The End?

I’m writing this on the last day of my trip as I speed towards Tokyo on the Shinkansen, which is perhaps my favorite train in the world. I’ve spent the better part of the last 300 days traveling from Sydney to Tokyo, a total of ten countries and dozens of cities, posting more than 100 blog entries and 3,000 photographs. That I'm going home hasn’t completely sunk in. I’ve been taking this trip one day, one week, one city at a time, and the end has crept up on me. So it is with mixed feelings that I return to Tokyo, where I’ll spend one more night before boarding a trans-Pacific flight (my least favorite form of travel) back to the U.S. of A.

I’m excited to return to familiar territory, where I speak the language and I am well versed in the customs. I’m looking forward to seeing family and friends, to eat my mother’s cooking and watch late-night cable television. But I’ll miss the freedom of the open road, the expected pleasures and unexpected impediments that make for open-ended travel. I’ve got an itch (no, not that kind of itch), formed early in life, that leaves me restless. It will lead to more travel in the future. For now, it's time to reflect on 2007 and look to 2008.

As a final installment of Packmonkey: Asia (leaving the door open to Packmonkey: North America and Packmonkey: Europe), I offer a short summary of the good, the bad and the in-between. This is hardly a recap of my entire ten months on the road, merely a short trip down memory lane. I plan to offer a little more reminiscing once I'm back in Los Angeles.


Everything Australian: I spent nine weeks in Australia in February and March, traveling overland along the southern and western coasts from Sydney to Broome, then into the Outback on a 4WD trek from Adelaide to Alice Springs. Australia is a beautiful country. The interior is desolate, stark and remote, the coasts rugged and wild. As a whole, it is a challenging, rewarding and breathtaking place to travel. I will never forget sleeping under the stars in the Painted Desert or swimming in sea lions in the Eyre Peninsula. I also made some lasting friendships in Oz: Bernie and Kate, Dean, Elizabeth – keep in touch! Australia raised the bar for all subsequent destinations. The time I spent in Australia amounted to the trip of a lifetime. Had I returned home after the Outback, I would have been satisfied.

Monkeys and Mountains in Malaysian Borneo: I arrived in Malaysia with low expectations. I left in love with the country. The Malaysian people were some of the friendliest I encountered - always a smile for the wandering Jew in their midst - and the food unexpectedly satisfying. The three weeks I spent in Malaysian Borneo sealed the deal: encounters with the orangutans, proboscis and langur monkeys, Uncle Tan’s jungle camp and the trek to the summit of Mt. Kinabalu, which left me exhausted but marked two of the best days of the whole year.

Backpackers’ Laos: Backpackers flock to Southeast Asia, so it’s no surprise that there’s a backpacking culture in this part of the world. My time in Laos, from my arrival at the border with Thailand to my departure from Vientiane, was the ultimate backpacker’s experience. The country itself is wonderful, remote and rural, yet unspoiled by the tourism you encounter in Thailand and Vietnam or the tragic history of Cambodia. Laos had been described to me as Thailand of 20 or 30 years ago. Ten short days in country showed me the Southeast Asia I dreamed of visiting.

What made my time in Laos really special was the friendships I made. Two days floating down the Mekong solidified a bond with my French amis, Guillaume and Emmanuelle. We spent the evenings in Luang Prebang at a sidewalk bar laughing over glasses of cloudy pastis, the days meeting the young monks at the city’s temples or swimming at the tranquil waterfalls outside of town. In Vang Vieng I met Mitzi and her daughter, Miksa, from Hawaii. We explored caves and rented bicycles for a trip to the local market. At night we relaxed over cheap food and beer at the backpacker cafes. Miksa and I even found time for a marathon afternoon watching "The Simpsons." Traveling friendships are short and intense, and one of the joys of travel.

Food, Food, Food: Who doesn’t love to eat? Everywhere I traveled there was something new to taste: kangaroo sausages in Outback Australia, blue rice in Malayasia, chicken rice in Singapore, khao soy in Northern Thailand, even deep-fried tarantulas in Cambodia. There were also some old favorites to devour: sushi and ramen in Toyko, curry and pad thai in Thailand. Somehow, I still haven't tried durian.

Indonesia Headaches: I arrived in Indonesia with high hopes. Two weeks later I couldn’t leave get out the country fast enough. From the touts and taxi drivers oozing desperation in Bali to the scam artists in Java who took me for a ride, I was overwhelmed by the amount of ill-will I felt in Indonesia. I’ve heard reports from other travelers about good times in Bali and Java, so I will not say the country is filled with bad people and bad times. At least I left with two good memories: sunrise at Mr. Bromo and an afternoon spent wandering the ancient Buddhist temple at Borobudur. These two places almost make up for all the aggravation I experienced everywhere else in Indonesia.

