Journal Entry 66

August 22nd, 2006

"The End, Part II"

 

I thought a description of my backpack upon returning would say more about my trip than any overall account ever could. Maybe more interesting too. Probably not. Anyway, here goes:

The pack itself has been with me since I left Turkey. Bought it with REI points and had mom ship it to my friend Mike in Ankara, Turkey. Occasionally, I have 'resupply' stops like this at convenient points where I know I'll be.

Flip-flops. Black. Probably my tenth pair. Brazilian, though purchased in Lima, Peru. Best ones yet. Previous pair had busted as I hiked around the ruins of the Incan site 'Pisac'. 1.5 hours barefoot on a stony track after they busted. Luckily, no blisters. Socks and shoes. Santiago, Chile. Bought after I moved into an apartment, when my plan was to live there a while and join a gym. Yeah, that didn't happen.

Boxer shorts. One was a gift. Coon Rapids, MN, USA. Another from home. Another from someone who left a pair behind in Tbilisi, Georgia. I washed them well. Incidentally, in my last week of travel, they blew off a roof in Mexico. Landed on a powerline. I wanted them. I entered some dude's apartment with a broom I found in a closet. A bit of acrobatics were necessary, but I saved 'em. (Was it worth the effort? As I crossed the US by Greyhound en route to my home, I discarded my underwear as I went, happy to never have to wash them again.)

Bright pink swim shorts. Traded my shirt to a local in Vilanculos, Mozambique (The shirt was from my mom, received in Yokosuka, Japan at my friend Trupti's place...it was getting a bit worn out at this point). Shorts. They used to be green pants that I bought in Santiago, Chile. They turned a dull greenish-gray after months of sun and washing. One day in Salvador, Brazil, I ripped a hole in them. Left 'em that way for 2-3 months. When Josefina came to Guatemala, she cut them into shorts. Jeans. Nice ones. Bought in Ankara, Turkey. Also got a green leather belt there--they match the shoes I'd bought over a year earlier in Groningen, Holland. Score! Green belts are hard to come by.

T-shirt. Durban, South Africa, at 'Mr. Price', a store my friends Doug and Ruth had recommended for cheap clothes. It used to be brown. After a mishap involving a washbasin containing bleach in Granada, Nicaragua, it has taken on a definite 'hippie' flavor. Other shirts: one I bought at a mall in Sao Luis, Brazil, while seeking refuge in an A/C shopping mall after a stiflingly hot walk. It left me without enough money to catch a bus back to my hostel, but I caught a free shuttle bus for frequent (rich) shoppers. And another I picked up in Mendoza, during a three-day jump to Argentina from Chile with my friend Kris.

Black pullover. Mom sent it to me in Cairns, Australia. Holes from brambles in 'Walls of Jerusalem' National Park in Tasmania. And some burns from a fire I built in a hut in southern New Zealand where I spent a cold and solo night. Anyway, this pullover has served me well, if a bit ragged by now. Raincoat. USA. Waste of space. Best place for it is squooshed in the bottom of the backpack, which means when it actually rains, I can't be bothered to dig it out.

Packtowel. This is a towel about the size of 2-3 handkerchiefs. Like a chamois. My first one had been chewed up by mice in India. My second was donated to me by my friend Kris when we parted ways in Hsipaw, Burma. It was lost at my last stop (Zacatecas, Mexico) when it blew off the roof where it was drying.

Swiss Army Knife. Purchased in La Paz, Bolivia. I'd given my previous one to Karen, a Peace Corps volunteer in southern Armenia, where I spent last New Year's. Folding scissors. Xining, China, a strange place to spend 5 days, including your 28th birthday. Tweezers. West Timor, Indonesia. Purchased just before entering East Timor for a week, getting a new Indonesian visa before heading up to New Guinea.

