May 28th, 2004
"Another Year?"
People seemed to enjoy my statistic-loaded one-year update
last year, so here's its follow-up. I never intended to travel as long as two
years (as of May 19), certainly never to exceed that time period. Not quite sure
what's happened there. But I'll go with it and see where things take me.
Last year's numbers, for comparison, are located in [square brackets].
'In the Last 365 Days'
======================
I spent:
* 8 nights in Nepal (continuation from last year's visit #2)
* 34 nights in India (visit #3)
* 31 nights in Myanmar
* 24 nights in Thailand (6 on visit #3, 4 on visit #4, 14 on visit #5)
* 10 nights in Cambodia (1 on visit #1, 9 on visit #2)
* 22 nights in Laos
* 21 nights in Vietnam
* 40 nights in Malaysia (12 on the peninsula and 16 in Sarawak Borneo on visit
#1, 12 in Sabah Borneo on visit #2)
* 3 nights in Brunei
* 73 nights in Indonesia (13 in Kalimantan Borneo, 5 on Java, 13 in Bali, 2 on
Lombok, 1 on Sumbawa, 3 at sea, 5 on Flores, 8 on Sumba, 6 in West Timor on
visit #2; 1 in West Timor, 5 at sea, and 12 in West PapuaIrian Jaya on visit #3)
* 9 nights in East Timor
* 25 nights in Papua New Guinea (15 on the mainland, 10 in New Ireland and its
islands)
* 54 nights in Australia (30 on the mainland, 1 at sea, 23 in Tasmania)
* 12 nights in New Zealand
That's 14 [8] countries this year, 4 being repeats from last year, for a total
of 18 countries so far on the trip. Not that many, really, considering that's
two years' worth. But I'm seeing them properly anyway.
I have slept in 204 [209] different places. 32 [45] nights were spent on
transport of some kind. I paid for 270 [272] of the other nights. Another 64
[45] nights were otherwise unpaid-for: under a street lamp in India, in a
pilgrimage center, at friends' places, with locals, at a church, in a police
barracks, on a dirt shop floor, and camping in rainforest, beach, desert, and on
top of a van.
I spent $1053 [$872] on accomodation.
I was alone 167 [186] days, and had a travel companion 199 [178] days. My old
record of 23 days spent with a travel companion was shattered several times this
year. First by my friend Kris, 32 days in
Again, mistakes were made. I know it all doesn't add up spot-on to 366 days.
Tough.
There were two questionably-legal border crossings. Maybe three. I learned one
new language well enough to say I speak it: Indonesian.
I made it another year without bribing anyone. Travellers seem to be proud of
getting out of situations by bribing. I'm proud of getting out of situations
without resorting to that easy way out.
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 16 [9] airplanes, 12 [25] trains
(including riding on top), 102 [60] buses (including sitting, standing with face
smashed against the window, on top, and hanging out the door), 44 [8]
jeeps/cars, 32 [11] vans, 48 [14] boats, 8 [2] motorcycles, and 32 [21] trucks
and a couple horse-drawn carts. I rented a van and 2 motorcycles. 46 [15] rides
were via hitch-hiking. I didn't buy any (live) animals this year, but I did sell
my motorcycle in
My longest journeys?
* 2 days/1 night on a boat up the
* 3 days/2 nights on a boat up the
* 5 days/5 nights on a boat from West Timor to West
* 30 hours straight driving my motorcycle from Kathmandu to
* Several train/bus rides in the 30-hour range, but none to compare with some of
them from my first year.
I have filled 7 [5] journals and run approximately 10 [10] pens dry, mostly a
mixture of black and blue ones. I have taken approximately 3000 [3600]
photographs.
I read 43 [47] books. Favorites?
* 'The Prophet', Kahlil Gibran
* 'The Best of Roald Dahl', Roald Dahl
* 'The Motorcycle Diaries', Che Guevara
* 'Life of Pi', Yann Martel
* 'Nicholas Nickleby', Charles Dickens
* 'War and Peace', Leo Tolstoy
* 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire', J.K. Rowling
While I have not yet died or broken any limbs or received any black eyes, I have
been chased by wild dogs on a couple occasions and had an Asaro mudman point his
bow and arrow at me (not serious). One cow feigned attack as well. I've lost two
toenails. Again, I do not believe that any of these incidents had anything to do
with my being an American.