Tourism in Thailand and Vietnam: Thailand and Vietnam are two of the most popular destinations in Southeast Asia. They were also, for me, two of the most disappointing destinations on my trip. In the island of Southern Thailand, I encountered hoards of westerners traveling from one beach to another. It seemed that the locals in sight were either serving the foreigners beer and food or cleaning their rooms. There was also the terror of the night of the flying termites. The beaches are nice enough, but crowded and dirty. Were it not for the energy of Bangkok or the charm of Chiang Mai, I’d have to write off Thailand as a loss.

In Vietnam, the tourism treadmill also operates at full speed. Perhaps it was because I’d been on the road for six months, or perhaps it was because I was exhausted from a whirlwind tour of Cambodia. Whatever it was, I found Vietnam to be hectic in all the wrong ways. From the overcrowded and polluted streets of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, where even the act of crossing the street was hazardous, to the constant haggling over prices, Vietnam was a downer.

Life and Death in Cambodia: I only spent 10 days in Cambodia, but those days contained some of the best and worst times of my trip. On the positive side was an extraordinary tour that took me into the Cambodian countryside and introduced me to the real Cambodia of today. The tour also resulted in a few of those backpackers’ friendships that I mentioned earlier. I loved drinking late into the night at a small bar in Kampong Cham and on the beach at Sihanoukville with Sally and Renee, nurses from Adelaide, Australia. And Kathe, a university student from Holland, turned into a close and unexpected friend.

On the down side was a bus accident that left two Cambodians dead and exposed the utter corruption and poverty of Cambodian society. I refer you to the impassioned blog post I wrote on the afternoon of the accident.

Return to Tokyo: I knew that I wanted to end my trip in Japan, to return to a place I lived for 18 months in the early 1990s. I did just that and I am now reminded of that old adage about not being able to go home again. In the years since I lived in Tokyo, I’ve changed, Japan has changed and the world has changed. I love the country and the Japanese. I loved taking Japanese lessons and exploring the country again. But in the end I could have done with less. I’d been on the road for most of the year and was tired, wanted to do little more than curl up with a good book and a glass of whiskey. So I spent most of my time in Tokyo enjoying solitude and rest.

My time in Tokyo was good for the spirit, but perhaps something of a missed opportunity. Perhaps what it taught me is that the next time I take off and travel the world, I’ll impose a six-month limit. For me, that seems just right.

So on the eve of my return to the U.S., I look forward to reuniting with family and friends, to starting a new chapter in my life that builds on everything that’s come before.

Some people say travel changes you. I think that’s a big fat myth. I’m still the same person I was when I started this trip. What I have now that I didn’t have before is a greater understanding of the world and my place in it. I think I’m more humble. I’m definitely more aware of how fortunate I am. My place in this world is small, but my future is unlimited. The end? I don't think so. Just another beginning.

A HUGE thanks to everyone who checked in and supported me over the past ten months. I will see you all very soon!

Blocked!

I've been unable to view Packmonkey for the past few days. At first I thought the problem was with my browser. Then I thought it must be the network I was working on. But now, after trying multiple browsers on multiple machines on multiple networks, I started to believe that the only answer could be censorship. I'm now convinced, after a quick Google search, that Blogspot is indeed being blocked in Vietnam.

Ironically, I'm able to post to Packmonkey but I can't read it. So I'll continue to post, but if things look screwy or misaligned, remember that I'm posting blind.

Technical Difficulties, Please Stand By

I've told myself a thousand times to be careful with electronics. I store my laptop in a padded case and stuff it in a plastic bag when it's idle. I keep my phone and iPod in plastic bags, just in case I get caught in an afternoon downpour. So I'm kicking myself because last night I was surfing the web while drinking cheap Tiger beers at the hostel bar. I think you know what happens next. I processed a batch of new photos and while waiting for them to upload to Flickr, I placed my computer next to my beer. I have no peripheral vision, and I'm a bit of a klutz. I knocked over the mug, spilling beer directly onto the keyboard. I scrambled to shut off the laptop and did my best to dry it out, but this morning the keyboard was D.O.A. The hard drive seems fine, and the touchpad works, but I can't type a single letter.

The unit is now at a Sony service center, where it will receive a new keyboard and an service check. These things never happen overnight, and the best they could promise is next Monday. So I'm in Singapore for another week. I have yet to visit the museums, I've got a stack of novels and there are photos to take. There's still plenty of food to be devoured. "Spider-Man 3" opened today and I've got a ticket for tonight (I've only seen three movies in the past three months; I have a lot of catching up to do). Also, the hostel attracts a friendly crowd and there's always something social going on.

I'm more upset about not having easy access to the Internet than about the computer being busted. On the bright side, of all the places in all of Southeast Asia to spill beer on a keyboard, Singapore is probably the best place to find qualified technicians and reliable service.

I will still post to Packmonkey. It just isn't as fun to write in an Internet cafe as it is at, say, Starbucks while slurping a Banana Java Chip Frappacino.

