give to the hotel, since they have a free laundry service. The only things that they do not wash are underwear and socks. Maren washed Kirk's pants, because he needed them the next day.

Tingri-Xigatse

This morning we met Wes and Masami at 8:30 am. All of us had to go to the bank to get some Yuans. We thought there was an ATM machine at the Bank of China. However it turned out that there was none. What they did have is a cash advance service on ones credit card. For a Visa Cash advance they charged 3 %, but on an American Express card they charged no commission. So we took out 500 US $ in Yuan at a very good exchange rate. Much better than exchanging cash. The rate was 8.26 Yuan per US $. Wes then bought 160 Dollars in Yuan from me, he did not have his American Express Card with him. We then were ready to visit The Potala Palace. It was well worth the visit. This palace was once the center of the Tibetan government and the Winter residence of the Dalai Lama. There are many shrines, statues, buddhas, and chapels inside with thousands of other rooms (of course one does not get to see all of the rooms). Too bad that inside one is not allowed to take pictures. On top one gets a great view of the city and one gets to see the Golden Roofs of the palace. This costs and extra 10 Yuan on top of your bill. The entrance is 49 Yuan for students and 70 Yuan for everyone else. After taking a lot of pictures from around the palace we went back to the hotel to pick up some things. All of us then caught a bus to the Drepung Monastery. From there it was a 30 minute hike to the monastery. Wes and Masami took a tractor up for 1 Yuan each. They were not feeling great. The monastery was pretty big and very interesting. We got lucky to see a monk ceremony that only takes place once a month. A couple of hundred monks were sitting in a room praying and drinking Yak Butter Tea. Young monks were bringing in huge buckets of tea to serve the older monks. It was really great to see. We decided against taking pictures because first it cost 20 Yuan and second it was too dark inside to do so. This day was a great sightseeing day and well worth every penny we spent. For dinner we went back to the momo place we ate the day before. Had to get some more momos. We then walked through the market and walked by the Jokhang Temple to the Flora Hotel where we had hoped to pick up our tickets. Well, they were not there. The hotel reception said that they could be picked up tomorrow at 3:30 pm. So we will see tomorrow if we get the tickets. We do not care if we have to wait another day or not, we just do not want to loose the money for the tickets. Later on Maren went with the others to get head, arm, and back massage and Kirk checked the Internet for an hour. Maren said the massage was really good. Before bed we wrote our diary and then went for a good sleep.

Xigatse-Gyantse

This morning we got up early to get to the Jokhang Temple by 8:30 am when it opens. It is always very crowed and we wanted to beat the lines. When we got there, people were praying all around the temple doors and people were already waiting in line to go inside to pray. So we hopefully got a few good pictures of people praying. When the doors opened it was a mad rush to get in and line up at the first Buddha statue to pray. The Tibetans were pushing and shoving to get in. In the temple they were lining up to pray and make offerings of money and ghee. At one Buddha statue a monk would yank people back if they took to much time praying. After finishing the inside of the temple we walked clockwise around the temple. They had prayer wheels going around . The Jokhang Temple has really beautiful golden roofs and is one of Tibet's most holiest shrines. Hundreds of pilgrims visit the shrines and pray in front of the temple. They also walk around the whole temple complex clockwise and pray. It is quite an experience to go there and look around the place. There are all types of people praying ad making offerings. Around the temple there are hundreds of stalls selling everything imaginable. After we had some greasy bread and we went to the bathroom in 4 star hotel, we took the number 5 bus to the Sera Monastery. This Monastery dates back to 1419 and is the residence to about 600 monks. Before the Cultural Revolution over 5000 monks were living there. They gave us a discount for the four of us, we only had to buy three tickets instead of four. So that was nice of them. The monasteries seem to be all like one another to our eyes, even though they are very interesting every time we visit. One can only get a little tired of seeing one Buddha Shrine after another. We also got to see the monks white washing there buildings. It looked like a real big job especially the way they were doing it. Throwing white wash onto the walls of the monasteries buildings. It looked like more white wash landed on the ground than stuck to the walls. We separated after the monastery. We went to the post office and got some post cards and stamps. We then went to the room, took a nap and then went to the Flora Hotel to pick up our tickets, we thought. Well as we sort of expected, the tickets were not there. At the hotel Wes confronted the tour guide, but he took no responsibility at all and said to come back at 6:30 pm to pick up the tickets from his boss. Wes tried to explain to him that we were lied to enough and wanted to get the tickets now. The tour guide started getting very angry and uncontrolled. He threaten to punch us. Kirk only stepped in when he started to yell at Maren. Kirk did not want to start a fight, but the guy was nuts. Kirk just told the guy to stop yelling at Maren (used the term wife). He then threaten to hit Kirk. The hotel staff had to hold the guy back. The guy is really crazy and not good with people. Not a very good tour guide. We saw that it was not getting anywhere and after a few exchanges of words we went outside, he followed us after Wes said a few things and Kirk said to him that he was the worst blank tour guide that we have ever had. He also had changed his story a few times in the argument with him. So he was lying to us all the time. When we were outside he started to lift his shirt to take off his belt to pick a fight. We just laughed and started walking away. Just after he left Mike came and we explained to him what had happened. He had just seen the tour guide and had received another story about where the tickets were. So we knew something was up. We had no choice but to wait till 6:30 pm for our tickets. In the meantime we went back to the Jokhang Temple to climb up onto the roof to get a great view of the Potala Palace and to see the golden roofs. The view we had was really great. On top of one of the roofs there were people dancing and singing. It was very interesting. One also could look down at the square and see the people walking clockwise around the complex. We then checked the internet for our emails and then met Wes and Masami to go to the hotel to see if our tickets were there. The rest of our group was there as well waiting for their tickets. We got our bus tickets to Golmud but Wes` and Masami`s names were on no airplane tickets to Katmandu. The tour boss or travel agent boss told them it would be no problem for them to use another ticket with someone else's name on the ticket who was not flying. According to them China Southwest Airlines does not check the ticket with the passport. They claim they have been doing this for the last 10 years. Wes and Masami had no choice but to except this and show up at 5:30 am the next morning to catch the transport to the airport and hope it will work out. The tour operator even signed a paper stating that if they do not get on the plane they would become a luxury room in the Holiday Inn. So they are hoping that they get the flight. We hope that they will also be able to complain to Green Hill in Katmandu how bad everything was organized by the tour and how they lied to us about a lot of things. But with these tour operators, one should expect that they are lying to you about almost everything. Afterwards we went to dinner with Mike, Wes, Masami, and Irine (a Chinese girl, grown up in Malaysia, now living in Sydney for the past few years). Kirk had a Yak burger which was pretty good and Maren had Egg Chow Mein and banana fritter for desert. It was a really nice dinner and we had a really nice two weeks with Wes and Masami. Hopefully we will meet up again. Since Irine was staying at the other hotel, we walked here home. We then said good by to Masami and Wes and Kirk went to the Internet Cafe to get some current events. Before bed we updated our diary and costs and Maren filtered some water for the long bus ride the next day.

Gyantse-Lhasa via Karo Pass

Our trip to Golmud almost did not happen. We took a taxi to the train station at around 7:15 am. The hotel manager was nice of enough to flag the taxi down and make sure the price was fair. 10 Yuan, which is a little over 1 US$. We were one of the first at the bus station. Before we could give up our luggage, it had to be weighed by a couple of ladies, and we had to pay extra according to the weight of the bags. Though it was only around 30 cents per bag. After that to kill time we walked around, bought some more food for the trip. When we got onto the bus we were a little in shock. We got the worst seats on the bus. In the back, in a row of 5 sleepers. This bus was a sleeper bus, with only skinny beds in it. With two rows and two layers. Being in the back was bad enough, but we soon realized that we were going to have 6 people in a 5 bed row. This was enough for both of us to say no way this is not how we want to spend the next 36 hours. We grabbed our stuff and went out of the bus. We told someone there, that we wanted our bags down from the roof, and that we were not going to take this bus with 6 people in a 5 person row, it was crowded enough. The guy eventually understood us and we guess he was too lazy to get our stuff down from the top, so he told one guy to move to the top bunk. The guy moved up top where they had now 6 people in a 5 person row. But at least we were not packed in like sardines, still it was really tight in our beds. Another thing which we had to endure was that everyone smokes, almost everyone including the couple of women on board. One could hardly breath. The route went through the Tanggula Pass (5231m). It is very barren and hardly inhabited. The ride is also cold and the bus hardly stopped except for lunch, dinner and breakfast. We were worried that we would have to go to the bathroom, so we did not drink enough along the way. During the trip, the bus turned into a garbage dump, with every ones garbage on the floor and people spitting all over the place. It was quite disgusting to hear and look at. We we were though able to sleep a little bit, even though we went flying once in a while when the bus hit a bump. By the way we are now 7 months on the road and are still ticking strong!

Zhangnu-Neylam

Well we like to say we survived the trip and got a bonus. The bus arrived after only 25.5 hours, not the 32 to 36 hours we had heard about. In Golmud we took a bus right to the train station and bought tickets for the 16:50 pm train to Xining. We were happy to leave since there is absolutely nothing to do in Golmud. A very dreary city. We had a lot of time to kill, so we first walked through the market, had some noodle soup for lunch, and bought some cookies, nuts, and fruit for the train ride later. We also found a bathroom at the bus station finally, though it was really disgusting, we were happy to find one. At the train station the toilettes were closed. Later we checked our email at an Internet Cafe' then went back to the train station. After an hour wait we were able to cut in line, the guard helped us, because we seemed not to know what was going on. They line up everyone in the train station and then let the people slowly onto the platform where the train is. They check the tickets this way first, even though they check the train tickets on the train again. To our surprise the Hard Sleeper class, was really nice. They provided clean sheets and towels. The train ride went through some really barren parts of the Tibetan Plateau. The both of us read for most of the time. Maren read the Economist that Mike had given us before he left and Kirk had finished on the bus ride to Golmud. Kirk started reading the second book on Bourne. The lights went out at 9:30 pm.

Tingri-Xigatse

We almost missed our stop. We had read that the fastest train from Golmud to Xining was 18 hours. Our train took only 12 hours so we were really surprised when the train conductor woke us up and said we had arrived. It was before 7:00 am in the morning. The first thing we did was check out train times and by a ticket for Xian the same day. We just wanted to see the Tar es Si Monastery. It is one of the great Yellow Hat Sect Buddhist Monasteries located in Huangzhong. It was built in 1527 and was the birthplace of the founder of the Yellow Hat Sect. The monastery is quiet nice and had some really nice sculptures in it. We really enjoyed it, however after a while the Buddha statues can all seem very similar or a like to one another. It was really easy to get there, all we did was take the number 1 bus to the bus stop near the stadium for 1 Yuan for the both of us and then for 8 Yuan a bus directly to the foot of the monastery. We left hour luggage at a hotel fro 5 Yuan. A guy claiming to be the owner was trying to us get a room at this hotel. He had to settle only on luggage storage. We were happy we had somewhere to store our luggage. Right after we were done visiting the monastery, the digital camera totally broke. This was depressing. We had know idea what we could do to fix it. It gave the failure message Lens C:32:02. When one turned the Camera on it made funny sounds and the lens went in and out a few times, then closed. We looked around Xining if there was anyone who could repair it, but to no avail. We eventually went to an internet cafe and tried to find somewhere in the internet, but we found only an office in Beijing and Shanghai. So we were both a little depressed. We really needed the camera for our website. We also emailed Kirk's mother to see if she could get in contact with Sony USA. For lunch we had chicken burgers and Dicos, a Chinese fast food place. We then walked all the way back to the train station. Right before the train departed we bought some food and water for the trip. Again the train was really nice and we were able to read and got a good night sleep. Till now, except for the hotel owner, no one we met could speak English and we only saw one foreigner at the monastery in three days. The young couple, she pregnant, sleeping across from us, could not speak a word, even though they seemed really nice. To our surprise till now for the most part, the people in China have been really nice to us. During our travels so many people said that the Chinese were rude and not very helpful. At least with us it has been really ok. Only problem till know is that no one speaks any English, so it is really tough to communicate with them. We have a cheat sheet that has a few phrase written down and we have our guide book with a few phrases, so we try and use that as much as we can.

Xigatse-Gyantse

We woke up at around 7:30 am and had some Oreo's and apples for breakfast. The train arrived in Xian at 11:30 am. There we were met by a girl tout who spoke English fairly well. That is probably why we decided to go with her and check out her hotel that she was pitching. The room was ok, but we had heard from someone else in the train station that they had a room for 80 Yuan, not the 100 Yuan she wanted for the room. We said we would take the room for 80 Yuan, and they agreed, so we saved 2.5 US$. We also asked her where we would find a Sony dealership and a McDonalds. The both of us had this craving for a Big Mac. The first Sony dealership we found could not help us and were kind of incompetent. So we then decided to go to get our Big Macs. We both got a big Value Meal (Big Mac, Large Fries, Large Coke) for under 2.5 US$ each. An ice cream and apple pie was on the menu for desert. We decided then to go try and find an Internet Cafe to see if Kirk's mother had written more about what Sony had said. On the way we saw another store that sold Sony merchandise. They could not help us, but they gave us an address and phone number where to call in Xining. It was a Sony Service Store. We then got a taxi, because all they could write down was the address in Chinese. So we handed the address to a taxi driver and she eventually got us there. There they said they could fix the camera, but we would have to pay 1700 Yuan (241 US $) for a new lens and 280 Yuan (34.75 US $) for the costs of repairing the camera. We immediately told the lady who spoke a little bit of English that the camera must be under guarantee, since it was only 7 months old. She tried to explain that the camera in China was not guaranteed under Sony's worldwide guarantee program. China was excluded. Well we did not except this explanation. We said we would like to speak to Sony China, or whoever was in charge. We then went upstairs to see her boss, who spoke no English. He then called Sony in Beijing where Kirk got to speak to a service guy or manager there. He told him the same thing. Kirk nicely explained him our situation and asked to speak to his manager. He gave Kirk a number to call back in 5 minutes. Kirk called back and spoke to the manager, who explained to Kirk again how Sony`s guarantee policy worked in China and that they could not guarantee the product in China. Kirk again politely explain the situation, on how we could not pay the 207 US $ lens fee and how we needed the camera for our website. However, she could not help. Kirk not giving up said that he would like to speak to her manager and to someone who could make an exception to the rule. We had bought a Sony Camera because we thought it was guaranteed all over the world. She said she would call us back. We then waited around for a while, we showed the Sony Service center an email with the bill of our camera attached to it. Though it did not help, it showed them that the camera was not so old. We had done all we could. Eventually they called back and said they would make an exception for us and that we would only have to pay the standard service fee, which was very ok with us. They fixed the camera in ten minutes. They put in a new lens and it worked again. We were very relieved that everything worked out. The whole scene at the Sony Service Center took over 2 hours, but it was worth it. We were almost ready to buy a new camera that day and probably would have paid the full amount for the lens anyway. So we were very happy and celebrated with another Big Mac. Yes I know twice to McDonalds in one day is not healthy, but it really tasted good! As usual Kirk again started taking a lot pictures right away. In the evening we found an Internet Cafe' and checked our mails. It was nice for Maren that Norbert and Rita wrote again! Oh by the way Happy Birthday to Louise, my younger brothers future wife? At the hotel we worked on our website and then slept!

Gyantse-Lhasa via Karo Pass

This morning we packed our bags and then went to the train station to get train tickets to Beijing in the evening. We wanted to get Hard Sleepers (2nd class sleeper). To our amazement they were fully booked for 2 days, which is only half the truth. There are usually sleepers available, but they just tell you they are not for an unknown reason. One sometimes can then get an upgrade on the train. Also they save some for the CITS (China International Travel Service). CITS earns an extra commission on the sales to foreign tourists. We had no choice then to by Hard Seat (2nd class seats) on the train. We would try and upgrade later. The good thing is that they are almost 50% cheaper than the Hard Sleepers. After checking out of the Hotel and paying 10 Yuan to store our luggage (a rip off, but we had no choice), we caught the number 306 bus to take us to the Terracotta Warriors a little outside Xian. Up to now we have not noticed any major tricks by the Chinese to rip off the tourist, well it has now begun. The bus stopped first at another tourist site, the Tomb of Qin Shihuang, telling us that this was the Terracotta Warriors site. The bus attendant even got of the bus to bring us to the ticket counter. This was not normal. We then realized that this was not the place we wanted to visit. Two Canadians were also on the bus. We told the boy this was the wrong place, when he realized that he was not getting us to go there he said ok, sorry he misunderstood. He even flagged down a taxi and brought us to the bus down the road for free. This was very fishy. The bus then drove us to some other place up the road we did not want to go to. He was trying to bring us to places he earned a commission on us. Well it was close enough to the Terracotta Warriors, that we could walk there in 5 minutes. A good lesson is that they will try and rip you off in which ever country you are in. The main problem here is that hardly no one speaks English and it is a real pain to communicate anything. The entrance to the Terracotta Warriors cost 65 Yuan, which is only slightly higher than our Guide Book says. There are 3 main sites, which are enclosed with in a museum like structures. The first underground vault has 6000 Terracotta figures of warriors and horses. It is really nice how well they are preserved. The second vault has 1000 terracotta figures and the third one only holds 68 warriors and one chariot. The third is supposed to be the command post of the other two vaults. The guide book said one is not allowed to take pictures, however it seemed everyone was, even in the 2nd vault where we saw the only no photo sign. So they might have changed the rules a little. The Terracotta Warriors are one of the most famous Chinese Archeological founds. They are well worth visiting. After a couple of hours we were done, so we took the number 306 bus back to Xian. There we decided to walk around town a little. It started to rain, so we ended up, shameful to say at McDonalds again. Kirk had two Big Macs. Kirk thinks he is now good to go again and will not need a Big Mac for a while. Kirk's excuse is that he had the runs again this morning and thought McDonalds would help. We then went to an internet cafe for two hours to write some emails. For the first time we got two separate computers. It was raining heavily and we got pretty wet on the way back to the hotel to pick up our baggage. Along the streets adjacent to the train station it seemed that the streets were line with small massage parlors, doubling as brothels. Did not go in to check. We picked up our baggage at the hotel and went to the train station to wait for the train to leave. Oh at the hotel was a German guy who was arguing with the desk clerk over payment. There was a misunderstanding about when he checked out. To make the story short, the clerk and manager were more interesting in shoving food in their faces than anything else. We left so we did not catch the end of the story. The train seats were not very nice, uncomfortable and crowded. We thought we might be able to upgrade, but when Maren finally found a conductor, there were many people trying to get an upgrade and Maren was unable to do so. It seemed one had to throw money to the conductor for them to do anything for you. We had a hard time sleeping.

Zhangnu-Neylam

The conductor woke us up in the middle of the night, when we were both just about to start sleeping a little for the tickets. The question was why did he wait until the middle of the night to ask for the tickets. The rest of the night was very restless. Another thing is that they do not turn off the lights in the Hard Seat Class. At 11:30 am we arrived in Beijing and found a bus taking us to Tiananmen Square. This a square Kirk always wanted to see. Across from the square is the Forbidden City, with a picture of Mao Zedong. From there we walked to a hotel recommended to us from the Canadian couple we met the day before. It was the Far East International Youth Hostel. The rooms were very clean and new. Only draw back were that the bathrooms were downstairs and outside. Otherwise it was a pleasant surprise. We first took an hour nap and then decided to walk through town a little. We were near the Tiantan Gongyuan, Temple of Heaven Park, so we decided to go in. The entrance to the park costs 15 Yuan each and the entrance to 3 Temple complexes cost 20 Yuan each. The temples are famous for their perfect example of Ming architecture and they have come to symbolize Beijing. The park is quite nice and very green. The first complex is the actual Temple of Heaven, the 2nd is the Huiyinbi containing the echo wall, and the 3rd is the Imperial Vault Heaven. The whole place was very interesting. There were however a lot of tour groups around, must be packed in other times. Later on we went out to eat and had vegetable dumplings, rice, and shredded pork in sweet bean sauce. Both were delicious, especially the pork meal. All for 25 Yuan, which is little over 3 US$. We then found an Internet Cafe, checked out emails and the news and went back to the hotel. Kirk did some computer work and Maren went to bed. She was still not feeling great. She has had a severe cold for the last few days. However she is tough and she keeps on going. She is even holding out with me!

Tingri-Xigatse

This morning we woke up at around 8:00 am. After dressing it was off to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, the main attractions in Beijing. Along the way we brought some bread with something in it for breakfast. Maren also got some cold medicine at a pharmacy. She was still not feeling great. Kirk bought a cheap pocket knife with a scissor. They started at 68 Yuan, but Kirk finally bought it for 16 Yuan. The entrance to the Forbidden City cost 40 Yuan or 60 Yuan which includes two exhibits. We chose the 60 Yuan, but on hindsight, the 40 Yuan ticket would have been enough. Masses of people were already lined up to go in. Tiananmen Square was also full with people, and there was a long line to get into the Mao Zedong Mausoleum. The Forbidden City is absolutely huge. The architecture is also very interesting. The Forbidden City was home to two Chinese Dynasties of Emperors, the Ming and the Qing Dynasties. The Chinese call the place the Palace Museum. The Forbidden City was built in the early 1400's by the Emperor Yongle. The place is really big and it took us 3 hours to see the most of it, though not the whole thing. But this was enough. The buildings look almost all a like to the untrained eye. The place was filled with mainly Chinese tourist groups, though there were also a lot of foreigners among us. After the square we walked back to the hotel. Along the way we went to the bathroom at McDonalds, no we did not eat anything there. We bought some food on the street for lunch. They always try to rip you off, especially foreigners. It is really hard to communicate with the people here and they try and take advantage of that. With the fast food they try and put an extra 2 Yuan on the price of it, lucky for us we watched a Chinese person first pay for hers, so we knew what the real price of the thing was. The night before when we were trying to by some fruits, they had the Chinese customer turn around when he was paying so we could not see. They saw that we wanted to know how much the Chinese person was paying. Of course we just said forget it and left. Today they sometimes first mentioned prices 10 times the real price for bananas. It is really tough trying to get the real price. One really has to pay attention to what the locals pay when shopping. Then you might have a better chance of finding out the real price, or least get closer to the real price. In the afternoon we took a nap, we were both very tired. In the evening the both of us were lazy and did not want any hassles so we went to dinner at the same place as the night before, this time we only had the shredded pork in bean sauce again. We also finally got some oranges at a price we thought was ok. In the evening Maren did some washing. They have a washing machine here at the hostel for only 5 Yuan, which is fairly cheap. Kirk wrote the diary and did the costs. For the first time in a while we did not check the Internet.

Xigatse-Gyantse

The both of us would like, no love to wish Scott a Happy Birthday. Scott is Kirk's younger brother and has been a great to have over the years. So Scott I hope you have a great day and best of luck with everything. Chris we both wish you also a happy birthday! This morning Maren was not feeling well still. So going to the Great Wall of China today was out of the question. So Mao Zedongs Mausoleum would take the walls place. The line for seeing the Mausoleum and Mao Zedong's body looks like it would take forever, however the line moves really quickly and we were in there in no time. Though one only gets a real short glimpse of his body, it was interesting to see how the Chinese showed so much respect for this guy. He is still very respected here in China. The Peoples Hall was next on our list, but we found out it was closed until tomorrow, so we decided to go to the summer palace in an other section of town. The subway got us halfway there, and a bus took us the rest of the way. It started raining and was very cloudy. The summer palace must be really nice in the summer when the sun is shining and the weather is nice. Today it was very dreary. Even with the weather it was packed with Chinese tourists. To bad the weather was so bad and Maren was not feeling that good. Kirk was did not bring along warm enough clothes and his rain jacket. We got a direct bus to Tiananmen Square, which seemed to take ages. After getting some food at a supermarket, a nap was on the agenda back at the hotel. Later on Kirk went to an internet cafe and then did our website. Hopefully tomorrow Maren will be feeling better!

Gyantse-Lhasa via Karo Pass

Happy Birthday Rita, We both wish you a great day, best of luck, and enjoy you vacation! Today was the day Kirk was looking forward to, the day we were going to the Great Wall. Only problem Maren was still not feeling great, actually worse. However we decided to go anyway because the weather was really good, sunny, the first time since we were in Beijing. We first took the subway and then caught a bus to the Huairou and then got another bus to Huanghuachang where the the section of the Great Wall is the Wild Walking Wall. This section of the wall is not renovated like other sections of the wall. It is in it natural state and there is no fee to walk on the wall. We were lucky getting the the bus to the Wall, when we got off one bus and wanted to get a bus for the wall. The first people said that there were no buses, while they wanted to us to take a cab for 10 times the price. A nice guy started speaking English to us and found transport for us to the wall for a local price. Maren could only walk a small portion of the wall because she felt so ill. So Kirk walked a 3 hour path up and down the wall and met Maren later. The wall was really interesting and scary at times when one hiking down on very steep sections. This section must be very different than the main sections where most tourist go to see. This is where residents of Beijing come to visit. After getting back to Beijing we walked around Tiananmen Square at night and then bought some snacks for dinner and then went to bed.

Zhangnu-Neylam

This morning we first walked around trying to find an ATM machine to get money. The first machines that would accept our card did not work. We eventually found a machine at the Bank of China after walking around for over 2 hours. Yes we did it again, we went to Pizza hut and had a Pan Pizza, to bad C. Keller was not there to pay for it. That was the good old days. Afterwards we took the subway and got our train tickets to Shanghai. We took hard sleepers because they were half the price, so it will be another comfortable night! After that was settled we went to visit the Great Hall of the People which overlooks Tiananmen Square. It was nice to visit but not that much to see or learn about. Later on we bought some food for the trip, got our stuff and took the subway to the train station. There we had to walk around a little to find some more food for the trip. We then caught the train to Shanghai. On the train we basically just read and tried to find a comfortable position to sleep. The Hard Seat Class is very uncomfortable and it is really hard to sleep even if you have 2 seats to try and stretch out on. One thing you have to get used to is people spitting and smoking on the trains.

Tingri-Xigatse

Happy Birthday Norbert, hope you had a great day and the best of luck. We arrived in Shanghai at around 9:00 am and put our stuff in storage. The toilettes outside were very interesting, men lined up squatting as the did their deeds. A really weird scene when you want to go, walk into the toilette and seeing guys in the squat position. In Shanghai we took a subway to a more central section. There we had an chocolate ice cream cone and walked around Shanghai. Shanghai is an absolutely booming and growing town, with cranes and construction sites around. Also some of the most modern building we have ever scene. We had a huge salad at Pizza Hut for lunch, walked down to the river and then quickly checked the Internet for emails. We had to catch the bus 16:26 train to Wuhan, again in the Hard Seat Class. At one point in the night young kids got on the train collecting plastic bottles. Somehow a fight started out between the trains plastic bottle protector and the kids. The kids started throwing and hit one passenger in the face and gave him a bloody lip. The guy got pretty pissed. Otherwise the trip was uneventful. We both read a lot and tried again to get some sleep, which was really difficult. Our limbs kept on falling asleep because we were in such horrible positions.

Xigatse-Gyantse

The night in the train was again great. The both of us did not sleep to much again, so we were really tired when we arrived. We figured out, ok Maren figured out which local bus to take to the long distant bus station. From Wuhan we wanted to take a cheap bus to Yichang. They first offered us a luxury bus to Yichang, Maren was smart enough to ask for the smaller less comfortable buses. They were almost half price. Smart girl. It was 5 five hour trip to Yichang. It was much more comfortable than the trains we have been taking. What was really nice, is that a worker at the bus station who spoke a little bit of English help us around the bus station, even moving the some people from their seats so we could get the best seats upfront. In Yichang a lady and worker at the bus station help us find our hotel, even walking us there. The hotel wanted 130 Yuan for a room, which was too much for us so we started to leave after they said they would not make it cheaper. Just as we were outside the security guard came out and said we could have the room for 100 Yuan, the price in our guide book. The room turned out to a real luxury room, with TV., Bath, and even a free tooth brush, soap and a comb. After dropping off our stuff we took went to a internet cafe. Actually the Hotel came with us to show us where it is. Afterwards we got some street food for dinner and bought some supplies for the bought trip tomorrow. At the hotel we bought the tickets for the ferry and went to bed. We bought the tickets through the hotel because they did not charge a commission and the boat company would pick us up in the morning.

Boat Phnom Penh Siem Reap

The bus pick up was at 6:45 am in the morning. It took us to the Hydrofoil at the dock. The boat was a boat where all the seats were inside, which was a little disappointing. We got though good seats by the window. In the middle of the boat was a section one could stand outside and view the gorges as we went by. The weather was not great so we were happy not being on the two day cruise trip. The boat went really fast along the river. It went by on the dam they were building and some really high gorges, some 900 meters high. We were glad that we were seeing the gorges before the dam was finished and the water level is to rise considerably up to 40 m. It was just to bad the weather did not cooperate. The towns along the Yangtze seemed really depressing, gray, building blocks surrounded by a lot of garbage built along the river. Kind of gloomy and dreary. Seven hours later the Hydrofoil arrived in Wan Xian. There first we walked around a dreary town and got some dinner, dumplings, rice, and something we could not figure out. It was not very good. We are starting to get sick of the food. Can not wait until we will be able to cook again. After buying some supplies for the night, we got onto the bus. There we slept a few hours before it left. The bus was smoky and dirty, however much more comfortable than the Hard Seat Class Trains we have taken.

Temples of Angkor

We actually slept on the bus the whole night. The bus only drove around 6 hours but parked outside the city until 7:00 am. Then the bus driver drove everyone to the train station. So it was good that we could at least sleep a little that night. In Chongqing we had to wait until 4:26 pm for our train, so we put our stuff in the train stations luggage storage and took a bus to the central district in the city. There we could not help ourselves and we got hamburgers at McDonalds for breakfast. Kirk actually had 2 cheeseburgers. Afterwards we asked the staff at McDonalds if they knew where an internet cafe was. The McDonalds guard was actually nice enough and took us there personally. Sometimes the people here are really nice and helpful. It is quite the opposite we expected when we thought about China before we came here. At the internet cafe we were able to hook up our laptop for the first time in China, but not able to FTP to Hypermart.net our hosting site, it seems to be censored here in China. However we were able to send out finally some emails. The time we spent there was over 4 hours, but it was only 24 cents and hour to surf. Afterwards we had a hard time to admit, but we ate at McDonalds again for lunch. We know that is not good, but somehow our appetite was not accepting anything else accept western food. We caught the bus back to the train station and got onto the train. We thought that the train was arriving the next day at 6:00 am.

Temples of Angkor

Well after waking up and a little confused why the train did not arrive in Guangzhou, we finally asked a security guy, and we figured out that the train was arriving there the next day, that hurt! 37.5 hours in the Hard Seat Class. We had two seats each at our disposal, but that was not much of a help. One could barely sleep. The whole day we basically just read our books. The scenery from the train was not spectacular, just a lot of small villages that looked exactly alike, with a lot of pollution and garbage lying around. The people on the trains always seem to stare at us and laugh at us when we do not understand anything. There were also a few security checks on the train, checking id's and ticket stubs. Again there was confrontation with the plastic boy collectors when they jumped on the trains and tried to collect the plastic bottles. They fought with some people who did not want their plastic bottles taken. What was a great surprise on the train was there was one conductor who took control of everything and kept the place clean. Not only that he was cleaning up almost constantly, but he also yelled at people when they threw garbage on the floor or left garbage on their small tables. The people on the train thought this was weird, we thought it was great. It made a huge difference and the train arrived fairly clean. We did not eat much on the train, accept for fruits and noodle soup we bought from people outside the train when it stopped. It was much cheaper than buying on the train.

Temples of Angkor

The night we did not sleep much again. Again our limbs kept on falling asleep. We were glad to arrive in Guangzhou at around 6:00 am. There we found the bus station and took a 1.5 hour bus ride to Shenzhen. There we had to go through customs and, just like a normal border crossing, even though Hong Kong now belongs to China. We also found out something not too much to our liking. The Chinese Visa expires when you go to Hong Kong, which means we have to get a new Chinese Visa when we go back through China to get to Vietnam. Makes one really mad. We got some Hong Kong Dollars at an ATM machine and got tickets on a train to Kowloon. From there we took a bus to Hong Kong Island. We had lunch at McDonalds again, hopefully the last time for a while. From there we took a bus to the foot of Mt. Davis Hill. From there it was a 30 minute walk up hill to the Youth Hostel. The Youth Hostel has a beautiful view over Hong Kong and its harbor. There a nap was in order and then we took a 45 minute walk to a supermarket to get some food so we could cook the next few days. The Youth Hostel had a kitchen which was a great surprise. We went to bed in two separate dorms, one for women and one for men. Kirk had trouble sleeping because one guy snored horrendously.

Temples of Angkor

The first thing we had to do after a great breakfast of orange juice, toast, cheese, butter, and ham was to find the Vietnamese consulate to get our visas for Vietnam. They were expensive, 40 US $ each. They have another price listed, but it cost 50 % more when one does not have a personal invitation from the Vietnamese Government or kind of permission. They were however nice and photo copied our Passports, so we would be able to go to the China Foreign Affairs Office and get a new Chinese Visa. We finally found the Chinese Office after going to the wrong place first. They moved since the guide book was written. It was about half an hour away by foot. There we found out we could not get a transit visa with out a train ticket, and that the price was the same as a tourist visa anyway. So we applied for a tourist visa again. The good thing was it was a little cheaper than last time and that we would be able to pick it up on Wednesday. On the way to the Library we walked through a really nice bird sanctuary in the middle of town. In keeps the birds in a huge cage. One can walk nicely through on an elevated wooden walk way. From there we went to the public library to check our emails. It is free here at the public libraries which is a nice change. We then looked for a the used book store, which we eventually found, but it was closed on Mondays. Being both tired we went back to the hostel and Maren made a delicious meal of beans and pasta, just what we both needed. We wanted to do some computer work, but the plug did not fit in the socket. Kirk stayed up later and watched some TV, some documentaries and the show the Practice.

Temples of Angkor

Sleeping was tough for Kirk again, during the night the guy snored really loud again. It was horrible. Some guys even in the morning changed rooms and got a more expensive triple. Little did they knew, he was leaving to New Zealand in the evening. Maren made a great scrambled egg and ham breakfast. A real nice change. Kirk also was happy to get to see ABC evening news at 7:30 am in the morning. He got up just for that. Later on we took the ferry to Kowloon on the mainland. The fare was really cheap, around 3.5 HK $ for the both of us. We walked around there, but there is not much to see so we took the ferry back, checked out emails and looked for an adapter plug and a used South East Asia Guide book. We did not find a used guide book, but found the previous edition guide book heavily reduced, while the new one has just came out. We also did some food shopping and found a electrical plug that broke after once using it. The fuse must have broken. Maren again made a great bean and noodle meal. She got some really bad news from home in an email today. This has not been the best of years on the home front. We also finally did some work on our site, it is way behind. Hopefully we can find somewhere where we can upload our site before we leave Hong Kong. Maren called her mom, took a while to reach her, she is never at home. She felt good talking to her and was happy she got in touch.

Temples of Angkor

Kirk actually woke up earlier than Maren, at 7:00 am. He wanted to make sure he got to see the ABC Nightly News again. Maren made a great breakfast, boiled eggs and a delicious sandwich. Kirk also called home to speak to his parents. It is always nice to be able to speak to them. Emailing one another is nice, but hearing voices is nicer. We also worked on our web pages a little before we took a bus to the Chinese Embassy to pick up our visas. From there we walked up Victoria Peak. One can take a tram up, but that costs 20 HK$ each/ 30 HK$ return. So we saved the money and was happy to get the exercise. The walk up was nice and one got great views of Hong Kong from above. There we bought a couple of post cards and sent them right away. We had a banana each for lunch and then walked down towards the library. On the way down we came upon the Hong Kong Zoological & Botanical Garden. It was kind of nice, especially the Jaguar, a spotted one and a black one. Also there were all types of birds including beautiful pink flamingos. The public library did not have any computers free so we went food shopping for the trip tomorrow and bought also some 35mm films. We bought 2 loafs of bread, peanut butter, jelly and some cookies. What is sort of nice with our hostel is that one has to walk around 30 minutes up hill to where the hostel is, guarantees one will get some exercise. For dinner Maren made spaghetti and tomato sauce with some cheese on top, delicious. In the evening we worked on sorting out pictures for our website. Kirk has taken too many last and this month. So we have a lot of work to do. Hong Kong as we found out is an expensive place to be in. It was nice to visit but we will be happy to leave again tomorrow.

