Jody's Adventures

Finals Week- movie reviews

2008-03-26T22:47:00.000-07:00

Well I am very proud of how well I am handling finals week for second semester- MUCH MUCH better than 1st. I am totally chill, had a dinner party the night before my first exam, and watched Talladega Nights- the ballad of ricky bobby- another will ferrell movie, this one poking fun at rednecks and nascar- totally hillarious! Today I celebrated the completion of my 7th exam by treating myself to a sugary soda, potato chips and cookies for an afternoon snack/pre dinner (organic and gluten free of course) I didn't go totally crazy here. Then I turned up the heat and curled up in a big comfy chair to watch the movie Kinky Boots- very cute film about a very traditional shoe factory that starts making boots for transvestities to save the business. So I'd say finals are going well.

Random Bits #1 The Subtleties of Shivering

2008-03-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

So most of us know shivering as the body's way of keeping us warm by using our muscles to generate heat. What you may not know is what I learned today. What actually generates the heat is not a rapid contraction and relaxation of the muscle- rather it is the isometric contraction (tightening of the muscle fibers without movement of a joint). For example holding yourself up in position about to do a push up, or clenching your jaw- that clenching uses energy and generates heat to keep you warm. The shivering is the reaction of your muscle to being held so long in that contracted state. So to use the push up example, if you held that position a long time or any other static position where you are keeping a muscle tight, you would eventually start to shake. So the next time you are cold take notice to whether your jaw is clenched BEFORE you start to shiver!

Wow it's been a while

2008-02-27T22:02:00.000-08:00

So where the heck have I been? Well lots of places really. I'll try to give a footnotes version. Got a sore back 2 days after my return home and it took me a while to realize it was because I was picking up my nephew who had grown considerably over the previous 9 months. I spent time with family, tried to catch up with all my friends, and packed my life up for a big move out to Portland. I was moving out to Portland Oregon to start School at the National College of Natural Medicine. Had a great cross country trip towing a trailer with what is left of my worldly possesions- I still own too much stuff. So there are lots more details but I will fast forward. I am in my last week of second semester now. It is incredibly tough, but I love it. So I will likely be peppering this blog with random health facts and tidbits!

She's BACK!!!!

2007-06-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

cow in the train station
check the name of the travel company
me on metro 30 some hours into my journey
me climbing!!- well belaying
Indy and I at the Narrows
So I'm home again. Surpise! Once back in Pokhara I considered my options and how miserable hot it was in India right now. 115 degrees in Varanassi where I wanted to go, and upper 90's in Kerala- the other place I wanted to go. I figured India is difficult enough I don't need to go when it is this hot and the monsoons are due in a week. I have a ten year visa so I'll have to come back. I did spend a few days there however travelling overland from Nepal to reduce the cost of my flight home by leaving from Delhi. So a 10 hour bus ride from Pokhara to the nepal/india border. 3 hours by share taxi to Gorakpor where I waited overnight for the last bed in a non airconditioned sleeper car to delhi- not the most comfortable option but it is school holidays and it was the only thing available for several days. Funny enough I ended up getting on the wrong train the next day and got upgraded to an airconditioned sleeper anyway! Overnight on the train, all day in delhi and left at 11pm for home. 14 hour flight, 4 hour layover in Newark, hour flight and arrived at BWI at 10am. Wanted to surprise my family (they weren't expecting me for another 2 weeks) so I took a bus to metro, metro to germantown, another bus to damascus and was deciding whether to try hitchiking the last 10 minutes to home when I stoped in at the firehouse to ask about taxis. They asked if I'd ever been for a ride on a fire truck, and would I mind going along on a call if there was one. Of course not I replied! One of the guys said he would just run me home in one of their vehicles because I live so close. I arrived while mom was out at the store so I was able to give here a good try at heart faliure when she returned home and was standing in the next room. I scared her half to death. Got to surprise my sister and Dad as well. So I've been home catching up on sleep, eating, spoiling my dog, and hanging out with the family, and Oh yeah climbing! Went out with Indy to get on rock for the first time in 5 months, and I led, and it was trad, and it felt fantastic!!!!!!! I'm glad to be back and hope to see and talk to everyone soon!

Back to civilization- sort of

2007-05-22T03:47:00.000-07:00

Me at 17,769 feet, and I walked the whole way!
My favorite Mountain Machhapuchhre as Seen from Annapurna South Base Camp
Annapurna South at sunrise
Well I'm back in Pokhara- Nepal's second largest city (still no buildings over 4 stories. I've spent 33 glorious days trekking around and among the Annapurna mountains. The Annapurna Circuit, and Annapurna Sanctuary treks. Over a 17,769 ft pass, and into the sanctuary where you are surrounded on all sides by amazing Himalayan peaks. Now I'm busy trying to put weight back on by eating steak, and anything else that strikes my fancy... and is available here. For the last month I've subsisted on potatoes and eggs, only slightly better than the typical Nepali diet of rice and lentils, but that is travel. I tell you Applebee's sounds really good right now. I'm missing things like salad, rare meat, and mom's meatloaf. There is plenty of chocolate here, french fries, and coke, but clean raw vegetables, and the kind of steak you guys have likely been enjoying grilled in the backyard are pretty tough to find. Yes I'm missing home a bit, and as you might have guessed protein! Despite the amazing beauty I am still in a country where you have to squat to pee, wipe with your hand, and watch your step on the sidewalks to avoid the cow shit! I should be home soon though- still shooting for mid June. I plan to head to India for a bit. It is incredibly hot there now, and the monsoon is fast approaching, but I'm so close that I really want to spend at least a bit of time there. Thinking of you all!
Love
Jody

Annapurna

2007-04-26T05:35:00.000-07:00

So I've been walking 8 days thru tiny little Napali villages without running water, and most without electricity. Then I arrived in Chame and they have broadband internet! But still no road. This place is changing fast. The Annapurna circuit is amazing, I think I will be out here for a while. Thinking of you all!