I have been sick approximately 6 [8-10] times, though what you consider "sick"
seems arbitrary...some colds, some tummy troubles, some puking. Nothing major.
Happily, I've never yet been laid up where I couldn't move or travel.
I have sent 12 [17] packages home. I have had 3 [1] haircuts. My pants had about
15 repairs in them before I finally got rid of them. I still have 82 koras of
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:
* Roasted corn with lime and salt, India
* Indian chai (tea), almost anywhere in India
* Stuffed parothas (fried bread things), Parvati Valley, India
* Lapeto (tea leaf salad), Myanmar
* Fried seaweed with sesame seeds, Laos
* Sticky rice, Laos/Cambodia
* Dragonfruit, Mekong Delta, Vietnam
* Durian, Kalimantan, Indonesia (note that in last year's update, this ranked as
one of my worst)
* Fresh springrolls, Vietnam
* Cowley's Pie Floater, Adelaide, Australia
* Coffee with sweetened condensed milk, Laos
* Gado Gado (veggies with peanut sauce), Samarinda, Indonesia
* Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra region, Australia
* Fresh sugar cane, West Papua, Indonesia
* Pineapples in Hsipaw, Myanmar
* Strange new fruits on Boang Island, Papua New Guinea
The worst:
* Sweet potatoes (okay but not for EVERY meal), Baliem Valley, Indonesia
* Vietnamese mulberry wine
* Bread, anywhere in Asia
The most interesting:
* Tongba (Tibetan millet beer), Eastern Nepal
* Drinks with corn in them, markets in Brunei and Malaysia
* Fried grubs from sago trees, Papua New Guinea
* Unhatched insects, Northern Laos
* Flying fox, Papua New Guinea
* Stewed monkey parts, Sarawak, Malaysia
* Stuffed frogs, Northern Laos
* Corn jack (fried cream corn), Australia
Favorite country? Not going to try. All of them. Nicest people would be Papua
New Guineans, though.
Highlights? Here's some random pieces that come to mind: recovering from a
month-long trek in Nepal, puja (ceremonial Tibetan prayer) at Kyi Monastery
(northern India), staying and eating with Sikh pilgrims at the Golden Temple in
Amritsar (India), the long boat voyages up the Ayerawaddy River (Myanmar) and
the Mahakam River (Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo) and to New Guinea Indonesia),
nearly losing my mind on Mount Elephant (Tasmania), exploring the ruins of
Angkor and Bokor (Cambodia), selling my motorcycle (India), visiting traditional
longhouses and ceremonies in the interior of Borneo (Kalimantan, Indonesia),
stepping 10m offshore to dive with turtles and parrotfish at Sipidan (Borneo),
seeing the Huli wigmen (Papua New Guinea), rock climbing at Krabi (Thailand),
hitchhiking in Australia and New Zealand, befriending families in Papua New
Guinea, lazing on the beach and buying fresh fish (East Timor), hiking through
dick-stick land with Gollum (West Papua, Indonesia), sunrise on Mount Kinabalu
(Sabah, Malaysian Borneo), trekking solo in the Outback and Tasmania
(Australia), and meeting friends from back home on my trip (Kris, Mike, Steve).
I could also mention lowlights: having $400 nicked, averting a tiger attack
(Malaysia), sinking a boat, tearing my poor pants, losing two toenails, the
fungus in my camera, sleeping on an Indian train floor (again), having a guy
make a move on me in a sauna in Laos, and losing a toothbrush. But still, the
happy times far outweigh the unpleasant ones!
But to conclude...these are the same three paragraphs I wrote last year,
unchanged:
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.
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.
'In this consists the singular perfection of my undertaking for, mark me, Sancho,
for a knight-errant to run mad upon any just occasion, is neither strange nor
meritorious; no, the rarity is to run mad without a cause, without the least
constraint or necessity. There is a refined and exquisite passion for you,
Sancho!' (-Miguel de Cervantes)
Away Awhile is hosted by Josh Trutwin.