Temples of Angkor

This morning ABC News was on the agenda again. Getting to watch the news is really a treat. After a great breakfast we got packed and headed to the Vietnamese embassy to pickup our Vietnam visas. Then it was to an internet cafe to upload our web pages. We had to buy extra web space, because the free space we were using was full. We noticed it when we could not upload any pages anymore. So now we have 75 MB of space, but that will not do for long since we are using now over 69MB. We then got a bus to the train station and then the train to Lo Wu. After clearing customs we decided to get a bus to Guangzhou. The train as fully booked to Guilin. It would have been much cheaper if we were able to get a seat on the train. In Guangzhou we were also not able to get a seat on the train, so we had to get another bus to Guilin, a luxury sleeper bus. However the cheaper local sleeper buses are actually more comfortable to sleep in. Even though the local buses are really dirty and people spit and smoke the whole night. Before we took off Maren made some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They were great. Somehow on the road one craves things you hardly ever eat at home. On the bus we both had trouble sleeping.

Temples of Angkor

The bus arrived at 7:00 am in Guilin, the both of us were really tired. This first thing, was to see if there were any trains to Nanning. The only trains that day were at 1:04 pm in the afternoon. That was too early for us, since we wanted to see the pinnacles in Guilin and in Yangshuo. Right before we got on a local bus to Yangshou, a tout spoke to us and offered a direct bus to Pingxiang. This seemed like a good alternative than taking a bus to Nanning first and then another bus to Pingxiang. We were also able to bargain the price 50 % down. Well this turned out to be a small blunder on our part. First we still think we over paid by a couple of bucks, and secondly the bus turned out to be not a direct bus after all, but more on that later. The bus took 1.5 hours to Yangshou. Yangshou had some really nice Pinnacles and the town was quite interesting. It was the only town in China that we have been to that is made out for the tourists. It had internet cafes, western menus, and most things in English. Probably it would have been nice to stay there, but we had left all of our luggage in Guilin and we had already booked the bus to Nanning. We walked around the area a little, checked our email. The email was so slow and barely worked so we did not pay. Later on we got a bus back to Guilin. There we visited the Seven Star Park and climbed up a pinnacle. There was a great view of the city and the surrounding other pinnacles. Maren bought a 50 cents t-shirt in town. We later on waited at the train station for our bus. There again was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. Tasted as good as ever. Now going back to the bus story. The bus turned out to be a local bus, the bus did not depart from the train station (we had to take a ride on a motor bike to where the bus was), and the bus did not leave as planned at 6:30 pm as we were promised. The bus drove around in circles in town trying to find more passengers. Three hours later than planned the bus was full. They also lied to us about the direct route, which really worried us if we had bought a bus ticket only to Nanning even though they promised us Pingxiang. No one on the bus could speak English, so we were in the dark until we got to Nanning if our ticket would get us to Pingxiang. Maren had tried to speak to some people not on the bus while we were waiting, but most of them could only speak a few words English. We should have listened to our guide book, that explicitly states one should watch out for touts and that especially in Guilin they try and rip you off whatever you do. Even on the bus ride back from Yangshou they tried to openly charge double, we refused of course, but one always has to watch out.

Temples of Angkor

The bus arrived at 6:00 am in Nanning. To our relieve the bus driver from our bus found a bus for us to Pingxiang and paid for our new tickets. At least there was not a huge loss on the trip. It was again a sleeper bus which took around 5 hours to Pingxiang. These buses are always so dirty and everyone smokes with no regard to the others. The arrival time in Pingxiang was around 12:00 pm. There no one spoke English, which made things really a pain to try and figure out what the real price for the ride to the border was. We ended up taking a motorbike rickshaw to the border, when we could not figure out which or even if a bus was going to the border. It turned out later that a bus did go to border. However it only costs us a few cents more, so it was not too bad. Kirk stupidly banged his leg getting into the rickshaw and it swelled up a little, but not too bad. At the border they hit you with a departure management tax of 10 Yuan each. Pay to get in, pay to get out. What everyone loves. The Chinese immigration also checked our passports for a long time before we could leave. They can be a real pain in the rear sometimes the custom officials. At the Vietnam side it took a while to fill out all the forms and get through the customs again. There a tax driver was waiting for us of course. We were able to bargain him down to a reasonable price, the price was ok because we shared the taxi with a nice Japanese guy. It was also good because he was the only one with Vietnamese Dong on him. At the border the money changers were giving horrible rates. The Japanese guy got a really bad rate of 12000 dong per US $ while the going rate is 15000 dong per US $. The taxi took us to Lang Son, where we got a 3.5 hour mini bus ride to Hanoi. It was good that the Japanese guy new what price the minibus should charge, because a friend of his took the same transport 2 weeks ago. So we were able to cut the minibus price by one third the original asking price. The minibus turned out to not only carry passengers. It had under the seats and in hidden compartments stacks of toothbrushes, cloths and other things. It seemed like they smuggle the things in from China. Before we were in Hanoi, the minibus stopped a few times to unload the goods. In Hanoi we checked out a few hotels and finally took one for 5 US$ with own bath and shower, even had a TV, only with local channels though. So the TV was kind of useless. In the evening we walked around town and then went out for dinner. Later on we checked the internet.

Temples of Angkor

This morning we bought over 12 bananas for 30 cents for breakfast. We then visited Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum and the Presidential Palace. We did not see Ho Chi Minh's body because the Mausoleum was closed, so our only view was from outside. Afterwards we visited the Army Museum, which had exhibits from the different wars in Vietnam, and yes the defeating of the "American Aggressors" as they put it. Later on we walked around the city and then got some lunch at the same place we had dinner at the night before. Kirk had pineapple and duck and Mare beef and pineapple. Both tasted fairly good. We then checked our email again and some news on the net. In the late afternoon Maren worked on the the pictures for our website. And in the evening we checked the internet again and then got some pastries for dinner. What we have found out here is that one has to bargain for everything and watch out what they charge. Normally they seem to double the price for everything if not triple the price for foreigners. However they at least behave in a nice way. Even at the Internet cafe, they tried to over charge us when they wrote down the wrong times we were there, hoping that we would not know how long we used it. Not that it costs much here to use, 20 cents an hour at the cheaper places. Also in the afternoon we booked a 2 day tour to Halong Bay. We could probably not have done it cheaper on our own and we will probably be able to see more. We also bought an open bus ticket down to Saigon which will allow us to get off in certain towns and catch the bus the next day. We recommend that people check around town for the best prices, because they do vary considerably. Hopefully it all works out. We now calculate that we will probably spend 2 weeks in Vietnam itself.

Boat Phnom Penh Siem Reap

The bus picked us up at the A-Z Queen Hotel, the place the tour to Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Island was booked at around 7:00 am. Only 5 other people were on our tour, so we had a small group. The both of us felt that we were cheating going on a tour, but there was probably no easier and cheaper way to do the Ha Long Bay Islands in such a short time. For 16 bucks a head including everything it was not a bad deal. One thing that is a little frustrating, that tour groups always stop at tourist traps where they try to sell you things. This one stopped at a place which employed children with "Handicaps". Most of the Handicaps according to the guide came from the French and American chemical weapons during the wars. We did not know if this was a tactic to make us feel more sorry for the people there, propaganda or just facts. Who knows. It was actually not bad there and they did not get in your face to buy things. Also the children there were making cloths and things before our eyes. So maybe the selling of the things help them out, hopefully. At around 11:30 am the bus arrived in Ha Long City, there we had lunch, mainly sea food and rice, Kirk's favorite. So Kirk might loose some weight the next couple of days. After lunch we got on a boat and took a 4.5 hour boat ride to Cat Ba Island. There are over 2000 islands in Ha Long Bay. It is absolutely amazing to see. The islands or pinnacles just stick up from the sea. They come in all shapes and sizes. Too bad the weather was not great. When the sun shines it must be totally spectacular. Along the way we also visited a big cave called the Surprise Cave. There was a tour through the cave and then the boat went further. Along the way the boat stopped and we had a chance to go swimming. Only the guys went swimming. Maren thought it would be to cold. It was actually ok. We were able to jump from up top of the boat which was really fun. However when Kirk came out of the water he had rashes all over his arms, he must have been allergic to something, but it went away after a while. Along the way we also got to see pearl farms and small house boats where local people fish for a living. The whole ride was long but really interesting. It is definitely a major highlight for us. A bus picked us up at the small harbor at Cat Ba Island and took us to our Hotel. There we rested for a while and then had again a seafood dinner. Kirk tried the seafood, but it is just not for him. After the dinner we walked around town, ate an ice cream and went early to bed. Another thing, our guide is really nice, but his English is hard to understand. However he really tries to explain things to us and let us know what is going on, just like a guide should be. Much better than the guide in Tibet. It is a nice change!

Boat Phnom Penh Siem Reap

It was too bad that the weather did not cooperate again. It was wet, rainy and windy. The alarm went off at around 5:45 am to wake us up so we could walk down to the fish market before breakfast. The fish market was ok, not too many fish though. One disgusting thing was the slaughtering of the ducks and chickens. They slit the throat of the birds, first draining the blood out and then throwing them back in the cage with living ducks, there they squirmed around for a while before they died. We tried to buy some bread, but as usual they were trying to charge us foreigners a ridicules price, so we decided we could wait. The breakfast was not much, some bread and a small piece of cheese, so we were both not very full. We joined another tour for the journey back to Hanoi because some people were staying an extra day to go hiking. It kind of stunk for them because they must have had horrible weather the rest of the day. After catching the bus to the harbor, we took the boat back to Ha Long City. The ride took about 1.5 hours and was very cold. The weather was wet, rainy, and cloudy and one could not really enjoy the scenery. Also the windows and door in the boat could not be closed because the one could not breath because of the engine fumes coming up from below. So we were both fairly cold the whole way. After the boat ride we had lunch and got a bus back to Hanoi. One thing we found out at lunch was the crash of the airplane in NY again. We hope this time it is not terrorism. Kind of suspicious though. It is all that NY needed at the moment. We arrived in Hanoi at around 5:00 pm. We checked out the internet, because we had received 30 minutes free internet by booking the tour to Ha Long Bay. After dinner we were picked up by the bus for the overnight journey to Hue. Before we left Maren bought some banana bread, almost as good as Kirk's mom, a big emphasis on almost!

Temples of Angkor

The bus trip was longer than expected and got to Hue at around 11:00 am, one hour late. The weather was horrible, and we have seen a lot of flooding along the way. Kirk was able to finish his book, which was good since the book was not that good and now he can exchange it somewhere. Even though it was rainy really hard we decided to use our few hours in Hue to visit the Citadel. We did not go in because we did not think it would be worth paying the entrance fee in the rainy and wet weather. So after walking around the city for a while, getting wet we had some salad and tea at the hotel where the bus would pick us up to go to Hoi An. We had also bought some bread for lunch to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. On the road they always taste the best. We also checked the internet, and yes Nina has now internet access at home and no excuse not to send long and interesting mails regularly. It was nice of Anne and Olli to install the modem for her and hook her up to the internet. The bus ride took an hour longer than planned, probably because of all the rain. It looked like many of the fields were flooded along the way. The rain was really falling today. We mostly read our books the whole way. When we got to Hoi An we were dropped off at a hotel where we arranged a triple with a Swedish guy, 3 US $ per person. After taking a much needed shower, we decided only to do some work on our web pages before we went to bed.

Temples of Angkor

We both woke up at around 6:45 am and got our stuff packed. The bus to My Son was supposed to pick us up at 8:00 am. It actually came early so we were not able to eat breakfast. The trip to My Son was really bumpy, because the roads were not great. It was also rainy pretty much the whole time. One saw the rains creeping up to the huts. It must be really moist and dungy living in the huts along the rice fields. The trip took 1.5 hours. There we bought the tickets to My Son and got the gratuitous jeep ride up to the temples. The temples were, well ok. They are restored and they are falling apart and the jungle is crawling all over them. Most look like a pile of bricks. They were interesting, but we had expected something else. After catching the bus back to Hoi An we reserved a ticket on the night bus to Nha Trang and then had some lunch, walked around town, and checked our email. In town we walked around the market and along the river. Nha Trang is a town where you can get tailored clothes really cheaply. We though about it, but it would just be another unnecessary expense for us at the moment. Later on we went back to hotel because we were getting soaked by the rain. There we read our books and waited for the bus to pick us up at 6:00 pm. It would be another nightbus ride. That means we did not sleep much again. Along the way the bus had a flat , which delayed the trip a little.

Temples of Angkor

The bus arrived about 3 hours late in Nha Trang and many people missed their connecting bus to Saigon, which of course did not make them happy. They needed to catch flights home from there. In Nha Trang we took the hotel where the bus dropped us off. Maren was able to bargain the room down from 6 US $ to 5 US $ with breakfast. Which is ok for here. Maren right away washed our cloths. She told Kirk he stunk. Well she told him for the last few days that he stunk, ok for the last month. After taking showers we took a walk along the beach, which was nice, but could be much nicer when the weather was good. It was still rainy and overcast. Later on we just walked around town, eating fried bananas in a doe mixture and buying some green oranges which turned out to be not very good. They were a little dry. In the late afternoon Kirk and Maren took turns working on the website. We are still too far behind with the pictures and web pages. We both took turns taking naps as the other worked. In the evening we walked around town, checking menus at different restaurants until we finally found one we liked with a reasonably priced menu. Maren had beef and vegetables and Kirk had pork and vegetables, both came with rice which they refilled when the rice bowl was empty. So that was a plus. Before we went back to the hotel we checked the internet, no new emails, but Kirk was able to read some news. Later on the both of us did some work on our web pages before bed. The Vietnamese people, though nice, will seem to always want to rip you off. Even in the internet cafe's they try to charge you more. One always have to watch out no matter what you are buying or doing. We are taking the 7:00 am bus to Dalat tomorrow so we have to go to bed now. We started taking our Malaria Pills again today.

Temples of Angkor

This morning we woke up at 5:30 am and checked out of the hotel. We got a voucher from the hotel, which gave us a free breakfast in a nearby restaurant. The both of us had a pancake with bananas and Kirk had a coke to drink. Maren ordered coffee but in offering Kirk a taste of the coffee spilled it over the whole table. The banana pancake at least was really good. The bus picked us up at 7:00 am for the trip to Dalat. Along the way we stopped at the Cham Towers. They were similar to the temples in My Son, but much better preserved and actually much much nicer. Though they did not have that jungle feeling around them. The entrance fee was also ok and 5000 dong which is only 30 US Cents. The trip took around 5.5 hours. There they took us again to their hotels. However we decided this time to look around a little and we found comparable rooms for 1 US $ cheaper, 5 US $ for a double which is ok for Dalat. The tour company offered their room also then for 5 US $, but we decided to take the room in the other hotel. The hotel clerk told us we should rent a small motorbike (Vespa) to check out the sites around Dalat. So we might take the motorbike instead of having to go on another tour. In Vietnam it is sort of a pain that one always has to go on a tour for everything, so this might be a nice change. After settling in our room we walked around town, having fried doe covered bananas for lunch. They are kind of greasy, but tasted really good. We also found an Internet Cafe that said we could hook up our laptop there. That will be good so we can finally update our website. Later on we again did some more computer work and wrote some emails. When we were finished we had sandwiches for dinner and went to the Internet Cafe.

Bus Border Vietnam - Phnom Penh

We wanted to sleep a little longer today, but we woke up before 7:00 am. The both of us had weird dreams the whole night. We started taking our malaria pills again and are wondering if that has something to do with it. Kirk was a little nervous because we had rented a small motorbike for the day. After the little crash in Zanzibar, he was wondering if he could handle it. The motorbike was ok, it was automatic, without a clutch, so it was not that hard to drive. It took a little bit getting used to, but eventually one got the handle of it. The Vietnamese drive like nuts on the road. Luckily they drive mostly motorbikes and there are not too many cars and trucks on the road. They never seem to look when they turn or enter a main street from a side street. It takes more than a while to get used to. Also the passing on blind curves is something one will never get used to. The hotel clerk told us we would not probably need to buy the police permit to get into Lat Village, though the guide book and tour companies all told us that we needed a permit. It turned out he was right or at least no one asked us for one. The tour guide on a bus from Nha Trang tried to pressure us yesterday that we have to book the tour now because the company has to buy the police permits for us before the police station closed. He also said they cost 5 US $ per person, even though our hotel clerk said if we were stopped, it costs only 3 US $. One has to watch out here, the tour guides will tell you anything to get you nervous, that you book a tour with them. Also they claimed the entrance fee to Lang Bian Mountain was 25000 dong when it turned out to be 5000 dong. We were just very glad that we did not book a tour. The motorbike was a great idea and it saved us a lot of money. Lat Village turned out to be a little disappointing. There was not much there and one could not really tell that the people living there were Vietnamese minorities. It was like any other village we have seen here. We would have been kind of ticked to pay 5 US $ to get into the village. There was nothing there to see. One drives through the village to Lang Bian Mountain, where one parks the motorbike at a motorbike parking area (2000 dong, which is necessary because otherwise your vehicle is not insured if it gets stolen). We climbed to about 2000 meters high, one can go to 2164 meters high, however the trail got really muddy and we were hardly able to hike any further. One probably could but one would have come out covered with mud. What we did not realize is that one can also camp up there. More and more we think we should of kept our tent and cooking gear. We definitely are going to buy a new tent in Australia. We realized that we had a great time in Africa and want to camp some more. After the hike we drove back through Dalat to the other side of town. We drove to a lake where a temple was and then down to Prenn Falls. The falls were alright and one could walk under them. However it all was a little kitschy and made out for Vietnamese tourist and honeymooners. Well the whole of Dalat is very kitschy to say at least. It is a very tacky honeymoon spot for the Vietnamese. From there we drove back to the hotel. We then walked to the middle of town and bought some fried bananas in doe again for lunch. We also had a great coffee at the hotel. The coffee is almost like a strong espresso with some creamy sweet milk. Later on Maren took a nap and Kirk did some work. In the evening we bought some bread and walked around town a little. Otherwise we took it easy. Kirk did some work on his other websites in the evening. Maren sewed some stuff, including Kirk's blue t-shirt which she would love to through away.

Temples of Angkor

After Maren paid for the room and the motorbike, we had breakfast bread, butter, jam and some coffee. Not much but ok. The bus picked us up at our hotel at 7:45 am. The bus trip was ok, it went by some coffee and tea plantations which were interesting. Along the way two of the buses tires blew while we were crossing a bridge. It was pretty scary, since the thought of the bus going through the railing and into the river crossed every ones mind. Luckily nothing happened. We had to wait for an hour and a half at a restaurant where they served free tea and coffee hoping that people would buy some. Some actually did. Kirk had 2.5 small cups of coffee and paid for it later. Maren was already not feeling good so she just had a taste. Well on the bus Kirk felt really sick and jumpy from the coffee. He did not feel well the whole way to Ho Chi Minh City. For lunch the bus stopped along the way. There we ordered one plate of vegetable rice for a dollar. Two girls from Holland did too. To make the story short, our meal was first served to the table next to us. They tried it but then realized it was not what they had ordered. They gave it back and lone and behold we got the plate which the people at the other table had already picked at. Well we gave it back and said we did not want anymore to eat. They knew right away what we meant. The bus attendant even apologized. We bought some chips for a snack later on. At lunch we talked to a couple who took the Trans Siberian Railway from St. Petersburg to Beijing. Sounded like a great trip. At around 4:30 pm we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and started looking for a hotel room. We finally took a room in a private house. It seemed to be given to us by a tout, but we were not sure. The "tout" was a 51 year lady who had followed us through the streets for half an hour as we looked at other hotels. We eventually went back to hers, and it turned out to be the best room for the money we could find. Should have went with her right away. She even gave us each a free bottle of coke. In the evening we went looking for an ATM machine which was a half hour walk away. For dinner we first went to this one restaurant. The prices were a little expensive we thought, but the menu looked good so we decided to try. Kirk ordered the largest spaghetti and basilica on the menu and Maren a lasagna. They first came out with Kirk's meal. It was about 50 grams of spaghetti and a couple of slices of green pepper on top. The both of us asked if this was not a small order. They said it was the larger order. Kirk could not believe it and told them this was a joke. For almost 2 US $ in Vietnam, one expects a little more on the plate. When Maren's lasagna came it was just as small, actually smaller. Well Kirk was not going to pay money for this here in Vietnam. Kirk told Maren not to start eating. He called the waitress over and asked her if we have to pay for this small meal and that he still could not believe that this was what they were serving. The waitress spoke to the chef and a couple of other people, but nothing really happened. Kirk called her over again and said we are not going to eat this and that we were leaving. This was just a tourist rip off. So Kirk told Maren we are leaving. We got up and just left. I think they could not believe that we got up and left like that. But it was such a ridicules portion, Kirk felt we had no other choice. We then walked down the street and had a meal at a place with big portions for half the price. So it turned out well. In the end we had given back two meals in one day. Later on we hooked up our laptop for a long time and checked emails and then had some ice cream for dessert.

Temples of Angkor

By the way if anyone else is counting, we are on the road now 8 months. Time is going by so fast. We woke up a little late this morning. We wanted to get a real early start. The first thing we did was walking all the way to the Cambodian Consulate. The tour operator offered to do the Visa applications for us, but we decided to save the 4 dollars and do it ourselves. For the Cambodian Visa one applies in the morning and get it back in the afternoon. This was good for us since we are going to the Mekong Delta tomorrow. The Visa pick up time was 3:00 pm. So we decided to do a little sightseeing. First was the Reunification Palace. There we received a tour of the Palace and got to see a small movie on the place. The movie was very much against the imperialist Americans when it was covering the Vietnam War. It can be difficult to watch. The truth always seems to lie somewhere in the middle when one watches these types of films. When we were finished with the palace we walked around town, ate dinner where we ate the night before and then went into a small market. Kirk did Maren a great favor, he bought himself two new t-shirts. Maren also got a t-shirt. The lady started at 5 dollars a t-shirt but eventually we got her to accept 3 US $ for all three t-shirts. We then decided to walk in the direction of the Cambodian Consulate. On the way we visited the Notre Dame Cathedral, the former US Embassy and the post office. We arrived at the Cambodian Consulate at around 2:00 pm and were lucky to get our Visas an hour early. Afterwards Kirk went to an Internet Cafe near our hotel and tried to make a copy of our pictures on CD, but the place was incompetent and not very helpful. It did not work because the guy did not free enough space up on his computer for Kirk to copy his files on. So we eventually gave up. Later on we had some dinner and then did some internet work. Kirk also installed some test software to see if they were good or not. It took 4 hours to do. Everything is just really slow in Saigon.

Boat Phnom Penh Siem Reap

For breakfast we had some egg sandwiches which we bought from a street vendor. They actually tasted really good and Kirk got a second one. We had booked a tour to the Mekong Delta. The both of us really do not like these tours in Vietnam, but it is the quickest and easiest, probably almost the cheapest way to see things. After the 2.5 hour ride to the Delta we got onto a small boat. Kirk cut his foot on a loose bench that was not screwed down. No bad, just a small gash on the side. The boat took us first to an island where the group got to taste papayas, pineapples, dragon fruit and some fruits similar to lychees. We then got to ride on smaller canoes through some small water ways which went in a circle back to the larger boat. The next stop was on another island. There we tasted rice wine, honey tea, different type of local candies (made from pineapple, honey, ginger, nuts, banana and others), and stuck our fingers in a bee nest to taste the honey. The bees did not sting us. The honey tasted really good. Later on we stopped at a place where they make candies out of coconut and saw how they were made. For lunch we went to another small island. The meal was very basic, a piece of pork, some rice and vegies. There we sat with two Canadians who were vacationing in Vietnam. She was a Documentary Film Maker and he was an Art Teacher. We had a nice conversation of lunch. On this trip there were some girls from the US who just did not shut up. They new everything and anything about Asia, maybe the world. It drove a few of us nuts. After dinner is was a short boat ride to the bus. The bus stopped at a bonsai garden on the way back, a small tourist trap. In the evening we had some dinner, checked out emails and went to bed. 22.11.200 (photos) This morning egg sandwiches were again for breakfast. Maren also bought a lot of bananas with the rest of our dong. The bus picked us up at a little past eight. The ride was ok in Vietnam and nothing spectacular happened a long the way. The scenery was really interesting, especially the rice fields. At the border crossing we had to wait for an hour, they wanted people to buy lunch there. After getting across the border we got another bus (on the same ticket) to Phnom Penh. The roads the whole way were horrible. Pot holes everywhere, a lot of the time not even paved. We were flying up and down. The houses from the local people along the way were really interesting. They were on stilts most of the time. Too bad that the bus driver never stopped to allow us to take some pictures. At one point we stopped after taking a ferry across a river. There the kids loved getting their picture taken with the digital camera. They were clinging and climbing all over Kirk. We arrived in Phnom Penh after an eleven hour bus ride. It was really long. There we quickly got an hotel. We were also able to watch a little bit of CNN, which was a nice change. We then went out to dinner. There we met another German, with whom we had dinner. We then collapsed into bed.

Temples of Angkor

This morning we wanted to see how much a Laos Visa costs here and how long it would take to get it. On the way to the Embassy we were able to check the internet. It is much more expensive than in Vietnam. It costs 1 US$ per hour and that is cheap here. Most places charge 1.50 US $ an hour. The Laos Visa was really expensive here, it costs 45 US$ for same day pick up and 40 US$ for next day pick up. So we decided on getting the Visa in Thailand. We then walked to the Tuol Sleng Museum. Along the way Kirk got a haircut and a shave for 51 US cents. The guy at the end tried to charge more by giving a ridicules exchange rate for the dollar, but it worked out ok. We gave him eventually Cambodian Riel. The museum gave you a really sickening feeling in the stomach. It was tough seeing everything there. They also had pictures of the detainees hung up on the walls. One could see the fright in their eyes. There were also displays on how they tortured the people and one room with the bones and skulls of the victims hung up on the walls. Before this place became a museum it was the largest detention and torture center during the Pol Pot regime, the former Khmer Rouge S-21 Prison. After that we walked down to the river. From there we went to the Wat Qunalom, the National Library, Hotel Royal and then to the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda. The Silver Pagoda was really impressive. It is a big complex of different temples and buildings. The whole day we were almost constantly on our feet. It was a lot of walking, but well worth it because it was really interesting. We were both really impressed with the city and the sights. Much nicer than in Vietnam. The people seem much more sincere also and do not bother one as much. In the evening we checked our email again and some other stuff and went to dinner at the same restaurant as last night. Maren was exhausted and went straight to bed and Kirk did a little work on the website. He did not do much since he started falling asleep.

Boat Phnom Penh Siem Reap

We slept out this morning, well to 8:15 am. First time we were able to do that in a while. Felt good. As Maren took a shower and got beautiful Kirk turned on the computer again and made some updates. We then got a motorbike with a driver each to the Killing Fields. The ride was really bumpy because the roads are bad or there are hardly any roads at all. The round trip cost 3 US $ each. The Killing Fields were a major reminder of what has happened here. There is a Memorial Stupa in the middle of the place filled with human skulls organized by aged sex. It makes you think to say the least. We walked around for about half an hour. There are holes in the ground where the mass graves used to be. Afterwards we went back to the hotel. Later on we walked to the market and around town a little. Before dinner the hotel showed the movie The Killing Fields. After seeing the sight today and the movie, the both of us were a little down. Later on we had dinner and then came back to the hotel. We have to get up early tomorrow because we have to catch a 7:00 am boat to Siem Reap.

Temples of Angkor

The car picked us up at around 6:30 am. It took us straight to the boat. On the dock we bought some bread for our trip. They wanted over double the actually price of the bread. But Maren bargained it down to almost the real price. Everyone around us paid the inflated price it seemed. The boat we took up the Mekong river was really fast. It went almost to fast that we could not take any pictures. We were really glad we chose to take the fast ferry up the river. The landscape and views along the river were fantastic. We both thought at the same time we had wasted our time in Vietnam visiting the Mekong Delta. That was a tourist trap. The houses and the river beds were really interesting. Most of the houses were up on stilts. Some houses seemed to be built in the river. People were also fishing and doing other things in their boats. About 5 hours later the boat arrived in Siem Reap. There the touts were waiting, just like in Jaisalmer India, holding up signs, advertising their hotels and offering free rides to their hotel. We eventually chose one of them, with the cheapest room, 2 US$. Maren did not really like the room so we looked at the more expensive ones. We were eventually able to negotiate a room with bath for 3 US$ a night. In the afternoon we walked around town, bought bus tickets for the 27th for Bangkok. We found bus tickets for 6 US$ not the 10 US $ the hotel wanted. So we got a really good deal. Some places in town were offering the same tickets for 15 US $. Afterwards we had dinner at a local street restaurant. It did not taste that good. Later on we picked up some bananas and organized a motorbike and driver for each of us to go to the Temples of Angkor the next day. In the evening Maren sorted out some pictures and Kirk finished his Tom Clancy Novel Op-Center.

Temples of Angkor

At 4:45 am our alarm clock went off. We wanted to leave 5:30 am to get to the temples early to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Wow what a spectacular monument. The both of us had never seen anything like it on our trip, or actually ever before. It was built by Suryavarman who reigned from 1112-1152 in the honor the God Vishnu. The place is just huge and in itself alone is almost worth the 20 US $ admission fee to the Temples of Angkor. The sunrise was beautiful and it gave some nice reflections of the monument on a surrounding lake. One was able to walk around, on, and throughout the whole monument. It took a while to see most of it. The other temples and structures we visited were Phnom Bakheng, Bayon, Baphuon, Suor Proat Ta Kev, Ta Prohm, Banteay Kdei, Srah Srang, Pre Rup, East Mebon, Ta Som, Neak Pean, and Preah Khan. They were all very interesting. We did a lot of walking and enjoyed the day. Sometimes the climbing up the temples was a challenge since a lot of the steps are worn away and they are very steep. We were amazed that people were allowed to climb all over the temples. Only one thing was not to our liking during the day. In the morning the guys turned out to be guys hired from the guy we had spoken to last night. That would not have been all that bad, but he had promised us that he would drive us himself with a friend of his. The problem was something totally else. There are two major cirques one can take to visit the temples, a smaller inner route and a larger outer route. At around 12:30 pm we were already finished with the inner route and wanted to do the outer route too. Well they then told us they wanted more money. We had asked the guy the day before at least three times, what was included and where could we go. He said we had the driver and bike for the whole day and we could go anywhere in the temple area. We looked at a map together. Well they did not believe us and said that was not included, Kirk said it was but saw it was not going anywhere, so he just said if not we are going, and by. We just started walking away. They then agreed to take us where we wanted to go, though he told us that we were cheating and Kirk was a nationality that I do not want to mention here. They were not very friendly the rest of the way, but they did bring us to most places. When we paid in the end the drivers barely acknowledged the payment. The two asked ourselves, why does this always happen to us? Before we left we visited the Angkor Wat again and walked around for a while. It was just as beautiful as in the morning. We were back in Siem Reap around 5:00 pm. It was a long day. We then checked the internet and also went to a street stall for dinner. It tasted better than yesterdays dinner. After buying bananas we went back to the hotel, where we paid for two nights. The hotel manager asked us if we had already bought bus tickets to Bangkok, we said we did, he asked for how much, Maren said 6 US$, he did not say anymore. Though it seemed to tick him off that we bought the tickets somewhere else. On the way out we saw the guy who was supposed to take us to the temples. Maren asked him where he was this morning, he came up with just a lame excuse. He said though that the guys should have taken us anywhere we wanted. Though it was clear that he was just trying to get rid of us. We did not want to make a fuss, so we left it at that. Later we just went back to our room and did some work.

Temples of Angkor

The bus picked us up at 6:45 am. It first went all over town picking up other passengers, as usual in no order or sequence. The trip to Thailand was fairly bumpy, but we had expected much worse. Along the way the normal stop at a restaurant where the drivers and bus attendant received free meals to when they stopped. Otherwise the trip was fairly uneventful. The roads on the Thailand side of the border were immediately better and actually really good. We got a mini bus from the border to Bangkok. In total the trip took 11 hours. It went by pretty fast. First thing we noticed was that one can buy everything in Thailand and it is very western compared to Cambodia and Vietnam. In Bangkok it took us a while to find a reasonably priced hotel room. We had to walk around a lot to find one. Later on we got some street food for dinner, orientated ourselves and then checked the internet. We were amazed at how many tourist were in Bangkok and how many young people looked as if they have been here a long time. Also for the first time on our trip we think, we could not get a room in a hotel because it was fully booked. The street food tasted really good.

Temples of Angkor

This morning we wrote some emails, got some rice and chicken for breakfast. It tasted great. The spices used here taste really good. Afterwards we looked around for a good price on a Laos Visa. The tourist operators do it for you here. We finally got one which was cheaper from all the other tourist offices. However in the evening we saw it a little cheaper. Cannot win all the time. We also checked our emails, getting some really sad news from Germany that Maren's grandfather had died. It is not easy always being away from the people you care about. Also news came from Germany that a Bauleiter in Kirk's former company had died. So the emails were not the best news we have had on our trip. Later on we had a banana pancake for a mid day snack. We also bought student cards for the year 2002 and for the year 2003. It was really cheap around 1.75 per card. They come in handy. We also bought some new passport photos and a new UV lens covering for our camera. In Tibet one had broken. We were also happy to get rid of some books we had read. We were able sell them for a couple of bucks. After that we walked to the Grand Palace, but we did not go in because Kirk was wearing shorts. We will go tomorrow. We also walked down to the river. In the late afternoon we went to 7eleven and got a big ice pineapple drink and then went back to the hotel room and rested and wrote some more emails. We were a little tired. Later we had some street food again for dinner, rice with pork and something. Everything tasted great. We also uploaded our emails and then had our fist alcoholic drink since Africa. Kirk had a beer and Maren a cocktail. Kirk felt a little weird from the alcohol. We also bought bus tickets for the overnight trip to the Laos border tomorrow.

Temples of Angkor

We woke up much later than we had hoped, 9:00 am. One of the latest times we have gotten up on this whole trip. Scott had called in the middle of the night to give us some information on something happening at home. Thanks for the info Scott. Later on we went and had some breakfast at the same street corner stand as the day before. Kirk actually got two servings this time. He served a great tasting sweet and sour bird (probably chicken) with rice. Afterwards we went again to the Grand Palace. It was very impressive and interesting to walk around. A lot of the structures are covered with gold and there are a lot of Buddha's statures all over the place. Later we walked to a shopping district, but there they were only selling junk. So we decided to go back to near our hotel. There Maren had spring rolls for lunch and Kirk a mixed noodles meal on the street with pineapples to top it off for desert. We also bought some film and looked for a new battery for the digital camera. The problem in that area was they did not have any. So we had to quickly catch a bus to a huge shopping mall. The only problem was that we had to catch a bus to the border to Laos in two hours. The bus ride to the shopping mall took forever to get there because there is just so much traffic in the city. It took also a while to find a store which sells the battery. The battery was expensive, over 70 US$ for one. We already have two, but one does not really charge well anymore, so we need a reserve battery for the camera. It is necessary to have. Things for the Sony DSC-P1 Cybershot are just really expensive. We would like another memory stick, but a 128 MB stick cost here over 160 US $. We were able to get back to the Khao San Road at around 6:00 pm. Kirk then ran to pick up our backpacks at the hotel and Maren went to pick up our Laos Visa at the tourist office. Well we did not have to rush that much in the end because the minibus that was suppose to pick us up and bring us to the big bus station was late. On the way there we sat in the minibus with two American young ladies from New York. They were quite nice. The bus was ok, but nothing special. We were able to sleep a little.