The wait is over

2007-04-17T18:26:00.000-07:00

Well I've been waiting in Pokhara for many days for word from my college on whether they will accept the courses I have chosen to fulfill my prerequisite requirements... Still nothing and it is driving me crazy that I am sitting here bored, and the mountains are so close. So I've decided to head out. I will be doing the Annapurna Circuit Trek, and hopefully the Annapurna Sactuary trek as well. The first walks around one of the tallest and most spectacular mountain ranges in Nepal and takes a minimum of 16days, the second goes right to the base of them and takes another 12 days. I plan to take my time and give myself up to 35 days to really enjoy it. I will be "tea house trekking" Which means that you stop in little restaurant/guesthouses along the trail for meals and to sleep. Makes it a bit more cushy, no tent or stove required. Also makes it a much more heavily travelled route. At any rate the Circuit trek at least is more an experience of the culture and scenery than of wilderness as you are walking the main route "highway" between dozens of villages, only there are no cars...yet. There are plans to push a road through over almost half this trek in the next few years, so it's a god time to go see it!
So no worrying about me until May 22, by which time I should be back and there should be loads of pictures up here for you to see!

Love
Jody

Quote of the day

2007-04-17T18:23:00.000-07:00

On the T shirt of a Nepali Internet cafe worker; "If the world didn't suck... We'ed all fall off"

Pokhara Nepal

2007-04-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

One step closer to starting the Annapurna Circuit trek.. I hope. I am in the 2nd largest city in Nepal and it ain't that big. Had an amazing evening at the New Years Fair/festival. Basically the equivalent of a very tiny local carnival. 3 big rides, and some man powered kid ones (picture 2 small cars on a circular track being pushed by a man running behind) Welcome to the Nepali New Year festival!

One more thing about the Chinese

2007-04-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

If you have been reading my posts at all you might have noticed that I have a few issues with how the Chinese do things. I know many Chinese people, and they are wonderful, but the governement and many things about the culture do not impress me. The most outstanding issue politically may be Tibet. You have likely all seen a free tibet sticker, or heard about the issues, and I have mentioned bits about it. This poster which was hanging outside a Tibbetan Buddist Stupa in Kathmandu brings the point home. The Chinese (with the help of the new train) are being brought in by the thousands with special incentives to move there amd set up buisnesses and completely wipe out the tibetan culture. The number of monks in the monesteries is strictly limited, there are cameras in front of all the big temples where demonstrations might take place. As we drove thru Tibet in the absolute boonies you could see that every single monastery had been destroyed, most by TNT, many have since been rebuilt but they are much smaller, and very strictly watched and regulated. They are still arresting and impriosoning anyone who voices an opinion in China that Tibet should be left to the Tibetans. Chinese military are even posing as monks trying to find anyone who might speak badly of this Chinese invasion and toss them into jail- even tourists. If you can't see it this poster reads: China's record in tibet. More than a million killed! More than 6000 monasteries destroyed! Thousands in prison! Hundreds still missing!

Kathmandu

2007-04-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

Well I have been in Kathmandu for 12 days now and what have I accomplished? Seen a few temples, bough lots of presents, and have done my TAXES!!!!! Yes I have spent hours, and days actually a solid week getting my taxes done with lousy internet connections, problems with opening files, power cuts blah blah blah. It really did suck so be thankful when you do your taxes (which you should have done by now, but I know a few of you haven't). Anyhow with the help of Mom, Merle, and turbo tax they are done. Now what? Well I've been on the computer some more trying to find a chemistry and physics course I can take to fulfill my prerequisites for school. As soon as I get that sorted I will know when I have to go home, Hopefully I'll get it sorted soon because I'm in Nepal and I want to go trekking gosh darn it!

EVEREST!!!

2007-04-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

This is Everest Base camp! And oh yeah thats me AT Everest base camp! 5220 meters (17,126ft). It's pretty high, pretty cold, and pretty amazing. There weren't any climbers in base camp, they were all up on the mountain because the weather was good, only the base camp crews were there. Way cool. Slept in a tent with a yak dung burning stove and 4 blankets. Had pretty severe altitude sickness which isn't much fun but it passed, and sleeping at Everest base camp this close to the biggest mountain in the world was pretty darn cool.

Road to Kathmandu

2007-04-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

Took a landcruiser from Lhasa to Kathmandu because that is the most reliable and fastest way to get there, and to be able to stop at the base of a really amazing mountain on the way. Saw lots of Tibetan villages, lots of mountains, and lots of Yak shit. That is the fuel out here for heating and yes cooking, but even better than that is how they dry it- by plastering it to the walls of their houses. Note the faint outling of the bare hand that applied it to the wall. Good stuff!

Tibet- Ganden Monastery

2007-04-10T02:09:00.000-07:00

One of the amazing Monasteries outside of Lhasa. The kora (path around a temple, or monastery which the pilgrims ritually walk) takes you around the back side of the mountain that the monastery is perched on for some amazing views. You also pass the sky burial sites where the dead are cut into pieces and spread out for the vultures to eat. In the last 2 pictures when you look closely you can see the sign for the police station, yeah no town here, the police are there only to watch the monastery, and in the second picture you can see what I thought was a boulder at the top of a hill covered with prayer flags but just kidding, it's a yak!

Tibet- Potala

2007-04-10T01:59:00.000-07:00

There it is the Dali Llama's house until he was forced to flee before the cultural revolution in 59. The place is immense and amazing with enormous tombs for past Dali llamas covered in gold and jewels. You can even peer into the Dali LLama's own quarters and meditation area. The most amazing part was the pilgrims there. To see their passion and devotion, and know that there leader is being kept from them, and they are being persecuted daily, yet they carry on with such spirit. Really amazing people. I was brought to the verge of tears watching an old Monk prostrating himself repeatedly in front of one of the shrines, and being helped up each time as he was too frail to do it himnself. Sorry no pictures- the Chinese guards in each room will not allow it.

