Journal Entry 20

May 29th, 2003

"A Year?"

 

Yes, it's been a year (as of May 19), and yes, I'm still in Asia...

Since I am/was/am an engineer, naturally I like statistics, so here goes...my essay, titled:

'In the Last 365 Days'
======================

I spent:
* 1 night over the Pacific Ocean
* 4 nights in Thailand
* 3 nights in Singapore
* 46 nights in Indonesia (10 nights on Bali, 6 on Gili Air off the Lombok coast, 4 at sea, 5 nights on Flores, 16 nights on Sulawesi, and 5 nights on Pulau Bunaken off the Sulawesi coast)
* 106 nights in China (36 nights on visit #1: includes 3 nights in Hong Kong and 1 night in Macau; 70 nights on visit #2; includes 2 nights in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, 18 nights in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, and 41 nights in the Tibet Autonomous Region))
* 47 nights in Mongolia
* 43 nights in Nepal (9 on visit #1, 34 on visit #2)
* 86 nights in India (78 nights on visit #1, 8 on visit #2)
* 28 nights in Sri Lanka

Okay, the smart-asses might notice that's 364 nights. So I missed one. No idea where. If you know, email me. That's 8 countries (I don't count Japan, where I had a layover) in a year...I don't seem to be moving fast...but I like to think I'm seeing each country properly, not half-assed, as I've covered some pretty large tracts of Asia.

I have slept in 209 different places. 45 nights were spent on transport of some kind. I paid for 272 of the rest of the nights. Another 45 nights have been otherwise unpaid-for: camping, walking, in Mongolian gers, Sri Lankan temples, etc. The other 2 nights, I don't know. Of those 209 places, 43 had hot showers...but only 19 of the 144 non-China nights. And 12 had functional climate control (not including a fan), be it A/C or heat.

I have been alone 186 days, and had a travel companion 178 days. Three people are tied for the longest I've spent with one person: 23 days (Marissa, Brendan, Kevin).

Since arriving in Asia, I have moved around on a variety of transport. NOT counting the numerous rickshaw, bicycle, motorcycle, tuk tuk, train, bus, escalator, ferry, and taxi rides within cities, and NOT counting transportation that I've personally driven, I estimate that I have ridden on 9 airplanes, 25 trains (including one night sleeping on the floor), 60 buses (including sitting, standing, on top, and hanging out the door), 8 jeeps, 11 vans, 14 boats, 2 motorcycles, 8 large trucks/carriers, and 13 small trucks. In addition, I have ridden horses and camels (2-humped in Mongolia, 1-humped in India). I have rented a jeep and 2 motorcycles, and purchased one horse (kind of) and one motorcycle. 15 rides were via hitch-hiking, and I picked up one hitch-hiker myself.

My longest journeys?
* 68 hours on a Chinese sleeper bus from Ali to Lhasa.
* 65 hours with 16 passengers in a Russian van from Uvs to Ulaan Baator, Mongolia.
* 60 hours, first class, on an Indian train from Kochi to Gorakhpur.

I have filled 5 journals and run approximately 10 pens dry, mostly black, but a couple blue ones and two red ones as well. I have taken approximately 3600 photographs.

I read 47 books. Favorites?
* 'The Razor's Edge', W. Somerset Maugham
* 'The Glass Bead Game', Hermann Hesse
* 'The Way of Zen', Alan Watts
* 'Seven Years in Tibet', Heinrich Harrier
* 'Portrait of a Lady', Henry James
* 'You Can't Go Home Again', Thomas Wolfe
* 'Catch-22', Joseph Heller
* 'To the Lighthouse', Virginia Woolf

Now, this is hard to estimate with my little world map...but I believe that I have travelled approximately 25000 km (15000 mi) by air and 30000 km (18000 mi) by land.

While I have not yet died or broken any limbs or received any black eyes, I have been attacked 3 times, but 2 (one titan triggerfish off Pulau Bunaken in Indonesia, and one bull in Nepal) were only feigned. The other (a cow in India) actually resulted in physical contact. I do not believe that any of these incidents had anything to do with my being an American.

I have bribed no one, possibly due to the fact that I have never stopped for a police officer on my motorcycle, even when they wave me down, shout, and whistle. I have visited 9 mechanics and run out of fuel 6 times.

I have been sick approximately 8-10 times, though what you consider "sick" seems arbitrary...some colds, some tummy troubles, some puking. But happily, I've never yet been laid up where I couldn't move or travel.

I have seen 6 movies, 4 in English, 1-1/2 in Hindi, 1/2 in Mandarin. I have compiled perhaps 5-10 hours of television time in the past year.

I helped extinguish one forest fire. I have seen goats and pigs bled and slaughtered, and humans both burned and eaten. I have sent 17 packages home. I have had one haircut. My pants have 5 patches, 2 repaired seams, and 3-4 more holes that I haven't yet bothered to fix. I have 82 koras of Mount Kailash remaining until I attain instant nirvana. I have been stranded in one desert. I have seen a lot of mice, unfortunately many sharing the same room as me. I have done 8 SCUBA dives and been rock climbing once. The longest I've gone without seeing a fellow white person is 11 days. I have killed no humans.