Temples of Angkor

The bus was supposed to arrive in Nong Khai (border town with Laos) at around 7:00 or 8:00 am. Do you know how things are always late, well this time the bus was early 3:30 am. We could not really believe it when the bus attendant woke us up and said we were there. We had to sit around a while with the two ladies from NY until 6:00 am when we took a Tuk Tuk to the border, about 6 kilometers away. Of course they started with a high price and we were able to bargain them down to 40 Bhat for the 4 of us. Going through the border we had to pay a departure tax, entrance tax and pay for a bus ride over the friendship bridge. Not only do these countries get you for the Visa, they also get you for the leaving and coming. It was good that we got our Laos Visas in Bangkok, they are double the price when one gets them on the border. On the Laos side they also tried to charge us a overtime fee with the entrance tax. We refused to pay and they eventually said we did not have to. There we bargained with a Tuk Tuk driver for a ride to Vientiane (Capital of Laos). He only brought us to the bus station and not further, though it was promised to bring us to a hotel. The hotels were only 15 min walk away, but he was trying to get us to go with another taxi driver. We were half asleep and we heard that people in Laos were supposedly really nice, so we paid him anyway. Which we regretted later. We should have at least reduced the fair. However can not fight every time they try and rip you off. Though this guy way an unfriendly driver. We then walked to a hotel in our guide book. We only checked two hotels and took the cheaper one. A little dirty, but it will do for one night. Been in much worse. After dropping off our bags, we checked our email for 4 minutes and then went to a Scandinavian bakery. Kirk had a big ham and cheese sub and Maren a croissant with ham and cheese with coffee and juice. It was delicious and a nice change. Later we did some seeing to Wat Si Saket, Haw Pha Kaew, Pha That Luang and walked around the morning market. The people here are much more laid back and do not hassle one constantly. The sights were ok and afterwards we walked along the Mekong and back to our hotel. There the both of us rested for a while and Kirk did some computer work. In the evening we had dinner, walked around town and went to bed after updating our webpage.

Kuala Lumpur

We made sure we got up really early in the morning so that we would be able to get a seat on the bus. We were lucky we got there before 6:00 am, 10 minutes later we were going to sit in the aisles. Actually they filled the bus until the aisles were not only full, but till all the seats had 3 people in them, instead of 2. We offered a place to an older Swiss guy who was standing in the aisle. The scenery along the way was really nice. Everything was green. We arrived in Vang Vieng at around 11:30 am. There we searched around for hotels and guest houses for an hour and finally took the hotel we first looked at. Things were much more expensive than the guide book had noted. We have heard so many positive things about Laos, especially that it was not touristy and really cheap. This town is really made out for the tourists and nothing else, at least anymore. It was also much more expensive than we had expected. It is much less touristy than Vietnam, and the people are more friendly and probably more genuine, but the same rules apply as anywhere else in the world, they want your dollar more than anything. In Vang Vieng we decided to walk around town and along the river. There we saw the local children playing in the river, the men fishing and the women doing the washing. Later on Kirk took a dip in the river. It was fairly cold, but refreshing. We later walked to the Paulis cave which was about a 4 km hike from town. To our surprise there was an entrance fee to enter the cave. We were not sure it would be worth it, but it turned out it was. We went in this totally dark cave with a guide by ourselves. It was really neat inside, especially since we were the only ones in there. Later on we had dinner where we had a fruit shake earlier. It was really good and the portions were ok. Later we saw the two girls from New York again and made plans to meet them on the bus tomorrow to Luang Prabang. We were so exhausted that we went back to the room and fell asleep with all of our cloths on.

Kuala Lumpur

We again made sure we were over an hour early for the bus. It was good because we got some good seats. The bus again would be become very full. In our opinion Laos has really caught on to how the tourist industry works. The bus from Vietiane to Vang Vieng costs only 6000 Kip, but a bus that goes from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang costs 40000 Kip even though the trip takes only 2 to 3 hours more. Yes the reason is that they huddle all the tourists on this bus. So no one can tell me Laos is not already in the tourist swing. The bus ride was ok, it took a while because the roads are really curvy. But the scenery was very nice. The two NY girls sat behind us. On arrival at the bus station there were the tuk tuks already waiting for us, charging 5000 Kip each to town. Most tourists got on and took the tuk tuk. We decided to walk instead and see what the tuk tuks on the street were offering, or maybe walk to town if nothing was cheaper. We got a tuk tuk pretty quickly for 1000 each to town. So again here in Laos, they know what tourism is. Not that one can blame them. Again we find them much more genuine than in Vietnam or Thailand. To our surprise many hotels were full and they again were much more expensive than according our guide books. We eventually found a room, not very nice, but ok and cheap. We met the two NY girls for dinner. It was nice to talk to them. They saw the WTC terrorist attack live. They worked and lived really close by. One is also a photographer and it was really interesting to hear about her work. Later on we went straight to bed. We were really tired.

Kuala Lumpur

On an important note, we just want to wish my mom all the best in the world today and we know that everything will turn out the way it is supposed to. We love you a lot and are thinking of you. This morning we had bread and bananas for breakfast like we do a lot of the time. We then walked around town and visited the different Wats and Temples in town such as the Wat Xieng Thong, Wat Winsulate, and others. We also visited the Palace Museum. They all charge a small entrance fee. The temples were nice, but after a while they all seem a like and one Buddha starts to look like the other. In the afternoon we checked the internet. Thanks Marc for taking care of the internet site. We had lunch where we ate dinner the night before, because they make a tasty fresh fruit drink. Later on we basically walked around town some more and along the river. In the evening we bought some rice and some toppings (?) in a plastic bag for dinner and ate in the dark down by the river. We also checked the internet and had another fresh fruit shake for dinner. We retired early to our room to write our diary and update our site a little.

Kuala Lumpur

The alarm woke us up at 4:40 am. Maren was the first as always to get up. Kirk took his time. We wanted to get to the northern bus stop early to try and get a seat on a bus to Luang Nam Tha. The information gathered the day before was really unclear on whether the bus left at 6:00 am, 7:00 am, 8:00 am or 9:00 am. To our luck the bus left at 9:00 am, which meant we hung around at the bus station for a few hours. The bus was not even full, so one did not even have to be there early. To get to the bus station we took a tuk tuk. The first tuk tuk took us to the wrong bus station, the southern bus station, and then wanted 10000 Kip to take us to the northern bus station. This was out of the question for us so we decided to start walking. We eventually got one for 7000 Kip, which was good, because it would have been difficult to find in the dark and it was quite a distance away. The bus ride was long but one traveled through some beautiful, lush, and green hills and valleys. The road also went through some small and cute villages. The town where we stopped for lunch had internet service to our amazement, so we quickly checked our emails and received some encouraging, and really positive news from home. So we were much more relaxed for the rest of the bus ride. We just did not have to reply to the emails because the bus was leaving. We arrived after dark in Luang Nam Tha. There we had found a guest house and then ate dinner with a really nice English guy we had met on the bus. We wanted to make a phone call home or at least use the internet, but the telephone office was closed and there is no internet to our surprise in Luang Nam Tha. That was a little frustrating. At least we were able to look earlier on the way up here. Afterwards we crashed into bed. It was a long day.

Kuala Lumpur

We slept a little longer today. Until around 8:00 am. The first thing we did was call home. It was great to talk to everyone, even though it was just 3 minutes. We were very happy that everything went well. Making telephone calls here is a pain. One first has to fill out some forms, where one wants to call, which number, and for how long. Then the telephone clerk makes the call for you by connecting to an operator. Once she is connected to the number, one gets to have the conversation. It is also extremely expensive, however we were just really happy to get through. We then got information on trekking, the two day trips were all fully booked, so we decided on doing a one day trek the following day. The treks go to different villages, but the main difference is that one stays one night in a village on a 2 day hike. If we wanted to do the two day hike we would have to sit around for a few days, and we decided against it. In the early afternoon after we had eaten something we each rented a bike and rode to some villages outside of town. The outlying area was beautiful and the people in the villages were very interesting and nice. They have not yet been corrupted by tourism. We also visited a small market where we bought some oranges and then we returned our bicycles. Later on we worked a little on our web page, we are a little behind. In the evening we had dinner and had some waffles for desert. Later on we had a conversation with some ladies from Holland as we relaxed on the balcony. After talking to them we went back to the room where Kirk quickly fell asleep. Maren sorted out some pictures for our photo album until the electricity was turned off at 10:00 pm.

Kuala Lumpur

Kirk woke up around 4:00 am and could not really get back to sleep. At 7:00 am we walked over to the market and ate some fried bananas and something else fried. At 8:30 am we met our trek guide for the day trek we were going to do. She was a nice Lao girl, her name was Mo, who normally did not work as a guide, but was filling in because they could not find another guide today. It worked out well though, she was really nice. A pickup first took everyone to the starting point around 10 minutes away from Luang Namtha. The trek was ok, it first took us to a local village. The people live there without any electricity, running water, not even a road that went to the village. It was fairly interesting, but did not blow us away. We then had lunch. The guide served lunch on banana leaves she had collected. It was not our favorite meal of the trip. It was sticky rice that one ate with different vegetable, fish and meat dishes. After lunch we walked through and up a hill through very thick vegetation. It was sort of like walking through a small jungle. The small trek also took us through a couple of other villages, where again the digital camera got some kids really excited. At the last village we climbed a small hill where a Stupa was. It was bombed by the Americans in the 1960 and still lay toppled over. When we got back to the town, Maren gave a little first aid to a small boy from a village with a cracked toe nail. For dinner we had sweet and sour pork with hot papaya salad. Tasted great. Again waffles were for desert.

Melaka

We made sure we were up early to get the first truck to Hua Xai (Laos and Thailand Border). As it turned out, there was no reason for us to get there early. The pickup trucks did not leave for 2 hours. For some unknown reason that just sat around, even when both of the pickup trucks were full. Really strange. To state the positives first about the 10 hour ride, the scenery along the way was fantastic. One also passed through some really nice villages along the way similar to the ones we saw when we went biking two days before. Along the way one truck must have broken its axle. To our amazement they were able to fix the truck with a piece of wood they chopped apart and an old inner tube which they cut apart. Do not ask how they did it. By the end we were both really dirty. We had the two front seats in the back of the pickup. This is where all the dirt gets blown into your face. 99% of the road is not paved. However we have been on worse. The truck dropped everyone off at the bus stop. From there we had to walk around 2 km to find a Guest House. There we took an ice cold shower, which for the most part got all the dirt off of us. In the evening we had a small dinner, made a phone call home and then went to bed. We are very happy that everything went well at home.

Melaka

We heard that the border opened at 8:00 am, so we got there early to make sure we would get a good start. Well it opened at 8:15 am and it did not make a difference we got over to the other side. Another day we could have slept a little longer. This time we were made to pay the overtime fee. There was no way around it. Claimed that it was not a working day and therefore we had to pay up. Only 35 cents, but it is frustrating that they make you pay to get in, pay to get out on top of an expensive visa. One then takes a small boat across the river to the other side and one goes through the Thailand border control. That went easy and this time no entry stamp fee, wow. The first thing we did was to check our email, and then we got a local bus to Chiang Rai. There we had lunch and then got another bus to Chiang Mai. We shared a taxi to the center of town with a few other people and then found a hotel. We first had dinner and walked around. There were a lot of bars around that had mostly middle age western men slurping over young Thai women getting drunk in the process. Later we were able to hook up the laptop to upload some of our pictures. Yes there has been complaints about not being able to access the pictures. The main excuse is that the connections are just too slow normally and it just would take too much time.

Melaka

In the morning we packed our bags and left them in the hotel lobby. Afterwards we went and bought bus tickets for tonight's bus to Bangkok at the cheapest travel agent we found the night before. We then walked around town checking out the different Wats and temples. They all see alike after a while and one has trouble enjoying them like one should. We have seen so many now on our trip, that we have just about had enough of them. We also bought one book and got a few free ones at this other book store. Kirk has finally something to read. Later on we treated ourselves to a slurpee at 7Eleven and then went to the internet cafe for 3 hours were Kirk was able to upload all of our pictures which were not uploaded before. To our surprise the guy tried to overcharge us an hour. Later on Kirk bought replacement sun glasses and we had dinner before we were picked up at 7:00 pm to take the overnight bus to Bangkok. The bus was a really nice one and we got the two seats up front in the upper level, which in our opinion are the best ones because you can stretch your legs out well. The trip was uneventful, the only problem was that they turned out the lights right away, so we were not able to read our books. So we just tried to sleep.

Melaka

The bus arrived at 6:30 am in Bangkok. We eventually found a hotel near the one we stayed at before. We immediately had breakfast at the street stand we ate at the last time we were here. He had rice with fried chicken and sweet and sour sauce. We then checked the internet and looked for bus tickets to Kho Pha Ngan. We also checked out information on going to Myamar (Burma). We are not sure yet if we want to go there or not. First it is not that cheap and second is that we are sure if it is the correct thing to do. Later one we went to a shopping mall to look for tents and a Sony Service center to get the digital camera fixed again. The Service center was closed and we were not sure about the tents we saw. Later we went back to our hotel room and updated our web pages. In the evening we checked emails, uploaded our website and had dinner. We want to get out of Bangkok as soon as possible. There is not much to do in this city.

Penang

The first thing on the agenda was to send a few packages home. The first was our films which we sent per EMS, which hopefully means that it will arrive, and the second package we sent per sea mail, which according to the clerk will take 2 to 3 months. Breakfast was at the usual place, where rice and chicken were on the menu. We then bought our bus tickets to Ko Phangan tonight. We were happy we found the Sony service dealership the first day, so we took a bus there again. To our major disappointment and frustration they had no one there to fix the camera. They would have to send the camera away, which would take at least a week. So we ended up not leaving our camera there and hoped that in Singapore we would be able to fix it. We also looked for a tent for Australia, but could not find a good one we wanted. Later on we checked the internet, ate lunch and went to wait for our bus out of Bangkok. We are still amazed how disorganized people are. They first took us to the wrong bus stop, and then we had to wait around for two hours before the bus came. They do this drill everyday, and they seem never to get it right. The bus was a really nice VIP bus. We even got to watch a movie, but it was a horribly made film about the Vietnam War.

Penang

During the night we had a hard time sleeping because the bus driver had the air conditioner at full blast. It was freezing cold the whole night. We arrived in Surat Thani and waited another .5 hour for a bus to bring us to the ferry. The ferry ride to Ko Phangan took around 4.5 hours. We read our books most of the way. It actually started to rain and everyone was packed in below. We found out then that we had come to the island in the rainy season. Though it mostly only rained in the afternoon. There were so many touts trying to get us to one of their hotels and we were not sure exactly where were wanted to go, so we just sat there a while till we finally went with a taxi driver to Ao Mae Haad. There we got a bungalow near the beach, not on it. Those were much more expensive. We first took a walk along the beach. It was quiet nice. Kirk also went swimming for a little while. Later on we had dinner and read our books. We basically just relaxed.

Kuala Lumpur

This morning we walked to town. It took us around 40 minutes. In town we checked the internet and had breakfast. There they sold 1 bottle of cold water for 10 Baht and 6 bottles warm water for 20. Figure that one out. The math just did not add up for us so we bought none and used our water filter. Later on we went swimming , and we both just read our books the rest of the day. We did not do much otherwise. We had dinner, read a little more then went to bed. As you can see not a very exciting day.

Kuala Lumpur

We were not sure if we were going to rent a bike and ride around the island and take the night ferry, or take the late morning ferry off the island. The weather was not great, it was raining so we decided to take the late morning ferry. It was a good decision because it rained heavily the rest of the day. After the taxi took us to the ferry station we bought tickets on the car ferry back to Sutan Thani on the mainland. The ferry ride took around 2.5 hours. It rained the whole time. All we did was reading our books and trying to take a snooze. On the bus from the ferry station to Sutan Thani town center, the bus attendant tried to everyone on the bus to book there next bus tickets with him. He bugged the hell out of people, explaining always how much cheaper his bus tickets were and how it would cost more if one looked oneself. He rambled off numbers trying to confuse people and get them to buy tickets out of fear they would not get such a great deal. We did not buy our ticket to Hat Yai with him and in town actually found it cheaper. What a surprise. These guys are just so full of bull. After buying our bus tickets, we had lunch and bought some cookies for the ride. The ride was ok, our bus driver was really nice and asked us exactly where we wanted to get off in the city. In Hat Yai after looking for a while we found a hotel. We walked around town and then went to bed. We were tired.

Kuala Lumpur

The first thing we did was buying a minibus ticket to Penang (Georgetown) Malaysia. We looked around and took the cheapest one we could find. We checked our emails and had the worst meal for breakfast that we have had in Thailand. Rice with pork, but it was not very good, very fatty. We had asked the minibus company if the price included all exit and departure fees. They replied yes and the driver ill take care of all that. Well when we got to border with Malaysia, the driver started asking for money for the exit fee. He first asked the Asians in the minibus for 10 Baht and the westerners for 1 US $. Something was not right. He then said 10 Baht was ok. We told him that the agency told everything was included in the price of the ticket. He just got pissed with us when we said this and gave us back our passports which we had to give him before. He brought the other passports himself to the customs officer and we had to do this ourselves. We did not have to pay the customs officer. He did give the customs officer some money. Other than this argument which got a little heated, the trip went ok. The minibus took the ferry to get over to Penang Island, even though there is a bridge connecting it to the mainland. In Georgetown we looked for a hotel. We took one not in our guide book called Coral Guest House. We did not pick D-Budget Guest House which is highly recommend in the guide book because the receptionist was very moody and not very friendly. It was just the start of the Muslim New Year celebrations. This meant that the buses to Kuala Lumpar the next day would be mostly full (tip from the hotel staff), so we decided to walk to the bus station and see if we could get a ticket. Most travel agencies told us that the buses were all fully booked. We were lucky at the station to get a ticket on the night bus to Kuala Lumpur. It leaves tomorrow at 11:00 pm. That was perfect with us. In the evening we had some dinner down at the water front, well Maren had fish and noodles there and Kirk had an egg and onion contraption later. We were back at the hotel room around 8:00 pm where we watched the news and a movie. The movie was on a VCD (CD that plays movies on the TV.) The quality of these movies is so horrible because one has to compress the movie to fit on the CD. One could hardly watch.

Penang

We first went to the Khoo Kongsi, a Chinese temple and walked by the Kapitan Kling Mosque. We then had breakfast at a cafe that had CNN on. The breakfast was small and not much for one's money. Later we went to Fort Cornwallis before we took a local bus to Penang Hill. We wanted to climb up, but from the side where the cable train goes up that was not possible. The line to the cable train was also 3 hours long, so we decided not to go up. We then instead went to the Kek Lok Si Temple where the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia stands. It was just packed with people. Too many. Afterwards we went back to town where we went to a supermarket and tasted free samples they had. We also bought some bread, cheese and beans for lunch. Actually we just had the bread and cheese for lunch. We then thought it would be a good idea to see a movie, but the films showing were not to our liking so we checked our email for an hour and read up on some news. We then just basically walked around town and waited back at the hotel until around 10:30 pm. We then walked to the bus station, where our bus left at around 11:30. The seats in the bus were really cool. They were just like business class seats in airplanes. Really comfortable.

Kuala Lumpur

The bus ride went quick and woke us up in our deep sleep. The seats were very comfortable and we could really sleep. Too bad the bus arrived at 4:30 am at a bus station just outside Kuala Lumpur. We took a local bus to the main bus station in the center of the city where we waited around for a few hours till the ticket shops opened and we could by tickets for Melaka or Singapore, which ever ones we could get. It was hard to find one with still tickets, but we were able to eventually, and bought tickets for the 2:30 pm bus to Melaka. We then found a storage facility across the street. Expensive, but we had no choice. We first walked to the Golden Triangle, where the twin Petronas Towers and the KL Towers are. The highest building in the world. One could not climb up or visit them because of the holidays. But at least we got to see them. We then walked to the Royal Sanger Club, Sultan Abdul Samad building, the National Museum, and the Train Station, all colonial buildings. Later on we had McDonalds for lunch, 3 hamburgers each because they had a special deal .99 RM per hamburger (around 26 US cents). We then took the bus to Melaka when it just started raining really heavily. Perfect timing. In Melaka we first found a hotel and then walked around the town a little before going to bed.

Kuala Lumpur

In the morning we had breakfast, it was included in the price of our hotel room. Not much, scrambled eggs with toast. We then did some sightseeing around town, visiting the Town Square also called the Dutch Square with its historical Stadthuys and Churches built by the Dutch, Portuguese and English and different points in history. Many of the buildings are dark red in color. Otherwise we just walked around the town. It was very hot and we took one time refuge in a shopping mall. Afterwards we picked up our backpacks at the hotel and walked to the bus station. There we got the bus to Johor Bahru, which is the city on the border with Singapore from where we took a local express bus into Singapore. In Singapore we found a hotel room. They gave us an AC room for the price of a room with a fan because they did not have any fan rooms left. So that was nice, though rooms are really expensive in Singapore. Not what we are used to. We then walked around a little, we were able to change our Malaysian RM and Thailand Baht into Singapore Dollars which was good. The exchange rate was not great, but it was ok. We then worked on our web pages. Took a while because we have been lazy lately and have not updated them in a while.

Kuala Lumpur

The breakfast in lousy. Toast bread, no toaster available with the cheapest jelly and cheapest butter one can buy, even Kirk would not save the extra pennies and buy this food. The tea is alright. In the morning we went to the Sony Service Center with the Metro. We were able to convince them after talking to them for a while that they would look at the camera free of charge and readjust the lens. It took a while to convince them to do this but in the end it worked out ok. We still had to pay to get the cracked monitor fixed, which was not cheap, it costs 67 US$ to fix. Another dent in our budget, but we thought it is worth it to get it fixed, even thought the camera works with the crack in the plastic monitor cover. Afterwards we looked at a few travel agents for air fairs to Australia. STA travel had the best fairs available, out of the ones we checked. We also went to Citibank to sort out some financial things at home. They had a computer there hooked up to the internet, so we were able to check our email for free. We also looked around at camera stores for some things for our cameras. Things are just so much cheaper here than at home. They do start with totally ridicules prices and come down really fast. Many times 50 % or more from the first asking price. We are thinking about buying a 2x Tele Converter for our camera. It doubles the zoom on our Canon Camera. One guy started at 518 S$ and was down to 240 S$ before we left the store. We still did not buy, wanting to check out other stores first. Somehow time flew buy and it was already around 4:00 pm, so we had some chicken and rice for dinner (cheapest dinner one can have in Singapore). Kirk then took a nap, regretted later because he could not sleep during the night. We later then walked around town a while, then decided to go to the movies and see Ocean's 11. It turned out to be really good. During the night there were some young people partying all night so we had a hard time to sleep.

Melaka

The first thing after breakfast was booking the airline tickets to Australia. We decided to pay the 100 S$ to be able to stop over in Bali. We will now spend Christmas on Bali. Hopefully it will be nice there over Christmas. We also booked our flights all the way to New Zealand. It cost a lot of money, but one has no choice in the matter. Later one we looked around for watches and lenses. Both one can find really cheap here. We ended up buying the 2x Tele Converter Lens for 118.45 S$ including Tax (65 US$). The price was the best we could find out of 30 shops and we bargained down to the last dollar. So from the original asking price yesterday at one shop of 518 S$ (284 US$) to the price we paid 118 S$ (65 US$), was a 430 % difference. Actually crazy. So watch out in Singapore. Later we found a place selling cheap Australian Lonely Planets, so we bought one. We had actually planed to buy one in Australia, but this was really cheap (25 S$). Later we looked at watches, there are some really nice ones, and really cheap. We are not sure we should buy them or not. We do not have a watch at the moment. We think we found the cheapest place to buy them. We just are not sure if we should go for it. We have already spent so much money. Later we had dinner, yes chicken and rice. We then took long needed showers and worked on our web pages.

Melaka

We did not much today. After breakfast we checked emails at the Citibank branch where it for free, then picked up our plane tickets at STA travel. They put on the tickets that amendment and cancellation fees do apply to the tickets. This is not what we wanted. So after making a big fuss there and threatening to cancel the tickets they eventually gave us new tickets without this clause written on them. If one is sometimes not a__hole, one gets no where. Afterwards we walked around Singapore near the water front. Otherwise we did not do much. We did buy some watches for ourselves. They were much cheaper than in Europe or the US. They are both with altimeter and thermometer/ barometer and Kirks also has a compass. Singapore is dangerous because some things are really much cheaper than at home. We had to bargain hard and check out a lot of shops before we got the best deal we thought was possible. In the evening we wrote our Christmas emails and read a little.

Melaka

After breakfast we checked our emails again and then took the MRT and the bus to the Zoo. The Singapore Zoo was really nice and well done we thought. It was not like a Safari, but to see the animals was nice. They had a fairly large collection. When we finally got back we had a long nap before we took a walk around town a little and then came back to the hotel. So today like the other days in Singapore, nothing much happened. We will be happy tomorrow when we fly to Bali.

Melaka

After breakfast we uploaded our website and sent off our emails. WE then decided instead of hanging around in Singapore we would go to the airport early. It turned out to be a good idea. The bus to the airport costs only 1.5 S$ which was a reasonable fair for Singapore. At the Airport we first checked in and then send a package home. We then went through customs, wondering then how we would spend the next 5.5 hours. Well we found a great way, we became contestants on the first ever Airport Games Show, " What's your Range". We played the 2:00 pm show first. One has to enter the correct number within a range to a question they asked. An example question was when did Porsche first build a Airplane engine? It turns out Kirk wins and he was able to win 190 S$ (104 US$) which can only be spend in the Airport. So that was a nice early Christmas present. In the game one can win over 1000 $ Singapore dollars if one picks the right boxes on the screen when one wins. But 190 S$ is good enough for us. Well Maren was allowed to play in Terminal 1 a second time. Kirk went over to Terminal 2 to play again at 4:00pm. They did not know that he had already won in Terminal 1. So it was cheating a little, but that was ok. Well in the 4:00pm game, we each came in second. So we almost won again. We decided to spend the 190 S$ on a Sony 128 MB Memory Stick. It costs 193 S$, so we had to through in an extra 3 S$. Before we got on the plane we exchanged our last S$ into Australian and Indonesian currency and ate our last Nutella bread. The flight went quickly, 2.15 minutes. The meal was also ok on board. At the Airport we first went to the Garuda Indonesia Airlines office and got our Visa for Australia typed into the computer. We then wanted to get a bus to Kuta, a town near the airport. We walked outside the airport gates, hoping to find the local bus. To no avail. A crazy Australian guy (who lives in Indonesia) jumped out of a minibus taxi and said we should go with him and it was dangerous out there. He would bring us to a safe place in Kuda. We said what the hell, we will go with him. It turned out to be an ok decision. He was leaving that night and not staying in Bali. He was leaving for Java. The hotel where we stopped at was full. So we had to look for another place. The guy turned out to be nice and did not want anything from us, but he was either nuts or on some type of drug. All hotel were either booked or very expensive. We finally ended up taking one that was cheap, but not to nice. It was almost 11:30 pm and we had to take something.

Penang

It is Christmas Eve, so Merry Christmas. This morning we got up a around 8:30 and then went to look for a few things like a money changer. Well this was an experience. First of all the money changers here in Kuta have radically different exchange rate between them, so one has to shop around. We finally found one which we thought had the best exchange rate, he actually had an exchange rate over the official exchange rate we saw checked in the internet before we got to Bali. This made us suspicious right away. Turned out the suspicion was justified. Somehow right in front of our eyes he was able to count the correct amount of bills (621000 IR) and we were also able to count the money. Actually both of us counted separately, the correct amount. Right before he handed us the money a second time, he managed to skim 200000 IR from the pile. That is around 20 US$ from the 60 US$ we were changing . Kirk thought he kept his eye on the money the whole time. He was good . Before we left Kirk felt something was wrong and counted the money again. He had given us only 54000 IR which he quickly typed into his calculator to try and show us that is the amount we agreed upon. Kirk quickly grabbed the US $ and yelled at the guy what an real jerk he was, (of course not in a very nice gentlemen manner), and we left. Luckily the US $ were still there and he did not try and snatch those away too. We think he left them out because he did not want us making a huge fuss and going to the police. If we had our money, we would not report him. This gave us a sour feeling right away about the Bali. The next money changer started playing with numbers again. This time we just told him to get lost and play with the numbers himself. ATt the end we just got money out of the ATM machine. What got us even more nervous, was that when we got out there was a security guard watching the ATM. Made us wonder if there was a theft problem in Bali. Out first impressions were strengthened, by the fact that one was hassled the whole day to buy this and that or take part in tours or offering transport anywhere. Basically Kuta is a tourist trap. The beach though is really nice and we enjoyed swimming in it. For lunch we had local food, fried rice or noodles with vegetables and egg. The portions were good and it tasted alright. Later we went swimming and walked around town before we had our Christmas eve dinner, each had Cheese burger with fries and a Happy Hour beer split between the two of us. It was alright, miss my moms Christmas Dinner back home. Next year we will try to be in Phoenix AZ. The water was really warm and there were a few waves so one could go body serving. It was nice to go for a swim in the heat. The water however was almost too warm to be refreshing. We also bought bus tickets tomorrow to Ubud and Kintamani. We leave at 6:00 am tomorrow. For the bus tickets one needs to shop around. The prices vary tremendously from one travel agent to another. So look around. We also checked the internet again, not that many Christmas emails arrived yet. Would be nice to get a few more. Later we went down to the beach where Kirk went swimming in the dark until Maren could not sit any longer on the beach because she was being eaten by mosquitoes. When we arrived in our room and turned on the light, we saw about 1ß to 15 huge cockroaches all over our room. They make a loud crunch sound when one stamps on them. Later we worked on our web page and went to bed. We have to get up early.

Kuala Lumpur

First of all we would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, especially Ingeborg, Rita, Bob, Norbert, Marc, Scott, and Nina. We miss everyone a lot and hope you have a great day. Yes we know that must be difficult with out us there to entertain you. We miss and love everyone a lot!! The alarm went off at 5:30 am. The bus was leaving at 6:00 am. Maren did not sleep well because she had nightmares about cockroaches crawling all over her during the night. The bus only took 1 hour to get to Ubud, though they had aid it would at least take 1.5 hours. In Ubud we walked around town, had breakfast and checked out email. It is a nice little town, filled with handicraft stores and souvenir shops. For Christmas Maren bought 4 dresses for 65000 IR and Kirk bought 2 T-Shirts for 30 IR. Which translates to less than 10 US$ for everything. Kirk bought new T-Shirts because he thinks that a t-shirt he bought in Vietnam was the cause of him having major skin problems the last few days. His skin, especially on his back developed bumps like mosquito bits all over. He also had them in front and on the legs. So hopefully that was the problem. Today he wore a different shirt and had no new bumps on his skin. We also visited the sacred Monkey Forest. Which was actually quite good. Monkeys were all over the place. The temples were interesting and worth visiting. The monkeys were at times cute but at other times very aggressive. One time a monkey tried to grab Maren's hat and would not let her get by. Kirk tried to distract the monkey, but the monkey then came after Kirk showing his fangs. Kirk then took off in the other direction. It though gave Maren the chance to get up the steps and around the monkey. Nothing bad happened. We then took the 12:30 pm bus to Kintamani. There was a great view of the Volcano Gunung Batur. We are planning to walk up it tomorrow. It is 1717 meters high. So it will not take very long. After bargaining hard we finally found a minibus to take us to Toya Bungkah, where after looking around a little chose a hotel. Later on we waked down to the lake and search for a restaurant to eat our Christmas dinner. We ended up eating at our hotel. The prices for food, is much more expensive than in Kuta. Our Christmas dinner was ok, the both of us had rice with some vegetables and different sauces. For desert we had a banana. There is not much to do here at night so we just wrote our diary and went early to bed.

Kuala Lumpur

This morning the alarm went off at 3:45 am. Maren got up right away, while Kirk took his time. At around 4:20 am we started on our hike up the hill. The hotel said yesterday that it was really easy to find the way up. Well it was not, at least the first part was not easy to find in the dark. We went the wrong way a couple of times. However in the end we made it to the top. One has a great view of the surrounding areas, especially the lake. The Gunung Batur Volcano is 1717 meters high. At the top we ate our bananas and then walked around the rim of the volcano. Some parts were a little scary since it was straight down on either side of us. We even had to crawl once. What was also cool was the hot steam coming up from the crater and how sometimes the rocks were hot. We found out later that one actually does have to have a guide to climb the volcano. A couple of years ago two German tourist had dies somehow up there. Our guide book said we did not need a guide so we did not believe the people telling us that we needed to get a guide to climb up the mountain. We thought it was just a sales pitch for us to hirer a guide. However one does not really need one. The hike in itself is not difficult, steep at sometimes but pretty easy hiking. Only thing a guide would be good for is to go up in the dark. The trails are not really marked. We called Kirks parents from the Volcano to wish them a Merry Christmas. The way down the mountain was easy and we were back by 8:45 am. At the hotel we had breakfast and then packed and downloaded the pictures on the laptop. We then got a taxi to the bus station in Kintamani, where we got the 12:30 pm bus to Kuta. The bus stopped again in Ubed for an half and hour. The ride took about 1.5 hours then to airport. At the airport we had a lot of time to waste, so we first had lunch and then sat around in the airport and played with the computer. We also checked the internet. It was 500 IR per minute with a 5000 IR minimum. We only paid 300o IR because it was so slow and for the last 5 minutes we did not do anything because it was hanging. Of course we had to argue with the worker a little to pay less. Later on we just waited for the flight. It was really boring, we even slept for a while next to a McDonalds in the airport.

Kuala Lumpur

We arrived at 2:00 am at Perth Airport. We decided to wait around until 6:00 am before we called one of the hostels to pick us up. So we slept on the floor at the airport for a while. We also found out that rent a cars were all rented out and that they were very expensive anyway. So that was not great to hear. One right away notices that one is no longer in Asia. Things are clean and one feels like you are somewhere at home, with clean toilets and friendly people who do not want your money for saying hello. It is a nice change. However one notices that things are also priced much higher. At 8:30 am the hostel picked us up, the manager was 2 hours late, but he eventually came. He did give us two waters and two beers and a cheaper dorm room for the first two nights. The hostel was ok, the cheapest in town which one noticed right away. Accommodation is much more expensive in Australia. We first went food shopping and then looked at a couple of car rental agencies. They either did not have any cars, or they had a huge drop off fee for leaving the car in Sydney. So we have decided to try and find a car to buy. In the evening Maren made a great dinner, noodles and tomato sauce. It is so much nicer when she is able to cook a great meal. My favorite thing is that the portions are large. One finally gets filled up. We later went early to bed.

Kuala Lumpur

In the morning we walked around town to look at ads for cars and to get some information on what one has to do. We looked at a van, but the license plates were not Western Australia, they were Queensland. This meant we would have to go to Queensland to get them registered. It was really cheap since the Japanese girl had to leave Perth very soon. However we decided not to buy. Later on we looked at a few shops in town and checked the internet. Otherwise the day went by fast. In the evening we basically just watched TV and went to bed.

Kuala Lumpur

This morning we looked at a Nissan Van. The add said it was a "Great Bargain", but the van was a pile of crap. We later told the Japanese girl we would not buy the car. We again walked around town checking out the backpacker hostels to see if any new cars were for sale. We were just worried we would spend too much time in Perth. We did not want to spend a lot of time here. Maren also went to the doctor, she wanted to see if her toe nails were infected. The doctor thinks she just has dandruff under the nails. So it relieved her mind a little. We then walked around town for a while and went back to the hostel. Nothing much spectacular happened here in Perth.

Kuala Lumpur

In the morning we got the bus to the airport to look at cars. Every Sunday they have a used car sale where people can bring their cars to sell. However it was a little disappointing since there were not very many cars offered, and only one was in our price range. So we took the next bus back to Perth. In the afternoon we looked at a Nissan. However the Japanese guy did not want to lower the price enough, so we decided not to buy. The motor was not the best anyway. So we looked at the billboards all over town again, but did not find much. In the evening we just hung around not doing much.

Melaka

In the morning we paid our hostel bill and then went to Fremantle, a small town near Perth on the ocean. There we visited the Fremantle Prison. We went on a tour of the men's and women's prison. It was first for convicts and then changed over for a prison for inmates. It was ok, not the best prison we have seen. The entrance fee was also a little steep. We also walked around the city and then went food shopping before took the train back to Perth. In Perth we bought a six pack for the night which we spent with Rene, Silke and Sven, some Germans we met in our hostel. Before we went out into Perth, we hung around and drank a few beers for a while. Perth had a stage where they presented a few bands and they also had some fireworks. The fireworks we missed. Kirk saw a little but Maren got there to late. There means the river. Later on we had a few beers on the street. Maren then went home around 04:00 am and Kirk went out with Rene and Silke to a bar. He got home at 5:30 am but was up by 8:30 am. The evening was ok and we had fun with Rene, Silke and Sven. It was good that we did not drink that much, even though Maren got a little tipsy.

In the morning we got up early, around 8:30 am. We then ate breakfast, checked the billboards and internet in town and then came back to the hostel and took a nap. We did not do much otherwise. We later on walked down to the river and walked around a bit. In the evening we ate dinner and went to bed fairly early. So as one can see we had another exciting day in Perth with a little hang over from the night before. We are just too old and not used being out the whole night.