Lhasa

2007-04-09T01:31:00.000-07:00

Prayer flags, Monks- on cell phones, and pilgrims. Thats what it's all about. An amazing city. Rich Tibetan culture with great passion for their Buddist religion. hundreds of pilgrims fill the city walking in circles around the temples, and prostrating themselves before them for hours at a time. The faces are amazing. The woman in the last picture holds a prayer wheel as all tibetan pilgrims do. It contains prayers inside it and everytime it is spun the prayers are sent out into the universe.

Tibet? Nope still in china

2007-04-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

This was the scene outside the Lhasa train station trying to get a bus into town. In typical Chinese fashion everyone is cramming onto the buses as if their life depends on it despite the fact that there are a long line of buses there waiting. After the crush of people get on the bus it moves about 10 meters and stops again as a woman forces open the door and squeezes on between all the people and luggage to collect the fare. She shoves her way from the rear to the front climbing over luggage and people then gets off again. Because this make so much more sense than having people wait in line to get on the bus and pay then. I really don't understand this place. The only explanation I have for the Chinese total inability to wait in line is the one child policy which has created millions of only children!

Tibet- Train to Lhasa

2007-04-08T02:03:00.000-07:00

So the shiny new train to Lhasa. This is the train line they said could not be built, but there is a whole region that China wants to exploit and populate, plus the Olympics are coming and lots of tourists will pay to go to Tibet, and so it was built. It does provide a very nice way to get there. You travel thru quite desolate plains and over several passes one of which is over 5200 meters (over 16,000 feet) the same height as Everest base camp. Saw endangered Tibetan antelope, eagles, yaks, marmots, a fox, and lots of sheep and Tibetan herders bundled up against the amazing cold. They have a special system to deal with the permafrost and keep the tracks from buckling. It's working.. so far. The train while shiny and new is still a Chinese train ridden by Chinese people, so it wasn't cleaned for the entire 26 hour trip, and Chinese people are not known for being neat, but it was really cool all the same and they smoked only slightly less on this train in total disregard for the constant flow of of pure oxygen pumped into the cars to prevent altitude sickness.

Xining Tibetan Village

2007-04-07T23:17:00.000-07:00

Tibetan's in the small tibetan village outside Xining (China)
1/2 tibetan, 1/2 Han chinese boy- son of our "travel agent"
Tibetan kettle boiling, these things are awesome! with solar they can boil a gallon of water.

Visited a small Tibetan village outside of Xining China, a little taste of Tibet while waiting for the train to go to Lhasa. Bought train tickets with a "travel agent" who can purchase train tickets and supposedly pay off the officials to aviod the permit fee the government charges to go to Tibet (over $100). He brought me to his home to meet his family and son and see the temple and school.

Back in China

2007-04-07T05:51:00.000-07:00

I'm remembering all those reasons I had for never wanting to return to china. People smoking in resturants. Disgusting squat toilets. People spitting everywhere. People smoking on trains. MSG in everything. People smoking on busses. Always being charged foreigner prices. People smoking in Internet bars. No soap and water to wash after using the disguting squat toilets. And did I mention the smoking?

Well I'm surviving somehow and I am benefitting from all the chinese language I learned the last time I was here. It was actually nice to come back to somewhere where I knew the currency, how much things should cost, how to buy a bus ticket, etc. and I was somewhat prepared for the cultural differences.

Tomorrow evening I get on the train to Lhasa- the train they said couldn't be built because it goes over permafrost and a 5204 m pass. The train has oxygen on it to help with the altitude. It will be wicked.

Celebrity

2007-04-07T00:44:00.000-07:00

Travelling in Asia as a pale skinned blonde you stand out a little, not quite as much as if you are a 6 foot tall blonde, but even at 5ft 1inch and a little I tower over many people. This tends to make one something of a celebrity and folks like to take your picture, and have their picture taken with you. Here are the results of an impromptu photo shoot that Kristina and I submitted to at a popular tourist point in Myanmar called Mt Popa. The stuff on my face is a traditional sunscreen/makeup worn by Myanmar women and children made from the bark of a tree.

Myanmar Car Seat

2007-04-07T00:40:00.000-07:00

February 8th "protests"

2007-04-05T00:30:00.001-07:00

Some of you may have heard that there were protests at the American Embassy in Myanmar after the US proposed some action on human rights in Myanmar at the United Nations. The word here is that those people were certainly paid by the government to "protest". The people of Myanmar are very anxious for freedom from the current military government, and desperately want our help.

Myanmar to Putao the flight

2007-04-04T23:52:00.000-07:00

Curbside check in Illegal Airport Photo
British Built Airport
Checking in for the next day's flight- reviewing a list of the passengers posted outside the airline office.

So my guide for my Putao trip met me in Myitkyina to accompany me on my flight to Putao. Foreigners are not allowed to travel on the road up there and even if you are it takes 1 week to 4 months depending on road conditions, rain, snow, and landslides to travel the same distance that the 1/2 hour flight covers, so I flew. The "airports" and I use the term loosely were not much more than one building along a stretch of concrete which serves as the runway. We took a motorcycle taxi to the airport which is a motorcycle with a cart attached with just enough room for 2 people and bags. The moto taxi stopped in front a place which looks like a cross between a street market and a bus stop with several women sitting behind tables of water bottles, toilet paper, and assorted snacks. Gradually I notice the piles of plastic bags stuffed full, and cardboard boxes tied up with string (not likely containing my favorite things). Then I notice that many of the men milling about are wearing name tags which say Myitkyina airport, and someone takes our luggage into a wood and fence stall and I realize that this is curbside check in! We are at the airport! Our bags are brought around a green wooden partition and placed on tables for searching. A man in camo carefully inspects each of my pens as a friendly but somewhat scared German Shepard looks on. About 30 armed men later we arrive in a colonial era 3 room building- the original airport built by the colonial British. The waiting room had a high ceiling. The paint that hadn't chipped off the walls yet was a tired white. Lazy ceiling fans hung from it. The windows and doors had appropriate era wavy glass windows to let the light shine in on the red plastic chairs, and we waited. The plane was only 1 hour late- we were lucky. As I walked across the tarmac to the awaiting plane I was thankful we were not flying the government owned Fokker, but a more modern craft complete with a very well dressed stewardess with airbrushed designs on her toenails. Obviously a resident of the big city of Yangoon she looked very out of place in this town. The government Fokkers in addition to being antiquated and rattletrap are at the disposal of the government/military officials and flights are regularly cancelled if someone wants to go somewhere. The plane was already half full as it had come up from Yangoon so I did not get the view for the 1/2 hour flight. As I disembarked at the equally non modern Putao airport I was gently reminded that any and all pictures of the planes or airport facilities are not permitted, and strictly watched by the dozen military personnel armed with rifles at the airport. But I was here, and the famed snow capped mountains were in sight.