I have not yet met a food I won't try. The best:
* Big red grapes at the market in Olgii, Mongolia
* Small green mangos in Haputale, Sri Lanka
* Pineapples in northeast Sulawesi, Indonesia
* Oil-grilled bread stuffed with spiced mutton in Xiahe, China
* Apple muffins at Wiezen Bakery in Kathmandu, Nepal
* Red bananas in Trivandrum, India
* Half-popped popcorn in Najingdingma, Nepal
* Milk rice for breakfast in Aukana, Sri Lanka
* Curd (yogurt) with sugar in Delhi, India
* Freshly-slaughtered goat in western Mongolia
* Hashbrowns with eggs at Namaste Lodge in Dole, Nepal
* Nasi goreng (fried rice) from a street vendor in Lombok, Indonesia
* Mangosteens (small purple fruit) in Bangkok

The worst:
* Cheap liquor in Ali, China (Tibet)
* Durian (large fruit that smells like a sewer), anywhere
* A steaming heap of tripe, southern China
* Dal bhat tarkari (rice dish) with rocks in it, Nepal

The most interesting:
* Nipple-shaped love candy in Xiahe, China
* Stewed bat near Kakaskasen, Indonesia
* Raw frozen sheep thigh, unwrapped, from behind the driver's seat, on a hitched truck ride in Tibet
* Dog jerky in Xiahe, China
* Airag (alcoholic drink) made from camel milk, while crossing the Gobi desert in Mongolia
* Roasted goat heads at the night market in Kashgar, China
* Cheese dried while hanging from the ceiling of gers in Mongolia
* Idli (fermented rice cakes) in southern India

Learning when to plug your nose becomes instinctive. I mastered chopsticks. I've adopted the Indian/Sri Lankan/Nepalese method of eating with the right hand and cleaning up after using a squat toilet with a bucket of water and the left hand (lest you know the reason you only eat with the right).

Financially, I've fared well. I tend to spend less than probably 90% of the people I meet when you count day-to-day expenses, but I make up for this with lots of photo developing and shipping charges, and of course upgrading my camera...so it's probably a wash. Still, Asia's not expensive...unless you make it that way.

I have met many interesting characters. Among them:
* A Belgian in Mongolia who left on a 2-yr trip...5 yrs ago.
* A German in India who tells me that Yellowstone National Park is going to blow up and will destroy most of the United States, so I should move to southern France.
* An Israeli in Mongolia who bought a Russian motorcycle with a side car and flipped it, then later went on a hike and ran out of food and nearly froze and was taken in by a Mongolian family.
* An Aussie in Singapore trying to escape INTO Indonesia, where he is not longer allowed though he has a wife and a house there.
* A German in Sri Lanka whose dream is to build a treehouse in every country he visits.
* A Canadian, now in Finland, who went from living on the streets to rooming with a female rockstar.
* And rumors of a guy touring India in a tuk tuk...

Favorite country? Well, I love China...and Indonesia...but can't forget India...or Sri Lanka...definitely be back to Nepal someday...as well as Mongolia. So there. People? This one's easier...but keep in mind that there's good and bad, of course, everywhere...China and Mongolia (except in Ulaan Baator) have the friendliest people, the children especially.

People ask me about highlights? Man, it's tough. Here are some random things that pop to mind when I think back: hitch-hiking across Mongolia, night SCUBA diving in Indonesia with giant lobsters' glowing eyes staring back at me, sorting raisins with women and children in Turpan (China), watching the sun rise over the Rinjani volcano from the top of Ganung Agung volcano in Bali, walking 20km to get to the ruined Guge Kingdom in isolated western Tibet, scrambling up steep sand dunes near Dunhuang (China), the caves and temples of Ellora and Ajanta in India, spending a cold cold night on the Great Wall of China, a late arrival into the neon lights and sweltering heat of Hong Kong, wandering around among Komodo dragons in the Jurassic Park-like island of Rinca in Indonesia, waking up on a crisp Mongolian morning to find that my horse had run away, getting into Tibet..., walking alone by moonlight at 3am with Mount Kailash looming to the east among the stars, exploring the isolated ruins of Ritigala and Yapahuwa in Sri Lanka, my 5000km motorcycle journey to the southern tip of India, summitting the peak of Chukhung Tse alone in Nepal, kicking back too much rice wine on the beautiful rice terraces of Longsheng (China), watching the sun set from a stilted open bungalow on quiet Gili Air (Indonesia), the descent from the high Tibetan plateau into the green valleys of Nepal, calamari and cows on the beach in Goa (India), the great people in Aukana (Sri Lanka), lazing a day away in the beautiful peaceful hamlet of Najingdingma (Nepal)...Okay, I'll quit now.

I could also mention lowlights like waking up at 1am on Christmas morning to puke my guts out. Or sleeping on the peanut shell-lined floor of an Indian train, freezing, all night, with a rolled up sweater for a pillow...I'll stop there though, as the happy times far outweigh the unpleasant ones!

But to conclude...

It's been a great year. I've seen amazing places, witnessed fascinating cultures, made great friends from all over the world, and eaten a LOT of killer food. Good travel is about the experiences, not the sights. On a trip, inevitably, you have expectations. Mine are always surpassed in ways I never could've imagined...like living out a good book, where the next page is always both a mystery and a surprise...and always wonderful.

When I do return, it's going to be to a different world, as many of the most important people in my life back home are getting engaged, married, having kids, moving, all sorts of stuff...it's gonna be weird.

I've attached a semi-recent self-photo to this email...taken in Haputale, Sri Lanka.

Many people ask me when I'll be calling it quits, returning home, and hanging up the backpack. The answer? I don't know. Not yet.

While this quote names China, it can be extended to Asia in general:
"One of the most common experiences a foreigner has in China (outside of 3 or 4 major cities) is of waking in a dreary room, seeing the water-stained ceiling, torn curtains, dented thermos bottle, rotting carpet and not knowing whether he is a student, a guest, a patient, or a prisoner." (-Paul Theroux, 'Riding the Iron Rooster')

 

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