This morning started out by having breakfast and then looking at a van. The van was ok, but in our mind too expensive. Otherwise most cars were already sold that we called about. When we got back to the hostel we started working on our website when 2 girls came by that we had sent a SMS to about a van. We decided to go with them out of town where the van was parked. One had to take a train there which took about 15 minutes. The van was ok, but the main problem was that it had Northern Territory Registration and it would need a new registration within this month. They first wanted 3500 A$ for the van, but had it now advertised for 2500 A$. That was still too much for us, so we said no thank you basically. They had to go back into Perth to do a few things, so we all went together. We found out that they had an offer from a handler for 1000 A$ for the van. We offered them 800 A$ but they refused of course. We then thought about it a little and decided that we should buy the car and register it in Darwin when we get there. That would be a risk we could take. So we agreed upon them bringing the car to us tomorrow. Hopefully they come by tomorrow. Later on we came back to the hostel and did some work on our website and then went to a bar where they were having a free meal and a free drink. It was meat pie and fries with some vegetables. It was alright and great because it was free. A lot of bars have these nights here to attract customers. After we ate though we came back to the hostel and wrote our diary further.

Before 8:00 am in the morning the girls from Holland were already there. We quickly filled out the papers and handed over 1000 A$. We felt a little bad that they had to sell the car so cheap. But the same thing could happen to us. So it is part of the risk one takes. Afterwards we checked out of the Backpackers and packed out stuff in our car. Then we went to the motor vehicle department to get information on registering the car in Western Australia, but decided against it. First of all it would have taken more time, and second we might have to pay for a lot of repairs. We hope we do not regret it later, because it is much easier to sell your car with WA plates because one can do everything through the mail or internet. Later on we bought a road map of Australia, a 3 man tent, and a Latin America Spanish Lonely Planet Phrase book. Hopefully we will be able to learn a few words of Spanish before we get to South America, at least Maren will be able. We also bought a tent, it was cheap, 25 US$ so we can also do a little camping along the way. It was really stupid to send our camping equipment home! In the afternoon we went food shopping and then took off to Cervantes where the Pinnacles are. We decided to park the car at a small rest area outside the park and camp there. It was free, so that was good. Maren was a bit uneasy the whole night because she was nervous sleeping somewhere on the side of the road. But we had no problems. It was just cool to have a van that we could sleep in and it also will save us some money on accommodation.

We woke up early and visited the Nambung National Park where the Pinnacles are. These are Limestone Pillars that extruding from the desert. It was quite nice but nothing spectacular. Along the way we saw some kangaroos along the side of the road. What one notices right away in Australia is the number of dead kangaroos on the road and on the sides of the road. They must get whacked by cars all the time. After Nambung National Park we drove north to Kalbarri National Park where they have some nice walking areas along the coast. On the way we visited Hawks Head, where one is able to see a nice gorge. One basically drives up to a look out point and is able to see the gorge. We also bought a 4 week Western Australia Holiday National Park Pass which gives you access to all WA national parks. It was a good deal for 22.50 A$ as one day passes cost 9 A$ per park. A nice walk is the one that goes by the Mushroom Rock Gorge. They are rock formations that look like mushrooms. After doing a little walking around on two different walking trails we had a small picnic along the shore and then drove outside the park and camped alongside the road. We are so far really happy that we bought the van. Just hopefully it holds up.

In the morning we drove to Hamelin Pool which is on Sharks Bay. It is a World Heritage Site where there are Stromatolites which are thousands of years old. There evolutionary life spans 3.5 billion years. To the naked eye, or inexperienced eye one would not know what they are and their importance, but they are quite interesting to see. There we also walked around for a while. We decided not drive further to Monkey Mia and see the dolphins. We have not had any luck with dolphins on our tour going back to Zanzibar. It would have also been a lot of backtracking. From the Hamelin Pool we drove to Carnarvon. Itis famous for it's banana plantations. There we went food shopping at Woolworth's and filled our water bottles up in the bathroom. After that we went to the beach and took a swim. The water was refreshing but salty. After swimming we took a much needed shower at the beach bathroom. The first shower in a couple of days. We then decided to drive further and again found a spot along the road to park.

In the morning we drove to Coral Bay. The 250 km reef of the Nangaloo Marine National Park begins right here. We rented some snorkel equipment for half a day. The snorkeling was amazing. First of all one could snorkel right of the beach. There were lots of fish and coral and the water was perfectly clear. One did not have to go scuba diving at all. We both put t-shirts on and a lot of sun block. The sun really shines down hard and hot. Before we left we bought some ice, which melted right away in our cooler. It is just so hot here in the mid afternoon. In the late afternoon we drove further. Along the way we were lucky to be able to fill up some water, even though the gas station owner did not really want to give us any. We also were so thirsty that we bought a 4 A$ 1.25L Diet Coke. That hurt! We then drove little more than an hour and camped at a rest area where they had picnic tables. Maren cooked noodles and tomato sauce. It was really windy, so we had trouble getting our stove to stay on. Also the flies were a major pest. During the night it was really hot and we had trouble sleeping. During the night we heard a lot of animal sounds coming from the woods around us. What is amazing about Western Australia, is that one is almost always alone. One hardly sees anyone. One gets a few cars passing once in a while, but one can go hours or almost a whole day without seeing anyone. Also the dead kangaroos, birds, and lizards along the road are staggering. They are sometimes every 100 meters or so.

The next morning we drove to Karijini National Park. There we visited the gorges in the early and late afternoon. The gorges are very impressive and what make them worth while is that one can go swimming in the fresh water pools. After just walking short distances in this heat they are a well welcomed refresher. We stayed at the National Park's camping site near Dales Gorge. There Maren cooked a beans and rice dinner. The flies were a major pest. We were the only ones in the camp ground. What was nice was that they had gas stoves to use, even though they had no running water at the camp site.

In the morning we went to Dales Gorge and then Forester Falls where we went swimming again. Afterwards we left the Park and drove northwest to Port Hedland. There we did some food shopping and bought some ice for the cooler. We also had a picnic lunch alongside the road next to the salt or iron oar plant. From there we drove to the Eighty Miles Beach. We took one of the exits off the highway to the beach. Absolutely beautiful with absolutely not humans around. The beach was completely empty. We collected some sea shells. They were all over the place. We also found a dead sea turtle on the beach. The were a lot of turtle tracks imprinted in the sand. Later on we drove a little further and slept alongside the road again. Anyplace else in the world these types of beautiful beaches would be packed with people and there would be one souvenir shop after another. So it is nice to see that this still exists.

In the morning we got to Broome. There we went to a few garages for an oil change, but decided to not to get one just yet. We then went to Cable Beach. A really nice beach that had just a few people on it. We went swimming and buggy boarding. It was a lot of fun, even though we were not great buggy boarders. We then took a shower at the bathrooms at the beach and then went food shopping. We also visited the Gantheaume Point where they have Dinosaur tracks at low tide, Anatasia's Pool (an artificial rock pool), and the cliffs that have been eroded by the sea. We also had lunch there. In Broome we also visited Chinatown where we checked the internet for the first time in 7 days and also got a nut and bolt to fix a hanging window on the fan. The internet was really expensive so we just quickly checked our email and left. In the evening we drove a little north and parked along side the road to sleep. This time the mosquitoes kept us up the whole night.

Since the mosquitoes kept us awake the whole night we got up really early, just as the sun came up and drove to Fitzroy Crossing. Just before we got to town the muffler pipe broke in half. We found a garage in town which could fix it. We also decided to get an oil change. Since the garage could not do the oil change before 9:30 am, we went to Geikie Gorge National Park before which is just 20 km away. There we walked along the gorge for a while. It is ok, but nothing major. The flies drove us nuts. They were all over the place. We had to wait around until 12:30 for our car to be fixed. We then drove basically the rest of the day, around 700 km. What is really sad is the state of the aboriginals. In many of these towns they are all just hanging around at the gas stations all day doing nothing except drinking beer and alcohol. They just do not have anything to do.

In the morning we tanked at Kununurra WA and had breakfast at the Shell Station. What is good in Australia is that a lot of the petrol stations give free coffee to the driver. So Kirk got a free coffee. Of course he split it with Maren. Later we crossed over into the Northern Territories and drove to Katherine. When we arrived in Katherine and got to the first intersection, suddenly the engine lost a lot of power. It did not sound very good. Everything was closed. The time changes by 1.5 hours here in NT. We found a garage that would look at our van the next morning. So we stayed at a caravan park. There a few Australian guys checked the car and tried to help. One was a mechanic and thought that the sparkplug leads were broken. So we hoped that we would be able to change the leads in the morning. We then went swimming in the Hot Springs near the Caravan Park and then drank a few beers with the Australians at the caravan park. It was quite interesting to hear what they had to say or maybe it was not quite interesting. We did not sleep well during the night, the mosquitoes bite us all night even though we had mosquito repellant on.

The first thing we did after breakfast was to buy some new leads and then put them on. Well it was not the problem. So we drove to the garage where we had to wait around a long time until they checked the car. What we notice also was that the front tire had melted and split apart. So 2 things at once. So we had to buy a tire for 85 A$. We later got some really bad news. The third valve on the engine broke and the engine has to be rebuilt. It will cost between 1000 and 1500 A$. So more than what we paid for the van. That really hurts. What also sucks it that we have to wait around probably a week before it will be fixed. So that hurts even more. Later we went food shopping, checked the internet and found a backpackers to stay at. We thought it would be better to stay at a backpackers when we did not have a car. Sleeping at campsite for a week would be very boring. In the evening Maren cooked a great meal and then we went to bed. Kirk also spoke to his parents which was nice.

In the morning we got up at 7:00 am and drove with the broken car 30 km to Katherine Gorge National Park. There we walked a 12.4 km walking trail. The hike was good but quite easy. Along the way we saw some kangaroos and also went swimming. It also rained when we were coming back. The gorge is probably nicer to visit when one rents a canoe, but it is very expensive, 21 A$ per person. Maren had already been here before and had already took a boat tour, so we decided not to do it again. The car reparation is going to be very expensive, so saving money would be good. We like walking anyway better. In the afternoon we worked on our website finally again. We have not worked on it for such a long time. In the evening Kirk played some soccer with some people from the hostels and Maren called Anne, her friend in Germany. They have not spoken to each other for the last 10 months. In the evening we had some dinner and then watched a movie on TV. Not a very good one.

In the morning we transferred the ownership papers for our van and then dropped the van off at the garage to get it fixed . If we are lucky it will be fixed by next Friday, but it could be longer. Later we worked on the website further and ate a big lunch. Kirk later took a swim and a nap. Maren worked on the pictures and corrected the diary. In the evening we watched the American Music Awards show. So our day was not very exciting and we did not do much except hanging around and eating. Katherine is small town with about 9000 people living here. And except going to Woolwoth's and going to the movies there is not much to do.

After breakfast Kirk called his mom and then we went food shopping. We bought a lot things with the special label which meant that it is heavily reduced in price for a quick sale because the expiry date was just around the corner. It made some things really cheap compared to the normal prices, of course we bought more than we had planned. Kirk noticed that the price of the parmesan cheese came up different on the scanner than was listed on the shelves. It was only a 3 Australian cent difference (1.5 US cents). But we decided to go to the customer service where Maren said that the price was not correct on our receipt. The manager behind the counter checked and we were right. To our surprise she gave us the money back and we received the cheese for free. So that was the major highlight of the day. Later we worked on our costs sheet, splitting up the costs better. During this we also watched the first round of the Australian open where L. Hewitt lost in 4 sets. We then ran off to see the Movie American Pie 2. We laughed hysterically through the whole thing. Afterwards we ate a spaghetti dinner with presto and then watched TV and again did some computer work.

This morning after breakfast Maren worked on the Website a little and Kirk took a swim. Later we used our AOL account for the first time on our trip. Still it has not been worth having the subscription to AOL, but we were happy that we were able to upload our site for the first time in Australia. Luckily the manager let us use the fax line. We also got really good news. Our car would be fixed today and we could pick it up. Well it turned out not to be true, we later on called before we were about to walk an hour to the garage and found out they had some problems and we would have to pick it up tomorrow. At least we will be leaving tomorrow, which makes us really happy. Hanging around and just waiting is not a lot of fun. In the evening we also did some computer work and watched the boob tube. There is not to much to watch on TV and it is quite boring.

This morning we hoped to get our car back. We ate breakfast and waited around working on the computer and packing our stuff. At 12:00 am we called the garage and they said the car was not yet ready, and that we should call back later. So more waiting around. So we just hung around, went for a swim and did some more computer work. Later we called the garage again and they said this time they were having trouble with a pipe or something that was to load. So we would have to wait until 4:40 pm to know when we were going to get the car back. Well at 4:30 they said the car would be done tomorrow morning with a new inspection. So hopefully we will be on the road tomorrow. It is just a real pain when these businesses can not give you a straight answer when they will be finished. For two days they told us the car would be done. So we hung around waiting for nothing, while we could be doing something. In the evening we just watched some Australian Open tennis and talked to an elderly couple from England. We also drank a beer each, actually Maren drank 1.5 beers and Kirk .5 beers. We are just praying that the cars will be ready in the morning so we can get it registered and go back on the road.

This morning we got up as usual here and had muesli for breakfast. Nice to eat muesli again after not having it for 9 months. We then packed our stuff again and put in storage and then hung out still 10:30 am when we went into town and called the garage. Well what do you think happened. Right nothing. We had to call back at 1:30 pm to find out again. Kirk then uploaded some stuff and we found out at 1:30 pm that our van would be ready and that we could pick it up later. They then brought the car inspection papers to us so we would be able to get the car inspected in the meantime. That was nice at least they brought the papers to us. We later started walking to the shop when the lady from the garage stopped on the side of the road and gave us a lift. Saved us a 45 minute walk. At the garage we had to wait around a little before the van was ready. The bill came to 1100.07 A$, around 586 US$. At least it runs well now and the steering was repaired. It was not in good shape, and if that broke while we were driving it could have been really serious. So hopefully in Sydney we will get some of our money back. We are just happy to be able to be on the road again. We have had enough hanging around. Kirk is getting fat just doing nothing, except for pigging out. In the evening he played soccer. After taking a swim to cool off after the game, we drove to Edith Falls, which is about 40 km north of Katherine. With all the luck we are having with our vehicle, another lucky thing happened. A Road Train drove by in the opposite direction and shot a rock into our windshield. That really sucks. So we will have to go back to Katherine in the morning to get the small crack fixed before the it enlarges across our windshield.

In the morning we visited the Edith Falls really early, just after sunrise. We then drove all the way back to Katherine and found a windscreen repair place open. For 50 A$ he patched up our windscreen. We just hope it holds. We then drove back up north to Litchfield National Park. There we visited a termite field that had flat termite mounds. They were pretty interesting, but it did not take long to see them, only a couple of minutes. Afterwards we drove to a Florence Falls where we went swimming in a fresh water pool. There were quite a lot of people there to our surprise. It was really refreshing though. We then drove all the way to Darwin. there we just spent a few hours, going out to the wharf and walking along the sea a little. We also did a little food shopping and quickly checked the internet. Darwin did not have that much to offer in our minds, so we decided to drive to Kakadu National Park. We decided that we would camp along the road side, saving some money. The first place we stopped, we were eaten alive by mosquitoes and we finally took off a couple hours later when we were a little scared when we saw a car stopping near us with a big light shining it all around. So we drove a little further and found somewhere to park our car and sleep. It was very hot and the mosquitoes were still a problem.

In the morning we drove into Kakadu National Park. Since the credit card machine was not working we did not have to pay the entrance fees. We first visited the Mamukala Wetlands and then visited Nourlangie where we took a nice walk and saw some original rock paintings. We also visited the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Center near Cooinda. We did not go on the Yellow Water Cruise because first of all Maren had already done it and second of all we heard one does not see a lot of crocs this time of the year and it was a hefty 33 A$ per person. Kakadu is really nice, but probably better visited in the dry season. After driving a loop through the park we drove back to Katherine where we quickly went food shopping and then drove south to Mataranka. There we visited the Hot Pools, which again were not very hot. When walking to the Hot Pools one walks through palm trees where hundred of bats are hanging from the limbs. It was really cool. We decided not to stay at the camp ground there because it was a little expensive. Along the way we drove past Daly Waters and looked quickly from our car at the famous Daly Waters Pub. We then bought some petrol. At this petrol station they had hundreds of frogs hopping around the place. They became a major pest in the Northern Territories. So again we drove south on the Stuart Highway and slept in our van alongside the road.

After again getting up at sunrise, we stopped off in Tennant Creek and did some grocery shopping and drove south to the Devils Marbles Conservation Reserve, a pile of giant boulders that are scattered all over the area. After visiting them we were back on the road again and drove further south to about 90 km north of Alice Springs. Maren even drove a little, and you know what happened, another tire blew apart. So we had to change the tires on the van for the first time. A lot of fun. Eventually we got the spare on and we could drive a little more towards Alice. We parked our car at an empty rest stop and cooked our dinner. Afterwards we slept in the van, all the time being eaten by the mosquitoes. Kirk slept in the front seat because he thought he might get some better sleep that way. In the night we always woke up when cars stopped nearby or drove into the rest stop. One is a little nervous once in a while being out in the middle of nowhere.

On our way to Alice Springs we stopped and picked a lady who's van had broken down. The husband asked us to take here to Alice Springs so she could get a tow truck. She was nice but a little weird to us. She started talking about how dangerous it is to stop for people on the highway and how one should never do it. What did she just think we did for her? In town we dropped her off at the BP station and we went to a tire store and got a new tire put on. Now we have 2 new tires on the car. Well, then Kirk noticed radiator fluid leaking from the car. Great, another problem. The mechanic at the tire place said that it looked like something underneath the carburetor had a crack in it. So we quickly found a radiator repair shop and they said the manifold (I think that what it was) had corroded and it had to be rewelded. So we took it to another garage and they told it would take 3 to 4 hours labor plus parts. So this really started to suck. It would probably cost over 300 A$ to fix. But we had no choice at this point. So we left the car there and we were told they would call us later when it would be repaired. So we then walked around Alice Springs, checked our email quickly and had some lunch. 1 Big Mac each at McDonalds because Kirk found a coupon for buy one Big Mac get another one free. We then walked a few Kilometers out of town to the Old Telegraph Station. It is located on the original Alice Springs. They had a tour every hour by an Aboriginal man who used to live and went to school there. The tour was interesting, especially when he talked about himself. He had an European Great Grandfather and was at one point a professional boxer in Sydney. Afterwards we walked back to the garage only to find out that they would not have the van fixed by tomorrow morning sometime. They said however that we could role the van outside the garage to sleep in. They would even leave the gates open so we could use the showers and toilets. They also provided us with electricity. That was at least really nice. We could charge our laptop and camera. We then quickly went food shopping where we bought some items that were heavily reduced because the buy date was very close. We then went back to the van, had dinner, charged our stuff and tried to sleep. In the middle of the night the alarm in the garage went on. We were a little nervous. The security people came, but we just stayed in our van, not knowing if it was legal to sleep in town alongside the road in the van.

At sunrise we were awake and at 8:00 am the mechanics arrived at the garage, but it was not until 8:45 am that they pushed the van back into the garage. They told us to come back at around 10:30 am and it should be done by then. So we went into town, did some food shopping and checked the internet. There Kirk found out that he lost his domain name from one of his sell sights to someone else. This is really bad because Kirk earns money with it and now someone else owns the name. He has been trying to renew the domain name for weeks but somehow everything went wrong. So he called his brother Marc, but did not reach him. So at around 11:15 am we went back to the garage to pick up the van. We had to wait around another hour before it was done. Yes it cost anther 315 A$ to fix. Hopefully we will not have that many more problems with it. It is quickly getting to be an expensive habit. We then took off to Ayers Rock. We arrived at there just in time for the sunset. The rock is really beautiful. Kirk was just surprised how green the area was around the rock (Maren had already been to Ayers Rock with her father in 1992). Afterwards we went to the Campsite and made dinner and tested for the first time our new 25 US$ tent we had bought. To our surprise it was really easy to set up and it was fairly good quality. We also had a sleeping mat we had found at one hostel, which really helped pad the floor.

We woke up at 4:30 am and went to Ulura-Kata Tjuta National Park. There we climbed up Ayers Rock. Kirk was surprised how steep it was. It was not a long climb up, but it did burn our lungs a little. They do not let anyone climb the rock after 8:00 am, it is just too hot. Up at the top we got some great views of the sunrise and the Olgas. It was really cool up top. We spent around 45 minutes there and then went down the way we came. When we reached the bottom we had a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before we took a short walk at the base of the rock. It was then off to the Olgas. There we went on a 5.2 km hike to a lookout point in the Olgas. It was a good walk and made difficult because of the heat. It was very impressive, especially the red color of the rocks. After that we tanked our van (to our surprise the petrol prices were not that high, only 101.7 A$ per liter, we had expected at least 1.20 A$ per liter) we drove to Kings Creek, right outside the Watarrka National Park. There we went to a campsite and pitched our tent. It was nice that they had a pool to cool off in, even though it was dirty. In the evening we ate dinner and then did some work on the laptop. Maren went early to bed, she was really tired. By the way on the way to Kings Creek we stopped at a rest stop along the way to have some lunch. There was only one shaded picnic bench there, so we asked if we could sit down. There was this couple there having a 5 star picnic meal on a private tour. We were there with left over noodles and a can of beans. They were really nice though and gave us there leftovers, homemade bread, ham and salad. They traveled the world a lot, but it seemed like only first class. But it was really pleasant speaking to them. Just two major contrasts.

After a delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich breakfast at 6:30 am, we started the 7 km hike through and around Kings Canyon. The hike was beautiful and not very hard. It was a little strenuous in the beginning but fairly easy the rest of the way. What was really cool was that halfway through the walk there is a fresh water pool where on can go for a nice refreshing swim, near the "Garden of Eden". It was then off and back on the road south towards Coober Pedy. We decided to test how far our van could go on its tank of petrol because the prices for the gasoline were ridiculously expensive and to our surprise over 20 cents more than at the Ayers Rock resort. So with our extra petrol cans we maid it to Stuart Highway where the petrol was much cheaper. Along the way there were two Aboriginals cars broken down one after another, trying to get petrol of drivers passing by. We had stopped 2 days before wanting to help and giving some petrol so they could get back on the road again. However we did not realized it must have been a scam to get free petrol from passers by. On the same part of the highway, there is no way that 3 different cars would be run out of fuel. The day before we were lucky that he could not get the petrol out of our with the water hose for some reason, so he did not get any petrol from us. Again the temperature was over 40 degrees celsius. We drank so much water, but hardly ever had to go to the bathroom. The water was sweated out and it immediately evaporated. In the lat evening we arrived in Coober Pedy, where we quickly found a Caravan Park to camp. We checked the Internet and then ate a sandwich for dinner and set up our tent and went to sleep.

In the morning we visited the Coober Pedy Lookout (The Big Wintch), the Old Timers Mine and the Opal Public Mines where one can search for Opals what they call noodling. It was fairly interesting, but the town is really run down and there is not much there. Kirk visited the Old Timers Mine, which Maren had seen last time she was there. Basically the town look dry. Afterwards we headed south to Port Augusta where we walked around and went food shopping. We then drove further along the highway in the direction of Adelaide. We drove quite a bit and about 50 km before Adelaide we parked alongside the road and went to bed.

First I want to wish Bob, a happy birthday. Hope everything is going well and you have a great day. In Adelaide we first went to an internet cafe and to the South Australian Museum where they had a really well done Aboriginal section. Adelaide was a really nice city but we had to get on our way so we would be able to drive the Great Ocean road the next day. We also were able to use the internet for free at the Public Library. The rest of our time was spent driving on the Princess Highway to Victoria. So not much happened along the way. Oh we had chips again for dinner, really delicious. Yes mom, for the most part we are eating well.

In the morning we drove the Great Ocean Road, seeing the London Bridge, the Loch Arch Gorge, The 12 Apostles, and some other really beautiful coastline scenery. The weather was windy and sometimes actually really cold, a big change from we have been used to in Australia so far. After driving the winding road we made our way to Melbourne. In Melbourne we drove into the city, checked the internet and walked around a little. We had to make some phone calls, but we kept on loosing our money because all the public phones coin slots were jammed shut. So we finally bought a phone card. Later we drove to Williamstown to a caravan park. It was not very nice, but it was close to the city. Kirk also called his an old friend Penny from 10 years ago. It was a major surprise because she was in hospital with her first baby. Later Maren cooked some rice and we went to bed.

In the morning we went back to Melbourne City and bought plane tickets to Tasmania for 30.01.02. They were cheaper than taking the ferry by a couple of dollars and since all the car spaces were full on the ferry for the next two weeks we could not take the an anyway. We also changed our flight to New Zealand to the 20th of February. We wanted to change the tickets at STA travel agency, but the girls working there were really brats and not helpful at all. Not what one normally gets at STA travel offices. We also bought a set of camping pans and pots because we will need them for Tasmania. We then drove around 140 km to Phillip Island to see the Penguins and the Nobbies . The Nobbies were really beautiful. On the board walk the sea gulls were all over the place nesting. We were walking on the path at one point when the one sea gull flew towards us. It must have been protecting it's nest, but it scared the hell out of us. In the evening we went to the Penguin Parade. There one is not allowed to take pictures. The penguins come up the beach every evening when it gets dark. They were very small, but really cute as they wobbled all over the place. One problem was that it got really cold and windy, so after a while it got tough to enjoy. But it was well worth the visit, even though it was really touristy. We left Phillip Island at 10:00 pm and drove around 80 km back in the direction of Melbourne. We found a resting place to park and sleep.

In the morning we woke up and drove back to Melbourne and then to the airport. At the airport we got our stuff packed and then checked in. We were then able to charge our batteries and do some laptop work. That was good because it has been a while since we have done anything. Also our batteries were getting low on our digital cameras. Kirk was able to catch up on our diary. We were way behind. The flight went quickly and a great tasting but small deli sandwich was served. The cheapest way to Hobart from the airport was the Airport shuttle. In Hobart they dropped us off at the information center. There we got some information and bourght bus tickets to Cradle Mountain St Clair National Park for the next day. Afterwards we went to a Coles to buy some food and supplies and then walked to the Caravan Park. There we pitched our tent, had some dinner and then took a walk down near the water. We went to bed early since we had to get up early the next day. In Hobart we also bought some fuel for our stove.

In the morning we woke up really early and packed our tent and then walked the 3 km to the bus station. There the bus took us to Lake St. Clair. We bought a monthly pass to Tasmania National Parks. It was cheaper then buying a 4 day pass. Before we took off on our hike we ate a peanut butter and jelly for lunch. The first part of the hike was really beautiful along the lake. The weather was also really nice and sunny. We were well shaded from the trees along the lake. What was really nice was the variation of the vegetation along the way. The stretch along the lake was 17.5 Km. It took one to the second hut. We could have stayed there, but we decided to walk to Windy Ridge Hut which was another 9 Km away. So we hiked around 26.5 Km in 7.5 hours. There we pitched our tent and Maren cooked some dinner. We were really tired and then went to bed. Our feet were also hurting bad. 11:10 am - 20:10 pm Echo Point Hut: 11 Km - 3 Hours Narcissus Hut: 6.5 Km - 2 Hours Windy Ridge Hut: 9 Km - 2.5 Hours

New Zealand

Today the weather seemed really good in the morning, but to our disappointment this soon changed. For breakfast instant oatmeal was on the menu. Maren likes the oatmeal a lot, but for Kirk it is just a filler. It took us 2.5 hours to the next hut, there we had some chocolate, which tasted great. We wanted to hike up Mt. Oscan (Tasmania's highest mountain, 1610 m), but the weather was really foggy and it was raining. So we decided to push on further since we would have had no views anyway. We walked to Pelion Hut where we had a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch (14:00 pm). We had already hiked 19 Km, but we decided to hike further. We ended up hiking up another 16 Km around to Windermere Hut. It should have taken 5-6 hours but we almost ran and it took us 4 hours and 25 minutes. Along the way we hiked through many different landscapes, swamps, fairytale forests and rain forests. Really a lot of diversity. There we again pitched our tent, ate as much as our stomachs could hold and collapsed in bed. Maren cooked a great tasting noodle dinner. It was a hard and especially long hike and we were completely exhausted. The hiking was also difficult because along the way there were a lot of roots coming up and one had to concentrate on not tripping. We were also a little sad that we were not able to see more. It was rainy and foggy all afternoon. What we found amazing were the number of Germans we met. Germans really seem to be everywhere. One notices that they have 6 weeks vacation a year. 8:30 am - 19:40 pm Windy Ridge Dulane Hut: 7.5 Km - 2.5 Hours Kia Ora Hut: 2.5 Km - 45 Min. Pelion Hut (1 hr. break): 9 Km - 2.5 Hours Frog Falls Camp: 4.5Km - 1.25 Hours Windermere Hut: 12.25 Km - 3 Hours 10 min

New Zealand

We hiked 17.75 Km out of from Windermere to Cradle Mountain in 5 hours. We got up really early and got out hiking really early. The weather was again bad and even worse than yesterday. So we again were disappointed that we did not see much. We had planned to do the 80 km trek in 4 or 5 days, but we ended up doing it in 2.5 days. We would have stayed longer if the weather was much better. At one point it rained so hard it hurt. It also came so fast that Kirk did not have time to put on his jacket and got soaking wet. The hike in the beginning was at first a little up hill and then the last part was down hill. We arrived at the car park at around 12:30 pm. There a bus driver was dropping passengers off from the town which was 7 Km away. We asked him how much it costs and he said 9 A$. That was really too much for us, so we decided to hike to town. 6 Km more was not going to hurt us. Along the way the bus driver drove by with an empty bus and said he would give us a free ride if we do not tell his boss. That was really nice of him, especially because it meant we would be able to catch the 1:00 pm bus to Launceston and we would not have to spend another night there. The bus ride was really expensive. It first went to Davenport, where the ferry departs to Melbourne. In Launceston we were dropped off at a Caravan Park. There we set up our tent, went to Woolworth's food shopping. In the evening we had noodles with a tomato and sausage sauce. It was delicious. What we find good hear in Australia is that the supermarkets mark down the prices of some foods that the expiration date is soon to expire or will not be fresh anymore. One can often get some great deals and makes a huge difference on our budget. One gets a lot of products for over 50 percent off. 7:30 am - 12:30 pm Windermere Hut Waterfall Valley Hut: 7.75 Km - 2 Hours Waldheim/Ronny Creek: 10 Km - 3 Hours

New Zealand

In the morning we walked to Launceston and looked for the best deal on rental cars. After searching and making a lot of phone calls, we determined AVIS would be the cheapest place to rent a car. We also found a 10 A$ off coupon in a local paper. We then walked around, going to the gorge and walking back to the caravan park. There we had lunch and at around 4:00 pm we walked to the Avis office in a really nice hotel and picked up our car. What is really good is that we only had to rent the car for 3 days and we could drop the car off at the airport in Hobart. So that will save us some money there as the buses in Tasmania are very expensive. We also had the possibility to see much more of the island. So at 5:00 pm we took the car and drove back through Davenport to Stanley which lies on the North West part of the island. There we climbed the Nut in the early evening and walked around the top. It was really beautiful with a great sunset over the town and the ocean. Later on we parked our car at a rest spot along the ocean which we had seen on the way to Stanley. There we ate some sandwiches and slept in our Nissan Pulsar 5 door rental car. It was ok because the front seats went back quite far, almost flat. We actually slept really well.

New Zealand

We got up really early, which was good since a ranger came by really early to fix something. We were not sure if it was allowed or not. After eating a quick peanut butter and jelly breakfast, we drove along the West Coast. The coast was really beautiful and we stopped shortly at different places along the way. There were basically no tourists along much of the way until we got to Strahan. It was a dirt road most of the way, at one point we had to pay for a ferry across a small river in Corina. Before Strahan we stopped at the sand dunes which were very impressive. Strahan is a very popular tourist town with a very nice town center. After walking around we drove to the East Coast. There we slept in our car along the ocean in the Coles Bay National Park. All around our car were lots of kangaroos. The views at night of the ocean crashing up against the rocks were beautiful.

New Zealand

In the morning we did a small hike in Coles Bay. We walked to the lookout point overlooking Wineglass Bay. We decided then to drive to Port Arthur. Port Arthur is a really historic site where they had a prison. At first we were amazed how expensive the entrance fee was (even been with a student discount). However it turned out to be well worth it. First we went on a small tour explaining the prison and history of the place and then we went on a small boat ride in the harbor. Afterwards we took a walk around the grounds and checked out the old buildings. After we checked out the museum we cooked a dinner in the park at the Port Arthur reserve. We then drove through Hobart and parked and slept in our car at a rest place near the sea. It was good we slept in our car since we were saving a lot of money.

New Zealand

After waking up early, we noticed we parked our car along the ocean and had some beautiful views. We then took the long way back to Hobart. There we did some sightseeing and Kirk got a much needed hair cut after we checked the whole town for the cheapest place to get it. He got the no fuzz cut, which means a 1 minute quick shave of the head. Kirk's skin on his head was really bad and getting it short usually helps. We then went to a Caravan Park to take a shower. Not that it is allowed, but it was the Caravan Park we stayed in when we first arrived in Hobart, so we knew where we had to go. So we got a much needed shower. No one noticed. We then drove to the airport a few hours early hoping to do some computer work. Our flight was for 8:00 pm, but they had spaces free on an earlier flight back to Melbourne and offered us the seats. So we got the next flight out. It was a quick flight, but this time no delicious sandwich. At the airport we found a space where we could do some computer work. Afterwards we took the airport shuttle to the car park and put up the curtains and went to sleep. It did not cost us anymore to sleep there, because we were paying for every 24 hours. So it was a good spot as any to sleep.

New Zealand

In the morning we parked our car near the McDonalds near the airport and walked back to the Airport and took a shower there. They have public showers to use there. Afterwards we went into Melbourne city, where we walked around, called Penny and did some internet work. We also bought a new gift for her new baby. Later we went food shopping and then to the beach where we walked around a little, before we took a small nap in our car. Later on we went over to Penny's parents house for dinner. It was quite a nice evening. Felt bad since she had to constantly take care of the baby. The dinner was quite good even though I think they thought it was not. I could have eaten much more. It was nice to see them again. Her sister was also pregnant and was expecting soon. At 11:00 pm we left and drove a while and parked the car at a rest stop and slept.

New Zealand

In the morning we drove to Mt. Kosciuszko National Park. Only thing we did along the way was doing a little food shopping and tank our van. The drive through the park was beautiful. In the park we arrived at the starting point for the walk of Mt. Kosciuszko around 4:00 pm. However we decided we would try and hike the 18 km trek to the top of Australia's highest mountain. The hike was really easy and not difficult. We did it in 3.5 hours round trip. The hike up was on really well done paths that a car could drive up. It was also not steep at any stage. Kind of a joke for the highest mountain of a continent. The views were really nice though from up top. After the hike we drove a while until we found a suitable place to park and slept.

New Zealand

We arrived early in Canberra this morning. We visited the new Parliament House and walked around the surrounding lawns. The place is actually really well done and we had a really nice feeling about it. We also visited the library where there is free internet access. Canberra is a fairly organized town with lots of green space. After a half day there we decided to drive up to Sydney. In the early evening we arrived in Sydney and drove to Kings Cross. Kings Cross is the Backpackers part of the city, but also where the junkies, prostitutes, and sex shops are. A little weird that all the backpacker hostels are in such an area. The internet cafés were also much cheaper here than other parts of Australia. In the evening we drove to Bondi and parked our van. After walking around a little we put up the curtains and went to sleep.

New Zealand

In the morning we woke up and noticed that our van was parked in a no parking spot. We then decided we should drive a little bit outside the city to the suburbs to find a do it yourself car wash. After looking around a lot we found out that no car wash was open on Sunday. So we did a little food shopping and drove to a beach near the airport. We first cleaned up our car and got things organized. Maren did a lot while Kirk was lazy and took a small nap. We also had lunch and took a walk to town along the beach. In the evening we went early to bed after we had dinner. It was really kind of cool that we could watch the airplanes take off and land.