Putao Snowcapped Mountains

2007-04-04T23:19:00.000-07:00

A child in one of the Putao villages and some views of the snowcapped mountains- glimpses of the himalaya.

Putao-My ride

2007-04-04T23:14:00.000-07:00

When I arrived at the airport in Putao this was the vehicle which took me to my "hotel". A gentleman on my flight happened to work for the World Health Organization, and the local health officers put this vehicle at his disposal for the three days he was to be in Putao. I took special note of where this converted ambulance had come from. According to the local guys a native of Myanmar living in PA had donated it. It's original purpose, as indicated by the writing on the side "Mobile Dispensary" bears little resemblance to it's current use. Gasoline is particularly expensive in this region as are medical supplies. The people of Myanmar have so called "free" medical care in that they can consult with the doctor for free, but they must pay for transport to a medical facility or walk, and they must pay for all supplies used by the doctor including things like gauze, medications, and even tools like scalpels and scissors. The doctors are paid very poorly as well so many charge for the services as well or run private side practices to make ends meet. I ended up spending three days with this doctor from WHO travelling to rural health clinics and meeting midwives who will be participating in an upcoming mass measles inoculation program.

Myanmar busses

2007-03-08T03:47:00.000-08:00

You always hear stories when people travel around southeast Asia about the buses, the crookedness of them, the chickens on them, children on your lap, children and adults puking out the sides of them. The buses being piled sky high with people and rice, and luggage, and more chickens. It's all true. Oh yeah and they break down.. a lot. well I've been on my fair share but the buses in Myanmar are special. First of all in the city they are almost all leftovers from the British colonization effort which ended in the 1940's- as is clearly evident by the age of the buses. And no Myanmar bus is full until very inch of space within is occupied and a row of people are hanging of the back. I often had to maneuver carefully to avoid being hit by the closing door. Sometimes they didn't bother to close the door at all as someone would surely loose a limb in the process. But the most amazing thing I saw was one bus at a long distance bus station. It had the usual load of stuff on the roof piled almost as high as the bus itself is tall, then the back of the bus piled floor to ceiling with rice and tea sacks, then all of the seats at the front filled and all of the space under the seats filled so that all of the people sat with their knees up by their chins and feet even with their butts. Oh and I didn't mention their is no aisle in most southeast Asian buses, there are seats that fold up to the side when people get on and off, but while riding the entire aisle way is filled with an additional row of seats. No leg room here. And if you are an average sized Swedish guy you are in big trouble because most buses are made to fit Asians and I am tall around these parts. Yeah I miss my truck!

A Guide for Putao

2007-03-08T03:31:00.000-08:00

Putao is a little place in the far far north of Myanmar, and it's a bit tricky and expensive for travellers to get there. You have to get special permission from the government to go, and book a trip with a travel agency. Most people go as part of a package tour. Otherwise you must book your own private guide. Not the way I normally like to travel but I was introduced to a man in Thailand who had a lot of herbal medicines from this area and a daughter there who he had not seen for many many years. So the lure of finding out about traditional medicines coupled with the facts that it is more out of the way and right at the foothills of the Himalayas was more than I could resist, I had to go. Part of the deal with going to a restricted area is that you must have a guide which of course you must pay for. Fortunately I got a lovely lady who I was able to meet beforehand. I was also told that 2 other people would be meeting me in putao so I would have an entourage. I really wasn't even sure if any of it would materialize because of course I had to pay for all of it upfront and had nothing but a vague handwritten receipt to prove what I had paid to this government agency. My guide was to meet me in the last town to the north that travellers are permitted to venture unaccompanied. Fortunately she did arrive.

Blog blog blog blog

2007-03-08T00:07:00.000-08:00

So sorry it has been so long since my last confession... I mean entry. Lets see since Tonsai I've been to Bangkok, Myanmar (Burma) and now back in Bangkok. Tomorrow I fly back to China on my way to Tibet. And yes it is as exhausting as it sounds. I just sent a 10 kilo package home with stuff I don't need, stuff I've bought that I probably don't need, and some stuff I bought for you guys that you definitely need. I got a great T shirt for my friend steve in bangkok-can't tell you all what it says yet I don't want to spoil the surprise. You can get a lot of cool things here. I bought an international student ID card- for student discounts, and a press card for sneaking into events and concerts $3 each. I almost bought a rhinestone studded belt buckle that says diesel, just because.

Myanmar Monks

2007-03-07T06:20:00.000-08:00

Shwedegon paya (spelled sort of right)
Monk #2
Head Monk
English class
So my friend Kristina who I worked with in China, and then hung out with in Tonsai, came with me to Myanmar for a few weeks. We arrived first in Yangon the biggest city in the country. There is an enormous temple complex there called the Shwedegon Pagoda. It has one huge stupa (the thing in the picture) and many smaller temples all around it. The big stupa is covered in gold and is rumored to have been rebuilt with the use of forced labor (very common in this country). At any rate it is a big tourist attraction and therefore also an attraction for Myanmar people hoping to learn english. They loiter around the large outdoor complex offering to be a guide or simply trying to chat with you. Kristina and I ran into a monk who comes there every friday with his class of students who he teaches english to at the monastery. We chatted with them at length and were escorted all over the complex by them and even put onto a bus back to our hotel which they paid for claiming that we would have to pay a much higher price for the bus. The monks invited us to visit their monasty and stay the night if we could before we left town. We decided to take them up on it and found our way out to the monastery the next day. Turns out we arrived a half hour before english class, so we became english class. We were brought up to the teacher monk's quarters and fed a lovely traditional Myanmar dinner and the english class students one by one found there way up to us as they found the classroom empty. We chatted with them all for several hours. In order to stay at the monastery permission must be sought by the police- the government wants to know where foreigners are every night. Unfortunately Kristina had forgotten her passport and without it the police would not grant the permission so we had to go back to town, but not before the head monk met us and gave us a lesson in Myanmar language and delighted in quizzing us repeatedly on the few words he taught us.