Photo School

I have an interest in photography that's been simmering for most of my life. A short experimental phase in high school died a quick death when I realized the cost of film and lab time. Snapshots were taken over the years, but when I look back I've lived a fairly undocumented existence. But this is the digital era, and I'm a digital guy, so now on most days I can be found with either camera strapped around my neck or tucked safely inside my day pack. My interest has come to a boil.

It's one thing to take photos and another to know how to take photos. There have been some lucky shots in the past few weeks (here, here and here), but generally I've been frustrated with my lack of knowledge and ability in photography.

Soon after buying my Canon digital SLR, I emailed my friend Brent Murray, formerly a photo editor for NYTimes.com, for advice. He said he thought my photos were pretty good (thanks Brent!) and that one of the best things I could do was to find a professional photographer and start asking questions.

Most hotels in Singapore offer free Internet. This not only makes web addicts like myself very happy, it offers the chance to interact with other travelers glued to their laptops. On my first full day in Singapore, I shared a electrical outlet with a guy who I overheard mention that he was a photographer. A short conversation later, I had learned that Giovanni Del Brenna was in Singapore working on a personal project that he hoped to sell to an Italian magazine. As a graduate of a program at the International Center for Photography in New York, and a former assistant the photojournalist James Nachtwey, Giovanni is now supporting himself with a camera (three, actually). He showed me his work, and I was genuinely impressed. He's not only got an eye for his subjects, he takes the kind of photos that I'm attracted to. Check out his work here.

I showed him some of my photos on Flickr and he was supportive (work more with light, do more in Photoshop). He then agreed to let me tag along while he took photos the next morning. His plan was to go to Singapore's central business district and see what happens.

Giovanni and a Singapore Coffee
We met at 7:30 the next morning and traveled downtown. I felt a bit like a schoolboy tackling a real-world assignment, but Giovanni was nice about the whole thing and it soon became nothing more than a couple of guys with cameras on the streets of Singapore. The difference being he was shooting with film using an old Leica with a fixed lens and I was the new kid on the block, shooting digital with a zoom lens.

There's not a lot of activity during rush hour here. Nothing like other major cities, with the hustle and bustle of people hurrying to work. At 8 am, the streets were dead and we killed time drinking Singapore coffee and eating kaya toast (thick coffee with condensed milk and toast slathered in a jelly made from coconut, egg and sugar).

By 9 am, there wasn't much more activity. Still, we walked a few miles, heading north to Clarke Quay and finally down to Chinatown for an early lunch. We snapped photos along the way, and Giovanni was kind enough to not only answer all my questions, but to conduct a mini-tutorial in light, shutter speed, aperture and composition. I learned more in a few hours than I'd learned trolling the web in a a few weeks. Hands on instruction beats book learning any day.

Giovanni at Work
My thanks go out to Giovanni for the lesson and the friendship.

The World's Best Internet Cafe

I'm sitting in E:fiftyfive, a basement lounge on Elizabeth Street in downtown MelbourneI've got a tasty stout from New Zealand on my right, a dj is spinning mellow reggae tunes and there's unlimited wireless internet for just $2 ($1 Australian dollar equals about 76 cents U.S.). Buy one beer and you can surf all evening, no hassles, no ticking clock, no worries. (To put this in perspective, the going rate in Australia is about $6 an hour.) My kind of place. Reminds me of Amsterdam, but with wi-fi instead of space cakes.

Going Mobile

One of my goals on this trip is to explore travel in the age of the technology. It's been 20 years since I traveled extensively and nearly 15 since I lived overseas.

By carrying a few portable gadgets (about 6 pounds total), I'm able to keep friends and family informed of my travels with this blog and through email. I also have an unlocked Palm Treo, which means I'm able to carry a cellular phone and buy connectivity as I go.

Here in Australia cell phones are called mobile phones, and as of yesterday I am officially going mobile. With a relatively small investiment (less than $50 U.S.) I bought a SIM card and minutes and now have an Australian phone number, complete with voicemail and text messaging. It's not cheap to call the U.S., but it's not terribly expensive either (I'm now paying 30 cents a minute).

Having the ability to call hostels, taxis, tour operators, train stations, restuarants, old friends, new friends and family at any time makes travel a lot easier. Having the ability to make a receive calls from anywhere anytime makes the world that much smaller. And best of all, for me at least, all incoming calls are free! If you feel like dropping a few dollars to hear my voice, go for it. Nothing to it but to do it.

My Australia phone number is 04 2080 3351

Australia's country code is 61, and the cellular prefix is 04, so calling from the U.S. you drop the 0 and dial 61 4 2080 3351. Confusing I know. It took me a while to understand the minutia of the Australian phone system. I understand calls will be few and far between, but can you believe this is even possible? All it took was a portable gadget, some cash and a passport.

I will be looking into this option in each country I visit. Stay tuned. Or should I say stay connected?