New Zealand

In the morning we drove to Kings Cross looked for a garage that would do the roadworthy test. We picked the wrong garage. He was not that friendly and he gave us a white slip which means we could sell the car, but there were problems with it. A pink slip is the paper one wants because that means you past the test. We did not realize actually that we had failed some parts of the tests, because he said we could take the slip and sell the car. When we found out later and understood our fail test we walked back to him and asked him why we received this slip. He basically blew us off and talked us out of his shop. What an a-hole. What we also noticed later is that he charged us 30 A$ instead of the 26 A$ he wrote on the receipt. But we had not basis to argue because we paid cash. So he ripped us off there as well. We then decided to park our car in Kings Cross and do a little sight seeing of the city. We walked down to the Harbor, Botanical Garden and the Opera House. Sydney is a beautiful city. We also printed out advertisements for our van and hung them up in the backpackers and internet cafés. In the evening we had McDonalds family pack for dinner (2 Big Macs, 2 Cheeseburger, 2 medium fries, 2 small fries for only 9.95 A$). We then slept in our van on a side street in King Cross.

New Zealand

At 8:00 am we were at the car park to sell our car. We were hoping for a quick sell. Kirk quickly washed the car on the outside. It looked pretty good and we were praying it would be sold soon. However not that many people were there. That means no buyers and a lot of sellers. So things did not look great. We met a nice young Danish couple who were selling there van also and have been there for 7 days already. So we hung out with them for a while and drank a beer. People often gives out free beers when they sell there car. Maren during the day also visited the German Consulate to get a new passport. What a pain in the but. First it cost 50 A$ for a new Passport + 10 A$ to fax a letter to Cologne for permission to give Maren a new passport. Well by 5:00 pm we had not sold our car and it was time to leave. We parked our car back in Kings Cross, where we had parked the night before. On the way to the internet cafe, Mike (whom we met in Tibet who lives in Sydney) gave us a call and invited us to stay at his place at Bondi Beach. That was really nice of him. So tomorrow we will have a place to stay. Mike is a really nice guy. We just did a little walk around Kings Cross and then went to sleep in our van. Kirk also patched up some rust spots and touched up some areas with spray paint.

New Zealand

We got up early and head to the bomb shelter, which Kirk calls the Car Park where the backpacker car market is. It is on the ground floor of a car garage. So the air is not great and the car fumes can give you a headache. We first parked our car where there was an opening where fresh air can come in. In the car park it is quite boring and can be very frustrating. Hardly anyone looked at our car today. Yesterday at least 2 people looked at our van. By the way we were selling the van for 3300 A$. Some people sold their car, so it did not seem hopeless. However the day went quickly. We drank a few beers and talked to different people selling their cars. Mike also dropped off a key for his place, which was really nice. So we were very happy we would have a place to stay that night and we could take a much needed shower. We could also cook what was nice. Mike came in really late and we could only speak to him a little. We slept on the floor, but it was fine and we slept great. It was so nice of him to let us use his place.

New Zealand

Honolulu Hawaii The both of us did not sleep well, Kirk basically did not sleep at all. We collected some brochures and advertisements and then took the local bus to Waikiki Honolulu. They have rules that you are not allowed to take luggage with you on a local bus if it takes up a certain amount of space. So we had to sit in the seats with our backpacks on. They want you to take the 8 US$ shuttle bus instead of the 1.5 US$ public bus. The cheapest hostel we found was the Hawaiin Hostel for 15 US$ each per night in a dorm. It is very expensive for our taste. After eating breakfast at the hostel (they provide toast, coffee, and tea), we decided to first visit Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial. There was an 1.5 hour wait, but it was well worth it. The security measures were also very tough. No bags what so ever, even camera bags except min camera bags. So we had to take the camera bag for the camera apart and rolled it up and stuffed it into Kirk's pants. Luckily it worked and they allowed us in. Or we would have had to take the one hour bus ride again to come back tomorrow. The place has a museum and a viewing area overlooking the harbor where all the ships used to be. One had also a very good look at the Arizona Memorial. The tour started out with a short film about the reasons why it came to war and the actual footage of the attack. A very well done film. Afterwards we took a boat to the actual memorial. It is a white structure which passes over the middle of the battleship like a bridge. One sees the battleship below, still leaking fuel. The ferry then took us back. We also had a good view of the USS Missouri. The tour to the USS Arizona is free and is run by the National Park Service. It is done very well and moves one deeply. We did not visit the submarine and Missouri Battleship for a few reasons. First they were more strict on what we could take with us to the museum. We would not have been able to go there with our camera bags rolled up and they did not have any lockers to store them in. Before we had seen a National Parks Serviceman throw someone's bag in the garbage that the man had left outside when he visited the Museum. Second we had a great view of the Missouri from the Arizona Memorial and did not think it was worth the extra 14 US$. Third it started to rain. We then took the bus back to Waikiki and wanted to go food shopping, but were totally surprised how expensive everything is here. So we calculated it and saw that it would be cheaper to just grab a Big Mac, because McDonalds was having a special deal. We then read the newspapers at the Sheraton Hotel and then walked along Waikiki beach and back to the hostel. At the hostel we ate some noodles left over from Australia and watched the news on TV. Maren also did some research on what we were going to do on the islands. In the evening we walked around town a little before retiring to bed. Well Kirk did a little computer work, because he had to stay awake when the batteries for the camera were charging. Maren fell right to sleep.

New Zealand

We got up early and drove the van back to the car park in Kings Cross. We thought we were loosing oil, but we were not which we found out later. So we were worried that our car was falling apart at the last moment. Also the car was stalling at times, which it did not do the whole trip. Kirk thought it was bad or dirty fuel. Hardly anyone looked at our van today. The Danish couple sold there car. Kirk had noticed that some people were looking at there car in the early morning and the Danish couple was not yet there, so Kirk starting selling there car to them, telling them how good it was. When the Danish couple came, the buyers ask the Danish couple if Kirk was getting a commission. So now Kirk has to sell his own car. The car park has a free barbeque every Thursday. Maren cut the onions with two other Swiss girls and Maren chose Kirk to cook the sausages and onions on the barbecue. So it gave us something to do and a few free beers. We did not sell our van again today. After the car park we went back to Bondi, had dinner and took a walk along Bondi Beach. We left our van in the Car Park, not wanting to drive it anymore, risking it breaking down or falling more apart. I think we were just being a little paranoid.

New Zealand

We took the bus and train to Kings Cross at around 7:30 am. Maren went to the German Consulate to pick up here passport. What a pain. They finally received the ok from Cologne Germany, only after Norbert called Cologne and put pressure on them to do something. There was a couple that was interested in our car, but ended up buying another car. So we had our hopes up for a while. We hung out with 2 Swiss couples and an Israeli couple. They were all very nice and we had a good time. We played Uno and drank a few beers, all hoping to sell the cars. An Israeli guy gave us a ride back to Bondi. That was nice since it saved us the fare. In the evening Irene called and we told her to come over to Mikes. We were not that comfortable with that because Mike did not know, but he also met her in Tibet. In the evening we had some wine with them and talked at Mike's place. It was really nice to see her again.

New Zealand

Today was like everyday in the car park. Not much happened. At least with our van. One Swiss couple sold their van. We again played some cards and drank beers and waited for our car to sell. It was funny there, after a while one learned what was wrong with every ones cars. What we all found really weird was that so many people were looking for Volkswagen vans only. They are a cult van for people visiting Australia. But they fall apart easily, all from the 1970's or 1960's, and they are air cooled not water cooled which makes them useless in the Outback. However they do sell. Later on Silke came down to the car park. We met her in Perth. After the car park Kirk went to the Internet Cafe where he met Rene. Maren had a coffee with Silke. It was nice seeing the both of them again. For dinner we bought a 14 A$ XL pizza which was tasty, but expensive for us. We were just really lazy to go and get anything else. We ate a little at Kings Cross and then ate the rest at Mike's in front of the TV.

New Zealand

Today more people looked at our car. We put up a sign today, saying leaving Monday. Just to get people interested in our car. However we did not sell again. We almost sold to some Germans, but they wanted to have a mechanic looking at the car, but none was working on Sunday. So they bought another car with a pink slip. So we were again not lucky. But we still had one day left to sell out car before we would have to pay 65 A$ for another week. Kirk also took the price down to 2799 A$. Maybe this will work better. Silke hung out with us for most of the day. We still had a little bit of fun there, drinking a few beers and hanging out with other sellers. We also met a really nice Austrian couple trying to sell a van. Maren exchanged notes on different places we have visited and they had visited. There were a lot of cars sold, but not ours. It is frustrating, but we still had hope for tomorrow. We went to the internet cafe and Maren found out her mother was again in the hospital, so she quickly phoned home. We were relieved that it was not that bad. We just wish we heard about it before hand. Rene was at the Internet Cafe. We had dinner at Mike's then went to bed. Kirk also took a swim at Bondi Beach.

New Zealand

Today turned out to be our lucky day. We set the price down to 2777 $. We got to the car park early as usual. In the morning there weren't again many buyers. However in the early afternoon this changed. A plane must have landed and as Kirk named new buyers, "Fresh Meat" was arriving. Actually suddenly there were a lot of people in the car park. We just hoped someone would buy our van. A few people looked at it, including an Israeli couple who were not sure about it because the air conditioning really did not work or had to be refilled and the van only had an AM radio. What do they expect for 2700 A$. However around 3:00 pm an New Zealander with his Swiss girlfriend came along. They had already checked out a lot of other vans in the place. They seemed to like our van, took it for a test drive and offered us 2600A$. We of course said yes already. They only wanted to think about it over a coffee. They came back .5 hours later and said they'll take it. They only wanted to ask a mechanic about the engine work we had done. He took the papers and came back 20 minutes later with the money and we signed the papers. In the meantime waiting for him we were really nervous. But it turned out well. We were really relieved and happy we got rid of it. They were really nice and we wish them all the luck. After all repairs and registration fees we lost about 500 A$ (260 US$). Not bad for driving 14000 km. After writing some emails home and walking around the city a little we bought 2 pizzas at Woolworth for 1 A$ each and had those for dinner. All we did was watching TV later. Maren seemed happier than Kirk that the van was sold. We quickly faxed the registration papers to the Motor Vehicle Department so we would not be responsible for the van anymore. We are happy to be out of the bomb shelter (Kirk's name for the Car Park).

New Zealand

We actually got up early and decided to see a little of Sydney after spending the last 7 days in the dark. We first went into the city and bought a Lonely Planet New Zealand and a gift for Mike. He has been great and we have really appreciated him letting us stay at his place. It has really helped us out a lot. We went then to Mosman with the ferry. We visited the neighborhood where Maren worked as an Au-Pair for a year. She said not much has changed. We then took the bus to Spit bridge and we did the 7 Km Coastal walk. It was really beautiful walking along the coast. A dog followed us all the way to Manly and actually all the way to the ferry, where someone called it's owner (the name tag was on its collar). We took the ferry back to the city and then the train and bus back to Bondi Beach. I think I forgot to mention that the day day before yesterday someone in the car park gave us their weekly pass which was good until the 20th. They were leaving Sydney. We then decided to change our flight to Auckland to Saturday. We wanted to catch up on our website and relax a bit before we would fly to New Zealand. We were very happy that we would not have to get up really early the next morning.

New Zealand

This morning we got up late (8:15 am) for the first time in Sydney. Kirk hook up the laptop to Mike's phone line and did some work and later Kirk called his mother. It is really cheap in Australia if one buys a calling card. It costs around 6.5 Australian cents per minute only. Since we still had our travel pass, we went to the city again. First to Darling Harbor then we walked to the Opera House and through the Botanic Gardens to Kings Cross. In Kings Cross we visited the car market to see if the Austrian couple wanted to meet us on Friday evening. We did a little food shopping later then went to Mikes place and did a lot of computer work. We were way behind. We have never been so behind since we have been traveling. Kirk went really late to bed.

New Zealand

Kirk was really lazy and got up late. We basically just worked on the computer all morning and did our website. Later on Kirk uploaded some stuff and did some work in the internet. Otherwise we did not do much until Silke came to Bondi and we went to the beach. Kirk went for a swim, then went back to Mike's apartment and did some more computer work. He tried to fix the computer, but it was still giving us some problems. Maren stayed at the beach with Silke and came back later. Kirk worked all evening on the computer and Maren did some reading. Kind of a relaxing day. Mike came home really late. We hardly ever seen him. Too bad.

New Zealand

This morning we did some computer work, ate our one dollar pizzas and the went for a small walk around Bondi. Kirk also went for a swim. It must be nice to be able to go for a swim in the ocean when ever you want. The waves are ok and one can do some really good body surfing. It is a lot of fun. Later, Maren worked on sorting out pictures and Kirk wrote the diary further. In the evening we met up with Karin and Jürgen.. We went to the wharf between Kings Cross and the Botanic Gardens and had meat pies for dinner along with some nachos and dip we brought before. The cafe is called Harry's Café de Wheel. It was actually a really nice evening. They just sold their car in the car market and made a 700A$ profit. Not bad for 6 days work. They are on their second long trip traveling the world. So it was good exchanging experiences and tips for different countries. They are going to China next. Afterwards we took the train back to Bondi Junction, went to Woolworth's, looking for specials and then back to Mike's place. At Mike's we drank some wine with him and talked till the early hours of the morning. He also has a music tape of Ethiopian Music, which brought back fond memories of Ethiopia. Hopefully he will send us a copy of the tape. This tape the Ethiopians played from morning to evening.

New Zealand

We both got up a little late, Kirk especially. During breakfast we talked with Mike again before he took off somewhere after 12:00 pm. Kirk then uploaded our website and checked our email. It was really nice of Mike to allow us to use his telephone line. After getting everything packed Maren wrote Mike a note thanking him again and we walked to Bondi Junction with our backpacks. It took almost a hour and we were sweating when we arrived. There we took the train to Central Station and got the next Airport Train to the international terminal. There we checked in, used Samsung's free internet booths a few times and also had a McSundae with the rest of our change. We only had 3 A$ left and it cost 3.10 A$ for two, but Maren bargained and got it for 3 A$. Telling them that is all she had. It was actually no problem. First time that we have both seen that someone has bargained at McDonalds. The flight went ok, the movie stunk, do not even remember the name of it. We both read some magazines and 2 hours and forty minutes later our plane landed in Auckland. There Kirk had to get his boots sanitized and the tent was also taken through quarantine. They are very strict here on what one is allowed to bring in. It was around 11:00 pm when we landed, as we did not want to pay for accommodation, we slept in the airport. It was not that bad because they had a carpeted tribune there, which was a good place to make a bed. Also all the backpackers in Auckland were full because of a big cricket match in town. The only accommodation that had a vacancy was a hotel near the airport for 99 NZ$ a night.

New Zealand

In the morning we called a lot of rental car places. It is high season, so not only are the prices high, but also there are not many cars available. We also called the ferry operator in Wellington to see what ferries were available to go to the South Island. We then took the expensive airport bus to Auckland where we went to the Kiwi Backpackers. The Kiwi Backpackers was one of the cheapest places to stay. That was noticeable right away. It was dirty and not very nice. We were glad we were only spending one night. After checking in it was off to do a little sightseeing and gather a little more information. We booked the ferry and a car for 35 NZ$ a day (around 15 US$). We were a little dumb with the ferry, we could have booked the ferry for 140 NZ $ one way at the airport, but now there were only spaces free for the 201 NZ $. When we had called from the airport someone must have just canceled the super saver fare. We did not realize it and took too much time up in making our decision on when we wanted to take the ferry. Next time we will know better. After walking around Auckland and visiting the wharf and a few other sites we used the internet for 10 minutes. It cost us +1 NZ $ because later on we realized that we got too much change back. He only had change of coins for a 1 NZ$ purchase and supplied us with 21 NZ $ change. That was lucky. Before returning to the hostel, we went food shopping. In the hostel Maren cooked a spaghetti and pesto dinner. Kirk then watched some TV while Maren went early to bed.

New Zealand

In the morning we packed our stuff walked up to the Kiwi International Hotel where the car rental company was supposed to pick us up. However they were late and when they did come, they picked someone up at our backpacker's anyway, even though they knew we were staying there as well and told us to walk a long way to the other hotel, weird. The car which we received was a 1991 Honda Civic Automatic. It was ok, but it had a few dents and small cracks in the windscreen. But it was cheap and we were happy to have a car. We also got a free coffee. It was then off to Waitomo where we visited the Glowworm Cave. It was very expensive to visit, 25 NZ $ each to visit one cave and a very small museum. Way too much for what they offered. The guide todur through the cave was 45 minutes which included a 3 minute boat ride out of the cave. The cave was ordinary, but the glowworms were impressive, especially on the boat ride. It was like looking up at millions of stars on a black clear night. It was still not worth the price of admission though. We then drove to Rotorua (Sulphure City), where they have thermal pools, bubbling mud pools and springs. It also stinks very bad. In the late afternoon we walked around a park where the thermal activity was very noticeable. It smelled really bad, but the bubbling mud and springs were really interesting. Later on we drove around town, visiting the Rotorua Museum from the outside only since it was already closed. We then went food shopping before we parked our car just outside the park along the Rotorua Lake and went to sleep for the night. What we have found is that the Pak n Save supermarket is the cheaper supermarket on the Island. Woolworth seems too much more expensive. Weird since we found Woolworth in Australia to be one of the cheaper ones. Sleeping in the car was no problem, the seat went back pretty far and our sleeping bags are warm enough.

New Zealand

In the morning Maren really wanted to see Te Whakarewarewa Thermal reserve where there is supposedly a spectacular geyser. However the entrance fee was a steep 18 NZ $, so we decided that was too much. It was not only the price that disturbed us, it looked like a cheap tourist attraction dump. The village was not very attractive and it seemed just too much money to visit. So we then drove to Lake Taupo and then to Whakapapa Village from where we started the Northern Tongariro Circuit. In the village we paid for two nights camping on the trek and then took off on the trek to the first campsite and hut at around 2:00 pm. Today we only hiked 2.5 hours to the first campsite, Mangatepopo Hut. It was an easy walk. We met there a German hitch hiker we had picked up earlier on the way. We camped there because it was cheaper, but we were allowed to use the hut facilities, including the gas cooker. We had our cooker along with us, but the cooker in the huts wase much better. The sunset views from this hut were beautiful as was the view of the Volcano above. We slept ok in out tent, even though we do not have any mattresses to sleep on. We put our Goretex jackets under our sleeping bags, used our cloths as pillows, and put our feet up onto our backpacks. It works surprisingly well.

New Zealand

We got up really early, had a delicious muesli breakfast and then were off on the trek by 7:15 am. We were one of the first people up and going. We wanted to first climb the Mt. Ngauruhoe Volcano (2291m) which is a side trek and also not get caught up by the day hikers who come to do the Tongariro Crossing trek, who use the same path as the Tongariro Circuit Trek. We hiked 1.25 Hours to the saddle, from there we took the side trek up the Volcano. It was a steep 1 hour and 20 minute to reach the top and the crater. It was a steep hike up and we were very happy that we left our backpacks at the base. At the top we hike around the crater and then jumped our way down on the skeet. One sort of skis down the mountain, which is also a lot of fun. It is sort of the same ground covering as Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. At the bottom we ate most of our chocolate. It tasted so good, that we could not stop eating it. We then hiked to the Waihohonu Hut where we camped along a small river. Along the way to the hut Maren hurt her knee and had a lot of trouble walking. She was in a lot of pain when she bent her knee, especially going down hill. When we had gotten to the bottom of the volcano, there were lots of people coming by and doing the day trek. For about an hour, the trek was quite crowded. However after passing the Emerald Lakes we were again just about alone. In evening we cooked noodles and pesto again and then went early to bed. Maren wanted to rest her knee.

New Zealand

In the morning during breakfast the both of us decided it would be better if Maren took the 1.5 hour hike out to highway 1 and Kirk hiked back to the village where the car was. Her knee was still hurting and she did not want to aggravate it more. Kirk's hike was signposted for 5.5 hours but he did it quickly in 3.5 hours, with a side trek to Lower Lake Tomo. The weather was not great, but the views were still nice. In the village Kirk picked up the car and drove halfway around the park and picked up Maren sitting next to the highway waiting for him for 2 hours. It was then off in the direction of Wellington because we were catching the 1:30 am ferry that night. The drive was really nice. The landscape is beautiful and very green. In Foxton we stopped at the beach and took a much needed shower. We were stinking after the trek and were very happy to find a public shower on the beach. The showers were very dirty, especially the men's shower, but well worth it. Getting clean sometimes feels really good even though the shower was ice cold. The coast was also beautiful, but very windy. We then drove to Wellington, where we arrived just before it was getting dark. There we walked around town, checked our emails and then drove to the ferry station. There it was just waiting around for a few hours until the ferry came into port and we were allowed to drive on.

Greyhound Sacramento

We got onto the ferry around 1:00 am. After parking our car, we went upstairs and found a couch to sleep on. The ferry ride took 3 hours from Wellington to Picton. Coming into Picton Harbor at night was mysterious looking at around 4:30 am the shore lines from the back of the ferry. After driving off the ferry we drove until we found a rest spot to park our car and slept a while. It actually took a while to find a rest stop. In the later morning we drove to Kaikoura. There we took a 1.5 hour coastal walk. It was really interesting. One was able to get really close to the seals which were sunbathing on the rocks. We first walked along the rocky shoreline and then walked up onto the cliffs from where we went back to our car. Afterwards it was off to Christchurch. Along the way we cooked a meal along the coastal road. There were also seals there. In Christchurch we first went to the DOC to get information on treks. The famous Milford trek is fully booked until April so we will do some other trek. We then walked around Christchurch a little. It does not have that much to offer, but it is a small nice city. We also used the internet for an hour to write a few emails home. Later on we drove a while and when it got dark parked our car and slept in it as usual.

Portland

This morning we got up before 8:00 am and drove first to Lake Tekapo and then to Lake Pukaki. This was after we had peanut butter and honey sandwiches for breakfast. We had to eat our bread because it was getting moldy. We wanted to eat the muesli, but did not want to throw out the bread. The lakes both had a beautiful aqua coloring and had white capped mountains in the background. We then drove to Mt. Cook hoping to go on a half day trek or so. But the weather turned bad on us, raining heavily and becoming very cloudy. So we decided to go to the public shelter and cook ourselves lunch. At the shelter we noticed they had electricity and hot water. So we decided to make ourselves tea after lunch and worked on our website a little and charged our camera batteries. So this actually worked out well. We are now at least up to date with our websites, not including the pictures. We also found a public hot shower here which we can use for .50 NZ$ for 3 minutes. So it was nice to get a hot shower for a change. After the nice shower and drinking a lot of tea we drove a little outside the park and parked our car. The both of us read our books before going to sleep.

Portland

In the morning we decided we would take a risk and see if the weather was any better at Mt. Cook. So we drove the 50 km to the first information center. There we got the bad news that the weather was just as bad as it was yesterday. So we decided to move on. We would have loved to do a little trekking there, but were not willing to waste any more time waiting around. So we then drove to Dunedin and visited the Otago Peninsula to see a view sites. To our surprise there was a huge entrance fee to see anything on the Island. From seeing the penguins or visiting a castle. The fees were ridicules, so we just drove around a little on the peninsula and then visited Dunedin. There we walked around town, visiting the old historic train station and the university. After using the internet, it was off to the Catlins, which is the area on the very south of the South Island. There we went to Slope Point the Southern most point on the Island. However, it was so stormy and windy we could barely get out of our car. After driving around a little we parked our car above the cliffs and decided to sleep there for the night. When Kirk got out of the car to go to the bathroom, he could barely stand because the wind was so strong. The whole night the car was shaking in the wind and we seriously thought that the wind was going to blow us off the cliff into the sea at any moment. We could hardly sleep at all.

Portland

In the early morning we took off right away. The winds were still very strong and the waves were even reaching the top of the cliffs. When driving away the wind protector on the drivers side of the car even blew off and disappeared. We were glad to get out of there. The road in the Catlins was mostly a dirt road, which we are actually not insured on in our vehicle. The insurance will not pay for any damage on dirt roads. We then went to Invarcargill. There we did a little food shopping and gathered some information on treks at the visitor center. After a great tasting muesli breakfast we took off to Te Anau. There we decided to do the Kepler Track. The famous Milford Track was fully booked out until the 12th of April and the Routeburn Trek we decided would be easy and cost a lot of money. So the Kepler Track it was. We decided to leave in the late afternoon because we only had a 2 hour hike in front of us. So we walked into town and bought a gas cartridge for our cooker. The first day trek for us was really easy. We left from the visitor center and walked 4.6 km along the lake to the gates and starting point of the trek. From there is was about 1 hour and 15 minutes hike to the campsite. It went through the woods along the lake. The campsite was ok, really just a toilette to use, but was right on the beach. One major problem though, the sand flies. Sand flies are just like mosquitoes, they bite and bug you to death. We first set up our tent on the beach and cooked dinner. We ate dinner and read in the tent because otherwise we would have been eaten to death. The sand flies bites last a lot longer than mosquito bites. They will start even itching again the next day. So the whole evening we basically stayed in our tent and read our books. There was only 1 other couple camping there what was really nice.

Portland

In the morning we made our way up to Luxmor hut after a great muesli breakfast. This section goes up through a very green forest overlooking the lake. It took us 2 hours to get to the hut. At the hut we had a muesli bar and talked to the hut warden. He said that the hut was over filled last night with 71 people staying there with only 60 beds. Thank goodness that we were camping below. The next stretch was up to Mt. Luxmor. What was not good was that Maren's knee started to hurt again. So Kirk just did the side track up to the summit and Maren waited below on the Kepler Track. The views from above were good, but there was not much of a difference to the views from the actual track. From there we went further to the next emergency shelter to have lunch. After lunch the trek went over an amazing pass over the mountain range. It was spectacular. The brochures advertising this trek do not do it justice. We were very happily surprised. Along the way an Israeli guy gave Maren an elastic strap to help support her knee. It helped a little in the beginning she thought. After the second emergency shelter it was all down hill to Iris Hut. It took us a little longer than normal because Maren was really hurting. Down at Iris Hut it was packed with people. We were glad we were camping. The campsite was a little bit away from the hut, which was nice. The hut was also very noisy. We also recognized a few Israelis who were selling there cars at the Kings Cross Car Market when we were there. We then set up our tent and had some tea and then cooked dinner. After dinner and tea we read our books, enjoyed the scenery around the campsite and talked with some older people from Australia. Kirk got a little restless so he decided to take a 40 minute round trip hike to a water fall. The water fall was interesting, but not a knock out. It was off to bed when it got dark.

Portland

In the morning we got up before most of the campers and had breakfast. From there we walked 18 km to the Moturau Hut. It was more or less a flat walk. There we had lunch on the beach and decided that Maren would only walk the 6.2 km to Rainbow Reach and Kirk would hike back to the Visitor Center. Maren's knee was just hurting too much. So after resting for an hour Kirk took off and Maren waited around a couple of hours. Kirk still had to walk over 21 km to the Visitor Center to pick up the car. The walk was quite nice and pretty easy since most of it was flat. The most part went through the forest along a river. He made it back to the car in 3 hours and 50 minutes. To his surprise Maren was there waiting. She was able to get a ride with someone from Rainbow Reach. Kirk then went for quick dip in the lake. It was only a short swim because the water was ice cold. We took along a young Danish fellow to Queenstown. His friend had given Maren a ride to the car. In Queenstown we dropped the guy off at a caravan park and then walked around town and had dinner. We ate the McDonalds special of the day, McChicken burger. We orderd one McChicken Menu Meal for 4.95 NZ$ and we also ordered 2 McChickens extra for 2.24 each. It did not fill us but is was enough. We then walked around town a little before heading off. We had hoped to find a rest place to sleep, but it took us pass Wanaka to find one to sleep at. Along the way we did something for New Zealand's environment and whacked a huge rabbit.

Portland

We slept up on a mountain pass the night before, so it got a little cold. We only have light sleeping bags with us, which are not great when it gets cold. We then drove to Fox Glacier and walked up to the terminal face of it. It was ok, but very dirty. Must be better if one goes on a tour onto the ice, but they are expensive and very crowded. So we decided against it. We then walked an hour around Matheson Lake. When the weather is good there are beautiful reflections on the lake from the nearby mountains. However we did not have such a day. It was then off to the Franz Joseph Glacier where we again walked to the glacier's face. It was very similar to the Fox Glacier. So one really just has to visit one of them. We then drove to Greymouth. There we had heard that there was an all you can eat meal at the Railway Hotel for 3 NZ$ (under 1.3 US$). The Danish guy had told us. The meal consisted of sausages, salad, coleslaw, potato salad, and buttered bread. It was not a bad deal for 3 dollars, especially since one could eat as much as you liked from everything. So you know Kirk, he pigged out. After we could not eat any more, we filled the car with petrol and drove to the nearest rest area and went to sleep.

San Francisco

It was off to Arthur's Pass in the morning. We first went to the Arthur's Pass Public Shelter, hoping there would be a place to take a shower, like at Mt. Cook. However we had no luck. So we had some breakfast and visited the Information Center and decided to do a small walk, the Temple Basin Trek. So we drove there and did the small hike up the mountain. The trek was actually not great and the scenery was not spectacular. It was just a quick hike up a gravel like trail to a few huts. They have skiing up there, but the skiing did not seem that it would be of any good. Maybe it would have been better when the weather was good. The sky was grey covered mostly by clouds. After the hike we went back to the public shelter and cooked a noodle and rice meal. Kirk also updated the diary. There was electricity here. Maren cooked a noodle and rice meal while Kirk was typing away. We had hoped that there would be a shower there, but there was not one. We had though there might have been one, while Mt. Cook's public shelter provided one. We both started to smell pretty bad! The drive up north took longer than expected and we arrived in Motueka around 8:00 pm. There we went quickly food shopping for a few supplies for our trek. We also out of luck found a place to park our car with other campers in town for free. Along the beach at the salt water pool on the ocean a public area where one had bathrooms, pay gas stove, and an outside shower. This was a nice surprise for us, though we did not use the showers right away because it was too cold and we were really lazy. At this place of course we were not the only ones, it seemed popular for the young and old to get a freebie once in a while.

San Francisco

We slept a little too long, even though it was cold. So we had to skip the shower and quickly drove into town to get our camp passes and information on the Abel Tasman Track. We decided to do a two day trek, hiking to Bark Bay and out again the next day. We thought it would be too risky missing the ferry if we did another day. The bus schedules were infrequent and did not fit our time table. Also the buses and water taxis are quite expensive so we decided the hike would still be nice if we hiked in and out. So we drove to Mahrau where the trek just about begins. The Abel Tasman Track follows alongside the ocean through thick forest, forests, and heavy layers of moss. The trek is fairly flat with just a few up and downs. So we walked the 20 km in 4.5 hours + a short lunch break. It was easy but really beautiful, especially the clear blue water shining through the thick forage. Only trouble was that Maren's knee started to really hurt again. So this was not a great sign. Barks Bay Campsite was really nice, lying on a point between two water masses. On onside was the ocean and on the other side was an area only filled with water when it was high tide. The location was absolutely spectacular. We first went for a cold swim and then took a cold outside shower at the hut. Our first shower in a very long time. It was probably the longest time we have gone without a shower on our trip. Kirk has this notion that salt water would disinfect us. Later on we cooked a meal, took a walk and read and relaxed on the beach with tea as the sun set over the ocean. Only problem is again that the sand flies drove us nuts. In the middle of the night we both had to get up and go to the bathroom, we drank too much tea.

San Francisco

In the morning we took our time because we had to wait anyway for the tide to go out so we could cross one section of the trek. The part where one has to cross at low tide was really cool, since we had to wade for a while in water to get across. Good thing we had our sandals with us. The ground was covered with sea shells. After 3 hours Maren's knee was really hurting again. So we had a break at Apple Tree Bay. Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches again. Kirk loves them, but Maren will be happy when she does not have to eat them anymore. For the last stretch, Kirk went ahead because Maren had to go so slowly. After the trek we drove straight away to Motueka and had a swim in the saltwater pool and then had another shower. It felt really good. Later we went into town, did some laundry, checked the internet and had some fries for 1.5 NZ$ for a huge scoop. We again slept in the rest area near the pool.

San Francisco

In the morning we drove to Nelson. There we walked around town and doing a little sightseeing, the church and old town section was from 1863. Of course we checked our mail again. It was then off to Picton. There we slept in our car for a while, walked around town a little, went food shopping and bought some things on special. For dinner we had some marked down pizza slices (tasted delicious), and bread and spaghettis out of a can which we ate up at a lookout overlooking the town and the harbor. At 8:30 pm we started boarding the ferry that would take us to the North Island again. By the way our car was a pig sty after living in it for two weeks. However we did get our money's worth out of it. The ferry ride was ok, Maren slept while Kirk read a little of an old paper and watched a little TV. Otherwise nothing much happened on the ferry.

San Francisco

The ferry arrived in Wellington around 0:30 in the morning. We then drove around 1.5 hours. It seems when you look for a rest area to sleep, it takes forever to find one. Before 8:00 am we were again on the road, this time driving north to Napier which is famous for its Art Deco Architecture. There we went for a walk through town. We were kind of disappointed because the place did not seem too much different than the other towns we have visited. We then went to McDonalds again because there was a special deal, and the soft drinks were with free refills. This of course we used to the max. It was then off to Auckland. The drive was ok, but nothing spectacular to see along the way. In Auckland we arrived after 5:00 pm. We then visited the War Museum (only from the outside, it was already closed) and then updated our sight and downloaded our emails at an internet cafe that let us hook up our laptop. We later drove to the auto rent place and parked our car in a residential area and went to bed.

San Francisco

Honolulu Hawaii The time was set back, so we landed at around 10:30 pm Honolulu Hawaii USA time after a 8:05 minute flight from Auckland New Zealand. Kirk some how expected the customs agents to give him a little bit of a hassle on him being in Arab countries this past year and spending so much time abroad. Well he was right. They right away started asking a whole lot of questions and acting tough. They also put a special letter T on his arrival card. After picking up the luggage Kirk was taking over to be a little interrogated. Kirk did not feel he should be taking abuse and questions about how can he afford to take such a huge trip and how much he had in his bank accounts. The one custom officer tried to act really tough with him, trying to scare Kirk or something. Kirk just acted cocky then after a while with the guy, throwing one liners back at him. Again, it is not that we are against the questioning, they just do it in a way that has you guilty before you are innocent. It is a really weird situation. On one hand one wants to give all the information they want, but they put you in a situation that you feel like a third degree murderer. These guys must be on a power trip. Kirk was disgusted with them. We decided again to sleep at the airport to decide the next morning what we should do on the islands.

Greyhound Sacramento

The first thing we did was getting our stuff packed ready to go. We also through out a lot of garbage which had filled up our car. At around 8:15 am the car was back at the rental place. There we filled up on free coffee as we waited for them to bring us to the airport. At the airport security was meant to look tuff, but they seem to be only doing it for show, no real system. Made Kirk little mad with them. When Kirk confronted a security officer on what kind of system they had and why it just seemed not to be correct, he just tried to show his stripes. Do not get us wrong, we are totally in favor of searching everyone and doing it write. But when they seem to only do it for show it does not make sense. After we checked in our baggage we took a shower, a really nice and hot shower. We did a little computer work in the waiting area and then ordered the flight. The flight was ok, showing this time at least watch able movies this time. The movies were Kpax and The Musketeer.

Portland

We woke up a little late today. After a shower and breakfast we used the morning to organize the flights to the Islands. After looking around a while and finally deciding which islands we wanted to see, we chose the 58 US$ per person per flight deal we found. These tickets were also changeable free of charge. We are first flying to the Big Island to visit the Volcanoes and then to Kauai. After buying the tickets we took the local bus that travels up the east coast to the northern part. We then took another local bus down the west part of the island. On the way we past some really nice beaches and scenery, including the Bay Watch Hawaii Beach and some Dole Pineapple Farms. This cost us 1.50 $, the best deal on the island. The island is really made out for people wanting to do water sports. On the way back we went food shopping at Foodland where we had to get a members card so we would get the discounts. Food is really expensive here and takes a big part out of our budget. We are not used to these prices at all. After Maren's delicious dinner we used the internet quickly. This was also a fortune so we only used what we really needed. Also we packed our bags in the evening because we were leaving early. We also found out that we could not leave our extra luggage in the hostel. This was not what they told us when we checked in. They claim one can only leave one's stuff for the day you are leaving. So this was really a bummer since the airports do not have luggage storage anymore since 9-11. So we are now going to have to carry all of our stuff with us. We have not send anything home for a while so things have added up. This hostel is a real pit!