Myanmar Money

2007-03-07T06:08:00.000-08:00

I may look rich with almost 200,000 kyats in my hands, but it's only equal to $150. Unfortunately for the Myanmar People their currency has been falling fast under their current government. Not only has the government devalued several bills (basically decided that the 25, 35, and 45 bill were suddenly valuless, so if you had any they were no longer worth the paper they were written on. The largest bill in circulation is 1000 kyats (pronounced chats) and there are 1250 kyats to one dollar- today-this morning. The exchange rate can change several times per day, but all money is exchanged on the black market. I have no idea how this works. At any rate people end up carryng bags and bags of the stuff around. The funniest and most irritating thing is that they will not accept US dollars with the slightest crease, blemish, tear, or ink spot, but their smaller denomination bills look like they are 100 years old and have been through 300 mud puddles, a few wars and a shredder. Oh well.

Tonsai

2007-01-31T00:08:00.000-08:00

Climbing

More climbing- you can rap off a climb on the left here into the bar.
Many of the climbs are on exposed cave formations
My gluten free Birthday Cake

So I've been marooned on a tropical beach for the last few weeks and haven't been keeping up on my Blog. Actually I am in Thailand near Karabi at basically a climbers beach. There are a few other tourists, but mostly it is climbers. Quite an amazing place. Many climbers come here in the winter to catch some sun and enjoy some incredible climbing and a very very laid back lifestyle. The only way in or out is on foot, or by boat. That does make it a bit more expensive than the rest of Thailand, but not too bad. I've been whiling away my days climbing, deep water soloing (climbing above deep water without a rope), lounging in hammocks, sipping fruity drinks, getting massages... it is a tough life. I have run into about a dozen people I know from Yangshuo in China, and lots of other travellers I met in other places along the way. I've made some great new friends here as well. On February 4th I plan to head up to Burma for a few weeks with a friend and I am looking forward to that. I'm also working on filing my taxes and my financial aide forms over this dodgy and expensive satellite internet connection which works some of the time. I miss you all and hope you had wonderful holidays!

Love Jody

Chiangmai Thailand

2007-01-01T20:21:00.000-08:00

I flew into Chiangmai on Christmas day. It was a bit of a culture shock from Laos, but I appreciated that I could walk into a 7-11 and get a slurpee and a chocolate bar. Much more westernized, bigger, and more modern than Laos, but still a relatively small city. The city retains vestiges of an old city wall and even a moat around the old part of the city. No city bus system so you must trust your life to tuk tuks or "taxi's" which are motorcycles, or trucks respectively which have been converted to carry 2 or more passengers. Pretty scary little rides at times, and you have to negotiate the price everytime. Rather that deal with the hassle I opted for the locals favorite mode of transportation, a motorbike. You can rent one for about $4 per day and they are a great way to get around. One minor detail being that while I've ridden on the back of a motorcycle before, I've never been in charge of the controls on something like this. Minor detail. The guy at the rental shop gave me a 5 minute tutorial on how to start it, change gears, and use the brakes, and reccomended I just keep it in 2nd gear until I got the hang of it, off I went. So three days later I am still very much alive, have't even had any close calls, and I'm actually a pretty big fan. Still haven't been out of 2nd gear. You don't need high speeds inside this little city, and frankly I am quite content to stay under 20kpm. I went to the mall the other day and was directed to "motorcycle parking". With Christmas behind you I'm sure the agony of finding your car in a packed mall parking lot is fresh in your mind. Now imagine finding a motorbike in a similar situation. This photograph shows about 1/5th of the motorcycle parking at this mall, and 90% of the bikes are the same model as mine.

Plain of Jars

2006-12-28T04:11:00.000-08:00

Well this one picture shows the most rock climbing I've done in a month. Not climbing much, but being in Laos is really great. There is so little development and things move so slowly. The Plain of Jars is actually 3 areas filleds with enormous hand carved stone jars. The one I am perched on weighs an estimated 6 tons. The are 2 theories about the jars. The archeaologists say they were used to burn the deceased, whose remains were then transferred into smaller jars that have been found buried around the base of the large jars. The locals prefer to beleive that they are vessels for brewing the very popular native rice whisky Lao Lao. I prefer the second explaination. The real story for me though was of the bombing done in this area during the Vietnam war. We (America) dumped hundreds of tons of bombs and in particular "bombies"which are baseball sized antipersonel bombs all over Laos, including the plain of jars. These big and little bombs are still a constant threat to the people of Laos. Each time they plow a field, or dig a hole they risk setting one of these off. Even worse that that, the gunpowder inside the bombs, and the metal from the bomb casings are worth a lot of money, so these very poor people are often killed while trying to take the bombs apart. The picture that doesn't have any jars in it is of a bomb crater in the middle of one of the fields.

So I bought a boat

2006-12-24T18:54:00.000-08:00

I travelled up the river from Nong Kiaw to a place called Mong Ngoi in Laos last week. The river boat ride up was supposed to be one of the most beautiful in Laos. It was quite picturesque with mountains, and villages along the way. The only problem was the incrediblly loud engine we had to hear the whole way. Not the best way to see the place in my opinion. So by the end of the 1 hour ride I had decided that rather than the noisy 7 hour trip downstream to Luang Prabang, I would see if I could buy a boat and paddle down. Turns out I wasn't the only one who ever had this idea. 2 guys had bought a boat the day before and set out that morning. So now all I had to do was find a boat, and a few people as crazy as me. The boat turned out to be the tougher thing to find. I ran into a group of travellers the next morning, and by the following day had 3 guys interested in the trip. We bought a boat and some food and set out. We expected the trip to take anywhere from 3 days to a week. We had no map, just a rough idea of how far it was (about 150km). We knew there were many villages along the way, and locals to help us out if needed. It was a fantastic trip. Three days in all. Spent one night in a village along the river, and one night camped on a beach. The river was beautiful, the company fantstic and the experience unforgetable. Thanks Bart, Chris, and Cam.