Nail clippers. Not sure, though I think from Kumasi, Ghana or Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Lost my first one somewhere. Second was a dull set from a street vendor in Bamako, Mali, where I'd been waiting 6 days for a visa. Incidentally, my big toenail, right foot, that fell off after tripping on a rock in Hampi, India, 3.5 years ago, is finally healing correctly. Ear/eyebrow rings, collected in a little plastic bag. Bangkok, Thailand. Don't have piercings anymore. Eyebrow was the last to go. But it became common in the end, lost its appeal.

Mesh drawstring bag. Made it myself with some of my female friends back back, like eight years ago at an old college apartment on Ontario Street in Minneapolis. Padlocks. One from a German girl I met in Ali, western Tibet. Another I bought in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Hypodermic needle. Because you never know. From a Colombian couple I met in Lhasa, Tibet. They gave me two. I used one at a hospital in Tsetang (I think), Tibet. Shot in the ass. I was feeling ill. Felt better within two days anyhow.

Small pouch for my medicines. Luang Prabang, Laos. $1. In it: Malaria cure. Blantyre, Malawi, bought while waiting for Mozambique visa, for just in case. Carbon tablets. Good, relatively natural solution to tummy troubles. Tbilisi, Georgia. Necessary after that last bout I'd picked up in eastern Turkey. Incidentally, that was nine months ago and have had no issues since. Fun describing this in a country where English isn't spoken and the language looks like a series of curly-q's. Antibiotic cream. After hitching a ride across a snowy plain to the village of Sisian, Armenia, I hopped out of the Russian jeep, slipped on the ice, and sliced my hand open on the door. Walked into a pharmacy clutching my bloody hand. A good way to demonstrate what you need, despite the language barrier.

Medicated talcum powder. Iquitos, Peru. A necessity in the tropics, especially when you've just descended from several weeks in the highlands. Great for prickly heat and skin infections, not to mention smelly shoes. Also here in Iquitos (gateway to the Peruvian Amazon), I got some generic Tiger Balm. Supposedly good for bug bites, of which I had many, primarily on the ankles. I think it actually does quite little, but the smell makes you think it's working. Coca foot cream. La Paz, Bolivia. Illegal? Don't know. Q-tips. Don't shortchange yourself with cheap Q-tips. Took me four years to learn this. Bought my first decent ones in Posadas, Argentina.

Bath & Body Works Coconut Lip Butter. Donated to me by an American girl I met in Buenos Aires, Argentina after I complained about the glue-like apple-flavored lip balm I'd purchased from a pharmacy in Sucre, Bolivia. Earplugs. Mexico City. Slept poorly my last week in Mexico, at least partially due to the excitement of my impending return home. Not helped by a loud snorer in the dorm. Thus the earplugs. Kleenex, small pack. Free handout from a pharmaceutical company outside a market in Montevideo, Uruguay. Long-term travellers like free stuff.

Dental floss. Ran out quite recently. Purchased in San Salvador, El Salvador, along with a bottle of mouthwash and a triple-blade flex-head razor. I went 2-3 years using a straight razor. No more. Sometimes technology is good. Old razors suck. Trust me. Went to disposables after I couldn't find more refills for the blade I'd picked up in Harare, Zimbabwe. Toothpaste and toothbrush, bought as a set. Tegucigalpa, Honduras. My backup toothbrush (I almost always have two, don't ask me why) I bought in Salvador, Brazil. Suncreen. SPF 30, grape-scented, purple-colored (for kids). Calama, northern Chile.

Watch. About $2, Sana'a, Yemen. Bought at the night market during Ramadan to replace the alarm clock that was stolen on the back of a truck in northern Mozambique. I promptly removed the strap and drilled a hole with an awl (who has ever used the awl on their knife?), and tied a string through. Convenient. Fits in that little pocket in your jeans that most never use.

500 mL Gatorade bottle. Forget Nalgenes. I usually have a water bottle that I refill wherever I get the chance. Typically have them a few months before I lose or damage them. (My record, I think, was a Borjomi water bottle from the Republic of Georgia.) Anyway, this one I got in San Jose, Costa Rica. I like it cause it has a wide mouth that makes for easy filling. Powdered laundry detergent. Antigua, Guatemala. Stored in plastic shopping bag. Hand-washing my clothing every 1-5 days is second nature; I've rarely paid to have my laundry washed. Powder works better than the soap-like bars.