Portland

We got up at 7:15 am, had breakfast (disgusting boloney we had bought the day before) and then left the hostel to take the local bus to the airport. The local buses do not actually allow people with luggage on board. They want people to use the shuttle services which cost 8 US$ to the airport instead of the 1.50 US$ the local bus takes. The trick is to make sure your luggage fits on your lap. The airport was absolutely packed with different lines and different security checkpoints. What made it worse is that an x-ray machine had broken and they had to check everything manually. They smear paper which they rubbed on your hands and bags to try and detect bomb material. Before we got on the plane we were again searched manually. They even checked our shoes. Maren had our Swiss Army Knife in her Camera Bag. They took that away. So we are now without a good knife. But at least they found it. It had actually gotten through the x-ray machine which is a little scary. Of course Kirk was totally pissed with Maren that she forgot to take it out after Kirk had asked her repeatedly if she had taken everything out of the hand baggage. So the trip to the Big Island did not start that great. The car rental agencies at the airport quoted prices for cars for over 50 US$ without insurance. So we decided that we would walk to Hilo instead. On the way to Hilo a guy offered us a ride. So that was nice. We were not even hitching at that point. In town we found a travel agent and found out that they could get us a car for 31 US$ a day. So we decided to rent one for the next day. We should have taken the deal in Honolulu for Fly and Drive where a one day car rental was included. But that is our tuff luck. Next time we know better. It would have been much cheaper. After having another boloney sandwich for lunch we walked to Arnott's Lodge which is about 3 miles away. Our backpacks are really heavy. At Arnott's Lodge we wanted to pay for camping, but nobody wanted to work at that time and said they will get back to us. So we set up our tent and went swimming at a nearby beach. We never did end up paying for the place. They never got back to us, it was ridiculously expensive for camping anyway, 9 US$ per person. For dinner we had left over noodles from the night before. We also met a Latvian guy again we had slept in the same dorm room in Honolulu.

Portland

We woke up at 5:00 am in the morning and walked the whole way to the airport. No one at the hostel was awake to pay, so we did not pay for the night. That was not very nice of us, but nobody really organized anything there. At the airport we picked up our car at Dollar Rent A Car. The lady behind the counter was really unfriendly and that was the last time we use them. A real b_tch! They seemed not to have any small cars left so we think we got a bigger one, a Dodge Neon. The drive to the Volcanoes went really quick. We first watched a movie on them and then drove around the 11 mile rim up top the crater. The only problem was that the weather was really bad, it was foggy and it rained a little. We decided to take a small rest in the car. Before we knew it we had slept for over 2 hours. So we quickly drove down to the coast where the lava had crossed the road. There we hiked over the lava field for 3 hours. There was no lava flowing, but we did manage to find a spot where one could see the red hot rock below. We then drove to a Lava tunnel and then out of the park to a black beach in Punalu'u. It was then off to Hilo again. We had our usual 2.22 US$ 2 Big Mac Special and also bought some heavily reduced quick sale bagels in a super market. We then drove into the center of Hilo and parked our car in a parking lot in town and slept.

Portland

In the morning we filled the car with petrol, so we would not get charged extra and drove the car to the airport. We got on an earlier flight to Lihue on the Island of Kauai. This flight was not direct and we had a stop over in Honolulu. In Lihue we had already decided that we would not rent a car and try our hand at hitching. So we walked the few hundred meters to the highway and were able to catch get a ride right away for part of the way. We had to walk a few miles to Kapaa where we had hoped to be able to leave some of our baggage at a hostel. Well the information we had received from another traveler was wrong. The International Hostel there does not have luggage storage. So that was a real bummer. The trek we want to do is going to be hard with so much weight on our backs. In Kapaa we were able to hitch a ride to Princeville. The guy who gave us the ride was nuts, he was a carpet cleaner who was drinking and driving. We were happy to get out of the car. He just talked so much crap and was a real meat head. In Princeville we almost right away got another ride all the way to Haena Beach Camp from a really nice guy. He had left Phoenix Arizona a month or so ago after selling his business or something. He was 31 I think and his name was Howard. Kirk spoke to him for a while over making websites and things in that nature. We pitched our tent, ate some quick sale chicken and bread and later we hung out on the beach with Howard before we went to bed.

Portland

In the morning we woke up and packed our tent, happy that the rangers did not come by and collected 5 US$ from each of us for camping. One actually is supposed to get a camping permit before one camps there. They cost at the office 3 US$ per person, but they are not open on Saturdays and Sundays. So one does not have much choice. We then hiked to the Haena Coast State Park to do the 11 mile Kalalau Trail. Well with all our weight on our backs, it was a tough hike, much harder than we thought it would be. It was not only because our backpacks were heavy. It was because the trail goes up and down along cliffs overlooking the ocean. The trail was also not very well maintained. At some parts of the trail when one looks down hundreds of meters into the rocky waters below it gets a little scary, especially when the winds are blowing really hard and one has a hard time keeping ones balance with the heavy backpack. We also had to cross some small overflowed streams along the way. This meant taking off our shoes and wading across and getting wet a couple of times. The trail is worth it if you are in the area though. It took us all day to get to Kalalau Valley. There we camped overlooking the beach. This place is known for the hippies that live there permanently. We met one guy who has lived there for over 10 years. In our minds a little nuts. There are also a lot of young people high back there. They welcome you with the words "Welcome to Paradise" or "Welcome Home". The place is beautiful though with water falls, beaches, and thick green cover mountains in the background. It was also too bad the weather was not great when we were there. One is also supposed to get a State Permit to camp and hike in this park. However since they were closed on Sunday we did not try and get one. No one we met had a permit. We heard the office claims that there are never openings and that it is hard to get one while it is overbooked. There was no way that so many people were in the campsite when we were there. So there is something a little fishy about the whole thing. In the evening we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and went for a short walk on the beach.

Portland

In the morning we were packing our stuff when we heard a helicopter landing. We realized that it must be the rangers coming in to catch people camping there. We quickly stuffed our bags and hid behind a rock. Not quite sure what to do we decided to go out onto the beach and just walk by the camp and look innocent. Well we got out. We were relieved. We have heard different stories on what happens to you when you get caught, from they take your camping gear from you to paying heavy fines. These were all rumors, so we do not know exactly. The way back was just as hard as the way in and also took much of the day. It was also very windy along the cliff's edges and our packs were really heavy. We camped out in Haena Beach Park again. There we did not do much. We were very exhausted and wanted to just rest. The young hippies and pot smokers camped out there too. They had also done the trek. They must have also stayed up the whole night partying drinking and smoking what ever. We only had a couple of slices of bread left over and a little peanut butter. Not a great dinner for us.

San Francisco

In the morning the ranger came and we had to pay the 10 US$ to sleep there. We should have packed our tent earlier but the ranger came already before 7am. When we were packing our tent, the young hippies and drug addicts offered us a ride to Kapaa. We took it. These peoples interests are just about what musical tapes to play and how they are going to get wasted next. It is really sad. They have absolutely no goal in life except getting high. Well it was nice they offered us a ride anyway even though we were happy to get out of the old Volkswagen Van in the end. We then did a little food shopping and went to McDonalds for lunch again. We of course had the special Big Mac deal and the special on medium fries. We then were able to hitch a ride within 2 minutes to Hanamaulu Beach Park. The pickup that brought us there actually took us right to the campsite. There we found out though that they were actually closed on Wednesdays. We decided to stay anyway and camp out. We had nothing really to do today, so we just read our Lonely Planet Canada and USA to pass the time away. At first we thought we could sleep one section of the camp away from everything, but there were so many locals driving there pickups through the camp and hanging out. There were also guys dealing drugs. So we did not feel comfortable. We also did not see any other campers. Well that is not exactly true, one camper we did see decided to leave. When it got dark we did not feel comfortable and decided to hike somewhere else. On the way out of the campsite we saw some guy also camping and asked him if we could camp out near him. Well the guy turned out to be a homeless guy that just went through a divorce on the mainland. It seems like there are a lot of homeless people hanging out in Hawaii. We also saw a lot living at the Haena Beach Campsite. He was nice though. Asked Kirk if he wanted to smoke a joint. Kirk declined nicely. Seems like everyone is on the stuff here. We did not sleep great. It was really windy at night and it felt as if the winds would blow our tent away.

San Francisco

We got up before 6:00 am so the ranger would not see that we had slept there. After breakfast and relaxing for a while we walked the three miles to Lihue. There we did not do much and decided to catch a flight to Honolulu. In Honolulu we could not change our ticket to Vancouver for an earlier flight because the Air New Zealand desk was not working at that time. The flight is with Air Canada actually. There is also no luggage storage at the airport and we did not want to carry our heavy packs downtown. So we just hung out at the airport, reading old newspapers and doing some computer work. Kirk tried to find a March 21st USA TODAY newspaper, but had no luck. He even walked out of the airport to look for one. Otherwise it has been a fairly uneventful day.

San Francisco

After a very comfortable flight we arrived around 09:30 am at Vancouver airport. The passport control was easy, of course we were questioned a lot as usual, but in a very friendly way which did not make us feel like terrorists. First of all we tried to contact Ryan who we met a last summer in Dahab, Egypt. Unfortunately he was not at home. We initially took the public transport to the Greyhound Station where we wanted to get information prices on bus to the US (Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Phoenix). We decided to buy the tickets right away and leave tonight on the bus to Seattle. The ticket we were told it was changeable without a fee. So we thought we had nothing to loose. If we actually reached Ryan tonight we could take a bus tomorrow instead. Later on we walked around Vancouver. After leaving the the train station we walked through China town which looks like every China town all over the world and then we crossed into a street where all the drug addicts where. We did not feel very comfortable and hurried to get out of this area. Vancouver is a very pleasant town, located on the shore fronts of the sea from where it overlooks a mountain range. To our luck the weather was beautiful, blue sky, sunshine and cold but fresh air. We walked all the way to Stanley park where we strolled around before we went back to the train station. On the way back to the train station we stopped somewhere for pizza which we already had for lunch but it was good and cheap we had to go there again. At the train station we had to wait for about to hours until our bus left to Seattle. We tried to call Ryan again. Unfortunately he was not at home again but he left a message on his answering machine for us to call him back the next morning. We decided to leave because we did not have so much time. The bus ride was quite comfortable, we had two seats for ourselves and could sleep a little bit. The boarder crossing to the USA was fast and uncomplicated. The only annoying thing was that Maren had to pay an entry fee of 6 US$ even though she had a visa which already cost 85 US$.

San Francisco

We arrived in Seattle on time at 12:30 am. Our plan was to sleep at the Greyhound station and explore the city in the morning before heading to Portland. Sleeping at Greyhound stations is nothing we would recommend anybody. We could not sleep very much because we were afraid someone would steal all or belongings. The security woke us up at 4:30 am because they do not like that people sleep there and there were busses arriving at this time. At 07:00 am we did not want to wait any longer and went for a little sightseeing tour into the city. Seattle is not big, the few attractions as Pioneer Square, Pike Market and the Waterfront were quickly seen. Around noon we took the next bus to Portland where we spent our 3 hour stopover sightseeing. The city is very pleasant, most of the buildings and the streets are well restored. At 18:30 pm we were on the bus to San Francisco. Before we entered the bus our hand luggage was searched by some security guards. You notice everywhere that security is very high written nowadays. Again the bus ride was ok, we were able to sleep a couple of hours.

San Francisco

Early in the morning we changed busses in Sacramento before we arrived in San Francisco. We tried to call Marc, Kirk's brother who lives there, but could not reach him. It was a beautiful day today, usually San Francisco is very foggy. We walked to Fisherman's Wharf where we watched the sea lions at Pier 39. Then we walked towards the Golden Gate Bridge to take some photos for our website. Later, we were looking for an internet cafe to get in contact again with Kirk's brother but it cost a fortune (10 US$ an hour or even more) so we tried to call him again but without any luck. We decided to go back to the Greyhound station and try it again from there. In the mean time we found free internet access in a computer store which we used for half a hour. Finally we reached Marc and he explained how we could get to his place. We had to take the train to a suburb where he and Tami, his girlfriend, picked us up. First of all we took a long, long needed shower (we, especially Kirk, smelled horrible). We had a great BBQ dinner with Marc and Tami and with Tami's sister Cindy, her husband Luik and their little daughter. It was nice for Kirk who did not see his brother for about 1.5 years. Even better than the dinner was the bed. We did not sleep in a proper bed for weeks now.

San Francisco

We got up early in the morning, packed our bags and had breakfast alone. Tami left already for work and Marc was on call all night in the hospital because he was called in last night. We took the train to San Francisco, walked to the Greyhound station and waited a little for our bus to leave. The bus ride to Phoenix, Arizona will take about 18 hours. Maren was lucky because she got a book from Tami to read (Memoirs of a Geisha) but Kirk could not find a book for himself to read so he was left with old newspapers to read. The bus ride was boring, we tried not to sleep otherwise we could not sleep during the night. In Los Angeles we had to change busses but the waiting time was just one hour. The LA Bus station was not something one wanted to stay very long in. One also did not want to leave the building and walk outside on the streets.

Greyhound Sacramento

We slept quite a bit and arrived in Phoenix on time at 6:00 am. We thought it was 5:00 am but there was an hour time difference between California and Arizona. With three local busses we made it all the way to Paradise Valley where Kirk's parents are living. It was 07:40 am when we arrived and rang the door bell. Kirk's father had left already for work and his mother almost did not open the door because she did not expect anybody at this time of the day. And especially not us because we told her a couple of days ago we flew to Lima. It was really a surprise for her and she almost could not believe we were there. It was great to finally see Kirk's parents.

San Francisco

We spent 3 1/2 weeks with Kirk's parents in Phoenix. What did we do the whole time? The first two weeks Kirk was sitting permanently at the computer and did a lot of work. We went a lot of bike riding with Kirk's mom and also rollerblading. Kirk also hit golf balls with his dad and even played a round of golf. One Sunday morning we climbed Camelback, a popular mountain (shaped like a camel) nearby. And of course we relaxed a lot and enjoyed not traveling around for a while. And the most important thing, that is reason we came to Phoenix, we celebrated Kirk's mom's 60th birthday. We rented cabins for the weekend, two hours drive from Phoenix, and had a great time. Marc and Tami came from San Francisco and of course Scott and Louise were there too. So Ingeborg had all her kids around what made her birthday perfect.

Belize City

It was time to leave. Kirk's father drove us to the bus station near the airport. It was very hard to say goodbye. We had such a great time in Phoenix. We are going to miss them a lot. However we have better get our trip going or we will never be done. So off we go to Mexico. The first part of the trip took us 3.5 hours south to Nogales. A very seedy town on both sides of the border. Not a place one wants to stop over in very long. What we thought was weird was that we never got an exit or entry stamp in our passports. Hopefully it will not give us too much problems later. We changed buses in Nogales and took the next bus to Hermosillio and then antherone to Mazatlan. We want to reach Zacatecas eventually tomorrow. We slept most of the time on the buses, so it was not too exciting.

Belize City

In Mazatlan we got the next bust to Durongo. This took 7 hours. We then finally got the next bus to Zacatecas. To get here took over 36 hours. But the time went quick. Only problem was that Maren kept throwing up along the way. The bus speed along winding hilly roads. Thank god we had a bag for her or it would have been all over the place. She is a tough one though and took it with stride. In Zacatecas we got a local bus to the center of the city and found a hotel. After dropping off our stuff we walked around a little and checked the internet. Otherwise the day was just full of bus riding. It will take a little time until we get used to it again. We are a little bit out of practice.

Belize City

In the morning we showered and did a little sightseeing in town. We basically walked around a lot looking at two different Cathedrals and taking in the flavor of the town. It is a nice little town, which is not too touristy. After doing some sightseeing we decided to go to Guanajuato. We first had to take a bus to Leon and then catch a bus to Guanajuato. We arrived around 6:00 pm. This town is very nice. We took the local bus to the center and found a hotel. The cheapest we could find was almost 20 US$. Very expensive for our tastes. But we did not want to waste too much time looking because we want to leave the town tomorrow to go to Mexico City. After dropping of our stuff we walked around the town and had some street food for dinner. Hopefully we will not get any runs tonight. We had tacos and some corn mixture. It was not much, but it was ok. What we have noticed was that the prices so far in Mexico are almost comparable to the prices of things in the USA. It is hard to understand how that can be. It is not cheap in Mexico.

Belize City

This morning we woke up fairly early to go sightseeing in Guanajuato. We walked around town, visiting various churches and walking through the small alley ways. The town is quite nice and easy to walk around in. One also feels very safe. Supposedly one of the safer towns in Mexico. We then walked to the Museo de las Mumias. There they had a lot of mummies on display. These were mummies of ordinary people whose bodies were mummified naturally because of the climate here. The museum only takes 15 to 30 minutes to see. After finishing sightseeing in town we picked up our bags at our hotel and took the local bus to the bus station. There we got a ticket on the cheap bus to Mexico City. Well it was a mistake taking the cheap bus, even though it saved us ten dollars. It took over 7 hours to get there, while a normal priced bus only takes 4.5 hours. Basically we tried to sleep the whole way, but is was hot and dusty in the bus and it kept on stopping along the way. Around 6:30 pm we arrived in Mexico City. In deciding to play it safe we bought a prepaid taxi ticket there. The guide book sort of recommended taking a taxi to the center of the city. So we thought we have better spend the 3.9 $ and take the taxi to make sure we get there ok. Well to no surprise we had major problems with the taxi driver. These taxis are supposed to protect people from taxi drivers trying to rip them off. Well he drove 3/4's of the way there and said he would not drive any further because the traffic was too much. We tried to communicate with him that we paid for a ride to the hotel. He did not want any part of it. He even hid our ticket receipt for the ride on his side of the dash board. He eventually stopped at a hotel and stepped out to get someone. Kirk told Maren to grab the ticket. The driver came back with a lady from the hotel. She tried to explain to us in English that the driver was saying that there was too much traffic. We explained our situation to her and told the driver we want our money back. The driver was surprised not to find the ticket and he then agreed to give back our money. Kirk made sure first that we got our bags out of the trunk first and then made sure that we got the money from him before we gave him the ticket back. Why do these things always happen to us. The lady from the hotel even apologized to us and showed us on the map how to get to the hotel we wanted to stay at. So we ended up getting the taxi ride for free. It is just a shame that we have to always get into a fight with people trying to rip us off. The driver thought he could just drop us off anywhere and we would say ok. The walk to the hotel took 15 minutes. There we checked in and then walked around town a little and had a little street food for dinner. Later we did some computer work and went to bed.

Belize City

After a Cheerios breakfast in our hotel room the sightseeing tour of Mexico City began. The first stop was Plaza de la Constitucion where the Catedral Metropolitana and Palacio Nacional were. The church was fairly interesting and big. It was then off to Templo Mayor nearby. We then walked in the opposite direction towards the Alameda Central Park. On the way we passed the Palacio de Bellas Artes which has Opera and Ballet performances. We then walked to the American Embassy and Maren gave her INS ticket for US immigration. They did not check her at the border. We then walked to the Museo Nacional de Antropologia, a very good museum on Mexico's past focusing on different regions of the country. It was a large Museum that tired us out a little. Afterwards we walked through Bosque de Chapultepec Park on the way back to the center of the city. We visited a couple of more churches before we had some tacos as a late lunch. At our hotel Maren filtered some water before we quickly checked the internet and then walked around some markets. They sell every piece of tacky junk imaginable. We had some great cheese tortilla things for dinner. They are pretty cheap, 55 US cents per tortilla. In the evening we visited a free concert that was taking place on the Plaza de la Constitucion. In the hotel we showered, worked on our website and went to bed.

Belize City

Early in the morning it was off to the Teotihuacan Ruins right outside Mexico City. We first took the subway to Norte Terminal, from there we took the bus to the ruins. The ruins were very impressive even though a lot tourists eventually came. They have done a fairly good job in restoring the structures. To our surprise we could walk up and down the pyramids. In Egypt that was no longer allowed. It got very hot early in the day, so we were happy that we had arrived so early. Afterwards we went back to Mexico City the same way we came. We went back to the same restaurant where we had the cheese Tortillas the day before. They again were delicious. We then visited the Plaza de la Constitucion and then went and got our backpacks from the hotel. We then braved the subway with our big packs and took the train to TAPO bus station. There we bought tickets on a direct bus to Palanque. The bus was a nice ADO bus which showed a movie. The bus took 14 hours to get to Palanque. But we are getting used to these bus rides now, even though they do make you extra tired.

Belize City

We arrived before 6:00 am in the ADO bus station in Palanque. There we waited around a little, checked bus prices to Merida before we decided to walk a little bit around town when the sun came up a little after we had put our backpacks in storage for the day. In town we bought some cold water and Tang before a minivan taxi gave us a ride to the Palenque ruins. Since it was Sunday there was no entrance fee to them. That was nice especially because it was for tourists and locals. The ruins were even more impressive than the ones in Teotihuacan because they had the jungle surrounding them which made them more mysterious. We spent around 5.5 hours walking around the ruins and relaxing. We then went back to Palenque, where we used the internet, bought some rolls and avocados for lunch and waited around till 7:30 pm for our bus to come and take us to Merida. We had chosen the cheapest bus company in town to take us to Merida. They were five dollars cheaper than ADO. However one quickly found out why. They had not air conditioning, fairly dirty, and no TV. Not that we are complaining, but one gets what one pays for. Anyway we had a hard time sleeping on this bus. We were also the only tourists on this bus.

Belize City

We arrived too early in Merida. 2 hours ahead of schedule. So we slept for a while in the bus station before we took our bags and walked around the town a little before going to another bus station to catch the 8:00 am bus to the Chichen Itza Ruins. The ride took another 2 hours. The ruins cost 9 US$ each around to get in and they had free luggage storage. The ruins were well worth it. The middle Pyramid was quite a steep climb up and an even harder climb down. One women later in the day had to get an ambulance to come and help here to get down with climbing ropes as support. One was also allowed inside the main pyramid. The steps inside brought one to a room in the middle of the pyramid which was really interesting. There was a lot to see and explore around the ruins and we were not sure now which Aztec ruins we found the best up till now. They were all so different. These ruins also were packed with tourists by 12:00 pm. Today it got really hot and we drank a lot of water. We hardly had to go to the bathroom because we sweated it all out. When we were done visiting the ruins we went back to the waiting area, bought tickets to Tulum and found an electrical socket to charge the camera's battery. It was then off to Tulum. The bus ride took 2.5 hours, which went rather quickly. In Tulum we got a bed at the Backpackers Hostel. They have free dinner of beans and rice which was nice. We then walked around town a little, used the internet and then worked on our website.

Belize City

The alarm went off fairly early. It was set so we would wake up andbe walking to the Tulum Ruins by 7:15 am. We wanted to get there when it opened. It was only a 3 km walk to the ruins, but the sun was already beating down hard. At the ruins we waited around with a few other people waiting to buy tickets to get in. The guards were a little late getting there but eventually they opened the ticket window and everyone was allowed to buy tickets. The Tulum ruins were beautifully situated along the coast. The ruins were not as impressive as in Chichen Itza, but well worth visiting. The both of us had decided before that it would only be a short visit to the ruins and it was. We needed to catch the 9:15 am bus to Chetumal which is on the border with Belize. We wanted to be able to get to Belize City, tour it and then go further in the direction of Guatemala. By a hair we were able to catch the bus. In Chetumal at the bus terminal we had some food while waiting for the bus to Belize City. We choiced the more expensive bus because it was quicker. The bus turned out to be a Belize bus, which had different standards than Mexican buses. Not that we were complaining, but this first class bus in Mexican standards would be a third class bus. At the border with Belize we had to pay for our tourist cards. We were supposed to receive them at the point of entry, but we never did. They cost about 22 US each. Sort of a rip off. They made us pay 195 Mexican Pesos each. We are still not sure what the real price is. We gave them 400 and they did not give us any change. We did not want to argue with them and start a fight. For the extra dollar we got through and out of Mexico without any major problems. Arguing over a dollar they did not return is probably not a smart idea with a Mexican border crossing official. We arrived in Belize city at around 5:00 pm. We did a short sightseeing tour of the city. It reminded us of Djibouti with a Caribbean flair to it. The city was not very nice and we were happy to take the 7:00 pm out of there. Many if not most of the buses in Belize are old American School Buses. Now we now where they all go when they are not safe anymore for our children. It was dark when the bus driver let us out alongside the highway. We asked him to drop us off at the Trek Stop where we would camp the night. The price for camping at Trek Stop has gone up dramatically since Lonely Planet has written their 2001 Central America addition or they have not done their research in a while. One has though the feeling that once a place gets it's name in the guide books they jack up their prices a notch to take advantage of the advertisement. The tent was quickly pitched and we went to bed right away. We were both very exhausted.

Copacabana

After the tent was packed and Kirk downloaded the photos onto the laptop we went out onto the main highway and got a ride with a taxi for 2 US$ to the border with Guatemala. At the border we were surprised that they now have a 10 US $ departure tax along with the 3.75 per person Protected Areas Conservation Trust Fee. What is ridiculous is that one has to pay for these fees at different windows. It was not worth making the quick stop through Belize for us at all. On the Guatemalan side we exchanged 40 US$ with a money changer and waited for the bus to Tikal. The border town is called Melchor by the way. There we had to wait around a while. Before the bus left the bus driver drove around town a while picking up passengers. We also somehow lost our suntan lotion which was really stupid. The first bus took us to El Cruce where the waited 2 hours before the next bus took us to Tikal. Both were local buses that took forever stopping along the way every 100 meters. The entrance fee was a very reasonable 50 Q person which is around 6.5 US$ per day. In Tikal we pitched our tent at the Jaguar Inn and then walked around and to the ruins entrance. We had not eaten stupidly for over 25 hours so we decided to go back to the campsite and cook a spaghetti meal. It was plain but tasted great. Skipping so many meals is really stupid. Kirk was so exhausted that he went to bed before Maren. Maren was also exhausted but was a great sport and still washed some of our cloths before she too went to bed.

Copacabana

We got up fairly early and went to the Tikal Ruins. They are situated in the jungle which gave it that extra touch. They were very impressive and one of our highlights on our trip. The pyramids tower above the tree lines and are cleared and restored at some temples. Restoration is still going on. The jungle also has an abundance of wildlife such as monkeys and birds. This a must see in Guatemala. We spent around 4.5 hours walking around, through and on these amazing structures from the past. When we were done we visited the Tikal Museum at the visitor center as we were waiting for our minivan driver to fill up his van. The museum in itself is not much but they had cool pictures of how they found the temples and how they look now after restoration. The minivan ride took only 1 hour to Flores. There we got some money out on our visa card and then booked a bus ticket on the 10:30 pm bus to Guatemala City. The bus company manager or owner was really nice and actually recommended that we take the 10:30 pm bus instead of the 9:30 pm bust to Guatemala City because the other one arrived to early on the morning and it was not safe in Guatemala City at that time. What makes it actually nice was that the bus at 10:30 pm was considerably cheaper than the other bus. So he was not looking at the dollar with this recommendation. In Flores we walked around the half island a little and watch the sunset over the lake. We also checked the internet and had a cold soda. The bus ride was hard, because the seats are so close together and Kirk kept on getting dead legs so he could not sleep.

La Paz

We arrived before 7:00 am in Guatemala City. The ride had taken about 8 hours. We then walked to the bus station that had buses to Panajachel. The ride took 3.5 hours, mainly because it stopped everywhere along the way. Here in Guatemala they also make fine use out of American School Buses. Often painting them in bright colors. In Panajachel we found a campsite. We actually bargained down the price because it was nothing near what our guide book said again. The owner was actually an American living here for the last 16 years. He was a little nutty. After eating lunch, tortillas, beans and cheese we had bought in town we took a 4 km walk to Santa Catarina. A nice town also situated along the Lago de Atitlan . Later we went to the market and bought a Papaya and Pineapple for our dinner. We also walked though town a little and also looked at all the souvenirs they have to sell here. Back at the campsite we ate dinner, talked to the crazy owner for a while and worked on our website. It actually gets a little chilly at night here compared to the heat during the day.

La Paz

Today the we took another crazy ride on the Chicken Bus (Old American School Bus as they call it here we learned today). We took 3 different buses to get to Antigua. One of the bus drivers drove on these winding mountain roads as though he was a Formula I driver. It was a little scary. One of the ticket guys on the bus we think overcharged us, but we got there alive with all our stuff so it was ok. In Antigua we found a hotel and did some sightseeing. We were overly pleasantly surprised how nice the city was. It is a beautiful city with a lot of charm. One of our most favorite cities we have visited. The streets and churches all fit nicely together. It is quiet understandable that it is a major tourist attraction. Later on we went to the market and bought some food. We also bought some new Sun Tan Lotion. In the late afternoon, we made some updates on our sites and did a little reading. Later in the evening we walked around town a while before hitting the sack.

Sala de Uyuni

In the morning we decided to get one last look of Antigua by taking another short tour of the city. The city was fairly empty early in the morning which made it really nice. After picking up our bags, we did a little food shopping and went to the bus station to catch a Chicken Run Bus to Guatemala City. These bus drivers drive like maniacs. It scares the hell out of us once in a while. It took about an hour to get to Guatemala City. There we got a local bus to the main square where the Cathedral is. There we walked around with our all of our stuff. After having something to eat, we took another local bus to the other side of town to get a bus to El Salvador. On the local and longer distance buses there are always people trying to sell things, getting on and off the bus. There are also a lot of the times people preaching the word of something and lots of the passengers give these guys money. We are always astonished. The bus ride for a change was not on an old American School Bus, but this time on an old Greyhound Bus. The ride went ok, the bus driver and the ticket guy were not the friendliest or the most helpful of guys though. What really depresses us is the amount of garbage the people throw out of the windows. The roads are littered with garbage and more is added every time a car or bus goes by. It is disgusting and looks awful. At the border Kirk, as an American had to pay 10 US$ for a tourist visiting card. Maren did not have to as a German. The bus arrived in Santa Ana in about 3.5 hours. There we decided it would be best for us to go today to Cerro Verde National Park. Cerro Verde is only 37 km away, but the bus trip takes 2 hours. The bus stops and picks up people and lets them off every 100 meters. It takes forever. At Cerro Verde we were not to sure what to do actually. The Park was officially closed when we arrived. We knew we were allowed to camp somewhere free there but where we did not know. There were no signs anywhere and some locals also did not know for sure. We ended up pitching our tent near a grass park area near some picnic tables. For dinner we had some tortillas and avocado. We were a little nervous at night since we were not sure how safe everything was in this area.

Sala de Uyuni

The Park opened at around 8:00 am. The guy collecting the Cerro Verde Park fees let us put our stuff in the ranger hut while we walked around. We had thought about walking up the volcanoes, but he really discouraged it unless we found the police and had them escort us. According to him people often got robbed when they climbed alone without an escort. That gave us something to think about. So we decided we would go on a little walk down towards a small resort with cabins that has a beautiful view of a volcano which has a perfect black cone. What got us a little nervous again, when we saw police walking around with weapons guarding the area. It could not be too safe. The area is really beautiful, and when they are able to organize everything a little better, it would be a great place to hike and visit. After hiking around a little we picked up our stuff and got the next bus out to El Congo. From there we got a bus to San Salvador. For a few Km the buses here take forever, stopping constantly. In San Salvador we visited the Cathedral and the square around it. There is not much else to see there, so we decided to move on. In the afternoon we got a bus to El Poy on the Honduran border. At the border we exchanged 20 US$ and then got a bus to Nueva Ocotepeque where we spent the night.

Sala de Uyuni

We got the 6:00 am bus which took us to La Entrada. From there we took another bus to Copan Ruinas. In Copan Ruinas we first went to the bank and exchanged some money. Got a little better exchange rate than at the border. After looking at a few different hotels we finally took one that was ok priced and had electricity. It was then off to the Copan Ruins which is about a 1 Km walk out of town. The Copan Ruins are the most expensive Mayan ruins we visited so far in Central America, charging 10 US$ per person. They also charge 5 US$ for the museum and another 12 US$ if one wants to go down into a tunnel underneath the ruin. The ruins are not as spectacular as the other Mayan ruins we have seen on this trip. They are interesting, but they do not overwhelm you like Tikal did. The ruins were also not as well restored. They were though well worth seeing. In the late afternoon we did some food shopping and worked on our website. We also took much needed showers!

Sala de Uyuni

The alarm went off at 5:00 am in the morning. Maren quickly filtered some water as Kirk packed. The bus this time was not an old American School Bus, but rather just an old bus. The ride to San Pedro Sula took only 2.5 hours and went quickly. The 5:30 am bus costs 100 LPS while the 6:00 am bus on which we traveled only costs 60 LPS each. We could not figure out why there was such a major difference in price. In San Pedro Sula we were lucky that the bus dropped us off at the right bus station. The bus ride to Tegucigalpa was a little long as the bus had trouble with its motor along the way. In Tegucigalpa we finally settled in a hotel we thought was the best deal and had electricity. The San Pedro Hotel where we wanted to stay did not have electricity so we found a room at the Hotel Colonial. It was then off on a quick sightseeing tour of the city. We visited a few of the churches and walked around for a while. The city is nice but nothing spectacular. We also bought a little to eat and a cantaloupe for dinner. In the evening we read and did a little computer work and tried to plan out the next week of our trip.

Sala de Uyuni

We are again in the habit of waking up early in the morning and catching the first available bus out of town. We were lucky that we arrived at the bus station just as the bus to Guasaule (Border town with Nicaragua) was leaving. The bus ride took 4 hours. At the border we had to again pay a tourist card entry fee 5 U$ each plus 2 US$ each for something else they thought of. The bus to Leon left at 12:30 pm, so we had to wait around for over an hour. It was really hot and dusty today. We just sweated out the water we drank. At around 3:30 pm we arrived in Leon. The walk to the center of town is about 1.5 km. The first hotel we looked at we did not like and the next one was full. However the owner (we think the owner) drove us to another hotel which was actually cheaper. So that was nice. We have a feeling though that he owns or has interest in both of them. It was then off to do some sightseeing. The town is quiet cute with many nice old churches. It is not like Antigua because it is not that touristy and has not been heavily renovated. For dinner we had Comida Corriente at a local restaurant. It costs about a dollar a head for a big plate full of food. It was pretty good. The bill came to 2.33 US$ with a half liter Fanta. Later on in the evening we walked around town a little, visiting the main square again before doing some food shopping and going back to the hotel for a much need shower. It was so hot today.

Sala de Uyuni

It was up and early again to catch a bus to Managua and then onto Granada. Being the experienced travelers as we are now we took the slow bus to Managua. It took over 2.25 hours and stopped every 100 meters. We should have taken a faster one for just a few cents more. We were not thinking. I know it has been mentioned before, but the people just liter the road sides to death. There are plastic bags and things lining the road the whole way. It is really disgusting. It also covers peoples property and they do not clean it up. It just ruins the landscape. They just must not know better or actually see what they are doing. In Managua we had to take a local bus to the bus station across town. An English speaking guy helped us finding the right bus to Granada. When Maren was trying to get out of the bus, a lot of people rudely cut in front of her. The guy actually apologized for it. He was kind of mean about the people, say that "they were just not educated". The bus ride to Granada went quick. The bus station is on the other side of town and it was a long hot walk to find our hotel. The sun is just really too hot. After looking at three hotels we finally took one we thought was the best deal. We then toured the town. It is a very nice town with a very beautiful town square. Also in the background one has a view of a volcano. During the day we drank so much water, but we never really had to go to the bathroom. We also risked it a little and had a delicious fruit juice. Hopefully the runs do not come tonight. After using the internet for an hour we walked back to our hotel and rested a little before we went out in the evening. We split a Vigoron, which is Yuccon top with dried pork skin. It actually tasted alright. We then walked around a little before retiring.

Sala de Uyuni

Today was just not our day. We got the buses to the border ok, but that is when it started. Yes we are stupid and our traveling pride was hurt. We got scammed for a dollar each. We paid a municipal exit fee which one does not have to. We knew we had to pay an exit fee so we were not thinking at all when we paid, but then realized that what we had paid was not the exit fee, but some scam at the border. They set up this booth, looked halfway official, but it was just there to make you think it was legit and to see how many idiots like us would pay something, not knowing exactly what it is. We have always watched out for such scams, but today we were just half asleep and not paying attention. Kirk tried arguing a while with them later, but it was for nothing, they sort of just laughed. We then went over the border into Costa Rica. It is just sad that one incident like this leaves a really bad taste in your mouth about a country. On the Costa Rican side we went through immigration without any problem before we got a bus to Canas, about halfway to San José. Again we were asleep, this time literally. We missed getting off in Canas and had to back track to be able to get a bus to Tileran. Another intelligent move on our part. Cost us about 2 US$ extra again to get to Tileran. Actually this guy, his name is Tony, from England made the same mistake. So we all then took a bus to Tileran. There we found a hotel not in the guide book. They were all to expensive. This hotel is really the pits though. We shared a room with Tony and saved some money. We went to a supermarket for some food. We had tortillas with beans, cheese and crackers. Kirk also worked on the website.