Trekking in Laos

2006-12-12T20:26:00.000-08:00

I took a 3 day trek into the mountains with 2 french canadians, and a girl from Holland. Our Guides were local, one spoke French, the other english, and between them a smattering of Laos, Hmong, Kamu, and a few other local languages which was essential for the villages we visited. We hiked thru jungle, all of which has been cut at some point in time. The local people who don't live too far from the road cut and burn the hillsides, plant rice the first year on the very fertile soil, then rubber trees. Farther back into the mountains, they plant rice, and subsistance crops like corn, bannana, cabbage, pumpkin, onion, and ginger. Entering the villages is quite interesting. You are hiking along in the forest then suddenly it opens up to a large cleared packed dirt area covered with thatch roof bamboo houses, with pigs, cows, and chickens everywhere, along with the village people and lots of children. It really does feel a bit like a national geographic special, the women in one village carry huge loads of firewood with a strap that is held across their forehead as the walk. Children sometimes clothed sometimes not, and the business of everyday life everywhere. Gathering wood for fires, children catching fish in the creek, washing clothes in the river, weaving baskets. So much going on. We stayed in "guesthouses" which the villages had built, basically a thatch roof building with mats and thin matresses on the floor and of course a mosquito net. Trekking groups have been visiting these villages for 2 years now, and the people have become fairly accustomed to it. Some of the children are still very shy at first, but they warm up. They love to see their pictures on a digital camera, so it is a fun way to play with them.

LAOS!

2006-12-12T20:05:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful place! It is described in many guidebooks as relatively "undiscovered" and despite seeing many many white faces around town I think it is true. The country has only gotten into tourism fairly recently, and the infastructure is pretty scant. You can however find a relatively clean room with private bath for $5 per night, and a massage- which yes I already tried for $2. The people are very nice, and quite small-about my height on average. There are many minority groups here with villages all over the mountains amoungst the rainforest. They have really gotten into the ecotourism industry which is great to see. A nice change from China. The food is great, they go easy on the spices for the falang(foreigners) and it's a good thing, I talked with one traveller who had convinced a restaurant to make a dish the way they would for a local person, he took one taste and was sure they were playing a trick on him by making it so spicy. He really likes spicy food but couldn't eat it. When a poor local man on the street saw he didn't like it, he asked if he could have it, the traveller said trust me you don't want this then watched in astonishment as the man lapped it up and thought it was delicious. I don't know what their stomachs are made of here but it is impressive!.

Tiger Leaping Gorge

2006-12-04T04:14:00.000-08:00

Well I had a big 2 day hike in Tiger leaping gorge the past few days. Finally saw some sunshine which was a nice change, and have gotten away from the city which is great. It was the first time in China that I have seen Orion in the sky. I've always been in places too polluted or too bright! It is a pretty grueling trek. I did get a horse for the first day to save my sore knee from a big downhill. That was a good call. I bit scary at times though when the horse and I wanted to go slowly on the downhills, but the guy leading the horse was pulling him along. He must have had a hot date for he was in a hurry to get the trip over with. Or maybe he was just in a hurry to get the $13.50 I payed him for the day. Tiger leaping gorge in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River is where the river wraps around Jade Dragon Snow mountain and goes thru a gorge which legend has it is narrow enough for a tiger to have leapt across when he was being chased by a hunter. I'm not sure I beleive the tiger bit. But the gorge was impressive.

Here is a shot of the gorge and me with my horse and guide.

Cheers

Jody

Climbing

2006-11-26T23:28:00.000-08:00

So there are a lot of climbing areas around Yangshuo. Here are some pics from Moon Hill. None are of me because the stuff I can climb here doesn't make for such interesting photos!
A hazy view from Moon Hill
Going up... That little bright spot at the top of the picture is the climber... There are some tough routes here. This is Over the Moon a 12c.
That is the climber coming down from the climb.
That is where we are climbing.
That is a hard climber. At least one of you knows him. It's Logan.

Yangshuo Pics

2006-11-26T23:07:00.000-08:00

Sorry just looked over my blog and I have few pics up so here are some...
Downtown Yangshuo
Street Market near my apartment
Water Buffalo walk and bath- daily occurance here in the country

The street CHINACLIMB is on where I spend much of my time.

Where to next?

2006-11-26T22:58:00.000-08:00

Here is a view of the river from a little boat trip I took the other day.

Well the china climb season is winding down we have a big end of the year party tomorrow, and then all go our somewhat separate ways. Looks like many of us will be bumping into each other all over Asia for the nexy few months with most of us ending up in Karabi Thailand at one point or another for more climbing. It is a VREY popular winter climbing destination on the beach in southern Thailand.
I leave Nov 29th on a train for Kunming. Will stay probably one day, then head up to tiger leaping gorge by bus with some chinaclimb people, stay there a few days, then to Xishuangbanna in southern china on the border with Laos (Chinese Visa expires Dec 11th). I will spend a few days in and around Xishuangbanna then cross the border into Laos and spend about 2 weeks travelling over land through Laos. ross the border into Thailand hopefully at the Mekong River in northwest Laos (by Christmas) and on to Chiang Rai in northern Thailand. All of these areas have "hill tribes" of people living a more traditional mountain farming lifestyle with many of the interesting costumes, customs, and difficult to access villages that come with that. So this leg of the trip will hopefully involve some treking if my knee can take it, or some time on horse or elephant back if it can't.
I will spend some time in Northern Thailand;Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, and Pai. I hope to take a thai massage course there, and then work my way down to Karabi in southern Thailand where most of the Chinaclimb staff will be :-)