Wallet. San Francisco, California, USA. Bought years ago on a different trip. Served me well, though it was pilfered a few times...Thailand, Nicaragua, Argentina, Yemen. Another pocket-like thing that I got in Hogsback, South Africa. For my credit cards, immunization form, Advanced SCUBA dive certification (obtained Pulau Bunaken, Sulawesi, Indonesia...my second month of travel) and insurance info (never needed it in 51 months).

Disposable camera. Puerto Iguazu, Argentina, after I discovered I'd forgotten my camera in Rio de Janeiro. My Swiss friend Naida found an English couple going to Buenos Aires (also the direction I was headed), which allowed me to reclaim my camera two weeks later. And then another cheap camera I bought in San Jose, Costa Rica (after the camera I'd reclaimed busted shortly later). Films from the US and Mexico. Not many. Don't care anymore really.

CDs. Photos. One from Jonathon, my Chilean roommate for a couple weeks, pics of a trip to the coast one weekend. The other from Josefina, pics of our trip in Guatemala. Calendar on a little card. Parrot on one side. From my friend Maria in Iquitos, Peru. She taught me to make ceviche, a raw fish dish (though we made it will fresh crocodile tail purchased at the fascinating Iquitos market on the Amazon). Baseball hat. I'd denounced these things years ago, but bought this one before a hike in Leon, Nicaragua. Fierce sun that day, and meant to climb a volcano.

Amber jewelry from a fair in Chiapas, Mexico. Mayan calendar and mat from a market in Chichicastenago, Guatemala. Along with a blanket I got in La Paz, Bolivia, these are the only 'souvenirs' I bought this year. Necklace, made from tidbits I've collected along the way. String from India. Turquoise and coral from Tibet. Coral from Nepal. Amber from India. Beads from a market in Mali and my English friend Angel in Indonesia. Wood inlay from Elqui Valley, Chile. Bracelets. One of red cloth, from some Senegalese children who I'd played guitar for. Another of woven green nylon, made by a Canadian girl I met in Lima, Peru. Had a cool red and black seed, but it broke the day I left Guatemala for Mexico.

Sunglasses. United States (bought during trip home in winter 2004-05), though the lenses are from an earlier pair I'd got in Australia (whose frames were busted one Valentine's Day), which I had my mom send to Turkey with some other stuff (earlier listed). The other lenses were trashed. Well, these are now, too.

Haircut. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Actually the only haircut I've had in 18 months. I've been doing it myself. Not so difficult, especially when you don't care so much how it looks. Buenos Aires was an additional supply stop for gel, shaving cream, and shampoo.

Books. Swapped for them in Mexico City.. My book supply is always in flux. Bookswaps, street stalls, occasionally a shop. At this point, I swapped for my first English books since January, being about to cross back to the US. Gluestick. For pasting stuff in my journal. Gone through loads. This one from a street market in Mexico City, Mexico. Black pen. San Carlos, Nicaragua. Blue pen. San Cristobal de Las Casas, Mexico. How many of these have I run dry?! Journal. My 25th. Santiago, Chile. Notebook where I jot down Spanish vocabulary. Sucre, Bolivia. Guidebook. San Jose, Costa Rica. I'd landed there with nothing. Lucky to find it. I like guidebooks. Some travellers prefer to go without, but I enjoy reading them and the maps, even if I use them for little else.

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Sounds like a lot. It isn't. This stuff is all small, fits in a school-size bookbag, like you'd carry to class across campus.

I didn't intend to pick up such an assortment from all corners of the globe. It just happened.

Although very little remains from the beginning (even credit cards and passport are different...expired or worn out), the content is roughly the same. But everything's different. Like me. Pieces left and pieces picked up across six continents.

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In the meantime, here are the current contents of my pockets: $2.37. New library card. That's it, and that's all I need.

My next update: 'The End, Part I', which will fill in a lot of blanks (and is much shorter) will be coming soon.

 

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