Sala de Uyuni

In the morning it was off to La Fortuna to hopefully see the volcano. Well the weather did not seem to want us to see the volcano. It was cloudy and misty. The scenery was quiet nice though along the way. The bus ride took 2.5 hours. In La Fortuna well all realized that it would be impossible to see the volcano today. People we met said they were waiting around for days and the weather did not get any better. So we decided we would go to San José. While waiting for the bus we used the internet. The bus ride seemed to take forever and somehow was really unpleasant. It was hard to say why, but it was just awful. We arrived in the early evening in San José and we got a room again with Tony. The place was ok, the rooms were only cubicles without electricity plugs, but it did the job for one night. Later the both of us walked to a supermarket and got some food. San José is really like a small run down a little bit American City. It did not seem to have much to offer. Later on we sat out on the balcony overlooking the street. Some hookers were working near the hotel on the street. The hotel was not in the best area of town. Costa Rica seems to have some nice places to visit if you have your own car and like to outdoors. For us to get to these places would have just taken up too much time.

Sala de Uyuni

In the morning after breakfast, a peanut butter and jelly baguette, we bought direct bus tickets to Panama City. We were happy to get on our way. The bus was leaving at 1:00 pm, so it meant we had some tome to waste. So we first used the internet and then just hung out at the hotel. The bus ride was ok to Panama. They played some movies, but the sound system was broken, so it was hard to hear. At the Panama border we should have exchanged the old Costa Rican money. We thought that on the Panama side there would also be some money changers. However we were wrong. So we are stuck with a 13 US$ of Costa Rican money for a while. Coming into Panama one had to by a weird stamp for 1 US$ per person. If this is correct or not, who knows. But they would not let us in otherwise. Kirk had to pay in addition a 5 US$ tourist card fee. These borders have some strange things going on. The problem is that one can not argue with them or really question them because they hold all the power to let you in or not. They also wanted to see a ticket out of Panama. We of course did not have one yet, we wanted to buy one in Panama City. He eventually asked us how much money we had on us. Kirk was not sure if he wanted a bribe or wanted to see if we had enough money to support us. Kirk said 500 US$ each, and he let us in. These border immigration officers almost always have to show you how powerful they are. One just has to suck up ones pride once in awhile.

Copacabana

The bus arrived in Panama City around 4:00 am in the morning. We eventually decided to share a taxi with this other German girl to an hostel in the center of town. The hostel was more expensive than some hotels, but it was in a much better area of town. The hostel owner let us in and we waited in the lounge area until a dorm room was made up for us a few hours later. The hostel also served a free toast and coffee breakfast. At 8:00 am we decided to look straight away for flight tickets. We were happy to find a really cheap one we thought to Quito Ecuador at a Student travel agency. We went back a few hours later to pay and book the flights. Of course they wanted to see our student cards. That is when they got really arrogant and started to be really unfriendly and aggressive. They claimed they were fake and said they would have to confiscate them. Kirk quickly grabbed the cards back and wanted to leave. They locked the doors so one could not get out. They said they wanted the cards or they would call the police. This was a little unbelievable at first and Maren did not quiet realize what the hell they wanted at first. We were not sure then if they had something with the police or not and thought it would be best if we did not get them involved. The only way they would let us out is if we turned over our cards. Kirk eventually saw no way out so he gave them the cards but took our pictures out and made sure the names were punctured out of the cards. This was a major shock to us. On the way out Kirk yelled some nicely chosen words at the one of the guys who was being really aggressive to us, and he started yelling things back. We just left and later on booked another flight via Bogotá Columbia to Quito for the 15th of May. It is only a two hour stopover in Bogotá. We spoke to some people later, and no one could believe what had happened, and though it was the weirdest thing. In the afternoon we took a bus to the Panama Canal. The first bus took us to the wrong bus terminal even though we asked him 2 or 3 times if it was the right bus terminal. He spoke English, so that was not the problem, he just ignored our questions. We eventually were able to get to the Miraflores Locks. When we were there two big container ships came through. It was very interesting, and made the trip worth it to Panama. We were able to catch a ride back with some guy to the city, so it saved us the dollar bus fair. We then walked along the ocean back to the hostel. In the evening the both of us took a much need shower, Kirk also had a much needed shave. Maren then cooked a great pasta dinner before we worked on our site. What is good about Panama is that the currency is US $, so one is able to stock up on US$ easily. Kirk watched the NBA playoffs while Maren sorted out the pictures for our website in the evening.

Copacabana

Happy Birthday Nina! This morning we got up early and had breakfast and Maren wrote some emails. Later on we got some more America Dollars from the ATM and then went to an Internet Cafe to upload our web pages. It was nice, the web connection speed was great and everything was uploaded quickly. We then got something to eat at McDonalds. The Hamburgers there are the cheapest meal in town, 39 cents a piece. Afterwards it was off to our hotel to get our bags and catch a local bus to the airport. It took about an hour to get there, but it was cheap at 25 cents a person. At the airport we read a little before taking the flight to Columbia. There we had a two hour wait for our connection flight to Ecuador. We would have liked to visit Bogotá, but we thought it would be best to move on. It was nice taking two different flights because we received two dinners. The flight was ok and we arrived in Quito Ecuador after 11:00 pm. There we organized a taxi and a hotel from the airport, not wanted to risk looking for a place so late at night. We got a prepaid taxi for 4 US$. They had different taxi booths there ranging in prices.

Sala de Uyuni

We arrived at the hotel we had called from the airport at around 12:30 pm. The hotel was kind of weird and we did not feel that comfortable there from the start. We decided to stay the night anyway, not wanting to walk the streets that late at night with all or stuff. The hotel prices are much higher than what the guide book had written, almost double in price. In the morning we woke up early and went looking for a hotel. We eventually found one we liked even though it was not cheaper than the one we were staying at. Afterwards we took a bus to the old city. There we walked around for a while checking out the sites. It is a very interesting city with it's own personality. We also went and got information on buses leaving to Cuenca. We then did a little more sightseeing. The main sights we visited were the Plaza de la Independencia, the Plaza de San Francisco and the Plaza de Sant Domingo all with cathedralsand churches around. We then walked back to the newer part of town. There we took a little rest in the hotel before Maren cooked a pasta and tomato sauce meal. We then took a small walk again, checked the internet (very cheap in Quito) and then had a great hotdog on the street. The hotdogs are big and they have lots of toppings that one piles on like guacamole, salad, coleslaw, potato salad and more. It was then off to the hotel.

La Paz

We left to go to the bus station around 7:30 am. We first walked in the wrong direction to get the bus, but we eventually found our way there. Once there, we got a bus right away to Cuenca. They told us it would take about 9 hours. It ended up taking over 11.5 hours. So we arrived after dark. The bus ride was ok, it made a lot of stops along the way, picking up and dropping off people. Though it did not make any real long stops. The scenery and landscape along the way were beautiful. It was all very green with a lot of farms a long the way. However it was very misty and cloudy, which gave everything a dreary feel to it. In Cuenca we found a hotel. The prices here also are not what one expects to find when reading the guide book beforehand. They are at least 50% more expensive. After finding a reasonable priced room, we bought some rolls and had bean sandwiches for dinner. Otherwise as usual we updated some web pages and went to bed.

La Paz

In the morning we were up early as usual. We then did a small sightseeing tour of the city, visiting the market and the main square. It is a nice small laid out city. Later we used the internet quickly to check our emails before going to the bus station to catch a bus to Machalla where we would change bused to get to Haquillas, the border town between Ecuador and Peru. The scenery is spectacular along the way, beatiful green countryside. The bus attendant on the bus from Machalla to Haquillas was a women who was really nice. She made sure we got our exit stamps at the immigration office before we reached Haquillas. The immigration office is around 3 km before town. So that was really nice. She then explained to us how to get to the Peru immigration office which was also another 3 km away. She also told us which streets not to take. Haquillas is absolutely a crazy town where one does not want to spend any time in. More time you spend there, the better chance you will either get robbed or ripped off. We had guys constantly following and bugging us about different things. One guy kept following us until Kirk started yelling at him. Also watch out for the street changers. They come to you with much better exchange rates then possibly true. There is so much commotion there and they are definitely trying to scam you. We were soaking wet by the time we reached the Peru Immigration office. The sun was shining very brightly. After getting our passports stamped we got a minibus to Tumbes Peru. We agreed on a price for us, 1 US$. However as usual when it was time to pay, he wanted more. We figured out we were already paying too much, so we told him forcibly to forget about it. One guy told us we were correct and we should not pay more. In Tumbes we were dropped off at a bus station where we were lucky to be able to catch a direct bus to Lima which was just about to leave. We got the back seats, which were the worst seats on the bus because one could not lean them back very far. The landscape gets very dry and barren along the coast to Lima. It is interesting to see, but there was not much to see. On the bus they served dinner, rice with meat and for entertainment showed old bad movies constantly.

Sala de Uyuni

The bus arrived very early in Lima. The first thing we did was check out a few bus companies for buses to Cusco. After we had finished comparing the bus companies we started to walk into the center of town. Then it happened. 3 kids started saying hello and grabbing Maren, before she new it one from behind ripped off her watch. She started to scream that they took her watch. Kirk in that moment heard something going on and turned towards Maren. He realized what had happened and gave Maren his small backpack and started after the guys. The guy with the watch saw Kirk coming after him and threw the watch at Kirk in the middle of the street. Kirk picked up the watch, looked back to make sure that Maren had the small backpack with the laptop in it and when he saw that was ok, he went through the traffic after the kid. The kid must have panicked, probably amazed that Kirk was coming after him. Kirk chanced him through the traffic and caught him behind a bus. During this time everyone on the streets was looking at what was happening. Kirk grabbed him and probably was going to beat the living crap out of him, but then he saw a traffic police woman coming in his direction. So he brought him in her direction. Then a 4wd vehicle pulled up and 3 policemen got out and took the kid from Kirk. The first policeman whacked the kid across the face before throwing him into the backseat of the 4wd vehicle. Another police got in with the kid and hit him a few times. The police asked if everything was ok, and we said yes. We got the watch back, even though it was scratched a little. The police then took off with the kid, so we do not know what happened. He was probably hit a few more times and let go. Who knows? We then decided to walk back to the bus station and grab a taxi to the hotel, which we should have done in the first place. Lima is actually known for the watch snatchers in the bus station area. We were lucky that everything turned out ok. The kid who stole the watch, got scared and panicked when Kirk went after him which helped. So our time in Lima did not start very well. South America is living up to it's reputation of not being a very safe place and honest place to visit. The taxi took us to the center of town to the Hotel Espana. We took a room right away, not wanting to look around with all our stuff after what had happed. When we arrived we met the German girl we met on the bus to Panama and which whom we stayed in a dorm together in Panama City. Later on we did a sightseeing tour in town. Lima actually is a really nice city with some nice old buildings and churches. There was a festival of some sort going on, with a parade through the old city. It was interesting to see the people dancing in the streets. We also visited Miraflores, the newer section of town. For our meals we had a mashed potato ball rolled up with filling in it. It is deep fried and it is served with onions and different types of sauces. It costs around 30 cents each and tastes great. There is quiet a bit of street food in the city. Internet is also quiet cheap, around 59 cents an hour. In the late afternoon we visited the central market. There again we noticed that a guy was following us through the market. Maren actually noticed him first. Kirk then started staring at the guy. The guy noticed that we knew he was following us and started to look uninterested and walked away. Kirk kept on looking at him and he finally looked back and started telling us basically to F off. Lima is not a safe place. In the evening we did not go out, we had no mood to be adventurous.

Sala de Uyuni

In the morning we went to the market again to buy some food. We then walked around town a little more, before using the internet quickly. We then got a taxi to the bus station. We wanted to get the luxury bus to Cusco which took only 20 hours but that was full, so we had to take the slower bus that takes 22 hours. This saved us 20 dollars, but we still wanted the better bus. We thought it is probably safer and it had a toilette. The slower one did not, so we were relying on the stops to go to the bathroom. The bus stopped along the way in Nasca where we picked up more passengers and stopped for a while to get something to eat. The scenery along the way was beautiful. This bus was not very comfortable and since we were almost in the back, very bumpy, especially since the bus had no shock absorbers left. One just could not sleep. The bus had two TVs, but in the 22 hours they only showed one horrible film.

Sala de Uyuni

One could not sleep the whole night and it got much worse when the bus driver drove like a maniac on unsealed roads. We hardly slept at all. It was a hard long ride. At around 11:30 am we arrived in Cusco. There we got a taxi to the middle of town. There we checked out a few hotels, before deciding on the first one we saw. We then did a little sightseeing in town before checking out the best way to do the Inca Trail. What we found out sort of disgusted us. The whole hike is now completely regulated. This means that one can not go alone and one has to go with a tour group. This means one can not even get a single guide to show you the way. Also the entrance fees are now 50 US$. This is ridicules. We were a little in shock. The cheapest 4 day tours were 170 US$ each. What made us unhappy more was that one has to be in such a big group. We checked out a lot of tour companies and travel agents, trying to figure out the best way to do the tour for us. The first 15 tour companies said that we had to take the tour as it is, this means, that we would have to pay the full 170 US$ or more. The tours include meals, transportation, guide and porters to carry the food and tent. No tour would really give us a discount, if we carried our own tent and food and only used the group as a way to do the Inca Trail. We were getting very frustrated at this moment and were about to say forget it and take the train up to Machu Picchu. We decided then to check one more tour company out. Well they agreed to let us just pay for the guide and entrance fee and a few miscellaneous things and not book the whole package tour. It would end up costing us 100 US$ each. We were very happy to hear this and were relieved. We were going to do the Inca Trail after all. Later on Maren said we should check out one more travel agent to see what they could offer. Well this one also offered us the same deal and we bargained a 95 US$ price each out. We later on wanted to give the other agent another chance, he agreed also on this price and gave us a better exchange rate for the Peruvian Sol. We then copied our passports and gave it to the tour agent. It was then off to bed. We were both very tired.

Sala de Uyuni

In the morning it was off to the tour operator to pay for the Inca Trail. To our surprise it was closed until 9:30 am. So in the mean time we checked our email and had some cake for breakfast. At around 9:00 am a lady from the tour operator stopped us on the street and said something about 120 US$. This got us a little bit worried. At 9:30 am we went to the travel agent. He at first just stood there calculating something with someone. He then started speaking in Spanish to us, even though he spoke very good English and knew that we did not speak Spanish. He tried to tell us that he needed more money, but Kirk just said to him what everything costs and that we do not want to discuss it with him and we would like our copies of our passports back. Kirk did not let the guy finishing. Again these people here just try and bait and switch you. No one seems to be honest in South America. We then went to the other tour operator and booked the Inca Trail for 95 US$. So we were lucky that Maren suggested to look at other tour operators the night before. Otherwise we would have just said forget it and would not have done the Inca Trail. We then got a bus to Tambomachay, which is about 30 minutes away. The ruins there were nothing special and there was not much to see. We then got a bus to Pisaq. There it was a nice but a little strenuous 1 hour hike up to the ruins, which were situated on a hill top above the town. We met two guys that camped up there the night before. That must have been really nice. After climbing down we got another bus to Urubamba, where we changed buses to go to Chinchero. A lady on the bus warned us not to go because it was dangerous this late in the day. But we went anyway, because we did not want to go the next day again. We just wanted to visit the Church built on some Inca Ruins. The bus took forever to get there. It just did not have any power to climb up the mountains. The church was well worth visiting, much different than most. Very old looking inside. We were actually lucky to get inside. Normally it is not open, but there was a big Peru tour group there at the time which got the church attendant to open it. We wanted to catch the bus then back to Cusco, but a taxi driver said he would bring us there in a shared taxi. We asked him then if he would bring us to the Plaza de Armas in the center of town. He said yes. So we said why not. The ride was not much more than the bus would cost. Well when we arrived in Cusco, he dropped everyone else off where they wanted. When the last person got out of taxi he said "finito". We immediately said to him that he said he would bring us to the Plaza de Armas. He then said that this would cost another 4 Sol. (a taxi anywhere in the city does not usually cost more than 2 Sol). We then said bring us to the Plaza or we are not paying. He said again he wanted more money. So we just go out of the taxi and said "Adios". He started following us, Kirk just turned around and started yelling at him to get loss. Kirk scared him off a little, especially with the people watching. He was not a registered taxi, so he could not afford to have the police come. We did not know what part of town we were so this was BS. It is not safe to walk around most areas at night here. Every time these people just try and screw you. We then went to a store and asked how to get tot the Plaza. It was about 7 blocks away. But the area we were in was not the best area. There seems not to be an honest person here. It makes one have such a bad feeling about South America. The countries have beautiful sights and landscapes, but the people until know live up to their reputation. To be halfway honest is just not in their cards. We then went to the same restaurant as the day before and ordered one menu. It is really a good deal for 75 cents. Later we walked around town a little, bought some popcorn and then went back to the hotel to shower and do some work. We are just hoping that we get through South America without loosing all our stuff and getting too ripped off. We booked our tour with the travel agent: Flamenco Travel Plaza de Armas Cusco Peru Tel: 084 224176 email: flamencotravel@latinmail.com www.flamencotravel.com

Sala de Uyuni

This morning we think a couple must have waking up the whole hotel. We thought we were dreaming, but it was real. It seems like the walls are not very thick. Kirk then did some more work on the computer and Maren wrote her diary. We then went to clear some things up with the travel agent. Later we walked around town checking out the historical sites and museums in Cusco. The churches and museums are interesting, but they all seem to look a like after a while. One can buy a ticket for 10 US dollars to visit all the main sights in Cusco and some in the surrounding areas. We also did some food shopping for our trek tomorrow. For lunch it was the menu again at a different restaurant. It tasted great. We also checked the internet and in the afternoon took a much needed nap. Kirk also got a hair cut. In the evening we wrote some emails, then went to an internet cafe to upload some stuff.

Sala de Uyuni

The tour was supposed to pick us up at 8:40 am, so we decided to check the internet before and buy some bread for our trip. When we got back to hotel, they told us that they were already here to pick us up, 45 minutes earlier than they had told us. However they did come back a second time to pick us up. The first impression of the group we had was that we were lucky. They all seemed fairly nice and down to earth. There were 3 Americans, 2 Germans, 3 Canadians, 1 New Zealander, 2 Brits and us, 13 all together. There were also 8 porters, and 2 guides. The bus first stopped in Urubamba where we had an hour stop, which none of us could figure out except that they wanted us to use a restaurant there. We just walked through town. There was no reason why we did not stop only in Ollantaytambu where some ruins were. Ollantaytambu was a hour away from Urubamba, where we stopped for lunch. Maren and I first had our lunch, avocado sandwiches and then checked out the impressive ruins there. The entrance fee was already included in the entrance fee we paid for the Cusco sights. The lunch, which was included for everyone else, took forever and way past the 1:00pm time which the tour guide had said it would. At 1:00 pm the road opens again (they are rebuilding it) to allow the buses to get to Km 82. The Inca Trail actually starts at Km 88, but from Km 82 one starts walking. We also had bought some 50 cent ponchos in Ollantaytambu, just in case it rains. After getting off the bus we had to go through the first check point, where they checked out entry tickets. There were already two big groups in front of us. The hike starts out along a river and one in the beginning climbs slowly higher. KM 82 starts at 2750 meters above sea level. Our tour guide seemed really shy and not very competent. He did not give us or anyone a good impression. He did not seem to explain much and interact with the group. The hike though was really beautiful and we were very happy to be doing it. There was only one hard section, where it was fairly steep. After this section one had a good view of the Inca ruin Qoriwayrachina. The guide tried to explain some things about the ruin, but no one could really follow him. From there it was an easy 1 hour walk to the campsite. There we pitched our tent next to the other people's tents. None of the other people in the group were carrying there own tents and food. We were actually the only people we met on the whole trail that carried their own tent and food. We then started cooking, while the others waited for theirs. The second tour guide who was there to oversee the first tour guide, said we could eat with them and at least have some tea or coffee with the group. We immediately said no thank you. We both suspected something. However after them asking us 20 times we agreed to only have a drink. (This will be more understandable by the end of the trek). We were very happy to be cooking for ourselves, especially that we were able to go to bed an hour earlier at least than the others. There were a few reasons why we did not want to accept the food, one was that we wanted to cook ourselves, two that if we did not cook ourselves we would have to carry the food the whole way, third we did not feel right accepting the food when we paid much less than the rest (most paid between 160 and 190 for the tour), four we did not want to pay extra for the service at the end or have to give the porters a tip since we were carrying our own stuff. The campsite LLactapata, was at 2650 meters, so it was not cold at night.

Sala de Uyuni

On the second day, they again tried to get us to eat their breakfast. We again told them no thank you. They were however very pushy. We began to suspect more that they wanted something more from us. The first 20 minutes were flat before the trail started climbing. It was quiet an altitude climb to the lunch spot of 3600 meters. So it was a major climb, it took around 3 hours. The scenery was amazing, even though on this day, one saw the same thing the whole way up. At 3600 meters we had a very long lunch break, over 2.5 hours. It was way too long. The guide really explained anything and did not stick with the group. We ate our lunch while the others had to wait 2 hours for theirs. It got fairly cold when the sun hid behind the clouds, but otherwise it was ok. They again offered us a meal, even though they knew we had already eaten. We first said no about 20 times, but then accepted only a soup, even though we did not want it. It just did not seem right. Right after eating it was off and up again another 600 meters to the Dead Women's Pass. From there we had a beautiful view of the surrounding scenery. It was a hard walk up, but what surprised us was how many young people got porters to carry up there backpacks on this day. Ok it gives the locals a chance to earn 25 Sols (over 7 US$), but have some pride. After enjoying the view for a while it was then down around 500 meters to the campsite Pacaymayu. There we pitched our tent and had a great dinner, first a tomato soup, then macaroni and cheese with fresh cut onions. We were again very happy to be cooking ourselves, the others had to wait over two hours for their food, and we could go to bed after such a long day. Though they again asked us a few times if we wanted to eat their meals. We declined. Something was up. We had a feeling that they wanted something from us. The night was ok, we put our sleeping bags together and were able to keep each other warm.

Sala de Uyuni

We took off earlier than the others. They had to wait around for their breakfast. It was cold waiting around in the shade, so we left at 7:30 am and climbed 45 minutes to the Inca ruin Runkuraqay. There we waited for the rest of the group. What one has to imagine is that one is not the only group on the trail, there are at least 10 other groups on the same trail as you are, and at the same time. So it does get pretty crowded at some sections. The tour guide tried to explain a little about the ruins, but was not very understandable. It was then another 45 minutes to the next pass at around 3800 meters. From there one had also beautiful views. One then walked down to 3580 meters to the Sayacmarca Inca Ruins which also had great views of the surrounding area. After that we walked another 20 minutes to a place where we had lunch. Again we had to refuse their food a hundred times, which by now was becoming a pain in the rear, and kind of embarrassing for us every time. We then hiked another 1 hour along a path that crossed around the mountains, providing some fantastic scenery. It really made the hike well worth it. Even with all the people and our horrible guide we were very happy we were doing the Inca Trail. We stopped at the Phuyupatamarca Ruins. There we waited a half an hour for the guide. We decided to eventually keep on going when he did not show up even after the last person in our group got there. The rest of the way to the third campsite Winaywayma, was straight down to around 2650 meters at KM 104. There we were very disappointed. There was a restaurant there and a convergence of the 4 and 2 day hike groups. Maren took a rest while Kirk walked 15 minutes with a Canadian guy to the Winaywayma ruins. The nicest ruins so far on the Inca trail. Afterwards we cooked a meal. All the groups were served their meals in the restaurant. There they could buy beers and drinks at the bar while loud music played in the background. We ate our meal there too, but the atmosphere was horrible. One could not understand the people next to you and the after having such beautiful scenery and outdoors, who wants to spend their time in a loud awful restaurant. One can go to such a place anytime, one spends the time and effort to enjoy the outdoors, not sit in a such a place. It is not comprehensible, expect that they want to milk the tourists for more. We should have went to bed, but we decided to stick around a little longer to be sociable. What we really noticed was that they were really suddenly this evening really nice and helpful. Of course offering us again to eat with them. Our meal actually was not very good. The noodles were starchy and did not taste good. Kirk felt not very good afterwards. Getting back to our point of them being overly nice and helpful. Well it was tip time. They brought out the cook and porters and it was clear that it was time for a tip from everyone. Even though they did not carry anything for us and we really refused all meals, we gave them two dollars in the pot together. The others gave just under 6 dollars tip each. We thought it was ok, for the one soup we had, cup of hot chocolate, and a small shot of wine, all we refused at least 20 times each. The others seemed to think we did not have to give a tip. Afterwards we went to bed. We were tired and we would have to get up at 4:00 am the next morning.

Copacabana

We woke up at 4:00 am packed our tent and went to meet everyone at the restaurant where they were to have their breakfast. Kirk felt sick the whole night and hardly slept. When we were down at the restaurant, what did we first notice. For one, there were only 11 cups on the table instead of the 13 cups on the table there usually were for the group. Second they did not offer us a drink or breakfast for the first time on the trip. So what does this mean. They had gotten the tips and they did not have to be nice anymore to us, or they were not satisfied with the tips, even though they could not exactly know how much we gave them. This again is typical South America. Always trying to scam you. It was exactly what we thought was going on from the beginning. They just wanted something from us, they were not trying to be just nice to us. It is always the same. Yes there are probably nice people who when doing something nice does not want something from you like your money, but for the most part, when they seem to be nice and friendly, they want something. To think otherwise in our opinion is a little blind eyed. We had nothing for breakfast, Kirk was not feeling good and had no appetite. It took an hour to the sun gate. The first half in the dark. It was good that we had our headlamps with us. At the sun gate it was packed with people, so we decided to go down to the half way towards Machu Picchu and watch the sunrise from there, away from the masses. The Canadian couple (Francois and Sophie) also went with. The sunrise over Machu Picchu was nice but not spectacular. The ruins however were very impressive. We were happy to get to the ruins before the other tour groups came because it allowed us to get a few pictures before the place filled up with tourists. We decided not to stick around for the rest of the tour with the guide. Instead we decided to check out the ruins ourselves. We first climbed Huayna Picchu over looking the Machu Picchu Ruins. It is a steep climb that takes just under an hour to get to the top where there are some ruins and some fantastic views of the landscape below. It was well worth the hard climb up. After resting for a while up top we climbed back down. We met a Peru tour operator that had relatives in Stuttgart Germany. He also mentioned that the high entrance fees are ridiculous . We then walked through the ruins some more before getting our backpack at the gate and walking to Aguas Calientes with the German Couple (Peter and Patricia from Heidelberg) from our group. They were actually the couple we spoke to the most on our trip. They were spending a month in Peru. In Aquas Calientes we bought a train ticket back to Cusco for 17.5 US$ each. They claimed at the tourist office that it costs 25 US$. Again great information. We were not sure if we would spend the night there or not and take the 6:00 am train for 10 US$, but decided it was better getting back to Cusco that night. Kirk still was not feeling good and hardly ate a thing. The train ride back to Cusco took 4.5 hours. Took just one hour to get from the top of Cusco down to the center train station, because the train "zig zags" down the hill. That is why a lot of people grab a taxi from the town before getting to Cusco. It is much faster. We then took a taxi to our hotel. We actually did not need to take a taxi, but being unsure of the safety in the area. Guess what happed again. We shared the taxi with another couple. For 2 SOLS each couple. After dropping the other couple off at their hotel, the taxi driver tried to get another SOL off of us, saying it would cost us 3 SOLs to our hotel even though we agreed on a price to our hotel beforehand. We told him no and he still drove us to our hotel. But they are just a bunch of scam artist. Can not trust any of them. Too bad for the honest ones, the rest ruin it for them. We went back to the hotel in which we stayed before. We then walked to town, on the way seeing the German couple from our tour again. We checked our email and went to bed. Maren actually went to bed earlier while Kirk played on the net.

Copacabana

In the morning we got packed and waked down to the bus station. There we missed the early buses to Puno and had to take the 11:30 am bus there. To waste time we had some food and checked our email. The bus ride was ok, it took 7 hours to get to Puno, but some of the scenery along way was fantastic and made the ride more bearable. The bus passed through villages at over 4000 meters in altitude. Kirk read most of the way. During the bus ride women came on the bus who sold meat and potatoes. She would chop the sheep meat and bones right next to us. It smelled awful. Also a guy selling necklaces was again on the bus, preaching how good they were. We are always surprised how many people purchase this crap. They had told us the bus trip would only take 5.5 hours but it took of course longer. After arriving in Puno we took a taxi to a hotel. We agreed on a price before hand of 2 Sols. First he almost allowed a tout to get in the taxi with us, until Kirk told him to get out. When we got to the hotel, he tried to get us in the hotel next door by claiming he did not have any change for the 5 SOL coin Maren gave him. Well in the hotel he then after supposedly getting the needed change from the hotel clerk, try to take 3 SOLs for himself, until Maren said something. Kirk sees him minutes later with about 10 SOL in 1 SOL coins in his hand. These guys are all just scam artists. We went to the hotel next door, then this tout followed us there, and took credit for the sale. It made us pissed a little. They are such leaches sometimes. We then went out for some street food for dinner. Puno is very much a Student town, with a student population atmosphere. We had some sort of Hamburger thing and fries on the street. Kirk did not feel good the whole night.

La Paz

In the morning we did a little sightseeing of Puno and Lake Titicaca. The lake is not very nice in Puno. We then got a bus to Yunguyo where we then walked 25 minutes to the Kasani, the town at the border with Bolivia. Going through immigration on both sides was no problem. On the Bolivia side we would have taken the minibus to get to Copacabana, but they only drove when they were full with 10 people. So we were lucky and were able split and taxi with 2 locals for only 35 cents more than otherwise it would have cost us. In Copacabana we first bought a bus ticket to La Paz then walked around the town for a while. It has a much nicer atmosphere than in Puno and Lake Titicaca is much nicer. Kirk had to also use the bathroom desperately, he got a really bad case of diarrhea. The whole bus ride to La Paz he was in pain. The ride to La Paz goes over some 4000 meter passes and is quiet beautiful. One also has to take a small boat over one section to from San Pedro to San Pablo. The bus takes another ferry, more like a barge. It looked at times to tip over into the water. The bus ride took around 3.5 hours to La Paz. From the bus stop we got a taxi to a hotel in the center of town. We did not bargain for the taxi ride, because we wanted to make sure we got to the place we wanted to go. We probably paid too much. The first two hotels we checked out we did not like. They were expensive and not very nice. The third hotel a little further away was fairly nice and had a helpful staff. It was more made out to backpackers. Later we had a delicious hotdog for dinner and checked the internet. Kirk still had a bad case of the runs.

La Paz

In the morning we first walked to Brazilian embassy, only to find out that it was closed for a holiday today. We then decided to go and visit the La Paz medium to maximum security prison. It has an hefty 11 US$ entrance fee. (75 BS entrance + 3 BS tax to be allowed in) It turned out to be worth it. One goes in this active prison with prisoners all around you. The guy giving the tour is also a prisoner called Fernando. He is in there for smuggling cocaine. It is a weird place. He claims that most of the entrance fees goes to the warden. The tour begins with him going over the rules and hierarchy of the prison and what he and some of the guys are in there for. This is all going on while the prisoners are all around us going through their routines. This is not like in a US prison where things are run from the guards, this is run from the prisoners. First of all the prisoners have to buy or rent space in the prison. There are different sections for the different classes of prisoners. In the better sections one pays from 5000 US$ to 15000 US$ for a place and in the lower class area, only around 10 US$. These prisoners also have their own shops, selling anything from food to drugs and alcohol. The also have in their possession knives and things. The knives were all over the place. We took the tour through all sections. He explained certain things about each section. The guy who had the 15000 US$ apartment, was a drug dealer who got caught trying to send 4 tons of cocaine to the USA. According to the guide it was his fourth shipment. The guide claimed to live most of his life in New York and to have spend time in NY jails. Also claimed to have 2 million in safe deposit box there, which he received for not snitching on big drug dealer when he did his time. They also explained what they do to rapists when they arrive in the prison. First they make them swim in a pool of urine and doo, then make them pull down their pants and they get thirty lashes with an electrical cable. Then they get hot peppers placed on and in their rectum. They claim this is because they want to make sure that these people do not rape in prison. What we forgot to mention is that there are children living in the prison. The kids are playing around you as if it was normal. Also there are the wife's that were visiting and selling things there too. They said no rapes have occurred in this prison since this punishment has been in place. The guide also claims that the guards smuggle in what ever they want from cocaine, alcohol, women, or cell phones. He also went over the prices, like 100 US for smuggling cocaine to 100 BS for getting the Cell Phone. The guide claimed also that he owns 7 rooms he rents out, plus supplies the Alcohol and the women to the prisoners. By the way the women cost the prisoners 150 BS for 15 minutes. The whole time one is a little tense and is not sure what is going on. One is walking in a prison with rapist, murders and drug addicts all around you. They claim that the hierarchy has rules which make the prisoners respect the tourists when they come in. He said only after 5:00 pm does it get violent in the prison in some sections. Fernando claims because he does this tour and gets time credit for work, he will be allowed with get out after 5.5 years and will not have to serve his full 8 year sentence. Who knows how much to believe, but to say the least it was a very weird experience. Afterwards, one never wants to get in trouble in a third world country. It is tough in there. There were foreigners in there. One German prisoner actually said hello. So these guys smoking pot or doing something stupid here, should watch their rear. One does not want to end up here. Somehow some of the tourists on the tour with us found out they could get a discount if they smuggled in a bottle of alcohol in for the prisoners. One is not searched when one enters the prison. But how stupid to save a dollar, when one of the police wants to screw you, he can and you can end up in a place like this. Some of these young tourist just do not think right. They also offered to sell the tourists drugs when they were inside the prison. At least we saw no one buying. Afterwards we looked at the handicraft market and then walked around town a little. Later we went to the movies. We saw The Last Castle. We could have stayed for another film, but we decided one film was enough. The double feature was included in the price of the ticket (10 BS). Afterwards we walked to the bus terminal to get bus information and then had a couple of hotdogs for dinner again. Afterwards we wrote our diary. It was a few days behind. 31.05.02 In the morning we did a little souvenir shopping before buying bus tickets to Uyuni. We then walked around La Paz some more, before doing some work on our website back at our hotel. Afterwards we went to an internet cafe to upload our stuff. For lunch we ate at some local stalls, some rice dish with some meat and sauce. It was ok, Maren liked it more than Kirk did. Otherwise we did not do much except walking around. Later it was off to the bus station to catch our bus to Uyuni. The bus did not leave on time, an hour later than planned. But it really did not matter. It was freezing cold in the bus on the way to Uyuni. We were very glad to have our hats, gloves and sleeping bags with us. It was really cold. The views which one could see in the night were really nice. It was too bad that the buses all traveled at night to Uyuni.

Buenos Aires

We arrived around 8:00 am in Uyuni freezing cold, especially our feet that felt they were going to break off every time we took a step. We first very stupidly got a hotel room. We thought that we would have to spend the night there before doing the tour of the Salar de Uyuni and Laguna Colorada. However when walking around town later we found out that we could start the tour today. So after checking a few agencies we decided to got with one. We were able to bargain him down a little, 5 dollars, using the excuse that we had already paid for our hotel room. So we then went back to the hotel, and got our stuff and left. They did not give our money back, none of it, even though we only left our luggage there an hour and did not use any of the facilities. That was not very nice of them, but that is how it works here. Later on we went to the agency and dropped off our stuff and then went sightseeing around town (it took 2 minutes as there is not much to see and Uyuni is really small). The tour started off an hour late, which was a sign to come. We first drove to the railroad junkyard. It was kind of cool being able to walk all over old locomotives. It was then off to Salar de Uyuni, the Salt Blocks. The sun was very bright as it reflected off the salt. There were a few men there working, scrapping the salt into piles to dry. The salt blocks are actually very beautiful and we were very happy that we were doing the tour. It was then off to Hotel de Sal, a hotel made from salt blocks. We then had lunch at Fish Island. there we were able to walk around this island in the middle of the Salt Plains. We walked up the hill on the island to get great views of the surrounding area. What was really interesting there were the Cacti that were growing there. It was then off to San Juan. San Juan is a small town on in the middle of nowhere. We walked around a little, Kirk played goalkeeper with some kids on the soccer field before we had dinner (a just ok meal, chicken and fries) and went to bed.