The Chicken Lady

2006-11-19T09:33:00.000-08:00

This lovely lady can be found each morning on the market street 2 blocks from my apartment. This morning I decided to pay her a visit as I have been needing a break from all the peanut oil fried chinese food. I decided to roast a chicken. Now roasting a chicken in Yansshuo is a little different to doing it at home. First you must go to the outdoor market and find this lady surrounded by her baskets of live chickens and select your bird. I chose one of the ones she had already killed, bled and plucked, but I still had to ask her to gut it and remove the feet. She promptly removed the guts and tossed them into the pond you see behind here where all the chicken blood and guts go each day. there must be some very happy carp in there. I tried to bargain with her but she stood firm at her price of 23 Yuan (just under $3) for the whole chicken. Then I selected some celery, mushrooms, greens, and potatoes from the many local farmers who pile their produce on tarps along the street, and I headed to china climb to take over the kitchen. After a quick look on google to convert farenheight to celcius, and an hour to cook, I was enjoying a lovely stuffed roast chicken and potatoes. It's not thanksgiving, but I think it is as close as I'm going to get!

Chillin in Yangshuo

2006-11-17T01:06:00.000-08:00

Well the work season is winding down here. We are all trying to stay motivated to work the last few weeks (season ends Nov 28) while making our plans to travel on from here. Some staff have already left and others are making plans for India, Tibet, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Australia... It is funny we are all getting a little anxious and stressed over making our plans, but we keep reminding each other that if our biggest problem this week is deciding whether to go to Thailand or Vietnam, our lives are pretty easy:-). This picture is from today as I slaved over my guidebooks to plan my next adventures with the help of the coffee/kahlua/baileys drink in my hand.

Cheers!

P.S. Some of you know that my Father was going to have some surgery. He has had it and is doing well. It's been tough to be so far away but Mom and Lori are doing a great job of keeping me posted, and dad is getting real good at texting me on my cell phone!

It really is GreaT

2006-11-12T06:32:00.000-08:00

Well they certainly named it well. The great wall is truly amazing. I skipped the crowded and developed section of the wall closest to Beijing and opted instead for a 3 hour bus ride out to Jinsaling (sp?) and a 10k hike along restored and unrestored sections of the wall to Simatai. It was a great way to take in the beautiful mountain scenery and get away from the crowds. I was still greated by local women selling "I climbed the great wall" shirts every kilometer (which I did not buy). By the looks of their clothing they are well compensated for their daily trek up to the wall to follow the tourists and offer suvenires, beer and water. There were fantastic views of the wall disappearing along the ridge top in each direction, some incredibly steep ramps and even steeper flights of 18" and taller stairs that were only 4 inches deep. A great experience.

Freezing my Tail off in Beijing

2006-11-05T19:31:00.000-08:00

It is -2C this morning in Beijing, and most of the must do sights around here are OUTSIDE! I hiked the great wall yesterday, outstanding, more about that later when I get the pictures up. Right now I'm hiding in a coffee shop with an utterly un-chinese cafe mocha and enjoying every sip! My latest Chinese phrase is Da Fung (big wind) It is often windy here and your face literally gets sandblasted bacause sands from the nearby desert are always blowing across 北京（beijing). I've seen the Summer Palace, and Tianamen Square and am now trying to psyche myself up to tour the forbidden city in this frigid weather. Thinking of all of you and wishing to be next to your warm wood stoves and heaters!
Love Jody

Shanghi

2006-10-21T22:10:00.000-07:00

Shanghi... Well it's big but easy to get around, the pollution is awful, but the streets are relatively clean. It is very western with shiny shopping malls with western goods at western prices, a McDonalds on most corners, and an incredible rate of development. We went to the urban planning museum complete with a scale model of the entire city. Pretty impressive. The development plans are huge. Many areas have gone from farm fields to high rises in just 15 years, and there is no slowing down in the near future. Also went to see the touristy acrobatics show and it was awesome with plate spinners, contortionists, gymnasts, and even a guy who tossed and spun huge ceramic planters on his head. Now that is entertainment! Will try to get some pics up soon. Miss you all terribly!!!!! I'm looking at lots of cool presents to get you all, so let me know if there is anything in particular you would like!

a few more "parting shots"

2006-10-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

from the underware party

Chinese Container Store

2006-10-06T01:29:00.000-07:00

Well shopping in Yangshuo is a little different than at home. I wanted to buy some sort of hanging organizer type thing to keep things sorted in our office at chinaclimb, so I asked the staff where to look for it. Kristie being helpful said walmart of target! For better of worse there is not a walmart within many many many kilometers of here. So I was off to downtown Yangshuo. Well my search did not yield the fruit which I sought, but I did take this picture which I thought you would enjoy of a chinese container store.

Underware Party

2006-10-06T01:05:00.000-07:00

Well China may be fairly conservative, but Chinaclimb is not nor is Yangshuo. So last night we had the second annual sexy skivvy soiree (aka an underware party). Simple rules, you must be in your underware to attend. So all the chinaclimb staff worked hard on "costumes" for the event, and we invited friends, and travellers from town to join provided they followed the rules and stripped at the door. As could be expected the street in front of china climb was packed all night, and a good time was had by all. As most of us are climbers It was a pretty good show.

Always a foreigner

2006-09-24T02:40:00.000-07:00

One of my friends from home asked me today what has been the hardest thing to get used to over here... Well there are definately some differences. I still have to stop myself after I brush my teeth to remember not to swallow any of the water (ok for brushing, not so much for drinking). Always having toilet paper and soap with me for the bathrooms where it is rarely provided. I will not get into what the bathrooms are like just yet. They do drive on the right hand side of the road... mostly, unless they are passing then they could be on any part of the road they like. Really the hardest thing to get used to is the fact that I could live here 40 years and I would still be a foreigner. I would still be asked everyday if I want to buy postcards- at least in this town which is a tourist area, and I would still be charged at least three times the price for everything unless I already know how much it will cost and am willing to do the customary haggling over prices.