Buenos Aires

In the morning the breakfast was very weak. We then started driving toward a serious of Lagunas. The car did not warm up enough and the radiator was frozen. Eventually the radiator started loosing fluid and the driver had to stop. He took out a torch to heat up the radiator and melt the ice. We could not understand why he did not warm up the truck before we left. The guy was not organized. We stopped at one of the five Laguna's and had lunch there. Pink Flamingos were bathing in these semi frozen Lagunas. It was weird seeing these birds in such cold surroundings. When thinking of Pink Flamingos one thinks of tropical settings, not freezing cold places at 4000 meters and above. The scenery and landscape in this whole area was just beautiful. We stopped at Laguna Colorada for the night. The Laguna Colorada is a red colored Laguna with white surroundings. We walked around a little before going to the hotel to have some tea and coffee. We were already running out of tee and supplies which was not very good. We were not getting very much for our money. The dinner was also weak, a piece of Lama and some mash potatoes. Not very much mash potatoes at all. Some people complained, all the driver could say was that we were on the cheap tour. He was right about that. It was also freezing cold at the night. We slept at 4300 meters.

Buenos Aires

In the morning we woke up at 5:00 am and started driving at about 6:00 am. It was very cold and the truck did not have any working heating. It was freezing and a shame that there was no heating in our vehicle. All other vehicles had heating which we saw. We first visited the geysers, where the ground was boiling around us. We then drove to the hot springs where we were able to warm up our freezing cold feet in the hot water. We also had brunch there. It was then off to Laguna Verde where we had beautiful views of the volcano Licancabur and it's reflection in a Laguna below. We then left the tour and got on a bus which would take us to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. We did not give our driver a tip, because there was too much wrong with our tour, and we did not think that the tour deserved one. One has to point out somehow that one was not satisfied. Our group was ok, there was a nice young American couple in the group. The others were not our type, a Canadian guy drove everyone a little crazy, he was very self centered and only though of himself it seemed. He also spoke about too much crap. The border crossing on the Bolivian side was the most beautiful border crossing on our whole trip. A middle of nowhere mountainous area with no real road to the other side. The bus just drove over this terrain until it got on a road on the Chilean side. There is almost 1500 meters done in elevation to San Pedro Atacama. There we bought bus tickets to Santiago. We also decided to go on a tour of the Valle de la Luna since we had around 6 or 7 hours before our bus left. The tour was quiet good actually and worth the couple of bucks to do. We also got to view a nice sunset overlooking the desert. The Canadian guy turned out to be on our trip to again. What a pleasure. The bus ride was ok, even though they promised 3 meals which we did not get. For dinner we received a small bag of chips. What made us a little mad was that we had asked them if we should buy food or not for the trip and they said they would be serving food. We also sent an email to Pepe, the son of one of Kirk's mother's friends who lives in Chile that we were coming to Santiago the next day.

Bariloche

The night in the bus was ok, we slept pretty good because we were very tired. We did not receive the promised breakfast either. Just a couple of cookies. So we were fairly hungry the whole way. We actually got some lunch at 3:30 pm. The bus ride was otherwise ok. The roads for the most part were ok, even though it had rained quite a bit. The weather had been supposedly very bad in the Santiago area. However our bus arrived only 30 minutes late in Santiago. There we eventually got a bus to a hostel. At the hostel we first did some food shopping and then Maren cooked dinner. We also tried to call Pepe but he was not at home. The hostel was ok, the owner was really weird though. He tried to be helpful with everything, but he had a screw loose somewhere.

Cordaba

In the morning we decided to do a little sightseeing. Kirk though first called Pepe to see if we could meet. We made plans to talk later. We then went to downtown Santiago and walked around the town for a while. The weather was not great, very overcast and it rained a little. But all the buses were running and everything in the city seemed to be working ok. Most of the flooding seemed to be over with. We also checked out a travel agent for flights to Asia. We then went back to the hostel and had some lunch and tea. The rest of the day we read some magazines and checked the internet. Kirk also tried to call Pepe to see if we would try and meet, but we could not reach him. Kirk also sent an email to let him know we called.

Puerto Iguazu

In the morning we walked around Santiago again, and checked out a few travel agents again. We went to the other part of town where we were able to get a student card by showing our tourist card. This was very good because we were now able to get the student prices on flights out of Chile. This would save us 500 US$ each. So that was a major relieve. After finding some flights we liked, we went a little food shopping. What was nice they had all types of things to try in this supermarket, like cheese and wine. Later we went back to the hostel and did some work on our website. Kirk's mom also called which was really nice. It was good to speak to her again. It was the first time since we left AZ. Maren also made a delicious lunch. Later on we went to the bus station. There we got a bus at 7:45 pm to Osorno. It would arrive the next morning.

Bariloche

In the morning we arrived in Osorno. There is not much there, so we booked another bus to Bariloche Argentina. Before that we walked around the town a little before the bus left. The bus ride went through some beautiful landscapes with white covered mountain tops. The spot between the Chilean and Argentinean borders was a snow covered mountain pass. The road was covered with snow and it also started to snow. We even had to wait a while in a small traffic jam while the road was clear of snow. The ride took about7 hours to get to Bariloche Argentina. It is located on a beautiful lake. At the bus terminal there a lady spoke to us, she had a home stay at which she wanted us to stay. We normally do not go with these people, but Maren thought she was really nice. Kirk thought she was a little nice crazy. Argentina is really cheap now, the Peso has lost in value more than one third, and it seems like the prices have not moved up yet to match the fall of the Peso against the US$. We are paying 5 US$ for a room with breakfast. She also made us a dinner for 2.22 US$ together. It was very good. Her husband is also very nice. One has a very homely feeling when staying here. I think we are making the right choice staying here. We also got to watch some CNN. Later Kirk wrote some diary for the first time in 6 days.

Puerto Iguazu

In the morning we got a descent breakfast. It was just bread, jam and some type of cheese. But it was all we could eat, so it was ok. We then decided to walk through town a little and down to the lake. Again the weather was horrible. It rained and was very cloudy. Also the wind was blowing very strong, especially down by the lake. Too bad the views are supposed to be spectacular. In town we used the internet and had hamburgers for lunch. We then went back to the place we were staying and had some tea before heading to the bus station. We decided to walk there, and not pay for a taxi. She said it was 5 km away, but to us it seemed much shorter. At the bus station we bought our tickets for the 5 pm bus to Puerto Madryn. The bus ride was ok, as usual one could not understand the loudspeakers when watching the movie. We fell asleep anyway.

Buenos Aires

We arrived in Puerto Madryn fairly early in the morning. We had to wait to till 9:55 am for the bus to Puerto Pyramide. There we wanted to book a tour to go out and see the baby whales. Well when we finally got to Puerto Pyramide, we figured out fairly quickly that the boats were not going out to the sea this day. It was very windy and the sea was very rough. So we had a major problem because the buses were not going back to Puerto Madryn until 6:00 pm. So we had to figure out how to waste a whole day there. One has to understand, there is nothing there, except a couple cafe's, and some boat offices. Otherwise there is nothing. So we first had a hot chocolate, which took up almost an hour. We then decided to brace the cold and wind and take a walk along the beach. The whole way a black Labrador followed us and played fetch with Kirk. We still had about 4 hours to waste, so we decided to make a fire on a wind protected spot near the beach. So between trying to find firewood and keeping our fire alive we managed to get through the day ok. It was actually quite nice to sit by the fire and keep warm. We also had a picnic lunch and Kirk finished off his book. At 6:00 pm the we got the bus back to Puerto Madryn. The bus driver even gave us a hot chocolate before we left. It was really nice because it was cold and windy outside. In Puerto Madryn we then got bus tickets to Buenos Aires. The bus ride was ok, though at 12:00 am they woke us up for dinner and they did not play a movie the whole way, even though they promised.

Buenos Aires

We slept all right on the bus, we had each two seats to stretch out on. We never did get our promised breakfast. So all we ate until we arrived in Buenos Aires was an apple and some popcorn we bought along the way. The scenery along the way was very unspectacular, mainly flat farm land that was flooded. At 4:00 pm we arrived in Buenos Aires. We first called a few hostels and then took the metro to one of them. We did not stay at the first one because they were charging in dollars, and did not take in account that the Peso has dropped off so much. We then called a couple more and took a subway to another one. There after checking in Kirk noticed that Maren did not have her jacket with her anymore. She had left it in the telephone calling center. We quickly went back there, but it was gone. The guys in the place either took it or the next customer took it who came in and used the phone. Too bad it was a really nice jacket. Later we used the internet before going to bed.

Buenos Aires

In the morning we took the subway into town. We first checked a travel agency for different flights out of Buenos Aires. To our surprise, everything was really expensive, more than in Chile. That was a little discouraging. Means that we might have to go back to Santiago. Later on we did a little sightseeing around Buenos Aires. We visited the Plaza de Mayo and a few other sights. For lunch we had our long awaited steak. For around 8 US$ for the two of us we had each a steak and fries, a bottle of wine, coffee and a fruit salad for desert. It has become really cheap here to eat. Later we walked to the Congresso Nacional. We then looked for some clothes for when we get back into civilization. They are about one third the price here than in the USA. We still had a hard time to find anything we really wanted. Kirk found a suit, but it normally costs over 1100 Peso, but it was on sale and after bargaining around 800 Pesos. 215 US $. It was a really nice suit, which probably costs at least 800 or 900 US$ at home. We did not buy it but might tomorrow. Kirk needs something when we are back. Later we did a little food shopping and went back to the hotel to work on our website.

Puerto Iguazu

In the morning we first went to the bus station to buy tickets for an evening bus to Puerto Iguazu. We were happy to be able to leave our backpacks there for free. We then went to the store we visited the day before to buy Kirk the suit. We had thought it over and one will never find a suit at that price in the US or Germany. Kirk again tried on both suits, and we eventually were able to bargain and get a good price for two suits. Kirk paid 330 US$ for tow really nice suits. We then went a little shopping for Maren before taking the bus to La Boca. It is a very artsy section with colorful painted buildings. There we had a picnic lunch before heading back to the main center of town. In town we walked around some more, had Pizza for dinner. A fairly descent size Pizza for two for under 1 US$. We also used the internet, before Maren bought some cloths and a pair of shoes. Before heading to the bus stop, we picked up Kirk's suits which had been tailored. The bus ride was much better than previous ones. The meals were descent and one even was served wine. Though one still could not understand the film they were playing. The loudspeaker systems are really bad on these buses. By the way Happy Anniversary Bob and Ingeborg.

Puerto Iguazu

We arrived at around 11:30 am in Puerto Iguazu. We first found a hostel to stay in. We then went to the Brazilian Consulate to get Kirk a so called Visa to Brazil. It is actually a reciprocal processing fee not a visa. Since Brazilians have to pay 45 US$ to get into the USA, Americans have to pay 45 US$ to get into Brazil. What is a shame is that they charged 225 Pesos for the visa here, which is around 63 US $. They do not accept US$, claiming that the Argentinean government forbids them from collecting US$. What a scam. We tried to figure out how they get 225 Pesos from 45 US$, but they just played dumb and their English became non existent. They are just crooks down here, and it gives one a really bad taste in the mouth. Typical South American behavior. They get you where they can. Though they had the visa ready in an hour. The only thing that eats you up, is that you have no choice, if you argue too much they will refuse you the visa and you will not get over the border, they know they have you in the corner. We almost said forget about it and left, but we then thought it would be best to go to Rio de Janeiro. Later we went food shopping and then Maren made a great Bolognese meal for lunch/dinner. Kirk played around in the internet later, while Maren sorted out pictures.

Puerto Iguazu

This morning we woke up early and had breakfast. We then went to the bus station to go to the Iguazu Falls on the Argentine side. However we changed our mind there and decided on going to the Brazilian side first. We wanted to first check for bus information to Rio de Janeiro in Foz do Iguacu. There we first had to search the town for an ATM machine that we finally found. They had one at the HSBC bank that accepted Visa and Mastercards. It was then off with the local bus to the long distant bus terminal for information on buses leaving for Rio de Janeiro. We then got the local bus to the Iguazu Falls on the Brazilian side. The weather was really bad, it rained basically the whole day. The falls however were very impressive. They are quiet wide, but not nearly as tall as the Victoria Falls in Africa. At least that was how it seemed to us. After getting completely soaking wet from the rain and at one point from being near the falls we headed back to Argentina. Another thing, we actually used our cheap ponchos we had bought in Peru. In Puerto Iguazu we did a little food shopping again and then went back to our hostel and had dinner, checked the internet, read a little and wrote our diary.

Buenos Aires

The weather was a little better today, still cloudy but the rain had stopped. After breakfast we took the bus to the Iguazu National Park on the Argentinean side. We first took the train to the section called deep throat. It was cool because one walked on a boardwalk over the water to get to the section of the falls. At the end of this 1100 meter boardwalk, one almost hovered over the falls. We then did some walking around to some other sections of the falls with other views. We also took the free boat over to the island in the middle. There we got fairly wet because one gets close up to the area where the water comes crashing down. The falls are very impressive and after seeing both the Brazilian side and the Argentinean side, we both came to the conclusion that the Argentinean side is more impressive and much more to see. Not to say the Brazilian side is not impressive and should not be seen. However if one has to pick, the Argentina side offers much more. After spending 4 hours at the falls walking around we went back to Puerto Iguazu and grabbed our backpacks out of storage and got the next bus to Foz da Iguacu on the Brazilian side. We were able to eventually find the tax refund office at the border, hopefully they will credit our credit card back for the tax we paid on the stuff we bought in Buenos Aires. We were lucky and just got the 3:00 pm bus to Rio de Janeiro. The bus ride was ok, they played mostly English movies, even though they were not the best. At least this time one could hear the sound. The buses are nice, but not nearly as luxurious as the buses in Argentina.

Cordaba

We slept alright on the bus. Not much happed, along the way. We just watched a movie or two. We arrived around 1:30 pm in Rio de Janeiro. There we called a few hotels and hostels before deciding to take the local bus to one of them. We were planning on taking a taxi, but decided we would risk it with our stuff. It actually was no problem and we got dropped off around 500 meters from the hotel. We chose the hotel because it offered us a double for the price of staying in the youth hostel in a dorm room. We thought it was safer for our stuff. Later we walked around a little and then went back to the hotel room. There Maren cooked on our stove in the room, noodles with lots of onions, tomato sauce and cheese. It was delicious. Otherwise we did not do much. We are now deciding on what to do next! on our trip. Happy Fathers Day Dad!

Puerto Iguazu

During breakfast the Brazil against Belgium game started. The streets were almost empty this Monday morning. Everyone was watching the game. We first decided to walk to the center to look for flights out of South America. We found a student travel office that had some great prices on some flights which we would have booked, but the flights were all full. This means we are going to have to go back to Santiago de Chile for a flight out of there. By the way Brazil won and the fire crackers went off in full force. We walked around the center for a while visiting the various sights, before going to Corcovado where the Statue of Christ the Redeemer is. There we took up the train to the top. One can walk, but we have heard many stories of people being robbed and mugged on the way up. The guide books also recommend against it. At the top the views must be spectacular, but there was a misty cloud covering the city. One still could see the city, but the sky was not a beautiful blue color. The statue is impressive, but the both of us thought it would be somehow more spectacular. But we were glad that we had came. We then took a bus to Copacabana and walked along the famous beach there. The beach is nice, especially for being in a city, but otherwise it was just another nice beach. We then took the subway back to the center, before walking back to the hotel. Later we walked around a little more and checked the internet before retiring.

Puerto Iguazu

After breakfast we took the local but to the bus terminal and got the 9:00 am bus to Foz do Iguacu. Kirk bought a Time magazine for the road, which he was done with in less than 40 minutes. Time really does not offer much reading. The bus ride was not very exciting and actually not very much happened. The movies were too often in Portuguese which was not interesting to watch. Along the way we stopped for food. We had one thing, some doe and cheese or chicken thing. It was disgusting and barely eatable. The bus journey otherwise was uneventful.

Puerto Iguazu

We slept just ok on the bus. The trip took around 22 hours from Rio de Janeiro to Foz do Iguacu. It went by fairly fast, but we still had anther 22 hour bus ride ahead of us. We then took a local bus, actually 2 different buses to get back to Puerto Iguazu in Argentina. There we decided on taking the bus to Cordoba and then we would change the bus to go to Mendoza. It seemed better than taking the bus directly to Mendoza because the direct Mendoza bus goes a different way which takes much longer. We also decided to take the luxury seats for 5 Pesos more (1.4 US$). These seats fully recline so one can get a good night sleep. The bus left at 13:30 pm so we had time to get some food in town and got to an internet cafe to check our emails. The bus ride was a luxury trip to Cordoba. The food was pretty good and they had movies in English.

Puerto Iguazu

The bus arrived after 10:30 am in Cordoba. There we decided to take the night bus to Mendoza and to spend the day in Cordoba. We did the usual sightseeing tour of the city and had hotdogs for lunch. Later we checked our email and did some shopping. Maren bought some pants and we walked around a lot. Cordoba is a nice city, sort of like Cologne Germany. It however does not have a lot to offer. But we were glad to get a little break from bus riding. At 10 pm we got on the bus to Mendoza.

Puerto Iguazu

We arrived a little after 7:30 am in the morning in Mendoza. It was another 10.5 hours in a bus. So we have been in busses around 54 hours in the last 3 days. But we are getting through it ok. We first went to a hostel and got a room in a dorm room. We then watched the world cup match between Germany and the USA. Germany won, but it was not a good match. We then walked into town, where Kirk got his head shaved. We also visited a travel agent, but did not find any flights that were available. We then walked around town before checking the internet for an hour. It is really cold here. Later we took the local bus to a vineyard on the outskirts of Mendoza. There we went on a wine tour and visited the vineyards museum. The tour was in Spanish so we did not understand much. For wine tasting they only gave one small glass of wine to try. We both thought they should give you a few different wines to taste. The more one would drink, the better chance one would buy some wine. We did not buy any. We then went back to town and to the hostel. After taking a shower, we went back into town and walked around some more. For dinner we bought some steaks and rice and Maren cooked a great steak dinner. The meat here is so cheap. We had four steaks for around .70 US$. After dinner we worked as usual on our webpage before packing and going to bed. We are planning to leave early in the morning to Mendoza.

Buenos Aires

We got the 7:10 am bus to Mendoza, the 6:30 am bus was already full. The ride was ok, absolutely beautiful along the way. The white cover mountains were really nice. We saw people skiing which made Kirk very jealous. He would really like to do some skiing. But we needed to get to Santiago to try and find a flight out. We arrived 7 hours later in Santiago. We first checked into a hostel which was recommended to us a while back. We did not want to stay at Scott's Hostel again this time. He was just too weird. After dropping off our stuff, we went to the student travel agent to try and see what type of flights they had. But with our luck they were closed until Monday. So we will try then. We then did a little food shopping before going back to the hostel. Maren there made some dinner and we watched a movie and read a little. Otherwise not much happened.

Buenos Aires

This morning we woke up fairly early, had cornflakes for breakfast and then decided to take advantage of the fact that most museums in Santiago are free on Sundays. So we ended up going to 4 different museums. They were the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolumbino, Museo Hostorico Nacional, Museo de Santiago, and Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. They were all ok, but nothing amazing. They are worth going to though. We then walked around a little before we had lunch. Later we walked around Santiago some more. We then worked on our website some more and watched a really bad movie.

Buenos Aires

This morning we woke up fairly early. Maren slept in the TV room most of the night, because this 74 year old guy in our room snored constantly the whole night. It sound as if he was dying, so bad were the noises coming from him. It was the second night in a row and Maren could not take it anymore. Also in our room a new couple in love were showing each other their affection. Maybe they did not realize they were in a 7 bed dorm. After breakfast we caught the subway to the Student travel agent. We had hoped to get a flight to China, but that was not possible, everything was booked out at least till the middle of July. That was too long for us to wait around, so we took our only other option, a flight to Lisbon Portugal. We were lucky at all to get a flight out of South America. We got the last two seats on the plane. Otherwise in the next two weeks we would have a major problem flying anywhere except to the USA. So our plans have changed some bit, next time. Later we sent a package to Europe before going back to the travel agent to pay for our tickets. We then walked backed to the Hostel and cooked a meal. We then took a much needed shower before Maren went back and picked up our tickets. Kirk played on the computer for a while. Later we went to an internet cafe, actually two different ones and uploaded some of our web pages. We also made a correction to Mohammed's website in Wadi Rum. We then went back to the hostel where Kirk read some downloaded pages in the TV room. He eventually left because some people we smoking pot and it was smoking up the whole room. The both of us had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. It was not only this time the old mans fault even though his snoring was also horrible. They had a barbecue at the hotel with a live band that played their music late into the night. The people also partied the whole night. That the building is old, one hears everything through the walls.

Buenos Aires

This morning we had breakfast as we watched Germany beat South Korea 1-0 in the semi-finals of the world cup. Afterwards we packed our bags and got the bus to the Airport. There we had a three hour wait until our plane took off to Sao Paulo Brazil, where we transferred to the flight to Lisbon Portugal. The flight first stopped in Buenos Aires Argentina. There we stayed on the plane and in around 50 minutes it took off to Sao Paulo Brazil. There we changed planes. The plane took off a little late, but otherwise we had no problems. We actually slept a lot, missing the movies.

Bariloche

We arrived around 11:45 am in Lisbon Portugal. After getting our fist taste of Euros out of the ATM machine, we took a bus to the city center and found a place selling guide books. We read up that we could camp around 6 miles from the center of town. So we decided to go there. It was cheaper than staying in a hostel. After pitching our tent, it was back to the city center to do some sightseeing and buy a guide book for Europe. The Lonely planets cost 24.95 US$ on the cover, and the stores all charge 39 Euros for them here. Explain that exchange rate to us. Every store was the same. It sort of pissed us off a little, but we had no choice but to buy. Also here, there are the extremes in personalities. Some people are really nice and helpful, but then like the lady in the tourist office is a real B_tch. We visited the Castelo de Sao Jorge, Rossi, and walked through the district Baixa. The views from the Castelo de Sao Jorge of the city were really good. Later on we got some information on buses to Seville. It turned out that we have to take the bus tomorrow morning. The next bus is on Saturday, and that would be too late for us. We then went back to the campsite and took a shower before going to bed.

Cordaba

We got up at 6:00 am in the morning to be able to catch the 8:30 am bus to Seville. The bus ride was ok, we both slept a lot on the way. We were suddenly tired. In Seville we wanted to maybe stay the night, but the hotels we checked out were all to expensive or all full. So we decided to put our bags in luggage storage and go sightseeing and take the evening bus to Algeciras and from there take the next morning ferry over to Tangier Morocco. In Seville we visited the Alcazar, which is free with a student card or 5 Euros if you do not have one. It is the residents of Muslim and Christian royalty and started out as a fortress. We then walked around the Cathedral which was already closed. Too bad the inside is supposed to be really nice. The city is really beautiful and we liked it a lot. We then walked around some more before getting the 18:30 pm bus to Algeciras. In Algeciras we checked out a lot of hostels. They all had the same 18 Euro price. Which means they all have decided together to have one fixed price for the budget accommodations. Eventually we took one. It was late, we took showers and worked on the computer before going late to bed.

Puerto Iguazu

We got up and went right away to the ferry station. There were about 50 different tour agents selling tickets for the ferries. We could not understand that one because they all were selling the tickets for the same price. The ferry left at about 7:00 am. On board we got our Moroccan Visas right away and the stamps in our passport. The trip across to Morocco was nothing exciting and in about 3 hours the boat arrived in Tangier Morocco. We had heard that the touts were really bad, but we did not have any major problems with them at all. We did not really get bugged at all, except for a few comments here and there. We then went to the tourist office to get information on where the bus station is. We then walked there and got a bus straight to Rabat. In Rabat we eventually found a hotel room, before taking a walk through the town. We did not do much, since the both of us were quite tired and wanted to go to bed. We did check the internet and had some honey melons for dinner.

Puerto Iguazu

In the morning we got up around 8:00 am in the morning and decided to visit a few sights and walk around the city a little. We visited the Kasbah des Oudais which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and the Tour Hassan which is an incomplete Mosque that was wreck in a 1755 earthquake. The Tour Hassan was very beautiful and interesting. The people trying to get your money here are very smooth. They try and make it as subtle as possible, never coming out and directly offering you something. Just like these so called tour guides, who try to show you something and bring them into their realm by having you think they are being just helpful. Once we say we do not want a guide, they disappear real quick. Later we walked around a little before catching the 1 hour train to Casablanca. There we just wanted to see the Hassan II Mosque. We could not find any luggage storage so we had to walk with all our stuff to the Mosque. It was very impressive and we were glad we stopped off here. We were also lucky that we timed it right and were able to catch the daily tour. It was good we had student cards because it saved us 50 % on the ticket. The mosque is absolutely huge and very beautiful. Afterwards we rushed back to the train station and were just able to get the 3:30 pm train to Marrakesh. In Marrakesh we eventually got a hotel. There were a lot of touts bugging us, but we got through them ok. We then walked into the center and had dinner at one of the many food stands. There were thousands of people all around eating at the hundreds of food stands. There were also a lot of street entertainment. We are not sure if a festival is going on at the moment or not. It was just packed with humans. We are very glad that we are able to see some of Morocco on our trip. Later we walked around some more, checked the internet and then went back to our hotel.

Puerto Iguazu

To our surprise it was raining this morning. So we decided to just get some bread for breakfast and wait until around 10:30 am to go and find a cafe where we could watch the World Cup Finals between Germany and Brazil. We watched the game over a cup of really good coffee. As everyone knows, Brazil beat Germany 2 - 0. Later we visited the Koutoubia Mosque, Royal Palace, Palais de la Bahia (which was closed) and walked around the Place Djemna El-Fna again. Marrakesh is ok during the day, but it really comes alive at night. One guy started following us for a while, Kirk told him to get lost, but he was really mentally ill and he just came following us. Eventually we saw a policeman and Maren told him that this guy was bugging us. The policeman told us he knew the guy and he was mentally ill. He told us he would hold him still for a while until we were out of sight. The cop was really nice actually. We also walked to the bus station to find out about buses to Fes or Meknes. On the way back we got lost for a while. All the streets look the same and there are so many small streets to get lost on, it is almost like a labyrinth. What was nice was that one guy gave us really good directions to get back. He even drew them on a piece of paper. Maren's knowledge of a little French came in handy. Later on Kirk bought some pants. They were fairly cheap. 5 pairs were just as expensive as one pair in Germany. We also had them tailored for around 1 US per pair. What is really nice is that the fresh orange juice is only 24 cents a glass. So we had three of them. Later we checked the internet before picking up the pants we had bought. We then had some lentils and bread for dinner at one of the many stalls. It mentioned yesterday in our diary that we though there was a festivals here going on, well there are non at the moment. How ever the place seems to be packed with humans starting in the early evening when everyone comes out. There are so many people in the main square one has a hard time moving around at all.

Paris

This day turned out to almost nothing. We walked to the bus station at around 8:00 am and bought tickets to Fes. We decided not do stay a night in Meknes. These imperial cities look a lot alike to the untrained eye. The bus ride turned out to be a real bad one. First it took 10 hours instead of the 8 hours the ticket office said it would take. We got in a little fight with the baggage man on the bus for the price of our baggage. We ended up paying nothing in the end even though we offered to pay something. The ride was bumpy and very boring the whole way. The landscape was not to exciting. A lot of dry farms along the way. In the early evening we arrived in Fes. The bus let us out at the wrong place, so we had to walk a half an hour to find a hotel. The first two hotels tried to scam us with ridiculous prices. Also there were a lot of touts running around looking for business. We eventually took one hotel, even though it was a dump. It was going to be only for one night anyway. We then walked around the souqs a little and bought a 6 kilo watermelon for dinner. We later ate the watermelon back in our room before going to bed. We had a hard time sleeping, for one the bed was disgusting and second it was fairly noisy outside.

Paris

At 4:00 am we think the prayers over the loud speakers woke us up. It was really loud. The first thing in the morning was going to the bus station to find information on when buses were going to Chefchaouen. There was a 12:15 pm bus, which would allow us enough time to walk around the city. A couple of places like the palace was closed on Tuesdays and most of the mosques are closed in general to non Muslims here in Morocco. We walked around the souqs a while. They all look the same and sell the same stuff in every town we visited in Morocco. We also walked outside the Dar Batha (closed on Tuesdays) and the Kairaouine Mosque. The city is nice, but one is hassled a lot by people wanting to be your guide for the day. At 11:30 am we were at the bus station, where we bought tickets to Chefchaouen. The bus ride was ok, but no for a lot of people on the bus. People were throwing up all over the place. They went through a lot of plastic bags. It stunk pretty bad. In Chefchaouen, we eventually found a hotel. Paid more than we wanted but it was a nice hotel and they had a book exchange which was good. Kirk had run out of things to read. We then walked around town a little and bought another watermelon. This time an 8 Kilogram watermelon for 1.20 US$. We had trouble finishing it, but we managed eventually. We then walked around the small streets for a while before we went back to the hotel. Later we took a walk to the internet cafe to check our email. Kirk bought another pair of pants, and then we went back to the hotel room. There we took a much needed shower and Maren also did some laundry while Kirk worked on our web pages.

Paris

This morning we walked around town and Kirk got his pants tailored. We then decided to get a bus to Sebta Morocco. The bus ride was ok, nothing again special happened. Well that is not actually wanting to get into an argument again on how much one is supposed to pay. When we bought our tickets we paid the 10 DH for our bags. Well just as we sat down and started smearing our baguettes with the tomato paste we had just bought, this one tooth guy came rushing into the bus wanting 10 more DH from us for our bags. We at first did not believe what he was telling us. We tried to explain to him that we already paid 10 DH, but he was nuts and could not get his story straight. Kirk then had enough and started yelling at the guy to get lost and that we had already paid. He eventually got off the bus. Maren then asked the guy we paid what was going on and he said that we paid enough. What sort of gets one mad in this situation is not that one had already paid, probably more than the locals, it is always that they are trying to squeeze you for some more. Also no one in the bus came to our so call rescue and told the guy we had already paid enough and enough was enough. They all just sat there like it was normal and ok to rip off foreigners. If this happened in Europe or Germany there would be a major uproar on how we treat foreigners. This guy came into the bus angry and threatening us about something that we in all honestly already paid for. It was not right and that no one on the bus said anything to him in our defense, makes one wonder. When we arrived in Sebta we first did a little food shopping before catching a taxi to the border. We had to bargain a little. Maren had only 7,7 Dh in change instead of the 8 DH we agreed upon, but the taxi driver said it was ok and told us to have a good trip. After passing through Moroccan immigration we were surprised that we did not have to show our passports going into Spain. There we got a local bus to the ferry. We were able to get a student discounts for the tickets on the fast ferry. It was only supposed to take 35 minutes, but it took actually 55 minutes from Ceuta to Algeciras. There we decided to spend the night in Algeciras and take the first bus to Granada. After checking our email we walked around, had a baguette in a small park and then went back to the hotel. What is really weird is that there is a 2 hour time difference between Morocco and Spain. The time goes ahead 2 hours when crossing over from Morocco into Spain, even when crossing from Sebta to Ceuta. In the evening we took showers and wrote our diary. It is really nice that it does not get dark until around 10:00 pm.

Paris

We got the 8:00 am bus to Granada this morning. It took around 4 hours and we arrived just before 12:00 pm. There we bought our tickets for a night bus to Madrid for tonight. It was then off to the center of town to do a little sightseeing. We wanted to visit the Alhambra. Well being so experienced at traveling we took the long way to the Alhambra. We probably walked around 10 Km too much until we finally got there. It should have taken probably 15 or 20 minutes. The Alhambra was packed just as the guide book said it is a lot of the time. They actually only let in 8000 visitors per day. The Alhambra is supposedly one of the greatest and fascinating pieces of Islamic art. It consists of the Alcazaba, Alhambra Fortress, The Palacio Nazaries, and the Generalife gardens. The Palacio Nazaries had an interior made up of small carvings on the wall. The interior of the palace was very impressive. The rest of the complex was very beautiful and nice to walk around in. The entrance costs 7 Euro to visit everything. We then walked down to the Cathedral, this time taking the 15 minute route. Afterwards we walked around town some more before doing some food shopping and checked our email. We then had our baguettes and tomato sauce for dinner in a small park. We then walked back to the bus station around 9 pm. There Kirk charged the batteries at a electricity outlet he found and updated some pages. The bus to Madrid left at around 11:00 pm.

Paris

The bus arrived around 4 am in the morning in Madrid. We hardly slept at all. There we slept a while at the bus station, because all the booths for information were closed. After Maren was got some information we decided to take the Metro to another bus station to get some more bus information. Well that is when it happened. The metro trains were all really full. We actually waited until a few passed until we thought we would be able to get in. Well that is when Kirk noticed his wallet missing. The train was so stuffed we could barely move. Perfect place for a pickpocket. We actually had a feeling who did it and confronted them and followed them. They were guilty but were able to get away from us by switching who had the wallet and jumping onto another train. We should have yelled, but Kirk was also thinking if he had lost it somewhere else and that the two guys we thought did it were not European, we did not want to accuse them out of racial concerns. Which was stupid in the end, because they got away with around 60 US$, Kirk thinks. At least there was no documentation in there, that is what we think. After chasing around the metro station and then seeing the guys were no longer there, we went to the police station to file a report. Not that it will mean anything, it will be just for their statistics. Maren asked and they said it happens a lot in the center of town. We then decided to take a night bus out Madrid to Paris. This was good, just two days before we were home we got robbed. At least it was not for much, just money. We were happy they did not get our laptop with all the pictures and our diary. We then took the subway into the center. We first visited the Prado Museum, which has paintings from the 15th to the 19th century, including the paintings of Velazquez, Goya, and El Greco. The most famous painting is Las Meninas by Velazquez. Maren appreciated the art more than Kirk. We then walked to the Plaza de Mayo and the Palacio Real. It was then to the Parque del Buen Retiro and then we decided to go to the Museum Centro de Arte Reina Sofia with paintings and sculptures from the early 20th century. The most famous painting is Picasso's Guernica. There are also other paintings by Salvador Dali and Joan Miro. We then walked back to bus station this time. The bus left Madrid at 8:30 pm. The first stop we had we realized we were heading north because it was really cold.

Paris

During the night as usual we did not sleep that much. The seats were ok, but not that comfortable to sleep in. The bus arrived 1.5 hours late in Paris, which sort of put a whole in our plans. We wanted to see Paris a little, then catch a bus back to Cologne to surprise Maren's best friend Anne for her birthday when she celebrates at 12:00 am tonight. There were no buses leaving at the right time. So we quickly got a metro ticket to go to the train station to see if we could get a train home. There we found a train that would make it to Cologne on time, even though it would cost us over double a bus would cost us to take. But it was very important to Maren that we got there tonight. We had to wait in the ticket line for ever. Every line took at least a half an hour before one was at the counter. They did not have a very good system. Afterwards we put our luggage into the expensive luggage storage and then waited in line again for Metro tickets. We wanted to do a little quick sightseeing in Paris. Well on the way what happened. Some kids tried to pickpocket Maren. Maren realized it though and they got nothing. They were then on the train with us and they started looking at us really weird. One of them eventually said something over Kirks mother in German. That is when the train stopped. Kirk went directly to the kid and pushed him hard and whacked him out of the way. Another kid he also pushed out of the way. They were surprised. But after they regrouped they looked for us. But we were standing next to a couple of police officers and they then ran away. We have this feeling now that we look like sucker tourists. Sometimes we feel a little guilty that we criticized South Americas crime problem so much. But we did not let this instant ruin our last day. We first went to the Arc de Triumph and then down to the Eiffel Tower. The area was packed with tourists. There must have been a 5 hour wait to get up the tower. We did not have anytime anyway to go up. We then walked along the Seine to the Louvre and then onto the Cathedral Notre Dame. We did a lot of quick walking, because we only had a few hours. But it was worth the stopover, even though the weather was not great. It was good to see Paris again. We then took the metro back to the train station where Maren called her sister to say hello of course, but also so she would pick us up from the train station. The train left on time at 6:55 pm for the 4 hour ride to Cologne. On the train Kirk wrote the last days of the diary, actually what he is doing at the moment. Well that is the end of our trip. We will see what comes next. We hope that the people who followed our trip and read our diary enjoyed it and maybe learned something along the way! We will write some after thoughts later. Goodbye!!!