Staff Bike Ride

2006-09-24T02:31:00.000-07:00

A crew of about 10 chinaclimb staff set out on a big bike ride the other day. We wanted to test out the logistics for some groups we will have coming in next week. So we took a somewhat leisurely ride along the roads, and between the rice paddys to a place called Liu Gong which is along the Li River. It was only about 4 hours of biking punctuated by a lunch stop in the building in this picture overlooking the river. There are some china climb staff in the foreground. The chinese lady with the blue basket is an all to familiar site everywhere. These ladies carry around baskets of postcards and trinkets and pester you to death if you look the least bit like a tourist. One of our china climb staff who lives here was bothered every day for a week by the same woman outside chinaclimb. Finally he went of and issued a tirade at her in chinese telling her he lived here and to leave him alone. Next day... you guessed it, she was back.

Shiny new bike

2006-09-20T05:26:00.000-07:00

This is my shiny new bike outside of chinaclimb. I took my roomate Chris with me so she could deal with the vendor. If you don't look local the price is at least double. I looked at some used bikes for 95 Yuan but they were pretty scary. This new one was only slightly less scary, but it looks cool! and it cost 165 Yuan (about $20US). Chris made sure I had a super heavy duty lock to protect my big investment. I'm holding the flowers Chris and I bought so I could become Chinaclimb's floral designer. We usually order flower arrangements each week we have a school group, now I can save us some money by doing them myself!

Even the cook

2006-09-20T05:20:00.000-07:00

Even the cook at chinaclimb is a climber. Not all of the staff climb, but with a name like chinaclimb we attract a few climbers. This is QQ he is actually the assistant cook. Great guy, constantly asking me to help him with his english. He and Shu Shu, our head cook, keep us all fat and happy, if not searching for water to put out the fire of the chilis that seem to be in almost every dish. I'm not quite used to that, but I am getting good at picking them out of the food with my chopsticks. Anyway today I belayed (held the rope) For QQ as he led an 11d (really hard climb) which he cruised up without a problem.

Learning Chinese

2006-09-14T03:56:00.000-07:00

OK learning chinese is really really hard, especially when most people know english so you are not forced to use it. When I was in Australia I bought some CD's to learn Chinese, I listened to the first ten minutes 8 or 10 times. My progress was discouraging. So far I know hello: Nee how, water: shway, and thank you: shay shay. I think grasshopper is mung gee, tried to learn that one yesterday from our cook: QQ, we were walking thru a rice paddy to take lunch out to the students and he caught a huge grasshopper 4 inches long. He was going to cook it up at dinner so I could try it but one of the american employees took it from him and made him let it go (there are several vegetarians working here, he said it was too beautiful to eat) So I will have to wait to try grasshopper. The picture is the rice paddy and twin gates, the climbing area we were headed out to. My first climbing in Yangshuo was here.

China Climb

2006-09-14T03:50:00.000-07:00

So I have a job here of sorts. It doesn't pay much, nothing really, but they give me room and board and a buch of cool climbers and other folk to hang out with. This is basically an outdoor school which hosts schools of international students i.e. kids from mostly english speaking countries who are in china for one reason or another. We take them climbing, kayaking, hiking, caving, biking etc. We also have a bar in our "office building" complete with a climbing wall which anyone is free to use. I'm trying to get some mileage on it. Last night i enjoyed watching one of the Chinese guys who works here his name is Adon which means monkey in Chinese. He is great fun because you can just point to a series of holds on the wall and he will climb it. He is an amazingly strong climber as are many people here.

Yangshuo

2006-09-13T01:24:00.000-07:00

Pronounced young-shoe, this place was described in the guidebooks as a backpackers town, ad its true. I spent 3 days in Hong Kong and didn't see a sigle true blonde. Saw 3 here in the first half hour. But beyond the tourists and those of us over here working the town is very much china. Bicycles, motorbikes, and your 2 feet and the most popular means of transport. People can make a living on the money they make returninng recyclable plastic bottles. there is trash in the strets- only that which is not recyclable, dogs everywhere, rice paddies, and of yeah Chinese people.

Welcome to China

2006-09-13T01:23:00.000-07:00

Si provided one of my first chinese culture lessons. If you ask someone where something is and they don't know, they will not say they don't know. They will go with you to help you find the place, or point you in a direction even thought they have no clue. There were many more lessons to come. Si's favorite phrase the 3 days we spent together was wait until you get to china.

Lion Rock

2006-09-13T00:58:00.000-07:00

A Kiwi named Si who works for chinaclimb happened to be coming to HK met me at my hostle we wandered around HK a few days picking up supplies for the company, getting visas and doing a bit of climbing. There is a mountain outside of Kowloon called Lion Rock. We decided to give it a go armed with a hand drawn map from one of the china climb employees and a guidebook. We took a train and a taxi to the base of the mountain- my first public transportation supported climb. Then wandered around on the mountain for a few hours cursing the guys who wrote the map and said it would take a half hour. apparently they spent much more time wandering around up there so we didn't feel too bad after all. Lion rock is a big block of overbolted overchained granite that offers nice exposure and spectacular views of Hong Kong- or at least of it's smog. We did 4 short pitches 5.10a or b the hardest ones. It was a nice outing.

I'm Here!

2006-09-13T00:55:00.000-07:00

A sleepless night before departing as I was worried by several airline employees about whether I would be allowed to leave the US without a return ticket booked. At the time the only itinerary and paperwork I had was a one way ticket to Hong Kong and a visa for India. I had no onward flight scheduled because I'm not sure where and when I am going from here and according to the Hong Kong embassy I don't need one. It is possible that the policies of United Airlines are different in any case I ended up booking a fully refundable flight from Bankok to San Francisco at 5:30am, and left for the airport at 6:30. Made my flights, they let me in, no worries. Flew to Chicago, then straight into Hong Kong via the north pole! It's a 14.5 hour flight, not so bad. Hong Kong is quite easy to navigate as it was a British territory until recently so most signs are in engllish and chinese, and many people speak english. It is a very westernized town with tons of shopping, skyscrapers with the requisite neon signs on top, and lots and lots of Coca cola. Other than that it's a city and I was ready to get out.